Wk 2 - Day 6 - "acquiring an understanding of Mary" (continuing Advent)

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This is a week that, in a certain way, can never really “end” for me. As St. Bernard said “De Maria, numquam satis” – translated means: “Of Mary there is never enough!”

Let us listen to more from St. Louis de Montfort:

1. Rest assured that the more you turn to Mary in your prayers, meditations, actions and sufferings, seeing her if not perhaps clearly and distinctly, at least in a general and indistinct way, the more surely you will discover Jesus. For he is always greater, more powerful, more active, and more mysterious when acting through Mary than he is in any other creature in the universe, or even in heaven. Thus Mary, so divinely-favoured and so lost in God, is far from being an obstacle to good people who are striving for union with him. There has never been and there never will be a creature so ready to help us in achieving that union more effectively, for she will dispense to us all the graces to attain that end. As a saint once remarked, “Only Mary knows how to fill our minds with the thought of God.” Moreover, Mary will safeguard us against the deception and cunning of the evil one.
2. Where Mary is present, the evil one is absent. One of the unmistakable signs that a person is led by the Spirit of God is the devotion he has to Mary, and his habit of thinking and speaking of her. This is the opinion of a saint, who goes on to say that just as breathing is a proof that the body is not dead, so the habitual thought of Mary and loving converse with her is a proof that the soul is not spiritually dead in sin.

The emphasis I placed on the last two sentences is my own emphasis because those two sentences gave me such joy to read today. Sometimes I “feel” as if people don’t want to hear any more about Mary, but I need her and am convinced God would not have given her to us if He did not think we all needed her too! God continues to give us grace to love His Mother in a special way because she belongs to Him in such a special way. Let us not hesitate to share her when the Holy Spirit prompts us. The Church and the world need our Mother’s love and intercession in order to know Jesus more, especially this Advent.

By God’s Grace let us pray fervently today:
Litany to the Holy Spirit
Ave Maris Stella,
In addition they will say at least five decades of the Rosary for greater understanding of Mary. ( from True Devotion, paragraph 229)

 

[Wm777]

I wouldn’t be discouraged, MC.

Saint Louis himself tells us this prayer isn’t for everyone. As I was reading some passages about Mary from True Devotion last night, the very first chapters tell us how secluded Mary was; out of humility - she wanted to live only for God - and so he took her for his own.

I really think it is for this reason some folks here have expressed concern for not sensing her presence when they pray to her. In a way, they are right, but in another way they are wrong. Mary is not present because she is with God, but she still hears all of our prayers and bring the best of blessings.

Also, she points to Jesus, not to herself, and so she remains hidden by choice. St Louis says even angels fail to recognize her sometimes. If she thus goes unrecognized, even by her own constitutency, it my well be simply because she very much wants it that way - not wanting to be distracted from God, or detracting from others prayers to him.

And, yet, it is through her simple devotion to him, he came to love her as the most perfect of all creatures. God reveals our intentions to her himself, and so knows who truly loves her, what kind of help people need, and so on… The idea seems to be just to stay in prayer with her - by observing her virtues - and God will do the rest.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Michael,

Thanks for your reply. “Discouraged” isn’t quite what I was trying to express, and perhaps “feeling” wasn’t the best word either. It is more like a sadness similar to Jesus’ words in weeping over Jerusalem that He had tried to gather them like a Mother hen gathers her chicks but they would not.

It is a sad choice when people are willing to pay little attention to the Son of God saying from His Cross: “Behold your Mother” to John and to all of us. It is sad to read Mary’s words at Fatima and know that some are willing to ignore her words to the three shepherd children and later to Sister Lucia in the convent.

St. Louis experienced sadness writing about the differences between true and false devotion to Mary, and also in paragraphs 63 and 64:

1. Here I turn to you for a moment, dear Jesus, to complain lovingly to your divine Majesty that the majority of Christians, and even some of the most learned among them, do not recognise the necessary bond that unites you and your Blessed Mother. Lord, you are always with Mary and Mary is always with you. She can never be without you because then she would cease to be what she is. She is so completely transformed into you by grace that she no longer lives, she no longer exists, because you alone, dear Jesus, live and reign in her more perfectly than in all the angels and saints. If we only knew the glory and the love given to you by this wonderful creature, our feelings for you and for her would be far different from those we have now. So intimately is she united to you that it would be easier to separate light from the sun, and heat from the fire. I go further, it would even be easier to separate all the angels and saints from you than Mary; for she loves you ardently, and glorifies you more perfectly than all your other creatures put together.
2. In view of this, my dear Master, is it not astonishing and pitiful to see the ignorance and short-sightedness of men with regard to your holy Mother? I am not speaking so much of idolaters and pagans who do not know you and consequently have no knowledge of her. I am not even speaking of heretics and schismatics who have left you and your holy Church and therefore are not interested in your holy Mother. I am speaking of Catholics, and even of educated Catholics, who profess to teach the faith to others but do not know you or your Mother except speculatively, in a dry, cold and sterile way.

I found great joy this morning in reading paragraph 64 because I honestly believe with St. Louis and every saint whose words I’ve read that our call to holiness needs to include Mary. because no one can really come to know Jesus fully without His Mother. If others do not want to learn more then I cannot help feeling sad for them but I continue to pray for all of us with Mary and through Mary for God’s Glory.

