Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 9 : § 9.18-19 > § 10.1-4

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

O Intemerata ; Obsecro te ; O Domina mea ; Sancta Maria ; O Maria Dei Genitrix Virgo

 18   Among the most well known and the best received prayers which the Church uses to honour the Holy Virgin are the following four: O Intemerata, which St Edmund used to recite every day (as we mentioned elsewhere[1]), and by means of which a certain man was delivered from the wickedness and snares of the enemy, as reported by the Bishop of Beauvais[2]; Obsecro te, and O Domina mea Sancta Maria; and the fourth, O Maria Dei Genitrix Virgo. Countless persons may be found offering these prayers each day to the Queen of Heaven, to the great benefit of their souls. 

The glorious Virgin taught the following two prayers to St Bridget which deserve to become more widely known. I should like to include them here because they are beautiful, concise and out of the ordinary. Here is the first one: 

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui pro nobis de castissima Virgine nasci dignatus es, fac nos quæsumus tibi casto corpore servire, et humili mente placere.

Almighty and everlasting God, who for us didst deign to be born of a most chaste Virgin, grant us, we beseech Thee, to serve Thee with a chaste heart and to please Thee with a humble mind.

The second one is conceived in the following terms :

Oramus te, piissima Virgo Maria, mundi Regina et Angelorum, ut eis quos Purgatorius examinat ignis, impetres refrigerium, peccatoribus indulgentiam, justis in bono perseverentiam ; nos quoque fragiles ab omnibus defende periculis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

We pray to thee, most gracious Virgin Mary, Queen of the world and Queen of Angels, that thou wilt obtain refreshment for those who are being tested by the fires of Purgatory, pardon for sinners, perseverance in goodness for the just; and that thou wilt also protect us who are weak from all dangers. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Simon Garcia was a pious monk in the Order of Minims who almost always had the following devout prayer on his lips. It is written in letters of gold in the sacristy of Our Lady of Loreto, where it is also noted that there is a plenary indulgence granted each time it is recited. Here are the words :

Ave Filia Dei Patris, 

Ave Mater Dei Filii, 

Ave Sponsa Spiritus Sancti, 

Ave templum totius Trinitatis.

Hail, Daughter of God the Father;

Hail, Mother of God the Son;

Hail, Spouse of the Holy Spirit’

Hail, temple for all the Trinity.

Footnotes

[1] Part III, ch. 10, § 4.

[2] Speculi, lib. VII, c. 101.

The Litany of the Holy Virgin

 19   Any of the words in the Litany of the Holy Virgin would be sufficient in themselves to make up a Bouquet of praises. St Bonaventure has some wondrous examples in the second volume of his Opuscula. and others may be found by various authors. The praises sung in the Holy Chapel of Loreto on Saturdays and on feasts of the glorious Virgin form part of what we call the Litany of Loreto[1] and they are the most famous of all. This Litany includes the most beautiful words of praise for the Queen of Heaven, enriched by the most famous examples of prefiguration and symbolism from the Old Testament and from the compilations in the pious writings of the Holy Fathers. They represent in a summary fashion the Greatness of the qualities and dignities of Excellence, Power and Goodness of this incomparable Princess, along with the titles she enjoys as a result of her close interconnection with Word Incarnate, those which befit her by reason of the governance which God has granted her over the whole Church, and those which her peerless goodness acquired for her – as each may see when running through these titles of hers. 

Speaking of this, I should like to mention in passing something which happened to a Father in our Society called Jacques Rhem[2] who had a singular devotion to the MOTHER OF GOD and a particular skill in ruling the congregations of the same Virgin’.

One day when he was trying to satisfy his curiosity as to which description or title of honour was most pleasing to the Queen of Angels, he suddenly heard a voice saying clearly and distinctly that it was Mater admirabilis, Mother most admirable. These words seemed to be like shorthand for saying that she is so admirably Mother and at the same time Virgin that no human power of speech can express this in a sufficiently worthy manner. It subsequently came to pass that one day while the Litany of the Blessed Virgin was being sung in the Chapel of the Congregation, when they came to the words Mater admirabilis, this Mother and Virgin most admirable appeared to him, shining as brightly as the Sun. She filled his heart with a joy so extraordinary that, emerging suddenly from the little corner where he had been praying, he started to call out in a loud voice : Mater admirabilis, and he instructed all those who had been singing to repeat the words three times.

