4) Mary's outstanding devotion

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

There now remain five days before the great feast of the Annunciation, postponed this year because Easter came early. St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort recommends the Annunciation as being a fitting day for consecration to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary (or renewal of consecrations). He mentions this in his work True Devotion to Mary (1712) where he also refers approvingly to La triple couronne de la bien-heureuse Vierge Mère de Dieu (The Triple Crown of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God), by Fr F Poiré, published in 1634

In the days remaining before the Annunciation, I am posting excerpts taken from chapter 11 of the  of fourth treatise  in The Triple Crown of the Blessed Virgin. This chapter addresses eight great qualities of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The fourth excerpt concerns her wondrous devotion.

4) Mary's outstanding devotion

St Ambrose writes that devotion is the foundation of the moral virtues and facilitates the soul's ascent to God. The Blessed Virgin had a devotion which was sublime, altogether pure and which sprang from her deep recollection.

Her outstanding devotion

Her devotion was outstanding insofar as it soared to the heavens like the mystical Eagle, rising on its powerful wings of contemplation above all other creatures; its penetrating gaze able to withstand the radiance of the Sun of justice. Sublime, because Mary was not lacking those aids that could raise her devotion to the highest point. She was endowed with an understanding that was free from errors and able to penetrate mysteries. Her will was directed to every good and her memory was precise and powerful. She was perfused with beautiful and efficacious grace which she nourished by ceaseless practices of holiness. She had a perfect knowledge of herself, of God and of all the mysteries of our redemption. She spent a goodly portion of her days in the company of the Word incarnate and of uncreated Wisdom. Hers was the singular honour of having the glorious Holy Spirit for a Spouse. She received in a most high degree the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel, those four wheels that carry the soul to comprehend the highest truths, the ones most distant from our senses. 

The purity of her devotion

Mary's devotion was most pure in that she had no other aim than to do all within her power to offer worship and service to God. She never served God for any interest or satisfaction of her own, nor for any other interest beside Him and Him alone, and to more pleasing to His sovereign Majesty. Mary's devotion was most pure in that it was never compromised by any mixture of self-pity, boredom, heaviness or cowardice; on the contrary, it was always characterized by courage, fervour, light-heartedness and pleasantness.

Her spirit of recollection

Mary was altogether recollected, abiding continually in Heaven's presence and for most of her life in the presence of the Word Incarnate. She was recollected in all things, taking great care in her external senses, her words, her conversation and guarding against anything that might result in bad behaviour. She applied herself diligently so as to avoid doing even the slightest thing which might be offensive in the eyes of God. She knew very well that devotion is like the pearl of great price referred to in the Gospel,[1] to obtain which a man needs to sell all he has. ... Devotion is a deep well and it takes great effort to draw its mysterious waters of celestial sweetness. Devotion produces the peace in a soul that comes from vanquishing its enemies. In short, it needs only the wrong sort of laughter, an word too much, an indiscreet glance, an overly curious question, vanity, an act of impatience or hastiness, or of frivolity, to dissipate in whole or in part the grace obtained through devotion. Mary withdrew herself as much as she could from the unnecessary company of men, so as to enjoy that of the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Angels and of God. Even though Mary was not unaware she was the recipient of graces  as well as of Heaven's special protection which kept her safe from anything, howsoever slight, that might trouble her inner calm, she lived her life with such great restraint and circumspection as though the maintenance of her devotion depended on her alone and on her particular carer

[1] Matt. xiii. 46.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.