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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020) |
How she is the honour of earth and of Heaven
§ 8. She is the City of God
1 She is the City of God: I say this following the opinion of several great Fathers of the Church, notably St John Damascene (along with the Patriarch Saint Germanus). He gave a sermon in the Church of the Holy Virgin which the Empress Pulcheria had built in the Square of the Metalworkers in Constantinople. It was on the day of the principal solemnity venerating the belt of the Holy Virgin[1] and he declared that the noble city David called the city of the Lord of hosts[2], was none other than the MOTHER OF GOD. Here are the actual words he used:
In my estimation, he said, I believe there is no doubt that the Prophet must be understood as referring to her who was chosen from all others and who surpassed them all not in the splendour of her household or the beauty of her palaces, but by the sublimity of her outstanding and divine virtues[3]; the words refer to her who goes before all others in purity, where the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords made His abode – namely, to Mary.
For my part, I have no more doubts about this than the great Saint. Now, it cannot be denied that in this particular context the literal sense means David was speaking of the Royal City of Jerusalem. I am, however, minded to follow step-by-step what the Prophet said and to show that the four principal attributes which he praises in the Queen of Cities are most perfectly suited to Mary who is the City of Kings and the City of the King of Kings.
Footnotes
[1] For a useful summary of this devotion, see The Holy Belt of the Virgin via the New Liturgical Movement website.
[2] Ps. XLVII. 9. The French text has here: la Cité du Seigneur des Vertus : the City of the Lord of Virtues, which reflects the Vulgate’s words: in civitate Domini virtutum. virtus in Latin can be read in the plural as referring to powers, armies or hosts as well as to virtues. See virtus in DMLBS for examples.
[3] See footnote 2.
The First Attribute : She is the City of the Great God
2 In his Psalm, David sings: Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the City of our God, in his holy mountain[1]. From this it would appear that the first honour that he attributes to Jerusalem is that she is to be considered the City of the great God. He is right since it follows from this that she is the Mother city of the universe, the Court of the chosen people, the abode of Princes, the focal point of the world, Heaven on earth, the Law of peace and war, the most beautiful of all that is beautiful, and as the Prophet Jeremiah says, the city of perfect beauty[2], the strongest of the strong and the honour of all Cities. As for me, I have nothing more to say here beyond what I proposed at the beginning of this Part, namely that the title City of God, which is the same figuratively as MOTHER OF GOD, is so high and sublime that it draws after it all the other great, privileges and qualities of the Virgin. There is no privilege nor quality whatsoever that is not due to her status of being Mother to such a Son, and the famous titles of Spouse, Mediatrix, Protectress, Governess, Queen and such like are not, truly understood, anything other than additions and necessary consequences of being the MOTHER OF GOD.
Footnotes
[1] Ps. XLVII. 2.
[2] Lament. ii. 15.
The Second Attribute : When the City's foundations were laid, all the earth rejoiced and gave thanks
3 In the second place, the Prophet says[1] that the day they started to lay the foundations of the City, at least of the fortress designed to defend it, became a day of public rejoicing, as evidenced by the thousands of signs of exultation by inhabitants all over the world. This may have been because Jerusalem was located in the geographical centre of all nations, as we learn from Ezechiel[2], as well as being called by the Prophet Jeremiah the mistress of the gentiles and the Princess of provinces[3]. Perhaps it was because the Jews, who all regarded the Royal city as the Capital of their state, were dispersed around most of the countries in the world. They had established lots of little colonies, as we learn from the second chapter of Acts and from the speech which, according to Philo[4], Agrippa made to the Emperor Caius, where he mentioned not only Egypt, Phoenicia and Syria (which were neighbouring countries of Judea) but also Pamphylia, Cilicia, and the greater part of the provinces in Asia; and in Europe, he mentioned Thessaly, Boeotia, Macedonia, Ætolia, Attica and the main parts of the Peloponnese, the islands of Cyprus and of Crete, and most of the more famous places in the known world. It seems that it was God’s will to give to all nations a secret feeling of the blessings that were to come to them from this City, namely the blessings of Faith and of belief in one God, ideas that were to be preached to them by inhabitants of Jerusalem. Although what we have here is a figure or symbol, we can have no reason to doubt that it was for the good of all the nations in the world that God laid within the Holy Virgin the foundations for so many great and excellent privileges and qualities when he predestined her to be His Mother. Accordingly, this blessed day would have been honoured on earth and in Heaven by thousands and thousands of acts of thanksgiving, rejoicing and happiness.
Footnotes
[1] With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded: Ps. XLVII. 3.
[2] This is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her: Ezech. v. 5.
[3] the mistress of the Gentiles...: the princes of provinces made tributary: Lam. i. 1. The princes of the provinces, through payment of tribute to Jerusalem, render the City their Princess.
[4] Lib. de Legatione ad Caium.
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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 2025
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