Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 9 : § 8.1-3

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)

§ 8. The second victory of the MOTHER OF GOD : defeating the Magicians, Sorcerers and such like enemies of her Son and His followers

 1   Picture a fearless Captain overcoming the enemy’s vanguard, breaking through the serried ranks of pikemen behind and then cutting to pieces the first cohort – which is normally composed of the bravest and most experienced soldiers. Now picture the reaction of those behind them who see the bodies of their slain comrades piling up and awash with blood: they would be filled with terror and would resolve at all costs to avoid such a fate. These must be the thoughts of those we are now going to discuss: I mean the magicians, the sorcerers and such like minions of Satan who make up this second grouping of the enemies of the Saviour and His Holy Mother. If the very Princes of darkness themselves, whom they worship as gods, have been unable to resist the first assault, being unable to withstand the weapons of our dazzling warrior Princess, how do they think they will themselves fare, and how will they possibly be able defend themselves against her? 

Hares are not more terrified when they hear the huntsman’s horn, nor poor souls dwelling in the forest when they hear the roaring of the lion, than these wretched creatures of the night when the mere name of Mary reaches their ears. To hear the blasphemies they spit out in the direction of God and the endless insults they spew against the Saviour and His most sacred Mother, you would think they were going to scale heaven itself and, after their despicable gatherings, overturn the whole world. At the mere sight, however, of the shadow of Mary’s sceptre, you will see them all take flight like a gaggle of desperate cowards. In the crush and chaos of their confusion, there is no space on earth to which they can safely flee and no dreadful caverns dark enough to hide them beneath the earth.

 2   How many times, when they were gathered to plot acts of injustice and iniquity, did she cast terror into their debauched and sacrilegious meetings, scattering them – some here, and some there? How many times has she blinded them, so that they follow directions quite contrary to their plans, turning them upside down so that they lose their way completely? How many times has she forced them to reveal the mysteries of wickedness and the crimes that they had been planning? How many times has she protected the innocent from the effects of their dark designs? How many times has she exposed their secret schemes and brought them to ruin just as they were plotting the ruin of others? How many times has she forced them to tie with their own hands the bundles of wood which would form part of their own funeral pyre and to make ready the fire which would reduce them to ashes? How many times has she drawn from their own wicked mouths the poisonous contagion and dreadful secrets of their private meetings? How many times has she caused their evil thoughts to dissolve, their spells to be undone, their incantations to be dissipated, and their pernicious schemes and ruses to be halted in their tracks? When they thought they were working miracles and that the success of their undertakings was guaranteed, how many times have they seen all this brought to nothing by Mary in the twinkling of an eye and turned against themselves? It would be simple enough to confirm what I have been saying by giving examples, including their own confessions duly made in proper judicial form. I have no wish, however, to profane this text by repeating the details of the dreadful crimes committed by these demons in human form, nor of exposing to the light of day that which should rather be buried in eternal darkness.

 3   The story of St Cyprian of Antioch (who is to be distinguished from the great Bishop of Carthage and Martyr who bore the same name) is perhaps worth recalling here. St Gregory of Nazianzus refers to this in the sermon he gave on St Cyprian and St Justina, whose memory the Church honours on the 26th of September.

In the city of Antioch there was a young libertine inflamed with lust for a chaste virgin called Justina, whom he resolved he must have at whatever cost. All his attempts having failed, however, he finally had recourse to the powers of hell and went to consult with Cyprian, a notorious sorcerer, who was very keen to help and spared no effort in employing his dark arts for that purpose. Justina, on the other hand, sensed that she was in danger and had recourse to fasting, to wearing a cilice[1], to prayer and especially to the Standard bearer of Virgins and the Protectress of chastity who, notwithstanding Cyprian’s repeated pacts with spirits, confounded all his plans so effectively that the demons were obliged to confess their powerlessness. She emerged victorious not only over the Devils but even more so over Cyprian whom she converted, through the mediation of St Justina, from a wicked sorcerer into a saint who through his glorious martyrdom bore witness of his love for  her beloved Son.

This explains why Holy Church, fully aware of the glorious Virgin’s power, calls for her help so insistently when seeking to undo pacts people have made with hell. For this reason she is called the dissipatrix of spells and the nullifier of curses. She drives the wretched sorcerers to despair and they consider her to be their chief enemy, striking down their evil schemes and bringing about the total destruction of their accursed sect.

Footnotes

[1] Latin cilicium < Greek Κιλίκιον, a coarse cloth originally made of Cilician goat's hair.

[2] dissipatrix : she who scatters or destroys.

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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