Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 3.4-5

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)

§ 3. The third sign of love: rejoicing in her perfections and feeling her sorrows

 4    Blessed Herman was a member of the Order of St Dominic who died in the year 1245[1]. He was one of those whom Iwo (Bishop of Kraków), presented to Saint Dominic and who was later sent by the same Saint into Poland along with St Hyacinth his companion and nephew of the aforementioned Bishop. Herman experienced feelings of great tenderness each and every time he shared the Holy Virgin’s joys in his own heart.

He would bless the womb of the glorious Virgin, wherein all the greatness of Heaven had been compassed for the space of nine months. He would bless her heart most amiable, which had been a Sanctuary for all the principal mysteries of our faith. He would bless her chaste breasts which had given suck to the Father of nourishment for all. He would bless her holy hands which had so often wrapped in swaddling clothes Him who had crafted the universe. He would bless her sacred arms which had so frequently cradled Him who held the whole earth with His three fingers[2]. He would bless her holy bosom whereon He who offers rest for the Blessed had himself taken His repose. He would bless the heavenly mouth which had experienced the joy of kisses from the holy lips of the divine Word.

On pronouncing these blessings, sweet tears would well up in his eyes as he remembered the joys his dear Mother had experienced in these things. Next he would consider the interior state of the Virgin and the holiness that she had shown forth in these same mysteries. He would bless her unparalleled faith, her wondrous trust, her fervent charity, her deep humility, her immaculate purity, her incredible modesty, her superhuman strength and all her other virtues which he likened to a paradise of delights that the Holy Trinity had chosen for his spiritual delectation.

Every time he congratulated her with a blessing , he would add an Ave Maria and then conclude with the following words: Jesu suavissime, dignare me meam et tuam Matrem super omnes speciosam ore laudare, corde admirari, et imitatione subsequi, meaning : Most gentle Jesus, grant me the grace of praising with my lips, cherishing in my heart and imitating in my actions her who is Thy holy Mother and mine, the glory of all women.

It would not be possible to list all the favours the Holy Virgin granted him and the graces she obtained for him as a result of his heartfelt love and his deep sentiments of devotion.  

Through her prevenient graces he obtained so many consolations that he was scarcely able to manage them. One day he asked her to withdraw her kindly favours and replace them with an understanding of the mysteries hidden in Sacred Scriptures; he also asked her to  transform his heavy and stammering tongue so that he might be enabled to preach in a fitting manner on her great attributes and those of her beloved Son. She showed such generosity in the way she responded to these two requests that it would be far from easy to present all the fruits of the devout and eloquent sermons he started to give not only in Poland but in Germany, his place of birth.  

Footnotes

[1] Leander Albertus, in ejus Vita.

[2] Who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth: Isaiah xl. 12.

 5   But why should we marvel that she would give a favourable welcome to the tender feelings of  souls as beautiful as these since she has so generously rewarded others who, in a certain sense, should not even enter into consideration?

Nearly twenty-two years ago she appeared to a Lutheran heretic called Martin Guttric, a native of Colmberg in Germany. Having foretold that she was to lead him to Heaven on Christmas Eve, she instructed him to reconcile himself with the Catholic Church and make himself ready for his journey by receiving the Holy Sacrament.  His immediate response was to summon Fr Frederic Fournier who was at that time preaching in Bamberg Cathedral and ask for his help in carrying out what the Virgin had requested of him. Fr Fournier was quite taken aback by the request and wanted to know what could have made the MOTHER OF GOD render him such an exceptional favour as this. He found out that Martin used to recite the Ave Maria seven times every morning, adding the following words each time : Pray for us. He would repeat this prayer every evening, saying that his aim was simply to remind the Queen of Angels of the feelings of honour and happiness she had experienced at the Incarnation of the divine Word.

© 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.