Have you been afraid to love Mary too much - yet still want to get closer to her?

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Recently someone asked how they might come closer to Mary. It seems to me that some Catholics and many non Catholics are “afraid” to offend Jesus by loving Mary too much. The saints, however thought differently, St. Louis de Montfort in his book on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin wrote:

…62. If then we are establishing sound devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only in order to establish devotion to our Lord more perfectly, by providing a smooth but certain way of reaching Jesus Christ. If devotion to our Lady distracted us from our Lord, we would have to reject it as an illusion of the devil. But this is far from being the case. As I have already shown and will show again later on, this devotion is necessary, simply and solely because it is a way of reaching Jesus perfectly, loving him tenderly, and serving him faithfully.

1. Here I turn to you for a moment, dear Jesus, to complain lovingly to your divine Majesty that the majority of Christians, and even some of the most learned among them, do not recognise the necessary bond that unites you and your Blessed Mother. Lord, you are always with Mary and Mary is always with you. She can never be without you because then she would cease to be what she is. She is so completely transformed into you by grace that she no longer lives, she no longer exists, because you alone, dear Jesus, live and reign in her more perfectly than in all the angels and saints. If we only knew the glory and the love given to you by this wonderful creature, our feelings for you and for her would be far different from those we have now. So intimately is she united to you that it would be easier to separate light from the sun, and heat from the fire. I go further, it would even be easier to separate all the angels and saints from you than Mary; for she loves you ardently, and glorifies you more perfectly than all your other creatures put together…

Hopefully these words can help all of us to continue asking Jesus for His Grace to love Mary more!

The Act of Consecration which St. Louis de Montfort wrote, and his 33 day preparation which some of us completed on Sept. 8 the Feast of Mary’s Nativity is a perfect renewal of our Baptismal promises. In Baptism we were given the gifts of Supernatural Faith Hope and Charity. That was the only the beginning of our call to holiness. By God’s grace if we continue to hear Jesus Words: “Behold your Mother” - we will “see by faith” all that we are called to become in His Plan for us.

I don’t want to exceed CAFs word limit, so I’ll stop here, praying: Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of Your Faithful, kindle in us, the Fire of Your Love. Jesus we trust in You! Mary, Mother and Model for the Church, pray for us.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Convert,

Thanks so much for your “heart” – I’m sure it is a joy for Jesus and Mary to see your heart also!

 

[Peonies]

@MariaChristi, thank you for all the posts you make in devotion to our Blessed Mother. It is very clear that you love her.

 

[MariaChristi]

Ah but, my dear Peonies, I do not love Mary our Mother nearly enough! I write that sincerely, for I have not always been so devoted, but only by God’s Grace. did he begin to show me how I had begun in my childhood but then neglected her until He gave me that precious grace of finding her again, and realizing she never left me but was always there with me.

Though I’d forgotten and neglected her many times, she never forgot to pray for me, because Jesus gave me to her and she loved me with His love.
Let us please pray for one another Peonies and pray for all God’s children who need to come closer to Jesus through Mary.

 

[Jellyfish]

This is really giving me hope and the will to love Mary more, and to awake my sleeping love for her.

Thank you for this! I never thought about Mary and Jesus that way. That Mary can’t be without Jesus and will always lead us to him is really a big help in gaining trust to Mary.



I have a question: is it appropriate to talk to the blessed virgin? I mean, I just talk to her. I don’t want visions or so… when praying is hard, can I just talk to her?
So I mean without visions or voices etc…

I mean just tell her about my day and talk to dear Mary throughout the day.
Is this okay?

Jellyfish

 

[Jellyfish]

I may have lots of spiritual trials and temptations… Maybe I have nothing left in me.
But it is hurtful to think that I won’t love Mary.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Jellyfish,

Praise God for renewing His gift of Hope in your heart! Yes, His Graces enable us to “wake up” from any sleeping love for our Mother Mary!

I’m happy to answer your question – and assure you that it is not only appropriate to “to talk” to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but that really is what Prayer is – it is a relationship with God and Mary is closer to Him than any other human person. That is why St. Louiis de Montfort encourages us to go to Jesus “through Mary”. We can talk to both Jesus and Mary anytime.

