8) Mary's perfect resignation

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

This is the last day 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 most fitting day for consecration (or renewal of consecrations) to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary . 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 final excerpt concerns her perfect resignation.

8) Mary's perfect resignation

Resignation to the divine will is the centre and essence of all the Christian virtues. The Blessed Virgin's resignation was altogether humble, complete and serene.

The Blessed Virgin's resignation was truly humble

     Mary's resignation was truly humble in the estimation she held of herself. When comparing herself to all created beings, she considered herself to be as nothing; but when comparing herself to God, she saw herself as less than nothing. She was truly humble because, in order to offer her perfect conformity to the will of God, she accepted the accepted the lowliest degree of service she knew. When she uttered the words: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word [Luc. i. 38],  she had in mind the lowest position she could conceive in terms of submission to the Divine Will.  Her words went further than Abraham's when he  called himself dust and ashes [1] ; further than David's when he said he was a dead dog, a flea [2] and a worm. [3] 

In short, she made a solemn declaration accepting God's Will, reckoning her status as the lowliest of all creatures. She was truly humble in subjecting herself to His sovereign Majesty, accounting herself altogether unworthy of the care He was taking of her, utterly astonished that in His adorable greatness He would deign to stoop so far as to remember her and be thinking about her.

 [1] And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes. Gen. xviii. 27

 [2] After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea. 1 Kings xxiv. 15.

 [3] But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. Ps. xxi. 7.

The Blessed Virgin's resignation was total

     Mary's resignation was unconditional in that it knew neither boundaries nor limits, in that by it the Blessed Virgin submitted herself to God's will without any qualification whatsoever. Mary's words that I have just cited seem in themselves to show her acceptance of the offer made to her of conceiving the Divine Word. It is, however, most certain that she also gave an interior assent to God, so that every last one of God's wishes were engraved in her heart and soul. She could echo the words of David, but in a higher degree: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready [Ps. lvi. 8]; let Him raise me up or put me down, let Him make me great or make me small, let Him make use of me or totally ignore me, let Him do with me as he pleases. For my own part, I have nothing to say other than that I am completely in the hands of His divine providence. Let Him ordain for my natural life either health or sickness, strength or weakness, a dwelling-place or an exit; in this I have no preference for the one or the other. Let Him dispose of my public life as He pleases, for honour or dishonour, for interactions with people or for solitude, for being in favour or out of favour . . . my heart will incline always to His good pleasure, wheresoever it appears.

The serenity of the Blessed Virgin's resignation

     Mary's resignation was marked by a deep serenity; in all that touched her life, she trusted completely in God's paternal affection and maintained a recollected calmness. The peace in her soul was so great that feelings of resentment were unknown to her and nothing could upset her inner equilibrium . . . She even prayed to have no other will than God's own, so that He might work through her without her own will contributing even in the least. Oh how this chaste Lover would rest gently on the bosom of her Beloved! Oh what pleasure was hers when drinking in long draughts from God, with a holy forgetfulness of herself! Oh what delight did the Spouse feel in His heart as He held her close in His embrace, sheltering her from anything that might disturb her peaceful repose!  

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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. 

7) Mary's meek and kindly heart

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

Two days remain 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 for 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 seventh excerpt concerns her meek and kindly heart.

7) Mary's meek and kindly heart

Meekness, accorder to the Angelic Doctor, is a gentleness of spirit arising from a certain goodness of heart which has an aversion to anything that might hurt another person. It is for this reason closely tied to the virtue of charity and is numbered among the principal virtues. St Basil went to far as to name it the greatest of all, occupying a place amongst  the first beatitudes. This consideration should suffice to show us the Mother of God must have possessed meekness to the highest degree . . . If meekness is a quality inseparable from the maternal spirit, then in whom would it more fittingly be found than in the Mother of Love and the Mother of all the Saviour's children? That same Saviour, who was meek above all others, recommended this virtue so highly, as being neither more nor less than the high point of His teaching. This being so, then how could the glorious Virgin, who was the soul and spirit of His divine classes, have failed to have this virtue in a high degree, or how could the great Teacher have filled her with it in abundance? Holy Church gives proof of this in the titles she has bestowed on Mary: Virgin most rare, Meek beyond compare [Vierge singulière, la Débonnaire sans pair]

Mary's meekness reveals her friendliness and helpfulness, qualities such that others esteemed her altogether admirable and lovable.

