The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 12 : § 5. 5-7

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).

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

Egypt

 5   Our Lady went to Egypt long ago with her Son and, even though they were fugitives, it would be surprising if she had not at the same time won over the country and left behind signs of her visit. I can identify at least three beautiful Churches in antiquity: one at Hermopolis[1], another at Damietta[2] and a third in Alexandria, built by St Peter[3], Patriarch of the city and glorious Martyr of the Lord. Even to this day, there is a place in Greater Cairo called Matariya which has a miraculous fountain obtained by Our Lady’s prayers when she fled into Egypt. It is an ancient tradition that the holy Virgin would come here to do her washing for little Jesus. Holy Mass is ocasionally offered with the permission of the Turks which they are willing to give because they themselves honour the MOTHER OF GOD who frequently provides cures for their illnesses when they drink the water of this fountain. About half a league away is Old Cairo which is in almost total ruins and where there is an underground chapel on a site where the it is said the Virgin lived for several years. The keepers of the Chapel are Christians called Copts. There are about four hundred households and their poverty is such that they have not been able to decorate the Chapel in a way their devotion would want.

Footnotes

[1] Palladius in Lausiaca.

[2] Canis., lib. V, c. 23.

[3] Baron., an. 310.

Africa

 6   If we move now from there to Africa, we will find that the Emperor Justinian[1] ordered the building of a beautiful Church in the city of Carthage to honour the MOTHER OF GOD. He called it Our Lady of Justinian and was happy to credit Our Lady with the victories he had gained over the Vandals whom he chased out of Africa and the Arians whom he significantly weakened. I shall cover elsewhere[2] the great rivalry in honouring the MOTHER OF GOD in the chapel dedicated to her in the citadel in Angola on the African coast, and the miraculous help that the Virgin given daily to Catholics in all sorts of ways. In Mozambique, formerly called Praso, which is a small island in East Africa, we see the famous Church of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte (Our Lady of the Bulwark). Now although this vast land, which makes up a quarter of the earth, shows signs today of the depredations it has suffered, there can however be no doubt that it offered its services to the Queen of Heaven in those days when St Cyprian, St Augustine, Fulgentius and so many other valiant Prelates lived there. They offered honour and love to her in ways that are indescribable and she had countless Churches and sanctuaries.

Footnotes

[1] Baron., an. 534, ex Procopio de ædificiis Justiniani.

[2] Tract. II, c. 7, § 3.

Ethiopia

 7   Let us now continue on to Ethiopia where Dom Francisco Alvarez tells us we will discover a fine building in the town of Aquaxumo which used to be known as St Mary of Sion. The sacred altar stone in this church came from Mt Sion. It is said to have been dedicated to the MOTHER OF GOD by the Queen Candace, but it is difficult to believe this was her whose Eunuch was baptized by St Philip, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. This is why I prefer to believe it was one of the others who followed later and left for posterity this sign of devotion towards the Virgin. Strabo the Geographer states that this name of Candace was common to all the queens of Ethiopia, as was Pharaoh with all the Kings of Egypt. You will note in passing that the Ethiopians, despite being schismatic, were not for that reason any less devout towards the Holy Virgin. They erected churches to her in various parts of the Kingdom, but not so ancient as the one in  Aquaxumo.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

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.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

© Peter Bloor 2024