Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 8 : § 3.1-3

Chapter 8 : Honour – a seventh 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)

§ 3. Third sign of honour : celebrating her feasts religiously 

 1   The feasts and magnificence in the heavenly Jerusalem are so prodigious that they make themselves heard on earth, but our rejoicing and celebrations here below are only faint echoes and feeble imitations of their splendour. It is no wonder that, out of all the feasts we celebrate throughout the year, those of the Holy Virgin occupy the first rank after the celebrities of her Son, since in Heaven there is no honour comparable to that which is rendered to her. It is in fact the case that, without prejudice to what is done there, the Church Militant under the guidance of the Holy Spirit has always shown a special reverence towards certain mysteries concerning the MOTHER OF GOD and has celebrated certain of her feasts with greater pomp and magnificence than others. These include her Immaculate Conception, her Nativity , the Annunciation, her Purification and her Assumption. These feasts have been kept since ancient times by the Church as I am about to demonstrate - although in the case of her Immaculate Conception I would refer readers to the ample coverage we gave this earlier[1].

 

Footnotes

[1] Part III, ch. 8, § 1.

Her Nativity

 2   With regard to the feast of her Nativity, its celebration began amidst extraordinary joy immediately after the Council of Ephesus where the wretched Nestorius was condemned and the Holy Virgin’s glorious title of MOTHER OF GOD was staunchly defended. This would be just after the year 436, according to what the learned Baronius[1] has written and from what may be found in the writings of St Germanus (Patriarch of Constantinople), St Andrew of Jerusalem, St John Damascene, St Fulbert (Bishop of Chartres), blessed Peter Damian, St Bernard and many others, as well as in the book on the Virginity of Our Lady written by St Ildephonsus some one thousand years ago. Vincent, Bishop of Beauvais[2], recounts how the date of the 8th of September was revealed to a devout Religious who every year used to hear on this day Angels singing harmonious chants and who was in the end told by one of them that they were honouring with their sweet melodies the Nativity of their Queen, something which had hitherto been unknown to men. Several credible writers[3] have declared that Pope Innocent IV honoured this day with an Octave following a favour the Church received through the Queen of Heaven’s mediation. Here is how this came about : after the death of Celestine IV, the Emperor Frederick II disrupted the sacred Consistory with his factious machinations in such a way that twenty-one months passed by without the naming of a successor. Accordingly, the Cardinals made a sacred vow to God that they would introduce this Octave if through the intercession of His Holy Mother they could peacefully provide a visible head to His Church. As a result of this, Innocent IV was elected and he made sure that the Cardinals’ promise was honoured.

Footnotes

[1] Notis ad Romanum Martyrologium, 3 Decemb.

[2] Lib. VI Specul. exempl., c. 65, et lib. VII, c. 119.

[3] Palatina, in Innoc. IV ; Ciacconius, in eodem ; Durandus, lib. VII Divin. Offic., c. 29 ; Arnoldus Wionus, lib. V Ligni Vitæ, c. 20, etc.

The Annunciation

 3   The feast of the Annunciation was observed in the Church for a long time before that of the Nativity. St Augustine[1] records an ancient tradition that it was celebrated on the 25th of March, the date also held to be that of the Saviour’s death. Apart from the writings of St Augustine, St Ambrose, St Peter Chrysologus and others, we also have three excellent sermons by St Gregory Thaumaturgus who predates them by nearly two hundred years. This feast was in fact celebrated on the 18th of December in several Churches , as we learn from the Council of Laodicea and from the Second Council of Toledo presided over by Eugenius, uncle of Saint Ildephonsus. The reason given by these Councils was that at the end of March the Church is normally focused on commemorating the Passion of her dear Spouse. Despite this, St Ildephonsus himself restored the feast to its ancient date and on the 18th of December the Church began to celebrate the coming Nativity of the Saviour, as I shall explain a little later.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. IV de Trin., c. 5.

 

© 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.