Aug. 21 - Wk 1, Day 3 -continuing to seek true self-knowledge

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Not only did St. Louis de Montfort pay great attention to God’s Word in scripture but he also “listened” to the Wisdom God gave the saints who loved Jesus through Mary. In True Devotion, St. Louis quotes often Saint Bernard whose feast we celebrated yesterday, St. Augustine and others. St. Louis wrote:

1. As though I had said nothing so far to further her honour, grant me now the grace to praise her more worthily, in spite of all her enemies who are also Yours. I can then say to them boldly with the saints, “Let no one presume to expect mercy from God, who offends His holy Mother.”
2. So that I may obtain from Your mercy a genuine devotion to Your blessed Mother and spread it throughout the whole world, help me to love you wholeheartedly, and for this intention accept the earnest prayer I offer with St. Augustine and all who truly love you.

Prayer of Saint Augustine

O Jesus Christ, You are my Father, my merciful God, my great King, my good Shepherd, my only Master, my best helper, my beloved friend of overwhelming beauty, my living Bread, my eternal priest. You are my guide to my heavenly home, my one true light, my holy joy, my true way, my shining wisdom, my unfeigned simplicity, the peace and harmony of my soul, my perfect safeguard, my bounteous inheritance, my everlasting salvation.

My loving Lord, Jesus Christ, why have I ever loved or desired anything else in my life but You, my God? Where was I when I was not in communion with You? From now on, I direct all my desires to be inspired by You and centered on You. I direct them to press forward for they have tarried long enough, to hasten towards their goal, to seek the one they yearn for.

O Jesus, let him who does not love you be accursed, and filled with bitterness. O gentle Jesus, let every worthy feeling of mine show You love, take delight in You and admire You. O God of my heart and my inheritance, Christ Jesus, may my heart mellow before the influence of Your spirit and may You live in me. May the flame of Your love burn in my soul. May it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart. May it glow in my innermost being. May it spread its heat into the hidden recesses of my soul and on the day of my consummation may I appear before You consumed in Your love. Amen.

Let us pray and ponder this week as St. Louis de Montfort encourages us to seek that grace above all others, the grace of True self knowledge

Prayers - daily for Wk 1:
Litany of the Holy Spirit -Litany of the Holy Ghost | EWTN

Ave Maris Stella -The Prayer, Ave Maris Stella

Litany of the Blessed Virgin - Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Litany of Loreto | EWTN

Come Holy Spirit! Mary Most Humble, pray for us. Jesus, we trust in You!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Stephie,

Thanks for your “ever-Faith-Full and Loving” heart! which is such a beautiful testimony to your devotion to Jesus through Mary! Hopefully it has been thus far a blessed week for you and for others who have been following the threads on “[True Devotion]”(Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin | EWTN)" by St. Louis de Montfort.

As with Sacred Scripture, the more I listen to his little book on “True Devotion” the more I learn. Tomorrow is the Memorial of The Immaculate Heart of Mary. How perfect that title is for Mary when we remember her Immaculate Conception, and the purity of her life on this earth! No wonder Jesus told us:

Behold your Mother!

As the saints beheld her during their lives on this earth, they learned to become more and more like her – listening to and learning from Jesus: the beautiful humility of God and our call to be perfect as He is perfect. May we beg her to intercede for us that we might learn true self-knowledge and strive each day to follow Jesus as Mary did.