F. Bourgoing

1585 - 1662 AD

Bourgoing was a priest of the Oratorians, a society founded in Paris in 1611 AD.

Texts quoted in French by Réné Laurentin (in Maria, Ecclesia, Sacerdotium, Nouvelles Éditions Latines, Paris 1952, pp. 342-343) and translated into English by John Wijngaards.

• Mary possesses the fulness of the priestly spirit
• Mary excells the apostles not by jurisdiction, but by eminence of spirit
• Mary is queen of priests
• Mary is a model for priests
• At the presentation in the Temple, Mary acted as a priest

Mary possesses the fulness of the priestly spirit

“ Jesus is the well spring of the priestly spirit, Mary the reservoir, and the apostles the canals who have spread it to the whole earth . . . The apostles have received it partially and under the symbolism of divided languages, but the holy Virgin with fullness and abundance, because she had to communicate it to the apostles and to us. O Mary, full of God’s Spirit, destroy in us the fullness of our own sensual perceptions and our own spirit, to fill us with the Spirit of Jesus Christ!” Vérités et excellences de Jésus Christ, Paris 1636, vol. 2, Méditation 19, § 3, pp. 183-184.

Mary excells the apostles not by jurisdiction, but by eminence of spirit

“ . . . . As mother of Jesus Mary possesses a right and a sovereignty over the apostles, not by authority of jurisdiction which would not agree with the condition of her sex, but by eminence of spirit and grace. That is why after the Ascension she was not the chief carrier of authority, but rather the heart of the mystical body . . . Priests possess two powers, one over Jesus’ physical body when they render it present on the altar through the sacred words, the other over his mystical body . . . The first power is a shadow of Mary’s motherhood, the other of her sovereign power.” Vérités et excellences de Jésus Christ, Paris 1636, vol. 2, Méditation 19, § 3, pp. 183-184.

Mary is queen of priests

“O Mary, our Queen and Queen of priests, give to all those who carry the sacred character that they regard you during the divine ceremonies, and that, leading Jesus to the altar, they emulate the reverence and singular devotion with which you gave birth to Jesus and with which you put him as a tiny baby into the manger and with which you held him in your sacred hands, kissed and embraced him a thousand times. Oh, that we may always be in actual submission to, and dependence on, your saintly disposition when we approach holy communion. For this purpose I submit myself fully to your power.” Vérités et excellences de Jésus Christ, Paris 1636, vol. 2, Méditation 19, § 3, pp. 183-184.

Mary is a model for priests

Note. The following quotations presuppose familiarity with the Gospel text of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

“This presentation [of Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple] is a true representation of the celebration of the most holy sacrifice of the altar, for Mary who sacrifices is a model for celebrating priests. And it is the same sacrificial victim who is offered in both mysteries: in the one, Jesus under the form of a small child; in the other, Jesus under the sacramental species . . . ” Vérités et excellences de Jésus Christ, Paris 1636, vol. 1, Octave of the Presentation, pp. 180.

At the presentation in the Temple, Mary acted as a priest

“On the altar [of the Eucharist] Jesus is under the hand and the power of priests, who symbolise the most blessed Virgin and who carry him to Jerusalem, that is: to well-disposed souls to whom they distribute the blessed sacrament rhough holy communion. Oh blessed Virgin, obtain for us the grace that we carry Jesus worthily in this sacred mystery . . . .”
“[At the presentation in the Temple] Mary takes the place of priests, Simeon the place of communicants. Thus, as the holy Virgin redeemed her Son and made him ours, so priests make him present on the altar and make him to be our food. As Mary put him into the arms of Simeon, priests distribute him and put him on the tongue of communicants so that he can be received into the arms of their soul.” Vérités et excellences de Jésus Christ, Paris 1636, vol. 1, Octave of the Presentation, fourth day, pp. 171-172.

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Tradition Mary - why a priest? Theologians and writers Picture gallery Mary and Holy Orders Mary as sacrificial priest Mary, the model of priests

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