Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 12 : § 2.6-9

Chapter 12 : Association – eleventh 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. Various Associations founded in honour of the MOTHER OF GOD

The Confraternity of the Leathern Belt and of Our Lady of Consolation

 6   The Order of the Hermits of St Augustine also provides us with proof of the Holy Virgin’s favour in this regard because of its connection with the Confraternity of the Leathern Belt, so called because of the black leathern belt worn by its members in honour of the MOTHER OF GOD, St Augustine and St Monica. This devotion began under Eugene IV in the year 1446 when he canonised blessed St Nicholas of Tolentino. Many people were moved by the great miracles and outstanding holiness of this great servant of God and, wishing to wear the leathern belt which he had worn and honoured with his virtues, a number of them formed an Association. The Reverend Father Gerardo de Arimini, who was at the time General of the Hermits of St Augustine, instituted and approved this Association with the authority of the Holy See, granting the members of the Confraternity a share in all the good works and blessings of his Order, present and to come, wheresoever in the world they might be. In the year 1575, Pope Gregory XIII amalgamated the Confraternity with that of our Lady of Consolation in Bologna and decreed in a Brief that the two henceforth should become one, granting the same privileges to both without differentiation or distinction, as may be seen in the Bull of union. The Confraternity of Our Lady of Consolation had been founded in Bologna in the year 1495 in the Church of St James (which belonged to the Augustinian Fathers). It was the fruit of the zeal shown by Blessed Father Martin de Vercelli who, on the occasion of a series of sermons he was preaching in that Church for Lent, ordered a painting of Our Lady of Consolation to be hung over the main entrance. This encouraged a great number of citizens of Bologna to enrol in this Confraternity which he had founded in honour of God and of the most glorious Virgin. The Confraternity of the Leathern Belt has been confirmed by a great number of Popes and blessed with many beautiful indulgences, as anyone can see by studying the book which was printed in Paris in the year 1529. 

The Confraternity of Peace

 7   I have already written about the Confraternity of Peace in Part III[1]. It was founded in the city of Puy-en-Velay in the year 1183 on the occasion of a dispute between the King of Aragon and Count Raymond of St Gilles which was resolved in a marvellous way by this Confraternity.

Footnotes

[1] Chap. 6, § 4. 

The Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception

 8   In the year 1506[1] the Great Cardinal Ximenes, Archbishop of Toledo, founded the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the most Sacred Virgin. Its principal aim was to provide help and relief for the poor people of the city, whether in a civic way or in helping individuals. Every night from All Saints until the month of April, two members from the Confraternity would walk with torches around the streets of the City looking for any homeless persons. They would escort anyone they found to the hostel that the Cardinal had built for this purpose, ordering that it should be equipped and furnished with all things necessary for its mission.

Footnotes

[1] Gomezius, in ejus Vita.

The Confraternity of the Annunciation

 9    The learned and pious Dominican, Cardinal Torquemada, died in the year 1468. A few years before his death, he chose a Church in Rome belonging to his Order called Our Lady of Minerva to found the famous Confraternity of the Annunciation, placing it under the protection of the most glorious Virgin. He endowed it with significant funds to help poor young women whose chastity could be at risk by reason of their poverty. Each year on the feast of the Annunciation the Pope, in company with his Cardinals, made his way to Our Lady of Minerva and, after solemn Mass sung by a Cardinal, the Holy Father personally gave a dowry to each of two hundred young women who had been specially chosen. He gave a purse of one hundred gold écus to those who had determined to consecrate themselves to the service of God and eighty to those who wanted to marry. Pope Urban VII[1], who died in the year 1590, left all his goods to this holy Confraternity, to the great satisfaction and edification of all the people in Rome.

Footnotes

[1] Cicconius, in ejus Vita.

© Peter Bloor 2026 

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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.