Mar. 9 - Wk 1 - Day 6 journey continues ..."seeking true self-knowledge..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we continue our journey, God’s Word helps us – as always – in “seeking true self-knowledge”. We’ve been called to holiness and today’s Gospel is so important to hear, remembering yesterday’s Transfiguration scene and the Words of the Father: “This is My Beloved Son. LISTEN to Him”.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.” (today’s Gospel - Lk 6:36-38)

St. Louis de Montfort reminds us often, that without God we are, and can do, nothing. Jesus knows our weaknesses, so in calling us to union with God in the perfection of Charity, He gave us from His Cross, Mary our Mother, the perfect human Model to help us hear and follow our Good Shepherd. St. Louis explains:

It is difficult to persevere in holiness because of the excessively corrupting influence of the world. The world is so corrupt that it seems almost inevitable that religious hearts be soiled, if not by its mud, at least by its dust. It is something of a miracle for anyone to stand firm in the midst of this raging torrent and not be swept away; to weather this stormy sea and not be drowned, or robbed by pirates; to breathe this pestilential air and not be contaminated by it. It is Mary, the singularly faithful Virgin over whom Satan had never any power, who works this miracle for those who truly love her. (# 89 in “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”)

This first week follows and builds upon our emptying ourselves of the spirit of the world. Then as now, we realize - we’ll battle evil throughout our life, but the more we LISTEN to Jesus and the wisdom He shared with His Saints, the more we behold our Mother and do the Truth we see and hear, the closer we are to that Perfect Charity which is eternal.

1. During the first week they should offer up all their prayers and acts of devotion to acquire knowledge of themselves and sorrow for their sins. Let them perform all their actions in a spirit of humility… Every day they should say the Litany of the Holy Spirit,** with the prayer that follows, as indicated in the first part of this work. They will turn to our Blessed Lady and beg her to obtain for them that great grace which is the foundation of all others, the grace of self-knowledge . For this intention they will say each day the Ave Maris Stella and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.

Litany of the Holy Spirit see HERE

Ave Maris Stella see HERE

Litany of the Blessed Virgin see HERE

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear KBS,

Thanks so much for your “faith - full heart”. St. Louis de Montfort in listing the ten principal virtues of Mary wrote:

Her ten principal virtues are: deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, surpassing purity, ardent love, heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. (paragraph # 108, in “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”

We will ponder these virtues more in week 2, but I put in bold print the first two virtues because they are so basic: humility and faith! Pride is the opposite of humility and it is the root cause of many other sins which offend God. What satan lost by his pride, Mary gained by her humility. It is especially important for us in this first week of “seeking true self-knowledge” that we see ourselves as God’s “little ones” dependent on His continuing Grace. Listening to the Voice of our Good Shepherd in the Gospel of John we hear Him tell His first disciples and us:

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (Jn 15: 5)

Also in Chapter 15 of John’s Gospel in the same discourse at the Last Supper, Jesus assures us:

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. (Jn 15: 9-10)

The Beloved disciple John repeats Jesus’ word “Remain” often in His Gospel and it is one we need to ponder often as well. Humility and Faith are virtues Mary practiced constantly.
Filled with Grace, she faithfully listened and obeyed God. Mary lived the Truth she heard.

Please let us continue to pray for one another as we come to the end of this first week tomorrow, and then begin to seek an even greater knowledge of Mary who leads us to Jesus. Let us pray for all those with us on this journey and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy.

A humble heart is faithful and so let us strive to humbly believe with our whole hearts that when we pray humbly asking with faith, God daily reveals to us His Will which is our sanctification. Thanks again for your humble and faithful heart, KBS, and I am grateful as well to all those who are journeying along with us.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your “faith - full” heart" also. Pondering the experiences any of us who are “seeking true self-knowledge” may have had or are now experiencing, I was grateful for God’s Grace to remember St. Louis de Montfort’s words in paragraph 228:

During the first week they should offer up all their prayers and acts of devotion to acquire knowledge of themselves and sorrow for their sins. Let them perform all their actions in a spirit of humility…

How true it is that we need to offer our prayers especially to acquire a knowledge of ourselves! We need also to be grateful to the Lord for revealing to us what we perhaps did not realize about ourselves before we began to pray for this knowledge! It really is a gift to receive God’s grace to know our faults and failings in order to repent of them and earnestly strive to do better by God’s Grace and Mary’s intercession.

How very important also to beg our Blessed Mother to obtain that great grace which is the foundation of all others, the grace of true self knowledge. As we humbly receive answers to our prayers, may we rejoice in knowing that God is working all for good as He promised for those who love Him.

