Mary and the Incarnation

3. I bless and praise You, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, for the immense humility with which You deigned to choose as Your Mother a poor virgin whom You caused to be married to a poor carpenter, Joseph, a holy and upright man.

4. I bless You for the announcement of Your very fitting Incarnation and for the respectful greeting and deep devotion with which the Angel Gabriel came to meet the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and told her of the Divine mystery of the Son of God, Who was to take flesh in her.

5. I praise You and give You glory for the great faith of the Virgin Mary, her resolute consent, her humble answer, and all her virtues. These were shown when she replied with docile submission to the Archangel who brought the joyous message: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said be done to me" (Lk 1:38).
Mary and the Incarnation, The Imitation of Mary Thomas a Kempis

Interior Consolation, Nature and Grace III

17. Nature covets to know secrets, and to hear news; is willing to appear abroad, and to heave experience of many things by the senses; desires to be taken notice of, and to do such things as may procure praise and admiration.

  But grace cares not for the hearing of new and curious things, because all this springs from the old corruption, since nothing is new or lasting upon earth.

  She teaches, therefore, to restrain the senses, to avoid vain complacency and ostentation, humbly to hide those things which are worthy of praise and admiration; and from everything, and in every knowledge, to seek the fruit of spiritual profit, and the praise and honor of God.

  She desires not to have herself or what belongs to her extolled; but wishes that God may be blessed in His gifts, who bestows all through mere love.

My Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis

With her, you are no longer alone!

With her, you are no longer alone! Whatever amount of loving care a small child might receive from others, he will not follow them if his mother does not accompany him. But with his mother, a child will cross forests and rivers; he will endure fever and hunger. In wartime, it is not uncommon to find a dead mother with her child, still alive, lying by her side. On the road to hope, you hold hands with the Virgin Mary. With her, you are not alone anymore. She is “the source of life—the source of our joy and our hope”. A little child only needs his mother. He will burst into tears if she leaves his side; he can’t stand it without her. You can try giving him some candy, a nice toy—even some gold or a precious gem—he will refuse it. His happiness will only return again when he sees his beloved mother once more. Become a little child yourself. You will understand and love the Virgin Mary better.

François-Xavier NGUYEN VAN THUAN, The Road to Hope, Le Sarment, Fayard, 1991.

Tale of the Old Woman who Prayed to the "Elderly" Mary

Tale of the Old Woman who Prayed to the "Elderly" Mary There once lived in a dilapidated house an old woman who was so quiet and discreet that her neighbors had completely forgotten her very existence. (…) They, however, were the object of her silent attention and the food of her prayer. The successive and long since passed loss of all her relatives, had left her with a sad emotional void which, instead of making her soul curl up on itself, incited her to open up her heart. Every morning and night, she slowly and painfully walked to a church that was also abandoned, to sit in front of the altar on which stood a worn out, broken-nosed plaster statue of the Virgin. There, she prayed with the "elderly" Mary, the Mary who was left behind after Jesus had definitively returned to heaven and the apostles were scattered to evangelize the world. (…) The old lady felt less of an affinity with the Virgin of the Annunciation or the Mother of Sorrows at the foot of the Cross than with the "elderly" Mary because even though the Virgin of the Annunciation and the Sorrowful Mother had lived and suffered, she had not yet experienced total abandonment. Of course there had been Jesus' cry from the cross when he had felt completely abandoned by his Father. But the suffering of being abandoned was so mysterious, so immense, that the old woman needed an intermediary suffering more proportionate to hers in order to not be afraid of Christ’s and accept it. This is why she came to pray with the "elderly" Mary. And the "elderly" Mary listened to her, joining in her prayers. She prayed with the old woman, for her neighbors and her neighborhood, as she had prayed in the early times of the Church, going before the apostles in each country so that the Holy Spirit would soften hearts and render them receptive to the coming announcement of the Gospel. In this way, family dramas that in other places ended in selfish decisions, hatred and wars, flourished here in true regret, forgiveness and reconciliations. Presumed author: Salaun Ar Foll, 14th century Breton Begger and Poet