Mary's friendliness

I say that Mary was very friendly because you would be gravely mistaken to think she paid lip service to the idea, offering saccharine words or empty gestures, such as those forming the ordinary traits of decorum. She was too sincere a person for these superficialities and affectations, knowing nothing of such deceptions. Her meekness sprang from a well of sweetness in the depths of her heart, which meant it was impossible for her to learn that someone was in trouble without being herself affected . . . She could say with St Paul, and with greater truth: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? [2 Cor. xi. 29] She could say with Job, but more fittingly and with no comparison: For from my infancy mercy grew up with me: and it came out with me from my mother's womb: [Job xxxi. 18]  She could also address the Lord God with David, and with greater justification: O Lord, remember Mary, and all her meekness.[Ps. cxxxi. 1 adapted by Fr Poiré]

For if ever a heart were tender, compassionate and kindly, it was the heart of Mary, the Mother of Love. 

Mary's helpfulness

The Virgin truly cherished her beloved solitude, more than can be imagined; but ask St Ambrose if that stopped her going out into the world when she was drawn by someone in need of help. He will reassure you:

that none was more prompt to help the needy, to visit the sick, to comfort the afflicted and to take on herself, if this were possible, all the burdens of the poor and wretched.

Did she ever lack the commodities to help those in need? Then she would console them at least with her words and support them in such a way that they received a hundred times more help from Mary than from others. Was she unable to offer either? In such cases nothing could stop her charitable prayers which were invariably followed by an outcome favourable to the intention for which the prayers were offered.

Mary most admirable and lovable

All this renders her meekness so pleasing and attractive that it is impossible not to love her. In vain you may speak to me of Moses, who is honoured by Sacred Scripture as a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon earth [Num. xii. 3]. In vain did the holy man Job say that the men of his tabernacle had such affection for him that they wanted to eat his flesh and devour his caresses [Who will give us of his flesh that we may be filled? Job xxxi. 31] In vain did St Ambrose pour forth waves of his golden eloquence to show everyone that the incomparable David was the true idea of a Prince who was altogether lovable by reason of his meekness. In vain, for there could be no comparison with the gentleness of the Blessed Virgin, who was higher than them all in this respect . . . In fact, you will see that in every place and throughout history, the gentleness of the Mother of God has put down roots so deeply into people's hearts that it would be easier to conceive of man without the power of reason, or of fire without heat, than to imagine Mary without meekness. Accordingly, she is loved and venerated for this reason. 

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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. 

6) Mary's endless patience

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

Three days remain 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 sixth excerpt concerns her exceptional patience

6) Mary's patience

According to St James, patience hath a perfect work, [1]  bringing the other virtues to a gentle perfection. The patience of the Blessed Virgin was truly heroic, deeply good-natured and most accomplished.

[1] Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis : scientes quod probatio fidei vestrae patientiam operatur. Patientia autem opus perfectum habet : ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes. 
My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations; Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience. And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing. [James i. 2-4]

The patience of the Blessed Virgin was truly heroic

     Truly heroic: If spiritual suffering is incomparably greater than that of the body, what then must have been the suffering of the Blessed Virgin when she perceived St Joseph's troubles, when torrents of anxiety overwhelmed her afflicted spirit and when her own soul a sword did pierce? [2]  If love is the measure of suffering, what must she not have endured on seeing the blessed fruit of her womb and the unique object of her love being brought forth into a world of such great wretchedness and poverty?  What were the marks of her pain when after eight days she saw Him covered with His own blood, then in great distress when hunted to death and forced to seek refuge in Egypt? When she lost Him at the age of twelve? When she heard Him called a Samaritan, possessed of a devil, a drunkard, a seducer of the people and someone who violated the Law? When she learned he had been condemned to die on a Cross like a common malefactor? When we see a the suffering of someone who is dear to us, we too feel pain within ourselves. What must it have been like for this Mother when the unspotted Lamb, her own Son, was bound with rope and fetter, dragged through the streets of Jerusalem and from one court to another by soldiers who were unspeakably insolent, to the accompaniment of jeers and insults from the people who saw Him pass? When He was mocked, slapped, spat upon, struck and wounded by blows, covered in His own blood from head to toe, pierced with nails, given wine and vinegar to drink, blasphemed against and abused in every way imaginable? 

