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