"...If you say 'Mary', she says 'God'..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today ends Chapter 6 and begins the final chapter of “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”:

1. (4) Lastly, you never think of Mary without Mary thinking of God for you. You never praise or honor Mary without Mary joining you in praising and honouring God. Mary is entirely relative to God. Indeed I would say that she was relative only to God, because she exists uniquely in reference to Him.

She is an echo of God, speaking and repeating only God. If you say “Mary” she says “God”. When St. Elizabeth praised Mary calling her blessed because she had believed, Mary, the faithful echo of God, responded with her canticle, “My soul glorifies the Lord.” What Mary did on that day, she does every day. When we praise her, when we love and honor her, when we present anything to her, then God is praised, honored and loved and receives our gift through Mary and in Mary.

CHAPTER SEVEN - PARTICULAR PRACTICES OF THIS DEVOTION

1. Exterior Practices

1. Although this devotion is essentially an interior one, this does not prevent it from having exterior practices which should not be neglected. “These must be done but those not omitted.” If properly performed, exterior acts help to foster interior ones. Man is always guided by his senses and such practices remind him of what he has done or should do. Let no worldling or critic intervene to assert that true devotion is essentially in the heart and therefore externals should be avoided as inspiring vanity, or that real devotion should be hidden and private. I answer in the words of our Lord, “Let men see your good works that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven.” As St. Gregory says, this does not mean that they should perform external actions to please men or seek praise; that certainly would be vanity. It simply means that we do these things before men only to please and glorify God without worrying about either the contempt or the approval of men.

I shall briefly mention some practices which I call exterior, not because they are performed without inner attention but because they have an exterior element as distinct from those which are purely interior.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful. Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love and Your Truth.

 

[patricius79]

She is an echo of God, speaking and repeating only God. If you say “Mary” she says “God”. When St. Elizabeth praised Mary calling her blessed because she had believed, Mary, the faithful echo of God, responded with her canticle, “My soul glorifies the Lord.” What Mary did on that day, she does every day. When we praise her, when we love and honor her, when we present anything to her, then God is praised, honored and loved and receives our gift through Mary and in Mary.

This is so true. I find it impossible to keep my focus on Christ and His Cross, especially when suffering and anxious, without having recourse to Mary, my mother.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius, Stephie and Trishie,

Thank you all for your “hearts”, letting us know that you read and appreciated the words God gave to St. Louis de Montfort, in “True Devotion to the BLessed Virgin”.

How beautiful it is to listen to God speaking through His Saints in praise of His Mother, whom He gave to us from His Cross! Even more beautiful that God gives His Grace to them not only to speak the Truth but to do His Truth by sharing the gifts He gave them with His whole Church, and those even outside the Church who may begin to hear His Truth as they listen to His Word spoken by those to whom He gives grace for the asking. How Good and how Great God is!.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks again for your heartfelt reply. Yes, I agree we have an “incomplete focus” if our eyes do not see Mary at the foot of the Cross, because God willed her to be there for our sake. We need to marvel both at God’s Infinite Love for us in Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross, and also Jesus’ Wisdom in giving Mary to us in all our suffering and at our death. She is our Mother and our Model.

Please let us continue to pray for one another, for the Church, and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy as we travel the “narrow road” to Jesus through Mary.

 

[patricius79]

We need to marvel both at God’s Infinite Love for us in Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross, and also Jesus’ Wisdom in giving Mary to us in all our suffering and at our death.

Amen. May Mary be loved by each of us as much as Christ wills! Mary loves each and every human person in such a way that it’s as if each person were, besides Christ, her only child.

Countless times I have posted two poems : Gerard Manly Hopkins’ poem: “The Virgin Mary Compared to the Air We Breathe” and St. Therese of Lisieux’s poem: “Why I Love Thee, O Mary”. Both poems ponder the unique Union of Jesus with Mary alongside our own union with Jesus through Mary.

Thank you, MariaChristi. Yes. I love St. Louis’s question: “When will souls breathe Mary as the body breathes air?”

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear brother patricius,

Yes, every Mother, but most especially our Mother Mary loves each child individually, and I believe that is because she sees us all in Christ her Son. We are the members of His Body, and she wants each of us to fucntion properly even as God desires us to have the Mind and Heart of His Son, as Mary does. Ah, what wonderous Beauty in the Mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus in the womb of Mary. She gave birth to Him and gives birth to us!

Countless times I have posted two poems : Gerard Manly Hopkins’ poem: “The Virgin Mary Compared to the Air We Breathe” and St. Therese of Lisieux’s poem: “Why I Love Thee, O Mary”. Both poems ponder the unique Union of Jesus with Mary alongside our own union with Jesus through Mary.

May God grant us all the graces we need to love Jesus through Mary as we ought. May we continue to ask in order to receive deep in our hearts and minds those words of Jesus

Behold Your Mother

Obeying as the Apostle John obeyed, by God’s Grace, may we grow to love Mary more and thus grow closer to God each day!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Christian-ity,

Thanks for your “heart”. I’m happy, you’ve continued to follow St. Louis de Montfort’s words in his small book on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”.

Isn’t it a sweet inspiration from the Holy Spirit to St. Louis that this saint would point out to us how utterly “given” Mary is to God? Her reply to the Angel was so complete, so total that Mary did not consider “herself”, but only God in saying “Be it done to me…” Mary did not rely on herself saying, “I” will do this, but she simply gave herself completely to His Will.

Even before Mary looked upon the Face of Jesus, God’s Incarnate Son, the Word made Flesh in her womb, the Holy Spirit was guiding her to follow Jesus, Who always did the Will of the Father! So too, when we call on her and say “Mary,” she knows from the depths of her soul she has only to say “God” for us.