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
Spain
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
26 The votive tablets which hang on all sides in the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe are unquestionable proof not only of the great favours bestowed by the MOTHER OF GOD on those who entrust themselves to her in their needs but also of the exceptional devotion of the people here. Here is the history of how this Church came to be built[1].
The great Pope St Gregory had a particular admiration for Leander, Archbishop of Seville, which he showed in various ways but especially in dedicating to him the book of moral commentaries he wrote on Job. He also sent him a beautiful statue of Our Lady which was held in great affection by the faithful in Seville and was greatly esteemed thereafter because of the endless succession of miracles associated with the statue. When the Moors occupied Spain, the people of Seville hid the statue in a cave along with the body of St Fulgentius, Bishop of Écija and brother of St Leander, where they remained for thirteen hundred years. At the end of this time, the MOTHER OF GOD wanted to renew the ancient miracles and she revealed to a shepherd the whereabouts of this double treasure. She asked him to bring the Clergy of the town of Cáceres and show them where the cave was and she promised him that there they would find her image as well. In order that the shepherd would have faith in her words, she told him that he would find a little child had died when he got back to his home but that he would come back to life when touched by the image. On returning home the Shepherd found his grandson had died and he took this as proof of the truth of what he had seen and heard. Confident in the rest of the Lady’s message, he went to tell the Clergy who realized that the fulfilment of the message given to the Shepherd meant it must have come from Heaven. The decision was immediately taken to build a Chapel here and it was soon visited by countless pilgrims and honoured by numerous miracles.
Later, King Alfonso XI ordered the building of a beautiful Church where he sponsored the celebration of a Mass in perpetuity. Today it is maintained by the Hieronymite Order to whom it was assigned by King Juan I of Castile.
Footnotes
[1] Joann. Mariana, lib. VI de Rebus Hispaniæ.
[Note from translator:
"So the Shrine came into existence at Guadalupe and became one of the most important pilgrimage places of Spain. It was at the Royal Monastery of Guadalupe that Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand thanked God and Our Lady – often called La Victoriosa – for the successful completion of La Reconquista on January 1, 1492. There they also commissioned the expedition of Christopher Columbus, who prayed at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe before setting out on his voyage. Cortés and Pizarro also made a pilgrimage there before their historic voyages, as did the Franciscan Friar Zumárraga – who would become the Bishop of Mexico City – before he set out for the New World. Columbus, and later the conquistadores, carried a replica of the image with them on their journeys, and the missionaries who accompanied these men to the newly occupied countries, particularly Mexico, spread the veneration of the Virgen de Guadalupe wherever they went. This probably inspired Bishop Zumárraga, after the apparitions on the hill of Tepeyac, to name the new Shrine in Mexico in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain. The new Guadalupe in Mexico was eventually to surpass its prototype in importance and renown.
Columbus would return to the Spanish Guadalupe with the first Native American converts he had brought back from the New World, so that they could be baptized under Our Lady's patronage. When Cortés returned from the New World, he spent nine days at the Shrine of Extremadura in prayer, thanksgiving and abundant alms for the poor.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain has distinctive mixed Moorish and Spanish characteristics. It is interesting to note that the name Guadalupe – where the casket and the image had been found – is also a mixed Arab-Latin word meaning River of the Wolf; for Extremadura for centuries – particularly during the Middle Ages – was infested with wolves. During the Moorish rule, the place had been called Wadi'l-lubb. The first part of the name, Wadi, is an Arab word for river or valley; the second part is said to come from the Latin lupus (wolf).
The statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe was canonically crowned by Pope Pius XI on October 12, 1928, during a ceremony attended by King Alfonso XIII. In 1955 Pope Pius XII declared the church of the Royal Monastery to be a Minor Papal Basilica."
See: SalveMariaRegina for further information and images.]
OUR LADY OF THE ROCK OF FRANCE (NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA PEÑA DE FRANCIA)
27 It would be a great mistake for us to omit mention of a very famous location in the Diocese of Salamanca which recalls the devotion of our ancestors and which is known as Our Lady of the Rock of France, because it is situated on a mountain of the same name.
This Church is celebrated throughout Spain because of the great favours it has received from Heaven. Old manuscripts of the Church tell the story of a man called Simon Vela, originally known as Simon Vêlé who came from Paris. After the death of his mother and father, he distributed all his goods among the poor and retired to a monastery as a member of the Third Order of St Francis, without taking the habit. During his time there, he was told on two separate occasions in dreams to travel to the West and find an image of the Queen of Heaven on a mountain called Peñafrancia (Rock of France). To this end, he spent five whole years travelling across France but without finding anything.
He then decided to cross over into Spain and visit the noble Church of St James in Galicia. He prayed incessantly to the MOTHER OF GOD, asking her to lead him to the treasure he was seeking. Whilst he was in Salamanca, he received directions for the mountain he was trying to find. Being transported, he fell into a gentle sleep and the Queen of Angels appeared to him, surrounded by light. She told him how to find the image that she wanted to be honoured on the crest of this mountain. This took place on Wednesday the 19th of May 1430. Simon, who was then forty-nine years old, dug in the spot which had been shown to him and, having found the image, he constructed a shelter for it made from branches. Eventually, miracles began to occur and the news caused people to come here from all parts. Their generosity enabled Simon to build a Chapel on the site. Some time later, King Juan II of Castile ordered the building of a beautiful Church here which he entrusted to the Dominican Fathers.
