Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 1 : § 1.2-5

Chapter 1 : Understanding the basis of Part IV

The reasons we have for offering thanksgiving to 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)

The merits of the Holy Virgin : second reason 

 2   Secondly, we are drawn towards gratitude by the sweet fragrance of her Greatness from which her numerous gifts drop down from Heaven like dew. It has been fittingly said in this connection that the task of gathering in the beautiful harvest of divine blessings belongs to the Graces, the daughters of Heaven, and that a simple feeling of heartfelt thanks within us is all that is required to compensate for our inability to satisfy our debt of gratitude. There was once a Temple built by the ancients to honour Jupiter in the city of Cyzicus, near the Straits of Gallipoli. The Temple was covered all over with precious stones but they were set and arranged with such skill and artistry that there was not one which did not reflect light upon the statue of the God being adored. By this they wished to convey the idea that the blessings of heaven are as good as lost if there is no return to the source of their origin, and God would be enriching us with his gifts in vain if he did not receive in return some tribute of glory. Consider how vessels laden with precious cargoes arriving from foreign lands are stopped and required to pay tolls. In much the same way, souls who have received the most beautiful graces from God are also those most obliged to make a faithful payment of Heaven’s dues. I have to confess, however, that if there were an attempt to draw from from all the powers of our souls a distillation of the gratitude found therein, this would not amount to the least drop of the sweetness coming from the loving heart of the Mother of Grace. Does this mean then that we should lose heart at being unable to do everything we might like to do? Are we to abandon everything because our own feelings will never rise to the heights of the benefits we have received? On the contrary, it must for us be a source of singular satisfaction that she should be so incomparably higher than our human powers can reach and that we should be so far from being able to attain the greatness of her merits. What is needed is for us to pay our debt of gratitude as much with what we cannot do as with what we can; since here what is willed is accepted for what has been done, and what the will desires to do is valued as much as what it can actually offer in practice.   

The claims of the Holy Virgin : third reason 

 3   Thirdly, we are obliged to show gratitude by reason of the just claims of the Holy Virgin who chose us for her beloved children only on condition that her love for us should be matched by love and appreciation on our part. Just as God made a promise in connection with David’s son Solomon as follows : I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son[1] , in the same way she promises us that she will always be a most dear, loving and faithful Mother provided that we behave like true children towards her. This means that we will not simply accept the favours she sends us, but that we will respond with love, returning our grateful affection as best we can to her who is the source of these blessings. Any child who does not feel in this way is not really a child but more like a moving statue or an animated rock; or if he is a child, then he cannot be legitimate; or if he passes himself off as such, then all he can expect in the end is to miss out on all the hopes of those who are true children by adoption. It would be better for them to die than to than to place themselves in such a state as to practise deception by falsely claiming the honourable title of children of the MOTHER OF GOD. We pray that in her goodness she will protect us from such a fate and we pray too that, amongst all the other obligations we may have towards her, we remember this one : to show esteem and gratitude for the blessings that come to us through her hands in every way that she might want us to.  

Footnotes

[1] 2 Kings (2 Samuel) vii. 14.

The fruits of gratitude : fourth reason 

 4   Finally, we are obliged by the affection we have for ourselves since the only way of remaining in her good grace and of enabling a continual growth in her favours is to show that the ones we have received are deeply rooted in our memory. In his consideration of Hebrew tradition, St Jerome[1] notes that :

 

The terrible illness with which Ezechias was sick even to death[2] was a just punishment for his ingratitude. He had gained a great victory over the Assyrians in which Heaven had appeared on his side but he had made no effort whatsoever to offer songs of praise and thanksgiving to God –  as Moses had done after seeing Pharaoh drowned in the waters of the Red Sea, or Deborah after defeating the Captain Sisara, or Anna the wife of Elcana after having received as a gift from God her little baby Samuel, fruit of prayers and of blessings.

The author of Wisdom expresses this idea very effectively when he says that the hope of the unthankful shall melt away as the winter’s ice, and shall run off as unprofitable water[3] without penetrating the ground.

St Bernard[4] declares that:

Ungratefulness is the mortal enemy of the soul and any progress that it might make. It erases merits, ruins virtues and withdraws benefits; it is like a wind causing the fount of goodness to run dry and the dew of mercy to evaporate. It causes the flow of graces from Heaven to be blocked off. 

St John Chrystostom[5] contrasts this with: 

gratitude, which is a treasure of inestimable value and a source of blessings that can never be exhausted. 

