Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 4 : § 3.5-7

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

 5   Great God of Heaven! How could anyone explain the abundance of delights which continually flooded this holy heart? How could anyone describe the tender gestures of affection exchanged between Son and Mother? How would anyone convey what the most sacred Virgin experienced in Nazareth, in Bethlehem, in Egypt, in Jerusalem, during the childhood of her Son, during His adolescence and after Jesus attained manhood? There is no one whose mind would not find itself forced to acknowledge the greatness of these wonders, and even the least of these feelings would be enough to make anyone lose his desire for any other pleasure. Accordingly, most holy Lady, please allow me to address thee with the words of thy faithful servant, blessed Saint Ildephonsus[1] when he said that:

It was not without reason that thou didst receive in abundance the first fruits of the consolations that thy Son came to communicate to men; but we implore thee most humbly to remember to keep for thy poor children some of the leftovers from this foretaste of Heaven. Thou art seated at the table as Lady, Queen and Mother; we are at thy feet, like the little dogs in the Gospel[2]. Our eyes are on thy hands[3], whence we await nourishment for our soul. It is through thee that we have received the fruit of life from the table of the Holy Sacraments that we see daily; please grant that at the eternal wedding feast[4] we may enjoy this same fruit in a new way for the lasting glory of the elect.

Footnotes

[1] Loc. cit.

[2] Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. Matt. xv. 27.

[3] Cf. Ps. CXXII. 2.

[4] Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Apoc. xix. 9.

The graces received by the Holy Virgin when she was bringing up the Saviour

 6   If the infant Jesus was for His holy Mother a fountain of sweetness, we can truthfully say that He was also the source of a cascade of graces and favours. In his work entitled The Paedagogus[1] Clement of Alexandria states that:

the love mothers feel towards their babies increases in a remarkable manner whilst they are breast-feeding them.

This was indeed the case with the Holy Virgin but to a higher degree than all mothers in the world, forasmuch as the sweetness of this little lamb and the gestures of affection I mentioned earlier so increased the love she felt towards Him, and with this love the immensity of the merits she received, that even the Cherubim were astonished. The Venerable Bede[2] writes about this as follows:

She was indeed truly delighted to have been able to give this personal service to the Word Incarnate, but it cannot be denied that she was much happier still that she was able to discharge so many duties towards Him with a love which will be spoken of forever.

Is this not what the Spouse in the Canticles meant when He said to His chaste Spouse[3] that her breasts were like clusters of grapes?

The grapes of the Church, noted a learned commentator on this text[4], are the Holy Martyrs who shed their blood when they were forced, as it were, into the wine press of torment.

Now, there is no one unaware that the blood they shed in defence of the truth was of inestimable value in the eyes of God; nevertheless, any one who considers the Holy Virgin giving her milk to feed the divine Word will come to realise that what she was doing had no less merit than the suffering of the martyrs. The reason I say this is that the principal source of merit is grace and charity; in the heart of the most Holy Virgin, these could be found to an inestimable degree and in this respect she incomparably surpassed the Holy Martyrs.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. I, c. 3. & 5. 

[2] In c. 11 Lucæ. 

[3] Cant. vii. 7. See also: How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! thy breasts are more beautiful than wine: Cant. iv. 10. 

[4] Hailgrinus Cardinalis.

 7   The Blessed Archbishop of Toledo[1] touches on another matter which deserves careful consideration. Following St Augustine, he states that:

Whilst this Lady was breast-feeding her dear Son, her heart and mind were raised to the highest level, where she may be seen as filling the veins which one day were to be emptied for the salvation of the whole human race.

This means that from now on she was already participating in the work of redemption, that is, in an action of infinite merit.

Take heart, most holy Virgin, continues St Augustine. Give thy milk to Him who created thee, to the true bread from Heaven and the Redeemer of the world. Offer thy breast to Him who will one day offer His cheek to be struck for thee and for all men. Feed him who hath made thee what thou art, so as to receive from thee the service thou presently doth render unto Him.

St Paul[2] urges Christians to be generous in their alms-giving, giving according to their means to those who work for the spreading of the faith, forasmuch as in this way they may acquire the merits of the Holy Martyrs and the glorious Confessors, offering unto God living sacrifices which are to Him incomparably more pleasing than the sacrifices of dead bodies. This being the case, what are we to think about her who fed the Prince of martyrs and confessors and the very Principle of our reconciliation with God, and who fed Him with a love beyond the power of words to describe? We must conclude that through this means she has entered into a communion of blessings with Him and, as I shall explain later[3], she has participated in a manner most advantageous to the work of our redemption, which is the highest point of Merit that can be attained by a simple creature.

Footnotes

[1] S. Ildefonsus, Serm. de Assumpt.

[2] Hebrews: xiii.

[3] Ch. 6.

👑       👑       👑

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