Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 6 : § 4.1-2

Chapter 6 : The Fifth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is a true model of generosity towards her children

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)

§ 4. The generosity of the MOTHER OF GOD towards her children when it comes to the virtues

 1   Virtue possesses wonderful attributes but there is one amongst all the others particularly worthy of esteem and which was recognised by the Philosopher[1] when he said that virtue is a quality so chaste, so holy and so divine that it is not possible to make bad use of it, something which could not be said of any thing else in creation. From this it is easy to conclude that it is no wonder the Mother of Virtue should take pleasure in providing it for her children rather than other gifts which could lead to their ruin. I can see already this discussion would become very lengthy if I were to write all that can be said on such a beautiful subject. Accordingly, I shall run through a selection of the principal virtues so that readers will be able to use what I say when considering the other virtues.  

Footnotes

[1] Ethic., c. 2 et 3.

Faith : St Angela of Foligno & Fr Gonçalo da Silveira S.J.

 2   Let us begin with Faith which is the foundation of the Christian edifice and, as St John Chrysostom[1] calls it, the light of the soul, the gate of life and the foundation of eternal salvation.  Whatever the Holy Virgin has quietly infused into the hearts of countless persons is known to God alone but He has willed to reveal some of its fruits so as to invite us to have recourse to her in all our necessities. I do not wish to repeat here how St John the Evangelist, on the command of the Virgin, gave a wonderful lesson to St Gregory Thaumaturgus concerning the mystery of the most holy Trinity, which was later to be used by the Catholic Church for the benefit of souls. 

Blessed Angela of Foligno[2] revealed one day to her confessor that, through the mediation of the glorious Virgin, she had received a faith so lively and penetrating that it seemed to her from that moment onwards that what she had before was a faith which in comparison was dead and full of darkness. 

The conversion of the King of Monomotapa in Africa which took place in the year 1561 bears mentioning here. 

Fr Gonçalo da Silveira of the Society of Jesus, who later suffered martyrdom on account of his religion, had received a divine calling to visit this Prince and help him to convert. The extraordinary graces he received and the ultimate success of his mission are sufficient evidence of this. One day he was saying Mass, having placed on the altar a fine picture of the Holy Virgin which he had brought with him from Europe. Some members of the court saw the picture and were overwhelmed by the majestic countenance of the Virgin. They went straight to the King and told him that Fr Gonçalo had brought with him a Lady of incomparable beauty. As a result of what they said, he felt a great desire to see this Lady. Father Gonçalo was delighted at this opportunity and went to see the King in his Palace, taking with him the image of the Virgin which he had covered with a beautiful veil of silk. In order to increase the King’s desire to see her, he explained that this was the image of the MOTHER OF GOD and the Queen of Heaven, to whom all the Kings and Emperors on earth owe obedience. With that, he produced the image and removed the silk veil whereupon the King found her countenance so divine that he made a profound reverence before her and earnestly entreated Father Gonçalo to make a gift of her image to him. The priest did so most willingly and, moreover, carried it himself to the King’s privy chamber where he installed an oratory to encourage the King in offering honour to her and in commending himself to her.

The Prince followed the priest’s advice and the glorious Virgin showed that she was pleased with his devotion by appearing to him on five consecutive nights, surrounded by light and radiating majestic sweetness while speaking to him in a language that he did not understand. On each of the following days, the King recounted his experiences to the Queen his mother and to some Portuguese who came to see him, adding that he was upset at being unable to understand the language spoken by the Princess. This provided a second opportunity for Father Gonçalo to lead the King further along the path towards conversion for he explained to him that this was a celestial and divine language to understand which he would have to embrace the Religion of the Lady’s Son, the unique Saviour of the world. He spoke these words in a manner so grave and so redolent of the power of the spirit of God that the King was most happy to follow the priest’s advice. In due course and after sufficient instruction, he was baptised along with his mother and more than three hundred of the chief lords in his kingdom – although it must be said that later he did not show an appropriate response to the favours he had received from Heaven.

Footnotes

[1] In Symbolum.

[2] Cap. 17 Vitæ ipsius.

[3] Monomotapa : A southeast African territory between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, in what is now Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

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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