What
Perfect Devotion To Mary Consists In
Some True Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary
There are indeed several true devotions to our Lady. I do not intend
treating of those which are false.
The first consists in fulfilling the duties of our Christian state,
avoiding all mortal sin, performing our actions for God more through love than
through fear, praying to our Lady occasionally, and honouring her as the Mother
of God, but without our devotion to her being exceptional.
The second consists in entertaining for our Lady deeper feelings of
esteem and love, of confidence and veneration. This devotion inspires us to
join the confraternities of the Holy Rosary and the Scapular, to say the five
or fifteen decades of the Rosary, to venerate our Lady’s pictures and shrines,
to make her known to others, and to enrol in her sodalities. This devotion, in
keeping us from sin, is good, holy and praiseworthy, but it is not as perfect
as the third, nor as effective in detaching us from creatures, or in practising
that self-denial necessary for union with Jesus Christ.
The third devotion to our Lady is one which is unknown to many and
practised by very few. This is the one I am about to present to you.
The Perfect
Practice of Devotion to Mary
What it consists in Chosen soul, this devotion consists in surrendering
oneself in the manner of a slave to Mary, and to Jesus through her, and then
performing all our actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary.
Let me explain this statement further.
We should choose a special feast-day on which to give ourselves. Then,
willingly and lovingly and under no constraint, we consecrate and sacrifice to
her unreservedly our body and soul. We give to her our material possessions,
such as house, family, income, and even the inner possessions of our soul,
namely, our merits, graces, virtues and atonements.
Notice that in this devotion we sacrifice to Jesus through Mary all that
is most dear to us, that is, the right to dispose of ourselves, of the value of
our prayers and alms, of our acts of self-denial and atonements. This is a
sacrifice which no religious order would require of its members. We leave
everything to the free disposal of our Lady, for her to use as she wills for
the greater glory of God, of which she alone is perfectly aware.
We leave to her the right to dispose of all the satisfactory and prayer
value of our good deeds, so that, after having done so and without going so far
as making a vow, we cease to be master over any good we do. Our Lady may use
our good deeds either to bring relief or deliverance to a soul in purgatory, or
perhaps to bring a change of heart to a poor sinner.
By this devotion we place our merits in the hands of our Lady, but only
that she may preserve, increase and embellish them, since merit for increase of
grace and glory cannot be handed over to any other person. But we give to her
all our prayers and good works, inasmuch as they have intercessory and
atonement value, for her to distribute and apply to whom she pleases. If, after
having thus consecrated ourselves to our Lady, we wish to help a soul in
purgatory, rescue a sinner, or assist a friend by a prayer, an alms, an act of
self-denial or an act of self-sacrifice, we must humbly request it of our Lady,
abiding always by her decision, which of course remains unknown to us. We can
be fully convinced that the value of our actions, being dispensed by that same
hand which God himself uses to distribute his gifts and graces to us, cannot fail
to be applied for his greatest glory.
I have said that this devotion consists in adopting the status of a
slave with regard to Mary. We must remember that there are three kinds of
slavery.
There is, first, a slavery based on nature. All men, good and bad alike,
are slaves of God in this sense.
The second is a slavery of compulsion. The devils and the damned are
slaves of God in this second sense.
The third is a slavery of love and free choice. This is the kind chosen
by one who consecrates himself to God through Mary, and this is the most
perfect way for us human beings to give ourselves to God, our Creator.
Note that there is a vast difference between a servant and a slave. A
servant claims wages for his services, but a slave can claim no reward. A servant
is free to leave his employer when he likes and serves him only for a time, but
a slave belongs to his master for life and has no right to leave him. A servant
does not give his employer a right of life and death over him, but a slave is
so totally committed that his master can put him to death without fearing any
action by the law.
It is easy to see, then, that no dependence is so absolute as that of a
person who is a slave by compulsion. Strictly speaking, no man should be
dependent to this extent on anyone except his Creator. We therefore do not find
this kind of slavery among Christians, but only among Muslims and pagans.
