Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 6.13-14

Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God

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. The sixth sign of love: loving for love of Mary all those who belong to her, whether through family, marriage, or election ; wherein special mention is made of St Joachim, St Anne and St Joseph 

How we are obliged to honour Saint Joseph, Spouse of the glorious Virgin 

 13   It would be taking curiosity too far to wonder whether we owe more to the parents of the most sacred Virgin or to her Spouse most chaste, as it would be to wonder which of them occupies the first place of honour or is loved more by the Queen of Heaven. It should be enough for you to know that they are all great without the need for compromise through invidious comparisons. The mother and father excelled in their merits whilst her holy Spouse had qualities which make him equal to all that is highest in Heaven after her. It would be very difficult for anyone to doubt this who investigated his beginnings, his progress and the dignity with which he was chosen and raised by God. I like to picture him as a beautiful summer sun which, having risen bright and clear at dawn, grows in brightness and heat until noon. The truth of this can be established by anyone who considers him not only from the cradle, but even from within the womb of his mother, whence he came forth reflecting the splendour of the most famous and most ancient nobility on earth, radiating a beauty capable of offering the honour due to his most holy Spouse, that most beautiful of all human creatures, and to be reputed among men as the father of Jesus, the finest and most noble of all the Princes in the world. Were anyone to be desirous of seeing proofs of this, it would be a simple matter to cite several learned Writers[1] who have proposed this before me. Since I do not wish to base my case on their external evidence, I am going to limit myself to saying that he came into the world enriched with three qualities so eminent that I do not know if they have ever been found conjoined in any other person to the same degree.

Footnotes

[1] Justinus mart., dial. cont. Triphonem ; Joann. Gers., Serm. de Nativ., et in sua Josephina ; Isi-dor. Isolanus, IV p. vitæ S. Joseph, c. 9 ; etc.

His initial sanctification 

 14  The first thing I am going to mention is how spotless his soul was, for I believe it was sanctified whilst he was still enclosed within his mother’s womb. This is the teaching of several modern Doctors[1], following the pious Gerson in a sermon which he gave to the Council of Constance on the Feast of the glorious Virgin’s Nativity. He declared that this teaching is contained in the Office of St Joseph which was recited in Jerusalem. Isidoro Isolani, the learned Writer of the life of St Joseph[2], cites in this connection the authority of Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, and of St John Chrysostom whom he maintains held the same view. The main reason they all give is that those who have been sanctified in the womb of their mothers obtained this favour either because of the dignity to which they had been raised or because of the close link they had with the Saviour of the world, who is the principle and source of all holiness. Now, if this grace was granted to Jeremiah so that he might discharge in a worthy manner the office of Prophet of the nations to which he had been appointed by the Holy Spiri ; if this grace was not denied to St John the Baptist forasmuch as he was to be the precursor of the Messiah, is it really necessary to say that the Spouse of the most immaculate Virgin and the Father of the Word incarnate (at least according to the common belief of men), the man who provided for Him, who guided Him and ruled Him, should at the very least have as much holiness and purity as they did? Could anyone be found associated more closely to the Son of God and playing a greater part in the mystery of His Incarnation than him? Is it necessary to point out that for the space of thirty years and more, Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived together and made up the most holy family that there has ever been? Was it not therefore entirely proper that there should be a close resemblance between them and that St Joseph should have a share in the incomparable purity of the Mother and the Son? And to establish between them the order and distinction befitting them, does it not seem reasonable that the Son should have possessed holiness by nature, the Mother through the privilege of immunity (in her Immaculate Conception), and the Father through an anticipated condonation[3] of original sin and by an advance of sanctifying grace?

St Anselm makes this point very effectively, according to the famous Chancellor of Paris[4], when he says that it was entirely fitting there should be no purity beneath God comparable to that of Mary; 

and I say it was entirely proper that the Spouse of the Mother of Jesus should enjoy to a proportionate degree the prerogatives of his Bride. 

Footnotes

[1] Isolanus, ib., c. 9 et 10 ; Jacob. de Valentia, Christopolit. Episc., in Magnificat ; Christofor. Ar-chiepisc. de Capitefontium, lib. de perpetua virginitate Mariæ et Joseph ; Thomas Traxillus Domini-canus, in vita S. Joseph ; Didacus de Vega, conc. de S. Joseph ; Salmeron, t. III, tract. 30 ; Barrad., lib. VI Evang. Concord., c. 3 ; Osorius, conc. de S. Joseph ; Morales, in c. 1 Matth., lib. III, tract. 2 ; etc.

