Feb. 26 - Day 7 on our journey

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

By God’s grace, we are on Day 7, continuing to “empty ourselves of the spirit of the world” as St. Louis De Montfort wrote in his treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As mentioned before, St. Louis de Montfort in Chapter 2 explains why True Devotion to Mary is so important to our growth in Christ. He, like all the saints, pondered Jesus in Scripture and listened to God’s Word with an open heart as Mary did, pondering all things.

Yesterday I posted paragraph #81 and today, here are the next 2 paragraphs from True Devotion:

1. Thirdly, we must choose among all the devotions to the Blessed Virgin the one which will lead us more surely to this dying to self. This devotion will be the best and the most sanctifying for us. For we must not believe that all that glitters is gold, all that is sweet is honey, or all that is easy to do and is done by the majority of people is the most sanctifying. Just as in nature there are secrets enabling us to do certain natural things quickly, easily and at little cost, so in the spiritual life there are secrets which enable us to perform works rapidly, smoothly and with facility. Such works are, for example, emptying ourselves of self-love, filling ourselves with God, and attaining perfection.

The devotion that I propose to explain is one of these secrets of grace, for it is unknown to most Christians. Only a few devout people know of it and it is practised and appreciated by fewer still. To begin the explanation of this devotion here is a fourth truth which is a consequence of the third.

Fourth principle: It is more humble to have an intermediary with Christ

1. It is more perfect because it supposes greater humility to approach God through a mediator rather than directly by ourselves. Our human nature, as I have just shown, is so spoilt that if we rely on our own work, effort and preparedness to reach God and please him, it is certain that our good works will be tainted and carry little weight with him. They will not induce him to unite himself to us or answer our prayers. God had his reasons for giving us mediators with him. He saw our unworthiness and helplessness and had pity on us. To give us access to his mercies he provided us with powerful advocates, so that to neglect these mediators and to approach his infinite holiness directly and without help from any one of them, is to be lacking in humility and respect towards God who is so great and holy. It would mean that we have less esteem for the King of kings than for an earthly king or ruler, for we would not dare approach an earthly king without a friend to speak for us.

Humility is not part of the spirit of the world! Pride certainly is! As we look around the world today, it is no wonder that the Pope chose for his Lenten theme this year: ‘Because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold’ (Mt 24:12)

Come Holy Spirit, kindle in us the Fire of Your Love.
Jesus meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like Yours.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.