"...great souls filled with grace and zeal..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In every trial, we may feel as if “the end is near”. When I read these paragraphs, in St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin I cannot be sure of what he was experiencing in the 1700’s but I know that the Church continued to endure and is enduring trials today over 200 hundred years later. So I’m hearing his words today as “prophetic words” God gave him to preach not only in his day but to write these words so we could continue to hear and ponder in our hearts the wisdom God gives His saints:

1. These great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light, strengthened by her food, guided by her spirit, supported by her arm, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one hand and build with the other. With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing and crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, namely, the Blessed Virgin, who is called by the Fathers of the Church the Temple of Solomon and the City of God . By word and example they will draw all men to a true devotion to her and though this will make many enemies, it will also bring about many victories and much glory to God alone. This is what God revealed to St. Vincent Ferrer, that outstanding apostle of his day, as he has amply shown in one of his works.

This seems to have been foretold by the Holy Spirit in Psalm 58: “The Lord will reign in Jacob and all the ends of the earth. They will be converted towards evening and they will be as hungry as dogs and they will go around the city to find something to eat.” This city around which men will roam at the end of the world seeking conversion and the appeasement of the hunger they have for justice is the most Blessed Virgin, who is called by the Holy Spirit the City of God .

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful - enable us to be “…great souls filled with grace and zeal … chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides… exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin.” Jesus we trust in You! Mary, Mother and Model of the Church, pray for us.

 

[patricius79]

In every trial, we may feel as if “the end is near”. When I read these paragraphs, in St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin I cannot be sure of what he was experiencing in the 1700’s but I know that the Church continued to endure and is enduring trials today over 200 hundred years later.

If I remember and understand right, both St. Louis De Montfort and St. Alphonsus Liguori were both writing so beautifully about Mary in the 1700s, and both were opposed by the Jansenists, who had a pretty negative idea of God and devotion to Mary

Today there isn’t so much rigorism of the Jansenists, as there is secularism and laxity. But there is still the idea that intent devotion to Mary can distract us from Christ.

Like St. Louis, St. John Eudes–who also faced the Jansenist opposition-- addressed this eariler, in the 1600s:

Do you fear to slight the incomparable goodness of the Heart of Jesus, your God and Redeemer,
if you invoke the charity of His Mother’s Heart? Do you not know that Mary is nothing, possesses
nothing, and can do nothing except in, through and by Jesus? Do you not know that Jesus is
everything and that He can and does accomplish everything through her? Do you not know Jesus made
Mary’s Heart as it is, and that He willed it to be the fountain of light, of consolation and of every
possible grace for those who will have recourse to it in their necessities? Do you forget that not only
does Jesus reside and dwell perpetually in Mary’s Heart, but that He is in truth the heart of her
Heart and the soul of her soul; and that therefore coming to the Heart of Mary means to honor Jesus
and to invoke her Heart is to invoke Jesus?
Full text of "The Admirable Heart Of Mary by St John Eudes"

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your reply and for your “heart” ever ready to read and ponder more from St. Louis de Montfort in his “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”, and ponder the words of all the saints who share with us their own great love for Jesus through Mary. Some persons may continue to criticize devotion to Mary for different reasons and some may say they don’t want to “scandalize” others but when we love love Jesus through Mary we are surely – as the saints understood – walking on the “narrow road that leads to Life”.

God’s plan revealed in Gen. 3:15 continues. He chose Mary as the Woman who would bring Jesus into the world to crush the serpent’s head and save us – and help us become truly the children of God and the children of Mary. Let us continue to ask in order to receive, to seek in order to find and keep knocking on the door for God to open to us all the treasure of Grace he has given Mary to share with us. Let us by His Grace, hear deeply in our hearts and obey the words Jesus spoke to John and through John to us on Calvary:

Behold your Mother

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

In every trial, we may feel as if “the end is near”.

I started laughing at the very first sentence because it’s so relatable

 

[patricius79]

God’s plan revealed in Gen. 3:15 continues. He chose Mary as the Woman who would bring Jesus into the world to crush the serpent’s head and save us – and help us become truly the children of God and the children of Mary

Amen. May we all progress from believing that Mary is the New Eve to knowing that she is uniquely, particularly given to each human person as our mother in grace, if only we receive her.

Yes, our times are challenging, but they were a hundred years ago too, when Pope St. Pius X wrote this, seeing Mary as prefigured by the rainbow after the flood:

True, we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make our own the lamentation of the Prophet: “There is no truth and no mercy and no knowledge of God on the earth. Blasphemy and Iying and homicide and theft and adultery have inundated it” ( Os . iv.,1-2). Yet in the midst of this deluge of evil, the Virgin Most Clement rises before our eyes like a rainbow, as the arbiter of peace between God and man: “I will set my bow in the clouds and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me and between the earth” ( Gen . ix.,13). Let the storm rage and sky darken - not for that shall we be dismayed. “And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it and shall remember the everlasting covenant” ( Ibid .16). “And there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh” ( Ibid .15.). Oh yes, if we trust as we should in Mary, now especially when we are about to celebrate, with more than usual fervor, her Immaculate Conception, we shall recognize in her that Virgin most powerful “who with virginal foot did crush the head of the serpent” (Off. Immac. Conc.).
http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x...x_enc_02021904_ad-diem-illum-laetissimum.html

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear OScarlett,

Thanks for your reply. Perhaps I began “painting my image with too broad a brush”. Each day may bring many “little” trials, we can by God’s Grace “offer up” to the Lord and endure.