The evil one, of course will continue to prowl around but he is never any match for Jesus and Mary! If we continualy pray with humility and cooperate with the graces God gives – then, God willing, we will continue to grow in holiness. Thanks for all your replies and encouragement to me and to others who read thise threads. How true it is that we are called to build up the Body of Christ in Love! (cf Ephesians 4: 15 -16)

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Stephie,

Thanks for your “faith - full” heart also. Wk 1 can be a difficult week but one that can be very fruitful by God’s Grace. The more we begin to know truly that without God we can do nothing, the more we begin to see His Love coming to us through His Gift of Mary.

God willing, tomorrow we end this First week of “seeking true self knowledge” and turn our gaze toward seeking an understanding of Mary during Wk 2.

St. Louis de Montfort wrote these reassuring words to help us appreciate God’s gift of Mary to us:

1. But have we no need at all of a mediator with the Mediator Himself? Are we pure enough to be united directly to Christ without any help? Is Jesus not God, equal in every way to the Father? Therefore is He not the Holy of Holies, having a right to the same respect as His Father? If in his infinite love He became our security and our Mediator with His Father, whom he wished to appease in order to redeem us from our debts, should we on that account show Him less respect and have less regard for the majesty and holiness of His person?

Let us not be afraid to say with St. Bernard that we need a mediator with the Mediator Himself and the divinely-honoured Mary is the one most able to fulfil this office of love. Through her, Jesus came to us; through her we should go to Him. If we are afraid of going directly to Jesus, who is God, because of His infinite greatness, or our lowliness, or our sins, let us implore without fear the help and intercession of Mary, our Mother. She is kind, she is tender, and there is nothing harsh or forbidding about her, nothing too sublime or too brilliant. When we see her, we see our own human nature at its purest. She is not the sun, dazzling our weak sight by the brightness of its rays. Rather, she is fair and gentle as the moon, which receives its light from the sun and softens it and adapts it to our limited perception.

She is so full of love that no one who asks for her intercession is rejected, no matter how sinful he may be. The saints say that it has never been known since the world began that anyone had recourse to our Blessed Lady, with trust and perseverance, and was rejected. Her power is so great that her prayers are never refused. She has but to appear in prayer before her Son and He at once welcomes her and grants her requests. He is always lovingly conquered by the prayers of the dear Mother who bore Him and nourished Him.

Thanks for your “encouraging heart” on this journey with all of us. Please let us continue to pray for one another and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy, through Mary.

 

[hazcompat]

Lumen Gentium
Chapter VIII

IV. The Cult of the Blessed Virgin in the Church

1. Placed by the grace of God, as God’s Mother, next to her Son, and exalted above all angels and men, Mary intervened in the mysteries of Christ and is justly honored by a special cult in the Church. Clearly from earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the title of Mother of God, under whose protection the faithful took refuge in all their dangers and necessities.(21*) Hence after the Synod of Ephesus the cult of the people of God toward Mary wonderfully increased in veneration and love, in invocation and imitation, according to her own prophetic words: “All generations shall call me blessed, because He that is mighty hath done great things to me”.(301) This cult, as it always existed, although it is altogether singular, differs essentially from the cult of adoration which is offered to the Incarnate Word, as well to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is most favorable to it. The various forms of piety toward the Mother of God, which the Church within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the conditions of time and place, and the nature and ingenuity of the faithful has approved, bring it about that while the Mother is honored, the Son, through whom all things have their being (302) and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell,(303) is rightly known, loved and glorified and that all His commands are observed.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks, hazcompat,

We can hear similar words taken from “Lumen Gentium” repeated in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” published after the Vatican II Council. The final words in your quote are so important for all to hear:

…while the Mother is honored, the Son, through whom all things have their being and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, is rightly known, loved and glorified and that all His commands are observed.

It seems to me the world is failing to “see” by Supernatural Faith the Truth God has revealed in the Incarnation. Many of those Baptized into the Body of Christ in the Catholic Church have become “worldly” and are neglecting Mary, also.

It was through Mary Jesus first came to us and He continues. Jesus her Son is not rightly known, loved and glorified today because Mary is not being honored as God desires her to be known and loved. As St. Louis de Montfort wrote centuries ago and as Saints have believed:

1. My heart has dictated with special joy all that I have written to show that Mary has been unknown up till now, and that that is one of the reasons why Jesus Christ is not known as he should be.

If then, as is certain, the knowledge and the kingdom of Jesus Christ must come into the world, it can only be as a necessary consequence of the knowledge and reign of Mary. She who first gave him to the world will establish his kingdom in the world.