Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 7 : § 5.24-26

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

John I

 24   We now come to another King who also has a claim to be one of those most highly favoured by the Holy Mother of God : John I, popularly known as John of Happy Memory, who was the second King of Portugal. He was the natural son of Peter I, himself King of Portugal[1], and his ascent to the throne was the culmination of a series of quite remarkable acts of Providence.  

He was born in the year 1350 and was given for his Tutor Dom Nuño de Andrade, a Knight of the Order of Avis, at whose request John was installed as Grandmaster. Queen Leonor was the wife of Ferdinand (who was John’s brother) and she had a deep hatred of John. She had him imprisoned at Cuora where she would have brought about his death if God and the Holy Virgin had not intervened because they had destined him to perform special services for them. After the death of Ferdinand, John was honoured firstly with the title of Defender of the nation, and then later with that of King. 

This caused a lot of resentment in the heart of Leonor who had a most unpleasant nature. She resolved to summon John of Castile, a rival claimant to the crown of Portugal, inviting him to seize the throne as soon as possible. He arrived suddenly with a powerful army, thinking to surprise John who had just left his place of imprisonment. This poor Prince threw together as best he could a small force but it would not have been able to tackle the Castilian army if Heaven had not intervened on his side. He did not place his confidence in his soldiers alone but in the all-powerful assistance and favour of Mary, whom he had loved tenderly and chosen for his Lady and his Mother from a very early age. He ordered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to be said in his camp, inviting everyone to confess their sins. He then engaged the enemy on a plain located between Leira and Aljubarrota on the eve of the Assumption in the year 1386. His preparations augured well for the help of his Protectress and the outcome of the day’s battle since in less than an hour victory was his. Two thousand Castilians were killed and the reminder were either wounded or routed. His own losses amounted to some fifty killed in action. The news of his victory reached Lisbon on the same day although it was not apparent how this happened. To demonstrate his gratitude for such remarkable help from his warrior Queen, the King instituted a solemn procession in which he participated on foot, accompanied by the clergy, the nobility and crowds of faithful fellow-countrymen. In front of him were carried four of the principal standards captured from the enemy and a great number of military colours which would later be hung from the vault in the Church of Nossa Senhora de la Escala which he had built. What added further to the joy of his victory were the congratulations he received from Pope Boniface IX who confirmed John as King and dispensed him from his chivalric vow of chastity, making it possible for him to marry for the good of his Kingdom. The king felt greatly indebted to the MOTHER OF GOD and to show his gratitude he built a beautiful and magnificent church on the site of the battle called Our Lady of Batalha. He also displayed great munificence in establishing a Monastery for the Dominican Fathers where the holy Virgin could be honoured in perpetuity[2].

 

Footnotes

[1] Vasconcellius, in Regibus Lusitaniæ Anacephalæosi 12.

[2] The Mosteiro da Batalha, also known as the Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory erected in commemoration of the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota and serving as the burial church of the 15th-century Aviz dynasty of Portuguese royalty.

 25   As soon as she detects even a small amount of gratitude, the Queen of Heaven has a habit of increasing her generous gifts still further. She had promised this Prince glory before God and before men and she duly gave him a second victory no less remarkable than the first. To make it quite clear that she had a hand in it, she so arranged events that the critical date was once more the eve of her Assumption. Here is what happened : 

Apart from all those things which ordinarily contribute towards men’s happiness, God had blessed John with children who proved worthy of their father. The idea came to him of making use of the opportunity provided by a public celebration to award three of his children with the Collar of the Order of Portugal in the presence of the Princes and Grandees of his kingdom. These three sons were Edward, the heir apparent; Peter, Duke of Coimbra and Montemayor; and Henry, Duke of Viseu. But an old and experienced Captain in the Portuguese army made a comment which pierced these young Princes to the quick and had notable consequences. As a result of what he said, they remonstrated with the King saying there was no point receiving this honour which was awarded for great feats of arms if they themselves had not given some proof of their valour. Because of this, they asked that they should be allowed to provide an example others so that henceforth no one would ever claim or receive such a glorious reward without having merited it. They asked for permission to cross over to Africa and attack the fortress at Ceuta which overlooks the Straits of Gibraltar. It was at the time the strongest fortified place held by the Moors and from it they were able to cross over without difficulty into Spain where they would bring great persecution and distress to the Christians. Today, Ceuta can be ranked the greatest bastions in the whole of Christendom.

