Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 9 : § 9.8-10

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)

§ 9. The third victory of the MOTHER OF GOD : defeating the Heretics, enemies of her Son and His followers

 8   The first way she vanquished them was by imposing silence on them and she knew no rest until she had heard the last squeak from them, so that they no longer knew what to say or to do. Tell me if you can what has become today of the Cerinthians, the Ebionites, the Priscillianites, the Anti-Marianites and others such as these – have they not become names of ill omen for these heretics who now suffer eternal ignominy? What has become of all these Giants who seemed as though they would shake up the whole world and force everyone  to conform to their point of view? What is left of them now, other than an unpleasant memory, like the smoke left when a candle has been snuffed out, or the smell from a stinking midden, offensive to those who catch wind of it? Who would even know anything about them now if God’s Providence had not allowed their names to be preserved in the writings of the holy Doctors commemorating the victory won by the Saviour of the world, by the Holy Virgin commanding His armies and by so many valiant warriors who were immortalised in the battle, confounding for all eternity the forces of hell that brought forth these monsters, and teaching a lesson to those who might follow after them that they can expect no other outcome for their heretical teachings since they will suffer the same fate as their predecessors. 

I have always admired the achievement of St Gregory of Nazianzus who fought so successfully against the heresy of the Arians under the auspices of the Holy Virgin that he was able to bring back the true Faith to his city of Constantinople and to the Church dedicated to her there. After restoring the ancient piety of the Church, he bestowed upon the Virgin who had given him her support, and upon the place where he had preached his thunderous sermons, the title of Anastasia. This he did in an address he gave to one hundred and fifty bishops who had gathered in Constantinople. Anastasia[1]: as if to say: She who raised the true Faith from the dead, causing Arianism to die. As I said, I am grateful to this great Prelate for this way he found of showing his gratitude to the holy Virgin; but I wish that something like this had been done in all those places from which she succeeded in banishing error and wickedness so as to restore the true Faith and the ancient Religion. The world would be full of monuments and triumphal arches acknowledging her victories, all raised to the immortal memory of Mary the Protectress of the Faith and the destroyer of all heresies.

Footnotes

[1] From anastasis [ἀνάστασις] meaning resurrection.

 9   The second way she vanquished them was by casting down all these standard-bearers of condemned doctrine. Every single one of them met with a miserable end and the Holy Virgin’s victories were added to the growing volume of miracles that she performed. I should make it clear, however, that the role of the MOTHER OF GOD is not to cause fear in people; her great glory does not come from her strictness but rather from her gentleness and clemency. Now it is of course true that the principal duty of a judge in criminal cases is to protect the innocent; nevertheless, if there were no penalty acting as a deterrent for those who attack the innocent, this would be made impossible and for this reason the judge must be able to inspire fear in criminals. Although properly speaking the MOTHER OF GOD is known essentially for her gentle and kind-hearted nature, there are nevertheless occasions when, in order to protect her children from malefactors, she needs to demonstrate that she can administer punishment. To speak more precisely, we should explain that vengeance has no part in her but that God Himself will be a strict judge of those wretches who go against His beloved Mother, whose only wish is to win over the world by her loving goodness.

Footnotes

[1] Serm. in Signum magnum.

 10   If we were only to follow the history of heretics through the centuries, I am convinced we would find that they all met with a tragic end, worthy of the life they had led. 

St Irenæus, following Saint Polycarp, writes that Cerinthus had gone the public baths where he began to hold forth on his heretical errors. St John, contrary to his custom, told his followers to make ready for they were to accompany him to the baths. Once he arrived, he asked who was inside and he was told that it was Cerinthus with his supporters. The holy Apostle then turned towards those who were with him and said:

“Come on boys, we must hurry up and leave this place in case the building collapses on us.”

Scarcely had he set foot outside the entrance when they heard a terrible crashing noise and then they learned that the avenging justice of God had buried Cerinthus and his followers under the ruins of the building. 

St Epiphanius[1] tells the same story with the same details about the heresiarch known as Ebion. This led the great Cardinal and Chronicler[2] say that there were grounds for believing these two were companions in misfortune as they were in evil. Eusebius, speaking about Carpocrates and the other disciples of Simon Magus[3], says they all shared the same dreadful fate as their master, even though he does not give details. Nichephorus[4] writes that:

Mani, the notorious deceiver, arrived in Persia with his twelve disciples (whom he called his Apostles). There he found the King’s son was dangerously ill and, trusting to his own dark arts, he dismissed all the physicians and undertook to heal the young prince personally. This turned out very badly for him because the young man died soon afterwards and the King was so angry that he ordered Mani to be skinned alive and to be left in that condition to be eaten by dogs.

Footnotes

[1] Hæresi 10 vel 30.

[2] Baronius in An. 74 of his Annals.

[3] Lib. I, c. 1.

[4]Lib. VI Hist. Eccl., c. 31.

 

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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