Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 10 : § 2.1-3

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)

§ 2. The perfection of the Holy Virgin in the first of her offices: teaching her children

 1   Never was there a merchant so keen to sell his goods; never was there a spring giving of its waters so willingly; never did the sun take so much pleasure in enlightening the world; never was there a mind so diligent and assiduous in teaching as the Teacher we have received from Heaven and who is so desirous to share with her children the treasures of wisdom that God communicated to her. You will note in the ninth chapter of Proverbs how she has built an Academy in a fortified place, how she has distributed notices everywhere, sending her people to all corners in order to invite her children to come and learn the celestial wisdom of which she is a professed teacher; and how she generously shares her knowledge with a wonderful teaching method, bringing inestimable benefits to those who choose to listen to her. 

There was a time when people flocked from all parts of the world to Rome in order to hear the historian Titus Livius. He was famous for his truly captivating eloquence and his exceptional knowledge. Like an oracle, he was a source of fine observations and those fortunate enough to hear him would write to their friends telling them not to miss the opportunity of learning from this unique teacher. No one, however, will gainsay me when I say this celebrated personage was but a child and all his teaching child’s play in comparison with the Queen of Heaven and the secrets of divine wisdom that she reveals to her children. I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying that those whom God has blessed by giving her to them as their Teacher are truly more fortunate than those who enjoy the highest privileges the world can offer.  

 2   Amongst their number may be counted Blessed St Elzéar, Count of Ariano[1], of whom we read that :

Whilst he was still young, his nurse who was a most virtuous woman named Garsende, was 

in Church fervently commending him to Our Lord when she heard a voice which said to her:

“I have appointed my Mother as Teacher of the boy for whom thou prayest so ardently.”

At the sound of this voice, Garsende was astonished and, fearing lest it might be an illusion, she begged Our Lord to let her know if this was a trick of the enemy. If, on the contrary, these words came from Him, would His Divine Majesty please let her know more clearly what he was doing. After she had heard Holy Mass, she received from the Saviour every assurance concerning what she had asked; but as souls that are truly humble do not willingly bind themselves to their own feelings, she told everything to her Confessor, a wise and learned Religious called Jean Julien, saying she would accept everything he told her about this. This devout man, in order to avoid any error in this connection, resolved to speak with the young Elzéar and to learn in detail from him about his approach to living a life of virtue and, especially in relation to prayer, what path he had decided to follow and the person in Heaven he had chosen for his guide. The young Count, who did not know why the Religious was asking him for these details, replied in complete innocence that he had chosen the Holy Virgin for his Mother and for his Teacher ; as far as praying was concerned, he would throw himself in her arms because of the affection he knew very well she felt towards him, and the experience he had of his own weakness; he would humbly ask her to put into his mind the requests he should make to God and at the same time to imprint in his heart what Our Lord wished of him; and after this prayer had been had been completed, he would say the Ave Maria before beginning his meditation ; as a consequence of this little act of homage that he offered to the MOTHER OF GOD, he had never found himself wanting for words or tender feelings during his mental prayer. 

Footnotes

[1] In Vita ejus apud Surium, mense Septembri.

 3   What a holy school! What a divine teacher! What a wonderful student! Who could doubt that this holy young man knew so many secrets because of what he had learned from the heavenly science?

Who will imagine that it was anyone other than the Holy Virgin who taught him to live a life of perpetual chastity with his dear spouse St Delphine ; and to make of his house a Church or at the least a religious house? There can be no doubt that this was the source of the holy teachings and instructions that he gave to all his servants : to hear daily Mass, to fear sin more than death, to go to confession and communion every week, to devote a good portion of the morning to prayer and the afternoon to some laudable activity; never to be happier than when discussing Heaven and their salvation, banning entirely from their conversation petty arguments, time-wasting games, an unbridled tongue and many other actions little worthy of people seeking to live a virtuous life. There can be no doubt that his dear Mother and Teacher had taught him adept ways of correcting and gently chastising those in the family who went against the order he had established in his household, making them take their meals on the floor or even putting them on bread and water, sometimes confining them to their bedroom for a whole day  – guiding them on the path of virtue by similar exercises of piety. 

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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