"...I have waited and waited."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today concludes Chap.1 in “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” by St. Louis de Montfort:

1. They will be true apostles of the latter times to whom the Lord of Hosts will give eloquence and strength to work wonders and carry off glorious spoils from his enemies. They will sleep without gold or silver and, more important still, without concern in the midst of other priests, ecclesiastics and clerics. Yet they will have the silver wings of the dove enabling them to go wherever the Holy Spirit calls them, filled as they are with the resolve to seek the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Wherever they preach, they will leave behind them nothing but the gold of love, which is the fulfillment of the whole law.
2. Lastly, we know they will be true disciples of Jesus Christ, imitating his poverty, his humility, his contempt of the world and his love. They will point out the narrow way to God in pure truth according to the holy Gospel, and not according to the maxims of the world. Their hearts will not be troubled, nor will they show favour to anyone; they will not spare or heed or fear any man, however powerful he may be. They will have the two-edged sword of the word of God in their mouths and the blood-stained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart. The simplicity and self-sacrifice of Jesus will be reflected in their whole behaviour.

Such are the great men who are to come. By the will of God, Mary is to prepare them to extend His rule over the impious and unbelievers. But when and how will this come about? Only God knows. For our part we must yearn and wait for it in silence and in prayer: "I have waited and waited."

Usually St. Louis gives references for what he gives as a quote from Scripture so I tried to search for a scripture using “I have waited and waited”. Many scriptures come close but perhaps this is closest: (as translated in the RSV )

Isa 25:9 It will be said on that day, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

Let us be mindful that the Body of Christ includes both clergy and lay people both men and women. Let me quote from the Catechism as I quoted in another thread:

1268 The baptized have become “living stones” to be “built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.” By Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in His prophetic and royal mission. They are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called [them] out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers.

Come Holy Spirit! Jesus, we trust in You! Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks, patricius for your “heart”, letting us know you read and appreciated the words of St. Louis de Montfort as he concluded Chapter 1 in his treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.. He gave this Chapter the title: “Necessity of Devotion to Our Lady”, and as we have pondered this chapter, I hope many have been strengthened in their conviction of Mary’s importance in God’s Plan for us.

May the Holy Spirit continue to guide all of us as Jesus promised before He died, that He and the Father would send the Holy Spirit to bring us into ALL Truth. Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit continues God’s Plan in bringing Jesus, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, for all Who receive Him.

“O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your power, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Rule over every adverse power, in Your Spirit, for the glory of the Father. Amen.” – prayer of Fr. Olier

 

[patricius79]

They will have the two-edged sword of the word of God in their mouths and the blood-stained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart.

That is so beautiful.

He gave this Chapter the title: “Necessity of Devotion to Our Lady”, and as we have pondered this chapter, I hope many have been strengthened in their conviction of Mary’s importance in God’s Plan for us.

If one looks around on this site, one can see many posts and articles about the crisis the Church is in.

In light of what we’ve read already from St. Louis, as well as what we can read from Papal Encyclicals about Mary which teach her role as Mediatrix of All Grace, it’s clear that we need total devotion to Jesus through Mary.

Pope Pius XI wrote this in an Encyclical:

1. This grace, as We have had occasion to write (Cf. Letter to Cardinal E. Pacelli, Osservatore Romano , September 5, 1937), We attribute to the special intercession of the virgin of Lisieux, St. Therese of the Child Jesus. But We know, though, that everything comes to us from Almighty God through the hands of Our Lady.
   Ingravescentibus Malis (September 29, 1937) | PIUS XI

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Yes, some people seem to sense the terrible crisis of Faith, Pope St. John Paul II warned us about in his address to the Legion of Mary way back in 1982!

“…When one leaves the Mother it is not long before he leaves the Son as well…”

Yet so many others seem “blind” to what is happening, and seem content to ignore God’s Mother and all her apparitions calling us back to God and to repentence – that we not lose the Supernatural Faith given to us at Baptism!

Let us by God’s Grace continue to keep “the holy names of Jesus and Mary on our hearts.”

 

[patricius79]

It’s so sad when we ignore Our Lady, given the extent of her love for us, that she rejoiced to offer Jesus on the Cross for our salvation.

It’s so sad when we don’t appreciate the gift of the Mother of God as our personal Mother.

I pray that priests will preach more about Mary and the meaning of her role as our Mother in the order of grace.

 

[MariaChristi]

Yes, dear patricius,

It is sad enough to make our Mother weep as she did in the apparition at La Salette in France. How sorrowful she was in her apparition also to Sister Lucia in the convent – years after her Apparitions at Fatima. I have a picture on my desk of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a quote from Sister Lucia which is:

“The Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to her message, neither the good nor the bad.” – Sister Lucia of Fatima

Let us pray in reparation to her Immaculate Heart not only on the First Saturdays of every month but every Saturday! Let every Saturday remain as it has for centuries been tradionally, “Mary’s day”— remembering her great faith on Holy Saturday, believing Jesus would rise! Immaculate Heart of Mary, we thank you for loving us – as Jesus gave you special graces, filling your heart, to be our Mother.

 

[patricius79]

Yes, dear patricius,

It is sad enough to make our Mother weep as she did in the apparition at La Salette in France. How sorrowful she was in her apparition also to Sister Lucia in the convent – years after her Apparitions at Fatima. I have a picture on my desk of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a quote from Sister Lucia which is:

“The Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to her message, neither the good nor the bad.” – Sister Lucia of Fatima

So sad. But each of us, no matter what we’ve done, can console her at any time simply by turning to her for mercy. She will reconcile us to her Son.

 

[MariaChristi]

Yes, Mary is our Mother of Mercy, and will not refuse anyone, as she learned from her Son who taught us about Mercy in his parable of the prodigal son. God does not desire death for the sinner but repentance and the seeking of Life in Christ, through Mary.

Mary’s prayers are powerful and so we pray, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

[patricius79]

Oh, if we only knew the Goodness of God in the gift of His Mother, whom he gave to each and every human person from the Cross. Will we receive the gift Christ gave us at the supreme moment of the Cross?

I love what Pope Leo XIII wrote:

Thus do those whose actions have disturbed their consciences need an intercessor mighty in favour with God, merciful enough not to reject the cause of the desperate, merciful enough to lift up again towards hope in the divine mercy the afflicted and the broken down. Mary is this glorious intermediary; she is the mighty Mother of the Almighty; but - what is still sweeter - she is gentle, extreme in tenderness, of a limitless loving-kindness. As such God gave her to us. Having chosen her for the Mother of His only begotten Son, He taught her all a mother’s feeling that breathes nothing but pardon and love.

 

[MariaChristi]

"…Having chosen her for the Mother of His only begotten Son, He taught her all a mother’s feeling that breathes nothing but pardon and love…

Thanks patricius for that beautiful quote from Pope Leo XIII. How well that Pope expressed what is in my heart each time I repeat the words of Jesus from His Cross to John, to myself and to all:

Behold Your Mother