Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 9 : § 2.6-7

Chapter 9 : The Eighth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is the strong and valiant defender 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).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020)

§ 2.  How the Holy Virgin protects her children against physical dangers and external threats 

 6   Justus Lipsius[1], a most distinguished man of letters, has left us the following remarkable story:

Having heard the English had once more made an incursion into France, the Count of Saint-Paul left his stronghold in la Cartelière in order to visit Compiègne. Three or four members of his household set off ahead to arrange accommodation for him and on the way they came across a band of some sixty to seventy enemy soldiers making their way through the district and ravaging everything they could. This encounter made them ride back immediately to warn their master of what was happening. The Count did not know the meaning of fear and ordered his men to mount up immediately without saying anything to them beyond the following few words: 

“All those of you who love me and also have faith, follow me now.”

Each man responded to this call to duty in the best way he could and in his own time but, as the Count did not have the patience to wait for them he set off and they followed after him in small groups of two or three. They made up a total of no more than eighty horsemen – a poorly ordered little group to face an enemy which now numbered fifteen hundred men (after others had come to join the band we mentioned earlier). 

Amongst this small troop of French horsemen was a man called Jean Gertrud who loved his master the Count more than his own life – as events were to show. Having been unable to persuade his master to withdraw from this fight and leave it to his men, he placed himself in front of the Count to defend him as best he might. He was not able to do this for very long, however, for he was quickly wounded in the arm by two arrows and as he was turning to tell his master that he should withdraw and it was not safe to remain, a third arrow struck him in the neck and he fell from his horse. The Count realized it would be rash rather than brave for him to stay and he withdrew to the safety of a small town nearby. The memory of his faithful servant, whom he thought had been killed, kept coming back into his mind; but the Mother of mercy had been taking good care of him, and here is what she did.   

Jean Gertrud had heard tell of the miracles worked by Our Lady of Hal in Hainaut and she came into his thoughts just as he was being thrown to the ground. With love in his heart, he prayed she would come to his rescue and it was not long before he felt the helping hand of Heaven which gave him the strength and determination to try and escape; but he was soon to encounter fresh dangers because three enemy soldiers came across him and took everything he had. Not content with that, they struck him several times on his head with their swords. The poor man, now half dead, earnestly commended himself to the Blessed Virgin and to St Barbara. With his hands joined in prayer, he asked the soldiers to allow him the opportunity to make his confession. The hearts of these cruel soldiers melted somewhat when they heard this prayer from a man whom they could see was covered in his own blood. By chance they noticed a priest not far from there and they asked him to hear the dying man’s confession. When the priest had finished, he tried to persuade them to leave it at that but, his efforts were in vain because these monsters were determined to kill Jean. One of them struck at his throat and left him for dead but the MOTHER OF GOD had parried the blow so that it only pierced Jean’s shirt.  

When the soldiers had left, the priest managed to get Jean to a nearby barn and began to tend to his wounds. Scarcely had he finished binding the wounds when the three brigands came back, and they were surprised that he was still alive. In their fury, they surrounded him once more and one of them aimed a blow at his head but succeeded only in striking him on the shoulder. At this, Jean feigned death and they dragged his body to a nearby river and threw him in. The Holy Virgin, however, held him up and bore him onto the shore of a small island. Jean had suffered nine sizeable wounds and he lay there for three hours without being able to move. 

Finally, the priest whom the Mother of gentleness had summoned to save the life of this poor man, seeing that no one was present, followed the traces of blood Jean’s body had left on the ground. When he came to the river, he looked around carefully and saw what looked like a body on the edge of the island. He called out in a loud voice asking if he was a Christian and to reply or to give him some sign. The wounded man heard the priest and raised his hand, whereupon the priest went into the river which came up to his neck and pulled John back onto the riverbank. The priest went in search of help and returned from a neighbouring village with a cart. Jean was taken back to the village where he was carefully bandaged. After several weeks he had recovered enough for him to make his way directly to Our Lady of Hal in order to offer his heartfelt thanks to his Holy Mother and he told everyone he met about the miracles wrought by the Mother of mercy. 

