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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020) |
§ 4. The generosity of the MOTHER OF GOD towards her children when it comes to the virtues
Purity in heart
9 If purity of the body can be considered as a great favour, then purity in heart is certainly no less.
Brother Transon was a most devout member of the Order of the Seraphic St Francis and he is recorded as dying in the year 1596[1]. He obtained purity in heart from the MOTHER OF GOD in the following manner. He had frequently asked her to grant him this favour through the sufferings of her beloved Son and also through the merits of his own sufferings, which he accepted most willingly. She finally appeared to him one day whilst he was deeply absorbed in his thoughts. The Franciscan thought that this might be an illusion and made ready to flee, but the Holy Virgin stopped him, saying:“Why dost thou call to me, only to run away from me?”Reassured by her words, he threw himself on the ground and asked her in astonishment:“But wherefore dost thou do me this singular favour?”The Mother of fair love raised him to his feet and, placing her hand over his heart, she said:“Here is that purity in heart which thou hast so greatly desired.”
Footnotes
[1] Chronicon, p. IV, lib. X.
The Discernment of spirits
10 The Discernment of spirits is a gift of God so precious that it is impossible to esteem it too highly, especially among those who are called to guide souls or who receive extraordinary graces from God.
Blessed Angela, who died in Foligno in the Italian Duchy of Spolato in 1309, is someone who may be counted amongst their number, as is attested by her life. One day the Saviour appeared to her and told her that, amongst several other favours that His most holy Mother had obtained for her, one of the principal ones was that she would never be deceived by any of the visions or images that she might see, no matter how impressive they might seem. For this reason, the old enemy would never have any power over her.
Constancy
11 Constancy and Steadfastness in difficult and arduous things is a virtue so necessary that without it we cannot complete any undertaking for the glory of God. The Holy Virgin grants it to those who request it in the same way she does with the other virtues. Here is one example :
Around forty years ago[1], a young girl from Berne, whose parents were Catholic, was approached by Musculus[2], a Protestant minister notorious for his perverse views and pernicious writings. He tried to persuade her to leave the Roman Catholic Church and to abandon her superstitious custom, as he called it, of saying the rosary every Saturday in honour of the MOTHER OF GOD – but she would have none of it. Now heresy is hell-begotten (as I have shown elsewhere[3]) and is frequently linked to the devil himself. One day while she was reciting her rosary, she felt so troubled that, fearing lest something bad was going to happen to her, she determined to go to Freiburg and speak with one of the Jesuit priests to seek help and advice from him. The enemy of all that is good appeared to her three times while she was on her journey, attacking her through trickery and through violence for, apart from his deceitful arguments, he caused her to fall from her horse to the ground three times. The courage that the MOTHER OF GOD granted her, however, was greater than all of Satan’s efforts. Despite his anger and rage, she reached Freiburg successfully and later returned to her home filled with peace and trust in God and His Holy Mother.
Footnotes
[1] Boecius, in Annalibus Collegii Friburgensis.
[2] Andreas Meusel (1514 – 1581) : a German Lutheran.
[3] Part II, ch. 10, § 5.
Penitence
12 I would need much more time that than I can expend here even were I to simply run through all the other virtues. I feel, however, that I cannot omit to mention the virtue of Penitence which she granted to so many sinners and, although the number of these must be almost infinite, I am going to produce only one example.
During that time when St Dominic[1] was filling the whole of Italy with the odour of his sanctity and the fruit of his preaching, he happened to be heard by a second Thaïs[2]. This was a young lady in Florence called Benedicta whose charms were drawing countless souls into the snares of Satan. She had all the necessary attributes to serve as his instrument and it was quite tragic to see the damage that she was doing to young men. Nevertheless, as nothing is impossible to Grace, the words of this man of God touched her heart so powerfully that she could not stop herself from kneeling at his feet and asking to make her confession. The Saint, whose heart felt a strong impulsion to bring about the conversion of such persons, told her that she should begin forthwith. In the course of discharging his sacramental duty, he inflamed her heart with a fire that was spiritual and divine, making her burst into tears. At the end, seeing how well-disposed she was, he spoke to her about all the things she needed to do to turn aside from the evil ways she had been following. He commended her to the Mother of goodness, encouraging her to have frequent recourse to the Blessed Virgin.
How incomprehensible are God’s judgments, and how unsearchable his ways[3], for He permitted the enemy who had for so long possessed her soul to take possession of her body shortly after her conversion. St Dominic, who had been keeping her particularly in his thoughts, delivered her from this towards the end of the year and equipped her with all she needed to defend herself against Satan, for the evil one would attack her again in a way more dangerous than ever. Having been forced to abandon her body, he launched a spiritual attack against her through her weakest point and soon he had made her worse than she was before. It is possible that someone other than St Dominic would have considered it a waste of effort trying to help people such as her, but he knew from experience the power of God’s grace and he returned to the fray once more against the devil. As soon as the young lady saw him, she immediately threw herself at his feet, overcome with shame and confusion. St Dominic reassured her and restored her confidence, giving her the sacred names of Jesus and Mary as a protective shield. The effect of this was that each and every time that she pronounced these names the enemy would be significantly weakened. God finally brought an end to the inconstancy of her spirit and its bad habits in the following manner.
He gave her a vision of her particular judgement where she was arraigned as a criminal. The Judge was seated on His throne, the Holy Virgin at His side, St Dominic was at the feet of the Mother of mercy, whilst nearby were her Prosecutors, pressing their charges to the utmost of their ability. She saw how all the sins of her past life had been written in a great book and how numerous men had, through her fault, suffered eternal damnation. There were many others whom she had led into serious sin or who had been offended by her bad example. As a result of this, she almost fell into total despair, for she could be heard uttering dreadful and fearful cries.
“Woe is me,” she cried, “but woe at the same time to my father and mother who took more care of my body than of my soul; woe to those who first abused my compliance, and who cast me into this fearful labyrinth where I now find myself confined.”
As she was overwhelmed by these terrible feelings of regret and dismay, she seemed to notice St Dominic continually calling upon her to take courage and to pray to the Mother of mercy so as to obtain through her advocacy some adjournment which would enable her to show her penitence. At this point she threw herself on the ground, protesting to the Holy Virgin that she was not worthy even of one glance from her – much less of hoping to receive her favourable support. Nevertheless, she implored her help if only out of consideration for her servant Dominic. Her request was granted on the spot and, before she arose from the floor, she saw that everything that had been previously written about her in the great book had been erased. Then the Judge told her that she should recognise just how obliged she was to His most holy Mother, and that henceforth she was to fill the pages of this book with actions worthy of eternal life. She should make a firm purpose of amendment to avoid each and every occasion of sin, becoming a true model of virtue.
This shows how powerful the Queen of Heaven’s favour is for those who, place all their trust in her.
Footnotes
[1] Alanus a Rupe, lib. de Rosario.
[2] Thaïs : 1) a famous hetaira (concubine/courtesan) of Alexander the Great; 2) St Thais: a fourth century Egyptian woman who became a public sinner before receiving the graces of penitence and conversion.
[3] Rom. xi. 33.
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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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