Children's 33-day Preparation

FIRST PERIOD
14 DAYS
July 16 - July 29

KNOWLEDGE OF THE
SPIRIT OF THE WORLD

SECOND PERIOD
7 DAYS
July 30 - Aug. 5

KNOWLEDGE
OF SELF

THIRD PERIOD
7 DAYS
Aug. 6 - Aug.12

KNOWLEDGE
OF MARY

FOURTH PERIOD
7 DAYS
Aug. 13 - Aug. 19

KNOWLEDGE
OF JESUS

FIFTH PERIOD
3 DAYS
Aug. 20 - Aug. 22

FINAL
PREPARATIONS

THE DAY OF CONSECRATION
Saturday August 22nd, Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

THE CONSECRATION IS MERELY THE PLANTING OF
THE SEED OF THE TREE OF LIFE
This 38-day preparation is like the period of gestation where the child spends 9-months in the mother's womb. After that, the real life begins and the child needs to grow through various stages to reach the perfection of adulthood. Likewise, the making of the Consecration is only a beginning, not an end. The following thoughts will help you understand this and give you an outline to follow.

"As the essential of this devotion consists in the interior which it ought to form, it will not be equally understood by everybody. Some will stop at what is exterior in it, and will go no further, and these will be the greatest number. Some, in small number, will enter into its inward spirit; but they will only mount one step. Who will mount to the second step? Who will get as far as the third? Lastly, who will so advance as to make this devotion his habitual state? He alone to whom the spirit of Jesus Christ shall have revealed this secret, the faultlessly faithful soul whom He shall conduct there Himself, to advance from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, from light to light, until he arrives at the transformation of himself into Jesus Christ, and to the plenitude of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven." (St. Louis de Montfort,True Devotion to Mary, §119).

REASONS FOR MAKING THE CONSECRATION IN RELATION TO GOD

1.   It is the will of God, as announced by Our Lady at Fatima. The fact that God wants this should be sufficient reason for making the Consecration.
2.  Mary is God's masterpiece and in justice deserves praise above and beyond what we give to anything else except the praise we give to God. God receives much glory when we honor Mary, the work of His hands.
3.  God has made Mary the channel or mediatrix of all graces. It would be an insult not to use the means that God has appointed for the distribution of His graces, and to seek other means instead.
4.  We imitate God's ways by our reliance on Mary in our lives. Just as God chose to enter this world through Mary and chose to rely on Mary for the work of the Redemption, we, likewise, should go to God through Mary and rely upon her for the work of our salvation.

REASONS FOR MAKING THE CONSECRATION IN RELATION TO OURSELVES

1. If we want to save our souls, then there is no better way of saving them than giving ourselves over to Mary.
2. There can be no salvation without the grace of God. This consecration is a surer and safer way of obtaining, increasing and keeping the graces of God.
3. Mary has been given the role of forming the saints of the end times. We are all called to be saints. There is no better school than the school of Mary for teaching, forming and maintaining sanctity.
4. A true devotion to Mary is almost a guarantee of salvation. This has been affirmed by the testimonies of numerous Saints, Fathers and Doctors of the Church. Who in their right mind doesn't want to save their soul?
5. The devils have confessed that they find it more difficult to overcome the true servants of Mary than other souls who have a lesser devotion to Mary.

THE DAY OF CONSECRATION

THE CONSECRATION IS MERELY THE PLANTING OF
THE SEED OF THE TREE OF LIFE
The 33-day preparation is like the period of gestation where the child spends 9-months in the mother's womb. After that, the real life begins and the child needs to grow through various stages to reach the perfection of adulthood. Likewise, the making of the Consecration is only a beginning, not an end. The following thoughts will help you understand this and give you an outline to follow.

THE LITTLE CROWN OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

CROWN OF EXCELLENCE

To honor the divine maternity of the Blessed Virgin; Her ineffable virginity; Her purity without stain; Her innumerable virtues.

1. Our Father....Hail Mary....Blessed art thou, O Virgin Mary, who didst bear the Lord, the Creator of the world; thou didst give birth to Him Who made thee and remainest a Virgin forever. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

2. Hail Mary....O Holy and Immaculate Virgin, I know not with what praise to extol thee, since thou didst bear in thy womb the very One Whom the heavens cannot contain. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

3. Hail Mary....Thou art all fair, O Virgin Mary, and there is no stain in thee. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

4. Hail Mary....Thy virtues, O Virgin, surpass the stars in number. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

5. Glory be to the Father....

CROWN OF POWER

To honor the royalty of the Blessed Virgin; Her magnificence; Her universal mediation; The strength of her rule

1. Our Father....Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, O Empress of the world! Bring us with thee to the joys of heaven. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

2. Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, O treasure house of the Lord's graces! Grant us a share in thy riches. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

3. Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, O Mediatrix between God and man! Through thee may the Almighty be favorable to us. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

4. Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, who destroyest heresies and crushest demons! Be thou our loving guide. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

5. Glory be to the Father....

CROWN OF GOODNESS

To honor the mercy of the Blessed Virgin toward sinners, the poor, the just and the dying

1. Our Father....Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, O refuge of sinners! Intercede for us with God. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

2. Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, O Mother of orphans! Render the Almighty favorable to us. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

3. Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, O joy of the just! Lead us with thee to the joys of heaven. Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

4. Hail Mary....
Glory be to thee, who art ever ready to assist us in life and in death! Lead us with thee to the kingdom of heaven! Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, rejoice a thousand times!

5. Glory be to the Father....
Let us Pray
Hail Mary, Daughter of God the Father! Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son! Hail Mary, Spouse of the Holy Ghost! Hail Mary, Temple of the most Holy Trinity! Hail Mary, my Mistress, my treasure, my joy, Queen of my heart; my Mother, my life, my sweetness, my dearest hope, yea, my heart and my soul!

I am all thine and all that I have is thine, O Virgin blessed above all things! Let thy soul be in me to magnify the Lord; let thy spirit be in me to rejoice in God. Set thyself, O faithful Virgin, as a seal upon my heart, that in thee and through thee I may be found faithful to God.

Receive me, O gracious Virgin, among those whom thou lovest and teachest, whom thou leadest, nourishest and protectest as thy children. Grant that, for love of thee, I may despise all earthly consolations and ever cling to those of heaven; until through the Holy Ghost, thy faithful Spouse, and through thee, His faithful Spouse, Jesus Christ thy Son be formed in me for the glory of God the Father. Amen.

PRAYER TO JESUS
by St. Louis de Montfort

Hail Mary, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father! Hail Mary, admirable Mother of the Son! Hail Mary, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost! Hail Mary, my dear Mother, my loving mistress, my powerful sovereign! Hail my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul! Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am all thine by justice.

But I am not yet sufficiently thine. I now give myself wholly to thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If thou still seest in me anything which does not belong to thee, I beseech thee to take it and to make thyself the absolute mistress of all that is mine. Destroy in me all that may be displeasing to God, root it up and bring it to nought; place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to thee.

May the light of thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind; may thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination; may thy continuous sight of God fill my memory with His presence; may the burning love of thy heart inflame the lukewarmness of mine; may thy virtues take the place of my sins; may thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of God and make up for all that is wanting in me.

Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but thine to know Jesus and His divine will; that I may have no other soul but thine to praise and glorify the Lord; that I may have no other heart but thine to love God with a love as pure and ardent as thine. I do not ask thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotion or spiritual pleasures. It is thy privilege to see God clearly; it is thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is thy privilege to triumph gloriously in Heaven at the right hand of thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men and demons; it is thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God, just as thou willest.

Such is, O heavenly Mary, “the best part” which the Lord has given thee and which shall never be taken away from thee—and this thought fills my heart with joy.

As for my part here below, I wish for no other than that which was thine: to believe sincerely without spiritual pleasures; to suffer joyfully without human consolation; to die continually to myself without respite; and to work zealously and unselfishly for thee until death as the humblest of thy servants.

The only grace I beg thee to obtain for me is that every day and every moment of my life I may say: Amen—so be it, to all that thou didst do while on earth; Amen—so be it, to all that thou art now doing in Heaven; Amen—so be it, to all that thou art doing in my soul, so that thou alone mayest fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity. Amen.

PRAYER TO MARY
by St. Louis de Montfort

Hail Mary, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father! Hail Mary, admirable Mother of the Son! Hail Mary, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost! Hail Mary, my dear Mother, my loving mistress, my powerful sovereign! Hail my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul! Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am all thine by justice. But I am not yet sufficiently thine. I now give myself wholly to thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If thou still seest in me anything which does not belong to thee, I beseech thee to take it and to make thyself the absolute mistress of all that is mine. Destroy in me all that may be displeasing to God, root it up and bring it to nought; place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to thee.

May the light of thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind; may thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination; may thy continuous sight of God fill my memory with His presence; may the burning love of thy heart inflame the lukewarmness of mine; may thy virtues take the place of my sins; may thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of God and make up for all that is wanting in me. Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but thine to know Jesus and His divine will; that I may have no other soul but thine to praise and glorify the Lord; that I may have no other heart but thine to love God with a love as pure and ardent as thine. I do not ask thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotion or spiritual pleasures. It is thy privilege to see God clearly; it is thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is thy privilege to triumph gloriously in Heaven at the right hand of thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men and demons; it is thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God, just as thou willest.

Such is, O heavenly Mary, “the best part” which the Lord has given thee and which shall never be taken away from thee—and this thought fills my heart with joy. As for my part here below, I wish for no other than that which was thine: to believe sincerely without spiritual pleasures; to suffer joyfully without human consolation; to die continually to myself without respite; and to work zealously and unselfishly for thee until death as the humblest of thy servants. The only grace I beg thee to obtain for me is that every day and every moment of my life I may say: Amen—so be it, to all that thou didst do while on Earth; Amen—so be it, to all that thou art now doing in Heaven; Amen—so be it, to all that thou art doing in my soul, so that thou alone mayest fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity. Amen.

THOUGHTS ON HER THOUGHTS

► "I ask and command you to have a statue to be made [of Our Lady of Good Success] for the consolation and preservation of ... those faithful souls of that epoch [our present time], during which there will be a great devotion to me"
(Our Lady of Good Success).

► “First, so that men in the future might realize how powerful I am in placating Divine Justice and obtaining mercy and pardon for every sinner, who comes to me with a contrite heart. For I am the Mother of Mercy and in me there is only goodness and love.”
(Our Lady of Good Success).

► “And second …when tribulations of spirit and sufferings of the body oppress them and they seem to be drowning in this bottomless sea, let them gaze at my holy image, and I will always be there ready to listen to their cries and soothe their pain. Tell them that they should always run to their Mother with confidence and love...”
(Our Lady of Good Success).

► "In order to free men from the bondage to these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my most Holy Son has designated to effect the restoration, will need great strength of will, constancy, valor and confidence of the just. There will be occasions when all will seem lost and paralyzed. This then will be the happy beginning of the complete restoration.” (Our Lady of Good Success).

► “But know, beloved daughter, that when your name is made known in the 20th century, there will be many who will not believe, claiming that this devotion is not pleasing to God...A simple humble faith in the truth of My apparitions to you, My beloved child, will be reserved for humble and fervent souls docile to the inspirations of grace, for Our Heavenly Father communicates His secrets to the simple of heart, and not to those whose hearts are inflated with pride, pretending to know what they do not, or self-satisfied with empty knowledge.”
(Our Lady of Good Success).

► “Oh, if only human beings and religious knew what Heaven is and what it is to possess God, how differently they would live, sparing no sacrifice in order to enter more fully into possession of it! But some let themselves be dazzled by the false glamor of honors and human greatness, while others are blinded by self-love, not realizing that they are falling into lukewarmness, that immense evil which in religious houses destroys their fervor, humility, self-renunciation and the ceaseless practice of religious virtues and fraternal charity and that child-like simplicity which makes souls so dear to my Divine Son and to me, their Mother" (Our Lady of Good Success).

► “Woe to the world should it lack monasteries and convents! Men do not comprehend their importance, for, if they understood, they would do all in their power to multiply them, because in them can be found the remedy for all physical and moral evils... No one on the face of the Earth is aware whence comes the salvation of souls, the conversion of great sinners, the end of great scourges, the fertility of the land, the end of pestilence and wars, and the harmony between nations. All this is due to the prayers that rise up from monasteries and convents. Oh, if mortals only understood how to appreciate the time given to them, and would take advantage of each moment of their lives, how different the world would be! And a considerable number of souls would not fall to their eternal perdition! But this contempt is the fundamental cause for their downfall!” (Our Lady of Good Success)

SCRIPTURAL ROSARY
A Scriptural verse for each Hail Mary

1. THE ANNUNCIATION
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth.

2. He was sent to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

3. And the Angel being come in, said unto her: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women!”

4. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.

5. And the Angel said to her: “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God!”

6. “Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus.”

7. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father; and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

8. And Mary said to the Angel: “How shall this be done, because I know not man?”

9. And the Angel answering, said to her: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

10. And Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word!” And the Angel departed from her.

2. THE VISITATION
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. A priest named Zachary, and his wife Elizabeth, were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame. And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.

2. And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God, According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord. And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zachary, seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

3. The angel said to him: “Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.”

4. Zachary said to the angel: “Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years!” And the angel answering, said to him: “I am Gabriel, who stand before God: and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.”

5. The people were waiting for Zachary; and they wondered that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them, and remained dumb.

6. And it came to pass, after the days of his office were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying: “Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein He hath had regard to take away my reproach among men.”

7. And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.

8. And Elizabeth cried out with a loud voice, and said: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb! And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy! And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.”

9. And Mary said: “My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath showed might in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy: as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His seed for ever.”

10. And Mary abode with her about three months; and she returned to her own house. Now Elizabeth’s full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had showed His great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father’s name Zachary. And his mother answering, said: “Not so! But he shall be called John!” And they said to her: “There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name!” And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: “John is his name!” And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbors; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill country of Judea. And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: “What a one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him!”

3. THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD IN BETHLEHEM
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

2. And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

3. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them: “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people.”

4. For, this day, is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: “Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will!”

5. And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: “Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us.” And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger. And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

6. When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to adore Him.” And king Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet: “And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the Captain that shall rule My people Israel.”

7. Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them; and sending them into Bethlehem, said: “Go and diligently inquire after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come to adore Him.” Who having heard the king, went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the Child with Mary His Mother, and falling down they adored Him; and opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country.

8. And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: “Arise, and take the Child and His Mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy Him.” Who arose, and took the Child and His Mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: “Out of Egypt have I called My Son.”

9. Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: “A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying: “Arise, and take the Child and His Mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child.”

10. Who arose, and took the Child and His Mother, and came into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither: and being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was said by prophets: “That He shall be called a Nazarene.”

4. THE PRESENTATION
OF THE INFANT JESUS
IN THE TEMPLE
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord: as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: and to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

2. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him.

3. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the Temple.

4. And when His parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law, Simeon also took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: “Now thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel!”

5. And His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning Him.

6. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother: “Behold this Child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”

7. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the Temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day.

8. Now she, at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord; and spoke of Him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel.

9. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth.

10. And the Child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in Him.

5. THE FINDING OF THE CHILD JESUS IN
THE TEMPLE
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And His parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the Pasch.

2. And when He was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast.

3. And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and His parents knew it not.

4. And thinking that He was in the company, they came a day’s journey, and sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances. And not finding Him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him.

5. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found Him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers. And seeing Him, they wondered.

6. And His mother said to Him: “Son, why hast Thou done so to us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing!”

7. And He said to them: “How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know, that I must be about My Father’s business?” And they understood not the word that He spoke unto them.

8. And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.

9. And His mother kept all these words in her heart.

10. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.

6. THE AGONY OF OUR LORD IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And a hymn being said, going out, He went, according to His custom, to the Mount of Olives. He went forth over the brook Cedron and His disciples also followed Him. Then Jesus came with them into a country place, a farm which is called Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples: “Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray!” And taking with Him Peter and James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, He began to fear and to be heavy, and grow sorrowful and to sad. Then He said to them: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with Me!”

2. And when He was gone forward a little, and was withdrawn away from them a stone’s cast, He fell upon His face, flat on the ground; and He prayed, that if it might be, the hour might pass from Him, saying: “My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me--remove this chalice from Me! Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done!”

3. And He cometh to His disciples, and findeth them asleep, and He saith to Peter: “What! Could you not watch one hour with Me? Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation! The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak!”

4. Again the second time, He went and prayed, saying: “My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, Thy will be done!” And He cometh again and findeth them sleeping: for their eyes were heavy and they knew not what to answer Him.

5. And leaving them, He went again: and He prayed the third time, saying the saying the same words. And there appeared to him an angel from Heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony, He prayed the longer. And His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground. And when He rose up from prayer, and was come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow and saith to them: “Sleep ye now and take your rest! It is enough! Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners! Rise! Let us go! Behold he is at hand that will betray Me!”

6. And while He was yet speaking, behold Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the ancients of the people. Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place; because Jesus had often resorted thither together with His disciples. Judas, therefore, having received a band of soldiers and servants from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. And he, that betrayed Him, gave them a sign, saying: “Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He, hold Him fast and lead Him away carefully!” And forthwith coming to Jesus, immediately going up to Him, he said: “Hail, Rabbi!” And he kissed Him. And Jesus said to him: “Friend, whereto art thou come? Judas, dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss?” Then they came up, and laid hands on Jesus, and held Him.

7. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth, and said to them: “Whom seek ye?” They answered Him: “Jesus of Nazareth!” Jesus saith to them: “I am He!” And Judas also, who betrayed Him, stood with them. As soon therefore as He had said to them: “I am He”, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Again therefore He asked them: “Whom seek ye?” And they said: “Jesus of Nazareth!” Jesus answered: “I have told you that I am He! If therefore you seek Me, let these go their way!” That the word might be fulfilled which He said: “Of them whom Thou hast given Me, I have not lost any one”

8. And they that were about Him, seeing what would follow, said to Him: “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And behold one of them that were with Jesus, Simon Peter, having a sword, stretching forth his hand, drew out his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus. Then Jesus saith to him: “Put up thy sword into the scabbard: for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword! The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it? Thinkest thou that I cannot ask My Father, and He will give Me presently more than twelve legions of angels? How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that so it must be done? Suffer ye thus far!” But when Jesus had touched his ear, He healed him.

9. And Jesus said to the chief priests, and magistrates of the temple, and the ancients, that were come unto Him: “You are come out as it were to a robber with swords and clubs to apprehend Me! I sat daily with you, teaching in the Temple, and you laid not hands on Me! But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!” Now all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then the disciples all leaving Him, fled away. And a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and they laid hold on him. But he, casting off the linen cloth, fled from them naked.

10. Then the band and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews apprehending and holding Jesus, took Jesus, bound Him and led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, who was the high priest of that year, and then to Caiphas, where the scribes and the ancients were assembled. But Peter followed afar off.

7. THE SCOURGING OF OUR LORD AT THE PILLAR
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And when morning was come, all chief priests holding a consultation with the ancients of the people and the scribes and the whole council, took counsel against Jesus, that they might put Him to death. And the whole multitude of them rising up, binding Jesus, led Him away from Caiphas to the governor’s hall and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. They went not into the hall, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Pasch.

2. Pilate therefore went out to them, and said: “What accusation bring you against this Man?”
They answered, and said to him: “If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to thee!” And they began to accuse Him, saying: “We have found this Man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the King!”

3. And when He was accused by the chief priests and ancients, He answered nothing.
Then Pilate saith to Him: “Dost not Thou hear how great testimonies they allege against Thee?”
And He answered him to never a word; so that the governor wondered.
And Pilate again asked Him, saying: “Answerest Thou nothing? Behold in how many things they accuse Thee!”
But Jesus still answered nothing; so that Pilate wondered exceedingly.

4. Pilate therefore said to them: “Take Him you, and judge Him according to your law!”
The Jews therefore said to him: “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death!” That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He said, signifying what death He should die. But they were more earnest, saying: “He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.”
But Pilate hearing “Galilee”, asked if the Man were of Galilee. And when he understood that He was of Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him away to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem, in those days.

5. And Herod, seeing Jesus, was very glad; for he was desirous of a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things of Him; and he hoped to see some sign wrought by Him. And he questioned Him in many words. But He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, earnestly accusing Him. And Herod, with his army, set Him at nought, and mocked Him, putting on Him a white garment, and sent Him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate were made friends, that same day; for before they were enemies one to another.

6. But they cried again, saying: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
And he said to them the third time: “Why, what evil hath this Man done? I find no cause of death in Him. I will chastise Him therefore, and let Him go!”
But they cried again, saying: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

7. Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus. And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked Him, saying: “Art Thou the king of the Jews?”
Jesus answered: “Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of Me?”
Pilate answered: “Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered Thee up to me! What hast Thou done?”

8. Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My Kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My Kingdom is not from hence.”
Pilate therefore said to Him: “Art Thou a king then?”
Jesus answered: “Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth, heareth My voice!”
Pilate saith to Him: “What is truth?”

9. And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith to them: “I find no cause in Him! But you have a custom that I should release one unto you at the Pasch: will you, therefore, that I release unto you the King of the Jews?”
Then they all cried again, saying: “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
Pilate said to them: “What shall I do then with Jesus, that is called Christ?”
They all said: “Let Him be crucified!”
The governor said to them: “Why, what evil hath He done?”
But they cried out the more, saying: “Let Him be crucified!”
And the whole people answering, said: “His blood be upon us and our children!”

10. But they were instant with loud voices, requiring that He might be crucified; and their voices prevailed. And Pilate seeing that he prevailed nothing, but that rather a tumult was made; taking water washed his hands before the people, saying: “I am innocent of the blood of this just Man; look you to it!” And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them Barabbas, who for murder and sedition, had been cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he had Jesus scourged and delivered up to their will.

8. THE CROWNING OF OUR LORD WITH THORNS
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. Then the soldiers of the governor led Jesus away into the hall, the court of the palace, and they called together unto Him the whole band; and stripping Him, they put a scarlet cloak about Him.

2. And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand.

3. And they began to salute Him, bowing the knee before Him, they adored Him. And they mocked Him, saying: “Hail, King of the Jews!”

4. And they took the reed and struck His head with the reed. And they did spit on Him and they gave Him blows.

5. And after they had mocked Him, they took off the purple cloak from Him, and put on Him His own garments, and led Him back to Pilate.

6. Pilate therefore went forth again, and said to them: “Behold, I bring Him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in Him!”
Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns. And he said to them: “Behold the Man!”
When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen Him, they cried out, saying: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

7. Pilate said to them: “Take Him you, and crucify Him! For I find no cause in Him!”
The Jews answered him: “We have a law; and according to the law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God!”
When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the more. And he entered into the hall again, and he said to Jesus: “Whence art Thou?”
But Jesus gave him no answer.

8. Pilate therefore said to Him: “Speakest Thou not to me? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and I have power to release Thee?”
Jesus answered: “Thou shouldst not have any power against Me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that hath delivered Me to thee, hath the greater sin!”

9. And from henceforth Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying: “If thou release this Man, thou art not Caesar’s friend! For whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar!”
Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. And it was the Parasceve of the Pasch, about the sixth hour, and he said to the Jews: “Behold your King!”
But they cried out: “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!”

10. Pilate said to them: “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered: “We have no king but Caesar!”
Then therefore he delivered Him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led Him forth.

9. OUR LORD CARRIES HIS CROSS TO CALVARY
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

“And bearing His own cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew, Golgotha” (John 19:17).

1. And after they had mocked Him, they took off the cloak from Him, and put on Him His own garments, and led Him away to crucify Him.

2. And bearing His own cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.

3. And going out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon. And they forced Simon, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up His cross.

4. And there followed Him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented Him.

5. But Jesus turning to them, said: “Daughters of Jerusalem! Weep not over Me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children! For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck!’”

6. Jesus said to them: “Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills: ‘Cover us!’ For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?”

7. And there were also two other malefactors, led with Him, to be put to death.

8. Pilate wrote a title, also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews”.

9. This title, therefore, many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin.

10. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: “Write not, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’!” Pilate answered: “What I have written, I have written!”

10. THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH OF OUR LORD
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

“And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (Mark 15:26).

1. And it was the third hour when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified Him there. And Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” The soldiers, therefore, when they had crucified Him, took and divided His garments, and they made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also His coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said then one to another: “Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be!” that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saying: “They divided My garments among them; and upon My vesture they cast lots.” And the soldiers indeed did these things.

2. And they put over His head the written inscription of His cause: “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” And with Him they crucified two thieves; the one robber on His right hand, and the other on His left, so that the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith: “And with the wicked He was reputed.” And they sat and watched Him.

3. And they that passed by, blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, and saying: “Vah! Thou that destroyest the Temple of God, and in three days dost rebuild it! Save Thy own self! If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross!” In like manner also the chief priests, with the scribes and ancients, mocking, said: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save! Let Christ the King of Israel come down now from the cross! If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe! He trusted in God; let Him now deliver Him if He will have Him! For He said: ‘I am the Son of God!’ He saved others; Himself He cannot save!” And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, and saying: “If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself!” And the selfsame thing the thieves, also, that were crucified with Him, reproached Him with and reviled Him.

4. And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed Him, saying: “If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us!” But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: “Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man hath done no evil!” And he said to Jesus: “Lord! Remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy Kingdom!” And Jesus said to him: “Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise!” And it was almost the sixth hour.

5. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen His mother and the disciple standing, whom He loved, He saith to His Mother: “Woman, behold thy son!” After that, He saith to the disciple: “Behold thy Mother!” And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.

6. And when the sixth hour was come, the sun was darkened and there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: “Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani?” That is: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” And some that stood there and heard, said: “Behold, this Man calleth Elias!” And the others said: “Let be! Let us see whether Elias will come to deliver Him!”

7. Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: “I thirst!” Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And immediately one of them running took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar and hyssop; and put it on a reed, put it to His mouth and gave Him to drink. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar and hyssop, put it to His mouth. Jesus therefore, when He had taken the vinegar, said: “It is consummated!” And Jesus again crying with a loud voice said: “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!” And after saying this, bowing His head, He gave up the ghost.

8. And the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom. And the centurion, who stood over against Him, seeing that crying out in this manner, He had given up the ghost, seeing what was done, glorified God, saying: “Indeed this was a just Man! Indeed this Man was the Son of God!” And all the multitude of them that were come together to that sight, and saw the things that were done, returned striking their breasts.

9.Then the Jews, because it was the Parasceve, that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath day—for that was a great Sabbath day—besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came; and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with Him. But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water. For these things were done, that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “You shall not break a bone of Him.” And again another Scripture saith: “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.” And he that saw it, hath given testimony, and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true; that you also may believe.

10. And all His acquaintances, and the women that had followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things. Among whom was Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph, and Salome: who also when He was in Galilee followed Him, and ministered to Him, and many other women that came up with Him to Jerusalem. And when evening was now come, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. But Pilate wondered that He should be already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him if He were already dead. And when he had understood it by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And Joseph buying fine linen, and taking Him down, wrapped Him up in the fine linen, and laid Him in a sepulcher which was hewed out of a rock. And he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulcher. And Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of Joseph, beheld where He was laid.

11. THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD FROM THE DEAD
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And when the Sabbath was past, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow. And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men. Later the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all things that had been done. And they being assembled together with the ancients, taking counsel, gave a great sum of money to the soldiers, saying: “Say you: ‘His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were asleep!’ And if the governor shall hear this, we will persuade him, and secure you!” So they taking the money, did as they were taught: and this word was spread abroad among the Jews even unto this day.

2. Very early in the morning Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming to see the sepulcher, they might anoint Jesus. Mary Magdalen came first, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher; and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulcher. She ran, therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith to them: “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid Him!”

3. Meanwhile, with the sun being now risen, the other women arrived at the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they said one to another: “Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulcher?” For it was very great. And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. And entering into the sepulcher, they found not the body of the Lord Jesus. They saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. They were afraid, and bowed down their countenance towards the ground.

4. And the angel answering, said to the women: “Be not afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified! Why seek you the living with the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spoke unto you, when He was in Galilee, saying: ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again!’ He is risen! He is not here! Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid. Now go quickly, tell His disciples and Peter that He will go before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him, as He told you!”

5. But they going out, fled from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples. For a trembling and fear had seized them: and they said nothing to any man; for they were afraid. And going back from the sepulcher, they told all these things to the Eleven, and to all the rest. And these words seemed to them as idle tales; and they did not believe them.

6. In the meantime, Peter went out, and that other disciple, and they came to the sepulcher. And they both ran together, and that other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying; but yet he went not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulcher, and saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin that had been about His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place. Then that other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulcher: and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. The disciples therefore departed again to their home.

7. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils. Mary, having returned again to the sepulcher, stood outside, weeping. Now as she was weeping, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, and she saw two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid.
They said to her: “Woman, why weepest thou?”
She said to them: “Because they have taken away my Lord; and I know not where they have laid him!”
When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing; and she knew not that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her: “Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?”
She, thinking it was the gardener, saith to Him: “Sir, if thou hast taken Him out of here, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away!”
Jesus said to her: “Mary!”
She, turning, said to Him: “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Master).
Jesus said to her: “Do not touch Me! For I am not yet ascended to My Father! But go to My brethren, and say to them: ‘I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to My God and your God!’” Mary Magdalen went and told the disciples: “I have seen the Lord! And these things He said to me!”

8. In the meantime, Jesus met the women, saying: “All hail!” But they came up and took hold of His feet, and adored Him. Then Jesus said to them: “Fear not! Go, tell My brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see Me!”
The women told these things to the apostles. And these words seemed to them as idle tales; and they did not believe them. And they hearing that he was alive, and had been seen, did not believe. And after that He appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country. And they going told it to the rest: neither did they believe them. At length He appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and He upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen Him after He was risen again.

9. Two disciples, the same day, walked to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And while they talked and reasoned, Jesus Himself joined them. But their eyes were held, that they should not know Him.
And He said to them: “What are you talking about and why are you so sad?”
And Cleophas said to Him: “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, and how our chief priests and princes delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. We hoped, that it was He that should have redeemed Israel! Today is the third day since these things were done and some women of our company frightened us, who were at the sepulcher, and not finding His body, came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that He is alive!”

10. Then Jesus said to them: “O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures, the things that were concerning Him.
And as they drew nigh to the town, whither they were going, they constrained Him; saying: “Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent!” And He went in with them. And it came to pass, whilst He was at table with them, He took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him: and He vanished out of their sight.
And they said one to the other: “Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He spoke in this way, and opened to us the Scriptures?” And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the Eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them, saying: “The Lord is risen indeed!”

12. THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD INTO HEAVEN
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And the Eleven Disciples went into Galilee, and Jesus led them out as far as Bethania, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing Him they adored: but some doubted.

2. They, therefore, who were come together, asked Him, saying: “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” And Jesus, spoke to them, saying: “It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

3. And Jesus said to them: “All power is given to Me in Heaven and in Earth. But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the Earth. Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. Teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

4. “He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.”

5. “And these signs shall follow them that believe—In My Name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover.

6. “Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world!”

7. And the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, lifting up His hands, He blessed them. And it came to pass, whilst He blessed them, He departed from them, and was carried up to Heaven while they looked on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. He now sitteth on the right hand of God.

8. And while they were beholding Him going up to Heaven, behold two men stood by them, in white garments, who also said: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to Heaven? This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come, as you have seen Him going into Heaven!”

9. Then they adoring went back from the mount, which is near Jerusalem, that is called Olivet, and with great joy returned to Jerusalem, which is within a Sabbath day’s journey.

10. And when they reached Jerusalem, they went up into an upper room, where abode Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Jude the brother of James. All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.

13. THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST AT PENTECOST
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place.

2. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them.

4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.

5. And when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded in mind, because that every man heard them speak in his own tongue.

6. And they were all amazed and astonished, and wondered, saying one to another: “What meaneth this?” But others mocking, said: “These men are full of new wine!”

7. But Peter standing up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them: “Ye men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you, and with your ears receive my words! “For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day!

8. “Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him, in the midst of you, as you also know. This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you, by the hands of wicked men, have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of Hell, as it was impossible that He should be held by it.

9. Now when they had heard these things, they had compunction in their heart, and said to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles: “What shall we do, men and brethren?” But Peter said to them: “Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost! For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call.”

10. And with very many other words did he testify and exhort them, saying: “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!” They, therefore, that received his word, were baptized; and there were added in that day about three thousand souls. And they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: many wonders also and signs were done by the Apostles in Jerusalem, and there was great fear in all. And all they that believed, were together, and had all things common. Their possessions and goods they sold, and divided them to all, according as everyone had need.

14. THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR LADY INTO HEAVEN
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. “Lift up your eyes to Heaven” (Isaias 51:6).

2. “Look up to Heaven and see, and behold the sky, that it is higher than thee” (Job 35:5).

3. “They shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards Heaven” (Proverbs 23:5).

4. “Who mounteth above the Heaven of Heaven” (Psalm 67:34).

5. “If I ascend into Heaven, Thou art there” (Psalm 138:8).

6. “And He had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of Heaven” (Psalm 77:23).

7. “God give thee the dew of Heaven” (Genesis 27:28).

8. “Then hear thou from Heaven, and do justice to thy servants” (2 Paralipomenon 6:23).

9. “Hear thou from Heaven their prayers, and their supplications” (2 Paralipomenon 6:35).

10. “Hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from Heaven, and show mercy!” (2 Paralipomenon 6:21).

15. THE CORONATION OF OUR LADY IN HEAVEN
(Read a verse before each Hail Mary)

1. “Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life” (Apocalypse 2:10).

2. “When the Prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never fading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4).

3. “Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Apocalypse 3:11).

4. “Thou shalt put her on as a robe of glory, and thou shalt set her upon thee as a crown of joy” (Ecclesiasticus 6:32).

5. “God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will set a crown on thy head of everlasting honor” (Baruch 5:2).

6. “Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God” (Isaias 62:3).

7. “That thou mayest receive a crown as an ornament of grace” (Ecclesiasticus 32:3).

8. “And a great sign appeared in Heaven―a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Apocalypse 12:1).

