Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 13 : §2.30-31 > §3.1-3

Chapter 13 : The Twelfth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She safeguards her children at the hour of death and provides them with their passport to Heaven

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. How the Holy Virgin fortifies her children against their natural fear of death 

Fr Francisco Suarez, Fr Francis Coster and Fr Alphonsus Rodriguez

 30   I cannot pass over in silence the wonderful memory of Fathers Francisco Suarez, Francis Coster and Alphonsus Rodriguez – whom I earlier numbered amongst the most devoted servants of the Blessed Virgin that our little Society[1] had sent to Heaven. The Mother of fair Love did not fail to show them at the moment of death how pleasing their good and faithful services had been to her.  

In the case of Father Suarez, it is said that he surrendered his soul with such great and extraordinary feelings of tenderness and joy that he could not stop saying how he had never thought death would be so gentle and easy as he was finding it. This caused him to repeat frequently the words of the Royal Prophet : I am waiting for thee with a holy impatience, my Lord and my God. O God of virtues! How my soul fainteth from love of thy tabernacles[2], as well as similar yearnings which bore witness to the love of his languishing heart.

With regard to Father Coster, whilst the last Rites were being administered to him he was frequently heard to call out: 

“Oh joy! Oh rapture!”

After he had received the last Rites, he asked for the Psalm Qui habitat[3] to be read to him. This Psalm sets forth the wondrous signs of God’s adorable Providence towards those who know what it is to place their trust entirely in him. At the end of each verse, Fr Coster declared that what he had just heard had been fulfilled in him. When he heard the words at the beginning of the last verse : I will fill him with length of days, he said: 

“How true this is, for through God’s mercy I have lived for eighty-eight years free from illnesses and injuries.”

On hearing the closing words of the Psalm : I will shew him my salvation, he said: 

“This is what I am wanting, and what I await with trust and devotion.” 

When someone assured him that God would grant him this favour to crown all the others, Fr Coster was heard to say:

“In truth I have no doubts about that.”

With those words, this blessed servant of the Virgin surrendered his soul, comforted by these sweet thoughts and by the invisible caresses of the Mother of Goodness.

Alphonsus Rodriguez had suffered throughout his whole life from pain and suffering, especially in his last seven years. He finally received by way of a gift from his beloved Mothe three days of respite after such a long period of penance. During those three days, he experienced the rapture of a most sweet ecstasy which changed him so much that he became almost like an Angel in his beautiful appearance and demeanour. At the end of the three days, he opened for the last time those eyes of his which were now as clear and bright as two stars and, after placing a loving kiss upon the Crucifix, the only words he uttered were: “Ah! Jesus.” With that, he surrendered himself to Jesus and Mary (whom he was wont to call his dearest beloved), and his blessed soul was suffused with the sweet joys of Paradise.

 

Footnotes

[1] i.e., the Society of Jesus to which the author belonged.

[2] Cf. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!  My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God. Psal. XXV. 2-3

[3] Qui habitat : He that dwelleth. From verse 1 of Psalm XC: He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.

 31   By way of summing up, I will say once again (because it cannot be said too often), that here we see a favour which cannot be fully understood in this world :

    • to be able to accept with equanimity death and all that accompanies it when other people become distressed and troubled with worries and fears; 

    • to retain a cheerful disposition whilst they are trembling with dread;

    • to sing confidently whilst they rail against their fate, 

    • to have a light heart and a serene countenance whilst others experience fear and their faces are disfigured by terrible anxieties. 

Soon these blessed and beautiful souls will have other lights enabling them to see clearly the infinite obligations they have to the Queen of Heaven and they will have other feelings enabling them to express their gratitude to her throughout eternity.  

§ 3. How the Holy Virgin prepares her children for the surprise and uncertainty of death 

 1   Dying is inevitable and has a diamond-hard irrevocability. It is, if you like, the beginning of man’s happiness and his escape from the miseries of this life – but if only he knew the day of his departure, this knowledge could serve to give him time to take leave of all his other cares and concerns, so that having settled his accounts he could be ready for the moment when his last hour arrived. After all, how does God benefit in taking us by surprise, and coming as a thief in the night when we are least prepared? What advantage does He derive from our loss and from our misfortune in being caught unawares?

 2   This is how the short-sighted human mind reasons, without taking its thinking any further forward than that. God, however, whose infinite wisdom and adorable Providence opens up other perspectives for Him uses this uncertainty not to take us by surprise (for that would be repugnant to his unlimited goodness), but to keep us always within the limits of our duty and of the respect that we own to His Majesty. This restraint is altogether necessary for sinful souls who would never put an end to their wickedness if they knew the time limit of their life since the knowledge of their last hour would only produce in them an unbridled licence to indulge in every sort of sin with a vain hope of turning to God in conversion at the last moment. As for good souls, it is enough for them to know that their Father has ordained things in this way; they are always ready to depart this world when it pleases the will of their Father; they make their own the words spoken by the holy man Job[1]: Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee …  thou shalt reach out thy right hand like a good father and I shall fulfil my duty to follow thee like a most obedient son. Being submissive in this way to God’s will can only be wondrously pleasing to Him and highly beneficial to those who put it into practice.

Footnotes

[1] Job xiv. 15.

 3   Be that as it may, the Mother of fair love so disposes the hearts and minds of her children that they are never taken by surprise. Early on she imprints in their souls the fundamental maxim of this spiritual state : that never in their lives should they reach a point at which they would not be prepared to die. She provides them with a certain sensitivity of conscience which prevents them from being able to tolerate being in sin for very long. Since she has undertaken to guide them on the path to their end by means tailored to their nature and needs, the closer they draw unto her the more she multiplies her favours. She increases the interior light within them, arousing their fervour and giving them secret warnings about any changes they need to make within themselves. Concerning those who are hers through a special affection on her part and by a heartfelt love and total trust on theirs, I firmly believe there will be very few amongst them whom she does not warn before the time comes for them to depart this world, or at the very least to whom she does not grant suitable thoughts and feelings concerning their last moments on earth. You will find several examples in previous chapters where I have compiled the various favours and graces they received from her. I could add a great many more here but let us consider just a small selection for the consolation of faithful servants of this Princess so deserving of our love.

.👑   👑   👑

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