Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 6 : § 3.1-3

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)

§ 3. The first reason that the Holy Virgin has the right to be considered as the Redemptrix of men and the Mother of the world to come

The first reason: She gave us a Redeemer 

 1   Of all the reasons which merit for the Holy Virgin the title Co-Redemptrix of men and the power associated with it, the first and the simplest to understand is that she gave to them a Redeemer who would restore all things. Sophronius[1] says that:

we are all duty bound to honour her to whom we are indebted for our salvation because, in conceiving her Creator who came down from Heaven, she was the means of providing a Redeemer on earth.

From this flows the necessary consequence which was noticed by the blessed Prelate of Seleucia[2], namely that it is impossible for us to show our gratitude towards our Sovereign Benefactor without acknowledging through this very act our obligation to her from whom we received Him.

Consequently, Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea was moved to write[3]::

 

If the Son of God came down on earth to guide people back onto the strait and narrow path, to seek out those who had strayed, to give light to the blind, to raise the dead to life, to return slaves to their liberty, and to be all things for all men – then we must see that there is not one of these benefits which we do not owe to her who obtained them for us and through whose mediation we enjoy them.

 

Footnotes

[1] Epist. de Assumpt.

[2] S. Basil., Orat. de Annuntiat.

[3] Serm. 2 de Annuntiat.

 2   This is why St John Damascene[1] does not hesitate to call her the source of all the blessings poured down upon earth. This is what makes all the Holy Fathers praise her in a multitude of wondrous ways, making use of multiple titles to honour the sacred womb which carried our Deliverer. St Augustine[2] calls her:

The shop where the medicine of our salvation was confected in just such a way as to be suited to the strength and condition of those suffering from sickness.

Sophronius[3] calls her:

The garden enclosed[4], from which poured forth waters of the true fountain of life to irrigate the ground of the human heart which had been condemned to perpetual drought. 

St Germanus[5], Patriarch of Constantinople, recognised her

as the mystical Tabernacle and the Sacristy where the High Priest Jesus clothed Himself with the vestments of our humanity, before going to offer unto God His Father the sacrifice for the expiation of our sins.

St Basil of Sileucia says[6] that:

she is the office of the Privy Seal where the duty of bondage we had undertaken to the devil was nullified.

This thought is echoed by the Blessed Bishop Proclus at the Council of Ephesus[7]:

[She is the office] where the letters patent of our restoration were signed and sealed and where the Eternal Word, who previously had existed only in the mind of the Father, was written down on paper in characters represented by material elements. 

This is followed by the blessed Theodotus, Bishop of Ancyra in Galatia[8]. The Holy Archbishop of Toledo said[9] that:

She is the privy chamber where the Testament of God was written anew in favour of human nature.

St Ephrem holds that[10]:

She is the divine vellum on which the articles for the abolition of our crimes were written down. 

The blessed Proclus[11], quoted here again, declares that:

She is the royal chamber where reconciliation and agreement between God and man were brought into being.

In summary: these and all the other writers vie with each other as to who will say more and who will express more eloquently the feelings of gratitude that they have in their hearts.

Footnotes

[1] Orat. 1 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[2] Homil. 19 de Sanctis.

[3] Epist. de Assumpt.

[4] Cant. iv. 12.

[5] Orat. 1 de Nativit. Virg.

[6] Serm. de Annuntiat.

[7] Orat. de Nativit. Domini.

[8] T. VI Concilii Ephesini, c. 10.

[9] S. Ildefons., Serm. 1 de Assumpt.

[10] Serm. de Laud. Virg.

[11] Serm. de Nativit. B. Virg.

 3   It is for this reason that the same Holy Fathers offered a thousand blessings not only for those three days which saw 

• the nativity of the blessed Virgin,
• her Conception of the Word Incarnate, and 
• the arrival into the world of Her Son.

On this day, says St John Damascene[1] speaking of the first of these days, were renewed the covenants that had been made with men; on this day we saw prophecies fulfilled; on this day mysteries previously hidden were discovered and those that had been buried in the darkest shadows emerged into the light of day. 

On this day, continues the same Saint speaking of the second and third days[2], are to be found the beginning, the middle and the end; providing a firm assurance for all the benefits that we might ever hope for.

On this day, says St Epiphanius[3], the glorious Virgin provided a safe haven for those who were voyaging on the stormy seas of this world, unsure where to reach harbour or to land. 

On this day, says St Gregory of Neocaesarea[4], the world was bathed in celestial brightness and renewed. On this day, things hoped for which previously had been imperceptible or invisible began to come forth, revealing to mortals wonders surpassing the limits of created understanding. 

 

On this day, says the pious Archbishop of Gandia[5], Heaven gave us cause for public rejoicing so great as to wipe away all thoughts and memories of our past miseries. On this day, Almighty God fulfilled His plan for the creation of the world which the common enemy of mankind had tried to overthrow. Accordingly, reason would require that everyone should have a share in the joy of this day, since Heaven had been opened, the Earth had received the true Prince of the world, and Nazareth was changed into an earthly paradise when it provided an abode for Him who at the beginning of the world had created paradise; the Father of mercy was united to our human nature, giving His own Son as Spouse; and lest the trial of waiting be too much for us, He sent His messenger to bring the good news of the longed for salvation. We should study what the Angel said to her whom Heaven had chosen to be the Mediatrix of our salvation.

When reflecting on this, Saint Germanus of Constantinople calls out like a man transported with joy and astonishment, saying[6]:

Who would ever have believed, or who would ever have dared to hope, that by means of a woman God would have wished to do so much good for us that he was ready to go beyond all the laws of nature, to be taken with affection for a Virgin, and to unite His incomprehensible Majesty to a creature so vile and so low as man?

 

O peerless Virgin[7], it was through thee that the poor came to see and receive the treasures of Divine generosity. No sooner had they seen these than they solemnly proclaimed with the Prophet King that the earth was full of the mercies of the Lord[8]. Thou hast helped sinners to seek God, and thou hast enabled them to find salvation, forcing them to confess before earth and heaven that if the divine Word had not come to our help by taking pity on us and becoming incarnate in thy most sacred womb, it would have been all over for us as we were all ready on the very edge of the precipice and about to fall down into hell.

Footnotes

[1] Orat. 8 de Nativit. B. Virg.

[2] Orat. 1 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[3] Serm. de S. Deipara.

[4] Orat. 1 de Annuntiat.

[5] Orat. de Annuntiat.

[6] Orat. 1 de Nativit. B. Virg.

[7] Serm. de Assumpt.

[8] The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: Ps. CXVIII, 64.

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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