Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 9 : § 9.1-4

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)

§ 9. Ninth sign of devotion : getting to know Holy Church’s various prayers in honour of the glorious Virgin

 1   It is beautiful to see a branch of myrtle or orange carefully decorated with various flowers such as roses, wallflowers, amaranths, pansies and violets – in short, the pride of all the flower-beds in the garden arranged in a single bouquet to form a present worthy of a Princess. The mystical bouquet that I am going to present to the Queen of Heaven, however, is very different in that it is made up of several beautiful prayers which are like so many different flowers gathered from the borders and plots of the Church’s gardens. If you are curious enough to explore these, you will notice one bed containing most excellent Canticles and Hymns; further on, you will see another with truly beautiful Antiphons; crossing over to the other side, you will be dazzled by the Responsories on account of how pleasing and well chosen they are; further along, you will be captivated by the sight of several rare Collects; in the end, it will be your choice as to what to include in your own bouquet before leaving.

The Ave Maris Stella

 

 2   Amongst the hymns, it seems to me that the Ave Maris Stella has something particularly sweet and beautiful about it. In this connection we must remember that it was composed to honour the most wondrous of all the mysteries of the most sacred Virgin, namely her Annunciation. It is said by many learned authors[1], moreover, to have been written by one of her most devout servants, namely St Bernard. I think that one of the most convincing conjectures they have put forward is based on the following words that appear in the hymn : Monstra te esse Matrem (“Show thyself a Mother”). These words are said to be the ones St Bernard was uttering when the Virgin Mother deigned to sprinkle her own precious milk upon him. I have no reason to contradict this claim because I have found nothing that can in any way oppose it. In fact, I would say that these gentle words call to mind what we read in the history of Loreto concerning a certain young man who had signed a pact to give his body and soul to the devil but who repented and made a pilgrimage to Loreto. Whilst he was there, he was reciting the words of the hymn when the pact he had signed was miraculously returned to him, as being now null and void. 

To this miracle I shall add another which is considered to be among the foremost of those recorded in the history of Montserrat. 

The monks of the Monastery in this town noticed that the image of their Holy Virgin was becoming very faded and so they called upon the services of a famous painter called Andres to restore it. He had no sooner applied his brush to the painting than he was suddenly struck blind and he remained in this state for the space of three whole months until he was told that the illness had come from the same hand that would provide the remedy. Accordingly, he went to the monks who had been the occasion of his suffering through their request and asked them to intercede for him so that he might be released from his affliction. In response, they decided to recite the Ave Maris Stella in front of the Blessed Virgin’s image. The painter’s sight was restored just as they were singing the words Profer lumen cæcis, meaning “Grant sight to the blind.” 

Through these and other examples the Holy Virgin has given us proof of the pleasure she derives from this beautiful prayer. As a result, many have made it their custom to offer the hymn to her every day, something St Bridget never failed to do. In this she was imitated by St Catherine her daughter and by the pious Peter Olafsson, their Confessor. St Bridget actually received an instruction from the Queen of Heaven to assemble her whole family at a particular time in the day so they could all sing the hymn out loud, promising that in return for this she would for her part take most particular care of everyone in her household and would always protect them. 

  

Footnotes

[1] Arnoldus Wion, lib. V Ligni Vitæ.

Quem terra, pontus, æthera

 3   The Hymn Quem terra, pontus, æthera (“He whom earth, sea and sky”) which is sung during Matins in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin was composed by Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers who lived around 170[1].

Footnotes

[1] Evidently a misprint for 570 since the dates of Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus are given as c. 530 – c. 600/609 AD.

O gloriosa Domina

 4   The Hymn sung during Lauds, O Gloriosa Domina, comes from the pen of St Ambrose, as does the Memento salutis auctor sung during Prime, Terce, Sext, None and Compline. I have shown elsewhere[1] how St Anthony of Padua by means of the hymn O Gloriosa, put the devil to flight who was intending to strangle him and the help received by St Richard[2], Bishop of Chichester in England, by his frequent repetition at the hour of his death of the words Maria mater gratiae etc. These words also  brought about the salvation of a poor young man in the following circumstances: 

Having lost all he had in the world, the young man was led by a sorcerer into a forest and there he was put under great pressure by a demon to renounce the MOTHER OF GOD. He would probably have agreed to do this if she had not immediately come to his help and recalled to his mind this devout prayer which it was his custom to say every day. The demon was so enraged by seeing his prey had escaped his clutches that he vented his fury on the sorcerer, breaking his neck on the spot.

To these miracles I am going to add one more, no less remarkable than the previous, which is taken from the Annals of the Friars Minor. 

In the year of Our Lord 1222, the fifteenth after the foundation of the Order of the Seraphic St Francis, the Guardian of their convent at Alenquer in Portugal, wanted to know which was the holy Virgin’s favourite hymn. Accordingly, he ordered one of his novices (whose virtue was honoured and admired by all those in that house) to ask the Virgin herself in confidence, since he had a most special devotion to her. The Novice decided to comply with the order, judging that it was better simply to obey than to question his superior’s command. He therefore went and humbly prostrated himself before the image of the MOTHER OF GOD over the high altar in their Chapel. The Mother of love, more willing to be won over by the humble obedience of the Novice than to be offended by the Guardian’presumption, replied through the lips of the image, saying that it was the hymn we are considering : O Gloriosa Domina.

“Since it has pleased thee to grant me a favour which I would never have hoped for,” replied the Novice, “please allow me, O Mother of all goodness, to place at thy feet a fear which is troubling me : my Superior will say this reply comes from my imagination and is something I made up, meaning that he will place no faith whatsoever in what I tell him.”

“Very well,” replied the Virgin, “in order to help thee fulfil his request as well as for thine own satisfaction, I am happy to give him decisive proof. Go now to this stringent Guardian and tell him on my behalf that, if he wants to be assured of my word and of thine, he should present himself as soon as possible in this Chapel with all the Friars ; and then he will see My beloved Son, who up until present has always been on my left, is now seated on my right hand.”

No sooner had she uttered these words then she changed her Son’s position in full view of the Novice whose reaction was one of total astonishment at the wondrous gentleness and benignity of the Queen of Heaven. He went without delay to give her reply to his Guardian and assure him of the truth of all that had happened. 

Footnotes

[1] Part III, ch. 9, § 3.

[2] Part III, ch. 13, § 1.

© 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.