I am aware that the Blessed Virgin revealed to another person that she found the following two titles especially pleasing to her: Mater amabilis and Virgo fidelis (Mother most amiable and Virgin most faithful). There is, however, no contradiction involved here since this difference can be explained in terms of the various ways in which she is pleased to be honoured by different people according to the qualities they find most appealing in her, or the feelings that she judges would be most suited to them. 

I am inclined to believe that one gentle-hearted way of honouring the MOTHER OF GOD here on earth with these beautiful praises would be to imitate the Blessed Spirits and in particular the way all the Holy Orders kneel at her feet when chanting Queen of Angels and Queen of Patriarchs, and so on. As for the Association of those who recite the Litany of Our Lady for each other daily in order to obtain the grace of dying well, I shall have more to say in Chapter 12[3].

Footnotes

[1] The French litanie follows Latin in using the word litania / litany to refer to the individual supplications that make up the prayer. Hence they call the Litany of Loreto the Litanies of Loreto (Litaniae Lauretanae in Lat. and Les Litanies de Lorette in Fr.).

[2] "Mater Admirabilis ou Les Quinze Premières Années de Marie Immaculée" (p24 et seq.) par L'abbé Alfred Monnin (Paris 1865).

[3] Ch. 12, §2. [12].

§ 10. Tenth sign of devotion : commending ourselves earnestly to her in the morning and in the evening

 1   A child born into a good family would consider he is in breach of his duty if he forgets to say good morning and good evening to his mother and father. This would by no means be a trivial omission nor a minor incivility for the well-beloved children of the Mother of love if they were to forget this duty to her.  

Blessed Stanislaus Kostka, a novice in the Society of Jesus, was so devoted to this exercise that not for anything in the world would he have omitted to turn his gaze in the morning and evening towards the Church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande in order to greet his Mother and to ask for her blessing on his knees, placing himself at her service in his own small way. This was a devotion that all the other novices, his companions, found so worthy of imitation that there was not one amongst them who did not wish to take part.

For my part, I am confident that no one claiming to be a true servant and son of the MOTHER OF GOD could ever be found who would not do just as much. This makes me resolve to provide a brief guide for those wishing to commend themselves to her in the evening and in the morning, for the benefit of those who have nothing better.

 2   In the morning, therefore, after each person has recited the daily exercise of a Christian in his Oratory or place of private prayer, he will then be able to begin with the prayer O Domina mea[1]. He can then address the following prayer to the Blessed Virgin:

Most holy and most immaculate MOTHER OF GOD, my Lady most venerable, my most gentle Mother and my unique hope after God, I honour thee and bless thee for all thy great dignities and for all the favours thou hast received from the most August Trinity; I rejoice in these with my whole soul and I adore the same Trinity for each of them. I thank thee for all thy benefits, both general and particular to me, and especially [such and such] which I recognise as having received through thine aid. I dedicate and consecrate myself entirely to thy service, in company with all thy faithful servants, and I offer thee, in union with their most pleasing services, my own body and my soul with all their faculties and actions, so that there may be nothing in me which does not pay special homage to thy Greatness. I especially offer thee this day [such and such an action or plan], imploring thee that through thine own goodness thou wilt deign to accept them and bless them so that they may redound to thine honour and glory and that in all things I may truly accomplish the Holy Will of thy beloved son. Amen.

Footnotes

[1] See O Holy Mary, my Mistress at Preces-Latinae. 

 3   To this may be added the Responsory Sub tuum præsidium, the Versicle Ora pro nobis Sancta Dei Genitrix, along with the Prayer: 

Protege nos, Domine, famulos tuos subsidiis pacis, et Beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis patrociniis confidentes, a cunctis hostibus nos redde securos. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, etc.

Protect, O Lord, thy servants with thine armies of peace: and make those who trust in the patronage of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin secure against all enemies. Through Christ our Lord, etc.

 4   In the evening it is permitted to repeat the same exercise as in the morning, except that in place of O Domina mea, the prayer may be said which begins with these words O Maria Dei Genitrix Virgo[1]. In place of the act of thanksgiving and the petitions which belong to the day, there may be added those which are more fitting for the night. To sum up, instead of the Responsory Sub tuum præsidium, the following prayer could be used : Maria Mater gratiæ[2], but retaining the same Versicle and the same Prayer. 

Footnotes

[1] O Maria, Dei genitrix, Virgo gratiosa, omnium desolatorum ad te clamantium consolatrix vera / O Mary, Mother of God, gracious Virgin, true consoler of all the desolate who cry unto thee.

[2] See Mary Mother of Grace at Preces-Latinae.

[End of Chapter 9]

© 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.