Footnotes

[1] Divæ Virg. Hallensis, c. 29.

 7   Although it was not my intention to give further examples concerning this theme where thousands may easily be found, I nevertheless cannot pass over in silence an incident which is not only famous because of its attendant circumstances but also because it has been juridically confirmed and deemed worthy of belief.  

In the year 1554, there was in the city of Valencia in Spain a knight called Antonio de Pisa who was making his way across Castile when he encountered seven men on horseback, his sworn enemies, who had no sooner caught sight of him than they began to cry out: 

“Kill him, kill the criminal! Kill the thief!” 

No man ever had a better reason to commend himself with a trusting heart to God and to the glorious Virgin than Antonio had at this point. He straight away fell to his knees, praying to the Blessed Virgin for whom he had a particularly devotion, begging her to come to his help in his extremity and pleading with her not to allow him to die without making his confession. He had scarcely finished his prayer than he heard an interior voice telling him that he would not die on this occasion, despite the danger in which he found himself. His enemies, however, threw themselves upon him like ravenous wolves. In order to make short work of the matter, they struck him with so many blows, most of them mortal, that you could almost say that his body had become one huge wound. One of the blows had split his head in two and another had opened up his chest, exposing his entrails. Seeing him covered in his own blood  and deeming him to be close to his end, they heaped insults upon him and left him there for dead.  

In the midst of all the blows he received, Antonio had not ceased calling upon the Holy Virgin and she sent an Angel to him who was dressed as a knight wearing white. The Angel placed him on his horse, supported him with his hands and gave him gentle encouragement as he took him to the house of a gentleman who was a close family member of his. He asked this man to take care of his relative in view of the state of his terrible injuries. The gentleman recognised Antonio and embraced him warmly, despite all his wounds. He later tried to find out the white knight who had brought him but this proved impossible. Meanwhile, as there was no time to lose, they sought out the most skilful surgeons to find one who could come to help – but there was not one of them willing to attend for they all thought that Antonio would remain the responsibility of the first to undertake the task. 

The wounded man, seeing that he had been abandoned by earthly physicians, wished now to think only of his soul. He sent for the priest who, having heard his confession and prepared him for his final journey, sent some pious widows to watch over him. He told them to summon him as soon as they noticed any signs the patient was approaching death. Antonio was complaining about the extreme pain he had in one of his arms which had been broken and he was praying unceasingly to the glorious Virgin when, on the stroke of midnight, she suddenly made her appearance in the sight of all those who were in the bed chamber. She looked like a great Lady radiant with majesty and gentleness. After greeting and tenderly encouraging Antonio, she took his wounded arm and rubbed a precious ointment on it which she had brought from Heaven. She did the same with all his other wounds and then – wonder of wonders! – at that moment Antonio found himself completely healed, so that no trace or feeling of any of his wounds remained.     

How could anybody fail to wonder at this Mother’s loving sweetness? Who will not be encouraged by stories such as these to have frequent recourse unto her? Who will not consider such incomparable generosity as an invitation to love her and to serve her? Who will not loudly proclaim how unworthy the human heart is of life which is not won over by the heartfelt love and generosity she shows towards her children ? 

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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 

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 9 : § 2.5

Chapter 9 : The Eighth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is the strong and valiant defender 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).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020)

§ 2.  How the Holy Virgin protects her children against physical dangers and external threats 

 5   The case of the Blessed St Sylvester[1], founder of the Religious Order which bears his name (sometimes referred to as the Order of Monte Fano) is similar because in both instances the Holy Virgin shows how she is not only a loving Mother but also a trustworthy Defender and Protector of her children. 

