Crown of the Virgin: An Ancient Meditation on Mary's Beauty, Virtue, and Sanctity

by St. Ildephonsus of Toledo

In this book, St. Ildephonsus of Toledo provides a powerful, imaginative, and lyrical set of meditations on the Immaculate Mother of God, reflecting on her splendor, beauty, and sanctity.
 
This publication is the first translation into English of a Latin work, entitled Libellus de Corona Virginis , or “The Little Book on the Crown of the Virgin.” Traditionally, it has been ascribed to St. Ildephonsus of Toledo, a great monk, abbot, and bishop of the 7th century. St. Ildephonsus contributed powerfully to the dissemination of the doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Our Lady in Western Europe, and to the popularization of fervent Marian devotion in Spain. In this beautiful, moving and ornate literary portrait, the author imaginatively and lyrically fashions a magnificent crown for the Blessed Virgin Mary, decorated with twelve radiant jewels, six brilliant stars, and six fragrant flower blossoms. Each of these is interpreted as representing a particular aspect of the beauty, beneficence, virtue, or sanctity of the Blessed Virgin.
 
A perfect companion for guiding daily devotion to the Mother of Mercy and the Queen of Heaven, each chapter reveals a new and scintillating glimpse into the glories of Mary, sure to inspire the heart of the reader with ever more ardent devotion to the Mother of God, the vessel of all graces and the paradigm and perfection of every virtue. As a guide to meditation and a catalyst for prayer, the Crown of the Virgin is an illuminating mirror of the beauty and splendor of the one who is herself the refulgent and immaculate image of her Divine Son.
 

Genres: Catholic, Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality

144 pages, Hardcover

Published January 5, 2021

Reviews

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book on the Blessed Mother and her crown. Beautiful, thought provoking prayers within the pages. Highly recommended. 😇

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancient Meditation book on Our Lady.

The author uses the analogy of building a crown of our Lady out of stones, stars and flowers.

Same style as something like the mystical city of God. Not something like St Louis de Montfort or Dr Plinio Correa de Oliveria.

Not bad though.

[Paul Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this is only my viewpoint, but while this book of poetry dedicated to Our Lady was truly beautiful and full of Scripture, it was too repetitive. I expected each aspect of the Crown that St. Idelphonsus was creating for the Virgin to be unique and to especially highlight a different virtue of the BVM, but all parts of the crown were ultimately too similar. For a poetic-minded soul wishing to learn the absolute basics of Mariology, this is perhaps a good read. Positives of the book include frequent references to the Immaculate Heart and Mary's role as Mediatrix, interesting concepts to be found in 7th century Spain.

[Rebecca Tabish · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best thing that you can say about a book is: I don't know if any book can top this one! This was a beautiful, contemplative and profound book on Our Blessed Mother, the greatest of God's Creations! The Author fashions a crown of gems, flowers and stars and explains why they are fitting adornments in the crown itself! This should be on the reading radar of every Catholic who loves Our Lady!

[Gilles Doncieux · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enlightening tome with poetic verse and meditative rhythm.

[Matthew Purt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pious devotional book to Our Lady.

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generally I tend to avoid derivative style books but found myself with a copy loaned by a friend. This reaffirmed my view about this style of spirituality discourse.