Traditionalist Issues
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Slavery to Mary: The Wonderful Effects
Our Lady Works in Souls
We will comment tonight on a text from the Treatise of True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. It is chapter VI, which deals with the following: "Wonderful effects that this devotion produces in a soul that is faithful to it;" Article V "Communication of the soul and spirit of Mary."
How does Our Lady communicate her soul and her spirit to us? It would be more or less as if Our Lady were to infuse her soul and spirit in us not quite - but exactly that, but more or less like that.
St. Louis Grignion's text is addressed to those who consecrate themselves as slaves to Our Lady in the method he sets out in his Treatise:
“The soul of the Blessed Virgin will be communicated to you to glorify the Lord; Her spirit will take the place of yours to rejoice in God, but only if you are faithful to the practices of this devotion.”
What I said a moment ago is reaffirmed: "The soul of the Blessed Virgin will be communicated to us to glorify the Lord."
What is this communication of the soul? It is not just the knowledge that we will have of the soul of Our Lady, but a kind of infusion of the understanding and will of Our Lady, which will illuminate our understanding and move our will.
It is, therefore, a grace, it is a very high favor, because for us to receive from Our Lady something of Her understanding and intelligence, to receive something of Her will, power and holiness. This is something inconceivable, unattainable for us who are only what we are.
Let us take into account that Our Lady is the highest of creatures, higher than all the Angels and all the Saints together, and lower only than Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no one who is as high as Our Lady; a fortiori there is no one who is superior to Her, except God Himself. And it is this soul, this spirit that communicates itself to us.
It is the promise that Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort makes.
Mary will be established as Mistress and Sovereign of hearts
"Ah! when will this happy time come when Mary will be established Mistress and Sovereign of hearts..."
Much more than the Mistress and Sovereign of the Earth, she is the Mistress and Sovereign of all the nations of the Earth. But to command all the nations on Earth is very little, for nations fall apart and dissolve; nations are like bubbles that appear in history and then pop and disappear. One has a distinct notion of this traveling through Europe - what a nation is, what a nation is not.
I cannot forget that once while I traveling through Spain I came upon a large bridge, which was clearly made for heavy vehicles to cross, and a weaker little bridge some distance away. Both crossed over the river. On the large bridge was a sign with these words written: "Roman road: trucks"; on the narrow bridge: "Modern Road: Ordinary Vehicles."
In other words, there were trucks that passed on that bridge in Roman times. After millennia of existence, this bridge still continues to carry heavy - and even much heavier - vehicles. For a Roman legion with men wearing heavy breastplates and helmets and carrying spear to cross that bridge was nothing compared to the crossing of, let us say, four or five of today's modern heavy trucks loaded with goods.
Well then, heavy vehicles today still pass over that Roman bridge, and the new lighter modern vehicles pass over the contemporary bridge. Ultimately, what was old endures, what was modern does not.
In those travels, we also reached fork in the road where one path led to some ruins - but ruins in such shambles that one wondered why the place was not completely razed. The persons traveling with us told us these ruins were a famous place: "Here was the first palace of the famous Grandee family of the Dukes of Alba."
The family was born there and the castle was blown up -- the family was blown up too. The latest descendant of the Dukes of Alba, the 18th Duchess of Alba - the most titled aristocrat in the world - married her confessor, a Jesuit priest, who received from the Holy See an exemption from his vows of chastity, an exemption from the religious state, in order to marry her.
Only what belongs to Our Lady remains
Everything that is merely human dissolves, breaks downs, is nothing, but what belongs to Our Lady remains. And we, uniting ourselves to Our Lady in this holy slavery, can do things that will remain for an indefinite period, that can remain until the end of the world.
We can hope that, if we practice this devotion well and faithfully, we will be the famous Apostles of the Latter Times who will fight the Antichrist. Then after God sends the punishment, we can hope that we, the children of Mary, the Apostles of the Latter Times, will still be standing.
This is the durability of things to which Our Lady communicates her spirit and communicates her soul. These are the wonderful effects of fidelity to Our Lady in the devotion that St. Louis Maria Grignion teaches. That is to say, it is first and foremost about being very faithful to Our Lady, but faithful through the devotion of Holy Slavery to her which he teaches in his Treatise on True Devotion, and which is, as far as I know, the most perfect form of devotion to Our Lady found until now.
