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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020) |
§ 8. On her great patience and how it should be imitated by everyone
3 Even more remarkable is that this patience was most kind-hearted, in that the Holy Virgin never felt the slightest feeling of indignation, anger or vengeance against those who treated her Son so cruelly. On the contrary, from the very bottom of her heart she commended them most earnestly to God, praying that He would, by virtue of the Cross and the death of His beloved Son, pardon them for their blindness; and when their fury caused them to show no mercy in shedding the precious blood of this most gentle Lamb, she offered Him to the eternal Father for them, praying that He would avert His gaze from the carnage and focus upon the adorable face of His only-begotten Son who was undergoing this martyrdom to obtain forgiveness for them.
The patience of the Holy Virgin was most accomplished
4 Finally, this same patience was most accomplished in that with truly incredible perseverance she stood firm right to the end in order to offer God a sacrifice which was entire and complete in its perfection. This is what the Evangelist[1] was referring to when he said that she stood by the cross. By this he was giving us to understand that, even though her heart was plunged in an abyss of pain and sorrow, she nevertheless held firm right to the end : without worrying about the enmity of the Scribes or the criminal acts of the executioners, with no fear of the works of darkness and the confusion amongst creatures, retaining an unshakable focus upon the limitless patience, the terrible justice and the infinite mercy of God, and with a firm expectation of the glory of His Son and the fulfilment of all Heaven’s promises. Her patience did not stop there but accompanied her to the end of her life, making her accept it with resignation, sustaining her amidst the trials with which this mortal prison assailed her, and enabling her to bear meekly the absence of her beloved Son. In all of this she was strengthened by the holy word of God which accompanied her and guided her through the vicissitudes of this life as far as Mount Horeb.
Footnotes
[1] Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother: John. xix. 25.
5 In view of this you will surely want to hasten to this school, dear children of the suffering Virgin, and learn how you must conduct yourselves amidst the afflictions which beset you. First of all, you must remember that in order to be justified in claiming this title it is not enough that you should demonstrate patience as such, but it must be a patience which is noble and heroic, like that of your dear Mother. Remember to take all that happens to you as coming from the hand of God; to accept with equanimity the accidents befalling you which He permits – whether honourable or shameful, whether coming from wicked people or good, from friends or enemies, from family or strangers – and generally to receive these with all the circumstances accompanying them. Remember that all the little sources of relief that you seek elsewhere will serve only to increase your trouble and to weaken your courage. Remember that it is too great an honour for you to keep company with the Lord in His sufferings, that God has not granted this mercy to everyone, and that to those who have shown greater resolution than you He has given the greater part, as the most exquisite favours that He is accustomed to give His friends. Remember that if you frown, if you turn up your nose, if you look askance, if you complain, then He will withdraw His hand and this will be greatly your disadvantage. Let rather your principal endeavour be to offer your neck meekly to receive His sweet yoke and to present your back in readiness for the blows which He may be pleased to permit you to suffer. Remember that the purest of all consolations consists in suffering with Jesus Christ; that the fruits you will gather in suffering will be truly exceptional since through it you will be purged of your sins, prevented from falling into greater evils, perfected in charity and made like unto the King of Heaven; and if the Saints who are on high could envy any condition, it would be yours and that of people who endure suffering for God and with God, like you.
6 Let your patience be accompanied by true Christian generosity of heart and never let yourself complain against such and such a person, or accuse such and such a person, or bear within your soul some bitterness against those who have brought about a problem which is afflicting you. You should rather kiss the hand of God which strikes you, pray for them with love in your heart and try to consider them as the best friends you have since they are obtaining for you the greatest of all good. Show this feeling outwardly and when the opportunity presents itself let them experience the effects of a truly Christian heart. Do not wait for those who have sinned against you to come and find you but rather go and seek them, for this is the way to win over the fiercest of hearts, to obtain pardon for your sins and to arrive in a very short time at a most high level of perfection. Finally, always bear in mind what St Jerome said:
It is nothing to make a good beginning; amongst Christians we do not pay so much attention to good beginnings as to holy outcomes; and out of all the virtues who enter into the lists, perseverance alone receives the crown.
7 You should frequently raise your eyes towards Him who awaits you at the end of life’s course[1], and who in order to give you courage made a mockery of His foes who called upon Him to come down from the Cross, which would have meant leaving our Redemption incomplete. Fortify yourselves by thinking of the eternal rest which shall assuredly be yours and even more by thinking of the pleasure the whole of Heaven receives from seeing you in the struggle, and especially the great King Jesus who makes ready to share His palms and laurels of victory with you, since He has deigned to make you participants in His combat. Within this devout resolve, as in a celestial bonfire, will be kindled and lit the fire of a most ardent desire to suffer more and more for God; and this will consume everything within you that could be contrary to pure love, raising you up to the Empyrean – which is the place where this celestial fire is never extinguished.
Footnotes
[1] 1 Cor. ix. 24.
© Peter Bloor 2026
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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.
The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.
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.
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