To Jesus, through Mary - First Friday Today, First Saturday tomorrow!

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Having completed St. Louis de Montfort’s book, “The Love of Eternal Wisdom” (Jesus) in a series of threads on CAF – by God’s Grace, I’m beginning today a new series on his treatise: “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. This series is a natural “follow-up” to the book on Eternal Wisdom, as the last Chapter emphasized:

Mary is the surest, the easiest, the shortest, and the holiest of all the means of possessing Jesus Christ .

How faithfully the Catholic Church continues to celebrate devotions and feast days to show the unique union of Jesus and Mary! Today we observe The First Friday devotion, offering reparation to His Sacred Heart, and tomorrow on First Saturday offering reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. By God’s Grace, let us pray to the Holy Spirit, to hear deeply the wisdom God has given to St. Louis de Montfort, in these first two paragraphs of the “Introduction” to his treatise:

1. It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that He must reign in the world.
2. Because Mary remained hidden during her life she is called by the Holy Spirit and the Church “Alma Mater”, Mother hidden and unknown. So great was her humility that she desired nothing more upon earth than to remain unknown to herself and to others, and to be known only to God.

St. Louis’ first sentence sets the theme clearly before us: God sent His only begotten Son, to become Incarnate, by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb Mary. It was, (is) His Plan to save us. He came into the world through her and it is through her He must reign in the world. If Jesus is not reigning in my heart and your heart, we need to pray for Grace, to “see” with the eyes of faith, how to serve only One Master. Without Him, we can do nothing. (cf Jn 15:5)

The second paragraph indicates to me, Mary is both Mother and Model for us. To remain “unknown and hidden” can lead us to “see” – we have put ourselves on the throne primarily wanting our own will far more than God’s will. We seek praise of others far more than seeking Him. Please let us pray over these 2 paragraphs, and listen to the Holy Spirit – given to us that we may live true life in Christ, as Mary lived on this earth. Please let us pray for one another and the Church that like Mary we may bring Jesus to the world.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Tis_Bearself,

Thanks for your “heart” which holds much love for our Mother Mary and through Her, greater Love for Her Son! Would that more people could know, by opening their hearts to the Holy Spirit as Mary did, how wonderfully God would begin to work in them and increase in them their love for Jesus!

Let us please continue to pray for one another, for the Church, and for all our brothers and sisters who are struggling in this world. Come Holy Spirit; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love. Jesus we trust in You! Mary, my Queen and my Mother I am ALL Yours!

 

[patricius79]

So great was her humility that she desired nothing more upon earth than to remain unknown to herself and to others, and to be known only to God.

Most of my sins have resulted from my fear of suffering and of being despised.

That quotation from St. John of the Cross where he says that if we understood the mystery of the Cross, we would desire nothing but the grace to suffer and be despised… that was helpful, and actually encouraging and liberating

If I were humble and trusting, being known by God and the Blessed Virgin would be enough. I would desire the Cross because through it I would delight in God, the Infinite Good.

Thanks be to God that we have the Mother of God, our all-compassionate Mother, to help us to be humble!

Here is a the Litany of Humility put to music by Danielle Rose:

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Fear is not necessarily a sin, but if it causes us to do something that is sinful that is different. More likely, many of us “fear” not being loved by others; but by God’s Grace we can learn to go to God Who is Love and pray the words Danielle Rose sang, in the Youtube rendition you included in your post: “Deliver us, Jesus”…and add whatever it is we are afraid of, for God’s Word tells us:

Perfect Love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18)

St. Louis de Montfort, is pointing us toward the gift of Wisdom which was given to Mary whereby we too can learn from Jesus to seek not “self” and our own will , but rather seek God’s will. If we focus more on God’s Perfect Love for us, rather than whatever we fear then we can find joy in knowing and loving Him more. Many saints and spiritual writers tell us that inordinate self-love is the hardest thing to conquer and we cannot do it without continual prayer, dependence on Mary, and trust in God. It’s the work of a lifetime. Someone I know once told me: "Wait till you get to be my age! "

 

[patricius79]

If we focus more on God’s Perfect Love for us, rather than whatever we fear then we can find joy in knowing and loving Him more

I think what happens with me is that I place so much credence in other people, that I think that if they see me negatively then God is angry at me too.

As a weak person, I’m susceptible to such lies. But by clinging to Mary, invoking her and Jesus’s Name, I can embrace such crosses and find–as St. Louis says elsewhere–every heavenly delight in them. In other words, find God in them, and know that He loves me, and will forgive any and all my sins if I turn to him.

Yes, the gate is narrow and the way is hard. But with the help of Mary and Jesus, all becomes easy. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light”, as Jesus told us. If we ask Mary, she will give us her humility and her trust in Jesus, and her love for God and for our neighbor.

