Sept. 4 - Wk 3 - Day 3 - seeking a better understanding of Jesus

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In preparing us to consecrate or renew our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, St. Louis de Montfort wrote in His treatise on “True Devotion”:

1. During the third week they should seek to understand Jesus Christ better. They may read and meditate on what we have already said about him. They may say the prayer of St. Augustine which they will find at the beginning of the second part of this book. Again with St. Augustine, they may pray repeatedly, “Lord, that I may know you,” or “Lord, that I may see.” As during the previous week, they should recite the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella, adding every day the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus.

Praying the Ltany of the Holy Name can help us by the power of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary to begin to understand some of the beauty and Mystery of the Incarnate Son of God who died for love of us.

Especially on this First Friday of the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows let us pray with greater attention and devotion, The Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, truly seeking to understand Him better. Due to the “word limit” on CAF, I can only include a few of the invocations but as we pray the entire Litany today, let us ponder the great Love of Jesus whose name means “Savior”:

…Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, splendor of the Father, have mercy on us
Jesus, brightness of eternal light, have mercy on us
Jesus, King of glory, have mercy on us
Jesus, sun of justice, have mercy on us
Jesus, Son of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on us…

… V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. have mercy on us, O Jesus…

Let us pray.

O Lord Jesus Christ, You have said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek, and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened to you.” Grant, we beg of You, to us who ask it, the gift of Your most divine love, that we may ever love You with our whole heart, in word and deed, and never cease praising You.

Give us, O Lord, as much a lasting fear as a lasting love of Your Holy Name, for You, who live and are King for ever and ever, never fail to govern those whom You have solidly established in Your love. . Amen.

 

[hazcompat]

Every prayer to Mary is centered on Christ​

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

The maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, and lasts until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. (Lumen Gentium 62)

Jesus, the only Mediator, is the Way of our prayer; Mary, His Mother and our Mother, is completely transparent to Him: she shows the Way, “she is its Sign,” according to traditional Eastern and Western iconography.

Prayer to the Blessed Mother of God is therefore centered on the Person of Christ manifested in her mysteries. In the countless hymns and antiphons that express this Marian prayer, we usually find two alternating movements: one that “magnifies” the Lord for the “great things” He has done for His humble servant, and through her, for all human beings (cf. Lk 1:46-55); the other that entrusts to the Mother of Jesus the supplications and praises of the children of God, since she now knows the humanity that in her has been espoused by the Son of God.

This double movement of Marian prayer is perfectly expressed in the “Hail Mary.”

Parish of Our Lady of Victories (Paris, France), 2017

Read more on mariedenazareth.com:​

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear hazcompat,

Thanks for another good quote and for the picture – I wondered if that was also from the Parish of Our Lady of Victories (Paris, Francis) 2017.

Yes, Mary is centered on Christ and she refers every prayer she receives to Him, even as she herself broutht the needs of the couple at Cana to Him and then told the servants: “Do whatever He tells you”. Our Mother continues her intercession for all of us as Mother and Model for the Church.

St; Louis de Montfort, in his treatise on True Devotion, in paragraph 225 wrote::

…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 honour her, when we present anything to her, then God is praised, honoured and loved and receives our gift through Mary and in Mary.

Today is the First Friday of Sept., the month dedicated to our Sorrowful Mother. Let us join her in offering Reparation to Jesus for the offenses committed against His Sacred Heart, as He requested of St. Margaret Mary in the 1600’s. Tomorrow is First Saturday, and we seek Reparation for the many blasphemes against the Immaculate Heasrt of Our Mother Mary.

The union of Their Hearts is unique and yet their love seeks to draw us all into their embrace. It is we who often fail to respond to their love!