Follow her and you cannot go wrong, says St. Bernard

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing the Story of Rebecca and Jacob from St. Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion”:

1. Our Lady’s charity towards her faithful servants goes further. She provides them with everything they need for body and soul. We have just seen that she gives them double garments. She also nourishes them with the most delicious food from the banquet table of God. She gives them the Son she has borne, the Bread of Life, to be their food. “Dear children,” she says in the words of divine Wisdom, “take your fill of my fruits,” that is to say, of the Fruit of Life, Jesus, “whom I brought into the world for you.” “Come,” she repeats in another passage, “eat the bread which is Jesus. Drink the wine of his love which I have mixed” for you with the milk of my breasts.

As Mary is the treasurer and dispenser of the gifts and graces of the Most High God, she reserves a choice portion, indeed the choicest portion, to nourish and sustain her children and servants. They grow strong on the Bread of Life; they are made joyful with the wine that brings forth virgins. They are carried at her breast. They bear with ease the yoke of Christ scarcely feeling its weight because of the oil of devotion with which she has softened its wood.

1. A third service which our Lady renders her faithful servants is to lead and direct them according to the will of her Son. Rebecca guided her little son Jacob and gave him good advice from time to time, which helped him obtain the blessing of his father and saved him from the hatred and persecution of his brother Esau. Mary, Star of the sea, guides all her faithful servants into safe harbour. She shows them the path to eternal life and helps them avoid dangerous pitfalls. She leads them by the hand along the path of holiness, steadies them when they are liable to fall and helps them rise when they have fallen. She chides them like a loving mother when they are remiss and sometimes she even lovingly chastises them. How could a child that follows such a mother and such an enlightened guide as Mary take the wrong path to heaven? Follow her and you cannot go wrong, says St. Bernard. There is no danger of a true child of Mary being led astray by the devil and falling into heresy. Where Mary leads, Satan with his deceptions and heretics with their subtleties are not encountered. "When she upholds you, you will not fall."

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful as you filled Mary with Jesus!

 

[patricius79]

They are carried at her breast. They bear with ease the yoke of Christ scarcely feeling its weight because of the oil of devotion with which she has softened its wood.

How could a child that follows such a mother and such an enlightened guide as Mary take the wrong path to heaven? Follow her and you cannot go wrong, says St. Bernard.

I love these passages.

What great mercy God has shown to us in giving us His Mother!

 

[Dan_Defender]

‘When the storms to temptation burst upon thee, when thou seest thyself driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look at the star, call upon Mary. When buffeted by the billows of pride, or ambition, or hatred, or jealousy, look at the star, call upon Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of thy soul, look at the star, call upon Mary.’ - St Bernard of Clairvaux

 

[Mark121359]

Follow her and you cannot go wrong, says St. Bernard.

Oh my goodness how true! Further, what an overwhelming joy it is to follow her!!! I always seem to fail to put into words what Our Lord’s Mom means to me, so I won’t attempt it here. All I can do is daily thank Our Lord for this precious gift.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Crucifix, patricius, Mark and Stephie,

Thank you all for your “hearts”, letting us know that your appreciated the words of St. Louis de Montfort from his treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. How grateful we all need to be for the “Gift” of Mary as our Mother, Jesus gave us from His Cross!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your repy, and I heartily agree with you! We can never thank God enough for giving Jesus to us through Mary by the power of His Holy Spirit, and for Jesus giving her to us in His words from the Cross:

Behold your Mother!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Dan_Defender,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, St. Bernard knew, as did all the saints, how precious a gift Mary is, and he and they called upon her often and with full confidence given to them by their Supernatural Faith. May we ever call upon her for our own needs as well as the needs of all, with grateful and humble hearts. We are so unworthy of such a Mother!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Mark,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, how truly God loves us in sending Jesus through Mary and how tenderly Jesus’ Heart emptied for us on His Cross gave all – including His Mother to us! Yes, He told us: “Behold Your Mother” and we can only thank Him and strive with our whole hearts to do as John did, and take Mary into our homes and into our lives.

Jesus gave her to us because He knew she would only bring us closer to Him and to all we were created to become – true sons and daughters of God – holy as He is Holy.

 

[Ccarino]

Where do you people come up with such things? The Lord God supplies our every need 2Peter 1:3 and Mary did not give us Jesus, God our Father gave us Jesus -John 3:16 -For God so loved the world that “He gave” us his only begotten son! And the Holy Spirit is the dispenser of fruits and gifts 1Corinthians 12:13 And our very own apostles creed states the “Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of Life”! Our Father God is a jealous God He will not stand for any of you robbing his glory and draping it on the Blessed Mother, making her into more than who she Is intended to be. Scripture states - let them be a cursed who do such things Galatians 1:8

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Ccarino,

Welcome to Catholic Answers Forum! I’m sorry to read your question – “Where do you people come up with such things?” I checked your profile page to see if you were Catholic and you identified yourself as such so I was a bit surprised.

My post was mainly taken from the writings of a canonized Saint of the Catholic Church and as such his life and writings have been studied and are not contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. In fact, his writings have much scripture in them – one of the reasons I appreciate his writing! By the way, Pope St. John Paul II, and St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, appreciated St. Louis de Montfort’s writing too.

Your references to 2 Peter 1-3: and John 3:16 are beautiful and true quotes from Scripture but you did not include these words from Luke 1: 26 - 38, as well, which add more completeness to the Mystery of the Incarnation:

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

God chose to send His Son through Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit. God inspired all the Words of Scripture and He does not contradict Himself. The Word became Flesh in Mary’w womb. God chose to give Jesus to us through Mary. by the Power of the Holy Spirit. He could have given Him in any manner but He chose to send Him as He describes in His Holy Word. Mary is a gift given to us all from Jesus on the Cross (John 19: 26-27). I hope you’ll continue to reflect on the fullness of God’s Truth in the Scriptures and also come to appreciate also the wisdom He gives His saints.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks goodguy, for your “heart”, letting us know you appreciated the words of St. Louis de Montfort as he continues to share with us what he has learned from the Holy Spirit in his writing his spiritual classic, “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. If you’ve never read this book you can click on the title and it will take you to the online version. It is a book that needs to be read slowly and prayerfully, and probably more than once! It has blessed many of us, however.