Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 7 : § 5.20-23

Chapter 7 : The Sixth 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)

§ 5. The Gratitude of the Mother of God towards certain Kings, Queens and other Rulers

Philippe IV

 20   Philip IV, who currently occupies the throne of Spain, inherited not only his father’s Kingdom but also his devotion to the Queen of Heaven. 

Shortly after becoming King, he despatched the Count of Monterrey as his Ambassador to Rome, having commissioned him to pursue the issue of the Immaculate Conception as a matter of priority. With this in mind, he wrote to the Pope and all the Cardinals in order to make them realise that more needed to be done in order to resolve the differences of opinion and to ask them most respectfully to resolve the question for the sake of the whole of Christendom.  

These requests were repeated when Pope Gregory XV succeeded Paul V and a new Brief was published on the 24th of May in the year 1622, prohibiting thenceforth anyone from maintaining an opinion contrary to the Immaculate Conception, not only in public but also in private conversations and in familiar discourse. The King did not cease in pressing his case to Urban VIII, presently occupying the seat of Saint Peter, asking him to pronounce the final word which the whole Church was awaiting with such faith and patience. We need to remember that all things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven[1]. Let us pray that the Queen of Heaven, in recognition of his devoted service, will look with favour upon this Prince and grant him the blessings that Pope Gregory wished for in the Brief published on the 4th of June 1622, obtaining for him the grace of making the Church’s enemies return in obedience to the Faith.

Footnotes

[1] Ecclesiastes iii. 1.

Alfonso I

 21   Let us link the crown of Spain to that of Portugal and speak now of the devotion of this Kingdom’s sovereigns, starting with the first to bear the title of King. This was Alfonso I, a Prince gifted with all the qualities[1] that can make someone Royal in the true sense of the word. I could well say of him that the Holy Virgin chose him in his cradle and adopted him on the Holy Altar. 

He was born severely crippled with legs very badly deformed. This greatly upset Count Henry his father who feared his son would be confined to a chair for the rest of his life, leading a very restricted existence – a fate almost worse than death. There was however a most noble Knight, the valiant Egas de Monis, who was led as though by a message from Heaven to urge the Count to place the boy in his hands. The Holy Virgin appeared to him in a dream and told him to take the boy to Mount Cárquere which overlooks the river Douro. There he would find the ruins of an old chapel which had once been dedicated to her. He was to clean up the site and he would then find an image of her and an altar; he was to pray during the night and then place the crippled boy on the altar in the chapel. She went on to say that she was entrusting the boy’s education to him as though he were his own son and she herself would be a loving Mother to him. She added that her own beloved Son wanted to make use of him for the advancement of His glory and for the casting out of wickedness.   

The noble Egas carried out to the letter the instructions he had received from Heaven and after a while the little boy began to move his feet and his hands, and then to demonstrate with extraordinary joy the sudden improvement he had experienced. Egas, who had been keeping a careful watch, immediately realised what had happened. His companions rushed in to see the boy and everyone called out : It’s a miracle! They did not cease to bless God and the most sacred Virgin for healing the boy in such a swift and wondrous manner. When Count Henry learned what had happened, he felt an extraordinary tenderness towards the MOTHER OF GOD and he realised the boy was destined to fight for the Faith and to work for the advancement of the most holy Virgin’s honour. In gratitude, he built a beautiful Church[2] and a Monastery which he entrusted to the Canons Regular of St Augustine.

Footnotes

[1] Vasconcellius, in Regibus Lusitaniæ Anacephalæosi 1 et 2.

[2] Nossa Senhora de Cárquere.

 22   On the one hand, Alfonso had before his eyes the fine example of the piety of his father and his mentor, whilst on the other he received prevenient blessings from his dear Mother and every day she favoured him with more graces, so that he continued to progress in the sight of Heaven. For her part, the Mother of fair love took most particular care of him and he could be seen to make visible progress under the favourable auspices of his Governess.  

