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
Italy
OUR LADY OF THE VAULT, OUR LADY OF THE ROSE & OUR LADY OF THE ROCK
104 In Florence, apart from the beautiful Church of the Annunziata[1] which I shall discuss later, there are numerous beautiful Churches and places of devotion dedicated to the Virgin. The whole city of Siena is specially dedicated to her and so it is no wonder that she has very beautiful Churches there and that she should feature over the gates of the city – in short, that we should find traces of her ladyship[2] everywhere. Several leagues from Nole, near a municipality called St Anastasia, there is a chapel of the Holy Virgin called Our Lady of the Vault. On the left hand side of this chapel is a wall with an image of the Holy Virgin holding her Son in her arms.
It had long been a centre of Marian devotion but this greatly increased after a certain man became angry that he had lost a game of billiards and threw the billiard ball at the image, hitting her left cheek and causing blood to flow. It left a wound on the cheek which became a red scar. The man was hanged from the scaffold with his billiard ball and cue.
In Orvieto we find the beautiful Church built by Pope Nicholas IV in honour of the Virgin and dedicated to Our Lady on the 13th November 1290. Then on to Lucca where we shall go and pay our respects to a centre of Marian devotion called Our Lady of the Rose which was formally outside the city walls but is now located inside them. We shall find there the reason for its foundation which dates back to the year 1269. The chapel wall used to form part of the old city wall and on it could be seen a painted image of Our Lady supporting little Jesus with her left arm and holding three roses in her right hand.
A young shepherd often used to lead his sheep to graze in the ditch surrounding the city. Whenever he brought them near the wall of the Chapel he was always amazed to see how none of his sheep would go near a large patch of earth which was covered in greenery. In fact, all of them would run away when they came near it as though they were being chased away by someone or something. This strange behaviour made him curious to find out what could be the cause. It was in the month of January when it is not usual to find roses growing in the fields; but as he drew near to to the patch, he found growing amongst the thorns a rose which was just as fresh and brightly coloured as any you would pick in the springtime. He took it back to his father and, lest anything be wanting in the joy they both felt, the son started to speak as he presented the rose to him, even though up until that moment he had dumb since birth. The father was utterly astonished and went to speak with the Bishop of Lucca, telling him everything that had happened. The Bishop asked to see the boy and to learn from his own lips the truth of what had happened. Not satisfied with that, he asked to be taken to the place where the rose had been picked and while he was carefully considering what could have been the cause of such a remarkable miracle, he found that the spot was exactly the one on which the eyes of Our Lady in the image were focused. The news of this event spread very quickly and drew crowds of people who came gaze in wonder at this miraculous image. The glorious Virgin freely bestowed her favours and graces on many of those who came to visit her in this way.
Footnotes
[1] Annunziata: Annunciate, as in the glorious Virgin Annunciate.
[2] Her rank, status, and authority as Lady of the city.
105 That story of the shepherd recalls an incident which involved two shepherdesses in the region of Fiesole in the same province of Tuscany, and which led to the construction of the beautiful and holy Church known as Our Lady of the Rock.
In the countryside of Fiesole there are certain rocks where two young sisters would regularly lead their sheep to graze and when the sun was at its hottest they would seek shelter from it by going into an opening in one of these rocks. For as long as anybody could remember there was an ancient image of Our Lady inside. The young girls would kneel down before the image and offer their prayers to the most glorious Virgin. The piety and the innocence of these two simple shepherdesses were so pleasing to the Queen of Heaven that on the feast day of the Visitation, as they were about to enter into the little cabin, she appeared over them with her beloved Son, surrounded by a resplendent cloud. The girls trembled with fear as soon as they saw her, but the holy Virgin reassured them, indicating she had something to say to their father and that she wanted a church to be built in her honour on this very spot where she had appeared to them. The father of the two girls came to the little cavern and the holy Virgin appeared to him in the same way as we have just described, telling him in a few words what he needed to tell the others concerning the church she wanted to be built. The old man diligently carried out this request and summoned all the villagers from the vicinity to a meeting at the place where the holy Virgin had already appeared twice. She graciously appeared for a third time to this crowd of people, in the same place and in the same way as before. This took place on the 22nd of August in the year 1490. She told them that she was asking to be served and honoured in this location, her intention being that a church should be built there. Immediately the people devoutly set about complying with the request of the holy Virgin.Those who had undertaken to construct the building, however, judged that the church would be more accessible for the inhabitants of this district if it were to be constructed at the foot of the hill and that is what they proceeded to do. Then came another miracle. What they built up during the day was found to have been dismantled when they returned the next day. From this they understood well enough that it was the holy Virgin’s will that they should build the church in the exact place that she herself had indicated and where she had actually appeared. They changed their plans accordingly and in less than no time the church was completed. So many miracles were reported that this became one of the most frequented sites in the whole of Tuscany.
Near Viterbo, there is a fine monastery dedicated to Saint Dominic which originated in the following manner.
A respectable townsmen of Viterbo called Baptiste Clavier owned a vineyard near the town which he had entrusted to the care and protection of the glorious Virgin. With this in mind, he had hung an image of the Virgin painted on brick from a great oak tree growing in the centre of the vineyard. The image stayed there for the space of forty years until 1467 when the holy Virgin appeared to several devout persons and asked them to open up a road enabling people to come and visit her image which was in Clavier’s vineyard, and to build an altar. She told them that she had chosen that spot to be a source of graces and blessings from Heaven. The news of this spread quickly and the bishop of Viterbo was informed. With his consent they built firstly a small chapel and then later, a beautiful and impressive church, together with a monastery which was given into the care of the order of Saint Dominic. The holy Virgin showed that she was no less faithful in keeping her promises than she was generous in fulfilling them.
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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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