TRUE DEVOTION TO OUR LADY
By St. Louis-Marie de Montfort
SEVENTH DAY
Mary is the Queen of heaven and earth
by grace as Jesus is king by nature and by conquest. But as the kingdom of
Jesus Christ exists primarily in the heart or interior of man, according to the
words of the Gospel, “The kingdom of God is within you”, so the kingdom of the
Blessed Virgin is principally in the interior of man, that is, in his soul. It
is principally in souls that she is glorified with her Son more than in any
visible creature. So we may call her, as the saints do, Queen of our hearts.
The pious and learned Jesuit, Suarez,
Justus Lipsius, a devout and erudite theologian of Louvain, and many others
have proved incontestably that devotion to our Blessed Lady is necessary to
attain salvation. This they show from the teaching of the Fathers, notably St.
Augustine, St. Ephrem, deacon of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus
of Constantinople, St. John Damascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernadine,
St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure. Even according to Oecolampadius and other
heretics, lack of esteem and love for the Virgin Mary is an infallible sign of
God’s disapproval. On the other hand, to be entirely and genuinely devoted to
her is a sure sign of God’s approval.
Marian Prayer Of Saint Gregory
Mary, you are the vessel
and tabernacle containing all Mysteries.
You know what the Patriarchs did not know;
you experienced what was not revealed to the Angels;
you heard what the Prophets did not hear.
In short, everything that was hidden
from preceding generations
was made known to you;
even more,
most of these wonders depended on you.
Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary
Day 7 of 33
Imitation of Christ, by Thomas รก Kempis: Book 1, Chapter
18, cont.
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Four doctors of the
Church St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Hieronymus, St. Ambrosius
|
On
the examples of the Holy Fathers
Outwardly they suffered want,
but within they were refreshed with grace and Divine consolation. They were
aliens to the world; they seemed as nothing and the world despised them; but
they were precious and beloved in the sight of God. They persevered in true
humility, they lived in simple obedience, they walked in charity and patience,
and so every day they advanced in spirit and gained great favor with God. They
were given for example to all religious, and ought more to excite us to advance
in good, than the number of lukewarm to induce us to grow remiss. Oh! how great
was the fervor of all religious in the beginning of their holy institute! Oh,
how great was their devotion in prayer, how great was their zeal for virtue!
How vigorous the discipline that was kept up, what reverence and obedience,
under the rule of the superior, flourished in all! Their traces that remain
still bear witness, that they were truly holy and perfect men who did battle so
stoutly, and trampled the world under their feet. Now, he is thought great who
is not a transgressor; and who can, with patience, endure what he has
undertaken. Ah, the lukewarmness and negligence of our state! that we soon fall
away from our first fervor, and are even now tired with life, from slothfulness
and tepidity. Oh that advancement in virtue be not quite asleep in thee, who
has so often seen the manifold examples of the devout!
Veni
Creator
Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest, and in our souls
take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which
Thou hast made.
O comforter, to Thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God
Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, and sweet anointing from above.
Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known; Thou, finger of
God’s hand we own; Thou, promise of the Father, Thou Who dost the tongue with
power imbue.
Kindle our sense from above, and make our hearts
overflow with love; with patience firm and virtue high the weakness of our
flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread, and grant us Thy
peace instead; so shall we not, with Thee for guide, turn from the path of life
aside.
Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow the Father and the Son
to know; and Thee, through endless times confessed, of both the eternal Spirit
blest.
Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be
glory given, with Thou, O Holy Comforter, henceforth by all in earth and
heaven. Amen.
Ave
Maris Stella
Hail, O Star of the ocean, God’s own Mother blest,
ever sinless Virgin, gate of heav’nly rest.
Taking that sweet Ave, which from Gabriel came, peace
confirm within us, changing Eve’s name.
Break the sinners’ fetters, make our blindness day,
Chase all evils from us, for all blessings pray.
Show thyself a Mother, may the Word divine
born for us thine Infant hear our prayers through
thine.
Virgin all excelling, mildest of the mild, free from
guilt preserve us meek and undefiled.
Keep our life all spotless, make our way secure till
we find in Jesus, joy for evermore.
Praise to God the Father, honor to the Son, in the
Holy Spirit, be the glory one. Amen.
Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Savior. Because He hath regarded the humility of His
handmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name.
And His mercy is from generation to generations, to them that fear Him. He hath
showed might in His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their
heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat; and hath exalted the
humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent
empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As
He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. Amen.
Glory
Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
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