In the thread I began today, however, I was pondering especially St. Louis de Montfort’s words describing great souls filled with grace and zeal who willl:

… oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally
devoted to the Blessed Virgin.

So I pondered how little my trials are, and with the help of God’s Grace resolved, to offer greater love in opposing God’s enemies: 1st) the evil one who tempts me within to oppose God. 2nd) ask God’s pardon with sincere sorrow for times I’ve neglected to ask His Grace, to see and stop evil within me and in the world raging on all sides. 3rd) pray for grace to discern Truth from lies 4th) and finally to increase my devotion to Jesus through Mary, knowing Jesus gave Mary to us for times such as these.

Yes, we can laugh at ourselves, dear OScarlett, as you said, for we take every little trial as if “the end is near” but we can underestimate the danger of not seeing the one prowling around seeking to devour us, (cf 1 Pet 5: 8 ) and also our call to be truly “great-souled” as little St. Therese of Lisieux wrote. Her little way was a way of suffering but she put her trust in Jesus through Mary as St. Louis and all the Saints did. All in unique ways, but great, zealous – and souls devoted to Mary as Jesus told us: “Behold your Mother!”

 

[maryslegion]

Oh how beautiful is our Mother!! I have heard Her called many things, but never “City of God”. This makes me want to read City of God!!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your reply and quote from Pope St. Pius X - Going to Gen. ix, 16 to see what that reference held since the Pope referred to it after citing Gen. ix, 13 in his encyclical, it was interesting to see how Gen. ix, 16 contains God’s Promise to set His bow in the clouds as a sign of a covenant between God and the earth. In Gen ix 13 God says “And the bow shall be in in the clouds, and I shall see it and shall remember the everlasting covenant”. The Pope then goes back to Gen. ix 15, to stress God’s promise there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh. The 3 references point to God’s intention and faithfulness.

It seems to me the Pope carefully makes the comparison of the Virgin Mary rising before our eyes like a “rainbow” as the arbiter of peace between God and man. How beautiful! He wants us to remember His Plan in the beginning after the original sin. The Pope brings us back full circle to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15) reminding us that we can trust in Mary’s intercession, for by the power of the Holy Spirit, she brought forth Jesus and “who with virginal foot did crush the head of the serpent”. We can see in Mary His Faithful Promise and His Plan remains the same. The end will come to earth one day for there will be a final coming of Jesus through Mary. It will not come by a flood but Mary told us at Fatima her Immaculate Heart would Triumph. Jesus came the first time through Mary and He will triumph in the end through her.

It is no wonder St. Louis de Montfort points us to the end of the world in paragraph #48 in the OP. He urges us again to listen to Scripture and ponder what he sees foretold in Psalm 58:

This city around which men will roam at the end of the world seeking conversion and the appeasement of the hunger they have for justice is the most Blessed Virgin, who is called by the Holy Spirit the City of God

 

[patricius79]

It will not come by a flood but Mary told us at Fatima her Immaculate Heart would Triumph. Jesus came the first time through Mary and He will triumph in the end through her.

Amen. He will come through Mary, as St. Louis says. This reminds me of what Vatican II says:

1. There is but one Mediator as we know from the words of the apostle, “for there is one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all”.(298) The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power. For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ.
   http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_...s/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your quote from Vatican II, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church also reaffirms:

CCC 970 - “Mary’s function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin’s salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it.” “No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.”

Today is Saturday, “Mary’s Day” for centuries within the hearts of Cathokic all over the world. Let us honor our Mother as God has honored her in overshadowing her and by the power of the Holy Spirit, she conceived in her womb, Jesus the Incarnate Son of God. What greater honor could God have bestowed on a human perso – Mary is uniqe!

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks, dear sister, for your reply. Yes, the “City of God” of God is a beautiful title for Mary as well as the title of St. Augustine’s book. You can probably read it online somewhere if you “Google it.”

I was particularly impressed by St. Louis de Montfort’s insight into Psalm 58, and his connecting the Scripture to what St. Augustine wrote. In paragraph 48 of “True Devotion”, speaking of the “great souls filled with grace”, St. Louis de Montfort wrote:

They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light, strengthened by her food, guided by her spirit, supported by her arm, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one hand and build with the other. With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing and crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, namely, the Blessed Virgin, who is called by the Fathers of the Church the Temple of Solomon and the City of God .…

This seems to have been foretold by the Holy Spirit in Psalm 58 : “The Lord will reign in Jacob and all the ends of the earth. They will be converted towards evening and they will be as hungry as dogs and they will go around the city to find something to eat.” This city around which men will roam at the end of the world seeking conversion and the appeasement of the hunger they have for justice is the most Blessed Virgin, who is called by the Holy Spirit the City of God .