9. “With the crown set upon her head, to show her beauty to all … for she was exceeding beautiful” (Esther 1:11).

10. “A jewel upon thy forehead and earrings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head” (Ezechiel 16:12).

THE ACT OF CONSECRATION
TO JESUS THE INCARNATE WISDOM
BY THE HANDS OF MARY
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O Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most adorable Jesus! True God and True Man, only Son of the Eternal Father and of Mary, always Virgin! I adore Thee profoundly in the bosom and splendors of Thy Father during eternity, and I adore Thee also in the virginal bosom of Mary Thy most worthy Mother, in the time of Thy Incarnation.

I give Thee thanks that Thou hast annihilated Thyself, taking the form of a slave in order to rescue me from the cruel slavery of the devil. I praise and glorify Thee that Thou hast been pleased to submit Thyself to Mary, Thy Holy Mother, in all things, in order to make me Thy faithful slave through her.

But, alas! Ungrateful and unfaithful as I have been, I have not kept the promises which I made so solemnly to Thee in my Baptism. I have not fulfilled my obligations; I do not deserve to be called Thy child nor yet Thy slave; and as there is nothing in me which does not merit Thine anger and Thy repulse, I dare not any more come by myself before Thy most holy and august Majesty. It is on this account that I have recourse to the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, whom Thou has given me for a mediatrix with Thee. It is through her that I hope to obtain of Thee contrition, the pardon of my sins, and the acquisition and preservation of Wisdom.

Hail then, Immaculate Mary, living Tabernacle of the Divinity, where the Eternal Wisdom willed to be hidden and to be adored by angels and by men! Hail, Queen of Heaven and earth, to whose empire everything is subject which is under God! Hail, O sure Refuge of sinners; whose mercy fails no one! Hear the desires which I have of the Divine Wisdom, and for that end, receive the vows and offerings which in my lowliness I present to Thee.

I (here say your own name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism: I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.

In the presence of all the heavenly court, I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity.

Receive, O benignant Virgin, this little offering of my slavery, in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to thy maternity, in homage to the power which both of you have over this poor sinner, and in thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity has favored thee. I declare that I wish henceforth, as thy true slave, to seek thy honor and to obey thee in all things.

O admirable Mother, present me to thy dear Son as His eternal slave, so that as He has redeemed me by thee, by thee He may receive me! O Mother of Mercy, grant that I may obtain the true Wisdom of God, and for that end receive me among those whom thou lovest and teachest, whom thou leadest, nourishest and protectest as thy children and thy slaves.

O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple, imitator and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ thy Son, that I may attain, by thine intercession and by thine example, to the fullness of His age on Earth and of His glory in Heaven. Amen.

LIFE AFTER CONSECRATION
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“Although what is essential in this devotion consists in the interior, we must not fail to unite to the inward practice certain external observances. “We must do the one, yet not leave the other undone” (Mt. 23:23); because the outward practices, well performed, aid the inward ones; and because they remind man, who is always guided by his senses, of what he has done or ought to do; and also because they are suitable for edifying our neighbor, who sees them; these are things which inward practices cannot do. Let no worldling, then, or critic, intrude here to say that because true devotion is in the heart, we must avoid external devotion; or that devotion ought to be hidden, and that there may be vanity in showing it. I answer, with my Master, that men should see our good works, that they may glorify our Father who is in Heaven (Mt. 5:16); not, as St. Gregory says, that we ought to perform our actions and exterior devotions to please men and get praise—that would be vanity; but that we should sometimes do them before men with the view of pleasing God, and glorifying Him thereby, without caring either for the contempt or the praise of men. I will allude only briefly to some exterior practices, which I call “exterior” not because we do not perform them interiorly, but because they have something outward about them to distinguish them from those which are purely inward (True Devotion to Mary, §226).

1. Reciting the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“They may recite every day of their life, without however making a burden of it, the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin, composed of three Our Father’s and twelve Hail Mary’s, in honor of Our Lady’s twelve privileges and grandeurs. This is a very ancient practice and it has its foundation in Holy Scripture. St. John saw a woman crowned with twelve stars, clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet (Apoc. 12:1); and this woman, according to the interpreters, was the most holy Virgin” (True Devotion to Mary, §234).

“There are many ways of saying this Crown well, but it would take too long to enter upon them. The Holy Ghost will teach them to those who are the most faithful to this devotion. Nevertheless, to say it quite simply, we should begin by saying: ‘Grant that I may praise thee, holy Virgin; give me strength against thy enemies.’ After that, we should say the Apostles’ Creed, then an Our Father with four Hail Mary’s and then one Glory be to the Father; then another Our Father, four Hail Mary’s, and Glory be to the Father and so on with the rest; and at the end we should say the ‘Sub Tuum Praesidium’ i.e., ‘We fly to thy patronage’” (True Devotion to Mary, §235).

You will find the Little Crown, at end of this document. It is recommended that you say it daily—but as St. Louis says, without it becoming a burden to you. It may be well to set it aside for a little while if it starts to become too burdensome. Similarly, it would not constitute a sin to have omitted it on some days due to a crowded daily schedule. St. Louis does not tie us down with a multiplicity of devotions of an obligatory nature. He suggests certain things and then leaves the rest up to each individual soul and the Holy Ghost—“The Holy Ghost will teach them to those who are the most faithful to this devotion.”

2. Wearing Chains to Signify our Slavery to Jesus and Mary

“It is a most glorious and praiseworthy thing, and very useful to those who have thus made themselves slaves of Jesus in Mary, that they should wear, as a sign of their loving slavery, little iron chains, blessed with the proper blessing. It is perfectly true that these external insignia are not essential, and a person who has embraced this devotion may very well go without them; nevertheless, I cannot refrain from warmly praising those who, after having shaken off the shameful chains of the slavery of the devil, in which Original Sin, and perhaps actual sin, had bound them, have voluntarily surrendered themselves to the glorious slavery of Jesus Christ, and glory with St. Paul in being in chains for Christ (Eph. 3:1; Philem. 9), chains that are a thousand times more glorious and precious, though of iron, than all the golden ornaments of emperors” (True Devotion to Mary, §236).

“Once there was nothing more infamous on earth than the cross, and now that wood is the most glorious boast of Christianity. Let us say the same of the irons of slavery. There was nothing more ignominious among the ancients; there is nothing more shameful even now among the heathens. But among Christians, there is nothing more illustrious than the chains of Jesus; for they unchain us and preserve us from the infamous fetters of sin and the devil. They set us at liberty and chain us to Jesus and Mary; not by compulsion and constraint, like galley-slaves, but by charity and love, like children” (True Devotion to Mary, §237).

The following are the reasons for wearing these little chains:

“Firstly, to remind the Christian of the vows and promises of his Baptism, of the perfect renewal he has made of them by this devotion, and of the strict obligation under which he is to be faithful to them. As man, who shapes his course more often by the senses than by pure faith, easily forgets his obligations toward God unless he has some outward thing to remind him of them. These little chains serve marvelously to remind the Christian of the chains of sin and the slavery of the devil from which Baptism has delivered him, and of the dependence on Jesus which he has vowed to Him in Baptism, and of the ratification of it which he has made by the renewal of his vows. One of the reasons why so few Christians think of their baptismal vows, and live with as much license as if they had promised no more to God than the heathen, is that they do not wear any external sign to remind them of their vows” (True Devotion to Mary, §238).

“Secondly, to show that we are not ashamed of the servitude and slavery of Jesus Christ, and that we renounce the slavery of the world, of sin and of the devil. Thirdly, to protect ourselves against the chains of sin and of the devil; for we must wear either ‘the chains of sinners or the chains of charity and salvation’” (True Devotion to Mary, §239).

“These loving slaves of Jesus Christ, ‘the chained of Christ’ (Eph. 3:1; Philem. 9), can wear their chains on their feet or on their arms, around their body or around their neck. Fr. Vincent Caraffa, seventh Superior General of the Jesuits, who died in the odor of sanctity in the year 1643, used to wear an iron band around his feet as a mark of his servitude; and he said that his only regret was that he could not publicly drag a chain. Mother Agnes of Jesus, of whom we have spoken before, used to wear an iron chain around her body. Others have worn it around their neck in penance for the pearl necklaces which they had worn in the world; while others have worn it around their arms to remind themselves, in their manual labors, that they were slaves of Jesus Christ” (True Devotion to Mary, §242).

The chain we recommend above all chains, is a chain that has the Miraculous Medal hanging from it. On November 27, 1830, Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Labouré, at the Rue de Bac, in Paris and charged her with the mission of seeing that a medal be made according to the design shown to St. Catherine by Our Lady herself. Mary said that this medal, if worn with confidence around the neck, would draw upon the wearer an abundance of great graces. Obviously, the Medal is also worn on a chain. So what better sign of slavery, than to wear the Miraculous Medal on a chain!

There have been many saints who have worn chains as a penance—one of the most recent ones was the converted alcoholic of this century—Bl. Matthew Talbot, who, after they found him dead on the street, was found to have been wearing penitential chains under his clothing. However such acts of penance should never be undertaken without the permission of your spiritual director. Furthermore, I think that the Miraculous Medal would attract more notable graces than the imprudent wearing of other kinds of penitential chains!

3. Enrollment in the Brown Scapular

St. Louis-Marie de Montfort was a tireless advocate of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Scapular was first given to an Englishman, St. Simon Stock, on July 16, 1251. It was Heaven’s response to a plea from St. Simon Stock to save the then dwindling Carmelite Order, from the increasing waves of opposition that it was undergoing. Attached to this Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, is the promise that nobody who dies clothed in this Scapular will suffer the fires of Hell: “This shall be a sign to you and to all Carmelites: whosoever dies wearing this, shall not suffer eternal fire.”

For a long time the Habit or Scapular was the exclusive property of the Carmelite Order, a sign of profession in it, and a sign of a life totally consecrated to Mary—but in the 14th century, we find a bridge appearing between Carmel and the world. Pious people living in the world became anxious to live its Marian-form life and to share in its spiritual treasury of prayers and good works. They affiliated themselves to the Order and were given the Scapular as a sign of that affiliation.

In a comparatively short time, the wearing of the Scapular spread to the whole Church and became the unmistakable mark of devotion to Mary. Popes, kings, princes, nobles and humble folk alike, all lived and died in the hope of participating in the Scapular Promise. Throughout time, it has kept generation after generation aware of its filial duty towards the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy.

Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 7th centenary of the Brown Scapular, said:

The Holy Scapular, which may be called the Habit or Garment of Mary, is a sign and a pledge of the protection of the Mother of God. But not for this reason, however, may they who wear the Scapular think that they can gain eternal salvation while remaining slothful and negligent of spirit, for the Apostle warns us: ‘In fear and trembling shall you work out your salvation.’ May it be to them a sign of their Consecration to the most sacred Heart of the Immaculate Virgin, which consecration we have so strongly recommended in recent times.”

4. Devotion to the Mystery of the Incarnation

“Those who undertake this holy slavery should have a special devotion to the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word (March 25th). Indeed, the Incarnation is the mystery proper of this practice, inasmuch as it is a devotion inspired by the Holy Ghost: first, to honor and imitate the ineffable dependence which God the Son was pleased to have on Mary, for His Father’s glory and our salvation—which dependence particularly appears in this mystery wherein Jesus is a captive and a slave in the bosom of the divine Mary, and depends on her for all things—secondly, to thank God for the incomparable graces He has given Mary, and particularly for having chosen her to be His most holy Mother, which choice was made in this mystery. These are the two principal ends of the slavery of Jesus in Mary” (True Devotion to Mary, §243).

A very practical way of cultivating this devotion to the Mystery of the Incarnation is fidelity in praying the Angelus three times a day—morning, noon and evening. One can also find a host of meditative thoughts to ponder upon, while reciting the vocal prayers of the Angelus. St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s book, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, provides so many appropriate themes and ideas for us to dwell upon.

5. Devotion to the Hail Mary

“Those who adopt this slavery ought also to have a great devotion to saying the Hail Mary (the Angelical Salutation). Few Christians, however enlightened, know the real value, merit, excellence, and necessity of the Hail Mary. It was necessary for the Blessed Virgin to appear several times to great and enlightened saints to show them the merit of it. She did so to St. Dominic, St. John Capistran and Blessed Alan de la Roche” (True Devotion to Mary, §249).

“They have composed entire works on the wonders and efficacy of that prayer for converting souls. They have loudly proclaimed and openly preached that, salvation having begun with the Hail Mary, the salvation of each one of us in particular is attached to that prayer. They tell us that it is that prayer which made the dry and barren earth bring forth the fruit of life; and that it is that prayer well said which makes the word of God germinate in our souls, and bring forth Jesus Christ, the Fruit of Life” (True Devotion to Mary, §249).

“They tell us that the Hail Mary is a heavenly dew for watering the earth, which is the soul, to make it bring forth its fruit in season; and that a soul which is not watered by that prayer bears no fruit, and brings forth only thorns and brambles, and is ready to be cursed (Heb. 6:8)” (True Devotion to Mary, §249).

Let us remember the divine origins of this beautiful prayer. God the Father sent the Angel Gabriel with those opening words: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!” While God the Holy Ghost spoke through the mouth of St. Elizabeth, saying: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!” These words, carefully chosen by God Himself, should be engraved with love and reverence upon our hearts. I recommend that you read parts of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s book, The Secret of the Rosary, in order to have a greater understanding and love of this beautiful Angelic Salutation.

6. Devotion to the Holy Rosary

St. Louis writes the following in his book, True Devotion to Mary:

“Listen to what Our Lady revealed to Blessed Alan de la Roche, as he has recorded in his book on the dignity of the Rosary: ‘Know, my son, and make all others know, that it is a probable and proximate sign of eternal damnation to have an aversion, a lukewarmness, or a negligence in saying the Angelical Salutation, which has repaired the whole world’” (True Devotion to Mary, §250).

“These words are at once terrible and consoling, and we should find it hard to believe them, if we had not that holy man for a guarantee, and St. Dominic before him, and many great men since. But we have also the experience of several ages; for it has always been remarked that those who wear the outward sign of reprobation, like all impious heretics and proud worldlings, hate or despise the Hail Mary and the Rosary. Heretics still learn and say the Our Father, but not the Hail Mary nor the Rosary. They abhor it; they would rather wear a serpent than a Rosary. The proud also, although Catholics, have the same inclinations as their father Lucifer; and so have only contempt or indifference for the Hail Mary, and look at the Rosary as at a devotion which is good only for the ignorant and for those who cannot read” (True Devotion to Mary, §250).

“On the contrary, it is an equally universal experience that those who have otherwise great marks of predestination about them love and relish the Hail Mary, and delight in saying it. We always see that the more a man is for God, the more he likes that prayer. This is what Our Lady also said to Blessed Alan, after the words which I have just quoted” (True Devotion to Mary §250).

“I do not know how it is, nor why, but, nevertheless, I know well that it is true; nor have I any better secret of knowing whether a person is for God than to examine if he likes to say the Hail Mary and the Rosary. I say, if he likes; for it may happen that a person may be under some natural inability to say it, or even a supernatural one; yet, nevertheless, he likes it always, and always inspires the same liking in others” (True Devotion to Mary, §251).

“The Hail Mary well said—that is, with attention, devotion, and modesty—is, according to the saints, the enemy of the devil which puts him to flight, and the hammer which crushes him. It is the sanctification of the soul, the joy of the angels, the melody of the predestinate, the canticle of the New Testament, the pleasure of Mary, and the glory of the most Holy Trinity. The Hail Mary is a heavenly dew which fertilizes the soul. It is the chaste and loving kiss which we give to Mary. It is a vermilion rose which we present to her; a precious pearl we offer her; a chalice of divine ambrosial nectar which we proffer to her. All these are comparisons of the saints” (True Devotion to Mary, §253).

“I pray you urgently, by the love I bear you in Jesus and Mary, not to content yourselves with saying the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin, but to say five decades, or even, if you have time, fifteen decades of the Rosary every day. At the moment of your death you will bless the day and the hour in which you followed my advice. Having thus sown in the blessings of Jesus and Mary, you will reap eternal blessings in Heaven. ‘He who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings’ (II Cor. 9:6)” (True Devotion to Mary, §254).

All this is reinforced upon all sides. Our Lady appeared at Lourdes and Fatima asking for the Holy Rosary to be prayed. The Holy Rosary has been endorsed by a long succession of popes and saints. The often miraculous consequences of reciting the Rosary have been much and well chronicled. Our Lady has requested that, in today’s age, it be recited everywhere.

Even though St. Louis says that it is better to say one Hail Mary well than thousands badly, we must nevertheless remember that she said of little Francisco at Fatima that he would have to recite many Rosaries before he would get to Heaven! What evil and harm could such a small child have accomplished in his sheltered, short life back in 1917—when the world was much less corrupt than it is today? How much more applicable should that phrase be today—you will have to recite many Rosaries before you can get to Heaven? Let us recite those Rosaries—not out of routine, not mechanically, not distractedly, not in haste, but with dignity, attention and devotion!

