Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 8 : § 3.7-15

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 

The Visitation

 7   According to St Antoninus[1], the feast of the Visitation was introduced  in the year 1385. It was instituted by Pope Urban VI and confirmed, or rather promulgated, by Boniface IX on the occasion of the schism which had rent the church since the death of Gregory XI until the installation of Martin V, as we learn from the Brief of Boniface IX. 

 

Footnotes

[1] IV p., tit. XV, c. 24, § 3.

Our Lady of the Snows 

 8   I spoke in Part I of this work[1] about the feast of Our Lady of the Snows when we were discussing the Church of the same name which is today known as St Mary Major. 

Footnotes

[1] Chap. 12, § 5.

The Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

 9   The Gallican Church commemorates the Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the 22nd of January following permission from Pope Paul III who approved the Office composed by Pierre Doré, of the Order of St Dominic, and gave authorization for it to be recited in the Church and for the feast to be observed.

St Mary and the Martyrs

 10   In Rome, the Feast of St Mary and the Martyrs is celebrated on the 13th of May[1] because it was on this day that the wretched band of false gods was vanquished from the city of Rome by Boniface IV when Phocas was Emperor. The Pantheon (or temple of all the gods), which is now called the Rotunda, was consecrated to the MOTHER OF GOD and all the Holy Martyrs. Later, Gregory IV caused the feast to be celebrated under the name of the MOTHER OF GOD and All Saints on the 1st of November.

Footnotes

[1] In Romano Martyrologio.

The Expectation of the Mother of God

 11   I spoke a little earlier about the feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is celebrated with devotion throughout Spain on the 18th of December and which some years ago was authorised by Pope Gregory XIII. It is also called the feast of Our Lady of O because that day sees the beginning of the antiphons so celebrated throughout the Church which all begin with O and which are sung for eight consecutive days before the feast of the Nativity of the Saviour.

Our Lady of the Guide

 12   In Constantinople a feast was observed with great solemnity on the 3rd day of Pentecost, that of Our Lady of the Guide (or the Conductress) in honour of the noble Church which was established by the Empress Pulcheria as we have already mentioned on several occasions previously[1].

Footnotes

[1] Part III, ch. 7 et Part IV, ch. 8.

Our Lady of the Angels

 13   On the 2nd of August, throughout the Order of St Francis they celebrate a feast with particular devotion called Our Lady of the Angels or the Portiuncula. This commemorates the exceptional favours that St Francis received from Heaven in that very Church and the indulgences that he obtained through the intercession of the most Holy Virgin for all those who would come to visit the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in the city of Assisi, as I mentioned in Part I[1].

Footnotes

[1] Chap. 12, § 5.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

  

 14   On the 16th of July, the Carmelite Order celebrates with equal devotion the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Our Lady of Victory; Our Lady of Sorrows; the Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary;

the Collection of all the Feasts of Our Lady. 

 15   On the 7th of October, the Universal Church offers thanksgiving to God for the wondrous victory gained against the Turk, as I have described elsewhere[1]. This feast is known by the name of Our Lady of Victory as may be seen in the Roman martyrology for this date. The 16th of April is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows whilst on the 5th of July the feast of the Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary is observed. The Collection of all the Feasts of Our Lady is celebrated on the first of September[2]. There are in fact other feasts but I am not going to include any more here.

Footnotes

[1] Part III, ch. 7.

[2] Usuard., Martyrolog.

© Peter Bloor 2026 

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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.