"What then can we do to make our hearts worthy of Him?"

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing Chapter 17 from St. Louis de Montfort’s, book : “The Love of Eternal Wisdom”:

1. What then can we do to make our hearts worthy of Him? Here is the great way, the wonderful secret. Let us, so to speak, bring Mary into our abode by consecrating ourselves unreservedly to her as servants and slaves. Let us surrender into her hands all we possess, even what we value most highly, keeping nothing for ourselves. This good mistress who never allows herself to be surpassed in generosity will give herself to us in a real but indefinable manner; and it is in her that Eternal Wisdom will come and settle as on a throne of splendour.
2. Mary is like a holy magnet attracting Eternal Wisdom to herself with such power that He cannot resist. This magnet drew Him down to earth to save mankind, and continues to draw Him every day into every person who possesses it. Once we possess Mary, we shall, through her intercession, easily and in a short time possess divine Wisdom. Mary is the surest, the easiest, the shortest, and the holiest of all the means of possessing Jesus Christ. Were we to perform the most frightful penances, undertake the most painful journeys, or the most fatiguing labours, were we to shed all our blood in order to acquire divine Wisdom, all our efforts would be useless and inadequate if not supported by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and a devotion to her. But if Mary speaks a word in our favour, if we love her and prove ourselves her faithful servants and imitators, we shall quickly and at little cost possess divine Wisdom.
3. Note that Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus, Head of all the elect, but is also Mother of all his members. Hence she conceives them, bears them in her womb and brings them forth to the glory of heaven through the graces of God which she imparts to them. This is the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, and among them St. Augustine, who says that the elect are in the womb of Mary until she brings them forth into the glory of heaven. Moreover, God has decreed that Mary should dwell in Jacob, make Israel her inheritance and place her roots in his elect and predestinate (cf Sir 24.13).

Come Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus to His Disciples. You have come, sent by the Father and the Son to the Church to bring us into all Truth. As you came to Mary, come to us anew and renew the face of the earth. Jesus, we trust in You! Mary, Mother given to us by Jesus, pray for us.

 

[patricius79]

Mary is the surest, the easiest, the shortest, and the holiest of all the means of possessing Jesus Christ . Were we to perform the most frightful penances, undertake the most painful journeys, or the most fatiguing labours, were we to shed all our blood in order to acquire divine Wisdom, all our efforts would be useless and inadequate if not supported by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and a devotion to her. But if Mary speaks a word in our favour, if we love her and prove ourselves her faithful servants and imitators, we shall quickly and at little cost possess divine Wisdom.

Yes and Mary even gives us the graces to be faithful to her. All we have to do is keep taking refuge in her, like little children continually rely on their mothers.

As St. Louis says in True Devotion to Mary:

THE most holy Virgin, who is a Mother of sweetness and mercy, and who never lets herself be vanquished in love and liberality, seeing that we give ourselves entirely to her, to honour and to serve her, and for that end strip ourselves of all that is dearest to us in order to adorn her, meets us in the same spirit. She also gives her whole self, and gives it in an unspeakable manner, to him who gives all to her. She causes him to be engulfed in the abyss of her graces. She adorns him with her merits; she supports him with her power; she illuminates him with her light; she inflames him with her love; she communicates to him her virtues, her humility, her faith, her purity, and the rest. She makes herself his bail, his supplement, and his dear all towards Jesus. In a word, as that person is all consecrated to Mary, so is Mary all for him; after such a fashion that we can say of that perfect servant and child of Mary what St. John the Evangelist said of himself, that he took the holy Virgin for all his goods, - Accepit eam discipulus in sua .
True Devotion To Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your “heart” letting us know you read and appreciated St. Louis de Montfort’s words in this continuing Chapter 17 of his book, "The Love of Eternal Wisdom".

Thanks also for your reply with the lovely quote from St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on “True Devotion to Mary” also. As St. Bernard is credited with saying: “Numquam satis de Maria” i.e. “Never enough of Mary”. This part of the quote struck me as I read it this evening :

…seeing that we give ourselves entirely to her, to honour and to serve her, and for that end strip ourselves of all that is dearest to us in order to adorn her, meets us in the same spirit…

I thought to myself how fully do I give myself to her and through her to Jesus? How often do I rather read and ponder but not put into practice what I know to be true? Then I remember how important Prayer is in order for me to receive the Graces I need to do the Truth, and thus to receive through Mary, all the graces I need. Thanks for that quote which helps me to remember our need to “pray without ceasing”,

 

[patricius79]

Good point. It’s easy to intellectualize but we have to live the truth in love. Jesus told St. Faustina that his voice is so soft that only recollected souls can hear it, and that he wants us to listen to Him in the depths of our souls. We will surely be able to do that if we ask for this grace from Mary.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks again, for your reply. Yes, so often when I begin to pray I need to ask: "Lord, I don’t want to merely say “words”. St. John Vianney’s definition of prayer is so accurate: “Prayer is nothing other than union with God”.

Realizing that we grow in stages in the Spiritual Life, by His Grace, I want to listen for His voice within, letting His words in Scripture remain in my heart, reminding me : Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Father and Son sent the Holy Spirit to the Church to bring us into ALL truth.

Jesus came first through the Power of the Holy Spirit into the womb of Mary, and He continues to come to us through Mary. St. Louis de Montfort wrote the truth, as he listened to God’s Revelation in Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. May we continue to listen to the Wisdom God has given to His saints, and especially as we come close to concluding this book on “The Love of Eternal Wisdom” and the best means to obtain Wisdom – a tender devotion to Mary!

 

[patricius79]

Thanks again, for your reply. Yes, so often when I begin to pray I need to ask: "Lord, I don’t want to merely say “words”. St. John Vianney’s definition of prayer is so accurate: “Prayer is nothing other than union with God”.

Thank you, Maria Christi. That is beautiful. Yesterday was the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori. He said that “one who prays is saved”.

Just as Mary leads us to the Eucharist, she leads us also to love the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

The Catechism explains the easiest way to pray always, in a passage that has brought me much clarity and consolation:

[2666] But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity The Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: “Jesus,” "YHWH saves."16 The name “Jesus” contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray “Jesus” is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him.17
…
[2668] The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the prayer is not lost by heaping up empty phrases,19 but holds fast to the word and "brings forth fruit with patience."20 This prayer is possible “at all times” because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c2a2.htm

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your reply. St. Louis de Montfort, was given the Wisdom he so ardently desired, and prayed for, and mortified himself to acquire, yet he came to the last and most prious means when he wrote:

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

Today I begin a series of threads on De Montfort’s treatise on "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, as a follow-up to our sharing his book on “The Love of Eternal Wisdom” Today and tomorrow are perfect days to begin, since today is the First Friday of August – and tomorrow is First Saturday. Both devotions help us to offer reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Those two hearts are revealed to us, that we may learn to be like them – meek and humble of heart. Going to Jesus through Mary, is our only way to come before the Father as His true children – only Jesus is worthy of His Father – yet He enables us by His grace to be transformed into Christ, and thus through Mary, be as worthy as we can be according to His Plan.