This is why the great St Basil[6] weighs most wisely the following words from Psalm 115: What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things he hath rendered unto me? In his commentary, he says that:

Our offerings of gratitude oblige God to confer new benefits upon us and even if he receives from us only that which is due to him as interest on what he has given us, He is nevertheless so generous towards us that He deposits it in our savings so that it forms part of our capital held with Him. This means that there can be no movement of our heart which does not result in profit with Him.

All this must also be understood of the Queen of Heaven insofar as she partakes of the goodness and generosity of God. From this it follows that in proportion as we love ourselves and seek our own interest, then we should to the same extent apply ourselves to multiplying whatever talents[7] we receive from Heavenly graces in the holy and divine bank. The Queen Mother, who holds the keys to her Son’s savings bank, calls upon us ; our own personal interests urge us; God Himself wills this; and if the voice of conscience may be heard, it would say not to let slip these wondrous occasions available for the profit of souls. What is there which could possibly frustrate our affections or paralyse our wishes?

Footnotes

[1] Lib. II, Commentar. in Isaiam.

[2] Isai. xxxviii.

[3] Wisdom xvi. 29.

[4] Serm. 52 in Cant.

[5] Homil. 1 ad pop. Antioch.

[6] Homil. 5 in Martyrem Julittam.

[7] Cf. Matt. xxv. 15 et seq. 

 5   Since we have seen all sorts of holy considerations which oblige us to show our gratitude towards the MOTHER OF GOD, I believe the time has now come to examine the means we have available to us for putting this royal virtue into practice.

 [End of Chapter 1]

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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.

© Peter Bloor 2025 

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God : Chapter 1 : § 1.1

Part IV : How to give thanks to the Mother of God for her qualities of Greatness in terms of the Excellence, Power and Goodness we have set forth

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)

Introduction

If that which St John Damascene[1] and St Andrew of Jerusalem[2] teach – namely that what the Catholic Church tells us is true when explaining that the Blessed Virgin was prefigured of old by the mysterious ladder that Jacob saw – then it seems to me that I would have good reason for saying that the Holy Spirit’s beautiful image is meant to reveal that just as the Angels come down to us unceasingly with their hands full of graces granted to the Holy Virgin for our benefit, in the same way they must return to Heaven laden with our acts of thanksgiving and our feelings of gratitude for the many gifts received through her mediation. It is this consideration which has made me add this supplement to our early discussions (in Parts I-III) about the Blessed Virgin’s Great Splendours which she enjoys as MOTHER OF GOD. Accordingly, in Part IV my aim is to present how we should offer thanksgiving, considering all she is for us and what we are for her, both in a general and in a particular sense. 

Footnotes

[1] Orat. de Nativit. B. Virg.

[2] Orat. 1 de Dormit. B. Virg.

Chapter 1 : Understanding the basis of Part IV

The reasons we have for offering thanksgiving to the MOTHER OF GOD

The propriety and seemliness[1] of thanksgiving : first reason 

In the first place, we are called to offer thanksgiving because it is proper and seemly to do so. I have to admit that I have never understood the subtleness of a rejoinder made by a certain Furnius, even though several writers have chosen to place it among the great witticisms from antiquity. This worthy Roman thought he had paid a fine compliment to Caesar (who had given him help in a most important matter) when he complained to him that this had burdened him with the necessity of living and dying ungrateful. Let others make of this what they will but as far as I am concerned it seems this riposte was strikingly cool, since there is nothing that can make us guilty of ingratitude except ill will on our part. Anyone who has no wish to be ungrateful cannot incur its reproach and to maintain the opposite is to show complete ignorance of the essence of this vice. The great moral philosopher Seneca says in this connection[2]:

The only person who deserves to be called ungrateful is someone who denies the fact that he has incurred this duty through a gift he has been given, who misrepresents or hides the benefit he has received, who has not the least desire to offer thanks when he can, and above all, who erases from his memory the benefit he is received. 

This means that whoever makes an effort to remember such things, and who is willing to give proof of his gratitude for being showered with benefits when occasion presents itself, cannot be considered an ingrate – particularly since this word is one of the most offensive that can be pronounced amongst men. Seneca writes on this as follows[3]:  

I certainly agree that it is indeed a terrible thing to be considered a murderer, a robber or an adulterer; it is however far worse to have the reputation of being an ingrate, for a person cannot be said to bear the stain of the former crimes without having first been blackened by the latter.

