Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 5 : § 4.12-16

Chapter 5 : The Fourth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

The Wondrous Care she takes of her children

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)

§ 4. The care taken by the Holy Virgin to provide a home for her children and to help them lead a life conducive to their salvation

Gonsalvo of Amarante

 12   Blessed Gonsalvo of Amarante in Portugal was another splendid adornment of Saint Dominic’s Order. 

Whilst deliberating on the direction his life should take, he turned for help to her who is the faithful guide of uncertain souls and she pointed him towards the sign of St Dominic. She told him he was to enter the Order where the divine Office opens and closes with the greeting that she received from the Angel Gabriel[1]. No sooner had he taken note that this holy custom was observed in the Order of Friars Preachers than he asked to join them. Once admitted, he lived a life in which his holiness was most highly regarded. During his lifetime and at his death, he was noteworthy for the sheer number of miracles performed. He was always devoted to the glorious Virgin in a most singular manner and during his last illness she came to see him and invite him to share the joys of eternal life in heaven. Accompanied by a host of countless blessed Spirits, she found him ready to leave earth for heaven and, once she had given the signal for his departure, she received the most holy soul of her beloved servant into her loving embrace.

  

Footnotes

[1] I part. Chronic. S. Dominici, lib. II, c. 60.

St Bonaventure

 13   The Seraphic Doctor, St Bonaventure, was one of the glories of the Franciscan Order. Anyone who considers the works that he left us in honour of the Holy Virgin, his heartfelt tenderness towards her, his love for her which revealed her great qualities that he published abroad in sermons and books, his zeal to make her known, loved and honoured by all – anyone, I say, aware of all this would sooner deny that snow is white than find any difficulty in believing that he was a fruit of the Blessed Virgin who helped to make him what he was.

St Bernardine

 14   I would not dare to say any less about the Blessed St Bernardine, known by all to have been one of the MOTHER OF GOD’s favourites and of whom I have already spoken previously in our discussion concerning the Virgin’s Favour. In view of the familiar terms he enjoyed with her, I would find it very difficult to believe that she would have entrusted any other person with the direction that the life of her dear little boy was to take. On the contrary, I am fairly certain that the Holy Virgin was that mysterious fountain which features in the wondrous vision he was given and which is described in his biography[1]. 

Whilst he was turning over in his mind various plans for a new life and subjecting his body to various penances, he finally fell asleep, after having rendered to God and to the Holy Virgin his customary tribute of the prayers he used to say every evening. During his sleep he seemed to be taken out of himself and was shown a beautiful and clear fountain, outside the city walls and not far from the Monastery of St Francis. Then he seemed to see a magnificent palace which had caught fire. The fire burned so fiercely and spread so quickly that it could not be extinguished. Flames could be seen coming from all the windows and there was nothing left of this wonderful building that was not on fire apart from one small chamber where a man could be seen. He was wearing the habit of St Francis and three times he came to the window in order to leap down, but he seemed to think this was too dangerous an undertaking and he held back, calling out each time he showed himself at the window: 

“Francis, Francis, Francis.”

From this, Bernardine understood clearly that the path Heaven was showing him to escape from the burning temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil was none other than the Seraphic Order of St Francis.

Footnotes

[1] Apud Surium, 2 Maii.

Blessed Juana de la Cruz

 15   Blessed Juana de la Cruz also belongs to the order of St Francis and I have spoken about her in a previous chapter[1].