A Unknown Woman in a Blue Cloak

	Dom Dominic Helion was born in Borussia (Poland) in 1384, from parents of very modest circumstances. His father, who died when Dominic was only 11, knew that he and his three other sons would be exposed to moral dangers at school. When his mother was widowed, she hired Dominic out to an elderly preacher who taught him the alphabet and the Pater Noster, and made him copy the Matins of the Blessed Virgin Mary early on so that he could carry them on him and recite the Hours. At that time he made a vow—which later, unfortunately, he kept badly—and diligently prayed the Virgin to help him become learned: “Sancta Maria,” he begged her, “help me to study well enough so that I can become a priest.” A few years later, Dominic went to the University of Cracow, where he fell into debauchery and playing craps. At the age of 21, during a hike with friends, he stayed at the Carthusian monastery of Prague (a stay just as unsuccessful as it was for Pierre de Keriolet, the famous Breton penitent, at the Carthusian monastery of Auray). He came out worse than he had gone in. Initiated into the secrets of necromancy, he used his gains to distribute to the poor... During Lent of 1407, he entered a church to weep over his sins, but was unable to do so. Then he gave his last coin to an unknown lady wearing a “blue cloak” who promised, in exchange for the coin, to deliver him from all his miseries. Later, he understood that he owed that grace to Mary, and that she was the one who had appeared under the features of that charitable beggar. Above all, he realized that he had to leave the world and choose the Carthusian Order over any other. In 1409, at the age of 25, he entered Saint Alban's Charterhouse near Trier. Dom Yves Gourdel The Devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in the Carthusian Order quoted in Hubert Du Manoir, Maria, Volume II(Paris:Beauchesne, 1952).

Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

	The lights of the Host and the flames of Jesus' Heart pass through the Immaculate Heart of Mary Blessed Dina Belanger told this story: “Our Lord, the God-Man, showed me his adorable Heart in the Sacred Host. I did not look at his sacred Face, but his Heart and the Host captivated me. Both his Heart and the Host were perfectly united, so perfectly that I cannot explain how I was able to distinguish one from the other. The Host emanated an immensity of luminous rays. From his Heart sprang an immensity of flames, which escaped in rushing torrents. The Most Blessed Virgin was there, standing so close to Our Lord that she seemed to be absorbed by him, and yet I saw her distinctly. Oh! She was so pure! All the lights of the Host and all the flames of Jesus' Heart went into the Immaculate Heart of the Most Blessed Virgin. Our Lord said: ‘Yes, make me reign through Jesus and Mary.’ As I saw this and heard these words inside me still, I bent down on my knees and fell prostrate, as if I had been annihilated by love in the presence of my God. Then I spoke in a tone of supplication that I did not know I possessed, saying: ‘O Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I beg you, by Our Lady of the Eucharistic Heart, reign in all souls as you desire.’” Blessed Dina Belanger (1898-1929) Quebec

Hail Mary Holy Mother of God

	Mother as lucid as you are tender, tell the Father and the Son about us Hail Mary, the Almighty awaited your answer while we were all there in the shadows, waiting for it with him. God did not impose anything on your freedom. You saw what was at stake, and you believed that the fullness of time had come when God would send his Son. You died to yourself, and placed yourself at the Lord's service. (...) Holy Mother of God, you were alone at first in carrying this unutterable secret and then Joseph was allowed to share in it with you. Who better than you could enter into the Savior's plan? Limpid and inflexible, you proceeded on the proffered way. For more than thirty years you retained in the silence of your heart all that had been revealed to you. You watched the Son—your little boy—growing into a man. You followed him all the way to Jerusalem where he was exalted on the cross and you stood upright beside him. You believed, all alone, until the Lord appeared to the others. You were certain of his resurrection from the dead and amidst the apostles you waited for the coming of the promised Spirit. Holy Mother of God, keep the place among us that you held in the nascent Church. O Mother of the Risen Christ, like the apostles we remember your unique relationship with him. We see in you the first link in our testimony, the model of a staunch and steadfast faith. O Mother of the Savior and of all the saved, may your presence stimulate and teach us to let ourselves be filled with and to soak up the grace of our vocation. May your prayer encourage and envelope ours. May it make us attentive and flexible to the breath of the Spirit who prays within us. (...)
	L.M. Dewailly, O.P. With Protestant Friends in Le livre d'heures de Marie, texts collected by Alphonse Bossard, S.M.M. Desclée de Brouwer, 1981.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Jesus Brought Peace While Still in Mary's Womb God so loved the world that He gave His son—it was a gift. God gave His son to the Virgin Mary, and what did she do with Him? As soon as Jesus came into Mary's life, she immediately went in haste to give that good news. And as she came into the house of her cousin Elizabeth, Scripture tells us that the unborn child—the child in the womb of Elizabeth—leapt with joy. While still in the womb of Mary, Jesus brought peace to John the Baptist who leapt for joy in the womb of Elizabeth. The unborn child was the first one to proclaim the coming of Christ. And as if that were not enough, as if it were not enough that God the Son should become one of us and bring peace and joy while still in the womb of Mary, Jesus also died on the Cross to show that greater love. He died for you and me, and for the leper and for that man dying of hunger and that naked person lying in the street, not only of Calcutta, but of Africa and everywhere. Our Sisters serve these poor people in 105 countries throughout the world. Jesus insisted that we love one another as He loves each one of us. Jesus gave His life to love us and He tells us that we also have to give whatever we can to do good to one another. And in the Gospel Jesus says very clearly: "Love as I have loved you." (…) Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (d. 1997) Excerpt from an address at the National Prayer Breakfast (Sponsored by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives), Feb 3, 1994