This vice, says Saint Anselm[4], is at the root of every spiritual evil. There is nothing more iniquitous in the world, writes St Ambrose[5]. You will not be able to find any sort of evil which does not flow from this, says the Roman Orator Cicero[6]. 

Apart from this, being in a state of ingratitude and being thankful for what has been given are just as different from one another as earth and Heaven. It may come to pass (indeed it happens every day) that someone may be so indebted to another that he will find it impossible to discharge the debt of gratitude he owes. He will, however, not be ungrateful unless he acts contrary to nature and allows his mind to lose sight of his memory of the benefits he has received, so that his will no longer feels the love which would cause him to show his gratitude for them. It is quite beyond our power to repay our parents all that we owe them, and much less to match with our services the benefits and favours received from His divine Majesty. The same is true in a proportionate sense regarding what the Queen of Heaven has given us, always remembering that no one will be ungrateful towards her who does himself not choose to be so. She looks into our hearts and is pleased by the recognition we show for her gifts and by even the least little service we perform to show our gratitude. 

From this I conclude that those who are able to give her such satisfaction at so little cost to themselves are criminally responsible when they harden their hearts to any gentle feelings of gratitude for the great gifts they have received. Their minds are utterly unworthy of seeing the light and even more so of experiencing the tender affection of the generous heart of the MOTHER OF GOD. 

May her dear children be protected from such a wretched vice, from feelings so little befitting their condition and from such dreadful baseness of the mind! May their hearts be suffused with gratitude and bring forth fruits worthy of being wondered at by men and Angels, of pleasing the Queen of Heaven and of attracting finally the favourable gaze of Him in whom all loving generosity and gratitude have their ultimate end!

Footnotes

[1] The French text here has honnêteté, derived from the Latin honestas which includes senses of morality, integrity and seemliness: see DMLBS in Logeion. This sense of the word honesty existed in English but became obsolete in the 18th century: see OED 1.2. 

[2] Senec., lib. III de Benefic., c. 1.

[3] Lib. I de Benefic., c. 10.

[4] Soliloquium, c. 18.

[5] Præfat. in Psal. 35.

[6] Ad Attic., lib. VIII.

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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.

© Peter Bloor 2025 

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 14 : §1.2 > §2.1-2

Chapter 14 : How we are duty-bound for all these reasons to love, honour and serve 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)

§ 1. Our duty to love her

 2   Whilst I have been fulminating against these ungrateful souls, I have been forgetting the people we were discussing earlier : the children of the MOTHER OF GOD whom she conceived within her womb, nourished with her milk, raised in her maternal love and showered with countless favours. I have not been showing how she granted these children prevenient graces and tender blessings, how she acquired these children through love and how they gave themselves to her through love. I have not been considering how, just as the love which the Queen of Heaven has for them is the starting point of their happiness, the love they reciprocated towards her has enabled them to make incomparable progress. If there had been no such reciprocation, she would immediately have cut off the flow of graces she was pouring into their souls and they would never have attained the heights they did. But since the favours bestowed by the Holy Virgin made them what they are, they have tried to cultivate these favours and to render themselves each day more worthy of them by showing feelings of true gratitude, which then draws down new graces upon them. 

Since they regard themselves as being nothing more than mere creatures who have become what they are thanks to the intercession and goodwill of the Princess of Heaven, and since they do not see in themselves or around them anything other than blessings obtained through her mediation, then it follows necessarily that they will love her with all their heart. When new gifts are received they prompt new feelings of love and nothing is done and nothing is given except through and with love. In short, this pleasant war of love leads them to the point when even though they feel themselves infinitely obliged to love her for all the great benefits they have received from her, nevertheless their principal desire is to love her for herself, with a conviction that she deserves to be loved even should all the gifts they receive from her come to an end. 

They have reached the point where they would no longer wish to have a heart if they were once condemned not to love her or to love her only partially; and the affection they feel towards her is so real they are convinced that it would be impossible for them to live without her. They firmly believe there is no satisfaction in the world comparable to what they feel in loving her, in conversing with her, in speaking about her and in performing services for her. I am, however, losing sight of my goal here since they have no use for my exhortations and my invectives are far from being directed at them. On the contrary, we should wonder at the inestimable happiness they enjoy and follow their example by loving to the utmost of our ability her whom they cherish with all their heart. This is something I do all the more willingly the more I feel an increase in my inclination to honour all those who love her. 

