"Consequences" for True Devotion to Mary

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing the treatise of St. Louis de Montfort on True Devotion, today we come to ponder the “Consequences” of what the saint has written so far in Chapter One: Necessity of Devotion to Mary:
Consequences
  1. We must obviously conclude from what I have just said:
First, that Mary received from God a far-reaching dominion over the souls of the elect. Otherwise she could not make her dwelling-place in them as God the Father has ordered her to do, and she could not conceive them, nourish them, and bring them forth to eternal life as their mother. She could not have them for her inheritance and her possession and form them in Jesus and Jesus in them. She could not implant in their heart the roots of her virtues, nor be the inseparable associate of the Holy Spirit in all these works of grace. None of these things, I repeat, could she do unless she had received from the Almighty rights and authority over their souls. For God, having given her power over his only-begotten and natural Son, also gave her power over his adopted children - not only in what concerns their body - which would be of little account - but also in what concerns their soul.
  1. Mary is the Queen of heaven and earth by grace as Jesus is king by nature and by conquest. But as the kingdom of Jesus Christ exists primarily in the heart or interior of man, according to the words of the Gospel, “The kingdom of God is within you”, so the kingdom of the Blessed Virgin is principally in the interior of man, that is, in his soul. It is principally in souls that she is glorified with her Son more than in any visible creature. So we may call her, as the saints do, Queen of our hearts.
  2. Secondly, we must conclude that, being necessary to God by a necessity which is called “hypothetical”, (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end. Consequently we must not place devotion to her on the same level as devotion to the other saints as if it were merely something optional
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Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful, kindle in us the Fire of Your Love!

Holy Trinity, draw us closer to Mary that we may draw closer to You Who chose her to Mother your Son and to mother us.
 
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This would appear to say that devotion to Mary - and a high degree of it - is necessary for salvation. Is that supported by actual Magesterial documents?
 
This book needs to be read understanding that it is the language of romance, the language of a love letter. It is not literal.
 
No, you misread. This does not speak of any necessity of devotion to Mary, but of the necessity of Mary herself:
39 Secondly, we must conclude that, being necessary to God by a necessity which is called “hypothetical”, (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end. Consequently we must not place devotion to her on the same level as devotion to the other saints as if it were merely something optional.
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"… we must not place devotion to her on the same level ", because “we” in this holy Church have knowledge of her place beyond that entrusted to all men universally.

Consider this parallel teaching of the Church on the “necessity” of the Church, in the Catechism below. We learn that the Church is necessary for salvation, yes, but not necessarily explicit knowledge of her necessity. Read this, below, concerning your post re: the necessity of Marian devotion. Mary herself is necessary, by God’s economy and design. Explicit knowledge of her necessity, is not itself absolutely necessary. Invincible ignorance eliminates personal culpability. But for those who seek the fullness of His will, will in time find it, and will then become responsible for what they know of Him.
“Outside the Church there is no salvation”
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? [Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 73.21: PL 3, 1169; De unit.: PL 4, 509-536] Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. [LG 14; cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5]
847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation. [LG 16; cf. DS 3866-3872]
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Thanks, very much fide, well said! 🙂

People need to read St. Louis de Montfort carefully. I appreciate your doing so.
The Catechism also reminds us that Mary is both Mother and Model for the Church.
 
The importance of reading carefully cannot be overstated, in all writings of profound importance. First of all, Holy Scripture, and the teachings of His Church, and the writing of our saints - in particular, because of the unique importance of prayer, the writings of the spiritual masters are due most careful reading and listening.

All writings concerning God, and the supernatural, must point beyond themselves to matters that are beyond words. Words on a page are limited; the truths of God are of the Spirit. But, He is Present, to guide us - if we are truly seeking.
 
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