Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 3 : § 1.20-24

Chapter 3 : Trust in the Mother of God – a second feature of the gratitude we owe

[Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr François Poiré’s Triple Crown of the Holy Mother of God (1643 French edition).]

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020)

§ 1. The first sign of trust : not undertaking anything except with the Holy Mother’s help and guidance

 20   Next comes a third Cardinal who could have served as Patron for the two others was a luminary for the whole Church. I am referring to blessed St Bonaventure. 

According to Pierre Galois, a Prothonotary Apostolic who wrote an account of the Saint’s life, he had no sooner been created Minister General of the Franciscan Order (a title he was to hold for eighteen years), than he immediately had recourse to the Mother of fair love, to whom he had been most devoted from an early age. He chose her as his source of strength and his most faithful guide. In fact, whenever he encountered any problem during his tenure he immediately went to her as though to his sure place of refuge.

Whilst he held the office of Minister General, he did everything he could to ensure the Holy Mother was honoured by everyone. He gave explicit instructions to the Preachers in his Order that they should in their sermons exhort the people to develop a particular devotion to her and to recite three Aves when they heard the sound of the bell after Compline. Apart from this, he ordered that between Christmas and the Epiphany the hymns sung in the divine Office should be concluded with these words : Gloria tibi, Domine, qui natus es de Virgine[1], a custom since observed by the Church Universal. In Rome he instituted the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone[2] whose members were required to recite certain prayers by way of invoking and honouring the most sacred Virgin.

The Holy Mother for her part worked miracles to help him, magnifying him before God and before men. The result was that since St Francis there had never been a Minister General who had done more for the advancement of this Holy Order than he did. He re-established discipline under the rules which had somewhat fallen away; he published new Constitutions and he wrote letters to everyone in the Order so that all might contribute in restoring its initial splendour; he established rules for the Provinces and Custodies, (as the Franciscan subdivisions are called); he served as father and mother for all his dear children, showing gentleness in strictness and tempering his severity (which occasionally he needed to demonstrate) with a warm-heartedness that all were able to recognise in him. 

The reputation for wisdom and holiness he acquired proved of general benefit to the Church as may be seen in what happened after the death of Pope Clement IV. The Holy See had remained vacant for around three years because the seventeen Cardinals who had gathered in Viterbo to elect a new Pope were unable to reach agreement. Finally, they unanimously agreed to give their votes to St Bonaventure so that he might name the candidate whom he judged under God most capable of being raised to the Papal throne, with the rider that were he to choose himself then he would be accepted and recognised as Pope. The Saint, however, was far too humble to entertain such a thought and he nominated Teobaldo Visconti, Archdeacon of Liège, a man highly reputed for his great piety who was at the time with the Crusades in the Holy Land. On his elevation to the Holy See, he took the name of Gregory X and during his time as Pope he justified St Bonaventure’s judgement to such an extent that he was later canonised in the church at Arezzo in Tuscany where his sacred relics are preserved. 

We can see in this the fruits of the  Holy Mother’s Heavenly Queenship and the trust her devoted servants have in her. I should perhaps add that this same Gregory, having convoked a general Council in Lyon, ordered Saint Bonaventure to attend for he wished to make use of his services. In order that Bonaventure might do this with greater authority, he granted him the Cardinal’s hat and the Bishopric of Albano, which meant he became one of the six suffragans of the Bishop of Rome. On this august stage the humble St Bonaventure set about the tasks which were entrusted to him, not only in the dispute with the Greeks who finally submitted themselves in obedience to the Vicar of Christ for the sake of unity in the Church, but also in other questions which were discussed and defined by the Council. It was there when, borne down more by the weight of his merits than his years, God summoned him to the joys of the blessed life, prompting as much sadness and regret within the Church Militant as happiness and joy within the Church Triumphant. 

Footnotes

[1] Glory be to thee O Lord who wast born of a Virgin.

[2] Gonfalone / gonfalon / gonfanon : “battle standard” : a banner or ensign, frequently composed of or ending in several tails or streamers.

 21   Blessed Jordan, Master General of the Order of Saint Dominic, honoured the Queen of Heaven and the Protectress of his Order to such an extent that he would never begin any undertaking without having first entrusted it to her[1]. 

Whilst on his journeys, he spent much of his time in colloquies with her, in addition to singing hymns and canticles in her honour. He did this with such deep devotion that frequently the tears he shed outnumbered the words he uttered. 

Footnotes

[1] Lander Albertus, in ejus Vita.

 22   To these great Heads of Orders I think I can safely add the name of Father Claudio Acquaviva, Superior General of the Society of Jesus. 

He had been selected for this responsibility and presented to Our Lord by His most glorious Mother, as I have mentioned elsewhere. Throughout the whole time he held this office he carried out his duties towards her most faithfully. He did everything he could to make her especially honoured in the Order that he governed, addressing a letter to everyone in the Society on this very matter. As far as he was concerned, he would never expect a happy outcome to anything unless he had first placed it in her hands. In this way he obtained from her the grace to resolve countless problems and difficulties in the thirty-four years that he held the office of Superior General; to spread the Society everywhere; to provide it with regulation and wise rulings and to give it the form it was later to adopt. To sum up: with the Holy Mother’s help he won the love and respect of each and every member.  

 23   The exceptional trust and confidence of the holy Mother Teresa of Jesus may deservedly be added to the previous examples, meriting imitation by all those placed in positions of authority over others by God.

It is reported in her biography that as soon as she arrived in the Monastery of the Incarnation in Ávila[1] to take up her position as Prioress, the first thing that she did was to place an image of Our Lady over the prioral chair in the Choir. She then presented the keys of the Convent to the Holy Mother, making it known to those under her charge that she herself was nothing and that the most sacred Virgin, to whom their Order was particularly dedicated, was the true Prioress who was to govern them. Only a few days passed before Our Lady revealed to her how pleased she had been by this action, as Mother Teresa was herself later to record. On the eve of St Sebastian’s Feast day, just as the nuns were beginning to sing the Salve Regina in Choir, she saw the MOTHER OF GOD  accompanied by a great host of Angels coming down to the chair where the image had been placed. Once the Antiphon had concluded, the Holy Virgin said to her : 

“Thou hast done well to place me here for I shall be present to hear the praises which will be sung to my Son and I shall make sure they are presented to him.”   

Footnotes

[1] Francis. Ribera, Vitæ ipsius, lib. III, c. 1.

 24   Without providing more examples, I can sum things up by saying that as a general rule it has always been the practice of the best servants of the Virgin (and continues to be so now more than ever), that no undertaking should be started without first having sought advice from her and without asking for her holy blessing. This is a practice most worthy of being imitated by all those who make a profession of wanting to serve her – not only because of the great benefits they will continually receive, but also because of the happiness and glory they will give to her whom they cannot do too much to honour. 

© Peter Bloor 2025

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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.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.