Chapter 9 The Eighth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Power of the MOTHER OF GOD
She commands the Church’s armies
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) |
§ § 3. The first army of the enemies of God and the Holy Virgin : the Demons
1 Hannibal, Prince of Carthage, showed great hatred at every opportunity towards the Roman people. This he had sworn on the altars to do while still young at the instigation and in the presence of his father, Hamilcar[1]. Every time he came across a Roman soldier still alive on the battlefield, his hatred was always apparent and showed itself in cruelty, for no matter how exhausted and weak he found the Roman, he would cut off the lower part of his feet and leave him in that condition to suffer whatever fate would bring. As for his prisoners of war, he would divide them into pairs, sometimes even brother against brother, forcing them to fight each other to the death in front of his tent. He would not be happy with this inhuman spectacle until there was only one prisoner left alive[2]. Greater still was the hatred of Mithridates, king of Pontus, who with one letter brought about the death of 80,000 Romans who had been living and trading peacefully throughout Asia without doing any harm to anyone[3]. Greatest of all perhaps was the hatred of the two brothers Eteocles and Polynices[4], since it survived even their death. They had killed each other in single combat before the sight of their respective armies. Both bodies were laid out on one pyre but the flame seen ascending divided in two, showing those present that their hatred continued after death.
Footnotes
[1] See 9. III. 3e3 in Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings by Valerius Maximus (1st century AD).
[2] Ibid. 9. II. 2e2.
[3] Ibid. 9. II. 2e3.
[4] Eteocles, son of Oedipus, King of Thebes and Jocasta, and twin-brother of Polynices. The brothers having compelled Oedipus to abdicate and leave Thebes, he prayed the gods that they they might be eternally at enmity with each other. See The Thebaid by Statius (1st century AD).
2 Even this does not amount to much when compared to the hatred the Virgin and the ancient serpent have for each other. I can say with confidence that their hatred is the oldest, the most enduring, the most irreconcilable and the most universal there has ever been. It is the oldest because it appeared at the birth of the world and God Himself was the Promoter, at least on the part of the Virgin, when He said: I will put enmities between thee and the woman[1], distinguishing this woman with a mark of singularity in order that it might be known (according to the holy Doctors) that He was speaking only about her who is singular in every respect. It is the longest inasmuch as it will last until the end of the ages, equalling in extent all eternity. I say this hatred is the most irreconcilable because it has never known any peace or truce, and it will result in one or other side being put to the sword and to the torch, being for them a matter of life and death. I describe this hatred as the most universal because it does not stop with their persons but extends to all who belong to each of them. Everyone who loves the MOTHER OF GOD hates unto death this cursed serpent and his followers; and everyone who is on the side of the serpent hates without exception everyone who is with the MOTHER OF GOD. Are we to believe that this animosity should be understood as applying to figures of the one and the other? If what is written by the learned Abbot Rupert[2] is true (which he claims has received approval), it follows that it is something which goes beyond what is natural.
He maintains that there is such opposition between the woman and the serpent that were the woman to touch the head of the Serpent only with the sole of her bare foot she would at the same time deprive him of all sensation and movement, in a way more effective than the most violent blows from an axe or a hammer. On the other hand, if the snake can inflict the first damage, howsoever slight, on the sole of the woman’s foot, there would be no remedy and she would perforce die.
Finally, just as the MOTHER OF GOD can have nothing to do with anything linked to the serpent, so is it that this evil one cannot endure anything that belongs to the holy Virgin.
Footnotes
[1] Gen. iii. 15.
[2] Lib. III de Trinit., c. 20.
3 To illustrate this point, I should like to recall a story which deserves to be better known and which was told during the Second Council of Nicaea. It is taken from the Spiritual Meadow[1], composed (according to the opinion of some) by Blessed Sophronius, Archbishop of Jerusalem[2].
There it is said that there was once on the Mount of Olives a recluse, a monk of great virtue and merit, who had been tormented by the spirit of fornication even into his extreme old age. Finally one day, weary of such a long struggle, he began to weep and he asked the demon who was tormenting him how long this relentless oppression would continue and whether he would not give him a break so he might prepare for his death. Then the enemy appeared in a visible form to him and promised he would leave the old man in peace if he promised to keep secret one thing he was going to tell him. The hermit swore an oath to keep the secret and the demon then told him he must cease to show reverence for the little image of Our Lady holding the Saviour in her arms which the monk had in his cell and before which he would kneel showing great love and honour. He asked to be given a day to think about this and early the following morning he went to see the Abbot Theodore to tell him what had happened between him and the evil spirit. The holy Abbot explained that he had been trapped and it was not permitted to deal in this way with the devil; by breaking the promise that he had made to the devil, however, he had begun to make reparation for his sin . He added that it would be more forgivable for him to visit all the places of debauchery in the city of Jerusalem than to agree to the demand of his enemy and abandon the duty he had to Our Lord and the holy Virgin His Mother.
Footnotes
[1] Cap. 45.
[2] Pratum Spirituale is generally attributed to Johannes Moschus (550-619) who was accompanied in his travels by Sophronius. For a 1992 English translation by John Wortley, see The Spiritual Meadow (Cistercian Publications) pp27-28/155.
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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 Virgin of Tenderness. >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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