This Saint had left his cell during the night with the intention of going into the Church where his fellow Religious had gathered to sing Matins ; but as he began to descend some steps, the devil pushed him so violently that he lost his footing on one of the slippery slabs and fell down the rest of the steps to the foot of Monte Fano. This had certainly been planned because you would have said that Hell had weaponised the skies and the elements to bring about Sylvester’s death. It was a particularly dark night and furious winds had whipped up a violent storm; the driving rain was falling in such torrents that you would think it was the beginning of the deluge. The temperature had plummeted and in the midst of all this St Sylvester’s body lay prone on the ground, broken and bruised, his limbs incapable of movement. He cried out for help as best he could but the noise of the wind, intermingled with the torrents of water lashing down on the steps, not to mention the sound of the Religious singing in the choir, made it impossible for him to be heard by anybody. The cold and wet were having a serious effect upon his injuries and all that he had left was a little bit of warmth and life around his still beating heart. God knows whether the demons, seeing him in this state, took the opportunity to cause more pain to him on the inside than what he was suffering from without.     

Despite all this, the valiant Sylvester held firm against all their efforts and as a counterweight to their attacks he was able to rely on the trust he had in the MOTHER OF GOD, whom he implored most earnestly not to allow him to be taken away so quickly from this life without previously having strengthened with sound instruction his poor children of his Order who were on the point of finding themselves orphans without having been weaned from the breast, so to speak. He had scarcely finished his prayer when he saw before him the most sacred Virgin bathed in wondrous light and radiating incomparable majesty. Urging him to take courage and not to lose hope, she touched him in all the places where he had been hurt and healed him in an instant. He was left with no marks of the injuries he had sustained apart from a number of scars and traces of blood on his face and the rest of his body. She did not stop at that but, taking him gently by the arm, she returned him straight away back to his cell where she left him, filled with heavenly joy and with an extraordinary desire to love and to serve such a dear Mother quite differently thenceforth.  

His monks had been troubled at his failure to arrive in Church and at the conclusion of Matins they hastened to his cell where they saw the traces of fresh blood which were still visible on his face and body. They asked him what had happened and who had done this to him but the Saint kept quiet about his experience for several days. Finally, no longer able to resist their persistent questioning, he recounted in detail everything that had happened and his ardent language fired their hearts with a new fervour to accept suffering and an extraordinary trust in the goodness of the Queen of Heaven.

Footnotes

[1] St. Sylvester Gozzolini (1177-1267) who established a monastery on Monte Fano near Fabriano in the Province of Ancona, Italy. See Monaci Benedettini Silvestrini for more. 

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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 

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 9 : § 2.1-4

Chapter 9 : The Eighth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is the strong and valiant defender 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).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020)

§ 2.  How the Holy Virgin protects her children against physical dangers and external threats 

 1   No sooner had man through his disobedience abandoned the sweet and loving protection which had accompanied the state of his first innocence than all creation turned upon him to avenge the injury he had done to their Creator. It was just as if an invisible barrier which had been holding them back was now lifted and they had received the signal to bring about man’s ruin. Henceforth the elements declared open war on him, as did everything else in the world of nature. As a result, man now faced more risks and threats than the number of hairs on his head. If God had not called a halt to this, the situation would have become dire for poor man, against whom every creature was waging a war to the death. From on high, however, God willed to limit the power He was giving them and, through the mediation of the Holy Angels and His faithful servants, He reined in the urge they felt to inflict vengeance upon man. 

 2   It is in this connection that we see how the MOTHER OF GOD renders such outstanding services to her children by taking them under the protection of her great royal mantle, as was revealed one day to the Blessed Maria de Pazzi, a Religious of the Order of St Dominic. With loving and tireless diligence, she preserves them from thousands of dangers which would almost certainly take them by surprise and overwhelm them if she did not intervene. The Blessed Spirits can only look on with astonishment at the wondrous favours she bestows and offer eternal thanksgiving to her, whilst those who receive them often have neither eyes to see them nor heart to acknowledge them as they should. This does not mean, however, that through this cloud of unknowing we cannot see occasional lightning flashes of Providence showing forth the love and care she has for her children. Anyone having the time and the opportunity to collate the examples which have come down to us through the diligence of certain writers would be able to fill many large volumes. Our Holy Mother’s protection keeps pace with the dangers that threaten us and when we take time to reflect upon this we will find no danger that men can face where she has not left signs of her goodness and the help she has given to those who have had recourse to her.

