True Devotion to Maria ... by Blessed Louis de Montfort (d. 1716 A.D.)

Extracts ... for making the Total Consecration to Jesus by Maria

Day 25 of 33 -- The Blessed Virgin protects your merits and virtues

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Introduction:

This sub-section of Section 129, like the others, are extracts from Blessed Louis de Montfort's book: True Devotion to Maria ... this is an absolutely top tier writing on the Blessed Virgin. The extracts from True Devotion on these sub-sections are the ones specifically called out by Louis de Montfort ... as part of the daily readings (of a four week devotional) when making the Total Consecration to Maria.

We cannot identify or call Blessed Louis de Montfort a Saint because ... anti-Pope "Pius XII" had no Catholic jurisdiction to make Saints since he was automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church for heresy. I list selected heresy of anti-Pope "Pius XII" on Section 20.2 of this site. This Catholic Dogma on automatic excommunication for heresy or for physical participation in a heretic cult (such as the vatican-2 jew-heretic cult) is listed on Section 13.2 of this site.

The Beatification of Louis de Montfort was made by Pope Leo XIII in 1888.

Subjects discussed here include ...

1.  The helping of neighbors by adopting Total Consecration to Jesus by Maria.

2.  Total Consecration so that the Blessed Virgin protects your faith, virtue, and merits.

3.  The Blessed Virgin gives much more than she recieves from those consecrated to Jesus by her.

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Start writings from True Devotion to Maria ... titles and headings may be many pages prior to the extract ...

PART II

On the most excellent Devotion to our Blessed Lady or the Perfect Consecration to Jesus by Maria

I. In what consists the perfect consecration to Jesus Christ

Sixth Motive

This practice of devotion gives to those who make use of it faithfully a great interior liberty, which is the liberty of the children of God. For, as by this devotion we make ourselves slaves of Jesus Christ, and consecrate ourselves entirely to Him in this capacity, our Good Master, in recompense for the loving captivity in which we put ourselves, (1) takes all scruple and servile fear from the soul, with every thing that is capable of contracting, imprisoning, or confusing it; (2) He enlarges the heart by a firm confidence in God, making it look at Him as a Father; and (3) He inspires us with a tender and filial love.

Without stopping to prove these truths by arguments, I shall be content to quote here what I have read in the life of Mother Agnes of Jesus, a Dominicaness of the convent of Langeac, in Auvergne; who died there, in the odour of sanctity, in the year 1634. When she was only seven years old, and was suffering from great spiritual pains, she heard a voice which told her that if she wished to be delivered from all her pains, and to be protected against all her enemies, she was as quickly as possible to make herself the slave of Jesus and His most holy Mother. She had no sooner returned to the house than she gave herself up entirely to Jesus and His Mother in this capacity, although up to that time she had not known so much as "what the devotion meant. Having found an iron chain, she put it round her body, and wore it to her death. After this action, all her pains and scruples ceased, and she found herself in a great peace and dilatation of heart. It was this which engaged her to teach the devotion to many persons, who made great progress in it, and, among others, to M. Olier, the founder of St. Sulpice, and to many priests and ecclesiastics of the same seminary. One day our Lady appeared to her, and put round her neck a chain of gold, to testify the joy she had in Mother Agnes having made herself her Son's slave and her own; and St. Cecilia, who accompanied our Lady in that apparition, said to the religious: "Happy are the faithful slaves of the Queen of Heaven; for they shall enjoy true liberty - "Tibi servire libertas."

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Seventh Motive

Another consideration which may engage us to embrace this practice is that of the great good which our neighbour will receive from it. For by this practice we exercise charity towards him in an eminent manner, seeing that we give him by Maria's hands all that is most precious to ourselves - which is the satisfactory and impetratory value of all our good works, without excepting the least good thought, or the least little suffering. We agree that all the satisfactions we may have acquired, or may acquire up to the moment of our death, should be employed at our Lady's will, either for the conversion of sinners, or for the deliverance of souls from Purgatory.

Is not this to love our neighbour perfectly? Is not this to be the true disciple of Jesus Christ, who is always to be recognised by his charity? Is not this the way to convert sinners without any fear of vanity; and to deliver souls from Purgatory, without scarcely doing anything but what we are obliged to do by our state of life?

To understand the excellence of this motive, we must understand also what a good it is to convert a sinner, or to deliver a soul from Purgatory. It is an infinite good, which is greater than to create Heaven and earth, because we give to a soul the possession of God. If by this practice we deliver but one soul in our life from Purgatory, or convert but one sinner, would not that be enough to induce a truly charitable man to embrace it? But we must remark that, inasmuch as our good works pass through the hands of Maria, they receive an augmentation of purity, and consequently of merit, and of satisfactory and impetratory value. On this account they become more capable of solacing the souls in Purgatory and of converting sinners than if they did not pass by the virginal and liberal hands of Maria.

