Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 9 : § 3.8-10

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).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

§ 3. The first Legion of the enemies of God and the Holy Virgin : the Demons

 8   Because their hatred knows no bounds nor limits, at least as far as their desire to cause her hurt, if I were to continue this discussion it would have no end. I think therefore that it will be sufficient to say that in my opinion the inveterate hatred of this wretched spirit towards the MOTHER OF GOD is represented in a marvellous manner in chapter 12 of the book of Revelation by St John. This faithful servant and second son of the Virgin saw in heaven:

a woman clothed with the Sun, who had the Moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: and being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. In front of her he saw a blood-red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his heads seven diadems; and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered, so that when she should be delivered, he might devour her Son; but things turned out very differently, for when she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod, her son was taken up to God, and to his throne. 

The Dragon, however, having been cast down and carried to earth by spirits, the woman had an opportunity to escape and make her way towards the solitude of a place which had been prepared for her. Far from losing heart at realising how he had been defeated, the monster returned to the attack with renewed rage; and seeing that the child had escaped his clutches, he redoubled his assaults against the mother, pursuing her relentlessly. There were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle and she took flight into the desert with such great speed that it was impossible for the Dragon to catch her. The Dragon cast out of his mouth after the woman, water as it were a river; that he might halt her escape; but the earth helped the woman and swallowed up the river, which the dragon had cast out of his mouth. The Dragon was angry against the woman and, because he had now lost hope of harming the mother and her child, he went to make war against her spiritual seed. This he did on the sands of the seashore, watching for opportunities to wreak his revenge.

 9   I am well aware that many Holy Fathers and Commentators have read this mysterious figure of the woman as symbolizing the Church; but I am also aware that the figure has been interpreted as representing the MOTHER OF GOD by writers such as St Epiphanius[1], Saint Augustine[2], Saint Bernard, Saint Bernardine[3], St Denys the Carthusian[4], Saint Antoninus[5], Albertus Magnus[6] and by several other Doctors of eminent learning – to say nothing of the Sun clothing this woman, the Moon at her feet, the twelve stars and other features of the Virgin which I discussed in Part I. What interpretation of the woman’s son, who is to reign over the nations of the earth, could we possibly have other than the Son of the glorious Virgin, our Saviour and our Redeemer, to whom David says[7] in the person of God: Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. St John speaks of contractions and labour pains which have no place in Mary; they must therefore be understood in a spiritual sense as referring to the grief that filled her sorrowful heart by reason of the knowledge she had of all that her beloved Son would have to endure. That the Dragon should have hated the Son of the Virgin is no cause for wonder since he understood very well that He would be the one to remove his tyrannical grip on the kingdom of this world which he had usurped; but the evil wretch immediately understood that, as far as he was concerned, this sacred fruit was out of reach of his fury, that He mocked his attempted assaults and that the teeth and claws that he was sharpening could do Him no harm, forasmuch as He was seated on the throne of God, to whom He was equal in power and with whom He was consubstantial in nature.

Footnotes

[1] Hæresi 78 et Serm. de Laudibus Deiparæ.

[2] Lib. IV de Symbolo ad Catechum.

[3] T. I de Conc. LXI, art. 2, c. 1.

[4] Lib. III de Laudibus Virg., art. 29.

[5] IV part., tit. XV, c. 20.

[6] Ad c. 1 Marc.

[7] Psal. ii.

 10   This is what spurred him on still more and filled him with venomous rage against the glorious Virgin. After this, he determined to use this initial humiliation as a springboard for everything he would do; and after this, he swore an oath to pursue her relentlessly and to attack her in person and through his wretched followers. As an enemy, however, he was as ineffective against the Mother as he was against the Son since she had immediately been placed under the protection of God and, apart from receiving an escort provided by millions of blessed Spirits, she was also given the wings of an eagle conferring a protection so extraordinary that, despite all hell’s fury and the waves of persecution spewed against her, she was kept in a place of safety, under the shade of Heaven’s protection. As a result, we now see the Dragon on the seashore, foaming with rage at seeing himself treated in such an ignominious manner, turning over in his mind dreadful plans for wreaking vengeance against the Virgin’s children. Indeed, if I did not see her ever ready to run to their defence, I would have good reason to call out with the Angel of the Apocalypse[1]: Woe to the earth, and to the sea, because the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. Take heart, however, and be of good cheer : for we shall see the Holy Virgin appearing soon, and she will frustrate all his efforts, crushing them beneath her feet.

Footnotes

[1] Apoc. xii. 12.

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The Virgin of Tenderness. >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 2025