Ye devout children of the Mother of love, you are to be congratulated

    • for these exceptional feelings of love that you have for her; 

    • for the incomparable care you have taken in cultivating favours received;

    • for all the fruits you have gathered therefrom; 

    • for all the joys that have filled your hearts in the sweet colloquies you have with your holy Mother; and

    • for the firm hope, indeed the promises you have received of even greater blessings. 

May ye continue to grow towards that perfection of love that she desires from you; and at the same time may we all be drawn by the sweet fragrance of your example to love her not only in this life which needs must end but also in that which will never end.

§ 2. Our duty to honour her

 1   Now to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever, says the great Apostle St Paul[1]. It is perfectly true that to Him alone belong all glory and all honour. From this it follows that true honour is nothing less than an outstreaming from the glorious face of God, the source of all honour in the world. Just as from the visible and physical Sun come forth all rays of light, in the same way all glory radiates from this divine Majesty, no more nor less than from an invisible and spiritual Sun. This means that all creatures are more or less worthy of honour to the extent that they are bathed in rays streaming from the glorious face of God. Accordingly, Kings and Princes are worthy of honour inasmuch as they receive the rays of God’s power; Judges and Magistrates because they are lit up by His justice; Wise men are enlightened by His wisdom; virtuous people shine with the splendour of divine virtues which light up their faces; those advanced in years have Him to thank for their longevity, which partakes in some sense of God’s eternity; fathers and mothers for the connection they have with God’s goodness which is the first principle of all communication. From this it follows that, the more closely creatures draw to this divine Sun of glory, the greater the share they have in the glory which proceeds therefrom.

Footnotes

[1] 1 Tim. i. 17.

 2   This is a major point I am making about the Queen of Heaven, our most worthy Mother. As her devout servant St Bernard puts it[1]: 

She is most meritoriously clothed with the Sun, forasmuch as she has penetrated more than can be imagined into the great depths of the greatness of God, to the extent that it is as though she has been absorbed into this light inaccessible[2] as much as a mere creature can be without actual personal union. 

Who could find ways to describe how as a result of her closeness to God she has been penetrated through and through by the rays of honour streaming forth from the Father of lights[3]?  I do not intend to enter once more into a consideration of the great dignities and privileges of Excellence and Power she has received; it is enough that earlier in this work on two separate occasions[4] I have given a summary of the ways in which we are under an extraordinary obligation to honour her in this connection. Here in Part III we have been considering her Goodness which furnishes us with countless reasons for honouring her in every way we possibly can since there is nothing that such a Mother does not deserve.

 

My prayer is that her dear children seek out all imaginable ways of honouring her, that they apply themselves unceasingly to putting these into practice, that each day they find new ways of showing the loving respect they feel for her, and that they do all this without fearing they have exceeded what is proper (provided. that their devotions do not approach the worship which is due to God alone) because they will always be indebted to her and there will never come a time when they are not recipients of her goodness.

Footnotes

[1] Serm. Signum magnum..

[2] Who only hath immortality, and inhabiteth light inaccessible, whom no man hath seen, nor can see: 1 Timothy vi.16.

[3] Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; James i 17.

[4] Part I, ch. 4, § 2, et Part II, ch. 4, § 2.

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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.

© Peter Bloor 2025

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 14 : §1.1

Chapter 14 : How we are duty-bound for all these reasons to love, honour and serve 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)

For those who enjoy roles and positions of great privilege in this world I can think of no benefit more estimable than the opportunity this affords them of giving help to countless persons. When it comes to such privileges granted to persons in Heaven, then apart from the fact that they alone truly are worthy of being sought, they enjoy this benefit to a perfect extent because it means the friends of God have countless opportunities to do good for us here below. From this arises a duty of gratitude within us which can never be extinguished. After God Himself, however, there is no one comparable in greatness to the Holy Virgin when it comes to the privileges she enjoys and there is no one with a fief[1] like unto hers. 

Footnotes

[1] fief = fee: see OED “fee” at I.3. The sense may be that we are tenants of an estate which is held in fee by our Holy Mother and over which she enjoys significant powers and privileges.