To be continued
The latest attacks have been spearheaded by the non-Spanish-speaking priest Fr. Adam Purdy (see his confession
here at the 17:00 minute mark), by means of the YouTube Channel Vox Catholica, a
veiled SSPX propaganda organ. Some other traditionalist groups linked to SSPX promoting its agenda include
Pro Multis Media,
Return to Tradition, and
JMJ HF Productions.
Dictionary research
Since Spanish is my second language, I decided to research the words suceso and success, and found some authoritative dictionaries on this matter. Below are the results, which I will present in the form of objections and answers.
At the end of my article I will present a text from the book Admirable Life of Mother Mariana that seems to me the final word on the matter.
1st Objection: The expression buen suceso in Spanish does not translate well to good success in English. The term success is not habitual in English to express the same idea of suceso in Spanish. Its proper translation to English is event.
Answer:
Thesis: The term suceso in Spanish, anciently spelled sucesso, is translated in English properly by success according to old and new dictionaries, which are reproduced below:
Demonstration:
1. Spanish-English Dictionary (Piestre: London, 1786 - here)
Sucesso = success, event, accident, chance.
According to this dictionary of 1786, the first meaning of sucesso in Spanish is success in English. Event appears as its second meaning. Please note that in old English often the “s” is written as “ſ” as in this text.
2. New Portable Spanish-English Dictionary (Bossange, Masson y Besson, 1803 – here)
Suceso = success
This dictionary of 1803 gives only one translation for the Spanish suceso, which is success in English.
3. Handy Spanish-English and English-Spanish Dictionary (Hinds, Hayden & Eldredge, Inc., 1912 – here)
Suceso – success.
Again, this dictionary of 1912 gives only one meaning for suceso in Spanish, the English word success.
4. Lippincott’s Spanish-English English-Spanish Dictionary (J. P. Lippincott, 1916 – here)
Suceso – success, issue, result; event, incident.
In this dictionary of 1916 the first meaning for the Spanish suceso is success in English, the term event appears only as its fourth meaning.
Conclusion: According to four Spanish to English dictionaries from different times, the term success in English perfectly translates the Spanish concept of suceso. It is the first meaning of the word in English, more usual that the term event.
Therefore, the term success in English is the appropriate translation for suceso in Spanish.
Further, the sequence of dates of these dictionaries shows that success has been habitually used for a long time in English with this same meaning.
The ‘money oriented’ argument
2nd Objection: The term success in English is related to success in business and, therefore, has a pecuniary tone that is not proper to a devotion to Our Lady.
Answer:
Thesis: The term success in English is primary related to the result, outcome, termination of any affair, which is not necessarily financial.
Demonstration:
1. It is interesting to note that in the last dictionary quoted answering the previous objection, success in English is synonymous with issue, result, exactly the same meaning of suceso in Spanish when applied to Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso.
The word event instead is synonymous to incident, a word hardily able to replace suceso in the title of that devotion.
None of the meanings in this dictionary implies that success in English is exclusively linked to financial issues; instead it is linked to any issue, which could apply also to the happy parturition of a mother.
2. The Dictionary of the English Language (Samuel Johnson. George Cowie and Co: London, 1828 – here)
Success, The termination of any affair happy or unhappy. Success without any epithet is commonly taken for good success.
This dictionary of 1828 confirms that in English success has the meaning of “the termination of any affair” without any specification that it must be a financial affair.
3. Online Etymology Dictionary – here.
Success. 1530s, “result, outcome,” from Latin successus “an advance, a coming up; a good result, happy outcome,” noun use of past participle of succedere, “come after, follow after; go near to; come under; take the place of,” also “go from under, mount up, ascend,” hence “get on well, prosper, be victorious,” from sub “next to, after” (see sub) + cedere “go, move” (from PIE root *ked- “to go, yield”). Meaning “accomplishment of desired end” (good success) first recorded 1580s. Meaning “a thing or person which succeeds,” especially in public, gis from 1882.
Quite interestingly this dictionary elaborates a lot on the meanings of result, outcome, which confirm the answer to the 1st Objection. It is only later on that it mentions to prosper, be victorious, which could be applied to success in financial business, although this dictionary does not mention this pecuniary aspect.