Simon laboured unceasingly in the service of the MOTHER OF GOD and after his death at the age of fifty-three he was laid to rest most honourably in an attractive chapel next to the high Altar.
OUR LADY OF ALBEZA & OTHER CHURCHES DEDICATED TO OUR LADY
28 In the Diocese of Braganza all the talk is about a Church called Our Lady of Albeza where the Queen of Angels has been pleased to give many proofs of her favour. In Madrid there is stiff competition from Our Lady of Atocha which is outside the city walls. In Cordoba, people are very proud of Our Lady of the Holy Font which is where Fr Thomas Sanchez, one of the learned writers of our time, would always spend his first day every time he went on a journey to Cordoba. In Valencia there is a chapel dedicated to the Virgin called Our Lady of the Forsaken. It contains an image of the Virgin of the same name housed in a cabinet and whenever someone is drowned or murdered the sound of knocking can be heard in the cabinet. The local inhabitants are used to this and can now identify the signs showing where to find the dead body or the place where the murder has been committed. Blessed Gaspar the Good, a monk of the Order of Minims, was devoted to this Chapel and went there often.
OUR LADY OF MONTSERRAT
29 The Church of Our Lady of Montserrat in Catalonia is one of the foremost in the world for devotion and is so famous that there is nowhere in Christendom that has not heard of it. The history of the site was written in 1600 and dedicated to Henry the Great by the Religious of the Monastery which adjoins the Church. This history and the memoirs of several reputable authors tell the following story:
In the year 890 on a Saturday evening some shepherds were meeting together on the mountain when suddenly they saw lights being brought down from on high into a certain cave and they then saw a multitude of Angels coming down from Heaven. They made the cave and the whole mountain resound to their Celestial music.
If ever there were men utterly astounded it was these poor shepherds who were rendered speechless and did not know what to think. As soon as they were back in their homes they described everything they had seen and heard to their families, their friends and to anyone they met. The result was that the following Saturday people flocked to the mountain from all parts to witness the miracle. Their hopes were not misplaced for at the same hour as before, after the sun had set, they saw the lights and the heard the music. They went back to their homes in a spirit of holy and devout astonishment.The matter reached the ears of the Bishop of Barcelona who, having witnessed for himself what happened, assembled his clergy and they came in procession in order to take the image of Our Lady from the cave where it had been found and to carry it to the Cathedral where it might be housed more fittingly. They honoured the image in a way no different from the Angels. There was a procession headed by the Cross, followed by the Clergy and then came the Bishop who went into the cave. He picked up the image and was able to walk a few steps out of the cave but then found it impossible to go any further. Everyone took this to mean that Our Lady wanted to be honoured and served in this particular spot and that she did not wish to leave the cave. Accordingly, the Bishop ordered a beautiful Church to be built there and it immediately became famous for the countless miracles that occurred.
30 Around this mountain may be seen thirteen Hermitages dedicated to various Saints as well as a beautiful Monastery dedicated to Our Lady by Godfrey of Pelaia the Count of Barcelona a short while after the discovery of the image. Here is the story:
There was a young lady possessed by an evil spirit which was cast out of her by an anchorite called Juan Guerin who lived in the vicinity. The spirit then directed its attentions to the hermit and caused more trouble to him than it had to the girl, for he became prey to terrible temptations which took away his strength of will and led him to lust after the girl. Now, as one sin leads to another, having committed the first sin with her he then fell into despair. It was while reduced into this state that his troubled spirit led him to think his only option was to get rid of the poor girl. Having done this, he buried her in a hidden place on the mountain.After a certain time had passed, as his conscience would give him no respite from his shame and guilt, he sought out the Bishop and confessed his sins. He received a penance which was to lasyt seven years and he began it like a second Nabuchodonosor, crawling on his hands and knees to eat grass in the fields. Not satisfied with this, he went to Count Godfrey and confessed his double crime against the person of his daughter. He offered to do anything he might require by way of satisfaction. The father asked to be taken to the place where his daughter had been buried. They went and opened the tomb. They found the young lady was alive and well; she prostrated herself at the feet of her father and begged forgiveness for her sin. The father was delirious with joy, raised her up, embraced her and wanted to take her back home. But she would hear none of this and, on the contrary, asked affectionately to be allowed to spend the remainder of her days in the same place serving the MOTHER OF GOD from whom she had received life twice over. The father consented to her request and built this beautiful Monastery for a community of Benedictine Sisters, of whom she was chosen as the first Abbess. She lived and died there in a most saintly manner.
Several centuries later, as the numbers of pilgrims to the site kept increasing, the Bishop of Barcelona decided it was not prudent for these sisters to be exposed to such crowds in such a lonely place. Accordingly, he built a house for them in the city and transferred the Monastery to Benedictine monks who have maintained it with a great reputation for holiness. The Holy Fathers John II, Boniface VIII, Benedict XIII and Nicholas V, as well as many others, have honoured this house with great privileges and enriched it with several apostolic blessings.
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| Our Lady of Montserrat Misburg3014, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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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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