§ 1. Our duty to love her

 1   I feel constrained to ask you how we would judge those who, obliged to her for so many benefits they have received, nevertheless do not love the MOTHER OF GOD or love her but feebly? Let others think what they will, I personally would say that such people either have no hearts or they are so cold and stony-hearted that they cease to be truly human. If they were human, then they would be drawn by the bonds of charity and the inestimable benefits they receive from their loving Mother. I am saying that they are unnatural because if they had anything like a true heart it would show in a reaction befitting the kindness of this Mother’s heart which provides graces and favours for those who wish to receive them. I am saying that they do not have a rational soul since they deviate so far from all reasoned thought : for consider how true it is that each and every one of  the Virgin’s splendours I have placed before you is capable of setting a heart on fire with love. 

When we have seen that she is the principle and point of origin for the eternal happiness of her children, is not this alone enough to make us want to love her throughout eternity? When we see her showing us this in a thousand different ways, each one of which proves that she is the Mother of fair love – is that not a most cogent reason for our hearts to love her more than all the mothers in the world? Is her favour accounted of so little value by abject creatures or judged to be something which can be earned with ordinary, everyday feelings alone? What shall I say of the wondrous care she shows towards her children except that when they weep tears every day and perform works of kindness, this does not come anywhere near even the least of her acts of love? Her acts of generosity surpass in an incomparable manner everything they offer by way of thanks and her own gratitude for even the least of the services they render her exceeds in an unimaginable way everything that she receives, giving them fresh cause to love her still more. 

Her acts of mercy and generosity know no limits and yet these people are parsimonious when it comes to showing their love for her! Imagine that they had ever received from her just one material blessing from the many I have shown that she holds in her hands : we can be sure that if they had received this from any mortal person they would declare themselves eternally indebted to that person! Finally, if they correctly appreciate the guidance she gives about holiness, the consolation she provides for those in distress or affliction, the refuge she makes available for sinners and the good offices she performs at the hour of death – will they not be persuaded that they need to respond with love to the limit of their abilities? I am saying that they are not even showing love for themselves because otherwise they could not possibly avoid tenderly cherishing her from whom they unceasingly receive so many favours. I am saying that they are unworthy of receiving all these graces since their ingratitude justly dries up the channel of these same graces. Finally, I am saying and arguing that they fully deserve to be struck by the bolt of the anathema that the Apostle St Paul hurls[1] against those who love not the Lord Jesus Christ; for it is foolish to believe that having no love for the Mother they could nevertheless have love for the Son.

Footnotes

[1] If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha. 1 Cor. xvi. 22.

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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.

© Peter Bloor 2025

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 13 : §6.6-11

Chapter 13 : The Twelfth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She safeguards her children at the hour of death and provides them with their passport to Heaven

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)

§ 6. How the Holy Virgin consoles her children amid the flames of Purgatory and the care she takes of their bodies

 6   Fourthly, she prompts people who are still alive to help the suffering souls through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, through prayers and through other works of satisfaction; or she can indeed permit them to petition for the deliverance themselves.  

Pope Innocent III appeared after his death to St Lutgarde, as is recounted in the life of this holy virgin. She saw him surrounded by flames and heard him say that through God’s mercy he had been spared from hell but not Purgatory; and that Our Lady had nevertheless granted him the favour of coming to ask her to pray for his release.

 7   Finally, she visits the prisons of Purgatory as a Queen wielding the authority of her dear Son and by a special grace she delivers at certain times those whom she decides have merited this favour. The saintly Carthusian Denis Ryckel recounts the following noteworthy story[1] 

concerning two friends, one of whom departed this world around the feast of All Saints. The friend who survived was carried away by sorrow and mourning for his loss but without thinking to pray for his departed friend’s soul. The friend later appeared to him on the feast of the Nativity, rebuking him for his neglect. 

“What good are all these tears of thine? They are just so much water washing the eyes and seeking comfort for the mind. The wind simply carries away thy lamentations whilst I am grilled mercilessly over these fiery braziers. Now, let me tell thee something : on Christmas Eve the Holy Virgin cometh down into Purgatory with the power of delivering a number of souls, because on this very night she gave birth to Him who was to redeem all mankind. I was hoping to be among this number as a result of thy prayers for me; but my hopes were disappointed. So I am now letting thee know that she will do the same thing on the night of the Resurrection, in imitation of her dear Son who on that night long ago delivered those detained in the Limbo of the Fathers. In this connection, therefore, I implore thee to help me with thy prayers and tears of devotion which will in this way be put to better use than when thou merely felt sorrow for thy personal loss. Thou wilt know thy prayers have been successful if I do not come to see thee again.  

