Day 24 - humbly smiling

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

During this week of seeking knowledge of Mary, let us hear again from St. Louis de Montfort and Pope Emeritus :

1. …look upon Mary, although a simple human being, as the perfect model of every virtue and perfection, fashioned by the Holy Spirit for us to imitate, as far as our limited capacity allows. In every action then we should consider how Mary performed it or how she would perform it if she were in our place. For this reason, we must examine and meditate on the great virtues she practised during her life, especially:

1. Her lively faith…

1. Her deep humility…

1. Her truly divine purity… And so on for her other virtues… (from De Montfort’s True Devotion)

Yesterday I posted words from Pope Emeritus’ homily at Lourdes on “Mary’s smile” and I promised to continue:

…To wish to contemplate this smile of the Virgin, does not mean letting oneself be led by an uncontrolled imagination. Scripture itself discloses it to us through the lips of Mary when she sings the Magnificat: “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour” (Lk 1:46-47)…

…In the very simple manifestation of tenderness that we call a smile, we grasp that our sole wealth is the love God bears us, which passes through the heart of her who became our Mother. To seek this smile, is first of all to have grasped the gratuitousness of love; it is also to be able to elicit this smile through our efforts to live according to the word of her Beloved Son, just as a child seeks to elicit its mother’s smile by doing what pleases her. And we know what pleases Mary, thanks to the words she spoke to the servants at Cana: “Do whatever he tells you” (cf. Jn 2:5).

Mary’s smile is a spring of living water. “He who believes in me”, says Jesus, “out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water” (Jn 7:38). Mary is the one who believed and, from her womb, rivers of living water have flowed forth to irrigate human history…

…Mary entrusts her smile to you, so that you yourselves may become, in faithfulness to her son, springs of living water. Whatever you do, you do in the name of the Church, of which Mary is the purest image. May you carry her smile to everyone!/QUOTE]
Come, Holy Spirit, enable us to spend this day and all our days, humbly smiling with Mary.
Mary our Mother, continue to smile on us, your children, praying for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Litany of the Holy Spirit - HERE
AveMaris Stella - HERE
The Rosary - praying as in all prayers, with attention and devotion