Fifth Day: May 2, 2020

Treatise of True Devotion to the Virgin Mary [16-26]

PART ONE—MARY IN THE HISTORY OF SALVATION

Mary in Christ’s Mysteries—Sacred Scripture reveals that the reason why the Son of God became flesh is for the salvation of sinners. Christ came to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45). Sacred Scripture shows that in the work of Redemption, Mary had a privileged role. Therefore, she must have this role in each of our meritorious works for eternal salvation. Everything that refers to our salvation must necessarily pass through Mary, since Christ wanted her particular collaboration for the Redemption of the human race. St. Louis Marie invites us to consider the privileged place of the Virgin Mary in the various mysteries of the life of Christ. This will strengthen our understanding of our need for the Mother in order to reach the Son.

a) Mary’s part in the Incarnation “God the Father gave his Only Begotten Son to the world only through Mary. (…) The Son of God became man for our salvation but in Mary and through Mary. God the Holy Spirit formed Jesus Christ in Mary but only after having asked for her consent through one of the first ministers of his court.”

b) Mary in the mysteries of Redemption “God the Father imparted to Mary his fruitfulness as far as a mere creature was capable of receiving it, to enable her to bring forth his Son and all the members of his Mystical Body.” “God the Son came down into Mary’s virginal womb as a new Adam to the earthly paradise, to take his delight there and produce hidden wonders of grace. God-made-man found freedom in imprisoning himself in her womb.”

Mary is present at the Incarnation, the birth, the presentation in the temple, the thirty years of hidden life, in the death of Jesus, and, as tradition teaches, she saw him resurrected. Jesus obliged himself to perform the first miraculous signs through the intercession of his Mother, as in Cana of Galilee. This is how the Son wanted to submit to the Mother, exclaims Saint Louis Marie: “Oh! How highly we glorify God, when to please him we submit ourselves to Mary, following the example of Jesus Christ, our only model!”

We want Jesus to reign and continue to do wonders! “Christ began and continues to work his miracles through Mary, and through Mary he will continue to do them until the end of time.”

Collaborator with God—Saint Louis Marie gives the theological truth that is the key to understanding the essence of the whole Treatise: “God the Father has gathered all the waters and called them the seas [in French: mer). He gathered all the graces together and called them Mary [Marie]. The great God has a treasury or storehouse full of riches in which he has enclosed all that is beautiful, resplendent, rare, and precious, even his own Son. This immense treasury is none other than Mary, whom the saints call the ‘treasury of the Lord.’ From her fullness all men are made rich.”

It is a fact of faith that: “God the Son imparted to his Mother all that He gained by his life and death, namely, his infinite merits and his eminent virtues. He made her the treasurer of all his Father had given him as an inheritance. Through her, He applies his merits to his members and through her he transmits his virtues and distributes his graces. She is his mystic channel, his aqueduct, through which He causes his mercies to flow gently and abundantly. Men are not granted any celestial gifts that do not pass through her virginal hands, because such is the will of God, who wants us to have everything through Mary. Thus, she had to be enriched, exalted and honored by the Most High, who during her life was impoverished, humiliated and hidden to the depths of nothingness by her humility.”

Meditation

1) Place yourself in the presence of God.

2) Ask for the grace of having a great desire to be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, and to have eternal life as the only goal of my most important choices, without letting myself be seduced by the spirit of the world.

3) Read the text below and then spend a brief period of time reflecting on it.

What is the “worldly environment”? (From Antonio Royo Marín, Theology of Christian Perfection).

This harmful environment is constituted and manifests itself in four main ways. We will consider one way each day for the next four days.
Today we will take a look at the first one: False maxims. They are the principles of thought in direct opposition to those of the Gospel. The world exalts riches, pleasures, violence, deceits and frauds put at the service of one’s selfishness. It is unlimited “freedom” to surrender to every type of excesses and sins, saying: “We are young and should enjoy life”; “God is good and understanding. He would not condemn us because we are enjoying ourselves and having fun.” Or saying: “It is necessary to earn a lot of money, no matter how.” “The most important thing is health, having a long life, eating and dressing well, and having fun as much as possible.” etc. These are the maxims consecrated by the world. It [the world] does not conceive anything of the noblest or highest. The opposite maxims, which are justly those of the Gospel, are considered to be tiring and upsetting. So, the world continues reversing values: a thief is “skillful in his business,” a seducer is “a cheerful man,” a free thinker is “strong spirited,” a woman dressed indecently and provocatively as “fashionable” etc.

To rid the worldly environment especially the first way of false maxims, let us recall the Biblical passage: Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. (Rm. 12:2).

4) Conclude the meditation with the Litany of Humility.

Litany of Humility

(By Servant of God Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val)

Lord have mercy—Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy—Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy—Lord have mercy
Jesus, meek and humble of heart—Hear me.
O Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, Make my heart like unto Thine.
From the desire of being esteemed—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged—Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected—Deliver me, O Jesus.
Jesus, grant me—The knowledge and love of my nothingness
Jesus, grant me—The perpetual remembrance of my sins
Jesus, grant me—The awareness of the persuasion of my stinginess
Jesus, grant me—The aversion for all vanity
Jesus, grant me—The pure intention to serve God
Jesus, grant me—The perfect submission to the will of the Father
Jesus, grant me—The true spirit of compunction
Jesus, grant me—The decided obedience to my superiors
Jesus, grant me—The holy hatred of all envy and jealousy
Jesus, grant me—The promptness in the forgiveness of offenses
Jesus, grant me—The prudence in being quiet before the business of others
Jesus, grant me—Peace and charity with and for all
Jesus, grant me—The ardent desire for being disdained and for humiliations
Jesus, grant me—The want to be treated like You and the grace to know how to accept it in a saintly manner.
That others may be loved more than I—Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I—Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease—Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside—Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed—Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything—Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should—Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
O Mary, Queen and Mother of the humble—plead for me.
Saint Joseph, protector and model of the humble—plead for me.
Saint Michael Archangel, who was the first to take down the proud—plead for me.
All the Saints, sanctified by the spirit of humility—plead for me.
Let us pray—Lord Jesus, who being God humbled yourself unto death and death by the cross, as to be a perennial example that confounds our pride and self-love, grant us the grace to imitate Your example so that, humbling ourselves as we should to our misery on earth, we may be exalted to enjoy You eternally in Heaven. Amen

May Jesus Christ reign through the Virgin Mary!

Religious Family of the Incarnate Word
Province of the Immaculate Conception, USA