The King was so taken aback by their courageous request that all he could think to do was to bless God for having granted him such children and to admire the generous spirit they were showing at such a young age. Having thought more carefully about this suggestion, however, and especially after having prayed to God and His Holy Mother, he decided to assemble a large naval force, but without giving any intimation to the Moors as to its target. Once these preparations had been completed, he left Lisbon accompanied by his children his princess and his nobility on the eve of the Assumption, this being a day of good omen for him. It seemed as if scarcely anytime passed between their departure and winning a famous victory for they arrived at Ceuta in less than six days and immediately mounted an assault. They killed more than 2000 Moors and the others were either captured as prisoners of war or were forced to take flight in shame. The King lost no more than eight men on this expedition. Once the fortress had been conquered, the first thought of the King was to clean and exorcise the Saracens’ mosque in readiness for the following Sunday so that it might be dedicated to the Empress of Heaven, his ever dependable and victorious Guide in battle. After Sunday Mass had ended and a sermon had been preached by way of thanksgiving, the King awarded the Collar of the Order of Portugal to each of his three sons who had all distinguished themselves during the fighting. This was one of the most splendid ceremonies ever seen, especially noteworthy for the public rejoicing as well as for the soldiers’ cheers and acclamations which filled the vicinity of the Church. Apart from the Collar of the Order, the King gave each of them a sword studded with precious stones which their dear mother, the saintly Queen Philippa, had prepared before her death, accompanied by a thousand blessings. She had also made a reliquary containing a piece of wood from the True Cross so that they would remember they had a greater duty to spread the message of the Cross and to extend the Saviour’s Empire than to preserve or increase their own national boundaries

.

 26   Have you begun to notice, dear reader, the benefits granted to an open and devoted heart once it presents itself to the Mother of fair love? Have you seen the graces and favours she gives to such persons, how she blesses their undertakings, how generously she rewards even the smallest feelings of goodwill that they have for her? But this is not all, for you need to know that this wondrous Mother, as the crowning glory of her favours, finally called him at a ripe old age from this earthly life which had been filled with victories, glory and merits, on that same day, namely the eve of her Assumption, to demonstrate that what had happened previously was not due to mere chance but rather a special Providence she worked in favour of this man. She had chosen this day, not only as a reliable signal for several temporal achievements, but as signifying the day when he would take possession of the eternal crown that she had prepared for him so that he might partake in the joys and honours that she herself receives in Heaven. Truth to tell, the Holy Virgin had through wondrous, prevenient gifts shown her tender love for the heart of this dear Prince, as it is easy to see. The ways in which he showed his love and gratitude to her would take a long time to explain but they included the following:

Every day he would recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin with singular devotion, a practice he recommend to all his friends.  

 

He dedicated three beautiful and magnificent Churches to her. The first was Nossa Senhora de la Escala in Lisbon; the second was Our Lady of Batalha which I have already mentioned and where he is buried; the third is in Guimarães and is known popularly as Nossa Senhora da Oliveira, because of a lovely olive tree which used to grow next to the vault of the choir. It seems that the King felt his love and affection had a special place there, for on two separate occasions he made the journey on foot from Lisbon to visit this Church. He went there to offer thanksgiving straight after the victory over the Castilians; he made a gift of silver equivalent in weight to his own fully armed body; he left his own lance and his coat of arms in this Church, and he presented it with various pieces of treasure with a total of value of more than 400,000 écus; he founded a Chapter composed of thirty-two Canons and he endowed each one of these with an income of 450 écus, without mentioning the 250,000 écus he gave to the Bishop. He obtained several Papal indulgences that could be obtained at the Church and he granted it the privilege of a fair frank and free[1] throughout the whole octave of the Assumption, in memory of the single favours he had received on the eve of the Assumption.

This may give you some idea of the loving competition over generosity and munificence between the Blessed Virgin and Alfonso, her dear babe and suckling!

 

Footnotes

[1] Free from obligation in respect of payments or other conditions. See “frank and free” in OED.

.👑   👑   👑

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