But happy, very happy indeed, will the generous person be who, prompted
by love, consecrates himself entirely to Jesus through Mary as their slave,
after having shaken off by baptism the tyrannical slavery of the devil.
The excellence of this practice of devotion
I would need much more enlightenment from heaven to describe adequately
the surpassing merit of this devotional practice. I shall limit myself to these
few remarks:
In giving ourselves to Jesus through Mary’s hands, we imitate God the
Father, who gave us his only Son through Mary, and who imparts his graces to us
only through Mary. Likewise we imitate God the Son, who by giving us his
example for us to follow, inspires us to go to him using the same means he used
in coming to us, that is, through Mary. Again, we imitate the Holy Spirit, who
bestows his graces and gifts upon us through Mary. “Is it not fitting,” remarks
St Bernard, “that grace should return to its author by the same channel that
conveyed it to us?”
In going to Jesus through Mary, we are really paying honour to our Lord,
for we are showing that, because of our sins, we are unworthy to approach his
infinite holiness directly on our own. We are showing that we need Mary, his
holy Mother, to be our advocate and mediatrix with him who is our Mediator. We
are going to Jesus as Mediator and Brother, and at the same time humbling
ourselves before him who is our God and our Judge. In short, we are practising
humility, something which always gladdens the heart of God.
Consecrating ourselves in this way to Jesus through Mary implies placing
our good deeds in Mary’s hands. Now, although these deeds may appear good to
us, they are often defective, and not worthy to be considered and accepted by
God, before whom even the stars lack brightness.
Let us pray, then, to our dear Mother and Queen that having accepted our
poor present, she may purify it, sanctify it, beautify it, and so make it
worthy of God. Any good our soul could produce is of less value to God our
Father, in winning his friendship and favour, than a worm-eaten apple would be
in the sight of a king, when presented by a poor peasant to his royal master as
payment for the rent of his farm. But what would the peasant do if he were wise
and if he enjoyed the esteem of the queen? Would he not present his apple first
to her, and would she not, out of kindness to the poor man and out of respect
for the king, remove from the apple all that was maggoty and spoilt, place it
on a golden dish, and surround it with flowers? Could the king then refuse the
apple? Would he not accept it most willingly from the hands of his queen who
showed such loving concern for that poor man? “If you wish to present something
to God, no matter how small it may be,” says St Bernard, “place it in the hands
of Mary to ensure its certain acceptance.”
Dear God, how everything we do comes to so very little! But let us adopt
this devotion and place everything in Mary’s hands. When we have given her all
we possibly can, emptying ourselves completely to do her honour, she far
surpasses our generosity and gives us very much for very little. She enriches
us with her own merits and virtues. She places our gift on the golden dish of
her charity and clothes us, as Rebecca clothed Jacob, in the beautiful garments
of her first- born and only Son, Jesus Christ, which are his merits, and which
are at her disposal. Thus, as her servants and slaves, stripping ourselves of
everything to do her honour, we are clad by her in double garments – namely,
the garments, adornments, perfumes, merits and virtues of Jesus and Mary. These
are imparted to the soul of the slave who has emptied himself and is resolved
to remain in that state.
Giving ourselves in this way to our Lady is a practice of charity
towards our neighbour of the highest possible degree, because in making
ourselves over to Mary, we give her all that we hold most dear and we let her
dispose of it as she wishes in favour of the living and the dead.
In adopting this devotion, we put our graces, merits and virtues into
safe keeping by making Mary the depositary of them. It is as if we said to her,
“See, my dear Mother, here is the good that I have done through the grace of
your dear Son. I am not capable of keeping it, because of my weakness and
inconstancy, and also because so many wicked enemies are assailing me day and
night. Alas, every day we see cedars of Lebanon fall into the mire, and eagles
which had soared towards the sun become birds of darkness, a thousand of the
just falling to the left and ten thousand to the right. But, most powerful
Queen, hold me fast lest I fall. Keep a guard on all my possessions lest I be
robbed of them. I entrust all I have to you, for I know well who you are, and
that is why I confide myself entirely to you. You are faithful to God and man,
and you will not suffer anything I entrust to you to perish. You are powerful,
and nothing can harm you or rob you of anything you hold.”
