Wk 2 - Day 5: "to acquire knowledge of Mary"

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today is the Memorial of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. It occurred to me as I began today’s thread that Mary must have been sorrowful along with Jesus in hearing this news. Would Mary not remember her visit to Elizabeth who told her that at the sound of Mary’s greeting the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy! Every Mother (physical or spiritual) was created to remember the beginnings of life within her and to love in a special way, each child of God.

Scandals in the Catholic Church are more evidence of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and our need to pray with Jesus through Mary, our Mother and Model. In Chapter 6 of his treatise on “True Devotion”, St. Louis De Montfort wrote of the effects of this devotion in the souls of those who consecrate themselves totally to Jesus through Mary:

Communication of the spirit of Mary

1. The soul of Mary will be communicated to you to glorify the Lord. Her spirit will take the place of yours to rejoice in God, her Saviour, but only if you are faithful to the practices of this devotion. As St. Ambrose says, “May the soul of Mary be in each one of us to glorify the Lord! May the spirit of Mary be in each one of us to rejoice in God!” “When will that happy day come,” asks a saintly man of our own day whose life was completely wrapped up in Mary, “when God’s Mother is enthroned in men’s hearts as Queen, subjecting them to the dominion of her great and princely Son? When will souls breathe Mary as the body breathes air?” When that time comes wonderful things will happen on earth. The Holy Spirit, finding his dear Spouse present again in souls, will come down into them with great power. He will fill them with his gifts, especially wisdom, by which they will produce wonders of grace. My dear friend, when will that happy time come, that age of Mary, when many souls, chosen by Mary and given her by the most High God, will hide themselves completely in the depths of her soul, becoming living copies of her, loving and glorifying Jesus? That day will dawn only when the devotion I teach is understood and put into practice. Ut adveniat regnum tuum, adveniat regnum Mariae: “Lord, that your kingdom may come, may the reign of Mary come!”

1. Each day of the second week they should endeavour in all their prayers and works to acquire an understanding of the Blessed Virgin and ask the Holy Spirit for this grace. They may read and meditate upon what we have already said about her. They should recite daily the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella as during the first week. In addition they will say at least five decades of the Rosary for greater understanding of Mary.

Please let us continue to pray with Mary for one another, for the Church and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy.