"...These are the thoughts and expressions of the Fathers of the Church..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We continue today, Chapter 17, of St. Louis de Montfort’s book, “The Love of Eternal Wisdom”. One of the reasons I’m blessed by St. Louis De Montfort’s writing is because he loved Scripture. He also knew God’s Revelation comes through Sacred Scripture primarily, but also through Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. St. Louis’ writings are approved by the Church.

Servant of God Frank Duff, whose cause for canonization is in Rome, read St. Louis de Montfort at least half a dozen times before he suddenly realized it was “true”. It was not one passage that convinced him but God’s Grace enabled him to understand nothing was wrong with what the saint wrote, but rather he, Frank Duff, lacked sufficient background for understanding the words he read. Anyone interested can read Frank’s difficulty HERE

Let us now listen again to Chapter 17 on "The greatest means of all … for obtaining and preserving divine Wisdom … loving and genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin. :

1. Happy are those who have won Mary’s favours! They can rest assured that they will soon possess divine Wisdom, for as she loves those who love her (cf Prov 8.17), she generously shares her blessings with them, including that infinite treasure which contains every good, Jesus, the fruit of her womb.
2. If it is true to say that Mary is, in a sense, mistress of Wisdom incarnate, what control must she have over all the graces and gifts of God, and what freedom must she enjoy in giving them to whom she chooses. The Fathers of the Church tell us that Mary is an immense ocean of all the perfections of God, the great storehouse of all his possessions, the inexhaustible treasury of the Lord, as well as the treasurer and dispenser of all his gifts. Because God gave her his Son, it is his will that we should receive all gifts through her, and that no heavenly gift should come down upon earth without passing through her as through a channel. Of her fulness we have all received, and any grace or hope of salvation we may possess is a gift which comes to us from God through Mary. So truly is she mistress of God’s possessions that she gives to whom she wills, all the graces of God, all the virtues of Jesus Christ, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, every good thing in the realm of nature, grace and glory. These are the thoughts and expressions of the Fathers of the Church, whose words, for the sake of brevity, I do not quote in the Latin. But whatever gifts this sovereign and lovable Queen bestows upon us, she is not satisfied until she has given us incarnate Wisdom, Jesus her Son; and she is ever on the look-out for those who are worthy of Wisdom (Wis 6.17), so that she may give him to them.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful, kindle in us, the Fire of Your Love. Jesus we trust in you to help us obey your words: “Behold your Mother”! Holy Mary, Mother of God given to us, pray for us.

 

[patricius79]

But whatever gifts this sovereign and lovable Queen bestows upon us, she is not satisfied until she has given us incarnate Wisdom, Jesus her Son; and she is ever on the look-out for those who are worthy of Wisdom (Wis 6.17), so that she may give him to them.

Thank you, MariaChristi. I think that “those who are worthy of Wisdom” is referring to anyone who is trying, by grace, to seek God and avoid sin. And the weaker someone is, the more Mary exerts herself to help them to find Jesus.

Pope Leo XIII wrote:

The Eternal Son of God, about to take upon Him our nature for the saving and ennobling of man, and about to consummate thus a mystical union between Himself and all mankind, did not accomplish His design without adding there the free consent of the elect Mother, who represented in some sort all human kind, according to the illustrious and just opinion of St. Thomas, who says that the Annunciation was effected with the consent of the Virgin standing in the place of humanity.(5) With equal truth may it be also affirmed that, by the will of God, Mary is the intermediary through whom is distributed unto us this immense treasure of mercies gathered by God, for mercy and truth were created by Jesus Christ.(6) Thus as no man goeth to the Father but by the Son, so no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother. How great are the goodness and mercy revealed in this design of God! What a correspondence with the frailty of man! We believe in the infinite goodness of the Most High, and we rejoice in it; we believe also in His justice and we fear it. We adore the beloved Saviour, lavish of His blood and of His life; we dread the inexorable Judge. 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. Such Christ desired she should be, for He consented to be subject to Mary and to obey her as a son a mother. Such He proclaimed her from the cross when he entrusted to her care and love the whole of the race of man in the person of His disciple John. Such, finally, she proves herself by her courage in gathering in the heritage of the enormous labours of her Son, and in accepting the charge of her maternal duties towards us all.
Octobri Mense (September 22, 1891) | LEO XIII

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks so much for your love of Jesus throgh Mary and the excellent quote from Pope Leo XII! This sentence you quoted touched me especially:

…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…

…“God gave her to us”…can we ever thank Him enough? "He taught her … If we would love God and His Mother, then by His Grace, let us continue to behold our Mother as Jesus told us from His Cross. Through her intercession, may we listen to all Jesus said and did, pondering all in our hearts and do the Truth we hear from Him, as our Mother did on this earth.

 

[patricius79]

Thank you, MariaChristi.

I know that we can’t fail to find Jesus, who is Eternal Wisdom and Mercy, if we are calling on the Blessed Mother.

 

[patricius79]

Let us now listen again to Chapter 17 on " The greatest means of all … for obtaining and preserving divine Wisdom … loving and genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin. :

So, then the devil and his crew must do everything they can to convince us to de-emphasize Mary’s role in Christ’s plan of salvation.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Yes, the devil is the “father of lies” and so he continues to use many crafty ways – attempting to draw us away from Mary our Mother, even as he tempted Adam and Eve. However, God told the devil after he succeeded in deceiving Adam and Eve:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;
They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel (Gen. 3:15)

Our spiritual battle continues now but in the end Mary’s Immaculate Heart will triumph. Thanks for your continuing love for, and faithfulness to, Jesus through Mary,