Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 6 : § 2.5-6

Chapter 6 :  The Fifth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Power of the MOTHER OF GOD

She is the Mother of the world to come and Redeemer of our race

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)

§ 2. The title Mother of the world to come and Co-redemptrix which was given to the Mother and Spouse of the the Saviour

 5   We have already heard[1] the words of the Blessed Cardinal Peter Damien who said:

Just as without God nothing was made, in the same way without her nothing was remade.

I cannot pass over in silence words of Richard of Saint Victor, which are rich in meaning:

The Holy Virgin, he says[2], was so outstanding in her virtues and her love was found to be so ardent that she did not confine herself to those of her own nation alone, but she included men in their universality; she prayed for all men and her prayer was granted for all, as may be seen in the very words of the Angel who said that she had found grace with God[3], in the way she had wanted. She had desired the salvation of all, she had sought this through her most earnest prayers and she obtained it. What more could you want? She brought it about : and this is why we call her the salvation of the world.

This idea may be found repeated by St Augustine[4], St Fulgentius[5], St Irenaeus, Saint Peter Chrysalogous, Sophronius and several others[6]. The holy writer Denis the Carthusian[7], following them, finds no difficulty in calling her the Salvatrix of the world.

Footnotes

[1] In the previous chapter.

[2] Cap. 26 in Cant.

[3] Luke I. 30.

[4] Serm. 17 de Nativit..

[5] Lib. de Laudibus Mariæ.

[6] V. apud Suarem, t. X in III p., disp. 19, sect. 4.

[7] Lib. II de Laudibus Virg., art. 9.

 6   Regarding this, it is firstly to be noted that even though the Saviour of our souls has no need whatsoever of any help or assistance in carrying out the work of our Redemption, as is solemnly observed by St Ambrose[1] following the Prophet David, this nevertheless does not prevent Him from honouring His most Holy Mother and His most beloved Spouse by associating her with this achievement. St Bernard[2] writes in a most apposite manner about this:

No one has any doubts that Jesus Christ is more than sufficient to bring about this result, since all our sufficiency comes from Him; it was, however, not expedient for us that He alone should set His hand to this task, but it was more fitting that each of the sexes should participate in our redemption, just as both contributed to our fall. 

In the second place, it should be noted that the favour communicated to the blessed Virgin took nothing away from the quality and role of Saviour which is uniquely proper to our Lord. Notwithstanding the privilege of participation that He granted to His Mother, this remains an inviolable truth as we see in the words of His Prophets Isaiah[3] and Hosea[4], namely: He is the unique Saviour, there is none other whatsoever apart from him, casting his eyes on all sides he found no one that could lend Him a hand: in short, He hath received no help or assistance other than from the strength of His own arm and His zeal. For it is true that as salvation belongs only to God in His quality as principal cause, so too it belongs only to Jesus Christ, God and man, to make satisfaction in strict justice and to merit grace and glory for man fallen from grace – I am talking about glory merited with condignity[5], as it is known in the traditional Scholastic terminology which is still in use. The Holy Virgin has no desire to arrogate this merit unto herself and I have no wish to argue this in her favour. All that I am seeking to do here is to show that her grace was so truly exceptional and her qualities and actions so far raised above the ordinary, that they caused God to take her into account in the peace treaty that He made with men. In consideration, He was moved by a certain sense of what was fitting, which we call congruity[6], to acknowledge them in His friendship. This is a privilege which just as it belongs to none other than to her, so to it cannot be denied to her exceptional merits.

Footnotes

[1] Epist. ad Eccles. Vercelens.

[2] Serm. in Signum magnum.

[3] A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me. Isai. xlv. 21.

[4] But I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt know no God but me, and there is no saviour beside me. Osee (Hosea). xiii. 4.

[5] condignity: condign merit (meritum de condigno) which supposes an equality between service and return; it is measured by commutative justice (justitia commutativa), and thus gives a real claim to a reward.

[6] congruity: congruous merit (meritum de congruo) which claims a reward only on the ground of equity. For more on condign and congruous merit, see The Nature of Merit (Catholic Encyclopedia).

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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