Chapter 5 : The Fourth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Power of the MOTHER OF GOD
She was the Spouse and the Companion of the Saviour
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) |
§ 5. The Nuptial Rite and its Ceremonies
Epithalamium[1]
7 Amongst all the children of men, this divine Spouse stands out for His incomparable beauty. If we consider His divinity, the perfections are infinite; if we look upon His soul, we remember that the Cherubim are struck as it were with confusion when seeing how it is adorned with so many graces; and when it comes to His body, the Sun and the Moon seem to fade in comparison. The speech that comes from His lips is as sweet as honey, persuading those who have the joy of hearing Him to follow Him and give themselves to Him, unable to resist His words. We have evidence of this in the case of those disciples whom He chose to call in service and who immediately dropped any existing commitments and attachments they had. This is enough to make us realise that God gave Him an eternal blessing, in greater abundance than that given to all other men together.
Just as He is the most beautiful, so too He is the most valiant and there is no power whatever that He is not able to trample beneath His feet; He casts down His invisible foes and He cuts to pieces the powers of evil associated with sinful pleasures simply by virtue of His word, which is sharper than the most highly tempered and perfectly honed sword. Truth is indissolubly linked to all His promises. His gentleness, His meekness and the ready access which He gives to everyone, win for Him the unique love and support of His subjects, as well as filling His foes with dread. The invincible power of His arm brings all His undertakings to a happy conclusion. He has always loved justice and hated iniquity, but an innocent and holy life have been for Him most pleasing. He holds sin in horror and abomination, waging a war to the death against it. It was for this that God His father anointed and consecrated Him with the oil of gladness, infusing Him with a plenitude of graces more abundantly than all those who have partaken of this privilege of sacred unction, be they Priests or Kings, or any others whom He has allowed to share in His glory through the communication of grace. His divinity is clothed like a garment, so to speak, with His human nature which exudes a rich variety of divine fragrances, virtues, graces, teachings and miracles. These cause all the world to rejoice in seeing how a fruit so pleasing and precious should have emerged from the sacred womb of the most glorious Virgin, more pure, more chaste and freer from the stain of sin then the whitest and most highly polished ivory. Finally, for the greater splendour of His glory, he summons to His service a number of devout souls of Kings, Princess, daughters of Kings, Princesses from a variety of backgrounds, all sworn to offer honour to Him and praise Him unceasingly.
Footnotes
[1] epithalamium: A nuptial song or poem in praise of the bride and bridegroom, and praying for their prosperity. There are multiple references to the words of Psalm XLIV in these paragraphs.
8 Having sung in this way of the Spouse’s perfections, they now do the same for those of His Bride, pointing with good reason before all else to the honour she has received from entering into such a union, so elevated in comparison to her lowly origins and background. Her innocence, they add, her comportment and her humility have been such as to win the love of the Sovereign King and to render her a worthy Bride for such a great Prince; the more gestures and tokens of affection she receives from Him, then the more she for her part offers Him honour and homage. The glory and the Majesty she has received from her Spouse is such that the Princes and Kings of the earth consider themselves blessed to receive one favourable look from her, for they desire passionately to be in her entourage, or enrolled in the number of her courtiers and servants, so that in this way they might have a share in the good graces of her Spouse.
The adornments and splendours of this magnificent Bride, of this daughter of the Great King, do not consist only in what can be seen from without. Her most exceptional beauty is within, for her heart is resplendent with the gold of her ardent charity and altogether enriched with her holiness. Externally she is clad, so to speak, with cloth of gold embroidered in various colours, representing the richness of the graces and virtues that surround her, and the different dignities which she has received. Her retinue is composed of thousands and thousands of virgins who are vowed to perpetual chastity, who wear her habit and are ready to be presented to the Bridegroom so that they may have their abode in His Temple or royal palace with great joy and happiness. Finally, so that no joy may be wanting in this sacred marriage, instead of fathers, fine sons will be born to her, and she will make them Princes over all the earth, filling firstly the Church Militant here below, and then afterwards the Church Triumphant on high. All of them will remember and speak throughout all generations of the greatness and magnificence of the Spouse and His Bride, and all peoples will offer up their praise and thanksgiving for ever and ever.
9 While the winged Spirits are making the countryside echo with their sweet and heavenly utterances, the Spouse and His Bride exchange multiple words of praise with each other; but their manner of speaking is so strange and other-worldly that it is easy to recognize this must be the language of Paradise. Just as the Spouse has the advantage when it comes to His merits, so too does He seek to show primacy in the matter of courtesy, serenading His bride with a litany of praises. Here is an example[1]:
My dearest Spouse, thou art all fair and most pleasing. Thy eyes are doves’ eyes and bear faithful witness to the chastity and sweetness that dwell within thy soul. Thy holy affections are symbolised by the locks of thy hair, which resemble the beautiful fleeces of the goats that come down late from Mount Galaad. They are well-arranged and kept in order to the great satisfaction of thy Spouse, who takes delight in contemplating them. Thy teeth represent thy holy desires, which are so pure, so innocent and so fruitful in good works, that they make me think of ewes that have been freshly shorn and come up from the washing with their little lambs at their sides. Thy words might be likened unto soft crimson braids attached to thy lips – such is their grace when they emerge from thy mouth. Modesty and propriety may be seen on thy cheeks, like two halves of a pomegranate. Thine eminent virtue and its splendours stand out so that it can be seen from afar, just like the Tower of David built with bulwarks, without mentioning the arsenal of defensive weapons and materials within. The fruitfulness and the virginity which are found united in thee alone, are symbolised by thy two breasts which to me are like two young roes that feed among the lilies and the most pleasing flowers in the fields. In the end, what more couldst thou want me to say, since I proclaim that thou art all fair and perfectly to my taste, and that amongst the daughters of Jerusalem there is not one that cometh near to thee?
Footnotes
[1] See Canticle, especially Chap. iv.
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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 Virgin of Tenderness. >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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