This entry on success shows that the expression good success was first recorded in the 1580s, attesting to the historicity of good success. Since the apparition of Our Lady of Good Success – both the discovery of the statue in a cave in Spain and the apparitions to Mother Mariana in Ecuador – were in the 1500s, it is easy to see that not long after the apparitions the expression good success was already introduced in the English language.
4. Good Success Bay – here
Another collateral proof that success in English is not necessarily used to express financial profits is a historical fact that happened in Argentina.
Bahía Buen Suceso is a small bay in the Tierra del Fuego Province. It was actually named after Our Lady of Good Success (Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso). It is known in English as Bay of Good Success, Bay of Success and Success Bay.
None of the three English translations of the name of this bay can be linked to financial profits. They further confirm the answer to the 1st Objection, showing that the Spanish title Bahia del Buen Suceso is perfectly translated as Good Success Bay in English.
If we were to use SSPX’s contrived reasoning, then we should also change this name to “Bay of the Good Event" or "Bay of Good Fortune", or whatever other name they feel like coming up with...
Conclusion: The three mentioned dictionaries, the common translation of the geographic name Bay of Good Success show that in English there is no exclusivity in the use of success to refer to financial profits. Therefore, the 2nd Objection is void and fallacious.
Further this demonstration confirms the answer to the 1st Objection: the name success in English has been used for centuries and has the same meaning of the Spanish word suceso.
Final proof: Our Lady wants to give good successes to all peoples
Lastly, in the book Admirable Life of Madre Mariana, the instructions of Our Lady to Madre Mariana about how the Statue should be made are: “The statue would carry the Divine Child in her left arm in order to placate Divine Ire and so that the Statue might always give good successes not only to the Convent, but to all the peoples who had recourse to this holy Statue with faith and love.” (TIA, 2021, vol. II, p. 55)
The Spanish original reproduced below reads: “La Imagen traería al Divino Nino en su brazo izuierdo, para aplacar la Ira Divina, y dar siempre, en todo tiempo, buenos sucesos, no solo a su Convento, sino a todos los pueblos que recurriesen con fe y amor a aquella Santa Imagen venida del Cielo.” (Fundacion Jesús de la Misericordia, vol.II, p. 54)
If buen suceso were translated as good event, then the above sentence would translate to Our Lady wanting “to give good events to all peoples who have recourse to the Statue...” which does not sound correct.
Therefore, buen suceso in Spanish means precisely good success in English. The proofs that I listed here seem to be more than decisive.
These are the fruits of my investigation. I hope it serves the truth in this polemic.
Our Lady will communicate her soul to souls faithful to the Holy Slavery
St. Louis Grignion's text is addressed to those who consecrate themselves as slaves to Our Lady in the method he sets out in his Treatise:
“The soul of the Blessed Virgin will be communicated to you to glorify the Lord; Her spirit will take the place of yours to rejoice in God, but only if you are faithful to the practices of this devotion.”
What I said a moment ago is reaffirmed: "The soul of the Blessed Virgin will be communicated to us to glorify the Lord."
What is this communication of the soul? It is not just the knowledge that we will have of the soul of Our Lady, but a kind of infusion of the understanding and will of Our Lady, which will illuminate our understanding and move our will.
It is, therefore, a grace, it is a very high favor, because for us to receive from Our Lady something of Her understanding and intelligence, to receive something of Her will, power and holiness. This is something inconceivable, unattainable for us who are only what we are.
Let us take into account that Our Lady is the highest of creatures, higher than all the Angels and all the Saints together, and lower only than Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no one who is as high as Our Lady; a fortiori there is no one who is superior to Her, except God Himself. And it is this soul, this spirit that communicates itself to us.
It is the promise that Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort makes.
Mary will be established as Mistress and Sovereign of hearts
"Ah! when will this happy time come when Mary will be established Mistress and Sovereign of hearts..."
SSPX Fr. Adam Purdy attacks the title Our Lady of Good Success as a bad translation from Spanish, although he does not know Spanish
I cannot forget that once while I traveling through Spain I came upon a large bridge, which was clearly made for heavy vehicles to cross, and a weaker little bridge some distance away. Both crossed over the river. On the large bridge was a sign with these words written: "Roman road: trucks"; on the narrow bridge: "Modern Road: Ordinary Vehicles."
