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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020) |
§ 5. The fifth sign of love: Having a tender and fervent love for her dear Son
4 What shall I say about the incredible benefits men receive continually from Jesus, their unique source of happiness? The same St Paul seems to have wanted to enclose them in one word when he writes that God re-established all things in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth.[1] This is as though he had declared that, having Jesus the Heavenly pearl of great price, we no longer need the faith of Abraham, or the obedience of Isaac, or the strength of Jacob, or the patience of job, or the kind nature of Moses, or the charity of David, or the wisdom of Solomon, or the goodness of Ezechias, or the piety of Josias, forasmuch as all that is found in Jesus and to an infinitely greater extent. Or as though he had wanted to imply what he said elsewhere : that Jesus has been given to us to be our wisdom, our justice, our sanctification and our redemption[2] – in short, the beginning, the middle and the end of all the joy we can hope for. St Bernard[3] touches on this on this when he asks:
Who is there among us that, however deeply he may have sunk into bitter sorrow, has not rediscovered peace and serenity in his heart as soon as he decided to have recourse to Jesus? Who is there among us that, finding himself at the edge of the pit and ready to plunge into an abyss of despair has not begun to breathe again and rediscover hope in life as soon as he calls upon Jesus?
Who is there that, prostrating himself before Jesus in the midst of the aridity and desolation of his suffering soul, has not immediately felt a spiritual consolation that filled his eyes with tears of devotion? To whom has He not served as a source of counsel when people have doubts, encouragement when their confidence is low and as a refuge for them in their adversities? If we consider how the name of Father connotes the idea of someone who is obliging, where can we find a name like unto that of Jesus, from whom we receive life – but a life which is divine; nourishment – but a nourishment that is heavenly; upkeep – but one which is that of Princes and children of the King of Heaven; our inheritance – but one which is eternal and enables us to find all our joy in God? If the names Mother, Brother, Spouse, Guardian, Food-provider, Pastor and others such as these connote sources of benefits, then is not Jesus all of these for us, in fact all that I could ever put into words or even conceive in my mind? To sum up, we can say of Him in all truth what the mother of the young Tobias said of her son in a moment of emotion : We have all things in him[4], Since he who has Jesus has everything; he who does not have Him, has nothing at all; and he who has lost Him may be considered as having lost everything.
Footnotes
[1] In the dispensation of the fulness of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth, in him. Eph. i. 10.
[2] But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption: 1 Cor. i. 30.
[3] Serm. 15 in Cant.
[4] When Tobias and the Angel were departed, his mother began to weep, and to say: Thou hast taken the staff of our old age, and sent him away from us. I wish the money for which thou hast sent him, had never been. For poverty was sufficient for us, that we might account it as riches, that we saw our son. Tob. v. 23-25.
5 If sweetness possesses in itself a certain charm which the human heart is unable to resist, then where in the name of Heaven is it to be found more than in Jesus who is nothing less than the very essence or distillation of sweetness?
Jesus, says the gentle-hearted Saint Bernard, who is sweet in His words since milk and honey drop from His lips; sweet in His aspect since there is nothing so pleasing, not only among men but also among the Angels; sweet in His name, since it is the mysterious unction promised by the Angels and shown in figure by the Prophets; sweet in His works since there is nothing more sweet than the miracles He performed, than the forgiveness He showed, than the death He endured; and if He is sweet in this valley of tears, what will it be like on high when He causes rivers and oceans of joy and sweetness to wash over us?
John of Ávila was a Doctor in the last century who lit up the whole of Spain with his teaching and inspired people’s hearts with his pious example. Whilst writing to a lady suffering from severe bodily infirmities and afflicted by even greater spiritual tribulations, he spoke to her as follows:
Although your afflictions are so great and so numerous that it must feel as though you are being hit from all sides, so to speak, I promise you that just as the soul is greater than the body, so too we find spiritual sufferings are greater than those of the body. If God, however, through his infinite mercy were once to put you in contact with a truly spiritual person who knew how to explain the blessings that you possess in Jesus, you would find that the mere utterance of this holy name would cause the afflictions to leave your heart just as swiftly as the demon departed from Saul when he heard the sound of David playing the harp[1].
No : there is no person however distraught he may be whose heart will not be filled with joy on hearing the sweet news about Jesus, provided he is open to receive it; for do not imagine that it was for any other reason that the Angel, wishing to tell the shepherds that Jesus had been born, told them first that he was bringing them tidings of great joy[2].
What! asks St Bernard, do you really think it would be possible for you not to feel your troubles lightened each time you focus your thoughts on Jesus? Could you really find any other object of thought which would strengthen your souls more powerfully, which would restore and reinvigorate your spirits, and which would reawaken your hearts more effectively than the name and the memory of Jesus, your most lovable Saviour? Personally speaking, let no one offer me any sort of spiritual nourishment without that, for all meat will seem plain and tasteless to me if it is not seasoned with the pleasing memory of Jesus. When it comes to reading, writing and conversation, I shall never take pleasure therein unless I find Jesus : honey for my lips, music for my ears and joy for my heart.
Footnotes
[1] So whensoever the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, David took his harp, and played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed, and was better, for the evil spirit departed from him. 1 Kings (1 Samuel). xvi. 23.
[2] Luke ii. 10.
© Peter Bloor 2025
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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.
The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.
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.
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