The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 12 : § 5.78-80

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

Germany

THE HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN, OUR LADY OF TRUT & OUR LADY OF HILDESHEIM

 78   Coming down the river Rhine we arrive at a place which is some two short leagues from Spires[1] and is much visited because of the miracles reported there. In German, it is known as Waghenselein ou Magdthenselein which means the Home of the Virgin. Near the municipality of Ringgau (which is to the north of Mainz) there is a centre of devotion and a place of pilgrimage called Marienthal, , a word similar to Maryvale in our language and meaning the valley of Mary. Not far from Cologne is the monastery called Our Lady of Trut. Emperor Otto commissioned its construction and entrusted it to St Heribert, Archbishop of Cologne who stated it was his wish to be buried there.

A memorable thing happened[2] to this holy Prelate in connection with this project because, not knowing where to locate the building, he addressed himself to the Holy Virgin and asked her in all humility to show him some sign of her will in this matter. The bountiful Mother immediately answered his request and specified a certain place where previously demons had been worshipped , declaring that her intention was that where sin had reigned, there justice would reign in the multitude of Saints.

Footnotes

[1] Speyer

[2] In Vita S. Heriberti, apud Surium.

 79   In the Duchy of Brunswick we shall find in the Church and Monastery dedicated to Our Lady of Hildesheim evidence of the extraordinary devotion of Louis the Pious, son of the Emperor Charlemagne, towards the glorious Virgin.

This Prince had gone hunting with no other companion than his chaplain. He had gone quite far into a forest when he decided he wanted to pray to God, as was his custom. He dismounted from his horse and instructed his chaplain to place before him the statue of the glorious Virgin which he took with him wherever he went. Having completed his prayers, he remounted his horse but he chaplain, in his hurry to follow the Emperor, forgot to bring the statue and did not remember this until the following morning when it was time to bring it to His Majesty for prayer. He mounted his horse and searched diligently for it but this caused him no little trouble because the forest was very extensive. Finally, however, he located the statue but he found it completely impossible to pick it up from the place where it was, so he was obliged to go back to the Emperor and tell him what had happened. The pious and kind-hearted Prince did not say anything, keeping his thoughts to himself, but that night he was instructed to build a Church at the same spot where the statue had been left. He promptly complied with this request, adding a fine monastery with a royal foundation.

The place was called Hildesheim, as explained by Albert Krantz, from whose history I obtained the details given above.

Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen)

 80   In the Duchy of Juilliers[1] there is no more splendid sight than the beautiful Church of the Virgin at Aix-la-Chapelle, from which the city takes its name. It is a masterpiece reflecting the devotion and royal magnificence of the great King and Emperor Charlemagne. He decorated the Church with numerous marble columns and supplied it with several precious relics which he obtained from various sources, most notably the robe of the most glorious Virgin. He founded it in perpetuity with a royal munificence, making the way the Holy Robe was displayed so glorious that it immediately achieved fame and it seemed so perfect that nothing could be added to it. Every seven years it was put on display for the space of thirteen days and the number of visitors who came to the shrine from every district in Germany, France, the Low Countries, Esclavonia[2], Saxony, Frisia, Hungary, Bohemia and elsewhere, was so great that in the year 1440, nineteen people died and eighty were seriously injured because of the sheer numbers of people thronging the site. The Esclavonians, Hungarians and Bohemians have their own altars with chaplains dedicated to them and to the administration of the Sacraments on the occasion of this great solemnity. 

This account would, however, have no end if I were to go into all the details of this glorious undertaking. Those who are interested can pursue the subject in the writings of 

• Avantin, in the fourth volume of his history of Bavaria, 
• Peter Breek in the research has carried out on Aix-la-Chapelle, and 
• Balingen in his inventory of the Relics of the Holy Virgin.

Footnotes

[1] Possibly Jülich.

[2] "Esclavonia" stands for Slavonia. Croatians were known in the West as Schiavoni, Schiavone, Schiavona, Sclavons, Esclavon and Slavonian for over 1000 years.

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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