Has anyone else seen a decrease in devotion to Mary? Fewer and fewer seem even concerned that to neglect true Marian devotion offends God Who sent Jesus to us through Mary and Jesus dying on the Cross gave her to us to be our Mother as well as His Mother.
St. Louis may have experienced something similar to what is happening in the Catholic Church today when he wrote his treatise on True Devotion. He wrote these words for the Church of his time (the 1700’s in France) but God gave this saint His grace to write for the Church in every time and place that all may know His Truth and do the Truth they hear.
Let me remind you again of the dependence shown by the three divine Persons on our Blessed Lady. Theirs is the example which fully justifies our dependence on her.The Father gave and still gives his Son only through her. He raises children for himself only through her. He dispenses his graces to us only through her. God the Son was prepared for mankind in general by her alone. Mary, in union with the Holy Spirit, still conceives him and brings him forth daily. It is through her alone that the Son distributes his merits and virtues. The Holy Spirit formed Jesus only through her, and he forms the members of the Mystical Body and dispenses His gifts and His favours through her.
With such a compelling example of the three divine Persons before us, we would be extremely perverse to ignore her and not consecrate ourselves to her. Indeed we would be blind if we did not see the need for Mary in approaching God and making our total offering to Him.
True Devotion To the Blessed Virgin Mary : Nos. 106–110
Marks of authentic devotion to our Lady
First, true devotion to our Lady is interior, that is, it comes from within the mind and the heart and follows from the esteem in which we hold her, the high regard we have for her greatness, and the love we bear her.
Second, it is trustful, that is to say, it fills us with confidence in the Blessed Virgin, the confidence that a child has for its loving Mother. It prompts us to go to her in every need of body and soul with great simplicity, trust and affection.
Third, true devotion to our Lady is holy, that is, it leads us to avoid sin and to imitate the virtues of Mary. Her ten principal virtues are: deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, surpassing purity, ardent love, heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom.
Fourth, true devotion to our Lady is constant. It strengthens us in our desire to do good and prevents us from giving up our devotional practices too easily. It gives us the courage to oppose the fashions and maxims of the world, the vexations and unruly inclinations of the flesh and the temptations of the devil. Thus a person truly devoted to our Blessed Lady is not changeable, fretful, scrupulous or timid.
Fifth, true devotion to Mary is disinterested. It inspires us to seek God alone in his Blessed Mother and not ourselves. The true subject of Mary does not serve his illustrious Queen for selfish gain. He does not serve her for temporal or eternal well-being but simply and solely because she has the right to be served and God alone in her.
Thanks so much for this beautiful post, repeating from St. Louis De Montfort, his explanations of the “marks” of Authentic Devotion to our Lady so that we can do what is most pleasing to God Who honored her first. Each one that he lists for us: True devotion to our Lady is interior; it is trustful; it leads us to imitate her ten principle virtues; it is constant; and it is disinterested.
These are virtues we can “see” by Supernatural Faith as we “Behold her” listening to the Truth God speaks about her in the Gospels. Let us continue to listen and learn from Him
Who understands Mary completely!
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