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
France
OUR LADY OF SÉ, OUR LADY OF LIFE, OUR LADY OF BETHLEHEM, ETC.
39 [continued] Our Lady also has a Church in Aix which is cared for by the Order of Minims[1]. It has a miraculous image of Our Lady who is seated and this explains the name of the Church : Our Lady of Sé[2]. Having been moved because of the civil wars, the statue was brought back from St Saviour’s Cathedral to its original home in 1521.
At Venasque, we have Our Lady of Life who has frequently intervened with favours for the still-born by bringing them back to life or at least by enabling them to receive baptism. Near Draguignan is the Church called Our Lady of Bethlehem which was built by a man who, having visited the Holy Land, made an explicit vow to build a chapel with this name in honour of the Virgin, choosing a place that was most like the site at Bethlehem.
When it comes to the wealthy city of Marseilles, I cannot speak of its devotion other than by saying it is a true Parthenopolis[3] – a city forming in a particular manner part of the domain of the MOTHER OF GOD, whose coat of arms you will find everywhere, both in the City and outside. Besides numerous Monasteries for both men and women which are consecrated to Our Lady, the Cathedral of St Mary Major which they call La Major, is dedicated to her blessed Nativity and Our Lady of Accoules[4] is dedicated to her triumphant Assumption. In St Martin’s Church is a much frequented chapel called Our Lady of Bon-Part[5]. A quarter of a league distant from the City may be found Our Lady of la Garde, serving as a protective fortress for Marseilles. The huge crowds that come here on the vigil of the Assumption and on the feast day itself bear ample witness to the holiness of this place. Descending the rocky eminence, we come to Our Lady of Veaune, formerly a convent with a remarkable event recorded about the Religious sisters there who when facing an attack from pirates agreed among themselves to cut their noses so as to preserve their chastity.
I have made a deliberate decision to leave out many other sites for reasons of space but I owe it to the glorious memory of St Louis to point out how, on his return from the Holy Land, he founded a Monastery for the Carmelite Fathers which was called Our Lady of Esgalades. Neither am I able to leave out the beautiful Church called Our Lady of Pity which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin on the holy and celebrated isle of Lérins by Aldebert II, Abbot of the ancient Monastery on that island.
Footnotes
[1] Minimi (or Minims): members of the religious order founded by St. Francis of Paula (1416-1507).
[2] Nowadays known as Notre-Dame de-la-Seds, ou Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède
[3] “City of the Virgin”
[4] Said to be so named from the waters of a nearby spring.
[5] Perhaps referring to safe delivery of women with child; or if a corruption of Bon-Port, a safe haven.
OUR LADY OF DON, OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL, OUR LADY OF THE MIRACLE, OUR LADY OF HOPE & OUR LADY OF THE LILY
40 Let us now proceed to the Venaissain County and there we shall find some very famous signs of devotion towards the Queen of Heaven. The noble City of Avignon, where I worked on this little work in honour of the Holy Virgin, is at the centre of this region and its citizens recognize the MOTHER OF GOD as their main Protectress and someone whom they have revered with a unique love for a very long time. She is especially honoured in the Cathedral where people arrive all day long in great numbers and a large proportion of them would not miss their daily visit for all the world. This Church is called Our Lady of Doms and amongst the common people Our Lady of Don. This may derive from the members of the Benedictine Order who are often called Doms and who have had the care of the Church for a long time; or it could derive from the name of the hill on which it stands and which used to be called the Rock of Andon and is now known as the Rock of Don. It was founded by St Martha as appears from Papal Bulls, notably by that of Sixtus IV, and according to a venerable tradition it was consecrated by Our Lord Himself. It is famous for the number of miracles that occurred at different times right from the beginning. It was sacked by the Saracens and restored by Charlemagne in the form we still see today. The Church was liberally endowed in order to permit the divine liturgy in perpetuity.
Besides this Church and a great number of religious houses with chapels dedicated to the MOTHER OF GOD, there is another which serves as both a Collegiate and a Parish Church at the same time. This is called Our Lady la Principale. There are several others associated with miraculous events, such as Our Lady of Good Counsel, Our Lady of the Miracle, Our Lady of Hope and Our Lady of the Lily.
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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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