Chapter 12 : The Eleventh Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD
She is the Sanctuary and Refuge of sinners
Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr François Poiré’s Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020) |
Just as for serious illnesses we can find excellent physicians, so too for the extreme misery of sin great mercies are available. The Queen of Heaven is the Mother of Mercy just as sin is the worst of all men’s miseries. How could she make use of her time with greater profit to men than in preventing them from falling into sin and delivering those who have so fallen? Herein we find the triumph of mercy and proof of what the Mother of fair love is for her children. Let us now consider the evidence of this truth and I am confident that readers will find our discussion of great interest and benefit.
§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD is the true refuge of sinners
1 Let not the sinner say along with wretched Cain[1] that God has banished him from His presence, that He does not wish to set eyes on him ever again and anyone finding him can kill him; for God has made available a Mother of Mercy to receive the sinner with open arms and she wants to save him – provided he has not determined in his heart to suffer the loss of his own soul[2]. Let me say to the sinner at the outset on God’s behalf that he only needs a firm determination to refuse to consent to his downfall and he should not be frightened away by the nature or number of his sins.
If sin is a crime of lèse-majesté against the divine King of Kings, then the MOTHER OF GOD offers a sanctuary for sinners. Her sanctuary is, however, quite different from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, from the tomb of Theseus in Athens, or the altar of Jupiter the Saviour[3] in Ithaca – indeed, it is quite different from all the temples, tombs and altars in the world, howsoever celebrated they might have been. Listen to the words of the great St Ephrem in the prayer he composed by way of praising the Holy Virgin[4]:
Hail thou sanctuary and refuge of sinners; Hail thou propitiatory[5] for the afflicted.
If sin is the ugliness and confusion paralysing a soul so that it cannot bring itself to look up and appear before its Creator – then the MOTHER OF GOD is the Mediatrix bringing the message of reconciliation. St Ephrem reveals this idea when he writes in the same place as follows[6]:
Hail thou sweet hope of my soul, infallible source of salvation for all Christians; Hail thou who comest with help for sinners and those in need before God.
If sin is a breach made by the enemies of our happiness in order to capture the soul and take it under their control, then the MOTHER OF GOD is like a defensive wall preventing their attack and thwarting any attempt to seize control if they have managed to gain entry. Here once more are the words of St Ephrem[7]:
Hail thou defensive wall protecting the faithful; and hail thou Sanctuary for those who wish to be saved.
Footnotes
[1] Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one, therefore, that findeth me, shall kill me. Gen. iv. 14.
[2] Matt. xvi. 26; Mark viii. 36.
[3] Jupiter Soter / Zeus the Saviour: a title found, for example, in Plutarch’s Life of Demosthenes at 27.8.
[4] Ave asilum peccatorum, et hospitium ; ave propitiatorium laborantium.
[5] The covering of the Ark of the Covenant : Exod. xxv 17–20, where propitiatorium is sometimes translated as mercy-seat: see e.g., KJV & RSV-CE.
[6] Ave animæ spes bona, aut Christianorum omnium firma salus ; ave peccatorum et auxilio indi-gentium apud Deum adjutrix.
[7] Ave vallum fidelium, et mundi.
2 If sin is a perilous leap where the sinner falls into the greatest danger, the Holy Virgin is the heavenly rod held out to save us and bring us back. St Peter Damian[1] was altogether inspired to perceive this when he was commenting on the words of the Royal Prophet[2]: Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.
All the hope and consolation of sinners may be found in a rod, which is the Virgin, and the staff which is nothing other than the Cross of the Saviour.
If sin has produced the desperation of a soul set on fire with the just vengeance of God, then the Holy Virgin is the water that heaven rains down for us to extinguish this fire. This is the thought underlying the following words of the same St Peter Damian, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, in the first Sermon that he wrote for the Nativity of the Virgin.
Who out of men or Angels can comprehend how thou, Holy Mother, art able to placate the wrath of the sovereign Judge when, His face inflamed with Justice, He pronounceth His fiery sentence which will reduce us to ashes?
According to the words of the devout Arnold of Chartres[3], if sin is the shipwreck of the soul then the Queen of Heaven
is the port offering a safe haven for the soul as it clings to the plank of penitence and the remains of the shattered vessel – meaning the firm hope of obtaining pardon through her intercession.
If sin is like a thorn which pierces the heart causing it to bleed, then provided that the flower of remorse blossoms in this soul, then the rainbow (which according to the interpretation of the Holy Archbishop of Florence[4] is none other than the Mother of Mercy) will reach down and infuse it with a fragrance causing joy to the Angels and the whole of the heavenly court. This idea[5] is based upon a remark made by Pliny the Naturalist concerning the rainbow. He wrote that:
“There goes a common speech that every plant over which the rainbow is seen bent will cast the same scent that the Aspalathus[6] doth: but if it chance that the rainbow settle over Aspalathus, then it will yield a sweet savour incomparable, and such as cannot be expressed[7]”.
In the same way we can say that the MOTHER OF GOD, who is the wonder of Heaven and earth, casts her scent over all the souls upon whom she deigns to gaze, but that the sweetness of the celestial fragrance with which she bathes sinners has something altogether sublime, causing wonderment amongst men and Angels alike.
If sin is like an iron weight dragging the heart and the desires of the sinner down to earthly things, then the MOTHER OF GOD is like a sacred magnet which draws the sinner back up, restoring him to where he was before his fall. This is what the Holy Mother explained one day to blessed St Bridget.
Footnotes
[1] Serm. de Assumpt.
[2] Psal. XXII. 4.
[3] Tract. de Laudib. Deip.
[4] S. Antonin., p. IV, tit. XV, c. 44.
[5] Plin., lib. II, c. 24.
[6] “a white thornie shrub it is, of the bignesse of a small tree, and beareth a floure resembling a rose.” See 7.
[7] The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated into English by Philemon Holland, Doctor of Physicke, 1634.
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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
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