[2] Isolanus, loc. cit.

[3] condonation : the pardoning or remission of an offence or fault; the voluntary overlooking of an offence, and treatment of the offender as if it had not been committed [OED]. 

[4] Jean de Gerson (1363-1429). Loc. cit.

© Peter Bloor 2025 

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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.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 6.10-12

Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God

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. The sixth sign of love: loving for love of Mary all those who belong to her, whether through family, marriage, or election ; wherein special mention is made of St Joachim, St Anne and St Joseph 

Their charity

 10   They were great in charity, not only in that which is directed towards God but also in the love for their neighbour. Regarding this, the Doctors speak of the wondrous care they took to help those in poverty, to provide shelter for pilgrims and to assist the needy in every possible way. St Jerome says[1]: 

They divided their resources into three : one portion was set aside for feeding the ministers of the Temple, another for pilgrims and the afflicted, whilst only one third was used for the maintenance of their own little family.  

As for the charity they had towards God, it is easy to have an idea of it through what has already being mentioned, granted that according to Richard of Saint Victor[2]:  

Charity is the essence of the other virtues and the force which puts them into action.

The words of St Jerome[3] make this even more clear:  

Their life was simple and innocent, upright in the sight of God and irreproachable in the sight of men. 

In short, they lived their lives in a way which made them beloved of men and of God.

 

Footnotes

[1] Orat. de Ortu Virg.

[2] De Gradibus charitatis.

[3] Loc. cit.

Their names and the height of their virtue

 11  To sum up, they were great in every sort of virtue. This then is what we must believe about the father and mother of Mary, and about the grandfather and grandmother of Jesus.  

Simply consider their names, writes St Epiphanius[1], and you will see these presaged their holiness. Joachim means the preparation of the Lord and Anne signifies grace. Was this not to make known to the world that they were well-provided with grace and all that customarily accompanies it, and that they had all that was necessary to prepare a dwelling for the Lord of the Universe?

For it was fitting, says St Peter Chrysologus[2], that the dwelling of holiness should be prepared and made clean a long time in advance, in the very persons of the mother and father of the Virgin.

The Angel who instructed Blessed St Bridget[3] revealed to the virtuous widow their exceptional holiness in the following words.

Chaste Spouse of Jesus Christ, try to picture a Royal Eagle seeking to build a nest and prepare a home for its little eaglets. It visits one forest after another and flies over different mountains in search of a tree suitable for its purpose. The Eagle knows no rest until it has found a tree which surpasses all the others in height and beauty, which has the deepest and strongest roots, and which has the best protection against storms and winds. Once the Eagle has found the tree, it then stops and selects the sturdiest branch and the one which is closest to the heavens. There, these little Kings amongst the birds of the air will be raised with meticulous care.

 

Picture now how God is like this Eagle, not only through the sovereignty He enjoys over all created things, but also by the power of His penetrating eyes which can see all that has been, all that is and all that will come to be. Glancing at all the marriages that were to be, from the first unto the last (just as the Eagle surveyed the trees), He could find none more worthy of receiving that glorious Virgin – who was to form the little nest for the heavenly Eaglet, namely the word Incarnate – than that of St Joachim and St Anne. There He landed as though on a tree from Paradise, lofty in devotion, deep in humility, generous in charity, budding with hope, fragrant with good examples – in short, possessing every virtue and perfection.

 

Footnotes

[1] Serm. de S. Maria Deipara.

[2] Serm. 91.

[3] Serm. Angelico, c. 10.

 12   This makes me believe that the Virgin is particularly pleased when she sees her dear children showing every sort of devotion to those whom she has so much cause to thank, and who are in any event so worthy of honour and respect. It also makes me think that she herself offers her most heartfelt thanks to God for having given her a father and a mother so holy and perfect. She does not consider herself as the daughter of St Joachim and St Anne so much as the daughter of prayer and tears, the daughter of alms-giving, of hospitality, of charity, of temperance, of abstinence, of chastity, of patience, of perseverance, of modesty, of justice and generally of all the virtues which shining through the life and work of St Joachim and St Anne. Perhaps a better way of putting this would be to say that she is the beloved daughter of divine providence who collected all the virtues in her mother and father in order to raise her and make her Queen of the virtues, so as to be a worthy Mother of the King of the virtues. I actually think that all the rejoicing and congratulations on the part of the Holy Fathers who have spoken so highly of both St Joaquim and St Anne, praising them to the heavens with their writings, fall short of what they should have said and that they did not have the wherewithal to make their writings match their conceptions. Consider some of the things they wrote and let us reflect on the heights to which their thoughts and feelings carried them.  

