May I tell you a little secret today? Of course! Everybody likes to hear secrets. This one I may tell. In fact, Our Lady wants me to tell it. Listen. My secret is devotion to Mary; that is the secret of sanctity.
Yes; I must chat about the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God. Of Mary we can never say enough, you know. Surely, we can never honor her too much whom the mighty Archangel Michael, Prince of the hosts of heaven, is the most zealous of all in honoring, as St. Augustine tells us. Mary is our joy and consolation. But she is more than that: she is even necessary for us, that is to say, since God has decided that we should be saved through Mary, it simply must be so. She is our salvation. As St. John Damascene says so beautifully and so truly:
"To be devout to you, O holy Virgin, is an arm of salvation which God gives to those whom He wishes to save."
So make a resolution right now to be more devout than ever to Mary. Think of the Hail Mary, of the daily rosary, of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, of the Angelus, the Memorare, May devotions and processions, May altars and flowers, and all the other ways of being a devoted child of Mary. Remember that the more devout we are to Mary the more sure we may be of salvation.
Our Lady is too wonderful for words. She is God's masterpiece. God could have created a greater heaven, a greater earth; but a greater mother than the Mother God He could not create. And that is why He wants to be especially honored. In honoring Mary we honor God; for whoever honors the Mother also honors the Son. Yes, the Divine Savior has decreed that hearts shall be drawn to Hint through her. This truth is made plain to us in the practice of God's holy and infallible Church. Two months of the year, May and October, have been consecrated to Mary; and countless prayers, devotions, shrines, sodalities, Congregations, and Orders are dedicated to her. So it is quite clear that it is our heavenly Father's Will that the Blessed Virgin, who so modestly and humbly hid herself in life, shall be ever more and better known. And what could be more natural than this? Is she not the beautiful dawn that precedes the glorious Sun of Justice? Jesus came to us through the Immaculate Mary. We all know that, don't we? And the Church and her saints and her Fathers would have us know that it is through Mary that we are to go to Jesus. Who finds Mary finds Jesus. We cannot, and we may not, separate the Mother from the Son! As St. Bonaventure tells us,
"The way of coming to Christ is to draw near to her."
See, that is the secret of sanctity: perfect devotion to Mary. We ought to consecrate, to give ourselves wholly to Mary, as her children and her slaves forever, in order the more perfectly to become the slaves of Jesus. There are three steps, so to speak, as we go upward to heaven: Mary, Jesus, and the Eternal Father. Through our darling Mother Mary, our mediatress, we must approach Christ Jesus, our Mediator with the Father.
So, dear boys and girls, renew once more your devotion to Mary. Grow in love for her. And let your devotion show itself especially in the Hail Mary and in the rosary wherein that lovely prayer so often occurs. Ah, the Hail Mary! Of it Blessed Grignon de Montfort says:
"The Hail Mary is a heavenly dew which waters the soul, and renders it fruitful in all virtues; a soul not watered by this prayer brings forth no fruit, nothing but briars and thorns. . . ." The Hail Mary is the sanctification of the soul, the joy of the angels, the song of the predestined, the canticle of the New Testament, the pleasure of Mary, the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. The Hail Mary is a loving kiss we give to Mary; it is a brilliant rose we present to her; a precious pearl we offer her. All these comparisons are made by the saints."
Spotless spouse of Joseph,
Lily of the scented May,
From our hearts we fondly greet thee,
Macula non est in te!
Source: Talks to Boys and Girls, Imprimatur 1931
A coloring picture can be found below:
Yes; I must chat about the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God. Of Mary we can never say enough, you know. Surely, we can never honor her too much whom the mighty Archangel Michael, Prince of the hosts of heaven, is the most zealous of all in honoring, as St. Augustine tells us. Mary is our joy and consolation. But she is more than that: she is even necessary for us, that is to say, since God has decided that we should be saved through Mary, it simply must be so. She is our salvation. As St. John Damascene says so beautifully and so truly:
"To be devout to you, O holy Virgin, is an arm of salvation which God gives to those whom He wishes to save."
So make a resolution right now to be more devout than ever to Mary. Think of the Hail Mary, of the daily rosary, of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, of the Angelus, the Memorare, May devotions and processions, May altars and flowers, and all the other ways of being a devoted child of Mary. Remember that the more devout we are to Mary the more sure we may be of salvation.
Our Lady is too wonderful for words. She is God's masterpiece. God could have created a greater heaven, a greater earth; but a greater mother than the Mother God He could not create. And that is why He wants to be especially honored. In honoring Mary we honor God; for whoever honors the Mother also honors the Son. Yes, the Divine Savior has decreed that hearts shall be drawn to Hint through her. This truth is made plain to us in the practice of God's holy and infallible Church. Two months of the year, May and October, have been consecrated to Mary; and countless prayers, devotions, shrines, sodalities, Congregations, and Orders are dedicated to her. So it is quite clear that it is our heavenly Father's Will that the Blessed Virgin, who so modestly and humbly hid herself in life, shall be ever more and better known. And what could be more natural than this? Is she not the beautiful dawn that precedes the glorious Sun of Justice? Jesus came to us through the Immaculate Mary. We all know that, don't we? And the Church and her saints and her Fathers would have us know that it is through Mary that we are to go to Jesus. Who finds Mary finds Jesus. We cannot, and we may not, separate the Mother from the Son! As St. Bonaventure tells us,
"The way of coming to Christ is to draw near to her."
See, that is the secret of sanctity: perfect devotion to Mary. We ought to consecrate, to give ourselves wholly to Mary, as her children and her slaves forever, in order the more perfectly to become the slaves of Jesus. There are three steps, so to speak, as we go upward to heaven: Mary, Jesus, and the Eternal Father. Through our darling Mother Mary, our mediatress, we must approach Christ Jesus, our Mediator with the Father.
So, dear boys and girls, renew once more your devotion to Mary. Grow in love for her. And let your devotion show itself especially in the Hail Mary and in the rosary wherein that lovely prayer so often occurs. Ah, the Hail Mary! Of it Blessed Grignon de Montfort says:
"The Hail Mary is a heavenly dew which waters the soul, and renders it fruitful in all virtues; a soul not watered by this prayer brings forth no fruit, nothing but briars and thorns. . . ." The Hail Mary is the sanctification of the soul, the joy of the angels, the song of the predestined, the canticle of the New Testament, the pleasure of Mary, the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. The Hail Mary is a loving kiss we give to Mary; it is a brilliant rose we present to her; a precious pearl we offer her. All these comparisons are made by the saints."
Spotless spouse of Joseph,
Lily of the scented May,
From our hearts we fondly greet thee,
Macula non est in te!
Source: Talks to Boys and Girls, Imprimatur 1931
A coloring picture can be found below:
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