Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 7 : § 4.17-20

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)

§ 4. The gratitude of the MOTHER OF GOD towards certain Emperors and Empresses 

St Helena

 17   The time has now come to say a word about certain holy Empresses who in their elevated status have left an immortal memory of the love and the zeal they showed in their lives for honouring The MOTHER OF GOD and making her honoured everywhere. Amongst these, St Helena occupies the first rank. Her name will live on through the Panegyrics of the most celebrated authors of Ecclesiastical History such as Eusebius[1], Theodoret[2] and Nicephorus[3], as well as in the writings of the holy Fathers. How they envied her for being a perfect model of all the virtues, especially of piety in relation to the Queen of Angels.  

She burned with an ardent desire to leave marks of her devotion towards the Holy Mother everywhere, ordering Churches to be erected in all corners of the Empire, as in Gethsemane[4], Bethlehem[5], Rome, Naples and in many other locations. The Holy Virgin showed herself so grateful for this that the human mind would find it difficult to imagine how this Princess could have been more blessed, being mother of the first Christian Emperor and the wonder of Emperors. 

The grave and eloquent St Ambrose, searching for someone with whom to compare her, made so bold as to suggest that she shared a resemblance with the Mother of the Emperor of Heaven – saving only for the respect we owe to her who is incomparable in all her perfections.  

The Virgin Mother, he wrote[6], bore the Saviour in her womb; St Helena found the Cross of this same Saviour in the womb of the Earth. The former, to the astonishment of the universe, made visible to men a god Incarnate who came down from Heaven to redeem them; the latter, for the consolation of the world, has erected once more the standard of man’s salvation. The former was visited by an Angel so that she might repair the damage done by the first woman; the latter was chosen by the spirit of God as mother of the first Emperor to be a son of salvation and in a certain manner to be the mother of all the others who followed in his footsteps. 

It is scarcely possible to speak more highly of anyone.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. III de Vita Constantin., c. 41, etc.

[2] Lib. Histor. Eccles., c. 8.

[3] Lib. VIII, c. 30, 31 ; Ruffinus, lib. I Hist., c. 7.

[4] Nicephor., lib. VIII Hist., c. 30.

[5] Eusebi, lib. III de Vita Constantin., c. 47.

[6] Orat. de Obitu Theodosii.

 

St Pulcheria

 18   Closely following Helena is St Pulcheria, a pearl amongst Princesses, an adornment of the Holy Court and a rich jewel of Heaven. 

This girl loved the Virgin of Virgins right from her childhood and wanted to show proof of her desire to imitate her by preserving her purity. As soon as she attained an age permitting her to do so, she promised her virginity conjointly to the Virgin and her beloved Son, the unique Spouse of Virgins. She also persuaded her sisters to do the same thing and with one heart they solemnised their offering by presenting the Church of Hagia Sophia with a golden altar studded with precious gemstones.

She began to rule the Empire along with her brother Theodosius at the age of fifteen and she imprinted in his soul from the outset a great devotion towards the Virgin, as I mentioned earlier. For her part, she was always on the lookout for opportunities to render some service to the Holy Mother. This became particularly evident in the zeal she showed at the Council held in Ephesus against the iniquitous Nestorius, sworn enemy of the MOTHER OF GOD. Pulcheria gave her help in a thousand different ways to the Holy Predates gathered for the Council, helping them with her advice, protecting them with her authority and providing help to meet their needs. 

According to the accounts of Nicephorus and several other historians[1], she built in her honour three Churches befitting her imperial munificence. The first was in the Copper-workers’ marketplace[1] and was consecrated by St Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople. Here was kept the cincture or girdle of the blessed Virgin and other precious objects. Every Wednesday throughout the year a solemn vigil was kept here and Pulcheria often came on foot to visit the Church. The second was called Our Lady the Guide (or the Conductress) because of a miracle which happened not long after the Church was built. The Holy Virgin spoke to two blind men on the highway and told them to present themselves in her Church. She added that she would serve as their guide and they would recover their sight in the Church, which is what happened. This Church was celebrated for the precious objects placed there by the Empress, such as the icon of the MOTHER OF GOD painted by St Luke and the linen cloths of the Saviour that Eudocia had sent either to her (or to the Emperor Theodosius her husband, according to some) when she undertook her journey to Jerusalem. A vigil was normally kept each Tuesday and then great numbers of people would flock to take part in this devotion. The third Church was the one built in the port at Blachernae which was of such renown amongst the ancients. It housed all sorts of precious objects, including the holy cloths in which the body of the Saviour had been wrapped.  

