Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 11 : § 12.1-3

Chapter 11 : Imitation – tenth 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)

§ 12. How she should be imitated by wives and widows

 1   Wives will also find great virtues to imitate in the woman chosen by God to serve as an example for all women, in her whom St Gregory of Neocæsarea called[1]  the glory of virgins and the joy of married women. The Prince of the Apostles will serve as our guide in his first Epistle where he compiles the qualities necessary in Christian women. 

 

Footnotes

[1] Serm. 2 de Annuntiat.

First quality: respect for their husbands

 2   The first is the honour and respect they owe to their husbands[1], together with sincere obedience, with roots in heartfelt love. This is why the greatest among them have often been the most remarkable, turning the advantages of their birth to the service of virtue. The chaste Sarah, says the Holy Apostle[2], never called Abraham other than her Lord and her Master. This rendered her so worthy of affection and honour that he changed her name from Jescha[3] (which she was previously called) to Sarai, meaning my Lady, according to several learned exegetes[4]. St Natalia and St Monica provide remarkably examples of this respect in relation to St Adrian and St Patricius, their husbands. That great teacher of Christian morals, St Jerome, proffers this advice to all wives in his letter to Celantia, telling her that :

She must be the first to honour her husband and she should give an example of this respect to all her servants; through her humility and her continual services she should make him appear honourable to everyone; finally, despite her own noble background, she must do everything she can to show him deference. Since the head of the woman, according to St Paul, is the man[5], the greatest honour she can receive is to have a head whom all, following her lead, judge worthy of honour.

In this, there is no one to compare with the Holy Virgin. Because St Joseph had been immediately given to her by Heaven, she did not look upon him simply as her lord and master like Sarah but as God Himself – whom she was obeying in the person of her husband. Because he was both her Spouse and the Guardian of her Virginity, she regarded him as worthy of a double honour which she took the greatest care to show him at all times. The respect she had for him was so great that, even though she saw him troubled by her pregnancy, she nevertheless held back from saying a single word to allay his anxieties so that it needed the Angel to visit St Joseph and reassure him, thereby sparing her virginal shame.   

Footnotes

[1] In like manner also let wives be subject to their husbands etc. 1 Petr. iii. 1. etc.

[2] As Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord : 1 Petr. iii. 6.

[3] According to Fillion's commentary (1895), Jescha was the daughter of Aran and identical with Sarai : Gen. xi. 29.

[4] Cornelius, in Gen., c. 12, et I Petr. 3. Prof. Fillion’s reading of Sarai is “my Princess:” Gen. xvii. 15.

[5] 1 Cor. xi. 3.

Second quality: chaste fidelity 

 3   The second quality that St Peter looks for in Christian women is chaste fidelity[1], which should show in their looks, their words, their actions and their whole demeanour. St Cyprian[2] and St Ambrose[3] have spoken of this :

Even though conjugal chastity does not win the first crown – which is available only for Virgins – it can nevertheless be glorious in God’s eyes since it is no small matter to remain faithful amid so many temptations and dangers, even more so to moderate the desire for those things which are licit in a marriage.

It is true that lilies occupy the place of honour in the Church’s Gardens and that their pure white heads are higher than the other flowers; but that is not to say they do not appreciate the beauty of these other flowers which each one possesses in its own way. The parterres are indeed impressive for their beauty and grace when they are well cultivated and watered; but is it not also good to see on a neighbouring hillside a well-dressed vine that is laden with beautiful fruits, or in the countryside a harvest which represents the hope of the whole country?

 

The Wise author of Ecclesiasticus says there is nothing that may be compared to the soul of a woman who is chaste according to her station in life; he also says there is nothing so dirty or putrid as a loose woman[4]. St Jerome[5] declares that:

before anything else, a woman would be well-advised to take extreme care of her honour; for this is the foundation, the buttress and the high point of all the virtues of her sex.

It is honour that will elevate a woman suffering from poverty, enhance a woman who is wealthy, cover the ugly features of a plain woman, reveal the beauty of a good-looking woman, please forebears whose blood will remain untainted, relieve children more than can be said by delivering them from the confusion they would suffer from a blameworthy mother or the doubt they might have about their father. Honour will moreover be an inestimable blessing for women in themselves, for by its means they are protected from being violated by strange men; consider, for example, the horror and terror that accompany the sacking of a city, when there is no greater calamity than that endured by women who are forced to suffer this outrage.

St Cyprian[6] says of chastity that it is an honour for the body, a reward for good habits and a guarantee of modesty; it brings peace to a household, preserving harmony; it renders us pleasing to God and unites us to Jesus Christ; being in itself blessed, it brings the blessing of happiness to those who possess it; it is venerated by those who do not have it, all the more so the greater the trouble they have in overcoming it. It is the terror and ruin of infamy, it is a strong fortress, it is the enhancement of nobility, a buttress for probity frustrating men’s evil designs, a triumph for the soul and a trophy for the body; it is the mother of glory, eradicating vices; it is a lamp stand for holiness and a demonstration of sincerity; it is the undoing of scandals, bringing peace so virtues may thrive; it is a prison for inclinations to incontinence, a safe haven for virtue, a suit of armour protecting virginity, a sword promising safety; it is the summit of honour, casting dishonour into the abyss; it is the substance from which the palms and wreaths of victory are made; it leads to the repose which accompanies salvation and is a guarantee against perdition; it is the life of the spirit, and the death of the flesh – in short, it is an imitation of the angelic state and leaves behind all that is merely human. 

Footnotes

[1] Considering your chaste conversation with fear : 1 Peter iii. 2.

[2] Lib. de Bono pudicitiæ.

[3] Lib. I de Virginibus.

[4] Every woman that is a harlot, shall be trodden upon as dung in the way : Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) ix. 10.

[5] Lib. I contra Jovin.

[6] Lib. de Bono pudicitiæ.

© 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.