Dec. 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents - Wk 3 -Day 5 - "Seek to Know Jesus better"

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

St. Louis de Montfort, encourages us to seek Jesus through Mary throughout his treatise on “[True Devotion]”(Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin | EWTN). – you may want to read more from this link to the digital pdf copy of his small book.

Today’s Feast of the “Holy Innocents”-- those babies and all children under 2 yrs of age who were slaughtered under the command of jealous King Herod – gives us much to ponder.

God sent an angel to tell St. Joseph to take the Child Jesus and His Mother and flee into Egypt to escape. Can you or I even begin to imagine this first sword piercing Mary’s Heart as had been prophesied by Simeon in the temple on the occasion of the Presentation of Jesus.

Transformation into the likeness of Jesus

1. If Mary, the Tree of Life, is well cultivated in our soul by fidelity to this devotion, she will in due time bring forth her fruit which is none other than Jesus. I have seen many devout souls searching for Jesus in one way or another, and so often when they have worked hard throughout the night, all they can say is, “Despite our having worked all night, we have caught nothing.” To them we can say, “You have worked hard and gained little; Jesus can only be recognised faintly in you.” But if we follow the immaculate path of Mary, living the devotion that I teach, we will always work in daylight, we will work in a holy place, and we will work but little. There is no darkness in Mary, not even the slightest shadow since there was never any sin in her. She is a holy place, a holy of holies, in which saints are formed and moulded.
2. Please note that I say that saints are moulded in Mary. There is a vast difference between carving a statue by blows of hammer and chisel and making a statue by using a mould. Sculptors and statue-makers work hard and need plenty of time to make statues by the first method. But the second method does not involve much work and takes very little time. St. Augustine speaking to our Blessed Lady says, “You are worthy to be called the mould of God.” Mary is a mould capable of forming people into the image of the God-man. Anyone who is cast into this divine mould is quickly shaped and moulded into Jesus and Jesus into him. At little cost and in a short time he will become Christ-like since he is cast into the very same mould that fashioned a God-man.

The little children killed were an image of Jesus Who was born to die for us. His Mother experienced all the sorrow of those mothers who watched their babies die, and Mary continues to mourn the babies killed today by abortion in all the countries of the world. There is no doubt in my mind that God has permitted the evils of this time to show us the extent to which satan hates Mary and her Child.

By God’s Grace may we hold fast to our Baptismal Gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, to be ready at the end of our journey to give ourselves totally to Jesus through Mary.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful with Jesus, as you filled Mary! Enable us to give our ALL to Him as Mary did on this earth.

 

[Vico]

And in the Byzantine Tradition this commemoration day (The Holy Innocents killed by Herod in Bethlehem) is December 29th and the 28th is the commemoration day for The Holy Twenty Thousand Martyrs of Nicomedia (302 A.D.)

Innocents: The impious king did this in the expectation that, with them, the infant Jesus would perish. They have been honored as martyrs from the first ages of the Church, the first-fruits of all who would pour out their blood for God and the Lamb.

Martyrs: During the reign of emperor Maximian Hercules, the Christian faith was brutally persecuted in Nicomedia. When the local Christians had gathered in the church to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, he ordered his soldiers to surround the church and set it on fire. Those inside were offered free passage out, as long as they betrayed Christ. They refused, men, women and children, and were martyred.

 

[hazcompat]

Contemplate Jesus through the Virgin Mary’s eyes​

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

I am convinced that when the shepherds arrived at the grotto of Bethlehem, they did not immediately go to the baby Jesus: they first looked at the Virgin Mary, talked to her and beheld her, before they actually were shown her Child. That is when they were finally able to contemplate Jesus.

We too should always contemplate the mysteries of the Gospel through Mary’s eyes. After meditating on Christ’s death on the Cross, if we think that we have exhausted its depths, we should ask ourselves: “How did Mary see her Son while He was dying on the Cross?” And we should say to Mary: “Help me to understand this mystery a little better, as you understood it.”

If you do this, the Virgin Mary will no longer be for you just an object of veneration for the example of perfect holiness that she represents. She will take you under her mantle and cover you up, and help you to contemplate all the mysteries of Jesus Christ with her own eyes.

Cardinal Charles Journet

Swiss Catholic theologian (1891-1975)

Entretiens sur Marie - Ed. Parole et Silence 2001

Read more on mariedenazareth.com :

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear hazcompat,

Thanks so much for this beautiful quote from Cardinal Charles Journer. Every word in this quote is like an echo of my own thoughts. How simple the Shepherds were – they did not doubt the Angels who told them the Truth! Immediately they went to “behold” the Truth they heard from God’s messengers.

What an important message for all of us! Yes, let us too! Let us go before the manger scene in our homes and prayerfully behold Mary, the Mother Jesus gave us from His Cross. Let us listen to her tell us more of the Truth she knows now – that we might know Jesus better.

Unless we become humble as “little children” as I believe these shepherds were and are, how can we enter heaven where to find Jesus and Mary and all the splendor of the the Blessed Trinity Who has come to dwell with us and within us!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Vico,

Thanks for your reply. I will need to look up "The Holy 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia (302 A.D.). Thanks for sharing that reference.

The Holy Innocents in today’s world seem to be far more than those 20, OOO Martyrs of Nicomedia – when we consider all the those babies and children killed, without their even knowing why. God has warned us in the Gospel about the days when men’s love will grow cold - and I believe we are experiencing a great deal of coldness especially towards children these days.

The Letter of Peter is clear - St. Peter had first hand experience with the temptaions of satan, and he wrote:

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. (1 Peter 5: 8-9)

Let us continue to pray for one another, for the Church and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy, through Mary.

 

[Vico]

…

Yes, let us pray for one another!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Greenfields and Inbonum,

Thanks so much for your “hearts” which reveal your love for Jesus through Mary, and your attention to St. Louis de Montfort’s writing. God has blessed His Saints with Wisdom to share with His Church. We need to listen to Him when He speaks so clearly through His Word in Scripture and His continuing Faithfulness to His Saints who sought and found Him. May we persevere in the Supernatural Faith, Hope and Charity given to us in our Baptism.