This is exactly what happened and he understood this to be a sure indication that his friend had indeed been delivered from Purgatory through the intercession of the Mother of Mercy.

Footnotes

[1] Serm. 2 de Assumpt.

 8   Blessed Peter Damian writes in the last Epistle of his third book that: 

In the year 1070 a woman died in Rome and later appeared on the eve of the Assumption to one of her friends who asked her how everything was. The woman who had died replied that she had thus far had to endure most grievous sufferings but on that very night the most sacred Virgin had prayed for her and for a number of others with the result that she delivered her from Purgatory along with many more souls than there were in the whole of the city of Rome. Because her friend clearly found it difficult to believe such a thing, she went on to say that she would give her irrefutable proof of what she had said and told her she would die after a year had elapsed on the same day that they were now speaking to each other. This was fulfilled to the letter. just as she had predicted. 

 9   It would be remiss of me were I to deprive readers of a truly remarkable story about what happened when Pope Boniface VIII declared that 1300 would be a great year of Jubilee[1]. 

There was a cleric who had a strong devotion to the glorious Virgin and she appeared to him , holding her son in her arms. The cleric immediately prostrated himself before her and she said to him: 

“The Lord hath shown mercy on all.”

The cleric inquired of her if he was included in this great act of mercy as well as the living and the dead. When he asked her this same question a second time, she replied : 

“He hath shown mercy to the living and the dead, and to thee also.”

Historians have noted that the truth of this account has been confirmed by a number of possessed people, when demons in various different places were forced to make known the Lord’s mercy and unanimously confirmed that all the souls in Purgatory had been delivered in that year of Jubilee. There is every reason to believe that she who brought this news on earth had been the principal Mediatrix for them in Heaven.

   

Footnotes

[1] Jacob. Card., lib. de Jubilæo.

 10   If we now consider the tombs containing the remains of those who have departed this world, we shall find that the incomparably tender heart of our loving Mother goes so far as to take most particular care of the bodies of her faithful servants after their death. I believe I have demonstrated the truth of this by the example which is taken from the second book of the Revelations of St Bridget[1] which I discussed earlier[2] in connexction with Blessed Brynolph, Bishop of Skara in Sweden.

Footnotes

[1] Chap. 30.

[2] Sup. c. 7, § 6.

 11   What we have been discussing is but a small sample of the great Splendours of the Mother of Goodness and of the happiness enjoyed by those of her children whom she cherishes with a special affection. If even this rough outline of these privileges prompts us to conceive in our minds something truly great, what will it be like to contemplate the children of the Queen of Heaven gathered around their dear Mother, enjoying the riches of grace and glory they acquired through her mediation? What will it be like to share in this inestimable joy? How devoutly to be wished is the happy lot of those whose souls, as Scripture says, are kept as in the bundle of the living[1] by virtue of the special favour of the Mother of Goodness!

Footnotes

[1] 1 Kings (1 Samuel) xxv. 29.

[End of Chapter 13]

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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.

© Peter Bloor 2025

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 13 : §6.2-5

Chapter 13 : The Twelfth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She safeguards her children at the hour of death and provides them with their passport to Heaven

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)

§ 6. How the Holy Virgin consoles her children amid the flames of Purgatory and the care she takes of their bodies

 2   Firstly, it frequently happens that she takes such care to provide tests for her children whilst they are alive, making them perform acts of satisfaction and developing the main virtues, with the result that through these means they are admitted without any delay into the presence of God.  

One example of this is St Lidwina[1] who was a Virgin accomplished in all the virtues. We read of her that when she was approaching death and suffering from extreme pain all through her body, she saw Our Lord on the right hand side of her bed, the Holy Mother on the left, and all around the Apostles along with a great number of Blessed Spirits. She also saw that her room had been decorated in an extraordinary way and a table had been duly set with a beautiful vase filled with holy oil, a crucifix and a lighted candle. She noticed, moreover, that Our Lord was vested like a priest and he anointed her body as is done when administering the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, but without saying any words. At the conclusion of this rite, He and His most holy Mother took the candle and together they placed it in the hands of St Lidwina, who implored her beloved Spouse through the merits of the most sacred Virgin to fill the end of her life with such suffering and desire for Heaven that her soul on leaving her body would go straight to Heaven to offer praise and thanksgiving to Him, without the need for any delay in Purgatory. This prayer of hers was granted and she was promised that two days thence she would be singing Alleluias along with the other Virgins in the Kingdom of God.

