"Divine Mary"? St. Louis de Montfort

[jofa]

So, I’m reading St. Louis de Montfort’s great work, True Devotion to Mary, and a few pages in he he refers to the Blessed Mother as “divine Mary”. I realize that he in no way believed or taught that Mary was literally divine but I am not familiar with any archaic definition of this term. Can someone enlighten me?

 

[Polycarp1]

Did he speak English, What word did he use in the original text?

 

[paperwight66]

On the same lines, I have heard the phrase ‘our Heavenly Mother’.

It sounds strange to me. Is it correct?

 

[Joe_5859]

Did he speak English, What word did he use in the original text?

He was French, so English was not the original language used. As for what it says in the original French and whether or not it is a good translation, I have no idea.

I haven’t done an exhaustive analysis of the word “divine”, but the word is not always used exclusively for God. Eastern theology talks of “divinization” of the individual Christian, which is a way of talking of the Christian’s union with God.

I would say St. Louis de Montfort uses such a phrase to emphasize Mary’s closeness and supreme union with God. Obviously he recognizes that she is not God.

His language can be a bit jarring to our modern ears, to be sure.

 

[LiamQ]

The word divine was used as a synonym for excellent once upon a time, going back all the way to the end of the 16th century. That’s an archaic use of the word no longer in vogue.