“Blessed couple!” cries the devout Saint John Damascene along with others, and he seems to speak for all. “The world is infinitely indebted to you since through you it is offered to God the Creator a gift of inestimable worth, namely a daughter worthy of being made the Mother of His only-begotten Son. How exquisite this favour must be judged and how worthy of being numbered amongst the most outstanding in history!

“May St Anne rejoice and may she invite all the inhabitants of the earth to celebrate with her, since she has borne in her barren womb the first fruits of our restoration and she has nourished with her milk the fruit of all blessedness. May she include the venerable Anne, mother of Samuel, in this public joy and may they both find consolation for having partaken, (although unequally) in the same happiness. May she call next upon the chaste Sarah and after her all the barren women from antiquity to participate in the joy of her wondrous fruitfulness. May all the mothers in the world hasten to honour the daughter and the mother, and to bless Him who gave such a blessing to a barren womb. May everyone, young and old, men and women, flock to offer honour to the noble stem of David, whence this precious branch has emerged, and to the sacred womb wherein the true Ark of the Covenant has been crafted.

 

“Thrice blessed art thou, oh worthy mother of the MOTHER OF GOD, for having given to the world a daughter whose birth is replete with honour and will lead to the redemption and restoration of the universe. We are all indebted to thee just as we are to St Joachim thy Spouse, forasmuch as we have begun to breathe the sweet air of hope at this beautiful dawning of a new day. We offer our humble thanks to you, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, accompanied by our desire to honour you for as long as we enjoy the graces Which have come to us as a result of your co-operation.”

© Peter Bloor 2025 

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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.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 6.8-9

Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God

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. The sixth sign of love: loving for love of Mary all those who belong to her, whether through family, marriage, or election ; wherein special mention is made of St Joachim, St Anne and St Joseph 

Their chastity

 8   They were great in chastity, in which regard we may recall the words of  St Peter Chrysologus[1]  who said abstinence is the banner of chastity, the triumph and trophy of modesty; and according to St Basil[2], it is the it is the guard of honour for marriage and the foster father of virginity. St Vincent[3] is in no doubt about the chastity of this holy couple, adding that: 

as soon as St Joachim realised that St Anne was indeed barren, he did not approach her again until he received the express commandment from Heaven.

The reason he gives is that because marriage was instituted by God for two ends only – namely to bring forth children into the world and to assuage the ardours of concupiscence – the excellent virtues of these great servants of God as well as the calling they had received protected them from those movements of animal passion to which so many others of lesser standing are prey. It followed that, since they had no expectation of any issue, there was no longer any question of their availing themselves of the permission given by their conjugal status. The glorious Virgin explained this one day to St Bridget[4], saying that:

the fires of carnal desire were extinguished in her parents and they would have preferred to die rather than yield to the marital act for reasons of pleasure alone. They were in the end obliged by the command they had received from on high and the love of God had a power over them which sensual love would never have achieved. Accordingly, their daughter's body most chaste was conceived through a pure action of divine love and not through the disordered sensual appetites.

St Ephrem writes as follows: 

God operates in a way contrary to the promptings of the flesh and frequently sows seed in bodies which are dry and cold[5]; and tthe Holy Spirit is attracted by those who cherish chastity[6].

If what he says is true, then reason would require that the bodies from which purity itself was to emerge should be characterised by their spiritual rather than bodily sturdiness and that the vessels which were to receive the operation of the Holy Spirit with such an abundance of graces should have been prepared long in advance with the sweet odour of chastity. The quarry which would supply the stones for the mystical Temple of the most holy Trinity should be most holy and heavenly; and the flower of holy virginity should grow on the stem of the most holy marriage in all the world. In short, it was right and fitting that if God was to give proof of His omnipotence by causing the Virgin of Virgins to come forth from a father and from a mother who was barren, then these should be two persons made worthy of such an outstanding privilege through their perfect chastity. This will become even more evident when we weigh carefully the words of St Peter Chrysologus, the “Golden-mouthed” Bishop of Ravenna[7].

