The Triple Crown of the Mother of God : Conclusion of Preface

Conclusion

Concluding our translation of the Preface to the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 edition).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

     Such is the outline of this magnificent composition in which the author more than fulfils all that he set out to do. Countless testimonies of Church Fathers and Doctors, a wealth of facts each more interesting than the other, set out in a spiritual and sympathetic way so as to bring clarity to doctrine, a style which is simple yet richly coloured, a tone redolent of piety which is moving and uplifting—all features that distinguish this work of extraordinary originality. 

    The author wrote his book before the important works of modern criticism and it is true that he gave too much weight to certain texts attributed to various Church Fathers which have subsequently been acknowledged as having been written later. This sort of mistake is one which Fr Poiré has the honour of sharing with Baronius [1538-1607] and with Bellarmine.[1542-1621] It takes nothing of any significance away from The Triple Crown of the Mother of God, any more than it has undermined the integrity of the Oratorian’s Annales Ecclesiastici or diminished the value of the Jesuit’s Controversiae. In works of this importance, the conclusions are backed up by too many incontrovertible testimonies to lose anything of their reliability simply because works cited as ancient by the author need to be brought forward by several centuries. Fr Poiré’s book remains no less a monument of his profound erudition as well as a tribute to a most fervent and tender devotion towards Mary.

     After crowning the Mother of God with her triple Crown, Fr Poiré uses the remainder of his work to lay before the faithful the duties by which they are bound to so great a Queen and the veneration they are to show her.  This entirely practical section of the book is a follow-on to what precedes it and is equally rich in doctrine, gently encouraging devotion towards Mary.

     

    The author enjoins:

    • loving gratitude towards Mary as indispensable for all those whose hearts and eyes have been enraptured by the splendours of the three Crowns of Excellence, Power and Goodness adorning the Mother of God. 

    This gratitude applies to the whole universe and arises from: 

    • the extent of the esteem that the faithful must have for the supreme qualities and dignities of the Mother of God;

    • the trust that so much power and goodness generates in their hearts;

    • the love inspired in them by so many perfections and blessings;

    • the zeal to win hearts for her;

    • the works of mercy rendered so dear to her by her love for men;

    • the acts of thanksgiving which the faithful, moved by gratitude, delight to offer her;

    • the gracious devotions in her veneration which take various forms, bringing joy to the Church and happiness to pious souls;

    • the works of mortification offered up to appease God’s justice in honour of the Mother of Mercy and accepted by Him (through Mary) with particular favour;

    • the fervent desire to imitate those virtues of which Mary is the exemplar for all the faithful;

    • the enthusiasm shown for joining Associations and Confraternities founded in her honour and dedicated to her service; and finally,

    • the urge to promote her glory in every way, for such is God’s pleasure: that Mary is to be praised and exalted in Heaven and on earth for ever and ever.

     These twelve sorts of veneration, arising from gratitude towards the Mother of God, are the subject of as many chapters and are handled very sympathetically by Fr Poiré who brings to bear all the resources of his learning and his piety. The culminating point is the consecration of the author and his work to the august Queen whose supreme qualities and sovereign mercy he has praised so effusively.

     A book such as this made its appearance in an era when our forebears had yet to experience the icy winds of Jansenism. As such, it must have received a truly favourable reception. This is evidenced by the three editions which came out, despite its considerable length. The last one was, as we have seen, in 1643. Everyone appreciated that religious literature changed in character after this date. The century which saw the publication of Arnauld’s treatise On Frequent Communion [1643] and the Essays of Nicole [1625-1695] could no longer support works written under the inspiration of a fervent faith and tender devotion. The older writings were quickly forgotten; a great number perished and the rest were buried in the dusty archives of libraries. Several works deserved a different fate as we can judge in our day since the republication of Affective Theology by Louis Bail [1610-1669]  and the Theological Conferences of Fr d’Argentan [1615-1680]. The success of these books in recent years has shown that our century has a better appreciation for works of Catholic genius than the two which preceded it.  

     Accordingly, we offer this book to the clergy, confident it will provide invaluable assistance to them in elucidating the advantages of devotion to Mary for the faithful.  It will also help to revive the faith and love which is always generated by contemplating the perfections of Mary, she whom God deigned to associate with His regeneration of man. The Glories of Mary by St Alphonsus Liguori [1696-1787] is a commentary on the Salve Regina and had a favourable reception among us, but in no way can the holy Bishop’s touching work of learning and piety be compared with the Marian Summa that we are republishing today.

     

    Communities of religious will also find in this important work solid and substantial nourishment for that devotion to Mary which is held in common by all those institutes brought into being by the Spirit of God to practise evangelic perfection. Finally, the simple faithful will henceforth have access to a treasury of truths which illuminate the mind and raise the heart to Heaven. Herein they will always be able to find new motives for venerating and imitating the most Blessed Virgin, with no fear of exhausting a source which is as rich as it is varied. Such was our intention in bringing out this important reprint.

    By reducing Fr Poiré’s folio-sized edition to octavo in two volumes, we ran into one or two difficulties with arranging the typography. We hope our readers will take due account of this. The work as a whole has lost nothing thereby. As for the fidelity of the reprint, we have been most painstaking in this regard, mindful of fulfilling our duty. Works such as The Triple Crown of the Mother of God can be subject to analysis but if they are reproduced, then their very originality demands to be respected. Every effort must be made to avoid interpolating even the slightest stamp of later ages. Furthermore, we can be confident in repeating that whilst it is possible to criticize this great work, it would far from easy to redo it and replace it. As far as we are concerned, whilst acknowledging the imperfections in the work, we felt ourselves unable to produce a corrected version.

     Now that we have revealed to the public our motives for offering this new edition of a book from the reign of Louis XIII [1610-1643], we await with confidence the judgement of readers on the timeliness of this undertaking. May we be permitted to express our desire that all Catholics who encounter this work may experience an unbounded trust in the power and goodness of the Lady who is so glorified in this beautiful book.

DOM PROSPER GUÉRANGER

 Abbé de Solesmes

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024