7. Devotion to Our Lady’s Own Prayer—The Magnificat

“To thank God for the graces He has given to Our Lady, those who adopt this devotion will often say the Magnificat, as Blessed Mary d’Oignies did, and many other saints. It is the only prayer, the only work, which the holy Virgin composed, or rather, which Jesus composed in her; for He spoke by her mouth. It is the greatest sacrifice of praise which God ever received from a pure creature in the law of grace. It is, on the one hand, the most humble and grateful, and on the other hand, the most sublime and exalted, of all canticles” (True Devotion to Mary, §255).

“There are in that canticle mysteries so great and hidden that the angels do not know them. The pious and erudite Gerson employed a great part of his life in composing works upon the most difficult subjects; and yet it was only at the close of his career, and even with trembling, that he undertook to comment on the Magnificat, so as to crown all his other works. He wrote a folio volume on it, bringing forward many admirable things about that beautiful and divine canticle” (True Devotion to Mary, §255).

“Among other things, he says that Our Lady often repeated it herself, and especially for thanksgiving after Communion. The learned Benzonius [Rutilio], in explaining the Magnificat, relates many miracles wrought by virtue of it, and says that the devils tremble and fly when they hear these words: ‘He hath showed might in His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.’ (Lk. 1:51)” (True Devotion to Mary, §255).

This wonderful hymn of thanksgiving is an ideal prayer to recite after receiving Holy Communion. And if done so, it almost reproduces the circumstances in which it was first recited by the Blessed Virgin herself. For at the moment of the Visitation, when Our Lady prayed the Magnificat, she was carrying Our Lord within the temple of her womb. Similarly, at Holy Communion, we are carrying Our Lord in the temple of our soul. If, according to the learned Gerson, Our Lady was wont to say it after her own Communions, how much more should we not rush to imitate her in our own Communions. Perhaps we too shall bring about some of the above-mentioned miracles, wrought in virtue of the Magnificat.

8. Performing All Our Actions with Mary

“We must do all our actions with Mary; that is to say, we must in all our actions regard Mary as an accomplished model of every virtue and perfection which the Holy Ghost has formed in a pure creature for us to imitate according to our little measure. We must therefore in every action consider how Mary has done it, or how she would have done it, had she been in our place. For that end we must examine and meditate on the great virtues which she practiced during her life, and particularly, first of all, her lively faith, by which she believed without hesitation the angel’s word, and believed faithfully and constantly up to the foot of the cross; secondly, her profound humility, which made her hide herself, hold her peace, submit to everything, and put herself the last of all; and, thirdly, her altogether divine purity, which never has had, and never can have, its equal under Heaven; and so on with all of her other virtues. Let us remember, I repeat, that Mary is the great and exclusive mold of God, proper to making living images of God at small cost and in a little time; and that a soul which has found that mold, and has lost itself in it, is presently changed into Jesus Christ, Whom that mold represents to the life” (True Devotion to Mary, §260).

9. Performing All Our Actions in Mary

“We must do our actions in Mary. To thoroughly understand this practice, we must first know that our Blessed Lady is the true terrestrial paradise of the New Adam, and that the ancient paradise was but a figure of her. There are, then, in this earthly paradise, riches, beauties, rarities and inexplicable sweetness which Jesus Christ, the New Adam, has left there; it was in this paradise that He took His complacence for nine months, worked His wonders and displayed His riches with the magnificence of a God” (True Devotion to Mary, §261).

“This most holy place is composed only of a virginal and immaculate earth, of which the New Adam was formed, and on which He was nourished, without any spot or stain, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, who dwelt there. It is in this earthly paradise that there is the true tree of life, which has borne Jesus Christ, the Fruit of Life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which has given light unto the world” (True Devotion to Mary, §261).

“There are in this divine place trees planted by the hand of God, and watered by His divine unction, which have borne and daily bear fruits of a divine taste. There are flower beds adorned with beautiful and varied blossoms of virtues diffusing odors which delight the very angels” (True Devotion to Mary, §261).

“There are meadows green with hope, impregnable towers of strength, and the most charming houses of confidence. It is only the Holy Ghost who can make us know the hidden truth of these figures of material things” (True Devotion to Mary, §261).

“There is in this place an air of perfect purity; a fair sun, without shadow, of the Divinity; a fair day, without night, of the Sacred Humanity; a continual burning furnace of love, where all the iron that is cast into it is changed, by excessive heat, to gold” (True Devotion to Mary, §261).

“There is a river of humility which springs from the earth, and which, dividing itself into four branches, waters all that enchanted place; and these are the four cardinal virtues” (True Devotion to Mary, §261).

10. Performing All Our Actions for Mary

“Finally we must do all our actions for Mary. As we have given ourselves up entirely to her service, it is but just to do everything for her as servants and slaves. It is not that we take her for the last end of our services, for that is Jesus Christ alone; but we take her for our proximate end, our mysterious means and our easy way to go to Him. Like good servants and slaves, we must not remain idle, but, supported by her protection, we must undertake and achieve great things for this august sovereign” (True Devotion to Mary, §265).

“We must defend her privileges when they are disputed; we must stand up for her glory when it is attacked; we must draw all the world, if we can, to her service, and to this true and solid devotion; we must speak and cry out against those who abuse her devotion to outrage her Son, and we must at the same time establish this veritable devotion; we must pretend to no recompense for our little services, except the honor of belonging to so sweet a Queen, and the happiness of being united through her to Jesus her Son by an indissoluble tie, in time and in eternity. Glory to Jesus in Mary! Glory to Mary in Jesus! Glory to God alone!” (True Devotion to Mary, §265).

11. Going to Holy Communion with Mary

“Manner of practicing this devotion when we go to Holy Communion:

1. You must humble yourself most profoundly before God.
2. You must renounce your corrupt interior and your dispositions, however good your self-love may make them look.
3. You must renew your consecration by saying: “I am all thine, my dear Mistress, with all that I have.”
4. You must implore that good Mother to lend you her heart, that you may receive her Son there with the same dispositions as her own” (True Devotion to Mary, §266).

“You will explain to her that it touches her Son’s glory to be put into a heart so sullied and so inconstant as yours, which would not fail either to lessen His glory or to destroy it. But if she will come and dwell with you, in order to receive her Son, she can do so by the dominion which she has over all hearts; and her Son will be well received by her, without stain, without danger of being outraged or unnoticed: ‘God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved’ (Ps. 45:6)” (True Devotion to Mary, §266).

“You will tell her confidently that all you have given her of your goods is little enough to honor her; but that by Holy Communion you wish to make her the same present as the Eternal Father gave her, and that you will honor her more by that than if you gave her all the goods in the world and finally, that Jesus, who loves her in a most special manner, still desires to take His pleasure and repose in her, even in your soul, though it be far filthier and poorer than the stable where He did not hesitate to come, simply because she was there. You will ask her for her heart, by these tender words: ‘I take thee for my all. Give me thy heart, O Mary’” (True Devotion to Mary, §266).

“After the Our Father, just before receiving Jesus Christ, you say three times: ‘Lord, I am not worthy.’ Say the first one to the Eternal Father, telling Him you are not worthy, because of your evil thoughts and ingratitude toward so good a Father, to receive His only Son; but that He is to behold Mary His handmaid—‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord’ (Lk. 1:38)—who acts for you and who gives you a singular confidence and hope with His Majesty: ‘For thou singularly hast settled me in hope’” (Ps. 4:10) (True Devotion to Mary, §267).

You will say to the Son: ‘Lord, I am not worthy’; telling Him that you are not worthy to receive Him because of your idle and evil words and your infidelity to His service; but that nevertheless you pray Him to have pity on you, because you are about to bring Him into the house of His own Mother and yours, and that you will not let Him go without His coming to lodge with her: ‘I held Him; and I will not let Him go, till I bring Him into my Mother’s house and into the chamber of her that bore me’ (Cant. 3:4)” (True Devotion to Mary, §268).

“You will pray to Him to rise, and come to the place of His repose and into the ark of His sanctification: ‘Arise, Lord, into Thy resting place: Thou and the ark which Thou hast sanctified.’ (Ps. 131:8). Tell Him you put no confidence at all in your own merits, your own strength and your own preparations, as Esau did; but that you trust only in Mary, your dear Mother, as the little Jacob did in Rebecca. Tell Him that, sinner and Esau that you are, you dare to approach His sanctity, supported and adorned as you are with the virtues of His holy Mother” (True Devotion to Mary, §268).

“You will say to the Holy Ghost: ‘Lord, I am not worthy’; telling Him that you are not worthy to receive this masterpiece of His charity, because of the lukewarmness and iniquity of your actions, and because of your resistance to His inspirations; but that all your confidence is in Mary, His faithful spouse. You will say, with St. Bernard: ‘She is my greatest security; she is the source of all my hope.’ You can even pray Him to come Himself in Mary, His inseparable spouse, telling Him that her bosom is as pure and her heart as burning as ever; and that, without His descent into your soul, neither Jesus nor Mary will be formed nor worthily lodged” (True Devotion to Mary §269).

“After Holy Communion, inwardly recollected and holding your eyes shut, you will introduce Jesus into the heart of Mary. You will give Him to His Mother, who will receive Him lovingly, will place Him honorably, will adore Him profoundly, will love Him perfectly, will embrace Him closely, and will render to Him, in spirit and in truth, many homages which are unknown to us in our thick darkness” (True Devotion to Mary §270).

“Or else you will keep yourself profoundly humbled in your heart, in the presence of Jesus residing in Mary. Or else you will sit like a slave at the gate of the King’s palace, where He is speaking with the Queen; and while they talk to each other without need of you, you will go in spirit to Heaven and over all the earth, praying all creatures to thank, adore and love Jesus and Mary in your place: ‘Come, let us adore’ (Ps. 94:6)” (True Devotion to Mary §271).

“Or else you will yourself ask of Jesus, in union with Mary, the coming of His kingdom on earth, through His holy Mother; or you will sue for divine wisdom, or for divine love, or for the pardon of your sins, or for some other grace; but always by Mary and in Mary; saying, while you look aside at yourself: ‘Lord, look not at my sins’; ‘but let Your eyes look at nothing in me but the virtues and merits of Mary.’ And then, remembering your sins, you will add: ‘It is I who have committed these sins’ (Cf. Mt. 13:28); or you will say: ‘Deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man’ (Ps. 42:1); or else: ‘My Jesus, You must increase in my soul, and I must decrease’ (Jn. 3:30); Mary, you must increase within me, and I must be still less than I have been. ‘O Jesus and Mary, increase in me, and multiply yourselves outside in others also’ (Cf. Gen. 1:22 ff.)” (True Devotion to Mary §272).

“There are an infinity of other thoughts which the Holy Ghost furnishes, and will furnish you, if you are thoroughly interior, mortified and faithful to this grand and sublime devotion which I have been teaching you. But always remember that the more you allow Mary to act in your Communion, the more Jesus will be glorified; and you will allow Mary to act for Jesus and Jesus to act in Mary in the measure that you humble yourself and listen to them in peace and in silence, without troubling yourself about seeing, tasting or feeling; for the just man lives throughout on faith, and particularly in Holy Communion, which is an action of faith: ‘My just man liveth by faith’ (Heb. 10:38)” (True Devotion to Mary §273).

12. Join the Legion of Mary as an Active Member or an Auxiliary Member

The Legion of Mary is a lay organization which is, in effect, an extension of the priest. It is entirely based upon the spirituality of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary and is, therefore, a natural progression or practical consequence of the True Devotion to Mary Consecration. The consecration plants the seed of True Devotion, whereas the Legion of Mary is that same seed grown into a mature “Tree of Life.”

The Active Members of the Legion of Mary form a body of lay men and women, who meet weekly to discuss and report upon their allocated apostolic work, given to them by their parish priest. Work can include working with fallen-away Catholics; potential converts; teaching the Catechism at varying levels; visiting the sick and elderly at home, in hospitals and nursing homes; working with the youth; distributing Catholic literature; spreading the True Devotion to Mary of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort; organizing and running an Our Lady of Fatima Pilgrim Virgin Statue campaign; organizing Rosary Rallies; working in various ways to raise the spiritual fervor of their local parish, etc.

The parish priest, when faced by the multitude of possible apostolates, can do very little with the time he has at his disposal. Hence the need for dedicated co-workers, under his guidance and encouragement, in order to be able to reach more places and more souls.

The Auxiliary Members of the Legion of Mary do not do any active work. On the contrary, they supply the active workers with the graces that they so badly need in order to successfully accomplish their work. Their sole obligation is to recite the Holy Rosary daily, together with a few other short Marian prayers that are contained on a Legion Prayer Sheet called the Tessera.

13. The Saints at the End Times of the World
(taken from True Devotion to Mary)

To Mary, His faithful spouse, God the Holy Ghost has communicated His unspeakable gifts; and He has chosen her to be the dispenser of all He possesses, in such wise that she distributes to whom she wills, as much as she wills, as she wills and when she wills, all His gifts and graces.

God the Father wishes to have children by Mary till the consummation of the world. Just as in the natural and corporal generation of children there are a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there are a Father, who is God, and a Mother, who is Mary. All the true children of God, the predestinate, have God for their Father and Mary for their Mother. He who has not Mary for his Mother has not God for his Father.

God the Son wishes to form Himself, and, so to speak, to incarnate Himself in His members every day, by His dear Mother, and He says to her: “My dear Mother, you shall have for your heritage and possession only the predestinate, prefigured by Israel; and as their Mother, you shall bring them forth and take care of them; and as their sovereign, you shall conduct them, govern them and defend them”.

St. Augustine, surpassing himself, and going beyond all I have yet said, affirms that all the predestinate, in order to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, are in this world hidden in the womb of the most holy Virgin, where they are guarded, nourished, brought up and made to grow by that good Mother until she has brought them forth to glory after death, which is properly the day of their birth, as the Church calls the death of the just.

When Mary has struck her roots in a soul, she produces there marvels of grace, which she alone can produce, because she alone is the fruitful Virgin who never has had, and never will have, her equal in purity and in fruitfulness.

Mary has produced, together with the Holy Ghost, the greatest thing which has been or ever will be–a God Man; and she will consequently produce the greatest saints that there will be in the end of time. The formation and the education of the great saints who shall come at the end of the world are reserved for her. For it is only that singular and miraculous Virgin who can produce, in union with the Holy Ghost, singular and extraordinary things.

When the Holy Ghost, her Spouse, has found Mary in a soul, He flies there. He enters there in His fullness; He communicates Himself to that soul abundantly, and to the full extent to which it makes room for His spouse. Nay, one of the greatest reasons why the Holy Ghost does not now do startling wonders in our souls is because He does not find there a sufficiently great union with His faithful and inseparable spouse.

I have said that this would come to pass, particularly at the end of the world and indeed presently, because the Most High with His holy Mother has to form for Himself great saints who shall surpass most of the other saints in sanctity as much as the cedars of Lebanon outgrow the little shrubs.

These great souls, full of grace and zeal, shall be chosen to match themselves against the enemies of God, who shall rage on all sides; and they shall be singularly devout to our Blessed Lady, illuminated by her light, strengthened with her nourishment, led by her spirit, supported by her arm and sheltered under her protection, so that they shall fight with one hand and build with the other. With the one hand they shall fight, overthrow and crush the heretics with their heresies, the schismatics with their schisms, the idolaters with their idolatries and the sinners with their impieties. With the other hand they shall build (Esdras 4:7) the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, that is to say, the most holy Virgin, called by the Fathers the “Temple of Solomon” and the “City of God.” By their words and their examples they shall draw the whole world to true devotion to Mary. This shall bring upon them many enemies, but shall also bring many victories and much glory for God alone. It is necessary, then, for the greater knowledge and glory of the Most Holy Trinity, that Mary should be more than ever known.

Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might and in grace, in these latter times: in mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive the poor strayed sinners who shall be converted and shall return to the Catholic Church; in might, against the enemies of God, idolaters, schismatics, Mahometans, Jews and souls hardened in impiety, who shall rise in terrible revolt against God to seduce all those who shall oppose them and to make them fall by promises and threats; and finally, she must shine forth in grace, in order to animate and sustain the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, who shall battle for His interests.

And lastly, Mary must be terrible to the devil and his crew, as an army ranged in battle, principally in these latter times, because the devil, knowing that he has but little time, and now less than ever, to destroy souls, will every day redouble his efforts and his combats. He will presently raise up cruel persecutions and will put terrible snares before the faithful servants and true children of Mary, whom it gives him more trouble to conquer than it does to conquer others.

It is principally of these last and cruel persecutions of the devil, which shall go on increasing daily till the reign of Antichrist, that we ought to understand that first and celebrated prediction and curse of God pronounced in the terrestrial paradise against the serpent. It is to our purpose to explain this here for the glory of the most holy Virgin, for the salvation of her children and for the confusion of the devil: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” (Genesis 3:15).

God has never made and formed but one enmity; but it is an irreconcilable one, which shall endure and grow even to the end. It is between Mary, His worthy Mother, and the devil–between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin, and the children and tools of Lucifer. The most terrible of all the enemies which God has set up against the devil is His holy Mother Mary. He has inspired her, even since the days of the earthly paradise–though she existed then only in His idea–with so much hatred against that cursed enemy of God, with so much ingenuity in unveiling the malice of that ancient serpent, with so much power to conquer, to overthrow and to crush that proud, impious rebel, that he fears her not only more than all angels and men, but in a sense more than God Himself. Not that the anger, the hatred and the power of God are not infinitely greater than those of the Blessed Virgin, for the perfections of Mary are limited; but first, because Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little and humble handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the divine power; and secondly, because God has given Mary such great power against the devils that–as they have often been obliged to confess, in spite of themselves, by the mouths of the possessed–they fear one of her sighs for a soul more than the prayers of all the saints, and one of her threats against them more than all other torments.

