Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 1 : § 1.1

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God for her qualities of Greatness in terms of the Excellence, Power and Goodness we have set forth

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)

Introduction

If that which St John Damascene[1] and St Andrew of Jerusalem[2] teach – namely that what the Catholic Church tells us is true when explaining that the Blessed Virgin was prefigured of old by the mysterious ladder that Jacob saw – then it seems to me that I would have good reason for saying that the Holy Spirit’s beautiful image is meant to reveal that just as the Angels come down to us unceasingly with their hands full of graces granted to the Holy Virgin for our benefit, in the same way they must return to Heaven laden with our acts of thanksgiving and our feelings of gratitude for the many gifts received through her mediation. It is this consideration which has made me add this supplement to our early discussions (in Parts I-III) about the Blessed Virgin’s Great Splendours which she enjoys as MOTHER OF GOD. Accordingly, in Part IV my aim is to present how we should offer thanksgiving, considering all she is for us and what we are for her, both in a general and in a particular sense. 

Footnotes

[1] Orat. de Nativit. B. Virg.

[2] Orat. 1 de Dormit. B. Virg.

Chapter 1 : Understanding the basis of Part IV

The reasons we have for offering thanksgiving to the MOTHER OF GOD

The propriety and seemliness[1] of thanksgiving : first reason 

In the first place, we are called to offer thanksgiving because it is proper and seemly to do so. I have to admit that I have never understood the subtleness of a rejoinder made by a certain Furnius, even though several writers have chosen to place it among the great witticisms from antiquity. This worthy Roman thought he had paid a fine compliment to Caesar (who had given him help in a most important matter) when he complained to him that this had burdened him with the necessity of living and dying ungrateful. Let others make of this what they will but as far as I am concerned it seems this riposte was strikingly cool, since there is nothing that can make us guilty of ingratitude except ill will on our part. Anyone who has no wish to be ungrateful cannot incur its reproach and to maintain the opposite is to show complete ignorance of the essence of this vice. The great moral philosopher Seneca says in this connection[2]:

The only person who deserves to be called ungrateful is someone who denies the fact that he has incurred this duty through a gift he has been given, who misrepresents or hides the benefit he has received, who has not the least desire to offer thanks when he can, and above all, who erases from his memory the benefit he is received. 

This means that whoever makes an effort to remember such things, and who is willing to give proof of his gratitude for being showered with benefits when occasion presents itself, cannot be considered an ingrate – particularly since this word is one of the most offensive that can be pronounced amongst men. Seneca writes on this as follows[3]:  

I certainly agree that it is indeed a terrible thing to be considered a murderer, a robber or an adulterer; it is however far worse to have the reputation of being an ingrate, for a person cannot be said to bear the stain of the former crimes without having first been blackened by the latter.

This vice, says Saint Anselm[4], is at the root of every spiritual evil. There is nothing more iniquitous in the world, writes St Ambrose[5]. You will not be able to find any sort of evil which does not flow from this, says the Roman Orator Cicero[6]. 

Apart from this, being in a state of ingratitude and being thankful for what has been given are just as different from one another as earth and Heaven. It may come to pass (indeed it happens every day) that someone may be so indebted to another that he will find it impossible to discharge the debt of gratitude he owes. He will, however, not be ungrateful unless he acts contrary to nature and allows his mind to lose sight of his memory of the benefits he has received, so that his will no longer feels the love which would cause him to show his gratitude for them. It is quite beyond our power to repay our parents all that we owe them, and much less to match with our services the benefits and favours received from His divine Majesty. The same is true in a proportionate sense regarding what the Queen of Heaven has given us, always remembering that no one will be ungrateful towards her who does himself not choose to be so. She looks into our hearts and is pleased by the recognition we show for her gifts and by even the least little service we perform to show our gratitude. 

From this I conclude that those who are able to give her such satisfaction at so little cost to themselves are criminally responsible when they harden their hearts to any gentle feelings of gratitude for the great gifts they have received. Their minds are utterly unworthy of seeing the light and even more so of experiencing the tender affection of the generous heart of the MOTHER OF GOD. 

May her dear children be protected from such a wretched vice, from feelings so little befitting their condition and from such dreadful baseness of the mind! May their hearts be suffused with gratitude and bring forth fruits worthy of being wondered at by men and Angels, of pleasing the Queen of Heaven and of attracting finally the favourable gaze of Him in whom all loving generosity and gratitude have their ultimate end!

Footnotes

[1] The French text here has honnêteté, derived from the Latin honestas which includes senses of morality, integrity and seemliness: see DMLBS in Logeion. This sense of the word honesty existed in English but became obsolete in the 18th century: see OED 1.2. 

[2] Senec., lib. III de Benefic., c. 1.

[3] Lib. I de Benefic., c. 10.

[4] Soliloquium, c. 18.

[5] Præfat. in Psal. 35.

[6] Ad Attic., lib. VIII.

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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