How happy that nature which had proved wanting in a man and a woman should nevertheless have received the honour it had been denied, along with so many blessings, through the person of God Himself! How happy for that nature to have seen the deficiencies of barrenness repaired by the marvellous blessings of a second virginity! How happy to have made more progress through this one conception than in so many woeful pregnancies in the past! How happy for that nature to have become the Mother of life after previously being the Mother of stillborn, who would give birth in pain to little victims of pain and suffering, who would bring forth only amidst tears those whom she would be exposing to a life of ruefulness, who was delivered only at great risk to herself of infants who would have to grow up and live surrounded by dangers, who would threaten her babies at the dawn of their lives with the setting of the sun which would bring them to a close, who would devour the fruit she brought forth knowing full well that she was begetting with many labours creatures who would no sooner be born than find themselves condemned to death!

These considerations made her barrenness easier to bear, as she feared her very fruitfulness would have a sorrowful outcome, bringing forth tears rather than children. Amidst all these cries and lamentations, however, the one blessing to emerge was that they were directed to the Author of this very nature who, having made it without these defects, could repair it just as easily as He made it in the first place. This was an opportunity for Him to  construct a new route in nature itself, proceeding with a confidence more divine than human through a virginal conception and birth, following gate path previously unknown, leaving no signs of passage, so as to restore nature by this birth to its first freedom and to cleanse the streams by purifying the source. 

Footnotes

[1] Serm. 12.

[2] Homil. 2 de jejunio.

[3] Serm. 2 de Nativit. B. Virg.

[4] Revel., lib. I, c. 9.

[5] Serm. exhortatio ad fratres.

[6] Parænesi 46.

[7] Serm. 87.

Their faith and hope 

 9   They were great in their faith and in their hope. If faith, as St Ambrose says[1], continues to live and even to work miracles after death, who will be able to deny that the faith of St Joachim and St Anne was so great that, to borrow the words of St Peter Chrysologus[2], 

It brought springtime greenery back to bodies that had grown dry and withered, it rejuvenated people who had become advanced in years and, in a mysterious way, it took life from its sunset to back to its dawn at break of day. 

If the property of hope, in the judgement of Blessed Antiochus[3], is to bring forth wonderful fruit by means of faith which serves to water it, what must have been the hope which brought into the world such beautiful fruit as Mary, the fruit of benediction? If tears are the lifeblood of the soul, as St Anthony of Padua[4] calls them, and if hope is the lifeblood of faith, as Clement of Alexandria[5] says, what then must have been the faith of these Saints who shed so many tears and what must have been their hope which was founded on such a firm faith? How much blood would it have cost them to deliver this precious pledge to the world? Sacred Scripture has praised to heaven the faith of Abraham who is honoured with the glorious title of Father of the faithful[6]. This is even though St John Chrysostom[7] and St Jerome[8] accuse him of a certain lack of trust, based on what is written in the 17th chapter of Genesis where it says that after the Angel had told him he would have a son, he fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart: Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?[9] It is true, however, that St Paul seems to defend him vigorously in the 4th chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, saying that he was not weak in faith and against hope believed in hope; and neither did he consider his own body now dead, whereas he was almost an hundred years old, nor the dead womb of Sara[10]. Be that as it may, in order to take nothing away from the merits of the Saints, if the faith of Abraham and Sarah was great then I can state confidently that the faith of St Joachim and St Anne was no less so, granted that St Epiphanius, St Jerome, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, St Germanus, St Andrew of Candia and the other Fathers cited above declare that they never hesitated once in their belief, not even to the slightest degree, in what the Holy Angel had prophesied. If Abraham and Sarah believed that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through the Son who was to be born of them, St Joachim and St Anne firmly believed they would be the parents of her whom St Ephrem[11] calls the hope of the ancient Fathers, source of joy for men of goodwill, a light for the just, the honour of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the glory of Moses and Aaron and the crown of all the Saints. The former were hailing from a distance the rich jewel of Heaven who was to be the honour of their race; the latter had merited to hold in their arms both the Mother and the Son through whom the whole world was to be redeemed. The former learned of the happiness which was to come to them through Isaac only after the Angel brought the news to them; the latter had for a long time felt a presentiment of their joy, whence came the earnest prayers and requests that they made continually to God, as is clear from the writings of the above-mentioned Doctors. To sum up, if faith was in its infancy amongst the Patriarchs and in its youth amongst the Prophets, as Abbot Guerric[12] has said, can I not say that it was in Joachim and Anne, who came so close to the grace of the New Testament, that faith came of age ? 