God has not only set an enmity, but enmities, not simply between Mary and the devil, but between the race of the holy Virgin and the race of the devil; that is to say, God has set enmities, antipathies and secret hatreds between the true children and servants of Mary and the children and slaves of the devil. They have no love for each other. They have no sympathy for each other. The children of Belial, the slaves of Satan, the friends of the world (for it is the same thing) have always up to this time persecuted those who belong to our Blessed Lady, and will in the future persecute them more than ever; just as Cain, of old, persecuted his brother Abel, and Esau his brother Jacob, who are the figures of the reprobate and the predestinate. But the humble Mary will always have the victory over that proud spirit, and so great a victory that she will go so far as to crush his head, where his pride dwells. She will always discover the malice of the serpent. She will always lay bare his infernal plots and dissipate his diabolical councils, and even to the end of time will guard her faithful servants from his cruel claw.

But the power of Mary over all the devils will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snares against her heel: that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom she will raise up to make war against him. They shall be little and poor in the world’s esteem, and abased before all like the heel, trodden underfoot and persecuted as the heel is by the other members of the body. But in return for this they shall be rich in the grace of God, which Mary shall distribute to them abundantly. They shall be great and exalted before God in sanctity, superior to all other creatures by their lively zeal, and so well sustained with God’s assistance that, with the humility of their heel, in union with Mary, they shall crush the head of the devil and cause Jesus Christ to triumph.

In a word, God wishes that His holy Mother should be at present more known, more loved, more honored than she has ever been. This, no doubt, will take place if the predestinate enter, with the grace and light of the Holy Ghost, into the interior and perfect practice which I will disclose to them shortly. Then they will see clearly, as far as faith allows, that beautiful Star of the Sea. They will arrive happily in harbor, following its guidance, in spite of the tempests and the pirates. They will know the grandeurs of that Queen, and will consecrate themselves entirely to her service as subjects and slaves of love. They will experience her sweetness and her maternal goodness, and they will love her tenderly like well beloved children. They will know the mercies of which she is full, and the need they have of her help; and they will have recourse to her in all things, as to their dear advocate and Mediatrix with Jesus Christ. They will know what is the surest, the easiest, the shortest and the most perfect means of going to Jesus Christ; and they will give themselves to Mary, body and soul, without reserve, that they may thus belong entirely to Jesus Christ.

But who shall those servants, slaves and children of Mary be? They shall be the ministers of the Lord who, like a burning fire, shall kindle the fire of divine love everywhere. They shall be “like sharp arrows in the hand of the powerful” Mary to pierce her enemies. (Psalm 126:4). They shall be the sons of Levi, well purified by the fire of great tribulation, and closely adhering to God (I Corinthians 6:17), who shall carry the gold of love in their heart, the incense of prayer in their spirit, and the myrrh of mortification in their body. They shall be everywhere the good odor of Jesus Christ to the poor and to the little, while at the same time, they shall be an odor of death to the great, to the rich and to the proud worldlings.

They shall be clouds thundering and flying through the air at the least breath of the Holy Ghost; who, detaching themselves from everything and troubling themselves about nothing, shall shower forth the rain of the Word of God and of life eternal. They shall thunder against sin; they shall storm against the world; they shall strike the devil and his crew; and they shall pierce through and through, for life or for death, with their two-edged sword of the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), all those to whom they shall be sent on the part of the Most High.

They shall be the true apostles of the latter times, to whom the Lord of Hosts shall give the word and the might to work marvels and to carry off with glory the spoils of His enemies. They shall sleep without gold or silver, and, what is more, without care, in the midst of the other priests, ecclesiastics, and clerics (Psalm 67:14); and yet they shall have the silvered wings of the dove to go, with the pure intention of the glory of God and the salvation of souls, wheresoever the Holy Ghost shall call them. Nor shall they leave behind them, in the places where they have preached, anything but the gold of charity, which is the fulflillment of the whole law. (Romans 13:10).

In a word, we know that they shall be true disciples of Jesus Christ, walking in the footsteps of His poverty, humility, contempt of the world, charity; teaching the narrow way of God in pure truth, according to the Holy Gospel, and not according to the maxims of the world; troubling themselves about nothing; not accepting persons; sparing, fearing and listening to no mortal, however influential he may be. They shall have in their mouths the two-edged sword of the Word of God. They shall carry on their shoulders the bloody standard of the Cross, the Crucifix in their right hand and the Rosary in their left, the sacred Names of Jesus and Mary in their hearts, and the modesty and mortification of Jesus Christ in their own behavior.

These are the great men who are to come; but Mary is the one who, by order of the Most High, shall fashion them for the purpose of extending His empire over that of the impious, the idolaters and the Mahometans. But when and how shall this be? God alone knows. As for us, we have but to hold our tongues, to pray, to sigh and to wait: “With expectation I have waited.” (Psalm 39:2).

14. Those Saints can only be formed by a True Devotion to Mary

All those who are likely to read this book [True Devotion to Mary, or we could also say all those who make the True Devotion to Mary Consecration], love God, and lament that they do not love Him more; all desire something for His glory—the spread of some good work, the success of some devotion, the coming of some good time. One man has been striving for years to overcome a particular fault, and has not succeeded. Another mourns, and almost wonders while he mourns, that so few of his relations and friends have been converted to the Faith. One grieves that he has not devotion enough; another that he has a cross to carry which is a peculiarly impossible cross to him; while a third has domestic troubles and family unhappinesses which feel almost incompatible with his salvation; and for all these things prayer appears to bring so little remedy.

But what is the remedy that is wanted? What is the remedy indicated by God Himself? If we may rely on the disclosures of the saints, it is an immense increase of devotion to our Blessed Lady; but, remember, nothing short of an immense one. Here in England, Mary is not half enough preached. Devotion to her is low and thin and poor. It is frightened out of its wits by the sneers of heresy. It is always invoking human respect and carnal prudence, wishing to make Mary so little of a Mary that Protestants may feel at ease about her. Its ignorance of theology makes it unsubstantial and unworthy. It is not the prominent characteristic of our religion which it ought to be. It has no faith in itself. Hence it is that Jesus is not loved, that heretics are not converted, that the Church is not exalted; that souls which might be saints wither and dwindle; that the Sacraments are not rightly frequented, or souls enthusiastically evangelized.

Jesus is obscured because Mary is kept in the background. Thousands of souls perish because Mary is withheld from them. It is the miserable, unworthy shadow which we call our devotion to the Blessed Virgin that is the cause of all these wants and blights, these evils and omissions and declines. Yet, if we are to believe the revelations of the saints, God is pressing for a greater, a wider, a stronger, quite another devotion to His Blessed Mother. I cannot think of a higher work or a broader vocation for anyone than the simple spreading of this peculiar devotion of the Venerable [Saint Louis] Grignion De Montfort. Let a man but try it for himself, and his surprise at the graces it brings with it, and the transformations it causes in his soul, will soon convince him of its otherwise almost incredible efficacy as a means for the salvation of men, and for the coming of the kingdom of Christ. Oh, if Mary were but known, there would be no coldness to Jesus then! Oh, if Mary were but known, how much more wonderful would be our faith, and how different would our Communions be! Oh, if Mary were but known, how much happier, how much holier, how much less worldly should we be, and how much more should we be living images of our sole Lord and Savior, her dearest and most blessed Son!

Conclusion

These are the many different ways, not obligatory but recommended, by which we can nurture and express our devotion to Our Blessed Lady. At times we may focus more earnestly upon one, then upon another. It is not hard to perform all of them, but let us avoid “performing” them in the thespian sense of the word. Routine can soon creep in and before we know it, we have perhaps slipped into a mere perfunctory devotion, that in no way deserves the adjective true. Our Consecration to Jesus through Mary can be likened to a marriage—and which marriage will not succeed, nor blossom into greater things, if we do not work at it.

Read through these pages from time to time and do your utmost to keep your devotion always growing. Do not plant the seed only to let it die through neglect. Certainly you will experience falls and winters, when growth is slowed down or our tree loses its “plumage.” However, there will always be a spring and a summer, when growth will be accelerated and our devotion will grow hot. Persevering prayer will draw down the rain of grace necessary to avoid the roots of our devotion drying up. Persevere—knowing that this is the quickest, shortest, safest way to Heaven. To Jesus through Mary.

Remember too, that at Fatima, Our Lady said that God wanted the whole world to be devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You can play a great part in the growth of that devotion, by encouraging others to try the True Devotion to Mary for themselves. Keep supplies of this book readily available, give it to others who may have the beginnings of a devotion to Mary. Encourage your parish priest to have a parish Consecration to Mary, with the whole parish making the True Devotion to Mary Consecration.

Finally, join or establish the Legion of Mary in your parishes—for the Legion of Mary is the embodiment or incarnation of the True Devotion in a practical way. It brings the True Devotion to life by the many diverse good works that the Legion does—something that is necessary to our Faith, for, as the saying goes: “Actions speak louder than words,” or as the Apostle St. James so rightly says: “Faith without works is dead.”

Rev. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange writes: “There are those who think that it is sufficient to be saved and that it is not necessary to be a saint. It is clearly not necessary to be a saint who performs miracles and whose sanctity is officially recognized by the Church. To be saved, we must take the way of salvation, which is identical with that of sanctity. There will be only saints in Heaven, whether they enter there immediately after death or after purification in purgatory. No one enters Heaven unless he has that sanctity which consists in perfect purity of soul. Every sin, though it should be venial, must be effaced, and the punishment due to sin must be borne or remitted, in order that a soul may enjoy forever the vision of God, see Him as He sees Himself, and love Him as He loves Himself. Should a soul enter Heaven before the total remission of its sins, it could not remain there and would cast itself into purgatory to be purified.

“To be a saint, neither intellectual culture, nor great exterior activity is needed; it suffices that we live profoundly by God. This truth is evident in the saints of the early Church; several of those saints were poor people, even slaves. It is evident also in St. Francis, St. Benedict Joseph Labre, in the Curé of Ars and many others. They all had a deep understanding of these words of Our Savior: ‘For what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?’ (Mt. 16:26).

"If people sacrifice so many things to save the life of the body, which must ultimately die, what should we not sacrifice to save the life of our soul, which is to last forever? Should not a man love his soul more than his body? ‘Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?’ Our Lord adds (Mt.16:26). ‘One thing is necessary,’ He tells us (Lk.10:42). To save our soul, one thing alone is necessary: to hear the word of God and to live by it.” (The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Rev. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, Introduction).

The word of God is that He wishes the whole world to be devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is by showing forth a true devotion to Mary that we will glorify God and, in the process, sanctify and save our souls. Amen. So be it.

To Jesus through Mary

To the right of this text, you will find the Certificate for the Act of Consecration, that you can sign and frame if you so wish.

To the right of this text, you will find the recommended order of ceremony for the Day of Consecration and Guidelines on how to live the Consecration now that you have made it.

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THE FOURTH OF FOUR PERIODS
7 DAYS SPENT ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS

THE SAINTS SPEAK OF OUR NEED FOR MARY

► "The saints have said admirable things of this holy city of God; and we must cry out with the saints: "De Maria numquam satis"--"Of Mary there is never enough." We have not yet praised, exalted, honored, loved and served Mary as we ought. She deserves still more praise, still more respect, still more love, and still more service" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary).

► "God wishes that His holy Mother should be at present more known, more loved, more honored than she has ever been" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary).

► "When Mary has struck her roots in a soul, she produces there marvels of grace, which she alone can produce. Mary has produced, together with the Holy Ghost, the greatest thing which has been or ever will be—a God Man; and she will consequently produce the greatest saints that there will be in the end of time. The formation and the education of the great saints who shall come at the end of the world are reserved for her" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary).

► "Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might and in grace, in these latter times: in mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive the poor strayed sinners who shall be converted and shall return to the Catholic Church"   (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary).

► "The humble Mary will always have the victory over that proud spirit, and so great a victory that she will go so far as to crush his head, where his pride dwells. She will always discover the malice of the serpent. She will always lay bare his infernal plots and dissipate his diabolical councils, and even to the end of time will guard her faithful servants from his cruel claw" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary).

► St. Albert the Great (a Doctor of the Church), says: "They who are not thy servants, O Mary, shall perish."

► St. Bonaventure (a Doctor of the Church) repeats the same thought when he says: "They who neglect the service of Mary shall die in their sins." And again: "For them, from whom Mary turns away her face, there is not even a hope of salvation."

If a lack of devotion to her is a mark of eternal reprobation a constant love for her must be a sign of eternal salvation. Many spiritual writers state that devotion to Mary is a sign of predestination.

► St. Ignatius of Antioch (a Father of the Church), a martyr of the second century, writes: "A sinner can be saved only through the Holy Virgin who, by her merciful prayers, obtains salvation for so many who, according to strict justice, would be lost."

► St. Alphonsus Liguori (a Doctor of the Church) says: "It is impossible that a servant of Mary be damned, provided he serves her faithfully and commends himself to her maternal protection."

► St. Anselm (a Doctor of the Church) writes: "He who turns to thee and is regarded by thee cannot be lost."

► St. Antonine is of the same opinion. He says: "As it is impossible for them from whom Mary turns away her eyes of mercy to be saved, so it is necessary that they to whom she turns her eyes of mercy and for whom she intercedes to be saved and glorified."

The Journey to Bethlehem

At six o’clock on a cold, wet, mid-winter morning, the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph set out from Nazareth on their journey to Bethlehem. The first evening they found themselves in a windy, uninhabited valley. After a long day on the rough road, the Blessed Virgin, who was suffering keenly from the cold, told St. Joseph that they would have to stop there for the night. So he pitched their little tent under a great old turpentine tree near a fountain. God miraculously warmed Mary and she placed her hands in her husband’s to share the warmth with him. Then they took some supper. Poor St. Joseph, who always wanted to be kind to Mary, suffered much to see her in pain while there was little he could do. He tried to cheer her by describing enthusiastically the excellent lodging they were sure to have in Bethlehem.

The next morning at half past five they went on. By noon the donkey became tired, so Mary dismounted and continued on foot. Soon they arrived at a farm and rested a while. After another hour’s climb through the hills, they came to a fine-looking inn comprising several buildings with gardens. Here they were received by the owner’s wife, and remained all the next day, as it was the Sabbath. Some women with their children came to visit Marv and were deeply impressed by her wisdom and reserve. They were also very touched when they watched her instruct their children in religion. She explained it to the little ones so lovingly that they could not take their eyes away from her face. St. Joseph spent the afternoon walking through the gardens with his host, whom he greatly edified by his simple piety.

The following day they traveled over twelve miles and spent the night with some hospitable shepherds. On this trip they avoided the great, crowded caravan roads as much as possible, and also they detoured around the city of Jerusalem to the east, though this took them much longer.

The next night, in a cold rain, they came to an isolated house. St. Joseph knocked on the door and asked for shelter. Without opening, the heartless man within shouted that he was not running an inn and they should leave him alone! They went on until they found a shed, where Joseph prepared a resting place for Mary. Then he fed the donkey, and after a light supper and players they took a few hours’ sleep.

The last night they spent in a large farmhouse, though the owner’s wife, who was young and conceited, treated them coldly because she was jealous of Mary’s beauty (thirty years later Our Lord found her all bent over and blind, and after reproaching her for her vanity and heartlessness He healed her). Here St. Joseph was warned that Bethlehem was very crowded, but he replied that he had friends there and was quite sure of being well received.

Toward the end of the trip they made many stops, as Mary found traveling more and more trying. They arrived at Bethlehem about four in the afternoon and made their way through the crowds to a large building where public officials were taking the census and levying taxes. St. Joseph went into a big room, where he was asked his name and occupation. He replied that he owned no property, but lived from his manual labor.

Later, as the sun was sinking, they began to look for a lodging. While Mary waited at the end of a street, Joseph went down it from house to house, knocking at the doors of his relatives and acquaintances, but he was admitted nowhere and in many places he met with harsh refusals and insults. Each time he came back to Mary, he was more and more upset. She knew that the hearts and houses of men were to be closed to them. And although to expose her condition at her young age to the public gaze was more painful to her modesty than their failure to find a lodging, still she meekly followed her husband through the crowds.

At one end of the village they found a big tree, and under the shelter of its spreading branches Mary waited and rested for a long time, first standing and then sitting with her legs crossed under her. Many people passed by and stared at her as she sat there so patiently and humbly in her long, white dress and veil, with her hands folded on her breast and her head lowered.

Finally, about nine o’clock, St. Joseph came back, utterly overcome, crying and trembling with heartbreaking sorrow. Mary consoled him tenderly. Then he told her of a shepherds’ shelter outside the town. And she said: “That will be perfectly satisfactory to me. Let us lovingly embrace poverty, dear Joseph, and go gladly wherever the Lord guides us.”