Nature and Grace II

15.  Nature easily complains of want and of
trouble:
  But grace bears poverty with constancy.

16.  Nature turns all things to herself, and for
herself she labors and disputes;
  But grace refers all things to God, from whom
all originally  proceed; she attributes no good to
herself, nor does she arrogantly presume of her-
self; she does not contend, nor prefer her own
opinion to others, but in every feeling and
thought she submits herself to the eternal wisdom,
and to the divine examination.
My Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis (Chpt 54 15:16)

Nature and Grace

13. Nature doth all for her own gain and
interest; she can do nothing gratis, but hopes to
gain something equal, or better, or praise, or
favor for her good deeds; and covets to have
her actions and gifts much valued:
  But grace seeks nothing temporal, nor requires
any other recompense but God alone for
her reward, nor desires anything more of the
necessaries of this life than may be serviceable
in attaining a happy eternity.

14. Nature rejoices in a multitude of friends
and kindred; she glories in the nobility of her
stock and descent; she fawns on them that are
in power, flatters the rich, and applauds such
as are like herself:
  But grace loves even her enemies, and is not
puffed up with having  a great many friends, nor
esteems family or birth, unless when joined
with greater virtue.
  She rather favors the poor than the rich; she
has more compassion for the innocent than the
powerful; she rejoices with him that loves the
truth, and not with the deceitful.
  She never exhorts the good to be zealous for
better gifts, and to become like unto the Son of
God by the exercise of virtues.
My Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis (Chpt 54 13:14)

Devotions to the Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart

	In the Church, the devotions to the Heart of Mary and to the Sacred Heart have developed alongside each other In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the Church and the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1942, Pope Pius XII dedicated the Church and the world by a similar act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope John Paul II renewed that same consecration in both 1984 and in 2000. Jesus and Mary are inseparable. This is why when we consecrate ourselves, we dedicate our lives to both Hearts at the same time. In the Litanies of the Sacred Heart, we say: “Sacred Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mother…” In the Virgin’s womb, through the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus became man with a human heart. From the outset, the two Hearts were united in a lovable way. Mary’s Heart was the first to venerate the Heart of Jesus and to realize the depths of his love. Mary, mother and educator, formed the human Heart of her son. At the moment when the spear of the Roman soldier pierced Christ’s Heart on the Cross, Mary’s Heart was also pierced by the sword of sorrows. (…) In the Catholic Church, the devotion to the Heart of Mary and to the Sacred Heart have developed alongside each other. The day after the feast of the Sacred Heart, we remember to celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary (…). In 1916, during the three apparitions of the angel in Fatima, the angel of peace spoke of both Christ's and Mary's Hearts. (…) MDN Team

Five First Saturdays

	When Jesus Showed Mary's Heart to Lucia in Fatima On December 10, 1925, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to Lucia of Fatima, and beside her, borne by a luminous cloud, the Child Jesus. The Blessed Virgin put her hand on Lucia’s shoulder and showed her, at the same time, a Heart surrounded by thorns that she held in her other hand. At that same moment, the Child Jesus said to her: "Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them." Then the Most Holy Virgin said: "Behold, my daughter, my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and announce in my name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall receive the sacrament of Confession, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me." MDM Team

