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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020) |
That Mary is peerless in her graces and merits
§ 3. Mary’s final grace : the culminating point
A review showing how the Holy Virgin’s final level of grace excelled all others
5 Now, there is a danger that something spoken of quickly can pass us by without really registering in our minds so as to make an impression and even take root. To avoid this risk, I should like to summon all the Blessed companies of both the Church triumphant and the Church militant to parade before us with all the graces they have received from God.
First in line we would see the white cornette[1] of the Virgins and under this precious standard[2] millions of holy souls who for the preservation of their purity won victories without number. Under this same banner we would see countless Holy widows and married Ladies bearing the merits they earned through their long suffering and the heroic deeds they performed as a result of the virtues they practised. After these would come all the Holy Confessors and we would observe the thousands of Holy and venerable Prelates who sealed and who seal to this day the merit of their confession and the dignity of their pastoral office by so many works and other signs of their untiring constancy. We would discover innumerable companies of Holy Religious crowned with the fruits of their perseverance in God’s service and their endless labours for His holiness. We would see a large mass of all manner of persons of every condition, whose virtuous works spread their fragrance through the streets of the Holy City. After these, marching in order, would come the victorious army of Holy Martyrs who are so numerous as to astonish the gate of Hell. Their conquests are such that, without speaking of anything they did in their lifetimes, the single act of love that they performed by dying for God is so powerful that if placed in a balance it would outweigh all the virtuous actions of others who themselves lived very long life. But, good heavens!
Who could foresee the what the Holy Apostles would bring to this mass of graces? I would say that they received the first fruits of the spirit, as St Paul says, and they came on the scene before the treasure-chest of the Saviour’s merits was opened; but they were able to help themselves to as much as they wanted in order to have plenty to distribute to the whole world. Next after these comes the venerable antiquity of the noble company of Patriarchs and Prophets. By virtue of their long lives and their constancy, they accumulated remarkable stores of heavenly riches which they used incidentally to increase the communal supply of graces for holy Church. What can I say about God’s heavenly host and the countless number of pure spirits, whose merits attain such heights that a single one of them, by whom I mean the first Seraph, could (according to several commentators) supply as many graces as the all the other Angels and men could together?
If any person were asked to take all these graces and to make from them a single grace, his mind would be overwhelmed by the depths of this treasure we have described, for he would not be able to comprehend its scale. Despite the extent of these graces, it is still necessary to stress that this represents just the beginning of Mary’s holiness. Even though the grace described above seems for us to be almost infinite, it is the grace of mere servants and in this context it serves as a foundation for a supereminent grace, a grace of prerogative : namely, that of the MOTHER OF GOD which is of an order of magnitude incomparably higher than the graces of servants.
O God of infinite Majesty, it is Thee alone who didst enrich the blessed soul of Mary and who dost comprehend the extent of her enrichment! To Thee be honour and glory, Thou hast in this way made known the wondrous goods that inhere in Thee and so we say to Thee : Great, Great and ten million times Great is Thy name, Lord of graces and God of blessings!
Footnotes
[1] cornette: I.1.a. 1542–(a) A type of woman's headdress popular in the 15th cent. (esp. in France), consisting of a cone or truncated cone and typically having a fine veil hanging from the top; also applied to a similar high headdress extending to two conical point. Complete OED. Cf. Use by religious orders, e.g., the Daughters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul.
[2] cornette-blanche: may apply to a Royal standard. Cornette-blanche, C’estoit un estendart sous lequel les Rois avoient accoustumé de combattre en un jour de bataille, Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 1re édition (1694).
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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.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
© Peter Bloor 2024
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