The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 12 : § 5.66-69

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

OUR LADY OF SCHIEDEM & OUR LADY OF DORDRACH

 66   Holland is not any more lacking than other Provinces in the way the faithful have preserved signs of the ancient devotion of their ancestors and the affection shown by the most glorious Virgin, even though there has been much here to make them unworthy of this. The town of Schiedam takes great pride not only in the image they have of the most sacred MOTHER OF GOD but also in being the birthplace of Blessed St Lidwina.

There was a certain merchant dealing in foodstuffs who had a beautiful image of Our Lady that he intended to sell at the fair in Anvers. As he weighed anchor so as to leave the port of Schiedam, he found it quite impossible to make any headway, no matter what he did. Some of the townsfolk of Schiedam rushed to the scene to see what was happening and several went on board the vessel. When they saw the image of the Blessed Virgin, they came to the conclusion that she did not wish to go any further and this was the only thing that was stopping the merchant from setting sail. As soon as they had purchased the image which was to be the joy of their town and removed it from the vessel, the merchant was able to get under way without any difficulty and the wind filled his sails. The Citizens saw in this wonder the love that the Queen of Heaven had for their town and they carried her in solemn procession to the Church of St John the Baptist where soon she began to make herself known through the miracles she performed.

It was here that St Lidwina found an inspiration for her devotion, for she would often spend several hours at a time in front of the image, even from the age of seven years old. If on occasion this made her mother angry that she was spending too much time there, Lidwina would embrace her and say: “Dear mother, please don’t be angry; I went to greet Our Lady and she smiled sweetly at me.” She was regularly taken by her guardian Angel, whether in the spirit or otherwise, to a land in the East which was a true image of Paradise, but the Angel never failed to take her first to greet the Virgin of Schiedam.

Another town in Holland is Dordrecht where you can find the beautiful Church of Our Lady which was built by Saint Sure (or Sotère), Virgin and martyr.

Near the town is a brook called Dordrech and on the side of the brook was a tree which had a most holy image of Our Lady which this Saint came to visit frequently. Her devotion moved her to build a Church in her honour and the Holy Virgin gave her blessing to the idea. She despatched an Angel to her and he helped with the plan and all the measurements. The Angel also gave her three pieces of gold to cover the expenses and to pay the workmen. This made some thieves think that she had a hidden pot of money and in search of this, tragically, they murdered her.  A spring of water appeared on this very spot and people suffering from fevers come to drink from the spring and find a relief for their affliction.

England

OUR LADY OF THE BOWS, OUR LADY OF CANTERBURY AND OUR LADY OF WESTMINSTER

 67   We are conveniently placed to cross the sea and pay a visit to England where we shall go in search of the marks of English devotion, not that which is there now but that which in former times spread its fragrance around the world. This goes back to a time:

    • when the MOTHER OF GOD herself provided the ampulla used for the Anointing of English Kings, as I shall explain later[1];

    • when her image was borne at the head of armies in battle array[2];

    • when they would gain famous victories though few in number;

    • when people paid attention to St Anselm, St Edmund, to the venerable Bede, to Alexander of Hales, and to so many others who spoke of the wonders, of the excellence and of the holiness of her who was their visible protectress, turning aside the dangers that threatened them. 

We must not forget the memories of those times and the houses the Queen of Heaven still has in this Kingdom, even though profaned by the wickedness of a whole century, will help us greatly in this regard.

People formerly spoke only of the beautiful Church known as Our Lady of the Bows[3] in the City of London[4]. In the year of grace 1071[5], this Church was destroyed by a tornado along with more than six hundred houses in the City. The entire roof was ripped off and lifted into the air before, keeping its shape, it crashed into the ground. The timbers penetrated more than twenty feet and, as there was no way to retrieve them, they were sawn off past the chevron braces to permit the restoration of the pavement. Perchance this was a secret warning of storms yet more dangerous that would one day engulf the Realm, constraining the Queen of Heaven, the people’s protectress, to leave.