The MOTHER OF GOD would not allow herself to be surpassed in generosity since, without even mentioning the great qualities of virtue and holiness she showered upon her, I have no difficulty in saying that no woman was ever honoured more in her life, nor found more glory after death. For the space of thirty-nine years she ruled the most flourishing Empire in the world. The Great Pope St Leo St Cyril and the most outstanding writers in the east and in the west acclaimed her honour and made known her wonders. They call her the Holy and ever noble Virgin before and during her marriage, an Emperor’s Daughter, an Emperor's Wife, sovereign Lady of Emperors, Protectress of Pontiffs, Guardian of the Faith, Bastion of the Orthodox, Honour of Church and Empire, the new Helena, the new Miracle of the world and example for all posterity. In the course of Councils, she received acclamations so magnificent that no greater could be desired. Shortly before her death, those present at the Council of Chalcedon cried out: 

“Long live the most noble Empress! Long live Pulcheria! Long live the new St Helena! Lord God, preserve for us this Holy one, preserve for us this Orthodox one, preserve her who is the Guardian of the faith.”

Finally she was officially acknowledged as a Saint and her name was inserted in the Greek Menology and the Roman Martyrology, her feast day being celebrated on the 10th of September. What could be more glorious?

Footnotes

[1] Lib. XIV Eccles. Hist., c. 2, et lib. XV, c. 14.

[2] This would seem to be the Church of Theotokos Chalkoprateia (also known as St. Mary of Chalkoprateia), named from a copper/bronze-workers’ market in the city. See, e.g., The Byzantine Legacy.

Eudocia the Younger

 19   Eudocia, the wife of Theodosius the younger, was originally named Athenais, (who was held in such high opinion by antiquity) and whose fame will continue to the end of the world. After conversion and baptism, she showed herself most keen to honour the Empress of Heaven, notably in the way she searched Palestine for holy relics so that they could be venerated in the way they deserved. In return for this, the Mother of goodness showered hundreds of honours and favours upon her. St Euthymius, the Anchorite, foretold the day of her death after she had conversed with Angels on Earth and in heaven, detached from the cares and temptations of the world during eleven years spent in the Holy Land. To die like a Saint after being for twenty-nine years the foremost Princess in the world and one of the most accomplished in beauty and learning ever to have seen the light of day – all this is not something to be likely esteemed.

St Cunegunde

 20   St Cunegunde was united in mind and will with the great St Henry, her spouse, to honour and serve the Holy Virgin in every way possible. I would like to think that there is no one who, knowing this, would not at the same time realise she also shared with him the favours and graces of the glorious Virgin. This notwithstanding, there is one particular favour which I cannot omit to mention because it seems so striking and I am referring to the one  granted to her the day she bade farewell to the world, leaving behind the trappings of greatness.  

After the death of her husband, this holy Virgin and Empress built a monastery which had a beautiful church called Our Lady of Refuge. She entered the monastery with one of her nieces and a number of other young women on the anniversary of the death of St Henry[1] (her husband). What then happened was brought tears to the eyes of all those present and overwhelmed the Angels with joy. Consider the following spectacle:  

    • this great Princess is present as the Archbishops assemble for the dedication of the new Church;

    • the Gospel is sung and at the Offertory a piece of the Holy Cross set in a rich reliquary is presented; 

    • Cunegunde lays aside the Imperial Purple and is then clothed with a simple black habit which she made with her own hands; 

    • she receives the sacred veil from the hand of the officiating Prelate;

    • she leaves behind those delights so esteemed by the world and in this way abandons herself into the hands of the Mother of the poor, to serve her for the rest of her life in the house which she herself had prepared in a state of holy humility. 

Make of this what you will, but I esteem the MOTHER OF GOD’s reward for the faithful services of St Cunegunde more highly than all the greatest imaginable favours that this world could ever offer.  

Footnotes

[1] In Vita ipsius, 3 Martii.

.👑   👑   👑

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