Special Devotions
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Slavery to Mary - 3
The Rewards of Practicing Slavery to Mary
This passage I have been asked to read tonight does not describe the devotion set out by St. Louis de Montfort. It presents the rewards of devotion, so that the person has the will to study it and follow that devotion. This is the nature of this text:
"The Holy Ghost shall come in with abundance, and fill them full to overflowing with His gifts, and particularly with the gift of wisdom, to produce wonders of grace. My dear brother, when will that happy time come, that age of Mary when countless souls chosen by Mary and given to her by God Most High, will lose themselves completely in the abyss of their interior, becoming living copies of Mary, loving and glorifying Jesus."
You can see that he makes a prophecy here, but one in the form of a question: "My dear brethren, when will the day come when all this will happen?" That day will come, but it is not certain when it will come, but oh! the day when it arrives!
What will happen on that day? Again, he employs a metaphor:
... that age of Mary, in which countless chosen souls ...
So, it is not just any soul, but specially called souls.
... losing themselves completely in the abyss of their interior, they will become living copies of Mary ...
What does it mean to become lost in the abyss of one's interior?
This is a very beautiful expression. It is somewhat mysterious for those unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine, but still very beautiful. Each soul has interior places, the interior of each soul is a world, an abyss.
Who knows what goes on in the depths of the souls of others?
The ones to whom grace gives the gift of discernment of spirits is very small in number... Otherwise, no one knows what goes on inside each soul. But this serves to prove how much exists inside each soul, how many riches God has placed in each soul, how many capacities to desire, to think, to feel, to pulsate, each one in its own way. Each soul is unique.
A grand mosaic of souls
I do not know if you have ever thought about how each soul is unique and how God never creates two souls equal. He can create similar souls, but there are no equal souls. Each soul is unique. And when the Day of Judgment comes and we are gathered in the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be judged by God, we will understand how God constituted all souls, from Adam to all the faithful souls until the end of time. From beginning to end, we will see how each soul was a little different from the others, like the pieces of a mosaic that form a beautiful picture.
Those who see that mosaic will understand what mankind is. It is not each soul viewed individually, but it is that spledorous picture of the whole, which is the men God created. In it each of us is a stone, and that stone is unique and each one different. This, then, constitutes the marvel of marvels of God on this Earth. In Heaven He created the Angels, but on this Earth the marvel is man.
Because each man is unique, each one has a whole unique universe within his own soul. And it is necessary for each one to become accustomed to make a self examination, to know his interior, to know how to judge himself with severity so that he can point out to himself his own defect or defects and then know how to combat them, to realize when the defect or quality is advancing or retreating.
In the end the defect has taken such a series of blows that it is like a dying animal; on the contrary, the virtue has had so many victories that it is like a triumphant general. May this take place at the moment when the soul is about to be called by God so that it appears before God in radiance. Thus the man ends by realizing that interior abyss in himself as God desired when He created him.
God gave him graces, He gave him teachers, He gave him advice, He gave him everything; he said “yes” to everything and started to model himself as God wanted. The soul, thus placed deep in the abyss of his interior, became this masterpiece. What is this masterpiece? He became the sculpture that God desired.
The greatest masterpiece of St. Thomas Aquinas – who was the greatest thinker of the Catholic Church unparalleled by any other – the greatest masterpiece of St. Thomas Aquinas was not the works he wrote, however wonderful they are. His greatest masterpiece was himself, by which he became a Saint of the Catholic Church. He wrote wonderful things, there is no doubt about it, but it is secondary; his masterpiece is St. Thomas Aquinas.
Each of us is called to be a masterpiece & to help others
Each of us is called to be his own masterpiece and, even more, is called to help many others to achieve that same goal. He is called by the apostolate to help others to sculpt themselves by the good advice he gives, by the good actions he makes, by the prayers he says for others, etc., and to sculpt himself in order to be what God wanted him to be.
What a glory should one of us, being radiant in Heaven, see a soul appear who enters likewise radiant, and to realize that something of what he has become is because we gave him support in a decisive hour.
And what thanks this souls will give to those who helped him to reach Heaven when he arrives there! He will look down and see Hell – because from Heaven you can see Hell, and even the place in Hell that was destined for him if he did not did his duty.
But he will also see the throne that is prepared for him in Heaven, where his Guardian Angel is leading him while a heavenly concert plays with joy because that soul was saved. Then the soul understands: "It was this one, it was that one who helped me."
There are many here, a few hundred in this auditorium. If each of you save a thousand souls, we could have a several hundred thousand souls saved. Those souls, who are like daughters of the Lord, in turn will save others, who will be like granddaughters of the Lord. At the end of the world all these souls will be thankful for what you will have done.
St. Louis Grignion de Montfort goes on to assure us: "Do not be discouraged in your efforts to achieve this. It seems very difficult, but Our Lady will penetrate our spirits. She penetrates us by her holiness, by her heart, She will renew us and we will be capable of what we are not capable of now. Onward then, onward!"
Thus, enormous territories held fast by the Devil are ripped from him. In them Our Lady will triumph and an Angel will proclaim in Heaven: "Mary conquers, Mary reigns, Mary reigns over hearts.
Mary must first be Queen of Hearts
St. Louis continues: "That time will not come until men shall know and practice this devotion which I am teaching. This time [when Mary will be Queen of Hearts] will only come when you know yourself and practice the devotion I teach."
This should be well understood. Until you know yourself and practice the devotion he teaches, that time will not come. When it is known and practiced, that time will come.
So what must we do?
