Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 4 : § 3.3-4

Chapter 4 : The Third Star or Splendour of the Crown of Power of the MOTHER OF GOD

She was the one who nourished and brought up the divine Word

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)

§ 3. The sweetness, the graces and the honour that the Holy Virgin received for all the things she did caring for little Jesus

 3   It is not possible for us – but I should restrict this to us– it is not possible for even all the created spirits to form an adequate conception of this virginal rapport, or better said, the sweetness of this divine colloquy.

What taste could there be of celestial Wisdom which was not savoured by her who actually possessed its treasure? asks St Anselm[1]. Picture her seated at the feet of her beloved Son, just like another Mary Magdalene, but see how she deals with Him face to face, for she is His Mother; and observe how her heart burns night and day like a divine censer, with memories of the sacred words that she has heard coming from her Son. Never will anyone taste the sweetness of God in the way that she did who was there next to the gushing source, and who had charge over this fountain of pure delight. 

St Epiphanius[2] does not hesitate in saying that the Holy Angels never heard such delightful utterances as she did; neither were they worthy to share the private conversations enjoyed by the Holy Virgin with her Son.

These noble spirits, he says, do not even permit themselves to look upon the adorable face of the Saviour, and yet the Virgin Mother gazes upon Him, embraces and caresses Him whenever she wants. The Spirits lower their wings and do not draw near, but the Mother kisses Him, carries Him, cradles Him on her breast, and holds Him tightly in her arms for as long as she wants.

Do not be astonished at this, says the Abbot Guerric[3], and what could be more reasonable than this privilege which she enjoys before all others? Right is on her side, requiring that she be allowed to reap the fullness of the blessings which she has sown; and since she has borne within her a blessing of all the nations of the world, is it not fitting that she should see the fruits before anyone else, and more abundantly? There would be something unjust in denying her the sweet enjoyment of the fruit of her womb, says the Holy Spirit, and accordingly may she be flooded with the sweet consolations that are spread within souls by Him whom she conceived and bore for us.

Footnotes

[1] Serm. de Assumpt.

[2] Serm. de S. Deipara.

[3] Serm. 6 de Assumpt.

 4   In the writings of the pious Abbot Rupert[1] there is support for this idea:

When the Blessed spirits when they have been contemplating Him, they desire more; but the Holy Virgin did not possess Him in the ordinary way, for she drew Him from her own womb, she carried Him in her arms, she suckled Him at her breast and could contemplate Him at her leisure. How many nights, she says, have I spent close to Him without going to sleep, looking at Him and adoring Him, being unable to see Him too much; how much time have I spent around Him, when He was already growing bigger, listening to His holy speech and drawing profit from what I heard; how many times has he made me see through the eyes of His holy humanity, as in sparkling crystals, the bright light of His divinity, which He adapted for me so that my eyes were not dazzled thereby!

In another place[1], this holy Abbot makes use of a comparison some might consider fairly basic in order to give us some idea of the sweet feelings which filled the heart of the most sacred Virgin. He says that he knew someone, (I personally have no doubt that he was referring to himself),who after he had gone to bed suddenly felt a hand touching his chest and he was allowed to hold it for a little while. He explains that his heart was filled with a balm of such sweet fragrance and set on fire with such an ardour of devotion that it seemed to him that he was experiencing Paradise. This is the irresistible argument, it seems to me, which has on many occasions convinced me that there was never any feeling of joy and consolation comparable to what the Blessed Virgin experienced. For if, as I might say, simply picturing in the imagination some mystery of our salvation, and a body formed from the air, in which the Saviour occasionally made an appearance, sometimes in the form of a little child, sometimes fully grown, at other times on the cross or in other ways – if all this could have had so much power as to transport out of themselves saints such as Francis, Bernardine, Antony of Padua, Catherine of Alexandria, Catherine of Sienna, Catherine of Genoa, Catherine of Bologna and countless other Saints; if this could set them ablaze with an interior fire that consumed them alive, making them melt like wax under the rays of the sun, causing them to call out that they could not take any more and that they could no longer bear this celestial ardour – what must we then believe of her who was able to experience these feelings whenever and for however long she wanted, not based upon an imaginary vision but upon the real presence of her holy Spouse; of her who had continually before her eyes Him to whom she had given being, over whom the Eternal Father had granted her a power both maternal and paternal at the same time, and who loved her with an infinite love both as God and as man, a love which was incomprehensible to any other person? Was this not enough to lead to swoons of joy, just hearing Him call her Mother once and her calling him Son? Just a single embrace, a single kiss,  a single glance – would this not be enough to flood her soul with all the sweet fragrances of paradise?

Footnotes

[1] Lib. II in Cantica.

[2] Lib. V in Cantica.

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The Virgin of Tenderness. >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