Do we (or do I) magnify the Lord as Mary did and does?

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Each morning I gaze on this picture and pray these words:

“Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array” (from the Song of Songs), and then (from the Gospel of Luke):

“My soul magnifies the Lord…”

This morning after praying those words to the end of Mary’s canticle in Luke 2, I began to ask myself – as a member of the Body of Christ, the Church – "Do we (or do I ) magnify the Lord, as Mary did on earth?

It seems to me best to prayerfully ask God to reveal our own hearts to us, first, for no one but He can plumb the depths of our hearts and reveal what really is within us. Perhaps you too have pondered this question for we see and hear around us so many “differences” among us who call ourselves Catholic Christians. We cannot begin to help others if we are not as Mary was and is : humbly aware of our lowliness before God who created us in love and for love.

This thread is not intended to stir up any more controversies we already hear and read about or even experience but rather to encourage all who read this “OP” (oringianl post). To encourage – by dictionary definition – is to give support, confidence or hope. Some synonyms for the word encourage are: "uplift, inspire, spur on, stir, stir up, fire up!

Let us earnestly pray to the Holy Spirit to fill us with the Fire of His Love as He filled Mary our Mother with His Love, and as He reveals All Truth. Jesus is our Way, our Truth, and our Life, and Jesus gave Mary to us from His Cross so that we might have a purely human example to serve as both our Mother and our Model for the Church.

Those who followed the threads on excerpts from the book “Mary – the Church at the Source”, may remember these words :

Mary, who recapitulated the faith of Abraham and brought it to its goal is now the one blessed. She has become the Mother of believers, through whom all the generations and races of the earth obtain blessing. We place ourselves in this blessing when we praise her. We enter into it when, together with her, we become believers, who magnify God because He dwells among us as “God with us” Jesus Christ, the true and only Redeemer of the world. (p. 79)

I believe the Church, like Mary, is to reflect God as she brought Jesus the Light into the world, so may we, as each member remains in Him and in His Word:

… living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love. (Eph 4: 15 - 16)

 

[StephieNorthCo]

I like that picture too.

Thanks so much for these words every day. I don’t always reply with a post, but they are are always treasured,

I try to emulate “and Mary kept all these things in her heart”.

Blessings,
Stephie

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Stephie,

Often before I post anything, I think about what words might glorify the Lord and honor our Mother. Today, however, before I even thought about it – I began asking myself the very question I began to type. It’s difficult to describe exactly, but I thanked the Holy Spirit for givng me what I wrote.

So happy to know you like the picture, and you are paying attention to Mary – expecially as the Lord has revealed to us: Mary “kept all these things in her heart.”

The heart of every person is so precious to God for He created us in His love. Even after the Original sin of Adam and Eve which brought death to the world:

…God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. (Jn 3:16)

Mary kept the words of Scripture in her Immaculate Heart, and gave her love to God in return. She remained faithful even when she did not understand His Words. Mary believed and trusted God in loving Him with her whole heart and souls and mind and strength. We need to keep praying to the Holy Spirit that we may know Jesus and not deceive ourselves, or listen to those who would seek to deceive us with lies as the evil one tempted Adam and Eve and they fell into the original sin.

There are many false prophets – as John’s First Letter points out – in 1 Jn 4: 1-6:

Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world. You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

I know how quickly time passes each day, Stephie, so I understand you can’t reply every day, but your “heart” is always important, for I know that you are continuing to love Jesus through Mary, and while I still appreciate your replies too, I understand.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your “faithful heart” also. It is such an encouragement because Mary “needs” us to work with her for the Glory of God and the salvation of souls. By God’s grace may we grow daily closer to Jesus through Mary.

Let us heed our Mother’s Request for the Daily Rosary and let us be faithful to our Baptismal promises which we renewed in our Act of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. May the Holy Spirit daily answer our prayer that He come and fill our hearts with His Love, as He filled Mary!

PS Sorry, patricius, but somehow I must have pressed the wrong “reply” for this one to you, patricius. I had already replied to Stephie. Thanks for your understanding.

 

[Divine3]

Yes, to pray the Magnificat is a great prayer to live. It is a way to imitate Mary. Mary who was the greatest disciple of Jesus.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Divine3,

Thanks so much for your “heart” and for this reply. Yes, having begun to pray the “Magnificat” every morning as a member of the Legion of Mary has been a great blessing to me and to others. Also the reading ot St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on True Devotion which was the inspiration for the founding of the Legion of Mary by the Servant of God, Frank Duff in 1921, has helped me to grow closer to Jesus through Mary.

God willing, I hope to renew my Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary this Friday, Feb. 7 – the Anniversary of my Baptism. St. Louis encourages us to renew Our Total Consecration often and even if we don’t make the long 33 day Preparation we can take three days to prepare using themes he gives for the longer preparation: Seeking True Knowledge of Self, Seeking True Knowledge of Mary. and Seeking True Knowledge of Jesus.

If persons reading this thread have not yet read: “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” by St. Louis de Montfort, and/or have not consecrated themselves as is outlined and explained so beautifully in this lttle book, I encourage you to take it up and read it, slowly and prayerfully and seriously consider praying the Act of Total consecration.

The link at the beginning of my reply today will take you to the online version of “True Devotion” and/or if you prefer your own personal copy the book is available on amazon in a relatively inexpensive paperback format.

The Act of Total Consecration is, as St. Louis explains, a perfect renewal of our Baptismal Promises. I might add it is also a way to “live” our new Life in Christ given to us in Baptism. Thanks again for your reply and your desire to continue imitating Mary, our Mother and Model for the Church. Truly, Mary was and is as you said “the greatest disciple of Jesus” !

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Gingersnaps,

Thanks for your “heart” which lets us know you liked what you read. Hopefully, you may read more from St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Mother”. The link will take you to the online version. If you have never read it, I hope you will begin, but read it prayerfully and slowly, asking the Holy Spirit to help you to understand the wisdom God gave to St. Louis de Montfort in writing this little “gem” of a book. It is a spiritual classic that has been a blessing to the Church.

Both Pope St. John Paul II and St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta not only read and practiced De Montfort’s “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” but recommended the book to others. and both of them have quoted from it in their own writing. I try to do the same.

 

[stoplooklisten]

“One Hail Mary, well said, gives us more graces than a great many badly said.”

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear stoplooklisten,

Thanks for your comment. Yes, indeed 1 Hail Mary, well said, – slowly and with attention and devotion – is far more fruitful than any prayer that is rushed through with little thought of: to whom we are praying, to the words we utter and perhaps most of all the motivation in our hearts.

May the Lord forgive us for the many times we have dishonored Him and His Mother in the way we have prayed. May He forgive us and give us grace to do better today.