     If someone would need a firm and stout heart to bear being separated from someone dearly loved, to see his soul torn from him by terrible torments and cruelties, then great God! what would be the state of Mary's heart when her Son bade her His last farewell from the Cross? When in place of Jesus, she received John, the Disciple replacing the Master, a man for God? If the height of patience means to suffer the greatest of evils with a spirit at once firm and resolute, then the Virgin Mary's patience was heroic to a miraculous degree, for she saw Him who was the best of all the children in creation suffer all these excesses, she saw Him give up the ghost, after His death she held Him in her arms, keeping her emotions largely hidden from view, maintaining her composure and without showing any sign of weakness?

 [2]  Luke ii. 35

The patience of the Blessed Virgin was kind-hearted

     Even more remarkable is that Mary's patience was deeply kind-hearted, so that the Blessed Virgin's heart never felt the slightest emotion of indignation, of anger or of vengeance towards those who treated her Son so brutally. On the contrary, from the bottom of her heart she commended them immediately to God and implored Him, by the Cross and by the death of His beloved Son, to pardon their blindness. Even when their rage causes them to show no mercy in spilling the precious blood of this gentle Lamb, Mary offers her Son to the Eternal Father on their behalf, entreating Him to avert His gaze from the bloody suffering so as to concentrate on the adorable face of His only-begotten Son, who was offering His own martyrdom for the sake of their forgiveness.

The patience of the Blessed Virgin was perfect

     Finally, Mary's patience was perfect because with incredible perseverance she held steady right to the very end so as to offer to God a full sacrifice in all its perfection. This is what the Evangelist noted when he said that she stood by the Cross, [3]  meaning thereby that although her heart was plunged into the depths of pain and grief, she nevertheless held firm unto the end, untroubled by the rage of the Scribes or the criminality of the executioners, having no fear of the darkness descending on the earth ... remaining focussed unceasingly on the limitless patience, the fearsome justice and the infinite mercy of God; with an unshakeable expectation of the coming glory of her Son and the fulfilment of all Heaven's promises. Her patience did not end there but stayed with her until the end of her life, enabling her to accept trials with resignation, mitigating for her the tribulations she met with in this mortal prison, allowing her to bear with calmness the absence of her dear Son, receiving in exchange the sacred Word of God which guided her along the difficult paths and past the difficult encounters of this life, leading to the ascent of Mt Horeb.

 

[3]  Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother. John xix. 25

 +        +        +

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. 

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.

 +        +        +

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. 

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. 

3) Mary's tender, noble and ardent charity

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

There now remain six 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 third excerpt concerns her charity.

3) Mary's tender, noble and ardent charity

The love in the Blessed Virgin's heart was...

... the tenderest, the noblest and the most ardent of all God's created beings. This tenderness showed in the intimacy of her colloquies with God, in the intense pleasure of her innocent caresses; in her loving exchanges, embraces and spiritual ecstasies; in her moments of fainting away and in the union with her sacred Spouse. Her love was so noble that she paid no heed to any created thing whatsoever, even unto proclaiming her own lowliness; so noble that she freely surrendered her control over all the powers in her soul, being obedient to all the commandments of God and seeking to do His will in all things. Her love was ardent, burning with a desire to offer up all her works, setbacks and sufferings to the Lord; to seek out ways of pleasing her Beloved and of being in His company; disliking anything that could prevent her from giving herself wholly to Him.