Footnotes

[1] Part III, chap.8, § 2.

[2] Willelmus Malmesburiensis, lib. I, c. 1 de Gestis Regnum Angl.

[3] The French text has Notre dame des Arcs, arcs here signifying “arches,” which in English were once referred to as “bows.” The modern name for the Church occupying this site is St Mary-le-Bow.

[4] Willelmus citatus, lib. IV in Willelmo II.

[5] This must be a copyist’s error for 1091, the year given by Malmesbury: see William of Malmesbury’s Chronicle of the Kings of England, JA Giles, 1847, at p342.

 68   At Lincoln[1] we can still the magnificent Church that was originated in the year 1080 by Remigius who had transferred his see there from the city of Dorchester. This beautiful building was built in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Remigius established a goodly number of Canons for the service of his Cathedral but he died just before its consecration, leaving that responsibility to Robert Bloet, his successor. St Hugh the Carthusian, a later Bishop of Lincoln[2], restored the Church[3] in honour of the Holy Virgin. The Walsingham centre of devotion is associated with an event that is worth recalling for all posterity. 

The first King Edward, while he was still young, was playing chess with a soldier in a chamber with a vaulted ceiling. Suddenly, without saying anything or knowing why he did it, he left the game and walked out of the room. He had scarcely done this when a massive stone fell from the vault down onto where he had been sitting and would certainly have crushed him had he still been there. This was a sudden miracle which he had no doubt was a special favour from the MOTHER OF GOD, for whom he had a particular devotion.

Footnotes

[1] Willelmus, ibidem, lib. IV.

[2] Rogerus de Heuedem, parte posteriore Annalium Angl. Probably a reference to The Annals of Roger de Hoveden, Comprising the History of England and of Other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201.

[3] Following an earthquake in 1185.

 69   I simply cannot be sure in which part of England the following incident happened in the life of St Laurence, Bishop of Dublin in Hibernia (Ireland)[1]:

This Saint had found it necessary to go to England for some necessities of his Church. It so happened that a very wealthy man had paid for the building of a beautiful Church for Our Lady and had given it into the care of a Hermit. The Holy Virgin appeared to the Hermit  and asked why her house had been left for so long without being consecrated. The Hermit replied that the local bishop had been out of the country for a long time and this was the only reason for the delay.

“Well here is some news,” said the MOTHER OF GOD, “for I neither wish nor intend my Church to be dedicated by him. There is another bishop here called Laurence and it is my wish that he should perform this service. Tell him that it will be for him a sign of my will that he will have no favourable wind to return [to his see in Dublin] until he completes the consecration.”

The Hermit recounted all this to the rich man who promptly invited the Saint to his home and revealed to him the details of the vision. To begin with, the holy Prelate put forward objections, being unwilling to undertake such a thing in the jurisdiction of the absent Bishop. In the end, however, after much prayer and consultation, it was found that Our Lady was able to grant a dispensation from the laws and procedures in such a case, and this was confirmed by the successful outcome. After the ceremony had been completed, they had scarcely finished dining when a favourable wind arose and St Laurence was able to sail happily back to Hibernia. There he built a Church for Our Lady which was much more magnificent even than the one he had consecrated in England.

In Canterbury, it really is not possible to visit the beautiful Church of Our Lady without recalling St Augustine, Archbishop of the same city and Primate of England, who was nourished and raised there like another Samuel. In Westminster there is a very fine Chapel that King Henry caused to be built[2]. He laid the first stone with his own hands and enriched it with many Church ornaments. It was there where he would attend three sung Masses every day, without counting the low Masses.

There is much more that might be said, not only about monasteries but about other places of devotion which used to attract such crowds of the faithful in this kingdom formerly of such flourishing devotion. It is now time, however, to move back to the continental mainland.

Footnotes

[1] Surius, 14 Novembr. ; Polydorus Virgil., lib. XIII Hist. Angliæ.

[2] The Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey, the King in question being Henry VII.

👑       👑       👑

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