Chapter 5 : The Fourth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD
The Wondrous Care she takes of her 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) |
§ 4. The care taken by the Holy Virgin to provide a home for her children and to help them lead a life conducive to their salvation
1 I am now going to refer to the best interpreters of Solomon’s sayings and I am confident that their judgement in this question is safe to follow granted that it has been authorised by the common consent of the universal Church. They say that the wondrous qualities and properties of Wisdom are found in the Word, whether Eternal or Incarnate (who is the Saviour of our souls), in an exemplary and uncreated manner; but they say that they are also found in the Holy Virgin by way of participation and imitation.
For those who belong to her, great reason for consolation may be found in chapter 8 of Proverbs[1] where it is written that wisdom standeth in the top of the highest places by the way, in the midst of the paths, beside the gates of the city and in the very doors she guideth and speaketh her counsel. We may understand this as meaning that she never serves better as their Mother than when they come to forks in the path of this life, or when they are coming of age and reach the point of deciding what they are going to do for the rest of their days. It is in this that she gives them excellent proof of her outstanding goodness, granted that these are the best times to show the care she has for them. This is because, apart from the moment on which our eternal destiny depends – namely our departure from this world – there is nothing more important for us than the choice of what we are going to do with our lives, not only because this affects all our future actions but also because this choice normally sets us on the path either towards happiness or towards eternal misfortune.
From this it is easy to see what we are to think of certain persons who select a way of life just like those who, after a shipwreck, grab the first thing that comes to hand, perhaps something that their whim or passion suggests to them, or that some third party advises them to do, rather than by taking themselves to the sanctuary in Church to seek the advice of God and of those who share and partake of His spirit. It is at times such as these, more than any other, that we come to realise the need we have for the help of heaven and of those who are well disposed towards us.
Footnotes
[1] Doth not wisdom cry aloud, and prudence put forth her voice? Standing in the top of the highest places by the way, in the midst of the paths. Beside the gates of the city, in the very doors she speaketh. Prov. viii. 1-3.
2 God knows what the Bountiful Mother does for her children, how she illumines their minds, how she inspires their hearts, what opportunities she provides for them and what dangers she turns aside from them : in short, in how many prevenient ways she infuses them with her sweet blessings. This is without doubt what is meant in Proverbs[1] where we find these words : He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord. The original text and the Septuagint read as follows : For my outgoings are the outgoings of life, and [in them] is prepared favour from the Lord. Here we find the wonderful connection between salvation and the will of God : for just as our eternal salvation makes us seek out God’s will, in the same way the accomplishment of God’s will is what makes us find salvation.
I am happy to enter into this wonderful discussion forasmuch as it makes me see very clearly the inestimable obligations that her dear children have towards her – obligations they will never appreciate as they should until they see their successful fruit in God. I would indeed have much more to say on this subject if I had not already covered these issues when discussing the care that she has, in a general and particular sense, for her children in her role as Ruler or Governess of the Church[2]. By virtue of this role, she supplies the Church with persons remarkable for their holiness in various ways, placing them according to their rank and condition. She has, for example, taken the Religious Orders under her care and protection[3]: in their beginnings she supplied them with founders who were pre-eminent in all the virtues, and she subsequently maintains them, provides for them and multiplies them. As the common Mother for all those who love her, there is no one she is not willing to help, and she makes an effort to help each and everyone – for the greater glory of God and for their own particular good. She provides worthy souls for secular positions as well as for the Religious Orders, even if some of those whom she brings to the cloister are not always of the very best. She calls some, for example, who give every sign that they would otherwise fall into perdition in the world, but she leaves others who will find salvation there and help others. I am, however, going to focus mainly on the care she has taken to fill the Religious Orders with her most faithful servants. I trust that no one will object if I provide this refreshment, so to speak, for those who are bearing the burden and the heats of the day[4]. All that is most remarkable amongst the signal favours of the MOTHER OF GOD is normally found in those who have adopted the Religious state, perhaps the best school of virtue and holiness established by the Saviour in His Church.
Footnotes
[1] Prov. viii. 35.
[2] Part II, ch. 7.
[3] Part I, ch. 12.
[4] Matt. xx. 12.
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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
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