Saturday, September 6, 2014

Devotion to Mary


You already have this devotion, but, perhaps, in a manner which is still childish.  For you, the Blessed Virgin is the all-powerful mother...  She is the one who saves, who pities, who understands, and who will temper the justice of God.  All this is true; but it runs the risk of turning into superstition if it stops there.

The Blessed Virgin is not only the mother to whom we have recourse, but also the person to whom we look as a model, the one whom we ask for strength to act or to suffer as we should -- that is, as she herself did.

She will shelter us under her mantle only if we seek to remain, like her, docile, pure, and generous.  She will receive us at the hour of our death if we try (no matter how little) to live as she did, emulating the life of her Son.  There will be no tricks:  her children for eternity are poor sinners, but sinners who, recognizing their wretchedness, have nonetheless tried to rise above it.  

True devotion to the Virgin Mary is composed of admiration, trust, and imitation.

~Mother Marie des Douleurs, Joy Out of Sorrow


Dearest Mary, my mother and my model, help me to become more like you, to live as you did so that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, as He did in you.  Amen.  

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