 3   She has protected them from waters and waves, from steep ravines and floods; she has preserved them from fire and conflagration; she has turned aside lightning bolts, thunderstorms and other terrible  threats of violent weather; she has rescued them from snow, from ice and other difficulties into which they have fallen; she has helped them by calming tempests and storms; she has delivered them from shipwrecks; she has stretched out her helping hand for those experiencing dangerous falls, saving them from the frightening consequences; she has kept them safe from the hands of robbers and brigands; she has broken the chains with which they were fettered and set them at liberty; she has saved them from torture and from the ultimate penalty, namely the gallows; she has prevented poison from working its effects and from the evil of contagions; she has preserved their good name and wiped away the calumnies hurled upon them; she has frustrated the efforts of their enemies and totally nullified them; she has served as their cuirass, proof against arrows, pistols, muskets, cannon and other weapons of war;  she has calmed the fiercest of wild beasts; she has reigned in runaway horses and she has caught safely in her arms those who would have been thrown or trampled; she has kept free from harm those run over by carts and carriages, by lightening their weight. To sum up : explore if you will the sky and the earth in their entirety, the seas and oceans, the vast forests and tenebrous caves, mountains and valleys, deserts and populated places, cities, towns and villages – you will learn there is nowhere under heaven where cannot be found marks attesting to the loving protection of the MOTHER OF GOD.   

Make a list of the illnesses and health problems that people can have and you will find none where she has not intervened to cure or save those who have invoked her help in their necessities. She has healed them from paralysis, apoplexy, encephalitis, epilepsy, parasitic infections, scrofula, tuberculosis, sore throat, gout, fevers, inflammations, jaundice, fractures, bruising, every sort of wound and abscess, fainting fits, cancer; headaches and pains in the chest, the stomach, the arms, the hands, the ribs, the thighs, the legs, the feet, and thousands of other health problems which can afflict the human body. She has restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, normal walking to the lame, speech to the mute, consciousness to the comatose and use of the senses to those where this had been lost; she has brought healing to those who were crippled or handicapped, health to those diagnosed with incurable illness and life to the dead. 

 4   It would be a simple enough matter to prove everything we have just said by giving example after example, but this would fill many volumes and so I am going to choose only two or three out of the countless accounts that have come down to us. 

Father Gregory wrote a biography of the saintly Abbot Theodore his respected master who was also Bishop of Anastasiopoulos and who died on the 22nd of April in the year 630 (as is recorded in the Roman Martyrology). Father Gregory tells us the Abbot constructed a small Church dedicated to Our Lady next to his monastery where he would frequently be seen commending his intentions to her in prayer. He became known for all sorts of saintly works and this irked a number of people who had fallen into loose living and could not put up with the way his innocent and holy life was like a secret reproach to them. They wanted him out of their sight and in order to bring about his death they gave him poison. The effect of this was that the Abbot was unable to speak or even to move for the space of three days and it was assumed he was dead; but at the end of the three days the Holy Virgin appeared to him in a dream and told him she would call to account those who had placed him in this condition. She would give him their names and explain the cause and nature of his illness. In addition to this, she told him to take three pills which she had in her hand, promising him that they would purge him completely of the poisonous bile which had spread through his body. With that she disappeared and the Saint found her remedy restored him to health. He was invited to visit his best friends and he was quite honest in telling them the cause of his illness. He could not however, bring himself to identify the guilty parties but instead prayed earnestly for them to God and to the most sacred Virgin for the rest of his days.   

