"...among all the devotions to the Blessed Virgin the one which will lead us more surely to this dying to self."

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing to listen to St. Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”:
  1. Thirdly, we must choose among all the devotions to the Blessed Virgin the one which will lead us more surely to this dying to self. This devotion will be the best and the most sanctifying for us. For we must not believe that all that glitters is gold, all that is sweet is honey, or all that is easy to do and is done by the majority of people is the most sanctifying. Just as in nature there are secrets enabling us to do certain natural things quickly, easily and at little cost, so in the spiritual life there are secrets which enable us to perform works rapidly, smoothly and with facility. Such works are, for example, emptying ourselves of self-love, filling ourselves with God, and attaining perfection.
The devotion that I propose to explain is one of these secrets of grace, for it is unknown to most Christians. Only a few devout people know of it and it is practised and appreciated by fewer still. To begin the explanation of this devotion here is a fourth truth which is a consequence of the third.

Fourth principle: It is more humble to have an intermediary with Christ
  1. It is more perfect because it supposes greater humility to approach God through a mediator rather than directly by ourselves. Our human nature, as I have just shown, is so spoilt that if we rely on our own work, effort and preparedness to reach God and please Him, it is certain that our good works will be tainted and carry little weight with him. They will not induce Him to unite Himself to us or answer our prayers. God had His reasons for giving us mediators with Him. He saw our unworthiness and helplessness and had pity on us. To give us access to His mercies He provided us with powerful advocates, so that to neglect these mediators and to approach His infinite holiness directly and without help from any one of them, is to be lacking in humility and respect towards God who is so great and holy. It would mean that we have less esteem for the King of kings than for an earthly king or ruler, for we would not dare approach an earthly king without a friend to speak for us.
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Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful. Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love. Bring us into all Truth. Jesus, we trust in You! Mary, our Mother and Model, pray for us.
 
Dear yellowdaffodils,

Thanks for your “heart” to let us know you read and appreciated what St. Louis de Montfort wrote in hus treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. If you have never read this classic little book, you can click on the link to read the online version. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. 🙂
 
MariaChristi said:
Just as in nature there are secrets enabling us to do certain natural things quickly, easily and at little cost, so in the spiritual life there are secrets which enable us to perform works rapidly, smoothly and with facility. Such works are, for example, emptying ourselves of self-love, filling ourselves with God, and attaining perfection.
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Thanks be to God for His Mercy! It would be so hard without Mary to become holy.

More from St. Bonaventure:
Incline thine ear, O Lady, and hear me: turn thy face to me, and have mercy on me.
May the inflowing of thy sweetness delight the souls of the saints: and the infusion of thy
charity be sweet above the sweetest honey.
The resplendence of thy glory enlightens the mind: and the light of thy mercies leads to
salvation.
The fountain of thy goodness inebriates the thirsty: and the aspect of thy countenance
draws men away from sin.
To know thee and to learn thee is the root of immortality: and to declare thy virtues is the
way of salvation.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
https://d2wldr9tsuuj1b.cloudfront.n...re-The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary.pdf
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patricius79 said:
May the inflowing of thy sweetness delight the souls of the saints : and the infusion of thy charity be sweet above the sweetest honey.
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Dear patricius,

Thanks again, for your “heart” and for another beautiful quote from St. Bonaventure! The words he wrote which I requoted above, reminded me of something I read in St. John of the Cross about the “inflow” of the Trinity. That word “inflow” gives us a similar image as St. Bonaventure uses it. The “inflow” of Mary’s sweetness comes from God because her heart is so perfectly open to receive from Him and to give Him to others. This perfect sweetness delights the Saints because they too open wide their hearts as children who “imitate their Mother” and delight their Father in doing so!

The "infusion: of her charity i.e. her love for us because of God’s love and because of our need for her whom He gave to us is sweeter than any honey on earth! By God’s Grace may we “Behold our Mother” and give ourselves to her as Jesus did in Love.
 