Footnotes

[1] Orat. in Funere Theodosii.

[2] Serm. 87.

[3] Homil. 2.

[4] Dominica I post. Epiph.

[5] Lib. I Pædagog.

[6] Rom. iv. 16-17.

[7] In cap. 17 Gen.

[8] Lib. I adversus Pelagianos.

[9] Gen. xvii. 17.

[10] Rom. iv. 18-19.

[11] Serm. de Laud. B. Virg.

[12] Serm. 4 de Nativ. Dom.

© Peter Bloor 2025 

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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.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 6.5-7

Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God

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. The sixth sign of love: loving for love of Mary all those who belong to her, whether through family, marriage, or election ; wherein special mention is made of St Joachim, St Anne and St Joseph 

Their nobility

 5   They were great in their nobility since both shared David’s Royal Blood and consequently they were descendants from from the race of the Patriarchs and Prophets whom God had honoured so greatly. This was taught by St Justin Martyr[1], Tertullian[2], St Ambrose[3], St Jerome[4], St Andrew of Candia[5], St Hilary[6] and many others[7]. Were their testimony to be lacking, the evidence from Sacred Scripture showing that the Saviour was to descend from the seed of David[8] cannot be questioned. This would be difficult to confirm had the holy Virgin not herself been born from David’s descendants, for it would have availed little for St Joseph her spouse to be son of David if she herself had not also been his descendant in her own capacity. Since the Saviour received nothing from St Joseph, it would not be possible to say that simply by reason of His reputed father He was a true son of David according to the flesh, as St Paul the Apostle says[8]. Accordingly, this should be beyond dispute, especially on the side of St Joachim. As far as St Anne is concerned, I know that St Hippolytus, St Germanus of Constantinople and Nicephorus taught that she was a descendant of the Priestly line. This enabled them to confirm what the majority of the Holy Fathers said about the Saviour being descended not only from the Kings of Judah but also from the High Priests, being someone in whom all the titles of nobility were to be found united and who was to be King and High Priest at the same time. St Ambrose, however, was persuaded by the force of the ancient tradition and took the opposite approach, maintaining that St Anne (no more nor less than St Elizabeth) was of the Royal House of David, at least on the paternal side. It is not in fact necessary for the Doctors whom we have cited to adopt these extreme positions in order to show Our Lord’s descent from the High Priests since it is sufficient to realise that the two lines have several times intermarried – as may be seen at various points in Scripture – and that the Priestly tribe enjoyed the privilege of intermarriage with members of other tribes. 

Footnotes

[1] Apolog. 2 pro Christianis.

[2] Lib. Adversus Judæos, c. 9.

[3] Lib. II de Spiritu Sancto, c. 9.

[4] In c. 12 Isai.

[5] Orat. 2 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[6] Cap. in Matth.

[7] Apud Canis., lib. I de B. Virg., c. 4, et Christophorum a Castro, Historiæ Virginalis, c. 1, ubi specialiter id docet de S. Anna.

[8] Isai. xi ; Matth. xxii ; Marc. xii ; Lucæ x ; Joann. vii ; Rom. i ; etc.

[9] Rom. i. 3.

Their Piety

 6   They were great in their piety and devotion. Blessed Andrew of Jerusalem declares[1]  that St Anne used to storm Heaven with her prayers, her requests and her sacrifices. St Gregory of Nyssa[2]  and St John Damascene[3]  say that she followed the example of Anna (the mother of Samuel) and used to have recourse to the Temple, imploring the Divine Majesty not to deny the blessing of the law to her who had never contravened the law. St Epiphanius says as much[4]  about St Joachim and states that the Blessed Virgin was included in his devotions which were united with those of the virtuous Saint Anne, his Spouse. St Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, observed[5]  that it might be said prayer and requests produced Our Lady rather than St Joachim and St Anne, her parents. More than two hundred years ago, the devout Doctor Gerson preached a sermon in the Church of St Germain in Paris on the day of the of the glorious Virgin’s Conception. In his sermon, he said that God had been searching amongst His creatures for a man and a woman worthy of being the father and mother of her who was to be honoured with bearing His only-begotten Son. When He heard the prayers offered up to Him by St Joachim and St Anne, He could only find good things to say, highly praising the virtue of each of them. The majority of the Holy Fathers say the same thing. St Jerome[6] , however, along with Symeon Metaphrastes[7]  and Nicephorus[8], relate the following story: 