“When you follow Mary you will not go astray; when you pray to her, you
will not despair; when your mind is on her, you will not wander; when she holds
you up, you will not fall; when she protects you, you will have no fear; when
she guides you, you will feel no fatigue; when she is on your side, you will
arrive safely home” (Saint Bernard). And again, “She keeps her Son from
striking us; she prevents the devil from harming us; she preserves virtue in
us; she prevents our merits from being lost and our graces from receding.”
These words of St Bernard explain in substance all that I have said. Had I but
this one motive to impel me to choose this devotion, namely, that of keeping me
in the grace of God and increasing that grace in me, my heart would burn with
longing for it.
This devotion makes the soul truly free by imbuing it with the liberty
of the children of God. Since we lower ourselves willingly to a state of slavery
out of love for Mary, our dear Mother, she out of gratitude opens wide our
hearts enabling us to walk with giant strides in the way of God’s commandments.
She delivers our souls from weariness, sadness and scruples. It was this
devotion that our Lord taught to Mother Agnes de Langeac, a religious who died
in the odour of sanctity, as a sure way of being freed from the severe
suffering and confusion of mind which afflicted her. “Make yourself,” she said,
“my Mother’s slave and wear her little chain.” She did so, and from that time
onwards her troubles ceased.
To prove that this devotion is authoritatively sanctioned, we need only
recall the bulls of the popes and the pastoral letters of bishops recommending
it, as well as the indulgences accorded to it, the confraternities founded to
promote it, and the examples of many saints and illustrious people who have
practised it. But I do not see any necessity to record them here.
The interior constituents of this consecration and its spirit
I have already said that this devotion consists in performing all our
actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary.
It is not enough to give ourselves just once as a slave to Jesus through
Mary; nor is it enough to renew that consecration once a month or once a week.
That alone would make it just a passing devotion and would not raise the soul
to the level of holiness which it is capable of reaching. It is easy to enroll
in a confraternity; easy to undertake this devotion, and say every day the few
vocal prayers prescribed. The chief difficulty is to enter into its spirit,
which requires an interior dependence on Mary, and effectively becoming her
slave and the slave of Jesus through her. I have met many people who with
admirable zeal have set about practising exteriorly this holy slavery of Jesus
and Mary, but I have met only a few who have caught its interior spirit, and
fewer still who have persevered in it.
Act with
Mary
The essential practice of this devotion is to perform all our actions
with Mary. This means that we must take her as the accomplished model for all
we have to do.
Before undertaking anything, we must forget self and abandon our own
views. We must consider ourselves as a mere nothing before God, as being
personally incapable of doing anything supernaturally worthwhile or anything
conducive to our salvation. We must have habitual recourse to our Lady,
becoming one with her and adopting her intentions, even though they are unknown
to us. Through Mary we must adopt the intentions of Jesus. In other words, we
must become an instrument in Mary’s hands for her to act in us and do with us
what she pleases, for the greater glory of her Son; and through Jesus for the
greater glory of the Father. In this way , we pursue our interior life and make
spiritual progress only in dependence on Mary.
Act in Mary
We must always act in Mary, that is to say, we must gradually acquire
the habit of recollecting ourselves interiorly and so form within us an idea or
a spiritual image of Mary. She must become, as it were, an Oratory for the soul
where we offer up our prayers to God without fear of being ignored. She will be
as a Tower of David for us where we can seek safety from all our enemies. She
will be a burning lamp lighting up our inmost soul and inflaming us with love for
God. She will be a sacred place of repose where we can contemplate God in her
company. Finally Mary will be the only means we will use in going to God, and
she will become our intercessor for everything we need. When we pray we will
pray in Mary. When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion we will place him in Mary
for him to take his delight in her. If we do anything at all, it will be in
Mary, and in this way Mary will help us to forget self everywhere and in all
things.
Act through
Mary
We must never go to our Lord except through Mary, using her intercession
and good standing with him. We must never be without her when praying to Jesus.
