Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 10 : § 1.1-3

Chapter 10 : The Ninth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is her children’s Teacher

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)

One of the worst plagues that God inflicted on Egypt was darkness[1] and we may note that ignorance together with blindness of the intellect is one of the principal misfortunes afflicting man since the Fall. This is why the MOTHER OF GOD never fails to see in her children a worthy object for her mercy, providing countless opportunities for her to let her goodness shine forth. No one can fail to be amazed at seeing how much benefit they derive and the loving patience she shows in discharging the office of Teacher as well as Ruler in her own household. 

Footnotes

[1] May there be darkness upon the land of Egypt, so thick that it may be felt. Exod. x. 21.

§ 1. How the MOTHER OF GOD is truly her children’s teacher  

 1   Many have judged that it is better for children to be removed early from their parents’ household in order to be taught and reared by others. In this, they have considered the children as being like young plants which our best uprooted from their seedbed to be transplanted elsewhere. This would certainly seem to be a good idea when there is a risk that they might otherwise suffer from bad examples or that their parents do not have the time or the aptitude to teach them and when it seems that they would receive a better education elsewhere. It is also true that sometimes parents are too indulgent with their children, which spoils them and dulls their minds. These considerations aside, however, I will always be of the opinion that there is no better school for children than their own household nor better teachers than their own parents. Clement of Alexandria[1] and St Jerome wrote that children are the flowers of marriage and if this is true then who would take greater care of watering them, ensuring they had plenty of sun, protecting them from the rigours of winter and procuring all they are needed to attain perfection than those who had planted their seed in the soil, meaning their own parents? If, as the wise Cornelia says[2], they are the true jewels and wealth of a household, who would be better placed to look after them than those to whom they belong? If, in the words of the mother of young Tobias, they are the hope of our posterity[3], who would have more interest in giving them a good education than those whose name and fame they are to bear in the ages to come? If, as we learn from St John Chrysostom[4], they are a rich and precious deposit that parents have received from God, who will take more care of them than those who will be held strictly accountable to him for them? What else could the ancients have had in mind when they called fathers those who had the office of teachers as we learn from Genesis[5], other than that it pertains to fathers to be teachers of their children? 

Footnotes

[1] Clem., 1, 2 Pæd., c. 8. This is a reference to The Paedagogus (Tutor) – written c. 198 AD.

[2] Cornelia Africana (c. 190 – c. 100 BC) The words Haec ornamenta mea are attributed to her by Valerius Maximus in his Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX, IV, 4.

[3] The light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of our life, the hope of our posterity: Tobias (Tobit) x. 4.

[4] Homil. 9 in I ad Timoth.

[5] For I know that he will command his children : Gen, xviii. 19. The Vulgate has Scio enim quod praecepturus sit filiis suis : The verb praecipio also carries the sense of instruct or teach, hence Knox has here : Have I not chosen him as one who will teach his children? 

 2   Whatever may be the case with others, the reason for our consolation comes from the fact that we have a father and mother whose tender love shown in the care they take of our upbringing is matched by their ability to carry this out most effectively. I firmly believe that the Prophet David in the epithalamium he composed in honour of his nuptials (and which I have explained elsewhere), had in mind the children that would be born and that they were to rear with great affection when he stated at the beginning of the Psalm that it was for the lilies or for the flowers[1]. This is a reference to the children issuing from this divine marriage, as we learned a little earlier from Clement of Alexandria. In fact, the same Doctor, speaking expressly of the Saviour, declares[2]: 

He serves for his children as father, mother, teacher, nursemaid, and everything they could ever desire. 

With regard to the Holy Virgin, the peerless St Augustine[3] calls her in this connection the Teacher of the nations; Abbot Rupert[4] calls her the teacher of Teachers; St Jerome[5], following one etymology of the word Mary which means she who enlightens, calls her the torch of Heavenly teaching; and St Jean Damascene[6] calls her the Spring which waters all the earth.  I am reminded of what is written about her in Chapter 24 of Ecclesiasticus which is applied by Holy Church to her. Here are words which I do not think can be improved upon: 

What I teach is taken from the book of life and from the covenant of the Most High; it is no less than knowledge of truth. Moses did indeed command a Law with various external ceremonies, handing down beautiful teaching as an inheritance to the House of Jacob and great promises made to Israel. God granted a favour to David by appointing a successor who would be most mighty, seated on the throne of His glory forever, and so filled with wisdom besides that He can be compared to the river Phison which flows from the terrestrial Paradise, or to the rising waters of the river Tigris in the days of the new fruits. His wise words flow like the waters of the great Euphrates, or like the Jordan in the time of harvest. He sendeth knowledge as the light, and riseth up as Gehon in the time of the vintage. He hath such perfect knowledge of wisdom that His understanding is unique in this connection. All this is a closed book for beginners and for others in the bottomless depths of their weakness. 

As for me, I am like the ocean from which the most exquisite wisdom streameth forth; I am like unto a spring with an almost unlimited supply and incomparable in the vast area it irrigates; I come forth out of Paradise like that great channel which conveys the riches of Heaven down to earth. I will water the land I am cultivating, and the fruits of what I planted in my meadow; they need not fear want, for my waters stretch far and wide and are almost as abundant of those of the sea. I will be ready to make doctrine shine forth as the morning light and I will teach from dawn until evening. I will seek out those who are shy or who keep themselves apart, I will awaken those who are asleep and will bring enlightenment to all those who place their trust in the Lord; I will pour out my doctrine as prophecy and leave it for an inheritance to them that seek wisdom and I will not cease to instruct their offspring even unto that happy time of a holy eternity. See ye that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all that seek out the truth.

Here then we have the words that she derives from Ecclesiasticus[7]. From them we can see :

    • how indebted we are to God for giving us such a Teacher; 

    • the service we owe to her who, with qualities so eminent and so divine, has such goodwill towards us; 

    • the benefits we can acquire in this academy through which the foremost men in the world have passed; and

    • the diligence we must bring to the study of this divine wisdom, since we have the honour of such a blessed encounter. 

Footnotes

[1] Pro liliis aut pro floribus. When included, the superscription for this Psalm refers to lilies: e.g., “To the choirmaster: according to Lilies.” (RSVCE). 

[2] Pæd. c. 6. 

[3] Serm. 6 de Natali B. Virg.

[4] Lib. I in Cantic.

[5] De Nominibus Hebraicis.

[6] Serm. 2 de Assumpl.

[7] The French text is a paraphrase of Ecclesiasticus xxiv, incorporating selections of its vocabulary and images.

 3   Next we are going to consider the wondrous ways in which our divine Teacher handles her pupils and we shall see in particular how perfectly she discharges the three offices of this role which are to instruct, to train and to correct. 

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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 2025