Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Devotion to the BVM


St. Louis De Montfort (+1710): “Where Mary is, there the evil spirit is not. One of the most infallible marks we can have of our being conducted by the good spirit is our being very devout to Mary, thinking often of her and speaking often of her.” (True Devotion to Mary #166)

“Saint Bonaventure said (in his Psalter) that whoever neglected Our Lady would perish in his sins and would be damned… If such is the penalty for neglecting her, what must be the punishment in store for those who actually turn others away from their devotions!” (The Secret of the Rosary, p. 30.)

“… many others have proved invincibly, from the sentiments of the Fathers (among others, St. Augustine, St. Ephrem, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus, St. John Damascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure), that devotion to Mary is necessary to salvation, and that… it is an infallible mark of reprobation to have no esteem and love for the holy Virgin.” (True Devotion to Mary # 40)

“This [true] devotion [to Mary] consists, then, in giving ourselves entirely to our Lady, in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her. We must give her (1) our body, with all its senses and its members; (2) our soul, with all its powers; (3) our exterior goods of fortune, whether present or to come; (4) our interior and spiritual goods, which are our merits and our virtues, and our good works, past, present and future… and we must do it, further, without pretending to, or hoping for, any other recompense for our offering and service except the honor of belonging to Jesus Christ through Mary and in Mary…” (True Devotion to Mary #121)

“Let us conclude this point by giving the gist of all that has been said so far. He who prays is certainly saved. He who does not pray is certainly damned.” (St. Alphonsus, The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection, p. 30)

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