In other words, there were trucks that passed on that bridge in Roman times. After millennia of existence, this bridge still continues to carry heavy - and even much heavier - vehicles. For a Roman legion with men wearing heavy breastplates and helmets and carrying spear to cross that bridge was nothing compared to the crossing of, let us say, four or five of today's modern heavy trucks loaded with goods.
Well then, heavy vehicles today still pass over that Roman bridge, and the new lighter modern vehicles pass over the contemporary bridge. Ultimately, what was old endures, what was modern does not.
SSPX Fr. Adam Purdy attacks the title Our Lady of Good Success as a bad translation from Spanish, although he does not know Spanish
The family was born there and the castle was blown up -- the family was blown up too. The latest descendant of the Dukes of Alba, the 18th Duchess of Alba - the most titled aristocrat in the world - married her confessor, a Jesuit priest, who received from the Holy See an exemption from his vows of chastity, an exemption from the religious state, in order to marry her.
Only what belongs to Our Lady remains
Everything that is merely human dissolves, breaks downs, is nothing, but what belongs to Our Lady remains. And we, uniting ourselves to Our Lady in this holy slavery, can do things that will remain for an indefinite period, that can remain until the end of the world.
SSPX Fr. Adam Purdy attacks the title Our Lady of Good Success as a bad translation from Spanish, although he does not know Spanish
This is the durability of things to which Our Lady communicates her spirit and communicates her soul. These are the wonderful effects of fidelity to Our Lady in the devotion that St. Louis Maria Grignion teaches. That is to say, it is first and foremost about being very faithful to Our Lady, but faithful through the devotion of Holy Slavery to her which he teaches in his Treatise on True Devotion, and which is, as far as I know, the most perfect form of devotion to Our Lady found until now.
To be continued
SSPX Fr. Adam Purdy attacks the title Our Lady of Good Success as a bad translation from Spanish, although he does not know Spanish
Dictionary research
Since Spanish is my second language, I decided to research the words suceso and success, and found some authoritative dictionaries on this matter. Below are the results, which I will present in the form of objections and answers.
At the end of my article I will present a text from the book Admirable Life of Mother Mariana that seems to me the final word on the matter.
1st Objection: The expression buen suceso in Spanish does not translate well to good success in English. The term success is not habitual in English to express the same idea of suceso in Spanish. Its proper translation to English is event.
Answer:
Thesis: The term suceso in Spanish, anciently spelled sucesso, is translated in English properly by success according to old and new dictionaries, which are reproduced below:
Demonstration:
1. Spanish-English Dictionary (Piestre: London, 1786 - here)
Sucesso = success, event, accident, chance.
According to this dictionary of 1786, the first meaning of sucesso in Spanish is success in English. Event appears as its second meaning. Please note that in old English often the “s” is written as “ſ” as in this text.
2. New Portable Spanish-English Dictionary (Bossange, Masson y Besson, 1803 – here)
Suceso = success
This dictionary of 1803 gives only one translation for the Spanish suceso, which is success in English.
3. Handy Spanish-English and English-Spanish Dictionary (Hinds, Hayden & Eldredge, Inc., 1912 – here)
Suceso – success.
Again, this dictionary of 1912 gives only one meaning for suceso in Spanish, the English word success.
4. Lippincott’s Spanish-English English-Spanish Dictionary (J. P. Lippincott, 1916 – here)
Suceso – success, issue, result; event, incident.
In this dictionary of 1916 the first meaning for the Spanish suceso is success in English, the term event appears only as its fourth meaning.
Conclusion: According to four Spanish to English dictionaries from different times, the term success in English perfectly translates the Spanish concept of suceso. It is the first meaning of the word in English, more usual that the term event.
Therefore, the term success in English is the appropriate translation for suceso in Spanish.
Further, the sequence of dates of these dictionaries shows that success has been habitually used for a long time in English with this same meaning.
The ‘money oriented’ argument
2nd Objection: The term success in English is related to success in business and, therefore, has a pecuniary tone that is not proper to a devotion to Our Lady.
