Chapter 12 : The Eleventh Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God
Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr François Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020) |
She has been and is still recognized and called blessed by all generations in the world
§ 5. She was recognized and honoured by all Nations everywhere in the world
Portugal cont'd.
OUR LADY OF LIGHT
15 A few hours from Lisbon, we come to the famous Church called Our Lady of Light which I will introduce in a few words.
While Alfonso V was King of Portugal, reports began to circulate that people had seen lights appearing in various places. No-one had any idea of the reason until Pedro Martinez, who was being held as a prisoner in Barbary[1], was told by the MOTHER OF GOD that as soon as she cast off the shackles from his legs, he was to go to a place near Lisbon. There he would learn that lights had been seen and he was to build a chapel and call it Our Lady of Light. The Virgin had scarcely left him when he found himself carried to the place she had mentioned where he met a man called Loup Simon and his wife Agnes Anesia. He saw a fountain nearby and over it a light which was like a star. They followed the star into the forest until it stopped over a clump of trees and then it vanished. They pulled the branches of the coppice to the side and then they found among the rocks an image of the Virgin about one foot in height. She was clothed in a robe of white satin which looked as though it had just been produced by the seamstress. As for the image, no-one ever was bale to say what it was made of. Those whose curiosity went too far were struck blind or were attacked by a sudden illness. Martinez built a little shelter of branches around the image as best he could and then sold all his possessions so as to construct a truly beautiful chapel where countless miracles drew pilgrims from all regions. Maria, the wife of King Manuel decided this is where she wanted to be buried after her death and following her wishes the choir was faced with exquisite marble and she made many other endowments besides.
Footnotes
[1] A region of north and north-western Africa corresponding to parts of present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Now historical. The area was known between the 16th and 18th centuries as a base for pirates who raided ships in the Mediterranean.
OUR LADY OF ARABIDA, OUR LADY OF THE ROCK, OUR LADY OF LA GUARDIA, OUR LADY OF THE CAPE, OUR LADY OF VIRTUES
16 Near the mouth of the river Tagus is a beautiful Church that can be seen from some distance away. It is called Our Lady of Arabida and it takes its name from the rock on which it was built, as does the province of the Franciscan reform which originated there. Fr Francisco de Gonzaga, Minister General and later Bishop of Mantua, writes as follows in the history of the foundation of this province:
An English merchant was on a voyage to Portugal and a terrible storm arose which threatened to dash his ship against the rocks at the mouth of the Tagus. As there was no way of avoiding this disaster, he started to look for an image of the Virgin that he had with him on the ship so as to offer up his customary devotions in this time of need. He could not find the image and was on the point of despair when suddenly, looking upwards, he saw a light shining at the top of the rocks. He immediately thought this would guide him to safety like a lighthouse and would be a good omen. This proved to be the case for the Virgin by a miracle saved him from the rocks and the following day at dawn he went up with his companions to the highest point of the rocks with the aim of finding the source of the light he had seen the previous evening. At the summit, he saw the image of Our Lady that he had brought with him from his own country. At this, all present began to cry out: It’s a miracle! It’s a miracle! The merchant, however, was moved by very different feelings and the result was that he sold all he had on board the ship and built a chapel there in honour of the Virgin. It had a small hermitage where he spent the rest of his days in the service of the Queen of Heaven.
17 In the same Lisbon diocese, we shall discover three other Churches which are very famous: Our Lady of the Rock, Our Lady of La Guardia and Our Lady of the Cape where every Sunday may be seen three different processions in honour of the MOTHER OF GOD. They all have to yield, however, before the noble Church of Our Lady of Virtues which is in the same diocese. It is true that this Church began as no more than a little shelter built by a cowman who had found one of his oxen kneeling before an image of the Virgin that was hanging from the branch of a tree. Many visitors came to this site and so many miracles were performed here by Our Lady that it was decided to build a most beautiful Church here. Because of the countless wonders witnessed, it was called Nossa Senhora das Virtudes : Our Lady of Virtues.
OUR LADY OF THE BUSH, OUR LADY OF THE ROSE, OUR LADY OF THE GLADIOLI, OUR LADY OF THE STAR
18 Shortly after Gerald the Fearless had regained the city of Evora from the Moors,
there was a shepherd keeping watch over his sheep where the Portuguese had established their fort. He withdrew inside his little hut and there he saw the image of the Holy Virgin in the middle of a burning bush, far more dazzling than the flames surrounding her, in the same way that God appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb. We shall never know if she spoke to the shepherd but what we do know is that he sold everything he owned and chose a little corner of the fort where he placed the image to represent Heaven’s protection, dedicating himself totally to serving the Holy Virgin.
There are some who say this chapel was the mother of all the Churches built thereafter in the region of Evora. The Mother of Mercy did not delay in making this place famous and she has since honoured it with numerous miracles. It is now more than two hundred years ago since Vazquez Perdigon, Bishop of Evora, noted that the chapel was too small for the crowds who came from all over and he ordered the building of a fine monastery which is maintained by the Order of St Jerome.
I will speak later[1] of the great love King Alfonso had for this place which came to be known after what happened to the shepherd as Our Lady of the Bush. At Villaviciosa, which is the seat of the Dukes of Braganza, there are two beautiful Churches dedicated to the immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Elsewhere in the same diocese of Evora there are very famous places of devotion such as Our Lady of the Rose, Our Lady of the Gladioli and Our Lady of the Star, so called because of a star seen by a shepherd on the same spot. All of these places are famous for the great miracles that occur there almost daily.
Footnotes
[1] Tract. III, c. 7.
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SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
© Peter Bloor 2024
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