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) |
§ 9. On her wondrous kind-heartedness and how it should be imitated by everyone
The Virgin’s kind-heartedness was most amiable
5 All this renders her kind-heartedness so pleasing that it is impossible not to love her. Do not speak to me of Moses whom Sacred Scripture describes as a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon earth[1]. Never mind that the Holy man Job said[2] his servants so loved him that they wanted to consume him, so to speak, with their goodwill and caresses. Never mind St Ambrose used his honeyed eloquence[3] to show everyone how David was unrivalled as the true idea of a Prince utterly lovable by reason of his gentleness. If they might bear comparison with the gentleness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they would be very far off the mark. In fact, they would never dream of doing this since their humility is too well-founded to forget themselves in such a way; apart from that, they see clearly how God had reserved this creature so as to build in her the altar of clemency in Heaven and to make her the love and the delight of all the nations of the earth. In fact, if you consider this carefully you will see that this view about the gentleness of the MOTHER OF GOD has put down such deep roots in people’s hearts that it would be easier to imagine a man without reason or a fire without heat than to think of Mary without gentleness and not to love her for this reason. Even those who have no idea what it is to love nevertheless feel their hearts melting when the Mother of love and of gentleness comes into their thoughts.
Footnotes
[1] Num. xii. 3.
[2] Job xxxi. 31.
[3] Lib. II Offic., c. 7.
6 At this point I seem to see her turn towards her dear children and address them with the words that her beloved Son once spoke to His Apostles[1]:
Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart. Excepting only the teaching of my Son, I do not want you to attend any other school than my own to learn about this virtue. I want you to be obliged to your loving Mother for having served as a perfect model for you of Christian gentleness. Above all else, I want you to leave to the children of the world that purely ceremonial gentleness which consists of superficial words and gestures. As for yourselves, I leave to you as your portion true gentleness of heart; and in this I want you to be like the Spouse who not only has honey in her mouth but also has milk which comes from its living source in her breast. Say what you will, but after careful thought you will always find that a good heart is the best part of a person ; by a good heart I mean one which is truly suffused with gentleness and marked by sincerity. These are the two qualities of my beloved Son’s royal heart; they are the ones which I have aimed for in a singular way after Him; and they are the ones which transformed the world after it became Christian. When you consider that your Saviour preferred to lose honour, health, life and all the best things He had rather than to depart even to the slightest degree from His natural gentleness; that he had so much tenderness even for those who were persecuting Him unto death; and that He asks you from the Cross that you should keep the same feelings in your heart that you are showing Him for the souls He is going to redeem with His blood – can you really have such little esteem for that which you see is so dear to Him?
Footnotes
[1] Matt. xi. 29.
7 Once your gentleness becomes truly heartfelt then it will soon become obliging[1]. For the heart has a wondrous power over everything else and it can translate all the affections of the soul into action. It will immediately form your spirit in affability and make it approachable to all sorts of people. It will pour streams of milk and honey on your tongue and make it a fitting instrument to sweeten the bitterness of those plunged in affliction or distress. It will fill your hands with benefits and make it so that they find an indescribable pleasure in distributing them to others. It will attach wings to your feet and give them the swiftness of a stag when it comes to helping the poor and needy. In short, it will be the spirit that gives life and movement to all your intentions.
Apart from that, if the desire to follow and to please me strikes any chord within you, I pray that you show the best proofs of your gentleness to those who are most burdensome to you and for whom you feel the most revulsion. You will find that the more pure this virtue and the less it is influenced by human motives, the more it will imitate God’s gentleness and the less you will seeking your own satisfaction. You should realise that one of the most beneficial actions you can do in the eyes of Heaven and one of the most pleasing services you can render to God is to bear with patience and gentleness the imperfections of others, along with their annoying changes of mood and behaviour. The merits you gain will be all the greater in proportion to how closely your meekness comes to the exercise of holy charity.
Footnotes
[1] Ready to do a service or kindness; courteous, civil, accommodating.
8 These divine practices will be like so many bonds of love, gaining the attachment of the hearts of each and everyone. What the Sage once prophesied[1] will become true for you, captivating people’s affections more powerfully in this way than the honour and glory so much cherished by the commonalty of mankind. There will be nothing so difficult that you cannot overcome it; and where the stiff neck and the proud heart would never win, the meek and gentle spirit will triumph. Furthermore, this will mean that you are not only viewed as all-powerful by men but it will also help to ensure you are never rejected by God. Moses provides proof of this for his gentle manner gave him such access to the divine majesty that his dealings with Him were like those between friends and God could refuse him nothing that he asked. Does it seem to you that this virtue may be neglected when the advantages are so great?
Footnotes
[1] E.g., It is better to be humbled with the meek, than to divide spoils with the proud : Prov. xvi. 19.
© 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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