The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 13 : § 6.6-7

Chapter 13 : The Twelfth Star or Splendour of 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)

How she is the honour of earth and of Heaven

§ 6. She is the Paradise of delights

THE RIVER DIVIDED INTO FOUR BRANCHES

 6    It would be greatly remiss of me not to mention the spring of wonders that you see bubbling and gushing forth in Paradise and which is called even from its beginnings a river which proceeds to divide into four great branches that water the whole of the land of benediction. The holy Archbishop of Crete[1] understands by this river the Saviour of the world; here are his words:

Within our spiritual Paradise (he is referring to the blessed Virgin ) is the one who cultivates the garden and whose job it is to make it fertile. He is represented by various figures and symbols but especially by this wonderful river, pouring with an incredible impetus from the most holy Mother and dividing into four great branches: the four Gospels, which spread over the whole face of the Earth.

The blessed Cardinal Peter Damian makes the same point with particular elegance[2].

The Lord Jesus, he says, is the river which flows from a double Paradise of pleasure[3], namely from His Eternal Father and from the womb of his Blessed Mother, even though in a very different manner. He proceeds from His Father’s sublime bosom through identity of nature, distinction in persons, equality in power, through being made in His image and likeness, and through communication from eternity. He emerges like a spring of life-giving waters, spreading joy and contentment throughout the holy city. He divides into four great streams that cause delight to the Blessed Spirits who plunge into their waters and are overwhelmed by the delights they bring: the great purity that God has bestowed upon them, the satisfaction they feel which is at the same time always accompanied by a hunger and thirst for more, and the confidence they have that their happiness will not fade and their joy cannot be taken away from them. 

From another perspective, see how He proceeds from the womb of His blessed Mother who is a second Paradise of pleasure. Although He appears in His humanity but weakly equipped, He is determined to do battle with the proud Giant. He comes forth through a birth unheard of in wonders; He comes forth resplendent with Heavenly light outshining the celestial radiance above; He comes forth in poverty that will be His inseparable companion for the remainder of His days; He comes forth showing the incredible finesse that will enable him to vanquish the ancient serpent who through lies and deceptions has made himself the Prince of this world. He proceeds to water the whole of the earth, since His sole purpose is through the waters of His grace to bring joy to our redeemed hearts and by this means make them fertile so as to bring forth all manner of good fruits. 

The waters are channelled by four great streams, described by Saint Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians[4]: by His wisdom, with which He dissipates the shadows of our ignorance; by His justice, with which He delivers us from the oppression of our enemies; by His sanctification, by which He renders as pleasing to His eternal father; by His redemption, by which He restores perfect liberty to us. Alternatively, these four great streams represent His infinite patience, which enables Him to wait so long for the sinner to repent; His incomparable mercy, which makes it possible for Him to welcome the penitent with such gentleness; His wondrous goodness, which makes him so generous towards though who are making progress in virtue; His limitless power, which is why those given to Him by His Father cannot be taken away from Him[5]. 

Finally, we can say that these four great streams are the wounds in His head, in His side, in His feet and in His hands, through and by means of which the ransom of our salvation has been paid: this ransom means 

    • that our judge has become our Father,

    • that He who was deeply wounded and offended by our sins has become a mediator,

    • that His rod of iron ready to break us all has become a sceptre of His clemency, and 

    • that the halter of condemnation around our necks has become a crown of triumph.

Footnotes

[1] Andr. Cretens., Orat. de Annuntiat.

[2] Serm. de Annuntiat.

[3] Paradise of pleasure is the Douay Rheims translation of the Vulgate’s paradisus voluptatis, for which the French commonly have Paradis de délices or jardin délicieux. [Fillion]

[4] But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption. I Cor. i. 30.

[5] That the word might be fulfilled which he said: Of them whom thou hast given me, I have not lost any one. John xviii. 9.

 7    The venerable Abbot of La Celle[1] says that by the rushing waters of this river must be understood the super-abundant grace of the Holy Virgin.

Note, he says, how it was necessary for this great river to be divided into four branches inasmuch as there is no creature other than the MOTHER OF GOD capable of taking in the extent of Holy Spirit’s grace and love. By virtue of being Mother of the principle and source of grace, she alone has received the special privilege of receiving the graces of the Holy Spirit in their fullness as well as the Divinity in its immensity.

Concerning these waters, the Abbot Rupert has written words of honeyed eloquence which give rise to a most sweet thought, for he says[2]:

Water is salty by nature and for this reason it returns to the sea as though back to the Matrix[3] from which it originated. Nevertheless, nature draws the water from the depths of the sea up to the sky as though to an earthly Paradise which serves as the world’s bosom, so to speak, where it is transformed into fresh water and becomes as nourishing milk, able to give life to the earth and sustain plants with its nourishment.

According to the learned Abbot, we cannot have a single drop of fresh water that has not passed through Paradise where its salty and bitter quality is changed into freshness and sweetness. Unless I am mistaken, there is no better image for making clear just how much we owe to the MOTHER OF GOD, who is the true Paradise of sweetness and, so to speak, the Church’s bosom from which we draw sweet nourishment. It is indeed true that we would all be languishing in bitterness, difficulties and sadness if we had not sought relief and consolation at her maternal breast where all our problems find relief and all the tribulations of our hearts melt away as soon as we make them known to her. In fact, we are so blessed in this respect that we only have to think of her to transform all the bitterness of this world into honeyed sweetness. From this, are we not to conclude that those who suffer in their lives from afflictions and tribulations will deserve it if they become still worse – simply because they are unwilling to share their troubles with Mary’s loving heart, where they would be immediately dissipated and transformed into sweetness?

Footnotes

[1] Petrus Cel., lib. de Panibus, c. 12.

[2] Lib. II in Genes., c. 24 et 29.

[3] Matrix, translating here the French word Matrice, meaning in both languages: I.1. the womb; I.2.a. A place or medium in which something is originated, produced, or developed; the environment in which a particular activity or process begins; a point of origin and growth. OED. 

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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 2025