Upon entering the bare grotto which the shepherds used as a stable, they both knelt and thanked the Lord, and Mary was filled with joy at being at last in this holy place. She immediately set about cleaning the cave with her own hands, out of humility and reverence. St. Joseph hastened to do likewise, and the angels helped them. Next he started a fire, as it was very cold, and they ate a frugal supper, their souls overflowing with happiness at the thought of the impending Incarnation.

The Nativity

After reciting some prayers together with Mary, St. Joseph filled the manger with straw and moss and placed a cloth over it. Then he withdrew to the entrance of the cave. Looking back, he saw the holy Mother of God praying on her knees, surrounded by flames of dazzling supernatural light. Filled with reverent fear, he threw himself down on the ground and was soon rapt in an ecstatic sleep.

Mary was kneeling, with her eyes raised to Heaven and her hands joined on her breast. Her countenance emitted rays of light, like the sun incarnadined, and shone in indescribable earnestness and majesty, all inflamed with burning love of God. Her body became so spiritualized with the beauty of Heaven, that she seemed no more a human and earthly creature.

Toward midnight a channel of brilliant light came down from the highest Heaven and terminated in sparkling fire at the Blessed Virgin. In it was an extraordinary movement of celestial glories which took on the forms of choirs of angels. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, the infant God was born, glorious and transfigured as on Mount Thabor.

There the God-Man lay, naked, utterly clean and pure. And from Him radiated such marvelous light and splendor that the sun could not be compared to it. The angels could be heard gently singing canticles of wonderful sweetness.

When the holy Mother of God perceived that she had been delivered—for her child came forth without any pain or injury to her—she immediately bowed her head, placed a cloth over His tiny body, and adored Him with the greatest respect and reverence, saying: “Welcome, my God, and my Lord, and my Son!”

Then the divine Child suspended the effects of His transfiguration and assumed the appearance of one capable of suffering. The Babe now moved, shivered with cold, and stretching forth His little arms, cried out. Bending down, Mary tenderly clasped Him to her heart and, with great joy, warmed Him against her cheek and breast, while thousands of angels knelt and adored their incarnate Creator.

Nearly an hour after the birth, Mary called St. Joseph. Awakening and coming near, he perceived his Saviour in her arms and at once prostrated himself on the ground with the deepest devotion and humility. Only at her bidding did he rise. And with touching joy and gratitude he kissed the Babes feet, and held the little Jesus in his arms, pressing Him to his heart, while tears of happiness moistened his checks.

Then, sitting on the ground, Mary laid her Son in her lap, and while St. Joseph handed her the linens, she began carefully and lovingly to wrap the divine Child in swaddling clothes, drawing them tight on His small body. Next she and Joseph gently placed the Infant in the manger. At this point an ox from the neighboring fields entered the cave with the ass. They both approached the crib, knelt down before it, and breathed over it, as if to warm the Baby.

Mary and Joseph were so affected by this act that they could not restrain their tears. For a long time they remained on their knees beside the crib, adoring the Christ Child and praising and thanking God. Later St. Joseph took some blankets and made a resting place for Mary beside the manger.

The Adoration of the Magi

The Mother of God knew by supernatural enlightenment that on the night of the Nativity an angel had been sent to announce the birth of the Saviour of mankind to the three Magi Kings of the East, and she also knew that they would soon come to adore the Infant Jesus in the stable, for which she had a real affection. Joseph and Mary therefore set about preparing the grotto for the visit of the Kings, and during the following days the Blessed Virgin saw in visions the Magi traveling together across the deserts east of the Holy Land.

The three Kings, whose names (according to tradition) were Gaspar, Balthasar and Melchior, ruled over what is now Iraq and Iran. All three were unusually just and honorable men who were also great scholars and students of religion. Through their knowledge of the Old Testament prophecies and of certain traditions of their own peoples, they believed in the coming of the Savior of mankind. They earned the privilege of being told by the angels in a dream that the long-awaited King of the Jews had just been born, that He was the Promised Redeemer, and that they were chosen by the Lord to seek Him and to honor Him.

Though each one received this revelation separately, each was made aware that it had also been given to the other two. Then they decided to leave immediately for the Land of Israel, in order to adore the divine Child. Without delay they prepared gifts and procured the necessary camels, provisions and servants for their journey. As each King set out that evening, he suddenly perceived a beautiful mystic star.

The star then guided the three Magi in such a way that within a few days they came together. They now pursued their trip together, always under the guidance of the star, which they could see as clearly during the day as at night. Each King was accompanied by four or five relatives and friends and a large number of servants, all riding on camels, dromedaries or horses, and consequently the caravan consisted of about two hundred persons. The journey across the deserts, mountains, and rivers of Chaldea and Syria took nearly a month, despite the fact that the camels and horses were unusually fleet-footed.

At last, after crossing the River Jordan, they arrived before the walls of Jerusalem, which, because it was the capital of Israel, they thought was the logical birthplace of the new King of the Jews. However, they were already disturbed by the fact that, contrary to their expectations, they had observed no signs of rejoicing among the people over the birth of the Messias. Also as they approached the great city, the star almost faded from their sight.

At the city gate they questioned some of the guards, saying: “Where is the newly born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” But to their astonishment, the guards and other Jews indicated that they knew nothing about the birth of a new King of Israel. Then at the request of the Magi, messengers were sent to arrange an interview with King Herod in his palace. And while they were waiting, the three Wise Men became very discouraged. Herod agreed to see the Kings the following morning.

Herod was so deeply troubled that he could not sleep, and during the night he summoned the high priests and doctors of the Law to meet with him. And he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. Unrolling their scriptures and pointing to a passage in the Book of Micheas, they said to him: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written through the prophet.”

Becoming still more disturbed and fearful for his throne, Herod thereupon resolved to have the Infant King secretly put to death. Realizing how unpopular he was among the people, Herod decided to keep the whole matter quiet. He therefore received the Magi, in secret and proceeded to question the Wise Men closely concerning the time when the star had first appeared to them and concerning all that they knew about the Infant King. After finding out the details of what they knew about the prophecy referring to Bethlehem, Herod hypocritically pretended that he too wished to adore the Infant King, and he said to the Magi: “Go and make careful inquiry concerning the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may go and worship Him.”

Leaving Herod, the Magi set out with their caravan for Bethlehem. Soon after they had passed out of the city gate, they again perceived the star. When they arrived in the City of David toward evening, the star disappeared again, and they felt somewhat anxious. They were directed to the Valley of the Shepherds as a suitable place for the caravan to camp overnight.

After their servants had put up a large tent and had begun to unpack provisions, the three Kings suddenly perceived the star shining with extraordinary brightness over a nearby hill. Then a beam of fiery light descended from the star onto the grotto, and in this ray the Magi saw a vision of the holy Child.

They walked over to the hill and found the entrance to the stable. Gaspar pushed the door open and caught sight of the humble Mother of God sitting with the Infant Jesus at the far end of the cave, which was filled with a heavenly light. Both Mother and Child were just as the Kings had seen them in the vision a month before. St. Joseph and an old shepherd now came out of the grotto, and the Magi told him very simply and modestly that they had come to worship the newborn King of the Jews and to offer Him their gifts, whereupon Joseph welcomed them with touching friendliness and cordiality. Then, accompanied by the shepherd, they returned to their tent and after having assembled their gifts, they set out for the grotto.

After taking off their sandals and turbans, the three Kings entered the grotto. At their first sight of the Mother and Child, they were overwhelmed with reverence and admiration, and their pure hearts overflowed with joyful devotion. The three Magi simultaneously prostrated themselves very humbly on the ground and fervently worshipped the divine Infant. Their hearts became inflamed with a burning mystical devotion for Him. And in a fervent silent prayer they offered to the Christ Child their kingdoms, their peoples, their families, all their possessions, and their own selves. They humbly begged Him to rule over their souls and thoughts and all their actions, to enlighten them and to give happiness, peace and charity to the world. After this period of adoration and prayer, they each presented their gifts. After the Magi had been in the stable for three hours, they withdrew, and their servants were allowed to enter in groups of five and to adore the Child Jesus.

The next day the Magi generously distributed food, clothing and money among the needy families of Bethlehem, and they sent their servants to the grotto with many choice presents, which Mary set aside for charity. The Kings planned to return to Jerusalem the following morning, and so they now went to say farewell to the Holy Family. When they presented some gems of great value to her, Mary respectfully refused them. They also offered to have a comfortable house built for her, but she humbly thanked them without accepting. The three Magi then departed.

That night an angel warned them in a dream to leave at once for the East without passing by Jerusalem. Within less than an hour the caravan had quietly packed up all its equipment, and after a last, touching farewell to St. Joseph, the Magi silently vanished into the night, guided by an angel.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN SAID TO VENERABLE MOTHER MARY OF AGREDA:
“My daughter, great were the gifts which the Kings offered to my most holy Son, but greater still was the affection with which they offered them and the mystery concealed beneath them. I wish you also to offer up similar gifts. For I assure you, my dearest, that there is no more acceptable gift to the Most High than voluntary poverty. There are few in the world who use temporal riches well and offer them to their Lord with the generosity and love of those holy Kings. You too can make such an offering of the things necessary for sustenance, giving a part to the poor. Your ceaseless offer, however, must be love, which is the gold; continual prayer, which is the incense,- and the patient acceptance of labors and true mortifications, which is the myrrh. All that you do for the Lord, you should offer up to Him with ardent affection.”

The Purification

When the fortieth day after the Nativity drew near, the Immaculate Mother of God did not hesitate to subject herself to the general Hebrew law, requiring the purification of mothers and the presentation of first-born sons in the Temple at Jerusalem. For she saw in the soul of her divine Son that He wished to offer Himself as a living victim to the eternal Father in the Temple.

Before leaving Bethlehem, Mary asked her husband for his blessing, and on this special occasion for his permission to make the trip on foot and with bare feet. But St. Joseph replied kindly yet firmly: “May the Son of the eternal Father, whom I hold in my arms, give you His blessing! You may travel to Jerusalem on foot, but not barefooted, because of the weather.”

Prostrating herself on the ground for the last time in the grotto of the Nativity, with all her heart Mary thanked the Infant Jesus for the marvelous blessings which He had given to Joseph and herself and to all mankind in the stable of Bethlehem, and she prayed to God that this holy place might always be revered by Christians.

Then Joseph and Mary set out for Jerusalem, accompanied by a donkey bearing their few belongings and the gifts for the Temple. Some of the good shepherds bade them a sad and touchingly affectionate farewell.

During the five-mile journey, the weather was unusually severe. Cold, sleety winds made the Child Jesus shiver and weep. Toward evening, having traveled slowly with several resting periods, the Holy Family reached the city gate of Jerusalem and found lodging. Then, at Mary’s suggestion, St. Joseph went alone to the Temple and made an anonymous donation of the myrrh, incense and gold, in order to avoid any ostentation of wealth at the ceremony the following day. The holy Mother of God spent the night before the Purification in fervent prayer.

That same night, the holy man Simeon, a very old priest, was at prayer in a tiny cell of the great Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy Ghost, who dwelt in him, had already revealed to him that he was not to die until he had seen the promised Messias. Now while he was praying in ecstasy, an angel appeared to him and told him to observe carefully the first child presented to the priests the next morning, for that child would be the Saviour of the world for whom he longed so much. The angel also informed Simeon that he would die soon afterward. The old man was inflamed with joy. The holy matron Anna was likewise favored with a vision concerning the Purification, and she rejoiced greatly, because she had been one of Mary’s teachers during her stay in the Temple as a girl.

Before dawn the Holy Family left their lodging in Jerusalem and went to the Temple. At the entrance of the Women’s Court, Mary knelt and humbly presented herself to God with His Son in her arms. Simeon, who had been waiting for several hours already, could no longer restrain his impatience. Moved by the Holy Spirit, he went to meet his Lord, and in the hallway he caught sight of both Mother and Child surrounded by a wonderful light. After saying a few words to Mary, with the greatest joy he took the divine Child into his arms and pressed Him to his heart. Then he quietly withdrew into another part of the building, while Mary was led by a woman to the Temple Court.

St. Joseph had given the basket with the two turtledoves to Anna and then passed through another door to the men’s section. In the large ceremonial hall everything was prepared. On the walls many lamps hung in pyramid form. Several priests had placed in front of the altar a long table covered with a white cloth on which rested a cradle like container and two baskets. Simeon came to Mary and led her to the table, where she placed in the cradle the Child Jesus. Then she was led back to the grilled-in women’s section, in which about twenty mothers with their first-born sons were waiting their turn.

Simeon and three other priests, having put on their ceremonial vestments, took their places around the table and prayed over the Babe. Then Anna gave Mary the basket with her offerings of fruit and coins, and Simeon again led her to the table. One of the priests took up the Child, raised Him toward Heaven and turned to Simeon, who placed Him back in the Virgin’s arms and recited over them both some prayers from a rolled manuscript. Then Simeon led Mary back to Anna, who accompanied her to the women’s section.

After these ceremonies were over, Simeon came to Mary and received the Infant Jesus from her hands. Then, raising his eyes to Heaven in an ecstasy of joy, he offered the Child to the eternal Father, glorifying God for having fulfilled the promises, and saying: “Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace: because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people: ‘A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory for Thy people Israel.’ “

St. Joseph had come to join Mary, and he listened with deep respect to the inspired words of the old man. Simeon blessed them both. Then addressing himself to Mary, who was luminous like a heavenly rose, he added: “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

All this was understood by Mary, and she began to feel sorrow, for as in a mirror her spirit was made to see the mysteries included in this prophecy. All these things remained indelibly impressed on her memory.

Mary then humbly kissed the hand of the priest and again asked his blessing, and she did the same to Anna, her former teacher. Then with St. Joseph and her divine Child she returned to her lodging. Not long afterward both Simeon and Anna passed away in peace.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN SAID TO ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN:
“I did not need Purification, like other women, because my Son who was born of me, made me clean. Nevertheless, that the Law and the prophecies might be fulfilled, I chose to live according to the Law. Nor did I live like worldly parents, but humbly conversed with the humble. Nor did I wish to show anything extraordinary in me, but loved whatever was humble. On that day (of the Purification) my pain was increased. For though by divine inspiration I knew that my Son was to suffer, yet this grief pierced my heart more keenly at Simeon’s words. And until I was assumed in body and soul to Heaven, this grief never left my heart, although it was tempered by the consolation of the Spirit of God. Let not, then, this grief leave thy heart, for without tribulation few would reach Heaven.”

AND TO VENERABLE MOTHER MARY OF AGREDA:
“My daughter, the doctrine and example contained in this Mystery will teach thee to strive after the constancy and expansion of thy heart by which thou mayest prepare thyself to accept blessings and adversity, the sweet and the bitter, with equanimity. How persistently the human heart forgets that its Teacher and Master has, first accepted sufferings, and has honored and sanctified them in His own Person. Remember the sorrow that pierced my heart at the prophecies of Simeon, and how I remained in peace and tranquility even though my heart and soul were transfixed by a sword of pain. Seek ever to preserve inward peace. Full of trust in me, whenever tribulation comes over thee fervently exclaim: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?’”

The Flight into Egypt

After the Purification, Mary and Joseph decided to stay in Jerusalem for nine days in order to renew their offering of the Child Jesus and to acknowledge their gratitude for the great blessing which God had given them. Every day therefore, from noon until midnight, they prayed humbly in an obscure corner of the Temple. On the fifth day the Lord, before commanding Joseph to flee with both Child and Mother to Egypt, first informed Mary of what was going to take place. She prudently kept the disturbing news to herself, since she had not been told to reveal it to her husband. St. Joseph noticed that she was troubled, but he thought that it was due to Simeon’s prophecy.

That night, while Joseph was sleeping, an angel in the radiant form of a young man appeared in his room and said to him: “Arise, and take the Child and His Mother, and flee into Egypt, and remain there until I tell thee. For Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him!” Taking Joseph by the hand, the angel raised him up, and vanished. As St. Joseph dressed hurriedly, he was greatly worried for Mary’s sake and for the safety of the Child Jesus. He lit his lamp and after knocking on the door of his wife’s room and informed Mary of what he had been told to do. Mary went to the crib at the foot of the bed, where the Infant Jesus was sleeping, and falling on her knees she awakened Him and took Him in her arms. After St. Joseph had hurriedly packed their few belongings on the donkey that had traveled with them from Nazareth, the Holy Family left Jerusalem shortly before midnight on their long and dangerous trip to Egypt.

As the Holy Family journeyed southward in the direction of Bethlehem, Mary longed to visit and again venerate the holy grotto of the Nativity, but her angels informed her that such a delay would be dangerous. Then, with St. Joseph’s permission, she sent one of the angels to warn St. Elizabeth to hide with her son John in the desert around the town of Hebron, where they were then living.

The Holy Family spent their first night in a cave in the hills south of Bethlehem, off the regular caravan route. They were thirsty and exhausted, and Mary was so sorry for her Child that she wept. Late the next day, as they were crossing the desert near Hebron, they ran out of water, and both Mary and Joseph suffered keenly from thirst. God’s providence saw to it that some water was found.