Mary Our Advocate

Her Son is our advocate; she too is our advocate, but in a very different way, as I have explained a hundred of times. The Savior is an advocate of justice, for he pleads our case, alleging its right and reason. He produces our supporting evidence, which is no other than his redemption, blood, and cross; and he tells his Father that we are indeed his debtors, but that he has paid for us. The Virgin and the saints, however, are advocates of grace. They plead for us so that we may be forgiven, in the name of the Savior's Passion. They do not have the means to justify us, but they rely on the Savior. In short, they do not join their prayers to the Savior's intercession but to ours, for they are not of the same quality. If Jesus Christ prays in Heaven, he prays by his own virtue. The Virgin prays only by the virtue of her Son like us, but with more credit and favor. Do you not see that all of this gives her Son more honor and increases his glory? Saint Francis de Sales Complete Works, volume VII Quoted in Hubert Du Manoir, Maria:etudes sur la sainte Vierge Vol. II

Root Sins and Their Manifestations

Oh blessed Trinity, help me to know my deeds and myself without deception or duplicity.  Save me, dear God, from falsehood and pretension, not only in the eyes of others but also in the depths of my soul.  I am weak and faulty.  Make me grow strong, holy, and honest with pure intention.  I ask with grace to know the clarity of how I have sinned, how I have failed you and others.  Most particularly I beg to know the roots and reasons and sources of my sins to begin to see myself as I really am.  To acknowledge the deep flaws and weakness of character that lie under the surface of my behavior.  What kind of person am I?  Oh God, tell me, tell me unsparingly, I wish to listen to you with all humility.  Help me to be led by you to live a better and more holy life.  Lord, help me also to be completely sorry once again for all the ugly, hateful, and unspeakable past evil of my life.  You and I know what that wretched evil has been.  Make me sorrier for it than I have ever been before.  Come, O Holy Spirit, fill my mind with light and my heart with honesty.  Immaculate mother of Christ and honest St. Joseph, please pray for me and help me.  Amen

Mary Molds us, St. Louis de Montfort

Take notice, if you please, that I say the saints are molded in Mary.  There is a great difference between making a figure in relief by blows of a hammer and chisel, and making a figure by throwing it into a mold.  Statuaries and sculptors labor much to make figures in the first manner; but to make them in the second manner, they work little and do their work quickly.  St. Augustine calls our Blessed lady "the mold of God'-the mold fit to case and mold gods.  He who is cast in this mold is presently formed and molded in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ in him.

The third good which Our Lady does for her servants is that she conducts and directs them according to the will of her Divine Son.  Rebecca guided her little Jacob, and gave him good advice from time to time; either to draw upon him the blessing of his father, or to avert from him the hatred and persecutions of his brother Esau.  Mary, who is the Star of the Sea, leads all her faithful servants into a safe harbor.  She shows them the paths of eternal life. She makes them avoid the dangerous places.  She conducts them by her hand along the paths of justice.  She steadies them when they are about to fall; she lifts them up when they have fallen.  She reproves them like a charitable mother when they fail; and sometimes she even lovingly chastises them.  Can a child obedient to Mary, his foster Mother and his enlightened guide, go astray in the paths of eternity?  "If you follow her," says St. Bernard,"you cannot wander from the road."
Navigating the Interior Life
Daniel Burke

St. Louis de Montfort

	When we say "Mary", She Re-echoes "God" Since God is everywhere, he can be found everywhere, even in hell. But there is no place where God can be more present to his creature and more sympathetic to human weakness than in Mary. It was indeed for this very purpose that he came down from heaven. Everywhere else he is the Bread of the strong and the Bread of angels, but living in Mary he is the Bread of children. Let us not imagine, then, as some misguided teachers do, that Mary being simply a creature would be a hindrance to union with the Creator. Far from it, for it is no longer Mary who lives but Jesus Christ himself, God alone, who lives in her. Her transformation into God far surpasses that experienced by St Paul and other saints, more than heaven surpasses the earth. Mary was created only for God, and it is unthinkable that she should reserve even one soul for herself. On the contrary she leads every soul to God and to union with him. Mary is the wonderful echo of God. The more a person joins himself to her, the more effectively she unites him to God. When we say "Mary," she re-echoes "God." When, like Saint Elizabeth, we call her blessed, she gives the honor to God. If those misguided ones who were so sadly led astray by the devil, even in their prayer-life, had known how to discover Mary, and Jesus through her, and God through Jesus, they would not have had such terrible falls. The saints tell us that when we have once found Mary, and through Mary Jesus, and through Jesus God the Father, then we have discovered every good. Saint Louis de Montfort The Secret of Mary 20-21