Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 13 : §6.2-5

Chapter 13 : The Twelfth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She safeguards her children at the hour of death and provides them with their passport to Heaven

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)

§ 6. How the Holy Virgin consoles her children amid the flames of Purgatory and the care she takes of their bodies

 2   Firstly, it frequently happens that she takes such care to provide tests for her children whilst they are alive, making them perform acts of satisfaction and developing the main virtues, with the result that through these means they are admitted without any delay into the presence of God.  

One example of this is St Lidwina[1] who was a Virgin accomplished in all the virtues. We read of her that when she was approaching death and suffering from extreme pain all through her body, she saw Our Lord on the right hand side of her bed, the Holy Mother on the left, and all around the Apostles along with a great number of Blessed Spirits. She also saw that her room had been decorated in an extraordinary way and a table had been duly set with a beautiful vase filled with holy oil, a crucifix and a lighted candle. She noticed, moreover, that Our Lord was vested like a priest and he anointed her body as is done when administering the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, but without saying any words. At the conclusion of this rite, He and His most holy Mother took the candle and together they placed it in the hands of St Lidwina, who implored her beloved Spouse through the merits of the most sacred Virgin to fill the end of her life with such suffering and desire for Heaven that her soul on leaving her body would go straight to Heaven to offer praise and thanksgiving to Him, without the need for any delay in Purgatory. This prayer of hers was granted and she was promised that two days thence she would be singing Alleluias along with the other Virgins in the Kingdom of God.

 

Footnotes

[1] In Vita ejus a Joanne Brugnano, Ordinis Minorum, scripta, c. 11, apud Surium, 4 Novemb.

 3   I shall go further and say that not only does she ensure they have been purified to the extent that they have nothing left to purge when they leave this life, but that she frequently arranges things so that the abundance of their satisfactions is such that they have enough to share with other souls. 

I have already spoken earlier about the pious Dominican Friar called Henri de Castus[1] and how close he was to the Blessed Virgin. One of his dearest friends who was aware of this closeness once asked him confidentially when he was very seriously ill if he thought he would make it to Heaven without having to pass through Purgatory. Henri replied confidently that he knew the most glorious Virgin would be present at his death and would personally lead him up to Heaven. He also added that when this happened he would lead with him more than three hundred souls from those still in the flames of Purgatory to satisfy the needs of divine justice.

Footnotes

[1] Henri de Castus seems to refer to Henry Suso (1295 – 1366) who was a German Dominican friar known for his extreme mortifications and author of the phrase Suffering is a short pain and a long joy (see Ch. XIII.: “On The Immeasurable Dignity of Temporal Suffering” in his work: A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom (Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd, 1910)

 4   Thirdly, she provides incomparable support to her children, visiting them whilst they are suffering amidst the fires, or sending Angels to visit them who bring the good news of their deliverance and console them in various other ways. This is what she made known one day to blessed St Bridget, when she said[1]:

 

I am the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of Mercy, source of joy for the just and guide leading sinners to God; there is no suffering in Purgatory which through me is not made easier to bear. 

Elsewhere she told her[2]: 

I am the Mother of those who are in Purgatory and it hath pleased God that through my prayers the punishments due for their sins should become each hour alleviated and made easier to bear in some way. 

These words remind me of what happened to the Jesuit Fr Jerome Carvalho whom I mentioned earlier in this chapter[3].  

He had developed a very close friendship with the Virgin Mother whom he loved tenderly and she returned his love to the extent that she would pay him visits and often speak with him. Although he was a most humble man and took care to keep secret the favours he received from her, on one occasion God allowed him to reveal something she had said because this would prove consoling for others to know. The Blessed Virgin had noticed that Fr Jerome was sad and fearful when he contemplated the punishment of Purgatory. She told him that she was the Advocate and the Mother of sinners not only in this life but also in Purgatory, and this provided indescribable consolation to him.  

Footnotes

[1] Lib. VI Revelat., c. 10.

[2] Lib. IV, c. 138.

[3] Sup. § 3.

 5   We actually have several proofs of this truth in the revelations of St Bridget. 

In one place [1] it is recorded how the Saviour granted to His most sacred Mother a threefold mercy in favour of those souls for whom she had been praying and an alleviation of the suffering that they were experiencing through the faculties of sight, hearing, and touch. Further to this, He promised her that those who were undergoing the most extreme torments in Purgatory would be allowed to join those who are in the middle range; that those at the medium level would be permitted to join those suffering the lightest punishments; and that those for whom very little satisfaction was still to be made could be freed completely.

In another place[2] it is recounted how the same Virgin was praying to her Son for the alleviation of the suffering endured by a most pious knight and great almoner who had been recommended to her by the blessed St Bridget. In response, her beloved Son removed one of the three pains affecting his vision, namely the terrifying sight of demons ; one that he was suffering through hearing, namely the distress and confusion caused by the reproaches of his past life, in which he was tormented unceasingly by the enemies of his salvation; and one that affected his sense of touch, namely the icy waters of the frozen lake where he had been thrown to offer satisfaction for his own coldness in the matter of serving God.

Elsewhere she prescribes for the Holy Widow in some detail all the satisfactions that had to be offered for the deliverance of the soul of a certain gentleman of quality for whom she had been earnestly praying. 

Finally, there is reference to the way in which the Virgin promised that the soul of a certain solitary priest (from whom the same St Bridget had previously received spiritual guidance), would be in Heaven before his own body was laid in the earth ; and that as a result of the Virgin’s intercession, the languor suffered by this soul as a result of a certain tepidity in his yearning to see God would be significantly alleviated.   

Footnotes

[1] Lib. I, c. 5.

[2] Lib. VI, c. 19.

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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