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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 

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 9 : § 1.1-2

Chapter 9 : The Eighth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is the strong and valiant defender 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).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020)

The love of a mother is especially characterised by its tenderness but it is remarkable to behold how as soon as anyone threatens to lay a finger upon a mother’s children, an alarm bell rings and weakness is suddenly transformed into courage; love issues a call to arms and there is no creature in nature more to be feared than a mother springing to the defence of her offspring. It should be pointed out, however, that the effects of grace go still further, providing mothers with incomparably greater powers than nature for the defence of their children. We shall see this in THE MOTHER OF GOD who, through the ways she comes to help her children, makes them see more and more clearly the blessings they enjoy of being under her protection. 

§ 1. The Holy Virgin is valiant defender of her children

 1   You would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the great care that God takes and the different means he explores to win over our hearts and deliver us from earthly attachments. Just take a moment to consider how this is recorded in the Sacred Scriptures. He attributes to Himself the love of a mother bear[1], the strength of a rhinoceros[2], the adroitness of a unicorn[3] and the courage of a lion[4] – assuring us thereby that He will never be wanting in love for us in our undertakings, nor in wisdom as He guides them, nor in strength to keep us safe. He gives His word[5] that He will come to our defence when we are attacked by strangers, He will strengthen us in our weakness, protect us from the ravages of time, shelter us from the noonday heat and be our staff to prevent us from stumbling. He promises to be our protective shield[6], our defensive bastion[7], our encircling rampart[8], and our life-saving citadel[9]. He declares that He will protect us under the shadow of His wings[10], He will bear us upon His shoulders[11], He will cherish and protect us as the apple of His eye[12], He will shelter us in the secret of His face[13] as in an impregnable fortress. Consider the unheard sweetness of our God who wishes to offer us His divine face as our unique haven of safety! Consider the incomparable happiness of his children who are assured with the assurance of Him who is immutable in His essence! Just as He alone deserves to be called strong, so too He wants to have the honour of defending us unaided. The Prophet Isaiah[14] records how He alone defended His own against the hand of their enemies, and how they were saved only by His arm and His courage. Through the mouth of the Prophet Jeremiah[15], He pronounces His curse against all those looking for support from anyone other than Him and placing their trust in earthly powers. To sum up : the whole of Sacred Scripture makes clear there is nothing of which He is more jealous than being the unique defender of His children. 

Footnotes

[1] I will meet them as a bear that is robbed of her whelps, and I will rend the inner parts of their liver: Osee (Hosea) xiii. 8

[2] God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros : Numbers xxiii. 22.

[3] And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever. Psal. LXXVII. 69.

[4] The lion shall roar, who will not fear? Amos iii. 8.

[5] No evils shall happen to him that feareth the Lord, but in temptation God will keep him, and deliver him from evils. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxxiii. 1.

[6] His truth shall compass thee with a shield: Psal. XC. 5.

[7] For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the face of the enemy. Psal. LX. 4.

[8] And I will make thy bulwarks of jasper: and thy gates of graven stones, and all thy borders of desirable stones. Isai. liv. 12.

[9] The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? …If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear…For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils, he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle. Psal. XXVI.

[10] Protect me under the shadow of thy wings. Psal. XVI. 8.

[11] As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, he spread his wings, and hath taken him and carried him on his shoulders: Deuteronomy xxxii.11.

[12] From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Psal. XVI. 8.

[13] Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men. Psal. XXX. 32.

[14] I have trodden the wine press alone… I looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there was none to give aid: and my own arm hath saved for me, and my indignation itself hath helped me. Isai. LXIII. 3-5.

[15] Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord: Jerem. xvii. v.

 2   None of this derogates in any way from the privileges of the MOTHER OF GOD whom He Himself has given to us as our Defender, our Guardian and our Protectress. In fact, He intends her to be the one to whom we have recourse in all our necessities. When He does something for us through her, He is doing it Himself and one of the things that gives Him the greatest satisfaction is to see us placing our most particular trust in her. The Saints themselves confirm that after God no one takes more care of us than she does, or comes anywhere near to doing so. This was the pronouncement of the great St Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, who stated[1]: 

After her Son, not one of the Saints looks after our affairs and understands our misfortunes and sufferings in the way that she does. 

