The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 7 : § 2. 9-10

Chapter 7 : The Sixth Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of 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)

That she is peerless in her graces and merits

§ 2. The increase of grace in the Holy Virgin

The graces conferred on Our Lady were extraordinary

 9   Now if you add to these considerations the surge of Heavenly graces that were united to the extraordinary dispositions in Mary's soul, you will have to accept that even the Angels cannot compare with her progress. We can picture her as a ship, laden with rich cargoes from the east, sailing on the high seas under full canvas driven by wind from the stern, proceeding with such speed that observers soon lose sight of her and nothing can stand in her path.

 

Sail on, sail boldly on, O sacred vessel, sail on! Although our spirits are too feeble to keep up with thee in thy particular journey, we shall make the coasts echo to the sounds of our happiness, which are like so many pledges of the pleasure we feel in thine own joy.

The great occasions when this was shown : firstly, from the moment of her Conception to that of the divine Word

 10   This heading pulls me up short as I think about the extraordinary things that happened throughout almost the entire life of the Holy Virgin. They offered her the means to make such progress that it seems impossible for the human mind to comprehend. In order to say perhaps a few words regarding this, however, and to encourage people to think further, I am dividing the life of the most blessed Virgin into three stages. The first stage is from her immaculate Conception until the heavenly envoy’s visit at the Annunciation. The second is from that day until the death of her most honoured Son. The third is from then until her own death.

At the beginning of the first stage, we find  the moment of her initial sanctification when she received treasures of grace beyond calculation (as we have seen in the previous discussion). We also find her altogether pure Nativity when she was given to the world visibly as the beginning of the happiness which it was awaiting. At this time the graces she had already received were increased twofold in consideration of the joy people felt and the happy dawning of this beautiful day which saw not so much the birth of the MOTHER OF GOD on earth as the rebirth of the world. We find too her entry into the Sanctuary of the Temple which I mentioned earlier. She was received once more under the very special protection of the Holy Ghost who was to prepare her to be His most worthy Spouse and where she was from the very outset attired with new adornments of grace and then later enriched with exquisite favours from her future Spouse.

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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