The House and Throne of God

The Lord Jesus praised his Mother Mary for her faith, in Luke 8, 21.  Peter of Blois (d. 1211), a Frenchman who studied both law and theology, and who was appointed archdeacon of Bath and, later, of London, offers these thoughts on her, seeing her as the Lord’s House and Throne:

“ ‘Wisdom has built a house for herself’ (Proverbs 9, 1).  This ‘wisdom’ is Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.  The Apostle says of him: ‘He was made for us by God: Wisdom and Justice, and also Sanctification and Redemption’ (1 Corinthians 1, 30).  ‘Wisdom has built a home for herself’: that is, Jesus Christ has chosen for his habitation the womb of Mary.  This is the house of a chaste heart.  Solomon writes of this house: ‘I entered my house and took my rest there’ (Wisdom 8, 16).  As though to say: I have chosen this for my dwelling because I have chosen her.  She is the House of God and the Gate of Heaven.  (…) He took his rest in her as in a house, on a throne, on a bed, or in a sanctuary.  The figure and sign of this Virgin is that most famous throne of Solomon made from ivory and the purest gold.  The gold signifies wisdom and dignity, and the ivory signifies purity, beauty, tranquility, and fortitude.  Now, a throne is for the exercise of judiciary power.  He who is decreed to sit upon it is given every judgment, and he judges the ends of the earth.”