This too is the view of St Gregory, Archbishop of Nicomedia[2], of St Andrew of Candia[3] and of St John Damascene[4] who in this connection compare her to the Tabernacle of the Covenant, of which it is written in the book of Leviticus[5]: I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off. In Chapter four of Isaiah[6], God makes a promise to His people that this same tabernacle will protect them from the summer’s sweltering heat and shelter them from the rains, storms and all the tribulations of wintry weather. Who could possibly put a number on all those who have been delivered from their misfortunes through having had recourse to this divine Tabernacle? Who could accurately put a value of the assurance we have in the MOTHER OF GOD? Who could describe the ways and the means she has discovered to send us her help and to deliver us from the midst of dangers? Who would be able to portray the love in her heart as she comes to our aid, helping us to avoid dangerous encounters and occasions of sin? What has she not done and what does she not cease to do everyday to instil in us a lively confidence to go straight to her in all our necessities? Sometimes we can see her holding her children by the hand to stop them from falling over, covering them with her protective mantle; at other times, we can see her cradling her beloved children in her arms. In this we can see on the one hand a wonderful gentleness and on the other the trust of her little infants nestling in her protection.  

We should not judge, says the pious Abbot Guerric[7], that it is a greater privilege to be received into the bosom of Abraham than into Mary’s bosom; on the contrary, it is to share in the prerogative of the King of Glory, who established in her His throne and His abode. 

A thousand times happy are they who enjoy the blessings of her wondrous protection! I should dearly like to represent this in the fullness of its reality; but in the time we have available it will be more than enough for me to say a few words about the glory of such a dear Mother and the consolation experienced by her children.

Footnotes

[1] Orat. in Adoratione Zonæ Deip.

[2] Orat. de Oblat. B. Virg.

[3] Serm. de Annuntiat.

[4] Orat. de Nativ. B. Virg.

[5] Leviticus xxvi. 11.

[6] And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a security and covert from the whirlwind, and from rain. Isai. iv. 6.

[7] Serm. 1 de Assumpt.

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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 

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 8 : § 2.1-2

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is Mother of Mercy for 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)

§ 2. The extent of the MOTHER OF GOD’s mercies

 1   The Holy Prophet Job uttered a great thought when he said of his experience: From my infancy mercy grew up with me : and it came out with me from my mother’s womb[1]. There is no mere creature to whom these words apply more fittingly than to the Holy Virgin, for with the grace of her first sanctification she was anointed with the oil of mercy more liberally than all other creatures taken together and at that point her heart was bathed with the gentle balm of heavenly sweetness. Henceforth she was to grow unceasingly in this most excellent virtue and she made such progress as to be beyond our understanding. Just as she continued to grow in all the other virtues not in the way that we do, but as would befit her status as MOTHER OF GOD, the sweet inclination of her heart to show sympathy with human sufferings and misfortunes became so powerful through her repeated acts of mercy that she had already reached a level beyond the comprehension of the Angels when she was chosen to be the Mother of the King of Heaven. The Blessed St Agnes appeared one day to St Bridget[2] and revealed to her that :  

The glorious Virgin reached a point where she would prefer to endure any amount of personal suffering rather than look upon poor souls who would not be redeemed. 

It was, says St Bonaventure[3], at the blessed moment when she was visited by Heaven’s Ambassador that the words of the Royal Prophet[4] were fulfilled in her : Deep calleth on deep. The deep wells of the Virgin’s mercy called down from Heaven the oceanic depths of God’s inexhaustible mercy. With the intermingling of these two sources of mercy, the sacred heart of the Virgin was swallowed up in the immensity of God’s eternal mercy and the divine Word did not disdain to respond to the sorrowful cries coming from human hearts. 

