Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 9 : § 5.4-5

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

 4   We have so many accounts throughout history concerning the miracles performed by virtue of praying the Rosary that I cannot hope to deal with them here. I will however mention two or three for the consolation of those who have a deep affection for this devotion.

The learned and pious Denys Ryckel relates how there was once a Cistercian monk who would not for the world ever miss saying his Rosary before meal-times. He received an invitation to eat with his family one day but remembered around dinner time that he had not yet paid his customary tribute to the glorious Virgin. Accordingly, he withdrew into a bedroom and had just begun his prayer when he saw before him the Queen of Angels clad in a rich mantle embroidered with gold and covered everywhere with Ave Marias – except for one small corner she showed him which was empty. She promised him that as soon as this space was filled she would give him entry into the Kingdom of her Son. The vision soon became reality, since he then increased still further the love with which he honoured the MOTHER OF GOD in this prayer and after only a few days she was true to her promise, leading him to that place where without any further interruption he would be able to bless her through all eternity.  

St Anthony of Portugal[1], a Franciscan Friar, was making his way one day to Vicenza and while he was in the middle of the countryside he noticed a great cloud approaching. Not knowing how he could stay dry in the pending rainstorm, he had recourse to his Rosary and placed it on his head in the form of a crown. It was then that the miracle happened : for although the rain continued to fall as he journeyed to Vicenza, at no time did a single drop fall upon him.

Blessed Cecilia Cesarini was a Dominican nun who was almost never seen without a Rosary in her hands. After her death, it was noticed how her fingers which had so often held the Rosary had retained the scent of roses[2]. 

Footnotes

[1] Chronic. Ord., p. III, c. 36, 37.

[2] Chronic. Ord.

 5   Here in the city of Avignon I used to know a lay brother in our Society who, in the three years that he was blind before his death, recited more than 32,000 rosaries or crowns, because he normally set himself to say at least 30 every day. Those who saw him will know that he could not have applied himself more diligently to this duty if he had been trying to win an entire kingdom. It was in fact quite remarkable to note the intentions his holy Mother suggested to him for his prayers. He would begin with the Church in general and from there would include His Holiness and the Prelates beneath him, proceeding then rank by rank through all the Orders of the Church. The zeal and the fruit of his devotions were extended to include those who work for the propagation of the faith, especially those working in the Lord’s Great Ethiopian vineyard – for which God had given him a special affection. Apart from this, since he considered himself as useless to the Society by reason of his visual handicap, he said Rosaries for the Society’s superiors who governed it, for those with various ministries (including that of caring for others) and not forgetting those whose duties included bringing relief to people in various houses. In this way he filled his day with prayers from dawn until the evening, and in fact he did much the same through the better part of the night. Whenever some sort of distraction or illness prevented him from performing his daily duty to the most sacred Virgin, he knew no rest until he had discharged it. It was also noted that the MOTHER OF GOD granted him so many graces from Heaven that he attracted men of the most spiritual inclination to come and learn from him. He mocked the efforts of the wicked spirits in the attacks they launched against him, enjoying such great serenity of conscience that nothing was capable of troubling it. His words were like fiery darts replete with the Spirit of God but characterised by a wondrous simplicity which made him beloved of all. He was particularly engaging, however, when he was led to speak of the perfections of the glorious Virgin and of ways to serve her. He would normally refer to her as his good Mother and it was impossible to hear him speak of her without being touched to the heart. In the end he departed this world in such interior peace and with such confidence in her that, in an illness so trying as the one which afflicted him, nothing could ever sadden him unless he were told in a jocular way that he was not going to die on that particular occasion.

© 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.