Chapter 13 The Twelfth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Power of the MOTHER OF GOD
She is the Worker of great miracles
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) |
§ 1. Omnipotent: the eighth title of the King of glory Incarnate
The first reason for the Saviour’s Omnipotence
3 The first is union with the Divinity, because as Euthymius says:
If iron which is placed for a time in a fire can draw from it qualities proper to the fire, can we be any doubt that flesh which is inseparably united with Divinity does not draw from it the power of working miracles proper to Divinity itself?
The Holy Council of Ephesus[1] confirms this, as does the Blessed Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the Epistle[2] which was included in the documents of the sixth Synod. St Ambrose[3], Eusebius[4] and Theodoret[5] base themselves upon this when they call the Saviour the organ and the instrument of the divinity and the arm of the Lord, which is frequently exalted by the Prophet Isaiah[6]. St John Damascene[7] explains the theandric[8] or divinely human operations of which St Denys[9] speaks, when he says that:
These are principally the miraculous things which the sacred Humanity does as instrument of the Divinity.
St Cyril remarks[10] that:
The Saviour, in the miracles of healing that he performed, sometimes laid hands upon the persons to be healed, to let it be known that this miraculous power resided in His flesh.
Does it not seem, moreover, that this is what He wanted to show in the healing of the woman who suffered from an issue of blood, when he spoke in the following manner: I know that virtue is gone out from me[11]. Was it not to make us understand that His sacred body, which was clad in the garment touched by the sick woman, was full of miraculous and almighty virtues, and to make us realise that His sacred Humanity had received by way of a property or appanage[12] such an inherent and habitual power habitually to work all manner of miracles?
Footnotes
[1] Cant. 11.
[2] Act. 11.
[3] Serm. 90 et 91.
[4] Lib. IV de Demonst. Ev., c. 13.
[5] Dial. immutabilis.
[6] Isai. li, lii & liii.
[7] Lib. III de Fidc, c. 19.
[8] Of or pertaining to both God and man; partaking of both the human and the divine.
[9] Ep. 9 ad Cas.
[10] Lib. II in Joann., c. 5, et lib. IV, c. 14.
[11] Luke viii. 43-48.
[12] appanage: A specially appointed, and hence, a natural or necessary, adjunct, accompaniment, endowment, or attribute.
The second reason
4 The second reason is rooted in the dignity of the King and sovereign Lord of the universe, a dignity which is proper to Him even as man. Firstly, because this man is the Son of God, and as a consequence is His legitimate heir and the Lord of all that belongs to Him, and next because all things are for Him, whether we say that He was the first in the decree of creation, or we follow what was concluded in Part I of this work[1], namely that He was made man on the occasion of man’s sin. Thirdly, this dignity is proper to Him by natural right according to which that which is nobler and higher has power and lordship over that which is lower. Fourthly, this dignity belongs to Him by acquired right as He made known to His Apostles when He told them[2] : All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Forasmuch as I have already covered the subject of Kingship in the previous chapter, I shall say no more than that His is quite different from that of temporal Kings and Lords who only had Power over the exterior of their subjects. The power of the King of glory, however, includes the depths and the effects of nature in such a way that He can stop them, change them, or alter them as it pleases Him, and make use of them to work all sorts of miracles, as He does every day, and as He will most notably in the final destruction of the world of elements in which we live and move and have our being.
Footnotes
[1] Part I, chap. 2, § 1.
[2] Matt. xxviii. 18.
The third reason
5 The third reason comes from his title as Saviour of men. When His Father gave Him responsibility for leading them in an effective manner to their last end, which is their eternal salvation, at the same time He granted Him power over all that could help them and all that could cause them to deviate from the right path. All that happens not only in heaven but also amidst the elements and in the whole physical world, indeed in the intellectual world of the Angels as well, serves this end; following the saying of the Apostle[1], which declares that all things are for the sake of the elect, and then again for all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s[2], we must understand that full powers have been granted to Him over all nature, both physical and spiritual, to dispose of them as He judges best for the salvation of His own and for the glory of His Father, and that all the miracles performed for this are works of His hand, which preach the name Wonderful that the Prophet Isaiah[3] gave to Him : Wonderful not only because of the divine perfections He has in Himself, but also on account of the working of miracles that He produces outside of Himself. Add to all this the miracles of grace in the justification of sinners, and in the perfection and glorification of the Saints, each of which could with good reason be called a masterpiece of His power and without doubt proportionately more wonderful inasmuch as grace and glory surpass nature.
Footnotes
[1] Part I, chap. 2, § 1.
[2] Act. 11.
[3] For all things are for your sakes; that the grace abounding through many, may abound in thanksgiving unto the glory of God. II Cor. iv. 15.
[4] I Cor. 3, 23.
[5] Isaiah ix. 6.
6 If you pause and reflect for a moment on the three reasons for His title of omnipotence that we have been discussing, you will be forced to agree that He has every reason to be called the Grand Master[1], not only in nature, but also in grace and glory, seeing that He is constituted the head of all things within these three orders. God subjected all to his power, says St Paul[2], following the Prophet David[3]; now, He who uses the word all (as the Apostle does here) may be understood as allowing for no exceptions, saving only the One who subjected all to Him.
That is enough about the King of glory and now let us come to the Queen.
Footnotes
[1] The head of a chivalric order; note the reference to the three orders (of nature, grace and glory).
[2] Hebr. i. passim..
[3] Thou hast subjected all things under his feet. Ps. viii. 8.
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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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