 

Footnotes

[1] In Vita ejus a Joanne Brugnano, Ordinis Minorum, scripta, c. 11, apud Surium, 4 Novemb.

 3   I shall go further and say that not only does she ensure they have been purified to the extent that they have nothing left to purge when they leave this life, but that she frequently arranges things so that the abundance of their satisfactions is such that they have enough to share with other souls. 

I have already spoken earlier about the pious Dominican Friar called Henri de Castus[1] and how close he was to the Blessed Virgin. One of his dearest friends who was aware of this closeness once asked him confidentially when he was very seriously ill if he thought he would make it to Heaven without having to pass through Purgatory. Henri replied confidently that he knew the most glorious Virgin would be present at his death and would personally lead him up to Heaven. He also added that when this happened he would lead with him more than three hundred souls from those still in the flames of Purgatory to satisfy the needs of divine justice.

Footnotes

[1] Henri de Castus seems to refer to Henry Suso (1295 – 1366) who was a German Dominican friar known for his extreme mortifications and author of the phrase Suffering is a short pain and a long joy (see Ch. XIII.: “On The Immeasurable Dignity of Temporal Suffering” in his work: A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom (Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd, 1910)

 4   Thirdly, she provides incomparable support to her children, visiting them whilst they are suffering amidst the fires, or sending Angels to visit them who bring the good news of their deliverance and console them in various other ways. This is what she made known one day to blessed St Bridget, when she said[1]:

 

I am the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of Mercy, source of joy for the just and guide leading sinners to God; there is no suffering in Purgatory which through me is not made easier to bear. 

Elsewhere she told her[2]: 

I am the Mother of those who are in Purgatory and it hath pleased God that through my prayers the punishments due for their sins should become each hour alleviated and made easier to bear in some way. 

These words remind me of what happened to the Jesuit Fr Jerome Carvalho whom I mentioned earlier in this chapter[3].  

He had developed a very close friendship with the Virgin Mother whom he loved tenderly and she returned his love to the extent that she would pay him visits and often speak with him. Although he was a most humble man and took care to keep secret the favours he received from her, on one occasion God allowed him to reveal something she had said because this would prove consoling for others to know. The Blessed Virgin had noticed that Fr Jerome was sad and fearful when he contemplated the punishment of Purgatory. She told him that she was the Advocate and the Mother of sinners not only in this life but also in Purgatory, and this provided indescribable consolation to him.  

Footnotes

[1] Lib. VI Revelat., c. 10.

[2] Lib. IV, c. 138.

[3] Sup. § 3.

 5   We actually have several proofs of this truth in the revelations of St Bridget. 

In one place [1] it is recorded how the Saviour granted to His most sacred Mother a threefold mercy in favour of those souls for whom she had been praying and an alleviation of the suffering that they were experiencing through the faculties of sight, hearing, and touch. Further to this, He promised her that those who were undergoing the most extreme torments in Purgatory would be allowed to join those who are in the middle range; that those at the medium level would be permitted to join those suffering the lightest punishments; and that those for whom very little satisfaction was still to be made could be freed completely.

In another place[2] it is recounted how the same Virgin was praying to her Son for the alleviation of the suffering endured by a most pious knight and great almoner who had been recommended to her by the blessed St Bridget. In response, her beloved Son removed one of the three pains affecting his vision, namely the terrifying sight of demons ; one that he was suffering through hearing, namely the distress and confusion caused by the reproaches of his past life, in which he was tormented unceasingly by the enemies of his salvation; and one that affected his sense of touch, namely the icy waters of the frozen lake where he had been thrown to offer satisfaction for his own coldness in the matter of serving God.

Elsewhere she prescribes for the Holy Widow in some detail all the satisfactions that had to be offered for the deliverance of the soul of a certain gentleman of quality for whom she had been earnestly praying. 

Finally, there is reference to the way in which the Virgin promised that the soul of a certain solitary priest (from whom the same St Bridget had previously received spiritual guidance), would be in Heaven before his own body was laid in the earth ; and that as a result of the Virgin’s intercession, the languor suffered by this soul as a result of a certain tepidity in his yearning to see God would be significantly alleviated.   

Footnotes

[1] Lib. I, c. 5.

[2] Lib. VI, c. 19.

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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.

