Chapter 3 : The Second Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD
She is a loving Mother for her children
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) |
§ 2. The Holy Virgin is the Mother of fair Love : the effects of this Love
1 We are speaking here of the effects of love because, of all the proofs that it can give of itself, there is nothing quite like a consideration of its effects, since love is like a blazing fire which cannot be hidden. Accordingly, try now to picture the best Mother in the world, or a woman whose heart is filled filled with the love and affection of all the Mothers in the world – and you would scarcely consider such a woman would deserve the name of Mother if you were to compare her with Mary, and if you were to consider the tender care and affection with which she discharged all her duties as Mother.
2 Starting at the point when Mothers begin to acquire their title, she conceives them when God gives them to her as a special gift. She receives them deep within her, compassing them with her special affection and her loving actions. She carries them within her womb and shapes them gradually as she forms Jesus Christ in them, in the words of the Great Apostle[1].
Do not be in a rush to leave your Mother’s womb too quickly, the great St Augustine once said about this[2]. You have indeed been conceived and by an unfathomable mystery you are carried within the womb of your holy Mother – but you are still merely creatures of flesh and blood. Wait until you have been fully formed if you do not want to risk being cast out, as in a miscarriage. Wait until you can emerge as fruit which has attained maturity.
If you have the patience to wait until you are whole and entire, then it will be well for you. If on the contrary you do violence to your Mother, then she will eject you but it will be you who suffers as a result and not her. Note that our dear Mother is not like the mother of the Machabees[3], saying that she does not know how we have been formed in her womb. Although this is the work of the hand of God Himself, we should not think that the Holy Mother did not have any involvement and did not have full knowledge of everything concerning the new fruits of salvation within her; for she nurtures their tender, growing affections so as to prepare them little by little to see the pleasing light of the day of virtue.
During this time, we have no other nourishment than that which we receive from her own substance. St Augustine[4] goes on to explain that this dear Mother gives her own heart to the little infant she is carrying because his own is not yet functioning in the same way.
Footnotes
[1] My little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you. Gal. iv. 19.
[2] In Epist. ad Galatas.
[3] She said to them: I know not how you were formed in my womb: for I neither gave you breath, nor soul, nor life, neither did I frame the limbs of every one of you. 2 Macc. vii. 22.
[4] Lib. de Peccat., Meritis et Remiss.
3 Secondly, she delivers us into the world which is the place of our pilgrimage and she reveals to us the first rays of heavenly light making known to us the end for which we are created. We receive milk from her, so to speak, when she pours knowledge into our hearts and infuses our first desires for virtue. If only any of us could remember the sweet thoughts and feelings that this peerless Mother planted in our hearts and minds when we were tiny children, before we had even attained the age of reason – we would have every reason for saying that we were obliged to her in ways beyond the power of speech to explain! Who could describe how in carrying us she adapted herself to our individual needs; how she placed in our souls the principles of virtue, adjusting them to our weak understanding; how she taught us to be very careful about the things we look at or listen to ; how her own words penetrated deep into our hearts; how she ensured we were diligently and carefully instructed; how she protected us in our tender years from false teachings, and from developing an appetite for any vices that might seem tempting to us ?
What incredible maternal tenderness we would discover, if only we had the knowledge of what was happening to us!
4 She carries us in her arms, cradling us in the shelter of her special protection. She caresses us when in the sweetness of her heart she invites us to do good things, increasing in our own hearts the confidence and trust that she wants us to have in her. She teaches us to walk when she guides us onto the virtuous path, introducing us to our first challenges. She tests our courage by putting us in the way of a particular temptation or of a dangerous encounter. With her unparalleled love, she procures all that is necessary for our spiritual advancement. Even though it was our loving Father who acquired all these blessings and favours for us, He has nevertheless given them into her hands. He accepts that all the graces and favours we receive should come to us through her hands, and this is an effect of His goodwill towards us. In short, for our sake she keeps safe the inheritance of Him who is our loving Father and hers too. She holds it in readiness during our minority until she hands over control of these goods to us. Why then should I not say of her what the great St Cyprian says about Holy Church[1]:
She is the only Mother of a great number of children whom she begets one after another through heavenly fruitfulness; we owe our birth to her; we are fed with her milk and animated by her spirit; she keeps us safe for that time when we shall be presented to God and makes us ready for the Royal crown that has been prepared for us; in short, anyone who does not acknowledge Mary for his Mother must not presume to call God his Father.
Who will now provide a filial heart to these blessed children of the MOTHER OF GOD, so as to feel as they should her maternal affection which is on fire for them? Who will bring clarity to their understanding so as to be able to judge the holiness of these effects? Who will give them spiritual eyes to see the beauty of this love? How the Lord is beautiful in all the feelings of His divine heart whatever the circumstances! How pure is this conception, how holy is this pregnancy, how chaste this delivery, how spiritual this food, how innocent these caresses, how celestial this education, how sublime the care being shown, how divine this inheritance – the joy of God Himself! Plunge deeply into these sweet thoughts, ye blessed babes and sucklings of the Virgin, whilst I take us on to consider the qualities of fair Love.
Footnotes
[1] Lib. de Unitate Ecclesiæ.
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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
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