Act for Mary
We must perform all our actions for Mary, which means that as slaves of
this noble Queen we will work only for her, promoting her interests and her
high renown, and making this the first aim in all our acts, while the glory of
God will always be our final end. In everything we must renounce self- love
because more often than not, without our being aware of it, selfishness sets
itself up as the end of all we work for. We should often repeat from the depths
of our heart: “Dear Mother, it is to please you that I go here or there, that I
do this or that, that I suffer this pain or this injury.”
Beware, chosen soul, of thinking that it is more perfect to direct your
work and intention straight to Jesus or straight to God. Without Mary, your
work and your intention will be of little value. But if you go to God through
Mary, your work will become Mary’s work, and consequently will be most noble
and most worthy of God.
Again, beware of doing violence to yourself, endeavouring to experience
pleasure in your prayers and good deeds. Pray and act always with something of
that pure faith which Mary showed when on earth, and which she will share with
you as time goes on. Poor little slave, let your sovereign Queen enjoy the
clear sight of God, the raptures, delights, satisfactions and riches of heaven.
Content yourself with a pure faith, which is accompanied by repugnance,
distractions, weariness and dryness. Let your prayer be: “To whatever Mary my
Queen does in heaven, I say Amen, so be it.” We cannot do better than this for
the time being.
Should you not savour immediately the sweet presence of the Blessed Virgin
within you, take great care not to torment yourself. For this is a grace not
given to everyone, and even when God in his great mercy favours a soul with
this grace, it remains none the less very easy to lose it, except when the soul
has become permanently aware of it through the habit of recollection. But
should this misfortune happen to you, go back calmly to your sovereign Queen
and make amends to her.
The effects that this devotion produces in a faithful soul
Experience will teach you much more about this devotion than I can tell
you, but, if you remain faithful to the little I have taught you, you will
acquire a great richness of grace that will surprise you and fill you with
delight.
Let us set to work, then, dear soul, through perseverance in the living
of this devotion, in order that Mary’s soul may glorify the Lord in us and her
spirit be within us to rejoice in God her Saviour. Let us not think that there
was more glory and happiness in dwelling in Abraham’s bosom – which is another
name for Paradise – than in dwelling in the bosom of Mary where God has set up
his throne. (Abbot Guerric)
This devotion faithfully practised produces countless happy effects in
the soul. The most important of them is that it establishes, even here on
earth, Mary’s life in the soul, so that it is no longer the soul that lives,
but Mary who lives in it. In a manner of speaking, Mary’s soul becomes
identified with the soul of her servant. Indeed when by an unspeakable but real
grace Mary most holy becomes Queen of a soul, she works untold wonders in it.
She is a great wonder- worker especially in the interior of souls. She works
there in secret, unsuspected by the soul, as knowledge of it might destroy the
beauty of her work.
As Mary is everywhere the fruitful Virgin, she produces in the depths of
the soul where she dwells a purity of heart and body, a singleness of intention
and purpose, and a fruitfulness in good works. Do not think, dear soul, that
Mary, the most faithful of all God’s creatures, who went as far as to give
birth to a God-man, remains idle in a docile soul. She causes Jesus to live
continuously in that soul and that soul to live in continuous union with Jesus.
If Jesus is equally the fruit of Mary for each individual soul as for all souls
in general, he is even more especially her fruit and her masterpiece in the
soul where she is present.
To sum up, Mary becomes all things for the soul that wishes to serve
Jesus Christ. She enlightens his mind with her pure faith. She deepens his
heart with her humility. She enlarges and inflames his heart with her charity,
makes it pure with her purity, makes it noble and great through her motherly
care. But why dwell any longer on this? Experience alone will teach us the wonders
wrought by Mary in the soul, wonders so great that the wise and the proud, and
even a great number of devout people find it hard to credit them.
