Chapter 6 : Mercy – a fifth 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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020) |
The Angelic Doctor[1] follows in the footsteps of the beloved Disciple[2] who teaches that he who shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him, is totally destitute of charity. St Thomas places Mercy among the ordinary effects or consequences of charity. This explains why I am placing Mercy here before other categories of gratitude which are due to the Holy Virgin.
Footnotes
[1] II-II, quæst. 30.
[2] He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him? 1 John iii. 17.
§ 1. Mercy is a form of gratitude most pleasing to the MOTHER OF GOD
Because she is the Mother of Mercy
1 If we could picture the Sun as having an idea of the actions that he illuminates here below and of the feelings within our hearts about this, I have no doubt that he would feel greatly obliged by the way we esteem the light of which he is the father and that he would be most satisfied with the good that he is communicating to men. Unless I am mistaken, this motif is used by the Holy Spirit when He calls upon us to cherish mercy, forasmuch as your heavenly father is full of mercy[1]. It is just as though He was saying that He derives great pleasure from the way we honour the mercy of His beloved daughter, one of the most beautiful qualities He possesses, and that He is pleased at the good He has done when He notices how we imitate her by doing good unto others. St Gregory of Nyssa[2] declares that:
when God urges us to esteem the quality of Mercy, He is doing nothing less than marking us with His seal and engraving a sign of His divinity upon us. In this, remarks St Gregory of Nazianzus, He is like the God of the needy who is relieving their indigence.
This is the first reason which persuades me that Mercy is one of the pleasing ways we can show our gratitude towards the MOTHER OF GOD. Whoever remembers that she is the Mother of Mercy and that this is one of the most honourable titles she has (one which she esteems most highly), will have no doubt that she cherishes this quality in a singular way amongst her children and that she derives great satisfaction when she sees how, for love of her, they try to acquire excellence in the practice of this virtue. Since even the smallest creatures take pleasure in seeing those who are like them, consider the divine perfection here which deserves to be followed and copied.
Footnotes
[1] Matt. v. 7 & 44-48; Luke vi. 36.
[2] Lib. de Beatitudinibus.
Because she is the Mother of God’s children
2 When I consider, however, that she is the Mother of a large family composed of infinite numbers of needy children, I feel convinced that she must experience in a very keen manner the mercy which is shown to them for her sake. She has little ones just like her Son and she wants to receive recognition from them; or, to put it more clearly, those whom the Saviour calls His least brethren are also those of His most holy Mother. For this reason, it is not only Him who says to us[1]: As long as you will do it to one of these my least brethren. I will consider it done to me – since the Holy Virgin speaks the same language. This is all the more so because she is not only Mother but also Mother of Mercy, and to her the obligation of providing for her little ones applies in a more immediate manner. This means that because she has taken this obligation upon herself for love of her Son, we can only imagine the wonderful sense of gratitude she feels towards those of her children through whom she is able to discharge her duty.
Footnotes
[1] Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Matt. xxv. 40.
Because through Mercy she advances us in the good graces of God
3 A third consideration comes from realising that by means of this Mercy she is able to advance us in the good graces of her Son, since it is something altogether wondrous in the heart of this Mother of Love. It is true that she asks us to show our thanks in what we do, but since she is incomparably more caring about our good than we are ourselves, she particularly esteems those things we offer which oblige her to procure still more graces and favours for us. Amongst these she has a special place in her heart for Mercy inasmuch as through a special privilege it is borne on high as soon as it is manifested and immediately receives its Heavenly reward. In vain shall we try to find an isolated location and pour forth our Mercy secretly into the heart of a poor man, for this will immediately be noticed by the Mother of the poor who wants to receive it in her own hands and present it to her Son before the needy person can even begin to benefit from it.
How I wish that those who are kind-hearted and sensitive to the pitiful plight of others could only see how highly Mercy is favoured in Heaven! If they could only see the affection with which the Holy Virgin receives it as though offered to her in person, the ardent love with which she offers it to her dear Son, the way the Saviour gazes upon it, and the value that it acquires through having passed through the hands of the Mother of Mercy! How people’s love for this holy virtue would grow and how they would multiply their own acts of Mercy! If one day a man noticed the Angels were keeping count of the steps he was taking in the service of God, and he then multiplied them as much as he could for the rest of his life, I firmly believe that the latter, seeing the satisfaction Heaven derives from such charity, would conclude that enough could never be done or done soon enough, and that sometimes people would leave themselves with nothing in order to meet the needs of the indigent.
Now the time has come to provide examples of Mercy in action.
© Peter Bloor 2025
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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.
The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.
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.