Thanks again for your love and devotion to Mary and through her to Jesus.

 

[Wm777]

That’s a tough one, but I think I have some answers for you.

One revelation I had early in these 33 days was the difference between the Gospel of St John vs the Gospel of Matthew. I’ve been very, very engrossed (perhaps too much so) in reading St John’s Gospel over the past year, esp the Passion scene. I love how supportive Christ is in the last parts of John, but it makes me perhaps a bit too evangelical. Heh… I end up walking about ready to accuse everyone of hating me because they failed to recognize Christ, which probably isn’t the healthiest attitude… Christ does tell the apostles, “If they hate you, know then, it is because they hated me!” However, while it is true people in John fail to recognize Jesus, it is equally true the apostles themselves failed to recognize Jesus - and, in fact, Christ himself had to learn how to evangelize to us… and, it really wasn’t until Acts, when the church was really born at Pentecost, which was well after the resurrection, which was well after the ascension… even Peter unwittingly failed Christ three times…

 

[Wm777]

In Matthew, however, which is the source of the “hen gathering her chicks” analogy, we find Christ speaking in a much different tone.

In Matthew, Christ’s evangelizing is severely admonishing (to everyone); if I have discerned it correctly, in Matthew, Christ really lets everyone have it full force - even resorting to name calling, like “You brood of vipers…” For members of the Sanhedrin, who loved greetings and titles, like Rabbi, Jesus was certainly going in the opposite direction… Instead - in the Gospel of Saint Matthew - we see Christ on carrying out the Proclamation of the Kingdom - on an itinerant mission - where He is Himself evangelizing… In John, he doesn’t seem to evangelize so much as perform healing miracles, exhort the apostles, and defend himself - and the main theme seems to be around love… Jesus does a lot of this too in Matthew, but Christ Himself definitely takes the initiative to speak, the discussions seem often to center around vocational pursuits (in general), and the tone is more admonishing… The admonishments (especially against the Sanhedrin) are usually based around the notion that - “You know neither the time nor the season, so be prepared… and prepare yourself by repenting mercifully…”

It’s a wonderful notion, no? A world of merciful souls, the new Jerusalem; it would be a truly peaceful existence for all… If all sought first the kingdom, then his will would truly be done on earth, as it is done in heaven…

But - as He says in the gathering hen’s analogy - people dont listen, don’t understand, and they dont really recognize God’s ways…

 

[Wm777]

But in Mary’s case, while she magnifies the Lord, she doesn’t really evangelize.

Her magnanimity comes from the fact that she’s God’s handmaid, not a fisher of men. At her consent, God took her to himself, and it seems her role was more to care for Christ, not upstage him. For example - as a youngster - when he stayed behind in the Synagogue, he didn’t need her to speak for him; but, if anything, she had to go find him and explain to him to get with the program. And - He did!

That tells me he will do what she asks him, but, still, she let’s Him do the work, while she constantly remains in the background… It’s really only in Luke that she says more than a few words, and even then she is performing more the duties of something like a nurse, rather than engaging in a public dialogue to coordinate groups of people, like Jesus (and eventually the Apostles) would do regularly before thousands… In other words, her duties were more Pastoral than Evangelical, as she “proclaimed the greatness of the Lord” simply by serving Him and Him Alone… God Alone… and - in so doing - he did great things for her…

It’s kind of a hard thing to discern, but - if you really want to understand how it works - there’s a book called “The Soul of the Apostolate” by a later French Theologian named Jean Baptiste Chautard… It’s one of the most profound books you could ever read, and it explains how to evangelize and build an apostolate… But, ironically, it’s all based upon the interior life first, and then overflows to the exterior life… Like Jesus himself, Mary’s suffered too, so her magnanimity - i.e. her ability to “magnify the Lord” - came through faithfully rejoicing in her Savior… She was gifted with a husband who brought her increase, and a Savior who also did great things for her…

That is what you are seeking to inwardly learn from Mary in serving and paying homage to Christ…

But - even then - many are called, yet few are chosen - God appreciates your work… He blesses you for it… Continue to do what you can, but remember you are working out your own salvation first… That is really your calling: your relationship to God… And, then, if He somehow, someway, sometime sees a use for it, He’ll chose to put your work into action - even a widow’s mite will suffice…

That’s the best I can make of it…

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Michael,

Thanks for your reply. The Gospels are such a treasure and In Mary’s (approved) apparition at Kibeho in Africa she identified her self as “Mother of the Word”. St. John of the Cross wrote that God spoke One Word – Jesus! The Catechism quotes St. John of the Cross:

God has said everything in his Word

65 “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.”[26]Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father’s one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

"In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.

There will be no further Revelation

66 “The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church…

It is important for all of us to remain in God’s Word, as Mary did, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Listening to Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of his own day, St. Louis de Montfort prayed for and was given the Holy Spirit’s gift of Wisdom in a great degree. Today is Day 7 in Wk 2, let us continue to follow his explanations in “True Devotion” - I’ll post now on what he wrote. Thanks again, dear brother for your thoughtful reply.