She is the source of eternal happiness for her chosen children
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) |
§ 1. The fundamental teaching of this chapter which concerns the pre-destination of the Chosen
4 This first favour is immediately followed by another which we call vocation. This may be understood in two ways: firstly as referring to the prevenient graces which God introduces in into the hearts of the Elect, disposing them to the good with attractions which are loveable and irresistible; and secondly, as referring to a particular sort of condition of life to which He is calling them, directing to each individual that which He judges most suited and useful for him to attain his end, having regard to his natural inclinations in respect of the graces that He has prepared for him, and to the other circumstances which He foresaw might be encountered and which He determined to control. This vocation being irresistible on God’s side as well as on the part of the creature, leads inexorably towards justification. This can mean either first grace if the soul is lacking in this, or to an increase of grace if the soul is already in possession of it. All this is to accomplish what the Apostle Saint Peter[1] says : that you may make sure your calling and election by good works, which serve as a seal on these, and so that you may bring forth fruits worthy of eternal life, which would never be pleasing to God if they were not done in a state of grace. Finally, grace and justice are like the seeds of glory and, once attaining maturity through final perseverance, it only remains for them to be harvested at death – which we can justly call the harvest time. They can then be welcomed into heaven, which is the ultimate goal and focus for the entire economy of salvation of the predestined. It is like the finishing touch added to their happiness, which Saint Paul calls glorification[2].
Here you see the wondrous signs of God’s providence; here you find the adorable motives of His loving plans and actions; here is the reason why the great St Paul calls out in ecstasy with the words[3]: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!
There you have the object of the sweet colloquies of beautiful souls and the terror of evil ones.
Footnotes
[1] 2 Pet. I. 10.
[2] See, e.g., 1 Thess. ii. 12. & Hebr. ii. 10.
[3] Rom. xi. 33.
5 In the third place, I am presupposing that the Saviour of the world is not only the first of the predestined but is also the Principle of predestination for the Elect. I use the word Principle forasmuch as, firstly, He is the idea and exemplary cause on which God has based all the Predestined whom He made conformable to the image of his Son, in the words of St Paul[1], the great Teacher of predestination. Secondly, He is the meritorious cause of the salvation of the Elect, none of whom will enter into heaven other than through the price of the ransom He paid with His own blood. Thirdly, I call Him the Principle inasmuch as the choice that God made of some over others is due to His infinite merits. I mean to say that not only did God have regard to the merits of His incarnate Son when He conferred justifying grace on His friends, but also that at the moment of their election He was moved by the merits of His Son to show preference for some who in this respect are indebted to the Saviour not only for their vocation, their justification and their glorification, but also for their election. St Paul says this when he is speaking of the incarnate Word[2], by whose blood we are redeemed, and he declares that God chose us in Him and in him he has granted us with every sort of blessing; this would not be true if election, the first and foremost of all the blessings, could subsist without depending upon His merits.
Following what certain sound theologians[3] have written, I go further and say that God has not only chosen all the elect in consideration of the future merits of His son, granting them to Him as the price of His passion and death; but He has also had regard to the will of His own Son which wanted advantages for some, and which had an express desire that the fruit of His prayers, of His merits and of His satisfaction should be applied to them. After this, He acceded to this most equitable inclination and granted Him, one name after another, all those who one day were to have the honour of this special benevolence.
After all, what difficulty could there be in granting this advantage to the loving impulse of the divine heart of the most blessed Jesus, and to His infinite merits, which Holy Church with good reason praises as highly as she can, and which the Eternal Father wills to gratify through all possible means? Who would dare to have thought that this favour should exceed the price of the superabundant Redemption that He presented to His Father? If this Saviour was to offer all His works especially for the elect, then why could He not do this in the case of some amongst them who were more intimately beloved by Him? If these merits, which had not yet been realised but existed only in the mind of the Eternal Father, were sufficient to move Him to choose those to whom they were to be applied in an effective manner, why could not the particular will of the Son, who was to favour some rather than others and wish for them a special application of the merits which were at His disposition?
Why might this not be a reference to those of whom He spoke in such an honourable fashion in the incomparable speech He addressed to his Apostles before He went unto His death? Those, I say, that He said so many times had been entrusted to Him by His Father; those for whom He offered such ardent thanksgiving; those in whom He was especially to be glorified, whom He commended so tenderly, whom He prayed might enjoy a unity with Him proportionately as close as the unity existing between Him and His Father; those whom He had kept safe with such care, for whom He desired a most eminent sanctity, and whom He asked His Father to love for the love of Himself, as we can read fully set forth in the 17th chapter of St John? Why would it not be those of whom St Paul says[4], after the Prophet Isaiah[5]: Behold I and my children, whom Thou hast given me? Accordingly, this privilege should no longer be disputed in the case of Him through whom, in whom and for whom it pleased God to restore all things, on earth as in heaven; and all His Elect should thank and bless Him for what He has done, but especially those who receive the benefit of this happiness beyond the power of words to describe.
Footnotes
[1] For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son; that he might be the firstborn amongst many brethren. Rom. viii. 29.
[2] As he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity. Eph. i. 4. et seq.
[3] Apud Suarem, I p., lib. II de Prædest., c. 24 ; et III p., disp. 41, sect. 4.
[4] Behold I and my children, whom God hath given me. Hebr. ii. 13.
[5] Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Sion. Isaiah viii. 18.
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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
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