St Joachim and St Anne Had been together for more than twenty years without any issue, as the result of the barrenness of St Anne. This caused them so much sorrow that not a day passed when they did not offer prayers up to God along with their tears, asking they might have a child who would wipe away the shame they felt because of this stain on their reputation. There was, however, nothing that brought greater affliction to their hearts than the distress caused by the High Priest Issachar when, in accordance with custom, they went up to Jerusalem for one of the great feasts of the year. He reproached them in public for their boldness in appearing with the mark of God’s curse amongst other people. They were so affected by his words that, not knowing where to go for consolation, they opened their hearts with great trust to God, promising to consecrate to Him any offspring He might grant them, praying He would remove from them their public shame. No longer daring to show their faces to others, they withdrew from the world: St Joachim went into the hills where his shepherds kept watch over their sheep and St Anne went into her garden, so as to devote herself to prayer with greater freedom and calmness. Towards the beginning of December, an Angel from Heaven came to visit each one of them individually and communicated a promise on behalf of God that He would give them a daughter called Mary. She would not only be the cause of great joy for them but also of happiness for the whole world since she was to be the Mother of the promised Messiah. To confirm the truth of his message, he told each of them that they would leave their respective retreats early in the morning and would encounter each other on the road ; and this came to pass exactly as he had foretold.

Footnotes

[1] Orat. de Dormit. B. Virg.

[2] Orat. in Natalem Domini.

[3] Lib. IV de Fide, c. 15.

[4] Hæresi 78.

[5] Orat. de Nativit. Virg.

[6] Orat. de Ortu B. Virg.

[7] Hist. de Vita et Dormit. B. Virg.

[8] Lib. I Hist. Eccles., c. 7.

Their abstinence and mortification

 7   They were great in their abstinence and in mortification. If St Paul[1] could say in truth that he yielded in nothing to the great Apostles, not even to those marked out in some way higher than the others, it seems to me that I can say Joachim and Anna owe nothing to the great Patriarchs and Prophets, for they have equalled the most heroic of their actions. St Germanus of Constantinople writes of them[2] that they fasted for a full forty days just like Moses and Elias. Their fasting was accompanied by continual floods of tears, say St Gregory of Nyssa[3], St Andrew of Candia[4] and other writers; these tears served as food and drink for them just as they had once done for the Royal Prophet David[5]. I think this is the reason why St John Damascene called them a pair of turtle doves endowed with reason; for just as these creatures spend a part of their lives in solitude, keening almost continually whilst perched in the saddest and most withered trees they can find, in the same way Joachim and Anna led a life in the rigours of their retreat more like penitential hermits than ordinary people of the world. Could this be the reason why the devout-hearted St Bonaventure called the Holy Virgin a green willow? Did he not wish to indicate how just as the willow never grows better then when planted by a stream, so this holy Maiden came into the world having been watered for a long time by a stream of tears from St Joachim and St Anne? Blessed is the fruit conceived after so many holy and divine exercises!

Footnotes

[1] For I suppose that I have done nothing less than the great apostles. 2 Cor. xi. v.

[2] Orat. de Præsent. B. Virg.

[3] Loc. cit.

[4] Orat. de Nativit.

[5] My tears have been my bread day and night. Psal. XLI. 4.

© Peter Bloor 2025 

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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.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 6.1-4

Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God

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. The sixth sign of love: loving for love of her all those who belong to her, whether through family, marriage, or election ; wherein special mention is made of St Joachim, St Anne and St Joseph 

 1   It is not without reason that Love has been  compared to oil since it shares certain of its properties, one being that it does not stay confined to the person loved but, like oil, it easily spreads to anyone or anything adjoining. Daily experience shows us that for the love of our friends we feel positively disposed towards certain persons about whom we might otherwise be completely indifferent. I have no intention of saying this about the parents and friends of the MOTHER OF GOD since they have in themselves qualities which make them loved and honoured for their own sake; but what I do want to say is that the connection they have with her gives them something extra and it is altogether fitting that those who cherish the Holy Virgin should grow in the affection they feel towards them.

