Special Devotions
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Slavery to Mary - 1
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
in Chapter VI, under the title: "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.
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 illuminates our understanding and moves 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 is extraordinary. This is something inconceivable 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 St. Louis Grignion de Montfort makes.
Mary will be established as Mistress & 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 on it: "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 spears 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 Grand 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.
Continued
Our Lady communicates her understanding & will to those 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 illuminates our understanding and moves 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 is extraordinary. This is something inconceivable 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 St. Louis Grignion de Montfort makes.
Mary will be established as Mistress & Sovereign of hearts
"Ah! when will this happy time come when Mary will be established Mistress and Sovereign of hearts..."
The ancient Roman Bridge of Cordoba
is stronger than the modern ones
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 on it: "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 spears 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.
Ruins of the ancient Castle 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.
Our Lord established that Our Lady
must be at the center of His glory
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.
Continued
Posted June 17, 2022
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