The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 12 : § 5.51-53

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

France

OUR LADY OF NANTES or OUR LADY OF GOOD HELP, OUR LADY OF SUCCOUR & OUR LADY OF SAFE HAVEN

 51   We now arrive in Brittany and come to the beautiful Cathedral in Nantes which St Felix the Bishop dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Later, the Church suffered at the hands of the Vikings but Alan the Duke of Brittany, nicknamed Wrybeard or Twisted-Beard, won a glorious victory over them in 937. He restored the Church so that it was actually more beautiful than before and renamed it Our Lady of Good Help because he attributed the success of his victorious arms to the glorious Virgin. On the outskirts of the ancient city of Rennes, we shall pay a visit to Our Lady of Succour, who is willing to help people in all their needs but especially little still-born babies. In Dol there is a Chapel called Our Lady of Safe Haven where they will show you numerous prayers pinned up around the altar. These are for the most part prayers of thanksgiving from those who received help from the Holy Virgin when caught in storms or peril on the sea.

OUR LADY OF ROUEN, OF BAYEUX, OF  ÉVREUX, OUR LADY OF GOOD NEWS, OUR LADY OF SUCCOUR, OUR LADY OF GOOD HELP

 52   Moving across into Normandy, we shall note the large crowds continually flocking to Our Lady of Rouen which is one of the most magnificent and most frequented Churches in France. We shall also take in Our Lady of Évreux, of Bayeux and many more. At various locations we shall come across places consecrated to the Holy Virgin where she occasionally gives proof of her presence and the pleasure she derives from the devotion shown towards her. This is the case, for example, with Our Lady of the Meadows which adjoins the city of Rouen. Near the same city we shall observe countless members of the faithful who go to Our Lady of Good News every day but especially on Saturdays. The place is frequented by all manner of persons but especially by women and they receive many extraordinary blessings, especially to help with problems of child-birth. Three leagues outside Caen we come to Our Lady of Succour where each year there is a procession for the townsfolk who make their way to the Church as to a refuge. In the small province of Perche next to Normandy there is a town called Roumalard and not far away is a little Church called Our Lady of Good Help where people suffering from various afflictions go in search of consolation and where they often find a remedy for the problems besetting them.

OUR LADY OF BOULOGNE, OUR LADY OF THE FOREST, OUR LADY OF BIACHE, OUR LADY OF MOYEN-PONT, OUR LADY OF AMIENS & OUR LADY OF NOYON

 53   In Picardy, they will show us more places dedicated to the sacred Virgin than in any other province of France. Let us begin with the County of Boulogne which was given to her in perpetual fief by King Louis XI. Our Lady of Boulogne was built by Clotaire II and since his reign several of his successors have shown their strong devotion to her, including Henry II. The Church is one of the most ancient sites of Marian devotion in France and below is the traditional account of its origins, as will be shown at greater length in a book which will focus on this and the miracles that have occurred here.

It is believed this statue was brought to Boulogne-sur-Mer in the year 633 on a ship steered by Angels; it was received by wondering crowds of townsfolk and subsequently honoured not only by people from neighbouring districts but also  from countries and foreign peoples far distant from France. The miracles that began to occur drew countless souls to this devotion.

In 1544 King Henry VIII of England captured Boulogne-sur-Mer and carried off the statue of Our Lady back to England, a country already suffering from the depredations of heretics. King Henry II of France retook Boulogne from the English and persuaded the English King to return the statue of Our Lady. This was duly placed back in its original position and the received the customary honour and devotion as before, but this did not last long. Amongst other problems in France at this time was that of the Huguenots, sworn enemies of pious beliefs and devotions. When they saw what was happening in this Church, they seized the statue of the Holy Virgin and abused it with such insolence and in such a criminal way that they were worse than savage barbarians. They tossed the statue into the fire several times but it never burned, despite being made of wood. They tried to chop it into pieces with axes, but their efforts were in vain. Finally, unable to tolerate its presence in the Boulogne any longer, they took it to a Huguenot house on the coast not far from the same town and threw it into the well of the château of Honnau. The Lady of this château was a Catholic and rescued the statue secretly from the well, placing it in a hidden spot where she could offer her devotions privately. Here, this virtuous Lady, kneeling before the statue she had preserved, implored the Queen of the world so insistently that in the end she obtained the conversion of her husband followed by a host of spiritual and temporal blessings. The statue stayed in this house for around forty years until in 1609 a holy hermit called Vespasien de Fontaine was inspired by God to go in company with a secular priest to the gentleman’s house. I heard this story from the lips of the priest himself. The statue was returned for the third time to Boulogne and was there for the space of twenty years, despite every obstacle hell was able to put in the way of its restoration.

 

Finally, in the year 1629, Claude Dormy the Bishop of Boulogne rebuilt the chapel of Our Lady of Boulogne which the English had sacked. He was succeeded as Bishop by Victor Boutellier who had many strong qualities and was particularly devoted to the glorious Virgin. He obtained advice from the Doctors at the Sorbonne and from a most honourable Congregation that he summoned to the Bishop’s hall. Present were Royal representatives alongside Deans, Cantors and other important figures from the Chapter. Then to the delight of all the townsfolk and amidst much public rejoicing the statue was borne solemnly to the Church on Easter Saturday, the 30th of March 1630. This poor statue had been mistreated in so many ways and it was repaired and restored before being returned to its place in the Church. A small part had broken off and the priest I already mentioned agreed to take this to the Fathers of the Third Order of St Francis to be placed in their Church called Our Lady of Grace, which is near Paris. Our Lady is shown in a small boat with two Angels who are shown as steersmen.

In the same County of Boulogne, you will hear them speak about the chapel called Our Lady of the Forest as being famous for the crowds of faithful who flock there to show their devotion. Near the town of Péronne on the river Somme, we find Our Lady of Biache, which is the name of an Abbey of Cistercian Sisters which is dedicated to the glorious Virgin. Two leagues away from this town, on the French side, is Our Lady of Joy which is very well-known in that region.  Another two leagues away, but on the Flemish side, is Our Lady of Moyen-Pont. Its history and miracles have been described by Fr Jean Le Boucher, of the Order of Minims.

He says that the shepherd of a certain farmer in the locality was leading his flock to graze near the ponds there used to be where now you find the meadows of Hamelet. He suddenly saw unexpectedly an image of the glorious Virgin. He pointed it out to his neighbours and then to others who rushed to the spot. They all agreed that the MOTHER OF GOD wanted to be honoured and served at that place. This explains why from the beginning there was a sturdy little chapel here which was later considerable enlarged until, in 1612 it was rebuilt entirely in the way we see it today.

At Amiens, the famous Church of Notre-Dame is celebrated not only for its beauty but also for the wonderful graces it enjoys and which it shares with the faithful who come to visit. The Church of Our Lady of Noyon is famous for similar reasons.

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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