 2   I would place in this rank those who have loved and honoured her most tenderly, through their writings or in other ways, and to whom she has shown a reciprocal love. I do not intend to provide details here since elsewhere in this work we have followed discussion of the great dignities and privileges of the MOTHER OF GOD with accounts of the honour these souls have given her, the love they have felt for her and the favours they have been granted by her royal hand. Secondly, I would mention those men and women who honoured her during her lifetime and who were blessed with her friendship and conversation, such as the Blessed Archangel Gabriel  (her Paranymph[1]), the Holy Apostles and Disciples of Our Lord, St Mary Magdalene, Saint Martha and the other holy women  who kept company with through her times of adversity. I include in this number with even greater reason those whom God honoured by making them close to her through ties of blood such as St Zachary, St Elizabeth, St John the Baptist, St Mary (the wife of Cleophas), St James the Less (her son), Salome with her two children, St James the Greater and St John the Evangelist who was able to claim her for his Mother through the pleasing services that he rendered to the most sacred Virgin as her faithful chamberlain and her son by adoption.

Footnotes

[1] Paranymph: Bridesman. In the Middle Ages, a nobleman charged with escorting the bride from her father’s house to that of her spouse.

 3   Out of all the names, however, I feel a most special affection for St Joachim and St Ann, her parents, and for Blessed St Joseph, her most worthy spouse. I feel duty-bound to indicate briefly some particular reasons we have for honouring them. 

Our obligation to honour St Joachim and St Anne

 4   There is a reference to the philosopher Protarchus in Aristotle[1] stating that the stones used to build Temples and their altars are to be considered fortunate because of the honour they receive through being employed in the service of God. This good fortune can scarcely to be appreciated by dead stones forasmuch as they are destitute of feeling; but this is not the case with living stones such as St Joachim and St Anne who had the honour of playing a part in the construction of the august Temple of Wisdom incarnate – that Temple which was to be none other than the glorious Virgin. Apart from the fact that the happiness they enjoy is inexplicable, the actual feelings they have are the high point and perfection of their joy. Would you not agree that they were prefigured by those great and costly stones that Scripture says[2] were laid as foundations for the ancient Temple of Solomon? For they were indeed great and precious in all the qualities that can elevate a person  before God or before men.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. II Phys., text. 59.

[2] And the king commanded, that they should bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the temple. 3 Kings (1 Kings) v.17. 

© Peter Bloor 2025 

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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.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 5.17-20

Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God

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)

§ 5. The fifth sign of love: Having a tender and fervent love for her dear Son

 17   O God of love! What words can we find to describe the feelings of the Saints when it comes to this and the various ways in which Jesus strengthened their love so as to make them sharers in His Cross and His sufferings?

Blessed Teresa of Jesus had such a great thirst for these that her everyday motto was: to suffer or to die. 

Alphonsus Rodríguez was a Brother in the Society of Jesus and the following words were always on his lips: Most sweet Jesus and Mary: allow me to suffer for you and to die for love of you;  may I give all of myself to you and keep nothing for myself. 

Her most Serene Highness Philippa of Guelders (whom I mentioned earlier) was so sensitive in this regard that on hearing the least word spoken about the Cross, the spear, the thorns or the Passion of her dear Jesus, she would be overcome with sighs and burst into tears; these would be accompanied by such violent palpitations of the heart that people would run to help this faithful follower of the Cross as she languished and swooned with love. Her languor and suffering increased noticeably in the last seven years of her life. Her travails would start on Thursday evening and last until Saturday morning. Apart from this, she would experience such unusual pains, piercing sensations and emotional turbulence that she was forced to spend the whole of Friday lying on a bed, with her eyes fixed on a Crucifix. During this time, the powerful hand of her Master gradually honed her so that she might become like unto Him. 

On countless occasions, Blessed Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi experienced in both her body and in her soul the terrible torments that the Saviour of the world, her dear Spouse, had endured on the Cross. There was one time she experienced an ecstasy lasting twenty-six hours when she followed in the footsteps of her Lord, having the same feelings as if she had been with Him during His agony in the garden, had been seized and bound by the Jews, dragged through the streets, taken before Pilate, scourged at the pillar, shown to the people, condemned to death and forced to carry the Cross to Calvary. Stretching out one hand and then the other as though she had actually been nailed to the Cross, she was then miraculously raised to her feet without bending her knees or otherwise changing her posture before finding herself with her back against the wall as though she had been crucified. There she remained for a long time, uttering all the words that Jesus did on the Cross. Finally, just as though her soul had  separated from her body which now became unable to remain in this position, she bowed her head and fell towards the ground. She would have suffered injury if the other Sisters had not suddenly rushed forward to help her and received her into their arms.  

