Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 9 : § 5.1-3

Chapter 9 : Devotion – an eighth 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)

§ 5. Fifth sign of devotion : a growing desire for frequent recitation of the Rosary

 1   The name Rosary is given to a certain number of Angelic Salutations (the Ave Maria) and Lord’s Prayers (the Pater noster)  which form a chaplet of roses, as it were, woven together to crown the sacred head of the MOTHER OF GOD. This expression is not new because St Gregory of Nazianzus had already offered the Virgin Mother a crown of praises woven from flowers that he had gathered from the gardens of Heaven. It is also commonly known as the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin because it is composed of 150 Aves, just as the Psalter of David has 150 Psalms; but in order to make it easier for us to remember the mysteries of Our Lord and His Holy Mother, it has been divided into 15 decades comprising the Mysteries which are called Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious, interspersed with 15 Pater nosters which serve to separate each decade. In order to facilitate its recitation, it has been reduced into three parts which we refer to as Chaplets, each comprising 50 Ave Marias and 5 Pater nosters. Accordingly, anyone who recites all three Chaplets (which may not always be possible in one session) will have completed the entire Rosary.

 2   I must say that I find it ill-considered when critics reproach us for praying by number, granted that this manner of praying has been practised throughout history in the Church without ever incurring accusations of superstition. The number seven features in the way Eliseus brought the widow’s little boy back to life[1]; David praised God seven times a day[2]; the Saviour prayed three times in the garden; St Bartholomew knelt down to pray one hundred times each day, and so on with countless other examples we find in Scripture and in the sacred histories. 

Returning to the subject of the Rosary and the question of its origin, I confess I would find it difficult to say for certain that the three hundred prayers which the Abbot Paul recited (according to Palladius) and which he counted using little pebbles were Ave Marias. I would find it easier to say this of the prayer instituted by Peter the Hermit (with the approval of the Holy See) for use by Crusaders, to each of whom he gave a string of beads in the form of a chaplet or crown. What would persuade me that this was in order to say every day a certain number of Ave Marias would be what I have already mentioned on several occasions : that after God, the Crusaders placed all their hope in the Holy Virgin. Be that as it may, for the avoidance of any doubt about this I need to present the common belief which is founded on history and authorised by the Bulls published by various Popes, namely Pius V and Gregory XIII. This view is that St Dominic was the first who received from Heaven this new way of praying, at least when it comes to the number of 150 Ave Marias which make up the Rosary. The reason for its institution and the way it came about have been sufficiently covered in Part I of this work[3], to which I refer those readers who are interested. The miracles that God performed on the occasion of this new devotion were so striking and so numerous that no one could fail to be astonished. Various different authors have compiled lists of the main miracles which I leave readers to look up for themselves. 

Footnotes

[1] 4 Kings (2 Kings) iv. Cf. Elias in 3 Kings (1 Kings) xvii.

[2] Ps. CXVIII.

[3] Chap. 12, § 6.

 3    I am nevertheless aware that our discussion will bring to light upon some of the most noteworthy benefits which come from this prayer when it is recited with devotion. At the outset, perhaps I could quote in full what St Gregory of Nyssa[1] said concerning prayer, namely: 

upon prayer depends our physical health, the well-being of each of our households, the flourishing of our cities, the wealth of our kingdoms, happy outcomes to wars, the establishment of peace and the coming together of minds; it is the seal of virginity, maintaining fidelity in marriage, keeping travellers safe, watching over those who sleep and protecting those who are awake; it blesses the work of the labourer and brings a fair wind to mariners; it makes us like unto the Blessed Spirits, enables us to taste the fruits of our labours and to hope for their reward in the future.

I could also bring up everything that was said by Tertullian, St Cyprian, St Cyril, St John Chrysostom, St Jerome, St Augustine and by countless others concerning the benefits we derive from the Lord’s prayer; These were mentioned above along with things concerning the Ave Maria since these are the two most beautiful flowers woven into the chaplet.  

Blessed Alain de La Roche was a Dominican Friar and priest who in the year 1440, through an extraordinary privilege of grace and a special calling, was chosen by the MOTHER OF GOD to re-establish devotion to the Rosary, although it had in no ways diminished. To this end, the Holy Virgin showered him with a million favours and she went so far as to take him for her Spouse: in token of this she placed on his finger a ring made up of her own hair and a Rosary around his neck. On another occasion he received the taste in his mouth of milk from her chaste breasts. In short, it would be quite impossible to relate all her tender gestures towards him. It would also be very difficult to describe the the loving way he applied himself to restoring and revivifying the practice of this devout prayer, erecting confraternities and magnifying the honour of the Queen of Heaven. Whether seated or on his feet, whether working or at rest, coming or going, making ready to preach or to discuss, the Ave Maria was always on his lips.

In the book of the Virgin’s Psalter, he enables us to hear the beautiful splendours of the Rosary as though it were a mystical harp. He accords it the most excellent qualities of the musical instruments found in sacred scripture, saying that it puts the Devils to flight and leads in triumph the Saviour’s true Ark of humility like the harp of David; that it scatters God’s enemies like the timbrel of Mary, sister of Moses[2]; that it awakens the spirit of prophecy like the song of Eliseus[3]; that it honours the victories of the Saviour and His Holy Mother, like the lutes of the daughters of Israel; in short that it magnifies the Lord, exalting the wonders and great qualities of God, like the voice of Mary, Mother of Jesus, in the mountains of Judea. 

After this, he sets about describing some of the truly remarkable effects he had seen and in most of which he had been deemed worthy to play a part. He states that he knew people who were vain and proud totally changed by this holy devotion, women who had fallen by the way brought back to security, money-lenders and misers becoming generous-hearted and great alms-givers, men notorious for their cursing and blasphemies corrected, apostates from the Catholic religion brought back to the Faith, wicked firebrands who had given themselves over into the power of the enemy, after renouncing Baptism and Jesus Christ, transformed and becoming zealous preachers of the Gospel; desperate men overwhelmed by the enormity of their crimes touched to their hearts and brought back onto the righteous path.

  

He states that he has seen barren lands become fertile, and places where nobody could live because of the bad air rendered inhabitable once more as soon as those living there began to pray devoutly the Rosary of the most sacred Virgin. He declares that he has seen men and women troubled by various apparitions ghosts and spectres regain their peace of mind; and last but not least, the dead brought to life all by virtue of this omnipotent prayer, for that is what I can call it.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. de Orat.

[2] Exod. xv. 20.

[3] 4 Kings (2 Kings) iii. 15.

© 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.