It may be little that we give by our Lady; but, in truth, if it is given without our own will, and with a disinterested charity, that little becomes very mighty to turn the wrath of God, and to attract His mercy. It would be no wonder if, at the hour of death, it should be found that a person faithful to this practice shall, by the means of it, have delivered many souls from Purgatory, and converted many sinners, though he shall have done nothing more than the ordinary actions of his state of life. What joy at his judgment! What glory in his eternity!

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Eighth Motive

Lastly, that which in some sense most persuasively engages us to this devotion to our Lady is, that it is an admirable means of persevering and being faithful in virtue. Whence comes it that the majority of the conversions of sinners are not durable? Whence comes it that we relapse so easily into sin? Whence comes it that the greater part of the just, instead of advancing from virtue to virtue and acquiring new graces, often lose the little virtue and the little grace they have? This misfortune comes, as I have shown before, from the fact that man is at once so corrupt, so feeble, and so inconstant, and yet trusts to himself, leans on his own strength, and believes himself capable of guarding the treasure of his graces, of his virtues and merits.

On the other hand, by this devotion we confide all we possess to the Blessed Virgin, who is faithful; we take her for the universal depositary of all our goods of nature and of grace. It is to her fidelity that we trust them. It is on her power that we lean. It is on her mercy and charity that we build, in order that she may preserve and augment our virtues and merits, in spite of the devil, the world, and the flesh, who put forth all their efforts to take them from us. We say to her, as a good child to his mother, and a faithful servant to her mistress - "Depositum custodi" - "My good Mother and Mistress, I acknowledge that up to this time I have, by your intercession, received more grace from God than I deserve; and my sad experience teaches me that I carry this treasure in a very frail vessel, and that I am too weak and too miserable to keep it safely of myself. I beseech you, therefore, receive in trust all which I possess, and keep it for me by your fidelity and power. If you keep it for me, I shall lose nothing; if you hold me up, I shall not fall; if you protect me, I shall be sheltered from my enemies."

Listen to what St. Bernard said in former times, in order to encourage us to adopt this practice: "When Maria holds you up, you will not fall; when she protects you, you need not fear; when she leads you, you will not tire yourself; when she is favourable to you, you will arrive at the harbour of safety" - "Ipsa tenente, non corruis; ipsa propitia, pervenis."

Catholic Faith (pre-fulfillment) writing of Ecclesiasticus 24:24-25 >
24:  "I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope."
25:  "In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue."

St. Bonaventure seems to say the same thing in still more formal terms. "The Blessed Virgin", he says, "is not only retained in the plenitude of the Saints, but she also retains and keeps the Saints in their plenitude, so that it may not diminish. She hinders their virtues from being dissipated, their merits from withering, their graces from being lost, the devils from hurting them, and even our Lord from punishing them when they sin." "Virgo non solum in plenitudine sanctorum detinetur, sed etiam in plenitudine sanctos detinet, ne plenitudo minuatur; detinet virtutes, ne fugiant; detinet merita, nepereant; detinet gratias, ne effluent; detinet dcemones, ne noceant; detinet Filium, nepeccatores percutiat." (St. Bonav. In Specul. B. V.).

Our Blessed Lady is the faithful Virgin, who by her fidelity to God repairs the losses which the faithless Eve has caused by her infidelity. It is she who obtains the graces of fidelity and perseverance for those who attach themselves to her. It is on this account that a Saint compares her to a firm anchor, which holds them fast, and hinders their making shipwreck in the agitated sea of this world, where so many persons perish simply through not being fastened to that anchor. "We fasten our souls", says he, "to thy hope, as to an abiding anchor" - "Animas ad spem tuam sicut adfirmam ancoram alligamus." It is to her that the Saints who have saved themselves have been the most attached, and have done their best to attach others, in order to persevere in virtue.

Happy then, a thousand times happy, are the Christians who are now fastened faithfully and entirely to her, as to a firm anchor!

The violence of the storms of this world will not make them founder, nor sink their heavenly treasures. Happy those who enter into Maria, as into the ark of Noe! The waters of the deluge of sin, which drowns so great a portion of the world, shall do no harm to them. "Qui operantur in me non peccabunt" - "They who work in me shall not sin", says Maria, with the Divine Wisdom. Blessed are the faithless children of the unhappy Eve, if only they attach themselves to the faithful Mother and Virgin, who remains always faithful, and never belies herself, - "Fidelis permanet, seipsam negare non potest!" She always loves those who love her - "Ego diligentes me diligo", - not only with an affective love, but with an effectual and efficacious one, by hindering them, through a great abundance of graces, from drawing back in the pursuit of virtue, from falling in the road, and from losing the grace of her Son.