Instead of moaning and sighing because the Chastisement has not come, let us each one of us practice this devotion, let us open the door! If the air is stuffy, let us open the windows and doors. If today's atmosphere is insupportable, let us open the doors of the Reign of Mary to the interior of our souls and go forward. She will do the rest. And he ends this excerpt:
"Ut adveniat regnum tuum, adveniat regnum Mariae." Lord, that Thy Kingdom may come, may the Reign of Mary come!
It is a supplication addressed to Our Lord Jesus Christ: "For Thy Kingdom to come, let the Reign of Mary come to us; for where Mary is, everything is open for Thee and Thy Reign."
Continued
'The Holy Ghost will come in abundance
to produce wonders of grace'
You can see that he makes a prophecy here, but one in the form of a question: "My dear brethren, when will the day come when all this will happen?" That day will come, but it is not certain when it will come, but oh! the day when it arrives!
What will happen on that day? Again, he employs a metaphor:
... that age of Mary, in which countless chosen souls ...
So, it is not just any soul, but specially called souls.
... losing themselves completely in the abyss of their interior, they will become living copies of Mary ...
What does it mean to become lost in the abyss of one's interior?
This is a very beautiful expression. It is somewhat mysterious for those unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine, but still very beautiful. Each soul has interior places, the interior of each soul is a world, an abyss.
Who knows what goes on in the depths of the souls of others?
The ones to whom grace gives the gift of discernment of spirits is very small in number... Otherwise, no one knows what goes on inside each soul. But this serves to prove how much exists inside each soul, how many riches God has placed in each soul, how many capacities to desire, to think, to feel, to pulsate, each one in its own way. Each soul is unique.
A grand mosaic of souls
I do not know if you have ever thought about how each soul is unique and how God never creates two souls equal. He can create similar souls, but there are no equal souls. Each soul is unique. And when the Day of Judgment comes and we are gathered in the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be judged by God, we will understand how God constituted all souls, from Adam to all the faithful souls until the end of time. From beginning to end, we will see how each soul was a little different from the others, like the pieces of a mosaic that form a beautiful picture.
Each soul constitutes a part of the grand mosaic of souls that give glory to God & Our Lady
Because each man is unique, each one has a whole unique universe within his own soul. And it is necessary for each one to become accustomed to make a self examination, to know his interior, to know how to judge himself with severity so that he can point out to himself his own defect or defects and then know how to combat them, to realize when the defect or quality is advancing or retreating.
In the end the defect has taken such a series of blows that it is like a dying animal; on the contrary, the virtue has had so many victories that it is like a triumphant general. May this take place at the moment when the soul is about to be called by God so that it appears before God in radiance. Thus the man ends by realizing that interior abyss in himself as God desired when He created him.
God gave him graces, He gave him teachers, He gave him advice, He gave him everything; he said “yes” to everything and started to model himself as God wanted. The soul, thus placed deep in the abyss of his interior, became this masterpiece. What is this masterpiece? He became the sculpture that God desired.
The greatest masterpiece of St. Thomas Aquinas – who was the greatest thinker of the Catholic Church unparalleled by any other – the greatest masterpiece of St. Thomas Aquinas was not the works he wrote, however wonderful they are. His greatest masterpiece was himself, by which he became a Saint of the Catholic Church. He wrote wonderful things, there is no doubt about it, but it is secondary; his masterpiece is St. Thomas Aquinas.
Each of us is called to be a masterpiece & to help others
Each of us is called to be his own masterpiece and, even more, is called to help many others to achieve that same goal. He is called by the apostolate to help others to sculpt themselves by the good advice he gives, by the good actions he makes, by the prayers he says for others, etc., and to sculpt himself in order to be what God wanted him to be.
What a glory should one of us, being radiant in Heaven, see a soul appear who enters likewise radiant, and to realize that something of what he has become is because we gave him support in a decisive hour.
Each soul, from the hermit to the simplest layman, is called to contemplation & to save souls
But he will also see the throne that is prepared for him in Heaven, where his Guardian Angel is leading him while a heavenly concert plays with joy because that soul was saved. Then the soul understands: "It was this one, it was that one who helped me."
There are many here, a few hundred in this auditorium. If each of you save a thousand souls, we could have a several hundred thousand souls saved. Those souls, who are like daughters of the Lord, in turn will save others, who will be like granddaughters of the Lord. At the end of the world all these souls will be thankful for what you will have done.
St. Louis Grignion de Montfort goes on to assure us: "Do not be discouraged in your efforts to achieve this. It seems very difficult, but Our Lady will penetrate our spirits. She penetrates us by her holiness, by her heart, She will renew us and we will be capable of what we are not capable of now. Onward then, onward!"
Thus, enormous territories held fast by the Devil are ripped from him. In them Our Lady will triumph and an Angel will proclaim in Heaven: "Mary conquers, Mary reigns, Mary reigns over hearts.
Mary must first be Queen of Hearts
St. Louis continues: "That time will not come until men shall know and practice this devotion which I am teaching. This time [when Mary will be Queen of Hearts] will only come when you know yourself and practice the devotion I teach."
‘That time will not come until Mary is Queen of hearts’
So what must we do?
Instead of moaning and sighing because the Chastisement has not come, let us each one of us practice this devotion, let us open the door! If the air is stuffy, let us open the windows and doors. If today's atmosphere is insupportable, let us open the doors of the Reign of Mary to the interior of our souls and go forward. She will do the rest. And he ends this excerpt:
"Ut adveniat regnum tuum, adveniat regnum Mariae." Lord, that Thy Kingdom may come, may the Reign of Mary come!
It is a supplication addressed to Our Lord Jesus Christ: "For Thy Kingdom to come, let the Reign of Mary come to us; for where Mary is, everything is open for Thee and Thy Reign."
Continued
Posted October 5. 2022
______________________
______________________
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |