5) Mary's exceptional humility

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

There now remain four 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 fifth excerpt concerns her exceptional humility

5) Mary's humility

St Cyprian states that humility is the way into the devout life, the foundation for the other virtues and the source of confidence for souls keen to please God. Mary's humility was altogether profound, courageous and grateful. 

Mary's profound humility

The humility of the Blessed Virgin was profound.

She was profoundly humble in the opinion she had of herself, for she saw the thrust of her character was an inclination to evil, wretchedness, baseness and nothingness. Several learned commentators state that this is what is meant by her words in the Magnificat: God ... hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; Because He that is mighty, hath done great things to me. [1]  Profoundly humble, in that her heart did not attribute to herself any of the graces she received nor any of the heights she ascended. Profoundly humble in that she shunned the praise of men, no less in how troubled she felt when the Angel called her full of grace, a woman whom God chose before all others as His dwelling, and blessed among all women. Profoundly humble, in concealing the Heavenly favours she received, even from those who would know, such as her holy Spouse who had a perfect knowledge of her fidelity, her prudence and her chastity.... Profoundly humble in the way she bore the confusion and opposition, for all the insults and lies directed at her Son, and all the injuries he endured, fell upon her too, piercing her heart through and through, but she did show any of this. Profoundly humble in her speech, which always bore faithful witness to the humility dwelling within her soul. Profoundly humble as in her silence, in her preference for putting herself last, for doing the most menial tasks and her conversation with the poor. In short, 

accounting herself as nothing before God, she was humble in every way that such a soul would appear .

 [1] See Luc. i. 46-55

 

Mary's courageous humility

This same humility was also courageous:

Although Mary esteemed herself to be unworthy of the least favours from Heaven, she nevertheless freely accepted the greatest when they were bestowed upon her and she saw therein the greater of glory of God. There is indeed nothing more generous than true humility of someone who, mistrusting herself, establishes herself on God as on a rock-like foundation.

Mary's gratitude in her humility

The immense gratitude of the Blessed Virgin in her humility may be seen clearly in the mystery of the Visitation. Her cousin Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, offered her a thousand blessings, calling her the Mother of her Lord and was amazed that she had abased herself in making such an effort to come and visit her cousin. She told her that the infant in her womb had leapt for joy on hearing Mary's words of greeting and she praised Mary's great faith, declaring her blessed that she had believed the words of the Angel. Mary, however, directed her own thoughts and the words of St Elizabeth upwards  towards the Lord. She went on to sing her mysterious Canticle, as if to say:

My dear cousin, thou dost magnify me, but my soul doth magnify the Lord, who Himself alone hath done these great things that thou admirest in me. Thou art amazed that I should come unto thee but I have much more reason to be amazed in considering that God in all His Majesty has come down to me. The stirring of thy Son in thy womb hath made thee happy, but my own spirit leaps for joy and delights in thinking of the honour God will receive one day from these beautiful mysteries. Thou sayest that I am blessed to have placed my faith in the heavenly Envoy; for my part, I feel eternally obligated to the Lord for having made me the object of His great mercies, in that He turned the gaze of His goodness upon the lowliest and least worthy of His creatures.

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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.