Michael October - November

Treatise of true devotion to Mary

As all perfection consists in our being conformed,

united and consecrated to Jesus it naturally follows

that the most perfect of all devotions is that which

conforms, unites, and consecrates us most completely

to Jesus. Now of all God’s creatures Mary is the most

conformed to Jesus. It therefore follows that, of all

devotions, devotion to her makes for the most effect-

ive consecration and conformity to him. The more one

is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated

to Jesus. That is why perfect consecration to Jesus is

but a perfect and complete consecration of oneself to

the Blessed Virgin, which is the devotion I teach; or

in other words, it is the perfect renewal of the vows

and promises of holy baptism. This devotion consists

in giving oneself entirely to Mary in order to belong

entirely to Jesus through her.

It follows then that by this devotion we give to Jesus

all we can possibly give him, and in the most perfect

manner, that is, through Mary’s hands... It follows then

that anyone who in this way consecrates and sacrifices

himself voluntarily to Jesus through Mary may no long-

er dispose of the value of any of his good actions. All his

sufferings, all his thoughts, words, and deeds belong to

Mary. She can then dispose of them in accordance with

the will of her Son and for his greater glory. This de-

pendence, however, is without detriment to the duties

of a person’s present and future state of life.

It follows that we consecrate ourselves at one and

the same time to Mary and to Jesus. We give ourselves

to Mary because Jesus chose her as the perfect means

to unite himself to us and unite us to him. We give our-

selves to Jesus because he is our last end. Since he is

our Redeemer and our God we are indebted to him for

all that we are.

Our good Master stooped to enclose himself in the

womb of the Blessed Virgin, a captive but loving slave,

and to make himself subject to her for thirty years.

I said earlier, the human mind is bewildered when

it reflects seriously upon this conduct of Incarnate

Wisdom. He did not choose to give himself in a dir-

ect manner to the human race though he could easily

have done so. He chose to come through the Virgin

Mary. Thus he did not come into the world independ-

ently of others in the flower of his manhood, but he

came as a frail little child dependent on the care and

attention of his Mother. Consumed with the desire

to give glory to God, his Father, and save the human

race, he saw no better or shorter way to do so than by

submitting completely to Mary. He did this not just for

the first eight, ten or fifteen years of his life like other

children, but for thirty years.

He gave more glory to God, his Father, during all

those years of submission and dependence than he

would have given by spending them working miracles,

preaching far and wide, and converting all mankind.

Otherwise he would have done all these things. What

immeasurable glory then do we give to God when, fol-

lowing the example of Jesus, we submit to Mary ! With

such a convincing and well-known example before us,

can we be so foolish as to believe that there is a better

and shorter way of giving God glory than by submitting

ourselves to Mary, as Jesus did?

The Blessed Virgin, mother of gentleness and

mercy, never allows herself to be surpassed in love and

generosity. When she sees someone giving himself en-

tirely to her in order to honour and serve her, and de-

priving himself of what he prizes most in order to adorn

her, she gives herself completely in a wondrous man-

ner to him. She engulfs him in the ocean of her graces,

adorns him with her merits, supports him with her

power, enlightens him with her light, and fills him with

her love. She shares her virtues with him - her humility,

faith, purity, etc. She makes up for his failings and be-

comes his representative with Jesus. Just as one who is

consecrated belongs entirely to Mary, so Mary belongs

entirely to him. We can truthfully say of this perfect ser-

vant and child of Mary what St. John in his gospel says

of himself, “He took her for his own.” (cf. John 19:27.)

How much stronger and more powerful are we

in approaching our Lord when we are armed with the

merits and prayers of the worthy Mother of God, who,

as St. Augustine says, has conquered the Almighty

by her love!

Since by this devotion we give to our Lord, through

the hands of his holy Mother, all our good works, she

purifies them, making them beautiful and acceptable

to her Son.

This devotion is a smooth, short, perfect and sure

way of attaining union with our Lord, in which Chris-

tian perfection consists... This devotion is a perfect

way to reach our Lord and be united to him, for Mary

is the most perfect and the most holy of all creatures,

and Jesus, who came to us in a perfect manner, chose

no other road for his great and wonderful journey.

When the Hail Mary is well said, that is, with

attention, devotion and humility, it is, according to the

saints, the enemy of Satan, putting him to flight; it is

the hammer that crushes him, a source of holiness for

souls, a joy to the angels and a sweet melody for the

devout. It is the Canticle of the New Testament, a de-

light for Mary and glory for the most Blessed Trinity.

The Hail Mary is dew falling from heaven to make the

soul fruitful. It is a pure kiss of love we give to Mary.

It is a crimson rose, a precious pearl that we offer to

her. It is a cup of ambrosia, a divine nectar that we

offer her. These are comparisons made by the saints.

I earnestly beg of you, then, by the love I bear you

in Jesus and Mary, not to be content with saying the

Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin, but say the Rosary

too, and if time permits, all its fifteen decades, every

day. Then when death draws near, you will bless the

day and hour when you took to heart what I told you,

for having sown the blessings of Jesus and Mary, you

will reap the eternal blessings in heaven.

When Mary has taken root in a soul she produces

in it wonders of grace which only she can produce;

for she alone is the fruitful virgin who never had and

never will have her equal in purity and fruitfulness.

Together with the Holy Spirit, Mary produced the

greatest thing that ever was or ever will be: a God-

man. She will consequently produce the marvels

which will be seen in the latter times. The formation

and the education of the great saints who will come

at the end of the world are reserved to her, for only

this singular and wondrous virgin can produce in

union with the Holy Spirit singular and wondrous

things.

When the Holy Spirit, her spouse, finds Mary in a

soul, he hastens there and enters fully into it. He gives

himself generously to that soul according to the place

it has given to his spouse. One of the main reasons

why the Holy Spirit does not work striking wonders in

souls is that he fails to find in them a sufficiently close

union with his faithful and inseparable spouse. I say

“inseparable spouse”, for from the moment the sub-

stantial love of the Father and the Son espoused Mary

to form Jesus, the head of the elect, and Jesus in the

elect, he has never disowned her, for she has always

been faithful and fruitful.

The Mother of God requires our cooperation

Modern times are dominated by Satan and will be more

so in the future. The conflict with Hell cannot be engaged

by men, even the most clever. The Immaculata alone has

from God the promise of victory over Satan.

However, assumed into heaven, the Mother of God now

requires our cooperation. She seeks souls who will conse-

crate themselves entirely to her, who will become in her

hands effective instruments for the defeat of Satan and the

spreading of God’s kingdom upon earth.”

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Jacinta Marto, one of the three children who received

messages from the Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal, in

1917, died at the age of 9 on February 20, 1920, and

was declared blessed by John Paul II in Fatima on May

13, 2000. Not long before her death, she said the follow-

ing to her cousin Lucia, who was also present during

the apparitions of Mary:

“Soon I shall go to Heaven. You are to stay here

to reveal that the Lord wants to establish throughout

the world the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of

Mary. When you start to reveal this, don’t hesitate. Tell

everyone that Our Lord grants us all graces through

the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that all must make

their petitions to Her; that the Sacred Heart of Jesus

desires that the Immaculate Heart of Mary be vener-

ated at the same time. Tell them that they should all

ask for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as God has placed it in Her

hands. Oh, if I could only put in the heart of everyone in the world the fire that

is burning in me and makes me love so much the Heart of Mary ! ”

MICHAEL October/November/December 2013