TRUE DEVOTION TO OUR LADY
By St. Louis-Marie de Montfort
Devotion to Mary is especially necessary in the latter times
What Lucifer lost by pride Mary won by humility. What
Eve ruined and lost by disobedience Mary saved by obedience. By obeying the
serpent, Eve ruined her children as well as herself and delivered them up to
him. Mary by her perfect fidelity to God saved her children with herself and
consecrated them to his divine majesty.
God has established not just one enmity but
“enmities”, and not only between Mary and Satan but between her race and his
race. That is, God has put enmities, antipathies and hatreds between the true
children and servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and slaves of the
devil. They have no love and no sympathy for each other. The children of
Belial, the slaves of Satan, the friends of the world, - for they are all one
and the same - have always persecuted and will persecute more than ever in the
future those who belong to the Blessed Virgin, just as Cain of old persecuted
his brother Abel, and Esau his brother Jacob. These are the types of the wicked
and of the just. But the humble Mary will always triumph over Satan, the proud
one, and so great will be her victory that she will crush his head, the very
seat of his pride. She will unmask his serpent’s cunning and expose his wicked
plots. She will scatter to the winds his devilish plans and to the end of time
will keep her faithful servants safe from his cruel claws.
But Mary’s power over the evil spirits will especially
shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lie in wait for her heel, that
is, for her humble servants and her poor children whom she will rouse to fight
against him. In the eyes of the world they will be little and poor and, like
the heel, lowly in the eyes of all, down-trodden and crushed as is the heel by
the other parts of the body. But in compensation for this they will be rich in
God’s graces, which will be abundantly bestowed on them by Mary. They will be
great and exalted before God in holiness. They will be superior to all
creatures by their great zeal and so strongly will they be supported by divine
assistance that, in union with Mary, they will crush the head of Satan with
their heel, that is, their humility, and bring victory to Jesus Christ.
Devotion to Mary is especially necessary in
the latter times.
God in these times wishes his Blessed Mother to be
more known, loved and honored than she has ever been. This will certainly come
about if the elect, by the grace and light of the Holy Spirit, adopt the
interior and perfect practice of the devotion. Then they will clearly see that
beautiful Star of the Sea, as much as faith allows. Under her guidance they
will perceive the splendors of this Queen and will consecrate themselves
entirely to her service as subjects and slaves of love. They will experience
her motherly kindness and affection for her children. They will love her
tenderly and will appreciate how full of compassion she is and how much they
stand in need of her help. In all
circumstances they will have recourse to her as their advocate and mediatrix
with Jesus Christ. They will see clearly that she is the safest, easiest,
shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus and will surrender
themselves to her, body and soul, without reserve in order to belong entirely
to Jesus.
But what will they be like, these servants, these
slaves, these children of Mary?
They will be ministers of the Lord who, like a flaming
fire, will enkindle everywhere the fires of divine love. They will become, in
Mary’s powerful hands, like sharp arrows, with which she will transfix her
enemies.
They will be as the children of Levi, thoroughly
purified by the fire of great tribulations and closely joined to God. They will carry the gold of love in their
heart, the frankincense of prayer in their mind and the myrrh of mortification
in their body. They will bring to the poor and lowly everywhere the sweet fragrance
of Jesus, but they will bring the odor of death to the great, the rich and the
proud of this world.
They will be like thunderclouds flying through the air
at the slightest breath of the Holy Spirit. Attached to nothing, surprised at
nothing, troubled at nothing, they will shower down the rain of God’s word and
of eternal life. They will thunder against sin, they will storm against the
world, they will strike down the devil and his followers and for life and for
death, they will pierce through and through with the two-edged sword of God’s
word all those against whom they are sent by Almighty God.
Lastly, we know they will be true disciples of Jesus
Christ, imitating his poverty, his humility, his contempt of the world and his
love. They will point out the narrow way to God in pure truth according to the
holy Gospel, and not according to the maxims of the world. Their hearts will
not be troubled, nor will they show favor to anyone; they will not spare or
heed or fear any man, however powerful he may be. They will have the two-edged sword of the
word of God in their mouths and the bloodstained standard of the Cross on their
shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the rosary in
their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart. The simplicity
and self-sacrifice of Jesus will be reflected in their whole behavior.
Such are the great men who are to come. By the will of
God Mary is to prepare them to extend his rule over the impious and
unbelievers. But when and how will this come about? Only God knows. For our
part we must yearn and wait for it in silence and in prayer: “I have waited and
waited.”
Day 11 of 33
Imitation of Christ, by Thomas รก Kempis: Book
1, Chapter 25
On the Fervent Amendment of our Whole Life
When a certain anxious person, who often times wavered
between hope and fear, once overcome with sadness, threw himself upon the
ground in prayer, before one of the altars in the Church and thinking these
things in his mind, said "Oh, if I only knew how to persevere," that
very instant he heard within him, this heavenly answer: "And if thou didst
know this, what would thou do? Do now what you would do, and thou shall be
perfectly secure." And immediately being consoled, and comforted, he
committed himself to the Divine Will, and his anxious thoughts ceased. He no
longer wished for curious things; searching to find out what would happen to
him, but studied rather to learn what was the acceptable and perfect will of
God for the beginning and the perfection of every good work.
"Hope in the Lord," said the Prophet,
"And do all good, and inhabit the land, and thou shall be fed of the
riches thereof." There is one thing that keeps many back from spiritual
progress, and from fervor in amendment namely: the labor that is necessary for
the struggle. And assuredly they especially advance beyond others in virtues,
who strive the most manfully to overcome the very things which are the hardest
and most contrary to them. For there a man does profit more and merit more
abundant grace, when he does most to overcome himself and mortify his spirit.
All have not, indeed, equal difficulties to overcome and mortify, but a
diligent and zealous person will make a greater progress though he have more
passions than another, who is well regulated but less fervent in the pursuit of
virtues.
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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