Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 8 : § 2.5

Chapter 8 : Honour – a seventh 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)

§ 2. Second sign of honour : singing her praises

 5   Let us consider just a small selection from the above-mentioned Fathers. How pleasing it is, for example, to see the love which filled the heart and mind of the devout St Bonaventure and the different ways of praising her which this inspired in him. It is as though he is so moved by the desire to honour her that he scarcely kneows where to begin and how best to set forth his celebration. He has given us his beautiful Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a summary of her principal qualities; he has composed for her his Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary which consists of one hundred and fifty Psalms, based upon the model of David’s Psalter; he has written Litany titles for her similar to those in the Roman Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary; he has constructed a Crown for her which aims to rejoice in her splendours and sing her praises; he has written Lamentations similar to those used in the Office of Tenebrae but focusing on her principal sorrows; he has dedicated several Sequences to her which include those ancient types which pre-figured her, setting forth her most outstanding qualities; and he has applied to her the Canticles of Moses, of his sister Mary, of Deborah and others which the Church has inserted in the Divine Office. In short, it is not possible to look into his writings without seeing a heart ablaze with love for the MOTHER OF GOD and fired with a passion to make her honoured by all; but we also derive great pleasure from the particular way he covers her with honour and praise, since his choice of words and his style are so impressive that we are forced to love her whether we wanted to or not.

If he considers her in terms of grace and holiness, he says that she is the fountain of grace, the epitome of good habits, the heavenly lily, the light shining in the darkness, the rose without thorns, the purest of doves, the model of chastity, the measure of justice, the staff of perfect beauty, the Lady of virtue and truth, the example for all the universe. 

If he considers her sweetness and her goodness, then he calls her their honeycomb, the cup-bearer of grace and favours, the resting-place of piety, the jar of divine ointments, the fountain of clemency, the mother of love, the spiritual nurse, the cloud permeated with grace, the net bursting with heavenly benefits.

Does he speak of her providing reconciliation and refuge? Then it is to call her the beautiful rainbow in whom all graces are found, the sweet chamber of peace, the one who restrains the wrath of God, the salvation of the world, the ladder to Heaven, the path leading to life, the guide to salvation, the gate of Heaven, the reparatrix of the world, the mediatrix for sinners, the guardian for men, their singular refuge; the hope of the wretched, the anchor-point for our hopes, the ship, harbour and jetty all in one, the mother of orphans, the source of salvation, the rich vein of mercy, the beacon for those who are lost and the source of courage for those in combat.

Is it a question of her authority and her power? She is, in the words of this devout heart, the death of sin, the scourge of heresies, the ruination of demons, the pillar of Religion, the Queen of Kings, the Sovereign Lady of Empires, the All-powerful one whether in the favours that she mediates, the assistance she provides or the help she gives to undertakings. 

In short, when it comes to her glory and her excellence, she is nothing less than the abode, the privy chamber, the throne and the temple of the Divinity, the Palace of the Holy Trinity, the wonder of the works of God, the clay which moulded its potter, the stream which is the source of its spring,  the star which produces its Sun, the Virgin worthy of God, the wonder of greatness, the paragon of excellence, the honour of the earth, the glory of Paradise, heaven for the intellect, the splendour of divine light, sovereign intelligence, Queen of all the ages, the Daughter, the Mother and the Spouse of God. 

© 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.