Catholic Faith (pre-fulfillment) writing of Ecclesiasticus 24:30 >
"He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin."

This good Mother, always out of pure charity, receives whatever we deposit with her; and what she has once received in her office of depositary she is obliged by justice, in virtue of the contract of trusteeship, to keep safely for us: just as a person, with whom I have left a thousand pounds in trust, would be under the obligation of keeping them safely for me; so that if, by his negligence, they were lost, he would in justice be responsible to me for them. But the faithful Maria cannot let anything which has been intrusted to her be lost through her negligence. Heaven and earth could pass away sooner than she could be negligent or faithless to those who trust in her.

Poor children of Maria, your weakness is extreme, your inconstancy is great, your inward nature is thoroughly corrupted, you are drawn (I grant it) from the same corrupt mass as all the children of Adam and Eve. Yet do not be discouraged on that account. Console yourselves, and exult in having the secret which I teach you, a secret unknown to almost all Christians, even the most devout. Leave not your gold and silver in your coffers, which have been already broken open by the evil spirits, who have robbed you. Those coffers are too little, too weak, too old, to hold a treasure so precious and so great. Put not the pure and clear water of the fountain into your vessels, all spoilt and infected by sin. If the sin is there no longer, at least the odour of it is, so the water will be spoilt. Put not your exquisite wines into your old casks, which have had bad wine in them; else even these wines will be spoilt, and perhaps break the casks, and be spilled upon the ground.

Though you, predestinate souls, understand me well enough, I will speak yet more openly. Trust not the gold of your charity, the silver of your purity, the waters of your heavenly graces, nor the wines of your merits and virtues, to a torn sack, an old and broken coffer, a spoilt and corrupted vessel, like yourselves; else you will be stripped by the robbers, that is to say, the demons, who are seeking and watching night and day for the right time to do it; and you will infect, by your own bad odour of self-love, self-confidence, and self-will, every most pure thing which God has given you. Pour, pour into the bosom and the heart of Maria all your treasures, all your graces, all your virtues. She is a spiritual vessel, she is a vessel of honour, she is a marvellous vessel of devotion - "Vas spirituale, vas honorabile, vas insigne devotionis."

Since God Himself has been shut up in person, with all His perfections, in that vessel, it has become altogether spiritual, and the spiritual abode of the most spiritual souls. It has become honourable, and the throne of honour for the grandest princes of eternity. It has become wonderful in devotion, and a dwelling the most illustrious for sweetnesses, for graces, and for virtues. It has become rich as a house of gold, strong as a tower of David, and pure as a tower of ivory. Oh! how happy is the man who has given every thing to Maria, and has trusted himself to Maria in everything and for everything! He belongs all to Maria, and Maria belongs all to him. He can say boldly with David, "Hac facta est mihi" - "Maria is made for me" - or with the beloved disciple, "Accepi earn in mea" - "I have taken her for all my goods" - or with Jesus Christ, "Omnia mea tua sunt, et omnia tua mea sunt" - "All that I have is thine, and all that thou hast is mine."

If any critic who reads this shall take it into his head that I speak here exaggeratedly, and with an extravagance of devotion, alas! he does not understand me, either because he is a carnal man, who has no relish for spiritual things; or because he is a worldling, who cannot receive the Holy Spirit; or because he is proud and critical, condemning and despising whatever he does not understand himself.

But the souls which are not born of blood, nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God and Maria, understand me and relish me; and it is for these that I write. Nevertheless, I say now both for the one and for the other, in returning from this digression, that the divine Maria, being the most gracious and liberal of all pure creatures, never lets herself be overcome in love and liberality. As a holy man said of her - For an egg, she gives an ox; that is to say, for a little that is given to her, she gives much of what she has received from God. Hence, if a soul gives itself to her without reserve, she gives herself to that soul without reserve, if only we put our confidence in her without presumption, and labour on our side to acquire virtues, and to bridle our passions.

Let, then, the faithful servants of the Blessed Virgin say hardily with St. John Damascene, "Having confidence in you, O Mother of God, I shall be saved; being under your protection, I shall fear nothing; with your succour, I shall give battle to my enemies, and put them to flight; for devotion to you is an arm of salvation, which God gives to those whom it is His will to save." "Spem tuam habens, 0 Deipara, servabor; defensionern tuam possidetis, non timebo; persequar inimicos tneos et infugam vertam, lutbens protectionem et auxilium tuum; nam tibi devotum esse est arma quaidam salutis qua Deus his dot quo» vult salvos fieri." (Joan. Damasc.)

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