© Peter Bloor 2025

Part III : The Crown of Goodness : Chapter 13 : §5.4-5 > §6.1

Chapter 13 : The Twelfth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD

She safeguards her children at the hour of death and provides them with their passport to Heaven

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)

§ 5. How the Holy Virgin helps her children during the judgement which takes place after their death

Henry of Heiden

 4  Andrew[1] was in effect a stranger since she came to his rescue only at the request of a Saint, and if she did this for a stranger then what is there that she would not do for those who have loved and honoured her throughout their lives? What obstacles would she not remove? What ways would she not find to free them from the claws of these predatory vultures from hell? 

Here is an example still fresh in the memory showing the loving help she gives to her dear children. 

In the year 1586[2] there was in the German college at Rome a young canon from Trier, called Henry of Heiden. He had received a message from his family asking him to come home and he was making ready for the journey. God had different plans for him and was preparing him for a long journey but he was taken by a sudden fever in less than a week. He was warned there was a risk he would die and so he made a general confession. He also prayed in particular to the MOTHER OF GOD, to St Andrew and to St Apollinaris, Patron Saint of the Germans’ Church. Immediately after these prayers, he fell into a sleep as though in an ecstasy and when he woke up a short while later he summoned his confessor. He spoke to him in the presence of a number of other people as follows: 

“Father, in the name of God:  what have I just seen?”

There was something in the way he asked this question that made all those present draw near, anxious to learn what had happened to him.  

“I have seen things which simply cannot be understood, even less put into words, but here is what I can tell you. At the same moment that I fell asleep, it seemed that my soul left my body and was escorted to face judgement by God. There I found myself alone for quite a period of time and God alone knows how I suffered. For the enemies of my salvation began to make accusations against me in front of the sovereign Judge. They charged me with several sins which seemed so terrible that I felt it was only a question of time before I was delivered into their power; but the Mother of goodness came forward, followed by St Andrew, Saint Apollinaris and several holy martyrs. With a severe look on her face, she asked these imps from hell how they could dare to attack someone who had been a servant for so many years in her Congregation. They were so astonished that they immediately took flight in terror and I could see I was now out of danger.”

He spoke these words with a peaceful look on his face which did not change in any way until death finally took him away some four hours after he had finished speaking.   

Footnotes

[1] See § 5.3 above.

[2] Franciscus Bencius, in Annalibus, anno 1386.

Francis Moricus

 5   Here is another example dating from two hundred and ninety years before the events I just described.

A Franciscan friar called Moricus, having lived a very saintly life, found himself approaching death and he began to utter desperate and frightening cries, saying that he was going to be damned. Hearing his shouts, the other friars came running to his bedside and sought to strengthen his fortitude by speaking of the efficacious power of the Saviour’s precious blood and his Holy Mother’s intercession. This succeeded in bringing him consolation and he remained quiet for some time; but then he started to sing repeatedly the most holy name of Jesus. When he finally ceased, his brothers who were close to his bedside asked him why he had done this. Here is what he replied:

“I was taken before God’s tribunal to be judged and, although my conscience felt clear, I knew just how strictly our lives are examined at this final judgement and I honestly thought I would be damned. But the Holy Virgin, my dear Advocate, came to my side and told me that by way of satisfaction for my sins, I should pronounce one hundred times the most sacred name of Jesus. That is what you heard me singing.”

§ 6. How the Holy Virgin consoles her children amid the flames of Purgatory and the care she takes of their bodies

 1   All that remains for us now is the final step of the five we mentioned[1] as being sources of anxiety for those approaching death and this one will readily alarm anyone who understands it for what it is. I am speaking of the fire which consumes those poor souls who have not provided full satisfaction for their sins whilst they were still united to their bodies. These fires are so fierce and burn so hot that any fires in this world would be as dew when compared to those of Purgatory. If what the Holy Doctors say on this subject is true – that the fires are no different from those burning the wretched who have been damned, except with regard to their duration and the soul’s resignation to the divine will – then we are forced to conclude that all the pains we could ever suffer here on earth are but dim foreshadowings compared to them. Inasmuch, however, as my intention is to console the servants of the MOTHER OF GOD rather than to terrify them by describing these torments, I implore them to take heart and be confident that their dear Mother will never cease to help and console them until that moment finally arrives when they take up their abode in Heaven.  

There would be far too many things for me to say if I wanted to describe in detail how many ways she has of supplying them with refreshment and fortitude. Accordingly, it will suffice to mention a number of examples.

Footnotes

[1] See § 1. 3. above for the five steps.

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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.

© Peter Bloor 2025