Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 4 : § 1.14-16

Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God

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)

§ 1. The first sign of love: offering oneself to the Holy Virgin through a solemn and irrevocable act of consecration

 14   Here I will cry out in one mind with the Prophet Jeremiah: It is good for a man when from his youth he hath borne the yoke[1] of the MOTHER OF GOD! How blessed is such a one in the happiness he enjoys! With what satisfaction he will withdraw into himself and then raise himself up so as to thank God a hundred times every day for His prevenient blessings and to consecrate every moment of his life to pleasing the Queen of Angels! How highly will he esteem a favour so exceptional and so worthy and so precious as this! How proud he will be to claim this privilege and how he will make use of it to progress still further in the good graces of the Princess of Heaven, to whom he has consecrated his life and service!   

Footnotes

[1] Lam. iii. 27.

 15   There are always certain beautiful souls for whom Heaven has reserved special affection and one of the greatest advantages they might have for making great progress in the favour they receive is to have been presented by the hands of a good person. This was the happiness experienced by St Mechtilde[1] for she received the grace from our Lord Jesus Christ of being presented personally by Him to His Mother.

One day the Saint was reading the passage from the Gospel where the Saviour says to his most holy Mother, speaking of St John: Woman, behold thy son. Mechtilde felt inspired to ask her Spouse if He would offer her to His holy Mother, saying the words: My Mother, behold thy daughter. At that same moment she heard him speaking as follows:

“My dearest Mother, I commend this spouse of mine to thee and charge thee to take exactly the same care of her as you would of me if you were to see me in front of thee covered with wounds and gashes. I invite thee to remember the importance I attached to her when the love I bore for her made me shed all my blood for her salvation. Accordingly, I commend her to thee as my heart’s beloved.”

Could the human mind have ever conceived a recommendation more effective than this or indeed a greater happiness? Although this may indeed be one of the rarest favours that can be hoped for here below, it should not be thought beyond our ability to attain provided we demonstrate the love and devotion of the great Saints.

In fact St Mechtilde gained new confidence from this blessing that she had received and she made so bold as to ask whether He was prepared to grant the same grace to others who might ask for it.  To this the Saviour replied by gently nodding his head and making it clear that when it comes to the sharing of His graces there is no respect of persons.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. V Vitæ ipsius, c. 20.

 16   Come forward, ye beautiful souls, to Jesus; let us come to Jesus if we wish to be received favourably by his Mother. For just as I have shown in Part III of this work that the Mother’s task is to lead souls to her Son, in the same way it may be taken as certain that one of the most agreeable offices the Son discharges in Heaven is to draw souls to a love and devotion for his Mother and to recommend them to her with the warmest feelings in His heart.  

© 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.