This holy girl came into the world in the year 1481 following a request from the glorious Virgin who had asked her Son for someone who could restore the Monastery of la Cruz which is dedicated to her near the city of Cubas, in Spain. Accordingly, she was born as the Queen of Heaven’s own subject, in a place called Hazana, dependent on Our Lady of Toledo. From the cradle, she began to fast in imitation of Saint Nicholas and on one occasion, after she had abstained from milk for three whole days, it was thought she was going to die. Her mother, however, was a devout lady and had consecrated her baby to Our Lady of la Cruz. The little girl eventually recovered, to the great delight of everyone. When she was four years old she went into an ecstasy for a whole day and during this time she was led in the spirit to a place of perfect beauty where there were several ladies whose faces and robes were as bright as the rays of the sun. Amongst all these, however, she saw one who surpassed all the others by far in her beauty and she took her to be the Queen of this place. A large band of young children suddenly surrounded her and invited her to go and greet the Lady that she had seen, saying that this was the MOTHER OF GOD. She excused herself, however, for she did not know what to say to her and so they taught her the Ave Maria, which she recited on her knees before the Virgin. After this, her guardian Angel gave her lots of advice for the future and then guided her back to her grandmother’s house where she straight away regained her senses.  

As she grew older, her virtues surpassed her years. The penances she undertook, her interior recollection, her modesty and all her other virtues soon made it apparent that Heaven was taking particular care of her. She was taken to her uncle’s house while she was still young and there she received many great favours from the MOTHER OF GOD. One example is something which happened during the first days of a stay with her uncle. She went into a certain room and there she saw a beautiful fountain next to an image of Our Lady. Near this fountain were two Seraphim who were filling large jugs with water from the fountain which they then immediately poured out – but she could not see where it went. She experienced this same vision several times when she went into this room, something she did often, not only because of the wonder she seemed to be witnessing, but also because of the sweet welcome she received from these blessed Spirits. They looked at her with smiling faces and seemed to be rejoicing with her even though she did not yet understand the mystery of the fountain. This was revealed to her only after several years had gone by and she then learned that the water that the Seraphim were collecting signified Heavenly grace which they were then pouring continually into her soul. 

As she grew older, so too grew her heartfelt desire for the Religious life. She therefore prayed continually to the Queen of Heaven, asking her to show her the way to fulfil her desire. This is what the Holy Mother did when Juana was fourteen years old : she told her to dress in boys’ clothes so that no one could recognise her. God alone knows the care that the Mother of goodness took of her as she started her journey, feeling troubled and uneasy. After she had travelled only a short distance, she felt faint and collapsed to the ground, half dead. The Holy Virgin, however, strengthened her through her guardian Angel and gave her the fortitude to reach her journey’s end. There was a young gentleman who had been chosen to marry her and he had followed her on horseback as soon as he found out about her departure. The Holy Virgin, however, made him blind to her identity and he was unable to recognise her, even though he came close to her.  

When she finally arrived at the Monastery, she knelt down before the image of the Holy Virgin (which may still be seen to this day over the great gate of the Monastery). She implored her dear Mother to bring to fulfilment what she had started and her gentle Mother told her that she was most welcome and had been eagerly expected. God had sent her into the world to restore this House and she would become its Mother Superior, having charge of its affairs. This promise was so happily fulfilled that, when her father and family arrived along with the young gentleman to try and change her mind, the Holy Mother gave her heart a steely resolve enabling her to resist all their attempts at persuading her to go back with them, removing all the difficulties that the enemy sought to place in her path.  

I do not have the space here to go into the details of the rest of her story, such as the way the Holy Mother took care of her from the beginning and the marvellous progress this holy young woman made in virtue under the guidance of the Queen of Heaven.  Anyone interested can read about this in her biography.

Footnotes

[1] Ch. 4, § 4.

Blessed Albert

 16   As for Blessed Albert, glory of the Carmelite Order, I can say of him what we have already said concerning blessed Andrew (a brother in the same Order) who was mentioned in the previous chapter : that before he was even conceived, the Holy Virgin had numbered him amongst her children. His father and his mother had lived together for some twenty-six years without having a child and they swore a vow to Our Lady that, if she would give them a son, they would raise him with the aim of consecrating him to her in the Order of Carmel which is especially dedicated to her. Their request was granted and they had a son. They reared him in such a holy manner that he became one of the foremost servants of the Holy Virgin, performing several miracles in his life and after his death. He finally surrendered his soul into the hands of his beloved Mother on the 7th of August 1292, after twice invoking her aid immediately before he died[1].  

Footnotes

[1] Surius, in ejus vita, mense August.

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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