I think we need to pray to Jesus, through Mary, for ourselves and for celebrities and all those who are in such situations that foster pride and greed.

 

[Bon_Croix]

And the apsotles rejected Jesus in fear of being despised but later died on crosses with Andrew joyfully singing while on his cross.

 

[Bon_Croix]

God can use others for you; Satan can use others against you. Evil acts against you can often be a sign of your holiness.

As St. Paul said, “if God is for us, who can be against us?”

 

[Bon_Croix]

Scriptural evidence exists that Jesus “gave us” his mother. She is a gift to us. Use it or lose it.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Bon_Croix

Thanks so much for your replies on this thread. I smiled particularly at the “Use it or lose it” comment. I never quite thought of “True Devotion” in those terms but it does fit! It reminded me of the address of Pope St. JPII which I’ve quoted often:

…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…

 

[patricius79]

That is true. She is our inheritance. She was given to us by Jesus through the agony of the Paschal Mystery:

Pope St. John Paul II wrote:

1. If John’s description of the event at Cana presents Mary’s caring motherhood at the beginning of Christ’s messianic activity, another passage from the same Gospel confirms this motherhood in the salvific economy of grace at its crowning moment, namely when Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, his Paschal Mystery, is accomplished. John’s description is concise: “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother: 'Woman, behold your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (Jn. 19:25-27).

Undoubtedly, we find here an expression of the Son’s particular solicitude for his Mother, whom he is leaving in such great sorrow. And yet the “testament of Christ’s Cross” says more. Jesus highlights a new relationship between Mother and Son, the whole truth and reality of which he solemnly confirms. One can say that if Mary’s motherhood of the human race had already been outlined, now it is clearly stated and established. It emerges from the definitive accomplishment of the Redeemer’s Paschal Mystery. The Mother of Christ, who stands at the very center of this mystery-a mystery which embraces each individual and all humanity-is given as mother to every single individual and all mankind. The man at the foot of the Cross is John, "the disciple whom he loved."47 But it is not he alone. Following tradition, the Council does not hesitate to call Mary “the Mother of Christ and mother of mankind”: since she "belongs to the offspring of Adam she is one with all human beings… Indeed she is ‘clearly the mother of the members of Christ…since she cooperated out of love so that there might be born in the Church the faithful.’"48
Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987) | John Paul II

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks, dear patricius,

Pope St. John Paul II’s love for Scripture and his Love for Mary our Mother, are similar characteristics to what we find in the writings and the life of St. Louis de Montfort. Both men were given grace by God to “see” by faith more deeply into the Mysteries of Christ through Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God wants all to hear:

… Following tradition, the Council does not hesitate to call Mary “the Mother of Christ and mother of mankind”: since she “belongs to the offspring of Adam she is one with all human beings… Indeed she is ‘clearly the mother of the members of Christ…since she cooperated out of love so that there might be born in the Church the faithful.’” – ( from Pope St. JPII’s encyclical, "Mother of the Redeemer)

 

[patricius79]

Pope St. John Paul II’s love for Scripture and his Love for Mary our Mother, are similar characteristics to what we find in the writings and the life of St. Louis de Montfort. Both men were given grace by God to “see” by faith more deeply into the Mysteries of Christ through Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, MariaChristi, and Pope St. John Paul II singles out St Louis’s spirituality as something to be practiced:

Furthermore, Marian spirituality, like its corresponding devotion, finds a very rich source in the historical experience of individuals and of the various Christian communities present among the different peoples and nations of the world. In this regard, I would like to recall, among the many witnesses and teachers of this spirituality, the figure of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort,143 who proposes consecration to Christ through the hands of Mary, as an effective means for Christians to live faithfully their baptismal commitments. I am pleased to note that in our own time too new manifestations of this spirituality and devotion are not lacking.
Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987) | John Paul II

 

[halogirl]

I am feeling prompted towards first Saturdays for Mary - since losing my earthly mother I have been gravitating towards Mary

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear halogirl,

Yes, stay close to our Mother Mary for Jesus gave her to all of us from His Cross in HIs beautiful words:

“Behold Your Mother”

Those words were for all of us and not just for the Beloved Disciple John who was the first to hear them. Let us be like John and take Mary into our hearts.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks, patricius, for your quote from Pope St.John Paul II in his Encyclical on “The Mother of the Redeemer”. Yes, St. John Paul himself read St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” as a young man and wrote that his reading of that book was a “turning point in his young life”.

It continues to bless me each time I read it and I hope this series of daily posts on this little book will draw others closer to Jesus through Mary.

 

[Bon_Croix]

I believe that w/o a devotion to Mary, we could never understand her importance.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Bon_Croix,

Even with devotion we need to keep praying to the Holy Spirit for grace to appreciate her more and more ! Thanks for your reply.