Dear Longinus,

I see no contradiction in Hebrews 4:16 in which God through St. Paul encourages us to approach the throne of Grace. Paul is sharing with us the joy of knowing Jesus has won for us what Adam and Eve lost. St. Louis de Montfort, likewise knows this joy and wants us to approach the throne of Grace – realizing also our great need for humility: He concludes paragraph 83 by pointing out :
God had His reasons for giving us mediators with Him. He saw our unworthiness and helplessness and had pity on us. To give us access to His mercies He provided us with powerful advocates, so that to neglect these mediators and to approach His infinite holiness directly and without help from any one of them, is to be lacking in humility and respect towards God who is so great and holy . It would mean that we have less esteem for the King of kings than for an earthly king or ruler, for we would not dare approach an earthly king without a friend to speak for us.
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Thanks for the question. 🙂
 
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I think it’s helpful / useful to also remember that even when Mary is involved, we still encounter Christ directly. It’s not like Mary touches Christ and we touch Mary alone.
When we receive Christ in Holy Communion, we do so through the mediation of a priest, yet we still touch Christ directly.
 
Dear midori and Convert 3,

Thank you both for your “hearts”, letting us know you read St. Louis de Montfort’s words and appreciated what he wrote. Saints have this beautiful humility and reverence before God, while at the same time we see such tender, burning Love for God and for all others because of their love for Him. By God’s Grace may we hear Jesus’ words more deeply:
Behold your Mother
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Her humility is our human model of perfect Love for God and others.
 
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Dear twf,

Thanks for your reply, If you have been reading St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin along with us, in these daily threads, I think you have seen his clear explanations on the place of Mary in God’s Plan. In Chapter 1 he wrote:
  1. If then we are establishing sound devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only in order to establish devotion to our Lord more perfectly, by providing a smooth but certain way of reaching Jesus Christ. If devotion to our Lady distracted us from our Lord, we would have to reject it as an illusion of the devil. But this is far from being the case. As I have already shown and will show again later on, this devotion is necessary, simply and solely because it is a way of reaching Jesus perfectly, loving him tenderly, and serving him faithfully.
  2. Here I turn to you for a moment, dear Jesus, to complain lovingly to your divine Majesty that the majority of Christians, and even some of the most learned among them, do not recognise the necessary bond that unites you and your Blessed Mother. Lord, you are always with Mary and Mary is always with you. She can never be without you because then she would cease to be what she is. She is so completely transformed into you by grace that she no longer lives, she no longer exists, because you alone, dear Jesus, live and reign in her more perfectly than in all the angels and saints…
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Throughout his treatise he continually quotes Scripture which he has read and pondered during his whole life. It is no wonder that Saints in our own time like Pope St. JPII have appreciated his writing and Mother St. Teresa of Calcutta likewise. Both consecrated themselves to Jesus through Mary praying St. Louis de Montfort’s “Act of Total Consecration”, and recommended his writings to others. 🙂
 
Yes, and also Mary is the Throne of Grace.

Blessed Pope Pius IX refers to this teaching of the Church Fathers in his Apostolic Constitution on the Immaculate Conception (“Ineffable God”)
In like manner did they use the words of the prophets to describe this wondrous abundance of divine gifts and the original innocence of the Virgin of whom Jesus was born. They celebrated the august Virgin as the spotless dove, as the holy Jerusalem, as the exalted throne of God, as the ark and house of holiness which Eternal Wisdom built, and as that Queen who, abounding in delights and leaning on her Beloved, came forth from the mouth of the Most High, entirely perfect, beautiful, most dear to God and never stained with the least blemish.
Ineffabilis Deus - Papal Encyclicals
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Dear patricius,

Thanks so much for these lovely words quoted from Blessed Pope Pius IX
… the words of the prophets… describe this wondrous abundance of divine gifts and the original innocence of the Virgin of whom Jesus was born. They celebrated the august Virgin as the spotless dove, as the holy Jerusalem, as the exalted throne of God,…
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How sweet to gaze upon Mary holding her infant Son Jesus, and remembering that she is “the exalted throne of God” as he sits upn her lap! 🙂
 
MariaChristi said:
How sweet to gaze upon Mary holding her infant Son Jesus, and remembering that she is “the exalted throne of God” as he sits upn her lap! 🙂
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Exactly! The Mother of God, who held Jesus in her womb in her her arms, and whose Immaculate Heart is where Jesus dwells, must be the Throne of God, just as the Church fathers and Pope Pius IX say.

She is also the World of God. She truly holds all of us in her heart. Thanks be to God for giving us such a Perfect World to live in!
 
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