Answer:
Thesis: The term success in English is primary related to the result, outcome, termination of any affair, which is not necessarily financial.
Demonstration:
1. It is interesting to note that in the last dictionary quoted answering the previous objection, success in English is synonymous with issue, result, exactly the same meaning of suceso in Spanish when applied to Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso.
The word event instead is synonymous to incident, a word hardily able to replace suceso in the title of that devotion.
None of the meanings in this dictionary implies that success in English is exclusively linked to financial issues; instead it is linked to any issue, which could apply also to the happy parturition of a mother.
2. The Dictionary of the English Language (Samuel Johnson. George Cowie and Co: London, 1828 – here)
Success, The termination of any affair happy or unhappy. Success without any epithet is commonly taken for good success.
This dictionary of 1828 confirms that in English success has the meaning of “the termination of any affair” without any specification that it must be a financial affair.
3. Online Etymology Dictionary – here.
Success. 1530s, “result, outcome,” from Latin successus “an advance, a coming up; a good result, happy outcome,” noun use of past participle of succedere, “come after, follow after; go near to; come under; take the place of,” also “go from under, mount up, ascend,” hence “get on well, prosper, be victorious,” from sub “next to, after” (see sub) + cedere “go, move” (from PIE root *ked- “to go, yield”). Meaning “accomplishment of desired end” (good success) first recorded 1580s. Meaning “a thing or person which succeeds,” especially in public, gis from 1882.
Quite interestingly this dictionary elaborates a lot on the meanings of result, outcome, which confirm the answer to the 1st Objection. It is only later on that it mentions to prosper, be victorious, which could be applied to success in financial business, although this dictionary does not mention this pecuniary aspect.
This entry on success shows that the expression good success was first recorded in the 1580s, attesting to the historicity of good success. Since the apparition of Our Lady of Good Success – both the discovery of the statue in a cave in Spain and the apparitions to Mother Mariana in Ecuador – were in the 1500s, it is easy to see that not long after the apparitions the expression good success was already introduced in the English language.
4. Good Success Bay – here
Another collateral proof that success in English is not necessarily used to express financial profits is a historical fact that happened in Argentina.
Bahía Buen Suceso is a small bay in the Tierra del Fuego Province. It was actually named after Our Lady of Good Success (Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso). It is known in English as Bay of Good Success, Bay of Success and Success Bay.
None of the three English translations of the name of this bay can be linked to financial profits. They further confirm the answer to the 1st Objection, showing that the Spanish title Bahia del Buen Suceso is perfectly translated as Good Success Bay in English.
If we were to use SSPX’s contrived reasoning, then we should also change this name to “Bay of the Good Event" or "Bay of Good Fortune", or whatever other name they feel like coming up with...
Conclusion: The three mentioned dictionaries, the common translation of the geographic name Bay of Good Success show that in English there is no exclusivity in the use of success to refer to financial profits. Therefore, the 2nd Objection is void and fallacious.
Further this demonstration confirms the answer to the 1st Objection: the name success in English has been used for centuries and has the same meaning of the Spanish word suceso.
Final proof: Our Lady wants to give good successes to all peoples
Lastly, in the book Admirable Life of Madre Mariana, the instructions of Our Lady to Madre Mariana about how the Statue should be made are: “The statue would carry the Divine Child in her left arm in order to placate Divine Ire and so that the Statue might always give good successes not only to the Convent, but to all the peoples who had recourse to this holy Statue with faith and love.” (TIA, 2021, vol. II, p. 55)
The Spanish original reproduced below reads: “La Imagen traería al Divino Nino en su brazo izuierdo, para aplacar la Ira Divina, y dar siempre, en todo tiempo, buenos sucesos, no solo a su Convento, sino a todos los pueblos que recurriesen con fe y amor a aquella Santa Imagen venida del Cielo.” (Fundacion Jesús de la Misericordia, vol.II, p. 54)
If buen suceso were translated as good event, then the above sentence would translate to Our Lady wanting “to give good events to all peoples who have recourse to the Statue...” which does not sound correct.
Therefore, buen suceso in Spanish means precisely good success in English. The proofs that I listed here seem to be more than decisive.
These are the fruits of my investigation. I hope it serves the truth in this polemic.
Posted February 17, 2021
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