The Holy Family then set out on the long and difficult journey across the great desert between Palestine and Egypt. During the first night in the desert the Holy Family rested at the foot of a small sand dune. St. Joseph made a sort of tent with his cloak and some sticks in order to protect the Mother and Child from the wind, and he slept near them on the ground, resting his head on the sack that contained their belongings. Mary now perceived that Jesus was offering up to His Father all their hardships, and she did likewise, praying with Him and with her angels most of the night.

Within a few days the poor travelers had exhausted all their small provisions of fruit and bread and water, although they tried to make their supply last longer by not eating several times until nine o’clock at night. And while they were thus suffering from hunger and thirst and fatigue.

During the long journey, while Mary walked or rode on the donkey, always holding her divine Son in her arms, she often thanked Him for having made her His Mother. At other times St. Joseph would talk with Mary, frequently asking her what he could do for her or Jesus. Thus the Holy Family passed the ten days of their flight across the barren desert, consoling and cheering one another in mutual kindness and love.

One evening the Holy Family arrived at the camp of some highway robbers, who were at first inclined to treat them cruelly. But when the leader looked at the Infant Jesus, somehow his hard heart was deeply touched, and he ordered his men not to harm the travelers. He even gave the Holy Family shelter for the night. Due to Mary’s prayers, his mercy and kindness was rewarded by a miraculous cure of his leprous son. That night Mary hardly slept at all. She remained sitting on her bed, praying.

The next morning when the Holy Family left with some new provisions, the robber chief gratefully said goodbye to them and exclaimed with deep emotion: “Remember me, wherever you are!” Thirty-three years later his robber son said to the Man crucified beside him on Calvary: “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom!” And that time, again due to Mary’s prayers, Jesus healed his leprous soul.

Within a few days, although nearing the end of their trip, the Holy Family was once more utterly exhausted and suffering intensely from hunger and thirst. Finally, after ten days of torture on the endless sands of the desert the Holy Family reached the fertile land of Egypt.

OUR LORD SAID TO ST BRIDGET OF SWEDEN:
“By My flight to Egypt I showed the infirmities of My Humanity and fulfilled the prophecies. I gave, too, an example to My disciples that sometimes persecution is to be avoided for the greater future glory of God. That I was not found by My pursuers, the counsel of My Divinity prevailed over the counsel of man, for it is not easy to fight against God.”

THE BLESSED VIRGIN SAID TO VENERABLE MOTHER MARY OF AGREDA:
“I was not alarmed in my exile and prolonged journey. Since I trusted in the Lord, He provided for me in the time of my need. Even when help is somewhat delayed, it will always be at hand at a time when it will do most good. Thus it happened with me and my husband in the time of our destitution and necessity.”

THINK, REFLECT, MAKE SOME RESOLUTIONS
(Meditation, for it to be true meditation, is always about making resolutions,
otherwise it is merely pious spiritual reading or spiritual musing).

Our Lady said that God wishes to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart throughout the whole world.
THEN SEND A LINK FOR THIS TRUE DEVOTION CONSECRATION TO MARY TO OTHERS.
This is not meant for you alone, but for others. Otherwise you are like the man from the Parable of the Talents, who received one talent and buried it in the ground. His master was angry with him and took away what had been given to him. Do not bury the True Devotion to Mary Consecration, but share it!

Saturday, May 30th
DAY 33 of 33
FOURTH PERIOD : THE KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS

SECOND MEDITATION
Characteristics of a True Devotion to Mary
Part 14

(if you cannot manage to make all the meditations, do not worry, make as many as you can)

Taken from St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary & The Secret of Mary

The Interior Elements of this Consecration and its Spirit
I have already said that this devotion consists in performing all our actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary.

It is not enough to give ourselves just once as a slave to Jesus through Mary; nor is it enough to renew that consecration once a month or once a week. That alone would make it just a passing devotion and would not raise the soul to the level of holiness, which it is capable of reaching. It is easy to enroll in a confraternity; easy to undertake the devotion; easy to say every day the few vocal prayers prescribed. The chief difficulty is to enter into its spirit, which requires an interior dependence on Mary and, effectively, becoming her slave and the slave of Jesus through her. I have met many people who, with admirable zeal, have set about practicing exteriorly this holy slavery of Jesus and Mary, but I have met only a few who have caught its interior spirit, and fewer still who have persevered in it.

1. Act with Mary
The essential practice of this devotion is to perform all our actions with Mary. This means that we must take her as the accomplished model for all we have to do. Before undertaking anything, we must forget self and abandon our own views. We must consider ourselves as a mere nothing before God, as being personally incapable of doing anything supernaturally worthwhile, or anything conducive to our salvation. We must have habitual recourse to Our Lady, becoming one with her and adopting her intentions, even though they are unknown to us. Through Mary we must adopt the intentions of Jesus. In other words, we must become an instrument in Mary’s hands for her to act in us and do with us what she pleases, for the greater glory of her Son; and through Jesus for the greater glory of the Father. In this way, we pursue our interior life and make spiritual progress only in dependence on Mary.

2. Act in Mary
We must always act in Mary, that is to say, we must gradually acquire the habit of recollecting ourselves interiorly and so form within us an idea or a spiritual image of Mary. She must become, as it were, an Oratory for the soul, where we offer up our prayers to God, without fear of being ignored. She will be as a Tower of David (Cant. 4:4) for us, where we can seek safety from all our enemies. She will be a burning lamp (Matthew 5:15; Luke 8:16; 11:33), lighting up our inmost soul and inflaming us with love for God. She will be a sacred place of repose, where we can contemplate God in her company. Finally, Mary will be the only means we will use in going to God and she will become our intercessor for everything we need. When we pray, we will pray in Mary. When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, we will place Him in Mary, for Him to take His delight in her. If we do anything at all, it will be in Mary and, in this way, Mary will help us to forget self—everywhere and in all things.

3. Act through Mary
We must never go to our Lord except through Mary, using her intercession and good standing with Him. We must never be without her when praying to Jesus.

4. Act for Mary
We must perform all our actions for Mary, which means that, as slaves of this noble Queen, we will work only for her, promoting her interests and her high renown; and making this the first aim in all our acts, while the glory of God will always be our final end. In everything we must renounce self-love, because more often than not, without our being aware of it, selfishness sets itself up as the end of all we work for. We should often repeat from the depths of our heart: “Dear Mother, it is to please you that I go here or there, that I do this or that, that I suffer this pain or that injury.”

Beware, chosen soul, of thinking that it is more perfect to direct your work and intention straight to Jesus or straight to God. Without Mary, your work and your intention will be of little value. But if you go to God through Mary, your work will become Mary’s work and, consequently, will be most noble and most worthy of God.

Again, beware of doing violence to yourself, endeavoring to experience pleasure in your prayers and good deeds. Pray and act always with something of that pure faith which Mary showed when on earth, and which she will share with you as time goes on. Poor little slave, let your sovereign Queen enjoy the clear sight of God, the raptures, delights, satisfactions and riches of Heaven. Content yourself with a pure faith, which is accompanied by aversions, distractions, weariness and dryness. Let your prayer be: “To whatever Mary my Queen does in Heaven, I say Amen, so be it.” We cannot do better than this for the time being.

Should you not savor immediately the sweet presence of the Blessed Virgin within you, take great care not to torment yourself. For this is a grace not given to everyone and, even when God in His great mercy favors a soul with this grace, it remains, none the less, very easy to lose it, except when the soul has become permanently aware of it through the habit of recollection. But should this misfortune happen to you, go back calmly to your sovereign Queen and make amends to her.

The Effects that this Devotion Produces in a Faithful Soul
Experience will teach you much more about this devotion than I can tell you, but, if you remain faithful to the little I have taught you, you will acquire a great richness of grace that will surprise you and fill you with delight.

Let us set to work, then, dear soul, through perseverance in the living of this devotion, in order that Mary’s soul may glorify the Lord in us and her spirit be within us to rejoice in God her Savior. Let us not think that there was more glory and happiness in dwelling in Abraham’s bosom—which is another name for Paradise (Luke 16:22-23)—than in dwelling in the bosom of Mary where God has set up His throne. (Abbot Guerric).

This devotion faithfully practiced produces countless happy effects in the soul. The most important of them is that it establishes, even here on earth, Mary’s life in the soul, so that it is no longer the soul that lives, but Mary who lives in it. In a manner of speaking, Mary’s soul becomes identified with the soul of her servant. Indeed when by an unspeakable, but real grace Mary most holy becomes Queen of a soul, she works untold wonders in it. She is a great wonder-worker especially in the interior of souls. She works there in secret, unsuspected by the soul (Galatians 2:20) as knowledge of it might destroy the beauty of her work.

As Mary is everywhere the fruitful Virgin, she produces in the depths of the soul, where she dwells, a purity of heart and body, a singleness of intention and purpose and a fruitfulness in good works. Do not think, dear soul, that Mary, the most fruitful of all God’s creatures, who went as far as to give birth to a God-man, remains idle in a docile soul. She causes Jesus to live continuously in that soul and that soul to live in continuous union with Jesus. If Jesus is equally the fruit of Mary for each individual soul, as for all souls in general, He is even more especially her fruit and her masterpiece in the soul where she is present.

To sum up, Mary becomes all things for the soul that wishes to serve Jesus Christ. She enlightens his mind with her pure faith. She deepens his heart with her humility. She enlarges and inflames his heart with her charity, makes it pure with her purity, makes it noble and great through her motherly care. But why dwell any longer on this? Experience alone will teach us the wonders wrought by Mary in the soul, wonders so great that the wise and the proud, and even a great number of devout people find it hard to credit them.

As it was through Mary, that God came into the world the first time, in a state of self-abasement and privation, may we not say that it will be again through Mary that He will come the second time? For does not the whole Church expect Him to come and reign over all the earth and to judge the living and the dead? No one knows how and when this will come to pass, but we do know that God, Whose thoughts are further from ours than Heaven is from earth (Isaias 55:8-9), will come at a time and in a manner least expected, even by the most scholarly of men and those most versed in Holy Scripture, which gives no clear guidance on this subject.

We are given reason to believe that, towards the end of time and perhaps sooner than we expect, God will raise up great men, filled with the Holy Ghost and imbued with the spirit of Mary. Through them Mary, Queen most powerful, will work great wonders in the world, destroying sin and setting up the kingdom of Jesus her Son upon the ruins of the corrupt kingdom of the world. These holy men will accomplish this by means of the devotion of which I only trace the main outlines and which suffers from my incompetence.

Saturday, May 30th
DAY 33 of 33
FOURTH PERIOD : THE KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS

THIRD MEDITATION
Finding Our Lord in the Holy Rosary
(Part 2)

(if you cannot manage to make all the meditations, do not worry, make as many as you can)

Taken from The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis-Marie de Montfort

The Rosary is a Memorial of the Life and Death of Jesus

Jesus Christ, the divine spouse of our souls and our very dear friend, wishes us to remember His goodness to us and to prize His gifts above all else. Whenever we meditate devoutly and lovingly upon the sacred mysteries of the Rosary, He receives an added joy, as also do Our Lady and all the saints in Heaven. His gifts are the most outstanding results of His love for us and the richest presents He could possibly give us, and it is by virtue of such presents that the Blessed Virgin herself and all the saints are glorified in Heaven.

One day Blessed Angela of Foligno begged our Lord to let her know by which religious exercise she could honor him best. He appeared to her nailed to His cross and said, “My daughter, look at My wounds.” She then realized that nothing pleases our dear Lord more than meditating upon His sufferings. Then He showed her the wounds on His head and revealed still other sufferings and said to her, “I have suffered all this for your salvation. What can you ever do to return My love for you?”

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass gives infinite honor to the most Blessed Trinity, because it re-presents the passion of Jesus Christ and because, through the Mass, we offer to God the merits of Our Lord’s obedience, of His sufferings, and of His Precious Blood. All the heavenly court also receive an added joy from the Mass. Several doctors of the Church, including St. Thomas, tell us that, for the same reason, all the blessed in Heaven rejoice in the communion of the faithful, because the Blessed Sacrament is a memorial of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, and that, by means of it, men share in its fruits and work out their salvation.

Now the Holy Rosary, recited with the meditation on the sacred mysteries, is a sacrifice of praise to God for the great gift of our redemption and a holy reminder of the sufferings, death and glory of Jesus Christ. It is, therefore, true that the Rosary gives glory and added joy to Our Lord, Our Lady and all the blessed, because they cannot desire anything greater, for the sake of our eternal happiness, than to see us engaged in a practice which is so glorious for Our Lord and so salutary for ourselves.

The Gospel teaches us that a sinner who is converted, and who does penance, gives joy to all the angels. If the repentance and conversion of one sinner is enough to make the angels rejoice, how great must be the happiness and jubilation of the whole heavenly court and what glory for Our Blessed Lord Himself to see us here, on earth, meditating devoutly and lovingly on His humiliations and torments and on His cruel and shameful death! Is there anything that could touch our hearts more surely and bring us to sincere repentance?

A Christian who does not meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, is very ungrateful to Our Lord and shows how little he cares for all that our divine Saviour has suffered to save the world. This attitude seems to show that he knows little or nothing of the life of Jesus Christ, and that he has never taken the trouble to find out what He has done and what He went through in order to save us. A Christian of that kind ought to fear that, not having known Jesus Christ, or having put him out of his mind, Jesus will reject him on the day of judgment with the reproach, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.”

Let us meditate, then, on the life and sufferings of our Saviour by means of the holy Rosary; let us learn to know him well and to be grateful for all his blessings, so that, on the day of Judgment, he may number us among his children and his friends.

FINDING OUR LORD IN THE HOLY ROSARY (Part 4)
Taken from The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis-Marie de Montfort

Meditation on the Mysteries of the Rosary is a Great Means of Perfection

The saints made Our Lord’s life the principal object of their study; they meditated on His virtues and His sufferings, and in this way arrived at Christian perfection.

Saint Bernard began with this meditation and he always kept it up. “At the very beginning of my conversion,” he said, “I made a bouquet of myrrh fashioned from the sorrows of my Saviour. I placed this bouquet upon my heart, thinking of the lashes, the thorns and the nails of His Passion. I applied my whole mind to the meditation on these mysteries every day.”

This was also the practice of the holy martyrs; we admire how they triumphed over the most cruel sufferings. Where could this admirable constancy of the martyrs come from, says Saint Bernard, if not from the wounds of Jesus Christ, on which they meditated so frequently? Where was the soul, of these generous athletes, when their blood gushed forth and their bodies were wracked with cruel torments? Their soul was in the wounds of Christ and those wounds made them invincible.”

During her whole life, our Saviour’s holy Mother was occupied in meditating on the virtues and the sufferings of her Son. When she heard the angels sing their hymn of joy at His birth and saw the shepherds adore Him in the stable, her heart was filled with wonder and she meditated on all these marvels. She compared the greatness of the Word Incarnate to the way He humbled himself in this lowly fashion; the straw of the crib, to His throne in the Heart of His Father; the might of God, to the weakness of a child; His wisdom, to His simplicity.

Our Lady said to Saint Bridget one day, “Whenever I used to contemplate the beauty, modesty, and wisdom of my Son, my heart was filled with joy; and whenever I considered His hands and feet which would be pierced with cruel nails, I wept bitterly and my heart was rent with sorrow and pain.”

After Our Lord’s Ascension, Our Blessed Lady spent the rest of her life visiting the places that had been hallowed by His presence and by His sufferings. There, she meditated on His boundless love and on His terrible Passion.

Saint Mary Magdalene continually performed the same religious exercises during the last thirty years of her life, when she lived at Sainte‑Baume, in France.

Saint Jerome tells us that this was the devotion of the faithful in the early centuries of the Church. From all the countries of the world they came to the Holy Land, to engrave more deeply on their hearts a great love and remembrance of the Saviour of mankind by seeing the places and things He had made holy by His birth, His work, His sufferings, and His death.

All Christians have but one faith and adore one and the same God, and hope for the same happiness in Heaven; they know only one mediator, who is Jesus Christ; all must imitate their Divine Model, and, in order to do this, they must meditate on the mysteries of His life, of His virtues and of His glory.

It is a great mistake to think that only priests and religious, and those who have withdrawn from the turmoil of the world, are supposed to meditate upon the truths of our faith and the mysteries of the life of Christ. If priests and religious have an obligation to meditate on the great truths of our holy religion, in order to live up to their vocation worthily, the same obligation is just as much incumbent on the laity, because of the fact that every day they meet with spiritual dangers which might cause them to lose their souls. Therefore they should arm themselves with the frequent meditation on the life, virtues, and sufferings of Our Blessed Lord, which are presented to us in the fifteen mysteries of the holy Rosary.

The Knowledge of Jesus is the Science of Salvation

The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the science of Christians and the science of salvation; it surpasses, says Saint Paul, all human sciences in value and perfection:

(1) because of the dignity of its object, which is a God‑man, compared to whom the whole universe is but a drop of dew, or a grain of sand;
(2) because of its usefulness to us; human sciences only fill us with the wind and emptiness of pride;
(3) because of its necessity; for no one can be saved without the knowledge of Jesus Christ, while a person who knows absolutely nothing of any other science will be saved as long as he is enlightened by the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the Rosary which gives us this science and knowledge of Our Blessed Lord through our meditations on his life, death, passion and glory.

