The fourth revelation in the Book of Questions, in which Christ beautifully praises
every limb of the Virgin Mary his Mother, giving them a spiritual and allegorical
meaning by comparing them to virtues; he also declares the Virgin to be most
worthy of a queenly crown.
The Son speaks: "I am crowned king in my divinity without beginning and
without end. A crown has neither beginning nor end; thus it is a symbol of my
power, which had no beginning and will have no end. I had another crown, too, in
my keeping: I myself, God, am that crown. It was prepared for the person who had
the greatest love for me. And you, my most sweet Mother, won this crown and
drew it to yourself through righteousness and love. The angels and other saints bear
witness that your love for me was more ardent and your chastity more pure than
that of any other, and that it was more pleasing to me than all else.
Your head was like gleaming gold and your hair like sunbeams, because your
most pure virginity, which is like the head of all your virtues, as well as your
control over every illicit desire pleased me and shone in my sight with all humility.
You are rightly called the crowned queen over all creation - "queen" for the sake of
your purity, "crowned" for your excellent worth. Your brow was incomparably
white, a symbol of the delicacy of your conscience, in which lies the fullness of
human knowledge, and where the sweetness of divine wisdom shines on all. Your
eyes were so bright and clear in my Father's sight that he could see himself in them,
for in your spiritual eyes and in your soul's intellect the Father saw your entire will,
namely, that you desired nothing but him and wished for nothing except as
according to his will.
Your ears were as pure and open as the most beautiful windows when Gabriel
laid my will before you and when I, God, became flesh in you. Your cheeks were of
the fairest hue, white and red, for the fame of your praiseworthy deeds and the
beauty of your character, which burned within you each day, were pleasing to me.
Truly, God my Father rejoiced in the beauty of your character and never took his
eyes away from you. By your love, all have obtained love. Your mouth was like a
lamp, inwardly burning and outwardly shedding light, for the words and affections
of your soul were inwardly on fire with divine understanding and shone outwardly
in the graceful carriage of your body and the lovely harmony of your virtues. Truly,
most dear Mother, the word of your mouth somehow drew my divinity to you, and
the fervor of your divine sweetness never separated me from you, since your words
were sweeter than honey and honeycomb.
Your neck is nobly erect and beautifully held high, because the righteousness
of your whole soul is directed to me and sways with my will, since it was never
inclined to any sin of pride. Just as the neck inclines with the head, so too your
every intention and act bends to my will. Your breast was so full of every virtuous
charm that there is no good in me that is not in you as well, for you drew every
good thing to yourself by the sweetness of your character, at the moment when it
both pleased my divinity to enter into you and my humanity to live with you and
drink the milk from your nipples. Your arms were beautiful through true obedience
and endurance of toil. Your bodily hands touched my humanity, and I rested in your
arms with my divinity.
Your womb was as pure as ivory and was like a space made out of gems of
virtue, for your constancy of conscience and faith never grew lukewarm and could
not be damaged by tribulation. The walls of your womb, that is, of your faith, were
like gleaming gold, and on them the strength of your virtues was recorded, your
prudence and justice and temperance along with perfect perseverance, for all your
virtues were perfected with divine charity. Your feet were washed full clean as
though with fragrant herbs, for the hope and the affections of your soul were
directed toward me, your God, and were fragrant as an example for others to
imitate. Your womb was a spiritual and physical space so desirable to me and your
soul was so pleasing to me that I did not disdain to come down to you from the
highest heaven and to dwell in you. No, rather, I was most pleased and delighted.
Therefore, dear Mother, the crown that was held in my keeping, that crown that is I,
myself, God, who was to become incarnate, should be placed on no one but you,
for you are truly Mother and Virgin."