Seventh Day: May 4, 2020

Treatise of True Devotion to the Virgin Mary [37-48]

Mary is Queen of Hearts

After everything that has been said previously, Saint Louis, concludes in this way:
a. “Mary could not be the mother of all men if she had no right and control over their souls by a singular grace of the Most High, who, having given her power over his own Son, has also given it to his own adopted children, not only as for the body—which would be of little account—but also in what concerns their soul.”

b. “Mary is the Queen of hearts because, just as the kingdom of Jesus Christ consists mainly of hearts, so the kingdom of the Blessed Virgin is mainly within man , that is, in his soul. In fact, it is above all in the souls where she is glorified together with the Son, more than in all the visible creatures. So we may call her, as the saints do, Queen of all hearts.”

Mary is necessary to men

If God willingly wanted the Virgin to be necessary, how much more is it necessary for men to reach the ultimate goal! Many scholars, in reference to the irrefutable proofs given by the Holy Fathers, such as St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure, have shown that devotion to Mary is necessary to save oneself. “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.” (TD 40)

To emphasis this, Saint Louis de Montfort quotes Saint John Damascene: “Devotion to you, O Blessed Virgin, is a means of salvation which God gives to those whom he wishes to save.”

The saint continues to affirm that from century to century the people who strive the most to grow in union with God will be the most diligent in praying to the Blessed Virgin and in having her always present as a model to imitate and to call upon for help. All of this will happen, in a particular way, at the end of the world, because the Most High and his Blessed Mother form great saints who will overcome in sanctity the majority of the other saints. These great souls, filled with grace and zeal, will have a particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin, will be chosen by God to oppose their enemies who are raging on all sides. With one hand they give battle, overthrowing and crushing the heretics and with their heresies, the schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, the sinners and their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, namely, the Blessed Virgin, who is called the Fathers of the Church the Temple of Solomon and the City of God. By word and example they will draw all men to true devotion to Mary. This will make many enemies, but also many victories and much glory to God alone.

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).

In the third place, the worldly spirit is in those who give priority to pleasures and diversions, increasingly further in immorality: theaters, movies, dances, centers of perversion, beaches, pools with promiscuity of sexes; newspapers, magazines, romances, indecent fashions, careless conversations, provocative stories, double-meaning phrases, etc. Those who do not think or live but only for pleasure and fun, which often sacrifices everything else, even indispensable costs for the most urgent needs of life.

If then you have risen with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires and covertousness, which is idolatry; things for which the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience, in which you also walked in another time when you lived in them. But now put them away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Supporting one another, and forgiving one another if one has a complaint against another. As Christ forgave you, so you also do. (Col 3:1-8, 13).

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