Where could we find words to explain the growth of the Holy Virgin’s mercy resulting from her intimate union with God’s infinite goodness? How could we describe the progress she made from that moment until the end of her life, surpassing herself from one moment to the next, and feeling each day more and more moved by our misfortunes and sufferings? Who could begin to understand the extent of her merciful love now that her heart had become as though divinized and totally swallowed up in the limitless ocean of the unimaginable tenderness of the most holy Trinity?

  

Footnotes

[1] Job xxxi. 18.

[2] Lib. I Revelat. S. Brigittæ, c. 30.

[3] Cap. 5 Speculi B. Virg.

[4] Psal. XLI 8.

 2   I am mindful of what St Bonaventure[1] wrote concerning this:

There is no one able to measure the extent of this mercy apart from Him who made the blessed Virgin incomprehensible to everyone else, not only because of the grace and glory He communicated to her, but also because of the mercy with which He filled her heart.

In the limited space available it would not be possible to do justice to the immensity of our Holy Mother’s merciful kind-heartedness ; suffice it to say for our purposes that it is greater than our misfortunes and exceeds all our necessities. In its breadth, it encompasses all our intentions, whether interior or exterior, whether in the body or in the spirit. In its length, it extends to the hour of our death and even goes beyond since its fruits are eternal. In its depth, it plunges into sin’s abysses to rescue those who have fallen and even into the very centre of hell to free those trapped therein. In height, it reaches unto the heavenly empyrean, the final end and objective of her merciful actions. 

There you have in general terms what I shall be focusing on in greater detail during the remaining chapters of Part III where I shall be revealing the splendours of the holy Virgin’s Mercy towards her beloved children. I pray that the blessed Virgin will look with merciful favour upon this my undertaking,  just as she has hitherto served as my guide and my support. I shall begin with external mercies and then proceed step by step to discuss the internal ones as well as those which are for us the most important. 

[1] Speculi B. Virg., c. 5.

[End of Chapter 8]

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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 

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 8 : § 1.2-3

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is Mother of Mercy for 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)

§ 1. The need we all have for a Mother of mercy and how she is none other than the Holy Virgin

 2   The reason I went to some length elaborating this theme referred to by the eloquent Doctor was to make quite clear how extremely blessed we are to have a merciful Father whose only thought is promoting our good and helping us in our misfortunes. May I venture to say, however, that to bring peace effectively into our souls we really need a Mother who will take to heart our wants and needs?  I am basing this on the authority of the great Sage[1] who said that just as when a vine unprotected by a hedgehog wall is at risk from the greed of passers-by and the depredation of animals; so too, where there is no Mother there can only be sick or needy children who suffer greatly. A mother’s heart has a special tenderness which is such that a sick child has only to experience its gentle caresses in order to feel better. In this connection, God’s infinite goodness in wanting to share His sweet blessings through the graces of the Gospel was not satisfied with giving us a Father filled with love and compassion but He also wanted to provide us with a Mother of mercy, to whom we might have recourse in all our necessities. In order to show us that this Mother of mercy is none other than the sacred Virgin, it seems to me that the witness of Holy Church ought to be sufficient for us when, filled with feelings of sweet ecstasy, she calls her Mother of mercy, our life ... and our hope[2].  This receives further support from the Blessed Virgin herself who on various occasions has referred to this title of honour.  

For speaking to St Bridget one day, she declared[3]: I am the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of Mercy, the joy of the just and the path for sinners to come to God. 

Another example concerns a favour she granted to one of St Odo’s monks (Odo being the first Abbot of Cluny[4]). The monk had once been a notorious thief but had converted and became a great servant of God. She visited him whilst he was dying and asked him if he recognised her, to which he replied that he did not. She then said to him : I am the Mother of mercy, and went on to add that in three days time, at an hour which she specified, they would find themselves together in Heaven. After an investigation, St Odo was able to declare that there was no doubt or suspicion about what had happened to the monk and thenceforth he routinely called the holy Virgin the Mother of mercy.

