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) |
§ 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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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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