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
§ 6. She has been recognized and honoured by all the Orders, firstly by the Military orders
1 Up until this point we have seen the Mother of God like the Angel in the Apocalypse[1] standing upon the sea and upon the Earth, meaning there are no limits or boundaries to her domain here below other than the Sun and the Moon. Henceforth we are going to find her on the banners of all the Orders, both military and regular, leading us to understand that she takes a leading role in war as well as in peace, and that she is no less redoubtable at the head of armies as she is worthy of veneration in the sanctuaries of Churches. Here she appears fair as the moon, there she appears as terrible as an army set in array[2]. Here she warms the souls of her children and her servants, there she inspires with courage the hearts of her soldiers and fills with dread those of the enemy. Here she receives vows and prayers, there she is presented with the trophies of victory. Here we serve her with hands joined in prayer and with a humble heart, there we do battle on her behalf with our hands raised, wearing full armour. Here she protects us from invisible enemies, there she strengthens us against enemies we can see. Here she is like Jerusalem, there she resembles the war tents of Cedar and the pavilions of Solomon. Here she is surrounded by Choirs of Angels singing of peace, there the entire Heavenly Host surrounds her. No matter where she is, however, she gives sure proof of her power and her goodness to those who serve her in their hearts.
I am going to present her under both of these aspects and I hope that you will find this helpful. You will see her first of all leading the Military Orders that have been formed to advance the glory of God and to spread His church around the world. Then immediately afterwards, you will see her guiding the regular Orders that God has called forth to spread and increase the service we offer. I feel obliged to say something about both these Orders since they have always benefited so greatly from the graces and favours of the Holy Virgin and because from the beginning they have shown remarkable zeal in promoting her name and honour everywhere.
Footnotes
[1] Apoc. x. 5.
[2] Cant. vi. 9.
The Order of Our Lady of the Star
2 France has from the beginning shown a devotion to serving the most glorious Virgin and it is in France where we see the beginning of the military Orders dedicated to her service. The first I have been able to discover is the Order of Our Lady of the Star which was founded by King Robert in the year 1022[1]. This King had a deep devotion and was happy to place himself at the service of the Queen of heaven whom he was wont to refer to as the Star of his Kingdom. Two years after creating the peers of France, he instituted in her honour the Order which he called the Order of the Star on the feast of her Nativity in the afore-mentioned year. It was composed of thirty Knights, including the King of France who was in perpetuity the Chief and sovereign Grand Master. Each member wore a tunic or surcoat of crimson damask, a cloak of white damask with crimson lining and a mantlet. On the left-hand side of the tunic was a five-pointed star embroidered in gold thread. The great collar[2] was made of an interlinked gold chain incorporating three links of golden roses enamelled alternately in white and red. The Knights were bound to recite each day five decades of the Rosary, together with certain prayers that this Prince most pious had composed seeking Heaven’s blessings for himself and for his successors as Kings of France.
Footnotes
[1] Andr. Favin., Theatri Honoris, lib. IV.
[2] The ornamental chain which forms part of the insignia of orders of knighthood.
The Order of Knights of Our Lady of the Lily
3 Following the example of this great and devout French King, Don García de Nájera, the King of Navarre, instituted the Order of Our Lady of the Lily in honour of the sacred Virgin[1], who is the Lily among thorns[2] and the Mother of the true Lily of the valleys[3]. This was in the year 1048 after he had been cured of a grave illness when a miraculous image of the most glorious Virgin had been found in the town of Nájera. She is represented as though blossoming from a beautiful white Lily and holding her Son in her arms. The King commissioned a Church to be built at the same spot where the image had been found and this is where most of the Kings of Navarre are buried. The Order was composed of thirty-eight Knights of the most ancient families of Navarre and Biscay. They wore on their breast a Lily embroidered in silver threads. On solemn occasions they wore a double chain of gold interlaced with an oval, showing a golden Lily enamelled in white blossoming from the soil and, under a crown, a golden letter M, which is the first letter of Mary. They were bound to say the Ave Maria every day a certain number of times.
Footnotes
[1] Andr. Favin., lib. III Hist. Navarræ.
[2] Cant. ii. 2.
[3] Cant. ii. 1.
The Order of the Knights of Malta
4 The Order of St John of Jerusalem was later called the Order of the Knights of Rhodes, but when Rhodes fell it was renamed the Order of the Knights of Malta and it has retained this name. It might equally well be called the Order of Our Lady. Before the final conquest of the Holy Land (and especially the Holy City of Jerusalem) in the year 1100, the Christians of the Western Church, often called Latin Christians, had obtained from the Caliph in Egypt, who was then master of Palestine and Syria, permission under strict conditions to live near the Holy Sepulchre. They had built a Church and a Monastery there dedicated to the glorious Virgin, to whose protection and safekeeping they entrusted themselves. They called it Saint Mary of the Latins.
At the time, their intention was simply to protect the holy places and to provide a charitable welcome to the pilgrims whose devotion brought them from all parts of Christendom. The numbers eventually became so great, however, that there was no longer sufficient accommodation for them. Accordingly, it was decided to build a hostel adjoining their first house and they called it after St John, in memory of St John the Baptist who had so often frequented that place when praying. In a little while the growth in visitors and alms became so great that Innocent III decided this would become a bastion of the Christian religion and so he conferred on them the title of a military Order. He instructed them to wear the livery of Our Lady which consisted of a white cross on their black cloaks. We also discover in the histories written of them that the most sacred MOTHER OF GOD, to whom they offered so much honour, helped and sustained them on countless occasions in their struggles against the enemy.
In the year 1480 the Turks, numbering some 40,000, made the final assault on the defences at Rhodes. The Christians had recourse to Heaven and displayed around the ramparts in view of the enemy the standards of Our Lord, of the Holy Virgin and of Saint John the Baptist, imploring them to come to their aid amidst great cries and groaning. That same moment, the heretics noticed a Lady of extraordinary beauty doing the rounds of the walls. She was carrying a lance in her right hand and a shield in her left. Accompanying her was another saint simply clad but possessed of a rare Majesty, none other than St John the Baptist. This caused such dread in their hearts that they were forced to retreat, even though the sins of the Christians, reaped their reward and God permitted this beautiful island to fall into the hands of the heretics.
The help received from her during the siege of Malta was no less than in the siege mentioned above. I shall content myself, however, with saying what I said a little earlier when during our tour of the world we passed by the Island of Malta. To sum up, it would be as easy to count the stars in the firmament as the help and favours which they received on Malta from the holy Virgin during their countless trials and tribulations.
👑 👑 👑
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
No comments:
Post a Comment