 The author then apostrophizes the love that is in Mary's heart:

O thou love  which art more tender than the earliest fruit, nobler than Royalty, more ardent than fire itself, stronger than death, more enduring than diamond, more precious than the whole world!  O thou love which burnest always and art never consumed; which placeth everything before thee and bringeth to fulfilment all thy plans; which bringeth joy to them that seek thee and contentment to them that find thee; which maketh happy them who possess thee and art the rule of good works and the form, the value, the source, the life and the being of all the virtues; which art the death of vices, the victory over temptations and the ruin of disordered affections. When wilt thou lead our hearts into the state God desireth? When wilt thou free us from our attachment to ephemeral things so as to savour those which are eternal? When wilt thou crush beneath thy feet all sensual and profane love so as to possess our souls in peace? Our prayer is for thee to unite us to the Sovereign Good so that we may follow the example of the Mother of Love; then we may say in truth with the Apostle: we live no more in ourselves nor for ourselves, but He alone lives in us and we are totally transformed in Him. [1]   

[1]  For none of us liveth to himself; and no man dieth to himself.  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Therefore, whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's. [Rom. xiv. 7-8.]

And Christ died for all; that they also who live, may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again. [2 Cor. v. 15]

And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. [Gal. ii. 20]

 +        +        +

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. 

2) Mary's exceptional Hope and Trust

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

There now remain seven 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

Accordingly I am posting my translation of excerpts taken from chapter 11 of the  of fourth treatise  in The Triple Crown of the Blessed Virgin. This chapter addresses the eight great qualities of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The second is her exceptional Hope.

2) Mary's exceptional Hope and Trust

In the Blessed Virgin, the virtue of Hope reached a high point

 

David once said: Thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge [Ps. xl. 9]. If ever any creature could bear out the truth of these words, it was the Mother of God. If the level of hope depends upon the solidity of a person's faith, then (as we have just seen) there never was faith like unto that of the Blessed Virgin. If a person's hope grows in proportion to the knowledge we have of God's faithfulness, then in whom would this hope and trust have been greater than in Mary? ... St John wrote:

Dearly beloved, if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards God:  And whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of him:[1 John iii. 21-22]

Where would we find a soul in which the truth of these words was fulfilled more than in the Blessed Virgin, whose heart could not reprehend her in the slightest? In short, if the purer the virtue of hope is, the higher it ascends, then where can hope and trust be found to equal in purity that of the Daughter, the Mother and the Spouse of God?

Her unshakeable hope and trust

 

Consider Mary's reaction at some challenging moments in her life. Heaven commands her to take a spouse in marriage? She immediately gives her assent, notwithstanding that she has taken a solemn vow of virginity. She is confident that fire will turn into ice before the Lord God would allow Joseph to be anything less than the guardian of her modesty. Joseph was minded to put her away privately? She is untroubled, with a firm conviction that the very stones would cry out before God would abandon His work. During the wedding at Cana, does her Son seem to reproach her and set aside her request? She proceeds nevertheless to instruct the waiters on what they are to do, preparing them for the miracle to come, about which she has not the slightest doubt. In short, did the hope of others die with her Son? Her own lives among the shadows of death and already she sees the glorious Saviour with all His enemies at His feet.

 

After considering the words of the Angel, Mary believed she was to become the Mother of God whilst remaining true to her vow of virginity. When this first secret message was delivered to her, she accepted the honour being conferred by the Most Holy Trinity. I follow here St Augustine in saying that with her open and unambiguous assent, she deserved with justification the honour of opening the gates of Heaven which up until then had been kept closed. We can say with St Anselm that the faith of Mary was the gate through which our Saviour Jesus Christ came into the world. We can perhaps add to this that she was the gate from which issued forth not only Jesus but also countless wonders which were not to be accomplished except in the Blessed Virgin.

The faithfulness of her hope and trust 

Mary placed her entire confidence in God but always did everything she could to help. When the Angel speaks to her about conceiving and bringing forth a son, she respectfully raises a practical question and does not give her assent until this receives a satisfactory response. ... When she finds herself obliged to go to Bethlehem during the last month of her pregnancy, she raises no objection but gathers together the things she would need to look after the child she was carrying. In short, picture Mary displaying these qualities throughout her life, trusting so much in Divine Providence that she esteems her own contributions worthless and yet showing such diligence in all things as if the successful outcome depended entirely on her care.

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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.