Footnotes

[1] Where there is no hedge, the possession shall be spoiled: and where there is no wife, he mourneth that is in want: Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxxvi. 27. Cf. And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. Isaiah v. 5. 

[2] From the Salve Regina, attributed to Herman Contractus (11the century). For more, see Thesaurus Precum Latinarum.

[3] Lib. VI Revelat., c. 10.

[4] In Vita S. Odonis, lib. III, c. 19. Apud Surium, mense Novembri.

 3   This evidence, I say, is more than enough to persuade us that the Mother of mercy is none other than the Queen of Heaven. The Holy Fathers, however have left us such beautiful and pleasing thoughts on this matter that I cannot in conscience omit to mention them. The pious Andrew of Crete says[1] that she is a bottomless well of mercy. St George, Archbishop of Nicomedia[2], compares her to the olive tree mentioned by David[3], laden with fruit, and says that: 

The fair olive tree, wondrously leafy and beautiful, seen by the sage son of Sirach[4] in the middle of the Church’s plains, was none other than Mary. 

St Bernardine declares that[5]: 

Truly she is the rainbow, wondrous for the variety of her colours, incomparable in her beauty, but especially pleasing in that she has the power to stay the hand of God when He is preparing to chastise the world, drowning sinners. 

The learned Prelate William of Paris[6] maintains that :

She is the living spring from which men have drawn and continue to draw every day the sweet waters of divine mercy. 

The learned Idiota[7] elevates this idea into the heavens when he says that :

She is a brilliant sun whose rays of mercy are so ardent that no one can fail to feel their effect.  

St John Damascene[8] compares her to the sweet and chaste dove who returns to Noe bearing the sign of peace and mercy[9]. St Bonaventure[10] took the view that she was foreshadowed by the widow of Sarepta who received from the hand of God, in the person of the Prophet Elias, such a great quantity of oil that she was able to fill all her vessels. He calls her the vein[11] and the fount of mercy[12], whose breast gives suck to the children of God. St Bernard calls her the Temple of mercy[13] whither people from all parts flock to be delivered from their misfortunes and tribulations. Richard of St Victor, in his commentary on the words of the Spouse in the Canticle of Canticles where He says to His Beloved that : Thy two breasts [are] like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies[14], observes that:

It is no wonder that the Holy Virgin’s sweet breasts should be filled with mercy since she gave birth to Mercy incarnate, nor that the Saviour should have been fed with her physical milk in order that spiritual milk might be shared with us ; and in proportion as she fed this precious nectar to our Elder Brother her Son, that her spiritual breasts should have been enabled to dispense mercy for the consolation of all those whom her Son would one day recognise as His younger brothers.  

If the Virgin’s babes and infants only understood the happiness they enjoy of being cradled by the Mother of the King of glory and fed at her breast! If only they were disposed to savour the sweetness God has hidden in her breasts and to drink fearlessly from these living springs of goodness!  What an abundance of good things, of riches and of happiness would be theirs! But since it is only through her that we can come to her, she must needs draw us unto her so that she may grant us the confidence to approach and taste of her great mercies. 

[1] Orat. de Annuntiat.

[2] Orat. de Oblat. S. B. Virg.

[3] But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea for ever and ever: Ps. LI. 10.

[4] As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted : Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 19

[5] Tom. III, serm. 1.

[6] Lib. Rhetor. divin., c. 18.

[7] Contempl. de B. Virg., in prolog.

[8] Orat. 2 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[9] Gen. viii. 10-11.

[10] Speculi B. Virg.

[11] Tu vena es misericordiæ : from the hymn Te Matrem Dei laudamus.  vēna, ae, f.: source (of quality or other abstract thing), fount, vein, (also) channel, conduit (see DMLBS at Logeion). 

[12] See The Litany of the Blessed Virgin.

[13] Serm. de Assumpt.

[14] Canticles (Solomon) iv. 5.

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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