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
§ 7. How she was recognised and honoured in the Regular Orders
The Order of the Annunciation (conclusion)
33 There is something I wish to add concerning the way the Order was approved because this reveals the wondrous way in which God was able to change people’s minds in order to bring His plans to fulfilment.
Father William Morin, a member of the Observant Franciscans, had gone to Rome at the request of Blessed Jeanne in order to present her Rule to Pope Alexander VI who was then the Vicar of Our Lord on Earth. Fr Morin was unable to achieve anything, despite the signs of goodwill that the Holy Father had shown to him when he arrived. This was because the Prelates in the consistory of Cardinals were by common agreement opposed to this novelty. The courageous handmaid of God, however, was in no way put off by this refusal since her faith rested on the solid rock of the divine promises she had received. On the contrary, a short while afterwards she asked Fr Gabriel Maria, her confessor, to undertake the journey to Rome and to speak again with his Holiness about the confirmation of her Order.
Father Gabriel was delighted to comply with her request but it would have been another fruitless journey if the Mother of Mercy had not intervened just at the right moment. He was on the point of returning to France because the Cardinals had persisted in their disapproval of this new Order and the Pope was unable to go against the common recommendation of the sacred College. He decided to spend a night praying before the image of the most sacred Virgin and asking her to bring this project to a successful conclusion. He succeeded so happily in this respect for, after celebrating mass the following morning, he was summoned by Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Ferrier, Bishop of Medina and highly esteemed in the Court of Rome, a person most dear to the Pope and entrusted with the most important matters in the Church. This Cardinal told Fr Gabriel that he had been with him the whole of the previous night, together with Saint Lawrence and Saint Francis who had appeared to him and recommended Princess Jeanne’s plan for the new Order, which is what had brought Fr Gabriel to the Court. He added that he had resolved to give his support to her request, which he did with such skill and success that the Pope and the Cardinals were finally persuaded by the weight of his reasoning and the power of his wise advice.
In this way the devotion of the Princess led to her seeing the fulfilment of her dreams. After offering heartfelt thanks to God in His divine goodness and to the Queen of Heaven who governs hearts in ways she deems best, blessed Jeanne applied herself diligently to the building of the Royal monastery in Bourges. This was completed on the Feast of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin in the year 1503. She led her daughters to the monastery, having already conferred on them the habit of the Order. They had for a long time been determined to consecrate themselves to God and to His most immaculate Mother. On the feast of Pentecost earlier in the same year, Blessed Jeanne had herself taken a solemn vow to serve their Majesties and consequently she was the first of the Professed in this Order of the Annunciation. In the end, she was to leave behind exceptional examples of all the virtues; she had spread a sweet fragrance of holiness around her; and apart from the graces and favours she received, she also had to endure illnesses and other physical trials. She was called to a higher life on the 4th of February in the year 1504. She was forty years old and had spent her life in continual exercises of penance and devotion.
The Genoese Order of Annunciates[1]
34 Here is another Order of the Annunciation and you will note a reference to Genoa in its title because that is where it originated. In France they are called the Blue Nuns because of the habit they wear. Blessed Maria Vittoria, a native of Genoa, founded the Order and Father Bernardino Zannoni of the Society of Jesus contributed greatly to the birth of this new Order.
Maria Vittoria had been married against her will and this had frustrated her long-held desire to enter the Religious life. Her husband was a noble citizen of Genoa called Angelo Strata, but he died leaving her a widow at the age of only twenty-five, responsible for three sons and two daughters without counting a fourth unborn son whom she was carrying at the time. She was very greatly affected by her husband’s death and in the depths of her affliction she felt strongly moved to seek help from the Holy Virgin. She knelt down on both knees before her image and presented her children to their Heavenly Mother.
The history of her life tells how the Comforter of the afflicted then appeared to her, promising that all her children would one day serve her Son and His Mother in Religious houses and Maria Vittoria herself would found an Order specially dedicated to her. This filled her with such joy that not only did her tears cease immediately but before leaving that place she took a vow of chastity, of never wearing silk garments and of renouncing worldly interactions and conversations. She had beautiful hair which she cut and kept short from that point onwards. She gave herself entirely to pious exercises but her main thought was how to go about founding this Order which would have a special profession of honouring the Mother of God. The more she tried to move the project forward, the more difficulties she encountered. Satan was throwing up so many problems that unless she had received help from all powerful grace, she would most certainly have been defeated in her plans. Finally, however she received the grace necessary to give her victory and she became mistress of the field of battle. Having defeated her opponents through the help she received from God and the Holy Virgin who was guiding her, she saw her children enter various Religious Orders. After the death of several of her children, she herself triumphantly received the Religious habit on the 5th of August in the year 1604 from the hands of Archbishop Spinola of Genoa (who later became a Cardinal), together with four companions, namely Vincentina Centurion, Maria Tacchini, Chiara Spinola, niece of the Archbishop, and Cecilia Pastor.
The habit consisted of a white tunic, with a scapular and a mantle which were sky-blue in colour. They were called Annunciates or Sisters of the Annunciation because although they professed to honour the most sacred Virgin in all the mysteries of her life and in all that concerned her or related to her, they nevertheless wanted to show in their devotions particular honour to the mystery of the Annunciation, since this gave rise to the most excellent of all the Holy Virgin’s titles, that of MOTHER OF GOD. Paul V later gave his approval to this Order, enriching it with a number of Apostolic graces and blessings.
Footnotes
[1] Sisters of the Annunciation who each added the name Maria Annunziata to their baptismal or religious name.
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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 2025
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