 18   How many times did St Lidwina accompany the Saviour on the Way of the Cross from the Garden of Olives to Calvary, returning with bruises on her swollen feet, gashes in her legs, split and bleeding lips, dislocated limbs, covered in thorns, thistles and spines – showing that her experience was not an imaginary one but involved a real participation in the torments and suffering of the Spouse who was so dear to her heart?

Did not St Catherine of Genoa spend thirty-six years of her life in continual suffering? What part of the martyrdom undergone by her dear Spouse did she not share, including His effusion of blood – for she too shed a quantity of blood before her death; the rest had been consumed by an interior fire blazing incessantly within her which burned so ardently that she could make water boil by simply dipping her hand in it.

 19   It may readily be thought that by highlighting the above individuals I may have been unfair in certain ways to others – granted that all Saints have had the honour, some to a greater and some to a lesser degree, of bearing the marks of their crucified Master. Accordingly, let us conclude these examples with a consideration that will put us back on track and lead us once more to the Virgin whom we left only for a short while in order to focus upon her Son and His Passion : namely, that the Mother of love is like the Mistress of a household dispensing favours similar to those we have been discussing. Through these, she shows her tender love for her dear children and those who would claim such favours must, after God himself, have their principal recourse in her.

Such has always been the mind of Holy Church which addresses the following prayer to her. 

Sweet source of love and clemency,

Pray listen to my heartfelt cries:

May all my sorrow, all my sighs

To thine own grief united be.

 

Pray make my soul a furnace-fire

So when thy work is meetly done 

Thy dear and well-beloved Son

May cherish it and much admire.

Sweet Virgin grant this my request:

Within my heart do thou engrave

Those marks whereby Our Lord did save

Mankind from sin through His conquest.

O Virgin since my wicked crime

Delivered Jesus to the gibbet,

Do not mine eyes’ their tears inhibit

Since they would mourn till end of time.

Dear Saviour how I envy Thee, 

Derided and Thy strength deplete!

With gall may I be now replete

Until life’s end doth summon me.

This Cross of wood my heart o’erpowers 

And like a tree with glorious roots  

It sendeth forth triumphant shoots  

Whose thorns for me are fragrant flowers.

Oh mirror innocent and pure,

From baseness turn thy breast away;

Allow my dreams to have their day

So I thy suff’ring might endure. 

The nails to glory I’ve assigned,

The reed sweet thoughts within me urges; 

Whilst all the cruelty of the scourges 

Is colloquy within my mind.

Permitting thus my heart’s distress, 

Wilt thou this favour then decree –  

Through love of Jesus I may see 

Me drowned in sadness shared with thee?

 20   It is not, however, merely the sufferings of her beloved Son that she has the power to allocate to whomsoever she chooses, but also the love of Jesus in all its extent which she shares with the same Jesus and her dear children according to the order given her by God, the desire she notices within them, and the good services they perform. In this connection, here is a very humble prayer with which their faithful servant St Anselm concludes one of his devout orisons:

Sweet Jesus and Sweet Mother of Jesus, since it is reasonable that we should love all that you love, grant us love for the Father of our life who is worthy of all love. Oh Thou Lord who art faithful and true in thy love for men, will it be said that Thou hast loved us unto death and that thou canst yet refuse Thy love and that of Thy dear Mother to those who ask each of Thee from the bottom of their hearts and with their most tender affection? Dear Mother of this Divine Lover, whom thou didst merit to bear within thy sacred womb and to nourish at thy virginal breasts, wouldst thou really be able to refuse us thy love and that of thy most adorable Son, which we ask of thee with our hands joined in prayer, appealing to the gentleness of thy maternal heart? How I pray that my mind may honour you as you deserve! How I pray that my heart may love you as is fitting! How I pray that my soul may cherish you to the utmost of my ability – so that all which is in me, and all I am myself, may sing forever: May the Son and the Mother be praised for ever and ever! 

© Peter Bloor 2025 

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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.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.