The Queen of Sheba, lost in admiration at Solomon’s wisdom, cried out, “Blessed are your attendants and your servants who are always in your presence and hear your wisdom.” But happier still are the faithful who carefully meditate on the life, virtues, sufferings and glory of our Savior, because by this means they can gain perfect knowledge of Him, in which eternal life consists.

Our Lady revealed to Blessed Alan de la Roche that, no sooner had Saint Dominic begun preaching the Rosary, than hardened sinners were touched and wept bitterly over their grievous sins. Young children performed unbelievable penances, and everywhere he preached the Rosary such fervor was aroused that sinners changed their lives and edified everyone by their penances and the amendment of their lives.

If, by chance, your conscience is burdened with sin, take your Rosary and say at least a part of it in honor of some of the mysteries of the life, passion, and glory of Jesus Christ, and you can be sure that, while you are meditating on these mysteries and honoring them, He will show His sacred wounds to His Father in Heaven. He will plead for you and obtain for you contrition and the forgiveness of your sins. One day Our Lord said to Blessed Alan de la Roche, “If only these poor wretched sinners would say My Rosary often, they would share in the merits of My Passion, and I would be their Advocate and would appease the justice of God.”

This life is a continual war and a series of temptations; we do not have to contend with enemies of flesh and blood, but with the very powers of Hell. What better weapon could we possibly use to combat them than the prayer which our great Leader has taught us, than the Angelic Salutation (the Hail Mary), which has put the devils to flight, destroyed sin and renewed the world? What better weapon could we use than meditation on the life and Passion of Jesus Christ? For, as Saint Peter tells us, it is with this thought that we must arm ourselves, in order to defend ourselves against the very same enemies whom He has conquered and who molest us every day.

“Ever since the devil was crushed by the humility and the Passion of Jesus Christ,” says Cardinal Hugues, “he has been practically unable to attack a soul that is armed with meditation on the mysteries of Our Lord’s life, and, if he does trouble such a soul, he is sure to be shamefully defeated.” “Put on the armor of God, so as to be able to resist the attacks of the devil.”

So arm yourself with the arms of God, with the Holy Rosary, and you will crush the devil’s head and stand firm in the face of all his temptations. That is why even a pair of blessed Rosary beads is so terrible to the devil, and why the saints have used them to fetter him and drive him from the bodies of those who were possessed. Such happenings have been recorded more than once.

Blessed Alan de la Roche relates that a man he knew, had tried desperately all kinds of devotions to rid himself of the evil spirit which possessed him, but without success. Finally, he thought of wearing his blessed Rosary round his neck, which eased him considerably. He discovered that whenever he took it off the devil tormented him cruelly, so he resolved to wear it night and day. This drove the evil spirit away forever, because he could not bear such a terrible chain. Blessed Alan also testifies that he delivered a great number of those who were possessed by putting a blessed Rosary around their necks.

Father Jean Amât, of the Order of St. Dominic, was giving a series of Lenten sermons in the Kingdom of Aragon one year, when a young girl was brought to him, who was possessed by the devil. After he had exorcised her several times without success, he put his blessed Rosary beads round her neck. Hardly had he done so when the girl began to scream and cry out in a fearful way, shrieking, “Take it off, take it off; these beads are tormenting me.” At last, the priest, filled with pity for the girl, took his Rosary off her.

The very next night, when Fr. Amât was in bed, the same devils who had possession of the girl came to him, foaming with rage and tried to seize him. But he had his blessed Rosary clasped in his hand and no efforts of theirs could wrench it from him. He beat them with it very well indeed and put them to flight, crying out, “Holy Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, come to my help.”

The next day on his way to the church, he met the poor girl, still possessed; one of the devils within her started to jeer at him, saying, “Well, brother, if you had been without your Rosary, we should have made short shrift of you.” Then the good Father threw his blessed Rosary beads round the girl’s neck without more ado, saying, “By the sacred names of Jesus and Mary his holy Mother, and by the power of the Holy Rosary, I command you, evil spirits, to leave the body of this girl at once.” They were immediately forced to obey him, and she was delivered from them.

These stories show the power of the Holy Rosary in overcoming all sorts of temptations from the evil spirits and all sorts of sins, because these blessed beads of the Rosary put devils to rout.

St. Augustine assures us that there is no spiritual exercise more fruitful or more useful than the frequent reflection on the sufferings of Our Lord. St. Albert the Great, who had St. Thomas Aquinas as his student, learned in a revelation. that by simply thinking of or meditating on the Passion of Jesus Christ, a Christian gains more merit than if he had fasted on bread and water every Friday for a year, or had beaten himself with the discipline (scourged himself) once a week till blood flowed, or had recited the whole Book of Psalms every day. If this is so, then how great must be the merit we can gain from the Rosary, which commemorates the whole Life and Passion of Our Lord?

Our Lady one day revealed to Blessed Alan de la Roche that, after the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the first and most living memorial of Our Lord’s Passion, there was indeed no more excellent devotion or one of greater merit than that of the Rosary, which is like a second memorial and representation of the life and Passion of Jesus Christ.

Saturday, May 30th
DAY 33 of 33
FOURTH PERIOD : THE KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS

FOURTH MEDITATION
Finding Our Lord in the Crosses of Life
The Cross of Christ (Part 7)

(if you cannot manage to make all the meditations, do not worry, make as many as you can)

But mere suffering is not enough. For even the devil and the world have their martyrs. We must suffer and bear our crosses in the footsteps of Jesus. Let him Follow Me: this means that we must bear our crosses as Jesus bore His. To help you do this, I suggest the following (abbreviated) rules:

FOURTEEN RULES TO FOLLOW IN CARRYING ONE’S CROSS

RULE 1: Do not, deliberately and through your own fault, procure crosses for yourself. You must not do evil in order to bring about good. You should never try to bring discredit upon yourself by doing things improperly, unless you have a special inspiration from on high. Strive rather to imitate Jesus Christ, who did all things well (Mark 7:37), not out of self-love or vainglory, but to please God and to win over His fellowmen. Even though you do the best you can in the performance of your duty, you will still have to contend with contradiction, persecution and contempt which Divine Providence will send you against your will and without your choice.

RULE 2: Should your neighbor be scandalized, although without reason, at any action of yours which in itself is neither good nor bad, then, for the sake of charity, refrain from it, to avoid the scandal of the weak. This heroic act of charity will be of much greater worth than the thing you were doing or intended to do.
If, however, you are doing some beneficial or necessary thing for others and were unreasonably disapproved by a hypocrite or prejudiced person, then refer the matter to a prudent adviser, letting him judge of its expedience and necessity. Should his decision be favorable. you have only to continue and let these others talk, provided they take no means to prevent you. Under such circumstances, you have Our Lord’s answer to His disciples when they informed Him that Scribes and Pharisees were scandalized at His words and deeds: “Let them alone; they are blind.” (Matt. 15:14).

RULE 3: Certain holy and distinguished persons have been asking for and seeking, or even, by eccentricities, bringing upon themselves, crosses, disdain and humiliation. Let us simply adore and admire the extraordinary workings of the Holy Spirit in these souls. Let us humble ourselves in the presence of this sublime virtue, without making any attempt to reach such heights, for compared with these racing eagles and roaring lions we are simply fledglings and cubs.

RULE 4: You can nevertheless and even should ask for the wisdom of the Cross, that experimental knowledge of the truth, which, in the light of faith, shows us the deepest mysteries, among others the mystery of the Cross. But this can be had only through hard toil, profound humiliation and fervent prayer. If you need that perfect spirit (Psalm 50:14) which enables us to bear the heaviest crosses with courage that sweet, kindly spirit (Luke 11:13) which enables us to relish in the higher part of the soul things that are bitter and repulsive and which gives the soul that knows how to make good use of it a share in the friendship of God (Wisdom 7,14), ask for this wisdom, ask for it constantly, fervently, without hesitation or fear of not obtaining it. You will certainly obtain it and then see clearly, in the light of your own experience, how it is possible to desire, seek and relish the Cross.

RULE 5: If, inadvertently, you blunder into a cross, or even if you do so through your own fault, then humble yourselves interiorly under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6), but do not worry over it. You might say to yourself: “Lord, there is another trick of my trade.” If the mistake you made was sinful, accept the humiliation you suffer as punishment. But if it was not sinful, then humbly accept it in expiation of your pride. Often, actually very often, God allows His greatest servants, those who are far advanced in grace, to make the most humiliating mistakes. This humbles them in their own eyes and in the eyes of their fellow men. It prevents them from seeing and taking pride in the graces God bestows on them, or, in the good deeds they do, so that, as the Holy Ghost declares: “No flesh should glory in the sight of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29).

RULE 6: Be fully persuaded that through the sin of Adam and through our own actual sins everything within ourselves is vitiated, not only the senses of the body, but even the powers of the soul. So much so that as soon as the mind, thus vitiated, takes delight in poring over some gift received from God, then the gift itself, or the act, or the grace, is tarnished and vitiated and God no longer favors it with His divine regard. Since looks and thoughts of the human mind can spoil man’s best actions and God’s choicest gifts, what about the acts which proceed from man’s own will and which are more corrupt than the acts of the mind? So we need not wonder, when God hides His own within the shadow of His countenance (Psalm 30:21), that they may not be defiled by the regards of their fellow men or by their own self-consciousness. What does not this jealous God allow and do to keep them hidden! How often He humiliates them! Into how many faults He permits them to fall! How often He allows them to be tempted as St. Paul was tempted (2 Corinthians 12:7) ! In what a state of uncertainty, perplexity and darkness he leaves them! How wonderful God is in His saints, and in the means He takes to lead them to humility and holiness!

RULE 7: Be careful not to imitate proud self-centered zealots. Do not think that your crosses are tremendous, that they are tests of your fidelity to God and tokens of God’s extraordinary love for you. This gesture has its source in spiritual pride. It is a snare quite subtle and beguiling but full of venom. Acknowledge that you are so proud and sensitive, that you magnify straws into rafters, scratches into deep wounds, a meaningless word into an outrageous, treasonable insult. Acknowledge that the crosses God sends you are really and truly loving punishments for your sins, and not special marks of God’s benevolence. Admit that He is infinitely lenient when He sends you some cross or humiliation, in comparison with the number and atrocity of your sins. Admit that the patience you put into suffering is more tinged than you think with natural human motives. You have only to note your little self-indulgences, your skillful seeking for sympathy, these confidences you so naturally make to friends, or perhaps to your spiritual director, your quick, clever excuses, the murmurings, or rather the detractions so neatly worded, so charitably spoken against those who have injured you. Why I should never finish if I were to point out all the ways and byways human nature takes, even in its sufferings.

RULE 8: Take advantage of your sufferings and more so of the small ones than of the great. God considers not so much what we suffer as how we suffer. To suffer much, yet badly, is to suffer like reprobates. To suffer much, even bravely, but for a wicked cause, is to suffer as a martyr of the devil. To suffer much or little, for the sake of God, is to suffer like saints. Proud human nature would likely ask and seek for the huge, conspicuous crosses even to the point of preferring them and embracing them. But to choose small, unnoticeable crosses and to carry them cheerfully requires the power of a special grace and unshakable fidelity to God. Do then as the storekeeper does with his merchandise: make a profit on every article; suffer not the loss of the tiniest fragment of the true Cross. It may be only the sting of a fly or the point of a pin that annoys you, it may be the little eccentricities of a neighbor, some unintentional slight, the insignificant loss of a penny, some little restlessness of soul, a slight physical weakness, a light pain in your limbs. Make a profit on every article as the grocer does, and you will soon become wealthy in God, as the grocer does in money, by adding penny to penny in his till.

RULE 9: The love you are told to have for the Cross is not a sensible love, or a love in the feelings, for this would be impossible to human nature. It is important to note the three kinds of love: sensible love, rational love and love that is faithful and supreme; in other words, the love that springs from the lower part of man, the flesh; the love that springs from the superior part, his reason; and the love that springs from the supreme part of man, from the summit of his soul, which is the intellect enlightened by faith.

God does not ask you to love the Cross with the will of the flesh. It was this aspect of His human nature which Our Lord referred to when He cried out, in the Garden of Olives: “Father, . . . not My will but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:42). If the lower powers of Our Lord’s human nature, though holy, could not love the Cross without interruption, then with still greater reason, will our human nature, which is very much vitiated, repel it.

There is another love for the Cross which I call rational, since it springs from the higher part of man, his reason. This love is wholly spiritual. Since it comes from the knowledge of the happiness there is in suffering for God. Though this rational and perceptible joy is beneficial, even very beneficial, it is not an indispensable part of joyous, divine suffering.

This is why there is another love, which the masters of the spiritual life call the love of the summit and highest point of the soul and which the philosophers call the love of the intellect. When we possess this love, even though we experience no sensible joy, or rational pleasure, we love and relish, in the light of pure faith, the cross we must bear, even though the lower part of our nature may often be in a state of warfare and alarm and may moan and groan and thus we repeat with Jesus Christ: “Father . . . not My will but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42), or with the Blessed Virgin: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38). It is with one of these two higher loves that we should accept and love our cross.

RULE 10: Be resolved then, dear Friends of the Cross, to suffer every kind of cross without excepting or choosing any: all poverty, all injustice, all temporal loss, all illness all humiliation, all contradiction all calumny, all spiritual dryness, all desolation, all interior and exterior trials. Keep saying: “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready” (Psalm 56:8). Be ready to be forsaken by men and angels and, seemingly, by God Himself. Be ready to be persecuted, envied, betrayed, calumniated, discredited and forsaken by everyone. Be ready to undergo hunger, thirst, poverty, nakedness, exile, imprisonment, the gallows and all kinds of torture, even though you are innocent of everything with which you may be charged. Add to these dreadful misfortunes all the temptations with which God allows the devil to prey upon you, without pouring into your soul the least feeling of consolation. Firmly believe that this is the summit of divine glory and real happiness for a true, perfect Friend of the Cross.

RULE 11: For proper suffering, form the pious habit of considering four things:

(1) THE EYE OF GOD: God is like a great king, who from the height of a tower observes with satisfaction his soldier in the midst of the battle and praises his valor. What is it on earth that attracts God’s attention? It is the soul who is fighting for Him against riches, against the world, Hell and himself, the man who is cheerfully carrying his cross.

(2) THE HAND OF GOD: Every disorder in nature, from the greatest to the smallest, is the work of His almighty Hand. The Hand that devastates an army of a hundred thousand (4 Kings 19,35) will make a leaf drop from a tree and a hair fall from your head (Luke 21,18). If anyone is loading you with insults and casting stones at you, say to yourself: “I must not mind, I must not take revenge for this is an ordinance of God. I know that I have deserved every abuse and it is only right that God punish me.” God bears you up with one Hand, of infinite power and wisdom, while with the other He chastises you.

(3) THE WOUNDS & SORROWS OF JESUS: Hear His words: “All ye that pass along the thorny and crucifying way I had to follow, look and see. Look with the eyes of your body; look with the eye of contemplation, and see if your poverty, nakedness, disgrace, sorrow, desolation are like unto Mine. Behold Me, innocent as I am, then will you complain, you who are guilty” (Lam. 1,12). The Holy Ghost tells us, by the mouth of the Apostles, that we should keep our eyes on Jesus crucified (Galatians 3:1). There is the solution to your every problem, the means you have to vanquish all your enemies.

(4) YOUR CROWN: Lift up your eyes, behold the beautiful crown that awaits you in Heaven if you carry your cross as you should. That was the reward which kept patriarchs and prophets strong in faith under persecution. It gave heart to the Apostles and martyrs in their labors and torments.

RULE 12: Never murmur or deliberately complain about any created thing that God may use to afflict you. It is important to note the three kinds of complaints that may arise when misfortune assails you. The first is natural and involuntary. This happens when the human body moans and groans, sobs and sighs and weeps. If, as I said, the higher point of the soul submits to the will of God, there is no sin. The second is rational. Such is the case when we complain and disclose our hardship to some superior, or physician who is able to remedy it. This complaint may be an imperfection, if too eagerly made, but it is no sin. The third is sinful. This happens when a person complains of others, either to rid himself of the suffering they cause him, or to take revenge. Or else when he willfully complains about the sorrow he must bear and shows signs of grief and impatience.

RULE 13: Whenever you are given a cross, be sure to embrace it with humility and gratitude. If God, in His infinite goodness, favors you with a cross of some importance, be sure to thank him in a special way and have others join you in thanking him. Do as that poor woman did who, through an unjust lawsuit, lost everything she owned. She immediately offered the last few pennies she had, to have a Mass said in thanksgiving to Almighty God for the good fortune that had come to her.

RULE 14: If you wish to be worthy of the best crosses, those that are not of your choice, then, with the help of a prudent director, take on some that are voluntary. If you are truly Friends of the Cross, then, without your knowing it, love, which is always ingenious, will discover thousands of little crosses to enrich you. Then you need not fear self-conceit which often accompanies the patient endurance of conspicuous crosses and since you have been faithful in a few things, the Lord will keep His promise and set you over many things (Matthew 25:21-23): over many graces He will grant you; over many crosses He will send you; over much glory He will prepare for you.