As it was through Mary that God came into the world the first time in a
state of self-abasement and privation, may we not say that it will be again
through Mary that he will come the second time? For does not the whole Church
expect him to come and reign over all the earth and to judge the living and the
dead? No one knows how and when this will come to pass, but we do know that
God, whose thoughts are further from ours than heaven is from earth, will come
at a time and in a manner least expected, even by the most scholarly of men and
those most versed in Holy Scripture, which gives no clear guidance on this subject.
We are given reason to believe that, towards the end of time and perhaps
sooner than we expect, God will raise up great men filled with the Holy Spirit
and imbued with the spirit of Mary. Through them Mary, Queen most powerful,
will work great wonders in the world, destroying sin and setting up the kingdom
of Jesus her Son upon the ruins of the corrupt kingdom of the world. These holy
men will accomplish this by means of the devotion of which I only trace the
main outlines and which suffers from my incompetence.
Exterior practices
Besides interior practices, which we have just mentioned, this devotion
has certain exterior practices which must not be omitted or neglected.
Consecration and its renewal
The first is to choose a special feast-day to consecrate ourselves
through Mary to Jesus, whose slaves we are making ourselves. This is an
occasion for receiving Holy Communion and spending the day in prayer. At least
once a year on the same day, we should renew the act of consecration.
Offering of a tribute in submission to the Blessed Virgin
The second is to give our Lady every year on that same day some little
tribute as a token of our servitude and dependence. This has always been the
customary homage paid by slaves to their master. This tribute could consist of
an act of self-denial or an alms, or a pilgrimage, or a few prayers. St Peter
Damian tells us that his brother, Blessed Marino, used to give himself the
discipline in public on the same day every year before the altar of our Lady.
This kind of zeal is not required, nor would we counsel it. But what little we
give to our Lady we should at least offer with a heart that is humble and
grateful.
A Special Celebration of the Feast of the Annunciation
The third practice is to celebrate every year with special fervour the
feast of the Annunciation of our Lord. This is the distinctive feast of this
devotion and was chosen so that we might honour and imitate that dependence
which the eternal Word accepted on this day out of love for us.
The Saying of the Little Crown and the Magnificat
The fourth practice is to say every day, without the obligation of sin,
the prayer entitled “The Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin”, which comprises
three Our Fathers and twelve Hail Marys, and to say frequently the Magnificat,
which is the only hymn composed by our Lady. In the Magnificat we thank God for
favouring us in the past, and we beg further blessings from him in the future.
One special time when we should not fail to say it is during thanksgiving after
Holy Communion. A person so scholarly as Gerson informs us that our Lady
herself used to recite it in thanksgiving after Holy Communion.
The wearing of a little chain
The fifth is the wearing of a small blessed chain either around the
neck, on the arm, on the foot, or about the body. Strictly speaking, this
practice can be omitted without affecting the essential nature of the devotion
, but just the same it would be wrong to despise or condemn it, and foolhardy
to neglect it.
Here are the reasons for wearing this external sign:
It signifies that we are free from the baneful chains of original and
actual sin which held us in bondage.
By it we show our esteem for the cords and bonds of love with which our
Lord let himself be bound that we might be truly free.
As these bonds are bonds of love, they remind us that we should do
nothing except under the influence of love.
Finally, wearing this chain recalls to us once more that we are
dependent on Jesus and Mary as their slaves. Eminent people who had become
slaves of Jesus and Mary valued these little chains so much that they were
unhappy at not being allowed to trail them publicly like the slaves of the
Muslims.
These chains of love are more valuable and more glorious than the
necklaces of gold and precious stones worn by emperors, because they are the
illustrious insignia of Jesus and Mary, and signify the bonds uniting us to
them.
It should be noted that if the chains are not of silver, they should for
convenience’ sake at least be made of iron.
They should never be laid aside at any time, so that they may be with us
even to the day of judgement. Great will be the joy , glory and triumph of the
faithful slave on that day when, at the sound of the trumpet, his bones rise
from the earth still bound by the chain of holy bondage, which to all
appearance has not decayed. This thought alone should convince a devout slave
never to take off his chain, however inconvenient it may be.
By Saint
Louis de Montfort, from The Secrets of Mary
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
