The Divine Lamp

The following is taken from Father Taunton’s public domain commentary on the little Office.  Text in red represent my additions and notes.

The God, Whom earth and sea and sky,
Quem terra, pontus, sidera
Adore and Laud  and magnify;
Colunt, adorant, praedicant,
Who o’er their threefold fabric reigns,
Trinam regentem machinam
The Virgin’s spotless womb Contains.
Claustrum Mariae bajulat.

Creation, as we see it, consists of earth, sea, and sky, and the three form, as it were, the machinam (”fabric,” apparatus) by which God works out His will.  The Claustrum Maria means her reverend womb, which for nine months did carry the Lord of all things.   (”claustrum”=cloister, enclosure.  The translation of the Little Office I use reads: “Mary’s frame”). Mary was the Tabernacle of Emmanuel-God with us-and the Most High sanctified His resting place (see Ps 14:4).  The Ark of the Covenant in the Temple of Solomon was of incorruptible wood covered with plates of massive gold.  It only contained the tables of the Law, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s flowering rod.  But Mary, the true Ark of the Covenant, incorruptible by her immaculate Conception and adorned with the gold of charity, contained within her, as in a most peaceful cloister, the very Giver of the Law, the very Bread of Life, and the true High Priest, Himself, Whom all creation worhips, adores, and proclaims.

The God whose will by Moon and Sun,
Cui luna, sol, omnia
And all things in due course is done,
Deserviunt per tempora,
Is borne upon a Maiden’s breast,
Perfusa caeli gratia
By fullest heavenly grace possessed.
Gestant puellae viscera.

That is: Our Lady, filled with heavenly grace, doth bear Him, Whom moon, sun, and all things serve according to the seasons and times appointed to them: And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made also the stars.  And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good (Gen 1:16-18).  Notice the word perfisa, i.e., bathed through and through, soaked; like Gideon’s fleece was soaked with the dews of heaven (Judges 6:38); so Mary was full of grace.

How blest that Mother in whose shrine
Bedta Mater minere
The Great Artificer Divine,
Cujus supernus Artifex,
Whose Hand contains the earth and sky,
Mundum pugillo continens
Vouchsafed, as in His ark, to lie.
Ventris sub arca clausus est.

That is: “Blessed by the gift of the Holy Ghost is that Mother whose High Maker, that holdeth the world in His hand, is borne within the ark of her womb.  Our Lord is said to hold the world in His hand, for all the world is full little in regard to his greatness (i.e., the world is small when compared to His greatness).  And as a man may do what he wills with a thing he hath in his hand, so is everything in the power of His hand and all is kept in being by Him” (Myoure).  Artifex, i.e., artificer-one who works according to Art, according to design.  Art is the showing forth of the Beautiful; and in the Incarnation to which the verse refers, we have the most perfect manifestation of God’s art in adapting means to an end, in exhibiting the beauty of His power, and of His love, and of His wisdom.

Blest, in the message of Gabriel brought;
Beata caeli nuntio,
Blest, by the work of the Spirit wrought;
Fecunda sancto Spiritu,
From whom the great Desire of Earth
Desiderdtus gentibus
Took human flesh and human birth
Cujus per alvum fusus est.

Nuntio caeli-the message of Gabriel: Fecunda. (”Fecunda” can mean either “fertile,” or, “plentifully furnished.”  This last meaning can be synonymous with “blessed,” or “full of grace.”  obviously, “fecunda” can be used to sum up the Angel’s message to our Lady).  Sancto Spiritu-”The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee” (This is the high point of the Angel’s message of fecundity to Mary, see Lk 1:35). Desiderdtus gentibus: our Lord was the Longed-for One; the Desired of the nations: And the Desired of the nations shall come (Haggai 2:7).  His advent was the prayer of the prophets and holy ones of Israel: Drop down ye heavens from above and let the skies pour forth the Righteous, let the earth open and bring forth the Savior (Isa 45:8).  And when He came He told men that many kings had desired to see the things they saw (Lk 10:24); and that Father Abraham rejoiced to see His day, and saw it and was glad (Jn 8:56).  Fusus est:  poured forth as oil, or as light passing through a most pure crystal.  (In the translation the phrase Fusus est corresponds to the word “took” in the phrase “Took human flesh and human birth.”  The phrase can denote genorousity or liberality).

All honor, laud, and glory be,
Jesu, Tibi sit gloria,
O Jesus, Virgin-born, to Thee!
Qui natus est Virgine,
All glory, as is ever meet,
Cum Patre, et almo Spiritu,
To Father and to Paraclete.
In sempiterna saecula.

Amen.

This Doxology, or ascription of praise to the Adorable Trinity, is used for all the hymns in the Little Office.  Jesu, Tibi sit gloria: Our Lord as He is our thanksgiving, our Eucharist, so is He also our Praise.  Therefore to Him and through Him we give our praise to the Blessed Three in One.  The rememberance of His Mother, Qui natus est de Virgine, gives us the reason for the special act of worship-one of gratitude for the Incarnation which is Mary’s gift to mankind.  For, chosen herself by God, she freely consented to become the Mother of the Word made flesh.  Almo Spiritu: the revelation of the Holy Ghost to us is that of infinite love.   The Love of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us (Rom 5:5).  In sempiterna saecula:  The glory we give to God lasts forever; for He is the Father of lights with Whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning (James 1:17); the Eternal God, The Great I Am (Ex 3:14).  This thought makes our act of worship deeper and fuller and brings a stillness over our soul as we think of the never-changing, never ending glory, which, as an everlasting fire, surrounds the Eternal.

The Translation I Use:

The Lord, whom earth, and sea, and sky
With one adoring voice proclaim;
Who rules them all in majesty,
Enclosed Himself in Mary’s frame.

Lo, in a humble Virgin’s womb
O’ershadowed by almighty power,
He, whom the stars and sun and moon
Each serve in their appointed hour!

O Mother blest, to whom was given
Within thy body to contain
The Architect of earth and heaven,
Whose hands the universe sustain:

To thee was sent an angel down,
In thee the Spirit was enshrined,
Of thee was born that Mighty One,
The long-desired of all mankind.

O Jesus, born of Virgin bright,
Immortal glroy be to Thee;
Praise to the Father infinite,
And Holy Ghost eternally.

Amen.

The edition I use is entitled “THE LITTLE OFFICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY in English, Simply Arranged for use by Lay People” which is published by Franciscan University Press Quincy University. They have an online store but it is temporarily closed.  The edition I have uses Father Knox’s translation of the Bible, which some may find archaic.    An apparently more modern version designed for the Secular Franciscans can be found HERE (scroll down).

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