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True Devotion to Mary

“Hail full of grace! The Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” (Luke 1:28)

My dear brethren, how often have we said these words? They are so familiar to us that our recitation of them may have become a matter of daily routine. Perhaps we should be better asking the question how often have we led our minds to dwell upon them so as the better to know Mary, the Mother of God, and what this Angelic salutation meant for us and for all mankind. Let us look at the word of God with that desire in our souls. “The angel Gabriel was sent from God.” One of the seven who stand before the throne of God was sent by Him carrying the powerful message that revealed the fulfilment of God's promise to mankind. This greeting then was God-sent: to the Immaculate Virgin whom God had chosen to be His mother. God had no mother in Heaven, but when lie decided to become man He required a mother on earth; and He chose Mary. And this message brought by the Angel was to become a devotion; a powerful means of grace for all mankind.

It is well for us to remember that the Rosary devotion which St. Dominic was asked to preach consisted in reciting those words of God’s greeting sent by the Angel 50 times; with a genuflection every time it was spoken. Why this genuflection? Because of the words: “The Lord is with thee!” Because at the moment they were spoken God took to Himself, in the person of His only begotten Son, our human nature: thus Mary became the “Tabernacle of the Most High.” The eternal Word of God dwelt among us in Mary’s virgin womb; and the Scripture was fulfilled, “Behold the tabernacle of God with men.” God had chosen a new Eve who was to be mother of all the living; through whom a new beginning was given to all mankind. In 1940, the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal O’Connell, wrote: “The more we reflect, the more we realise that the mission of Christianity is to take possession of man in his entirety in order to transform him into a soul worthy of heaven. Hence, Pius XI, in speaking of Christian education, said that its proper and immediate end is to cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and perfect Christian, that is, to form Christ Himself in those regenerated by Baptism.” In this work of transformation, a definite part has been assigned by God to the Blessed Virgin Mary; that of leading souls to Jesus Christ, and of keeping them in His love. Hence, the role of Mary, Mother of God and Mediatrix of All Grace, ought not to be overlooked. Indeed the recognition of the high dignity granted her by God leads her clients toward a richer understanding of the Mysteries of Christ and a fuller participation in the fruits of the Redemption.

In happier times, when I was in the minor Seminary, the Month of May was very special: every evening when we gathered in the Chapel to pray the Rosary, we first listened to a reading from True Devotion to Mary by St Louis De Montfort. This wonderful work written more than 300 years ago was recommended by so many Popes from Pius IX who “declared that St Louis de Montfort’s Devotion to Mary was the best and most acceptable form of devotion to Our Lady” to the present day; but sadly is almost unknown in present day Catholic education; and indeed among Catholics generally. And what is the result. Devotion in its true sense has diminished or completely disappeared from Catholic practice. As a consequence, devotion to the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament has suffered together with devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is interesting to listen to the words of Pope Paul VI (February 2nd 1966): “We are convinced that devotion to our Lady is essentially joined with devotion to Christ, that it assures a firmness of conviction to Faith in Him and to His Church which, without devotion to Mary, would be impoverished and compromised.” And I am sure that St Pius X still sends from heaven the blessing he promised: “I heartily recommend True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, so admirably written by St. Louis de Montfort, and to all who read it grant the Apostolic Benediction.” And can we leave aside Pope Pius XII: “The force and unction of the words of Mary’s servant [St Louis de Montfort] have not only touched, but captivated and converted many souls.”

What then can we say of our own devotion — is it worthy of the name? To be devoted to means to give one’s self to. In the final throes of His anguish on the Cross, with the words to St John, “Son, behold thy Mother,” Christ gave to us all His most treasured possession on this earth — His Immaculate Mother. And Scripture tells us the “the disciple took her to his own” — he devoted himself to her as his mother. St Louis writes: “In as much as grace perfects nature, and glory perfects grace, it is certain that our Lord is still in heaven, as much the Son of Mary as He was on earth; and that consequently. He has retained the obedience and submission of the most perfect Child towards the best of all mothers. … Mary, being altogether transformed into God by grace and by the glory which transforms all the Saints into Him, asks nothing, wishes nothing, does nothing contrary to the eternal and immutable will of God.”

St Augustine “affirms that all the predestinate, in order to be conformed to the Image of the Son of God, are in this world hidden in the womb of the most holy Virgin, where they are guarded, nourished, brought up and made to grow by that good Mother until she has brought them forth to glory after death, which is properly the day of their birth, as the Church calls the death of the just. O mystery of grace, unknown to the reprobate, and but little known even to the predestinate.” And in the Epistle for her feasts we read: “I am the Mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth; in me is all hope of life and of virtue….”

Let us resolve this day to stir up in our hearts genuine devotion to our Blessed Mother; to truly look upon Mary as our Mother and our Queen, so that we can pray in our Rosaries that God will grant in His mercy that we who welcome and celebrate all the feasts of His Blessed Mother, through her Immaculate Heart may be able to live our lives according to the Sacred Heart of her divine Son.