In Praise of the Virgin Mary the God Bearer

<P><B>2026 Catholic Media Association Third Place Award, Spirituality Classical</B></P><P><B>Translated here in its entirety for the first time, Alan of Lille’s </B><I><B>Elucidatio in Cantica Canticorum </B></I><B>provides a measure for the originality of his Mariology.  </B><br><br>Fifty years after the death of Bernard of Clairvaux, Alan of Lille died in 1202 or 1203 among the Cistercians at Cîteaux. Celebrated in his own time as <I>doctor universalis</I>, Alan made pioneering contributions in a variety of genres. Best known today for his influential epic poems, the <I>Anticlaudianus</I> and the <I>Complaint of Nature</I>, Alan also composed a theological dictionary, a handbook for preachers, a defense of the catholic faith against the Cathars, and one of the first Marian commentaries on the Song of Songs. Translated here in its entirety for the first time, Alan’s <I>Elucidatio in Cantica Canticorum </I>illumines his other writings and provides a measure for the originality of his Mariology.</P>