The first words I pray when I wake up each morning are: “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you all my prayers, works. joys and sufferings of this day, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being offered somewhere in the world this day.” It’s a prayer I learned as a child but I believe it helps me to start my day well.

I talk to Mary and Jesus often durig the day – at different times, such as when I’m getting breakfast ready, or doing the dishes afterwards, etc. etc. Yes, tell Mary whatever is in your mind and heart and ask for her help – Mary is Jesus’ gift to us and she loves us with His Love. Their hearts are united in a love that is unique. Mary is not God but she is the closest human person to Him. I’ll answer your next reply now.

 

[MariaChristi]

I may have lots of spiritual trials and temptations… Maybe I have nothing left in me.
But it is hurtful to think that I won’t love Mary.

Dear Jellyfish,

We are all bound to have spiritual trials and temptations because we live in a “wounded” world. The original sin of Adam and Eve caused us all to bear that burden – but God so loved the world and the souls He created that He sent His Son through Mary by the power of His Holy Spirit, to save us from eternal death, by becoming Incarnate in Mary’s womb. Jesus assumed a human nature and became like us in everything except sin so that He could redeem us by his Life, Death Resurrection and Ascension to Heaven. Then He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit upon the Church so that we could become baptized by water and the Holy Spirit and begin to live free from the stain of original sin, and begin to live as members of His Body, His Church.

Without Christ we can do nothing – and so after we are cleansed in Baptism we really are “born again” – we are made new in Christ to live a holy life, and Mary is both Mother and Model for the Church. Do not believe the lies of satan. He will tempt you to feel as if you can’t love Mary but remember the Words of the Angel in the Gospel of Luke: “Nothing is impossible with God”. Mary believed the Angel Gabriel’s message to her from God and said: “Be it done to me according to Your Word” - Mary said “Yes” to God in Faith.

In Baptism, we are given the Supernatural gifts of Faith, Hope and Charity, and we begin our life of holiness. We may fall into imperfections, and venial or even mortal sin, but God is Merciful and if we continue to pray for His Graces He will answer. Yes it is hurtful when we realize we may have failed to love God more than ourselves, but we need to put our minds and hearts back in order and look to Him for the help we need to be forgiven and strive by His Grace to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as our selves.

Mary is always there with God to help us – resist the devil and he will flee when he hears you praying to Jesus through Mary! Two short prayers that always help me are: “Jesus I trust in You!” and “Mary my Mother, I am all yours, Keep me, Guard me as yours!” The evil ones hate to hear those names of Jesus and Mary for they know they can never win against them.

Let us stay close to Jesus through Mary as children who stay close to those who truly love them. There is a truth in St. Louis de Montfort’s book on True Devotion when he tells us to “empty ourselves of the spirit of the world which is opposed to Christ”. But the emptiness that satan may tempt you to feel is another of his lies. He is and was a liar from the beginning and he is the “father of lies”. Do not listen to him but Listen to the Word of God in the Gospel. Jesus is our Way, our Truth and our Life.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful. Kindle in us, the fire of Your Love. Fill us as you filled Mary with Jesus!

 

[Mark121359]

It seems to me that some Catholics and many non Catholics are “afraid” to offend Jesus by loving Mary too much.

In a letter to her cousin Marie Guérin on May 30, 1889, St. Thérèse wrote this;

“Have no fear of loving the Blessed Virgin too much, you will never love her enough, and Jesus will be pleased since the Blessed Virgin is His Mother.”
~St. Thérèse of Lisieux~

http://archives-carmel-lisieux.fr/e...096:lt-92-a-marie-guerin&catid=361&Itemid=225

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Mark,

Thanks so much! This may be a good time to introduce that beautiful poem of St. Therese to anyone who has not yet read it: the title of this last poem written by St. Therese of Lisieux is::

Why I Love Thee, O Mary

It is a long poem and you will need to click on the link which is to all her poems but scroll down to page 54 where this poem begins and it ends on p. 61. It was her last poem and I believe it is her most beautiful one.

