The article of the month

This Month… by Teresa Caldecott Cialini

Heavenly splendour abounds in this issue of Magnificat! If you thought the cover with its gilding was decadent, take a quick peek at our Art enclosure at the back: light, colour, and majesty galore, as befits the month where we celebrate the Transfiguration, the Assumption, and the Queenship of Mary.

Pierre-Marie Dumont points out that the Maestà of the cover art stands at the turning point between a predominantly iconographic style and the more naturalistic depictions of the later Renaissance of which Lippi’s “Coronation of the Virgin” is an example. It calls to mind another depiction of Regina Angelorum from closer to home: our own Wilton Diptych, painted for King Richard II around a century after the Maestà icon was made. There, too, Mary is Sedes Sapientiæ, the Seat of Wisdom, the throne of the High King of the Universe; but in the Diptych she and the Christ Child are turned towards the supplicant king in a more dynamic pose.

Mary, Mother of Wisdom

“Seat of Wisdom” was a title that was popularised by Saint Bernard (20 August) in the 12th century. This “Troubadour of Mary”, who founded the Cistercian abbey of Clairvaux, wrote many times of the importance of devotion to our heavenly mother, nowhere more eloquently than in his Missus Est homily:

“In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name leave thy lips, never­ suffer it to leave thy heart. And that thou mayest more surely obtain the assistance of her prayer, see that thou dost walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, thou shalt never go astray; whilst invoking her, thou shalt never lose heart; so long as she is in thy mind, thou shalt not be deceived; whilst she holds thy hand, thou canst not fall; under her protection, thou hast nothing to fear; if she walks before thee, thou shalt not grow weary; if she shows thee favour, thou shalt reach the goal.”

Mary’s lap is the literal “Seat” of Wisdom, for as Saint Bernard says: “Thou wilt be Mother of him whose Father is God. The Son of the Father’s love will be the crown of thy chastity; the wisdom of the Father’s mind will be the fruit of thy virginal womb.” “Who doubts that the praises we give to the Mother of God redound to the honour of the Son of God; and, in like manner, that in honouring the Son we are also honouring the Mother? For if, according to Solomon, ‘A wise son is the glory of the father,’ how much more glorious is it to become the Mother of Wisdom himself!”

Another founder-saint of the August calendar who had great deference to our Lady is Saint Dominic (on the 8th). Though the Dominican charism as the Order of Preachers is rooted in Reason and prayerful study of the Word of God, they go out armed with the Rosary and calling upon the aid of the Blessed Mother of Wisdom. Saint Dominic said that when human preaching failed to covert hearts, the “sweet prayer of the Hail Mary” would do so.

The House of Wisdom

While few British devotional artworks survived the iconoclasm of the Reformation, the examples we do have hint at a great local devotion to Mary as the “Seat” or “House” of Wisdom. As well as the Wilton Diptych, we have Our Lady of Walsingham where Mary is shown in regal majesty with Christ enthroned on her lap, the symbols of wisdom surrounding them: a book of the Gospels, seven rings evoking the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and (on the seals of the Walsingham priory at least) two curtains, referencing those of Solomon’s temple. The scholar Erasmus noted the presence of a green “toadstone” at the feet of the original statue (destroyed during the Protestant Reformation). The toad was apparently a particularly English symbol of “all filthiness, malice, pride, avarice, and whatever belongs to human passion, [being] by her subdued, trodden underfoot, and extinguished”. This regal, powerful side of Mary also embodies the biblical character of Wisdom, who calls us to the banquet: Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars… “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Proverbs 9:1, 4-6).

Saints who have heeded this call after some “detours” are the theme of our Saint Who? series this month. The saints always encourage us to live in such a way as to cleave closer to Christ. Sometimes their stories can inspire us to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit no matter how strange the chosen path seems to the world. In other instances, when they have strayed and found their way back to the right path, their missteps are humanising, making them feel more accessible and relatable. Whether it is dealing with circumstances beyond our control, such as sickness or the ambitions of others, or times we have been led astray by vanity, pride, vengefulness, or worldliness, God always seeks a way to write straight on our crooked lines and bring us to himself. The intercession of the saints is a crucial part of the fabric of our journey to Wisdom’s house.