He conquered numerous cities, vanquishing the enemies of God and the Church on countless occasions. One example which occurred in the year 1139 was the battle of Ourique against King Ismarus who was at the head of a Moorish army so massive that it was estimated for every Christian soldier there were at least one hundred infidels. On the day before the battle, the Saviour appeared to Alfonso nailed to His cross and He gave him His five wounds for his coat of arms, which the Kings of Portugal have retained to this day. He also promised him victory and kingship. This was soon fulfilled because after he had defeated the huge Mahometan horde he was proclaimed King by his victorious army. This title was later confirmed by Pope Alexander III in the year 1179. On another occasion, in the year 1147 with the help of French, German, English and Flemish allies, he overcame more than 200,000 Moors who had captured Lisbon and the surrounding area. There were many other encounters when he put the infidels to flight until finally he succeeded in liberating the country. 

It would be remiss of me not to mention one more battle which happened in the year 1181. Abu Ya‘qub[1], the leader of the Moors in Seville, became aware that Alfonso was preoccupied himself with numerous affairs demanding his attention and he decided to take advantage of this opportunity by attacking Santarém with a powerful force of Granadians he had raised. Alfonso immediately decided to cut him off and, in order to render himself more worthy of receiving his dear Mother’s favour and the assistance of the Holy Angels, he spent the whole night before the battle in prayer. The following day in the heat of the battle many soldiers and officers notice a winged arm that followed the King wherever he went, wreaking destruction in the enemy ranks. I cannot be certain as to whether this was the arm of his powerful warrior Queen or that of St Michael, Prince of the Heavenly host, whom she had sent to help Alfonso. Be that as it may, I know that shortly afterwards, in gratitude for this extraordinary favour, Alfonso instituted the chivalric Order known as St Michael of the Wing, whose symbol is a red wing in a golden circle.

Footnotes

[1] Named as Alboiach in the French text. Abu Ya‘qub (1135-84) established himself in Seville in 1171 and laid siege to Santarem in 1181 and 1184, receiving wounds which led to his death.

 23   It would have been most ungrateful on the part of the Prince if he had failed to show his gratitude towards such a generous Mother. Accordingly, he made known his indebtedness to her not only in words but also in what he did. He encouraged all his people to cultivate devotion to the Virgin, he himself would always go straight to her in all his necessities and he proclaimed in various ways that the honour gained from all his victories was due to her.  

After the battle of Santarém, he dedicated the Church which he built for her in Alcobaça along with a fine Monastery which he gave to the Cisterian Order, including lands between Leiria and the sea. He endowed this Monastery with ample funding which meant there were sufficient Religious to make possible the singing God’s praises without interruption by day and by night. In addition to this, he began work on the Church at Ceiça (which his son Sancho would complete) as a result of the following remarkable event. 

One day, Alfonso left his palace in deep thought and was walking along the river Mondego in search of consolation when someone told him there was an ancient Chapel dedicated to the Virgin not far from there. He resolved to make his way there forthwith since he could not have wished for a better way of unburdening his heart than to visit this place where his dear Mother was honoured. As he and his companions set off to find the chapel, it so happened that one of them took off after a bolting hare which drew him into a thicket where he was thrown from his horse against a tree. He was pulled out unconscious by his companions and they decided to take him to a nearby Chapel since they did not expect him to live long. This dreadful accident reopened the wound in Alfonso’s heart which had been starting to mend. Overwhelmed with grief, he entered the Chapel and poured out his heart, as was his custom, before the altar of the Blessed Virgin. It was not long before he noticed that his sorrow seemed to be melting away and, in order that nothing should be wanting to his improved spirits, he noticed the man who had been considered dead was starting to move, to stretch himself and to make use of his members, before finally arising – entirely recovered from his mishap. This miracle made the King decide to lay the foundations of a beautiful Church on the site of the little Chapel that he had discovered but, as his death intervened, it was left to his son to complete the project. 

Consider for a moment the love and kindness in the motherly heart of the Blessed Virgin!  For once she has developed an affection for someone, she never abandons him. This was the case with him whom you have seen feted with palms and laurels and who enjoyed a life happy in his devotion to her. He lived to the right bold age of ninety-one, cherished by his own people, feared and respected by his enemies, admired by everyone for his courage, his justice and his munificence to all : in short, for the wonders that God worked in him and through him, not only during his lifetime but also after his death. What could be added to a happiness such as this?

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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