 

[Jellyfish]

Thank you very much

Jellyfish

Edit: And please pray for me if you can. This… first your devotion Threads then this, they helped me. I am currently stuck in some really bad trials and almost think that there is no hope for me.

But your threads helped me to gain new will to go to Mary.
Thank you very much!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Jellyfish,

Perhaps you began to read St. Therese of Lisieux’s last poem. This translation from the French is not as good as some other translations but let me quote the beginning of her poem from the link I gave. I hope you pondered the saints words:

Fain would I sing, O Mother blest! the reasons why I love thee; Why e’en to name thy name, with joy, O Mary! fills my, heart;
And why the glorious thoughts of thee, in greatness far above me,
Inspire no fear within my soul, so dear and sweet thou art.

Yet, if I were to see thee now, in majesty stupendous, Surpassing all the crowned saints in highest heaven above,
Scarce could I dream I am thy child, (O truth sublime, tremendous!),
For I should think myself to be unworthy of thy love.

The mother, who desires to be her child’s best earthly treasure, Must ever share its grief with it, must understand its pain.
Queen of my heart! how many years, thy sorrows had no measure;
What bitter tears thine eyes have shed, my worthless heart to gain!

So, musing on thy earthly life, in Scripture’s sacred story, I dare to look upon thy face, and unto thee draw nigh;
For when I see thee suffering, — concealed thy marvelous glory —
It is not hard, then, to believe thy little child am I.

When we are suffering, Mary is especially close to us. She is Our Lady of Hope for she knows the Love of God and the Power of God’s Love and she knows how suffering can really help us to come closer to Jesus Who suffered so much for us. Take time with this little saint’s words. She suffered much before she died.

 

[Jellyfish]

I have good news!
Thank you for bringing these links to St. Thereses Writings. They helped me get deeper in my faith. Through her letters and devotions I really began to notice more depth.

I also looked around at this page and looked at her paintings and I read another letter. There was more than I knew. More depth. More beauty.
Thank you!

 

[Jellyfish]

So… if it’s okay… can I share something I had in mind?
It made me really happy, because this were the good thoughts in prayer I really missed.

So… we were praying the rosary. And I’ve mentioned somewhere else how dry and empty prayer is for me. But not today!

Because I thought about the most holy trinity, I decided to think about Mary’s Love to the most holy trinity.
You know, this may be something we already know already, but can I share it anyway?

So, dear Marys love to the trinity is like a beautiful rose in the best color there is. There is joy and praise to the trinity mixed in. It’s really beautiful. But this is just the start.

So… I am quite young. So I am not forty, fifty, sixty. I am under thirty. And I am not married or so.
Mary too was my age, and she definitely had a youth. Still, it was a holy youth. Because she is free from sin and so.

I pictured how Mary would present the prayers and love of her and several other holy ones to the trinity. She would be very happy and joyful and in my age. The prayers and love would be in thousand unique roses. I would imagine that some petals would be flying around.

The most holy trinity would be clothed with the sun. And Mary would have simple but pretty clothes.
Mainly white, Sandals, a not too long veil… her outfit. Maybe a big scapular in blue or so…

I mean, I just want to focus on the joy dear Mary has by giving these roses to our dear God. I am aware that these kind of pictures should not be meant to design some pretty dreams but to deepen our love to our blessed mother and the most holy trinity.

So… this was it!
I hope everything was appropriate for Mary and God. Please continue to pray. And really thank you for this blessing thread!

Jellyfish

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Jellyfish,

Thanks for sharing the graces God has given you through the writings of His Little Saint Therese of Lisieux who is also fondly called by many “The Little Flower”, and the graces He continues to give you in coming closer to Mary our Mother, who is called “Mystical Rose” in the Litany of Loretto

St. Louis de Montfort wrote about Mary’s relationship to the Holy Trinity in True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin: in this paragraph and in other paragraphs:

1. Mary is the supreme masterpiece of Almighty God and He has reserved the knowledge and possession of her for Himself. She is the glorious Mother of God the Son who chose to humble and conceal her during her lifetime in order to foster her humility. He called her “Woman” as if she were a stranger, although in His heart He esteemed and loved her above all men and angels. Mary is the sealed fountain and the faithful spouse of the Holy Spirit where only He may enter. She is the sanctuary and resting-place of the Blessed Trinity where God dwells in greater and more divine splendour than anywhere else in the universe, not excluding his dwelling above the cherubim and seraphim. No creature, however pure, may enter there without being specially privileged.

Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, let us honor her with all the love God gives us – not just on her Feast days but everyday of our lives!

 

[Jellyfish]

Thank you.
I really want to thank you. I think I forgot to focus more on my faith- And now I want to get it to the light and deepen it.

So, Thank You!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Jellyfish,

It is Jesus, through Mary, Whom we all need to thank – for it is He who has won the Victory for us – saving us by His Life, death, resurrection and ascension to the Father and together with the Father for sending His Holy Spirit upon the Church. Let us thank also our Dear Mother Mary Who has been praying for us and who continues to listen to Her Son Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God – as He told her to behold Her Son in John and in all of us.

Let us be grateful for God’s Gifts to both of us in Baptism, that we were taken out of the old Adam and given a new birth in Christ, becoming Members of His Body – sharing His Life and learning day by day to be more and more transformed in Him through Mary.

Please let us continue to pray for one another, for the Church and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy. Dear Jellyfish you are welcome to all God has given me – let us together praise and thank Him for everything He wills for His Children.

 

[Jellyfish]

Please tell me about this.
How works Jesus through Mary?

Please help me.

 

[MariaChristi]

Always happy to help, dear Jellyfish,

God willing, I hope to begin a new series of threads on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” because St. Louis de Montfort explains how to go to Jesus through Mary better than I ever could. I continue to learn from St. Louis de Montfort’s writing as I believe he learned from the Holy Spirit by reading Scripture and also many writings of Saints who loved Jesus through Mary .

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and a good day for you to ask your question. Tomorrow is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. The beautiful History of the Church finds Mary always with Jesus, and so the Devotion of going to Jesus through Mary becomes clearer the more we begin to ponder God’s Word – as St. Louis prayerfully pondered Scripture and was led by God to see more and more clearly God’s Plan for Jesus to come to us through Mary – beginning in the First Book of the Bible, Genesis 3: 15

Satan (appeared as a snake) to Eve tempting her by his lies to disobey God’s Command to her and Adam NOT to eat from one particular tree in the Garden. Eve disobeyed God and Adam likewise disobeyed by eating the fruit, believing the lies of satan.

God spoke these words to satan:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.

These words have been understood by the Church as the Promise of God to send Jesus as “The New Adam” and Mary as the “New Eve”. There is enmity (a hatred for evil) and only a love for God in Mary who was created Immaculate from her conception. The evil one continues to tempt people in this world to do evil. The offspiring of Mary – those who are born again in Baptism and become members of the Body of Christ are by grace enabled to chose good over evil. Jesus came to us through Mary at His first coming in the Incarnation and He continues to come to us through our Baptism and to grow in us thrughout our lives by all the graces He gives us through Mary, Mother of the Church.

Let me close for now – and God willing – I’ll begin a new series tomorrow on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. I’ll date each post and give numbers of the paragraph as I go from beginning to end. Tomorrow is the Feast of Our Lady’ of Sorrows, and thus a good day to begin. Mary has suffered with Jesus and we need to offer her our love in return. We honor Jesus each time we honor her, for we are being as obedient to Him as Mary and John were obedient at the foot of the Cross – Listeneing to Jesus and doing the Truth they heard from Him.

Come Holy Spirit! Fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love. Jesus, we trust in You! Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.

 

[Jellyfish]

Thank you very much.
This was a beautiful post. By chance, do you know how we can do something for God in suffering?
Is our suffering something worth?
And there are not many passages in scripture of Mary, how can we get an example of her in hard times?

I know she stood by the cross and so… but how did she overcome the pain?

Jellyfish
:writing_hand:t2: