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) |
§ 9. The third victory of the MOTHER OF GOD : defeating the Heretics, enemies of her Son and His followers
11 All the holy writers agree that Julian the Apostate paid a terrible price for the hatred he had shown to the Saviour of the world and His Holy Mother. Whilst he was waging war against the Persians, ignoring the warnings he had received, he was pierced in the side by a spear – but no one could say by whose hand.
According to the historian Socrates[1], there was a soldier in the Emperor’s bodyguard who wrote it was a devil who did this. St Gregory of Nazianzus[2] believed that it was an Angel. St John Damascene[3] says that he heard from Helladius, a disciple and successor of St Basil the Great, that the same St Basil was praying in a Church dedicated to Our Lady and learned by a revelation that St Mercurius the Martyr was the one who delivered the blow. Sozomenes[4] adds that one of the apostate’s servants saw an apparent miracle where two well-armed soldiers flew through the air to attack the Emperor. Nicephorus[5] says the common opinion was that blessed Artemius, a noble Christian captain, was with St Mercurius. Theodoret adds that Julian died in a state of despair, and that as soon as he realized he had been wounded, he recognised the hand of God’s vengeance and, scooping up a handful of his blood, he threw it up into the sky, shouting out (according to some): Thou hast won this, Galilean, Thou hast won this; or, according to Nicephorus: Drink on this, Galilean, drink on this! Whilst he was dying, he not only showed his spite against the Saviour but also hurled reproaches and insults against his own gods who had shamefully deceived him, he said, and broken their promises.
Footnotes
[1] Lib. III, c. 8.
[2] Orat. in Julianum.
[3] Orat. de Imaginibus.
[4] Lib. VI, c. 2.
[5] Lib. III Hist., c. 20.
12 It is not for the historian Socrates (whom everyone knows was a Novatianist) to pass off Novatian as a martyr. I might allow this – provided he were to be numbered amongst the Martyrs of the Devil, along with his predecessors. The sad thing is that Socrates could not bring himself to give us details about the kind of death Novatian suffered. According to Jovinian:
Novatian had become like a cancer, infecting everyone he spoke with, until finally, on the order of the Emperor Honorius[1], he was banished to the island of Boa off the Dalmatian coast. There he continued to lead his customary lifestyle, living like a true Epicurean pig, until death came when he spewed out his soul after growing fat through voluptuous feasting.
You should not imagine that the detestable Nestorius fared any better; it is enough to recall what was written by several writers including Nicephorus[2], Evagrius[3] and others who say that:
Even though this man had been condemned by the Council of Ephesus, he continued to stir up trouble in the Eastern Church until finally the Emperor Theodosius the Younger realised what was happening and banished him to an Egyptian island called Oasis. There he suffered a miserable death – his body disintegrating and his tongue becoming food for worms. Some say even this was insufficient punishment for the harm he had wrought.
Footnotes
[1] Gennadius, de Viris illustr., c. 75.
[2] Lib. XIV Hist., c. 26.
[3] Lib. I, c. 8.
13 I imagine that you are still waiting to learn about what happened to the Emperor Copronymus. We have good reason to nickname him the Unclean, not only because of what we have already written concerning the etymology of his name[1], but also because his life was filled with vile deeds and spells, and because of the pleasure he found in horse dung[2] which he would rub on his face, ordering the members of his court to do the same. In view of the scorn he displayed towards the MOTHER OF GOD during his life, it seems fitting that he should suffer dishonour in his death and this would serve as an example for posterity. As in his life he maintained close links with the notorious apostate we have just been discussing, so too he met his end in a similar way.
Whilst he was making war against the Bulgarians, an invisible hand struck his thigh so powerfully that the wound suddenly seemed to catch fire; but this was no natural fire, says Cedrenus, for it rendered him altogether desperate and he cried out that Mary was burning him alive with an inextinguishable fire and she was forcing him to honour her as Virgin, as Saint and as the MOTHER OF GOD. He was indeed uttering these words – not in a penitent spirit, however, but made to do so by Heaven and he found himself quite unable to resist the force that was drawing these words out of his mouth.
A diligent historian[3] adds the following
Several years later the Emperor Michael, son of Theophilus, ordered the exhumation of his body along with that of John, Patriarch of Constantinople (who had been one of his minions and an iconoclast like him). Michael ordered their bodies to be carried to the amphitheatre where they were scourged until their bones were laid bare, and their remains were then thrown onto a bonfire.
Footnotes
[1] Copronymus: from two Greek roots meaning dung or excrement and name.
[2] Theoteristus, in Niceta ; Theophanes, in Misc.
[3] Georg. Ham., in Chronico. Vide Spondanum, ad an. 775.
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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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