Oct. 9 - "...God in these times wishes His Blessed Mother to be more known..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are coming near the end of Chapter 1, in St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on “True Devotion” – and how relevant his words are today:

2) Devotion to Mary is especially necessary in the latter times.

1. Finally, God in these times wishes his Blessed Mother to be more known, loved and honoured than she has ever been. This will certainly come about if the elect, by the grace and light of the Holy Spirit, adopt the interior and perfect practice of the devotion which I shall later unfold. Then they will clearly see that beautiful Star of the Sea, as much as faith allows. Under her guidance they will perceive the splendours of this Queen and will consecrate themselves entirely to her service as subjects and slaves of love. They will experience her motherly kindness and affection for her children. They will love her tenderly and will appreciate how full of compassion she is and how much they stand in need of her help. In all circumstances they will have recourse to her as their advocate and mediatrix with Jesus Christ. They will see clearly that she is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus and will surrender themselves to her, body and soul, without reserve in order to belong entirely to Jesus.
2. But what will they be like, these servants, these slaves, these children of Mary?

They will be ministers of the Lord who, like a flaming fire, will enkindle everywhere the fires of divine love. They will become, in Mary’s powerful hands, like sharp arrows, with which she will transfix her enemies.

They will be as the children of Levi, thoroughly purified by the fire of great tribulations and closely joined to God. They will carry the gold of love in their heart, the frankincense of prayer in their mind and the myrrh of mortification in their body. They will bring to the poor and lowly everywhere the sweet fragrance of Jesus, but they will bring the odour of death to the great, the rich and the proud of this world.

1. They will be like thunder-clouds flying through the air at the slightest breath of the Holy Spirit. Attached to nothing, surprised at nothing, troubled at nothing, they will shower down the rain of God’s word and of eternal life. They will thunder against sin, they will storm against the world, they will strike down the devil and his followers and for life and for death, they will pierce through and through with the two-edged sword of God’s word all those against whom they are sent by Almighty God.

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.

 

[fide]

The knowing of Jesus and the knowing of Mary are closely bound together, both being an interior work in the soul of the grace of the Holy Spirit. And the reverse - of serious consequence for the Christian, and for the Church, and for the world especially in the trials of the Last days - follows, as well:
a shallow and mixed embrace of Jesus, and a shallow and mixed embrace of Mary, are closely bound together, here resulting from an impoverishment of the grace of the Holy Spirit in the soul.

In an often-cited observation of Pope St. John Paul II, we hear the central truth of the union of “the two hearts” a bit differently:

“…Where the Mother is, there too is the Son. When one moves away from the Mother, sooner or later he ends up keeping distant from the Son as well. It is no wonder that today, in various sectors of secularised society, we note a widespread crisis of faith in God, preceded by a drop in devotion to the Virgin Mother. …” (Legion of Mary Handbook , p. 6)

In our time, we can perhaps begin to see the Last Days approaching, and even now we can begin to see the spiritual poverty growing in Western culture, and the need for Light growing, as the lights around us grow dimmer. The world needs the Church - by God’s plan and design - and now the Church needs authentic saints to illuminate the Church within, to stir the flickering embers of devotion to true burning zeal, to ignite heat and light!

The Church is nodding, dozing, eyes drooping, hearts cooling. Come Lord Jesus! Come Holy Spirit! Mother Mary, pray for us please, that we might awaken soon and stand straight in witness to Truth.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear fide,

Thanks so much for your insightful reply. St Louis sought to fulfill God’s desire to make His Mother more known, loved and honored than she has ever been, so must we do today. Spiritual poverty grows all around us, and as you wrote:

The world needs the Church - by God’s plan and design - and now the Church needs authentic saints to illuminate the Church within, to stir the flickering embers of devotion to true burning zeal, to ignite heat and light!

Jesus from His Cross gave Mary to us as Mother and Model for the Church, but today, there is as Pope St. John Paul II saw growing in 1982, an even worse crisis of faith in God – too many have already moved away from the Mother and are thus keeping distant from the Son!

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us, that the Holy Spirit may awaken more and more souls in the Church soon!