If the Saints are marvelously in love, what then can we say of the Immaculate Virgin?

       The Immaculate Virgin is "full of grace" (Lk. 1:28), that is, full of divine love, of Trinitarian love. Created in perfect innocence, always the purest Virgin, the Immaculate Virgin is like the clearest crystal which reflects brightly the love of God. She came to give us Her divine Son Jesus and the infinite treasure of Her Heart, imitating perfectly God the Father Who has loved man so much as "to sacrifice His only begotten Son" (Jn. 3:16).

       O Divine Mother, how can we thank You for Your boundless love? With what violence has Your soul been pierced (Lk. 2:35), which is done to Your maternal Heart in immolation of Jesus for our salvation! Divine and sweet Mother, Your charity which cannot be equalled surpasses all bounds and borders on the infinite. May it be eternally blessed!

I Ask to Die

       He who truly loves Our Lady becomes like Her and produces marvelous fruits of grace and of virtues, above all in the practice of charity.

       A wonderful example is that of St. Maximilian Kolbe. We can surely say that his "foolish" love for the Immaculate made him truly like Her in Her greatest sacrifice which enabled him to immolate his life as a priest, as an apostle, and as a founder of the city of the Immaculate who asked him to die in the dark bunker to save the father of a family. He was aware of the atrocious and horrible death in that underground bunker of Auschwitz, but his love grew enormously among those great sufferings.

       St. Maximilian Kolbe turned to Her, to be made "conformable to the image" of Her Son. (Rom. 8:29), in the maximum measure of love proclaimed by Jesus, "No man hath greater love than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends." (Jn. 15:13.)

APPLICATION

• In every activity renew the intention of working for the Lord and "not for men" (Col. 3:23).
• Ask Our Lady for the virtue of charity.
• Make a visit to a chapel or church dedicated to Our Lady.

Devotion to Our Lady

       Well known but still beautiful and significant is this gentle episode.

       A mother teaches her son how to make the sign of the cross. She takes the little hand and places it on his forehead saying, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." But the child remains pensive. "Come on son, repeat it with me, In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..." But the child interrupted, "And where is the Mother ...?"

       Indeed, a touching intuition of a child! The presence of a mother is not a secondary matter in the life of a Christian. Devotion to Our Lady is not a superfluous ornament to the Christian life which can be omitted without harm.

       On the contrary, "Jesus is obscured when Mary is in the shadows", wrote Father Faber, meaning without devotion to Our Lady, even love for Jesus declines.

       An example of this devotion to Our Lady is given by the great St. Alphonsus de Liguori who wanted the presence of Our Lady in everything he did. When he preached he wanted the image of Mary to be always on the spot where he preached. Once he did not find the image of Mary on the stand. He told those near him, "Tonight the sermon will not have much effect because Our Lady is not here." The Church teaches that devotion to Our Lady is morally essential for a Christian to save himself because "it is a characteristic element of the genuine piety of the Church". (Marialis Cultus, Introduction) And again, "the Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is an intrinsic element of the Christian cult. (Marialis Cultus 56.)

       We cannot become like Jesus unless we love Our Blessed Lady like He does. "This is a fundamental element of Christian life," said Pope Pius XII. Our Lady must occupy in our life a place which a mother occupies in a family; that is, a place of vital importance in a loving heart. What is a family without a mother?

Jesus continues to seek His little lambs that will listen to His Word. Out own shepherds, our bishops must also heed God's command at Fatima to save their flock.

She Unites Us to Jesus

       If God has predestined us "to be made conformable to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29), so too does Our Lady "who has formed Jesus and continues to form Jesus in all those who entrust themselves to Her," St. Louis de Montfort says.

       To carve a statue demands a lengthy work, but using a mold is much simpler.

       Thus those who are devoted to Our Lady can become "like Jesus" in the "fastest, easiest and most perfect" way, said St. Louis de Montfort.

       How misguided is the mean preoccupation of those who consider devotion to Our Lady with a certain suspicion, as though it compromised the fullness of Christian life and the highest sanctification. It is exactly the opposite as the Church teaches.

       St. Pius X, echoing the voice of the Fathers and the saints, wrote in an encyclical on Mary: "Nobody in the world has known Jesus as deeply as Mary did. She is the best teacher and guide in leading us to the knowledge of Christ. Consequently, no one has greater power than the Blessed Virgin to unite all men to Jesus."

       The Second Vatican Council has made it clear that devotion to Our Lady "in no way hinders immediate contact with Christ, but it actually facilitates it." (Lumen Gentium 60.)

       Pope Paul VI adds that Our Lady not only favors this union, but She really has the mission of uniting all to Jesus "to reproduce in Her children the spiritual features of Her first born Son." (Marialis Cultus, 57.)

       What a treasure it is then to have a strong devotion to Our Lady!

Mary, the first Tabernacle of our Lord, Mediatrix of all graces.

She Brings Us to Heaven

       Once St. Gabriel of the Seven Sorrows told his spiritual father, "Father I am sure of going to Heaven."

       "And how do you know?" asked the Father.

       "Because it is already here. I love Our Lady, so I am already in Heaven!"

       It is exactly so. The love of Our Lady is a sign of predestination, it is a guarantee of Heaven, it is love of Paradise.

       This is the common teaching of the Church. Let us recall the three great doctors of the Church. St. Augustine says that all the predestined are already carried in the womb of Our Lady. Therefore, the love for Mary is a precious sign of salvation. St. Bonaventure says that "those who are marked by devotion to Mary will be listed in the book of life." St. Alphonsus de Liguori assures us that "he who loves Our Lady can be certain of Paradise as if he were already there".

       If it is a sign of predestination, then devotion to Our Lady must be in our heart like the "hidden treasure in the field" of which Jesus speaks in the Gospel. (Mt. 13:44.)

       Thus we need to be attentive to the true cultivation of this Marian devotion because St. Leonard of Port Maurizio used to say that "it is impossible for one to be saved if he does not have devotion to Our Lady". And he was right, because as St. Bonaventure says: "If through Her God descended to us, it is then necessary that through Her we ascend to God. Nobody can enter Paradise if he does not pass through Mary who is the door."

       Thus, when St. Charles Borromeo placed the image of Our Lady at the door of every church, he wanted the Christians to understand that they cannot enter the Temple of Heaven without passing through Mary, the "Gate of Heaven".

       In conclusion, if we have devotion to Our Lady let us guard and develop it with great care. If we do not have it, let us ask for it with all our strength as the principal gift and grace of this month of Mary. Let us remember the wonderful teaching of St. John Damascene, "God grants the grace of devotion to Our Lady to those who wish to be saved." This "grace" concerns our heart. It is a grace worthy of Paradise! Padre Pio is right to say that devotion to Our Lady is "more valuable than theology and philosophy". St. Maximilian Kolbe too is right in saying that the love for Our Lady makes us "live and die happily".

APPLICATION

• To entrust yourself to Our Lady, say three Hail Marys in the morning and evening.
• Offer your day to deepen your devotion to Our Lady.
• Always have something that reminds you of Our Lady.

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