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) |
§ 7. The first victory of the MOTHER OF GOD : defeating the Demons, enemies of her Son and His followers
The second characteristic of this combat
6 The scale of the mighty Virgin's defeat of the demon is shown by the fact that he never had either the boldness or the power even to approach her in order to tempt her. Apart from what I have already touched on earlier in another context[1], this view is confirmed by the learned and pious Richard of St Victor, St Bernardine of Siena, the Abbot Rupert and the Emperor Matthew Kantakouzenos. Here are the words of the first of these authorities[2]:
The Holy Virgin so terrified the Princes of darkness that they were incapable of presuming to attack her. The fire of love burning in her heart filled them with fear; her ardent prayers, her fervent devotions and her freedom from every sort of sin were for them like flames burning and tormenting them terribly.
The second authority makes use[3] of a simple comparison, saying:
Just as a blazing bonfire keeps insects at a distance, in the same way when the demons see the Virgin’s soul on fire with the ardour of her charity, they do not dare to approach and they cannot even bear to stop and look at her most blessed soul, which was the sanctuary of so many divine virtues.
He goes on to say:
If we find that this privilege was granted to a number of Saints who had withstood demons for a long time and successfully repelled them, all the more reason we should have for granting this privilege to the MOTHER OF GOD from the very beginning, since the first steps that she took on the path of virtue exceeded by far even the greatest advances made by the others.
The Abbot Rupert[4] has a commentary on the following words from the Canticle[5]: Behold thou art fair, thy eyes are as those of doves! in which he says:
Just as the dove that makes her nest on the highest houses has no concern about serpents seeking their prey on the ground; in the same way the Holy Virgin, by reason of her outstanding holiness and the special privilege that she received from God, never experienced any fear of being attacked by the infernal serpent.
Footnotes
[1] Part. I, ch. 9, § 15.
[2] Part. II, c. 26 in Cant.
[3] T. I, Serm. 51, art. 3, c. 2.
[4] Lib. III in Cant.
[5] Cant. i. 14..
6 [continued] Finally, the pious Emperor of the East[1], comparing the MOTHER OF GOD to the Tower of David which put fear into the hearts of the enemies of the Jewish people, explains that:
the Holy Virgin filled her invisible enemies with such terror that they never felt confident of even starting an attack.
Concerning this, I should like to share a thought which came to me concerning the teaching of the majority of the ancient Fathers who taught that, amongst many other beautiful reasons God had for wishing to be born of a Virgin, one was that His conception and birth would be hidden from the Princes of darkness. This was the opinion of St Ignatius the Martyr[2], St Gregory Thaumaturgus[3], Origen[4], St Basil[5], Saint Jerome[6], Saint John Chrysostom[7], Saint John Damascene[8], Saint Ambrose[9], Saint Bernard[10], the Abbot Rupert[11] and St Thomas[12]. This reasoning has, however met with lively opposition by the learned Bishop of Avila[13] and several fine theologians, including Maldonado[14], who found the teaching so difficult that rather than impugning it, he preferred to make a public profession of his ignorance on the matter. According to their argument, would it not be a simple matter for Satan, who can penetrate the causes and effects of nature, to identify the marks and infallible guarantees of the virginity of Mary? In fact, anyone who gives careful attention to what I have said in following several learned Doctors, will agree that it was not impossible that the devil was mistaken in the case of the holy Virgin since the ability to observe and study her had been taken away from him along with permission to tempt her into sinning.
Footnotes
[1] In c. 3 Cant.
[2] Epist. ad Ephesios.
[3] Serm. 3 in Annuntiat.
[4] Homil. 16 in Lucam..
[5] Homil. de Humana Christi generatione.
[6] In c. 1 Matthæi.
[7] Orat. de Annuntiat. Virg.
[8] Lib. IV Fidei, c. 15.
[9] Lib. II in Lucam.
[10] Homil. 3 in Missus.
[11] Lib. II de Victoria Verbi, c. 19.
[12] III p., q. 29, art. 1 ad 3.
[13] Q. 31 in c. 1 Matth.
[14] In IV, dist. 3, q. 1.
7 Finally, she defeated him in her death. If he was never able to come near her during her life, then we can easily believe he kept his distance when in an ardent explosion of love her soul emerged from the prison of the body. St John Damascene[1] points out that:
those predatory creatures infesting the air had no wish to be present when she took flight towards Heaven.
St Bernardine[2] adds that:
She was prefigured by the Ark of the Covenant about which we read in chapter X of the book of Numbers that, when it was lifted up, the following words of King David the Prophet were sung: Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee, flee from before thy face[3]. In the same way, when the Blessed Virgin was assumed into Heaven, the forces of the enemy were miraculously deprived of their power and his army was scattered and put to flight.
Footnotes
[1] In c.1 Matth. ; Orat. 1 de Assumpt.
[2] T. III, Serm. 12.
[3] The French text here quotes the words of Moses in Num. x. 35. These are echoed by David : Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: and let them that hate him flee from before his face; Ps. LXVII. 1.
8 It should not be thought that the victories of the Virgin ceased at the end of her life on earth; but just as at present her credit and her power are higher than ever, so too we may be confident that every day she continues to make critical breaches in the enemy’s army, confounding his schemes and plans. She devastates them every day by the help she gives to sinners, restoring their freedom; by the heavenly graces and favours she procures for the just; by the fortitude and perseverance she gives to these groups in time of temptation; by the way she encourages them unceasingly in good works; by the incomparable care she shows towards all of God’s children; by the help they receive from her at the hour of death, and in a thousand other ways which will be covered in a fuller and more fitting manner in Part III of this work, wherein we shall be discussing the great splendours of her unparalleled goodness.
👑 👑 👑
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
No comments:
Post a Comment