PRAYERS TO OUR LADY

DAY 27 OF 33 TOTAL CONSECRATION

Begin With The Following Prayers:

Come Holy Ghost...

The Holy Rosary...

The Magnificat...

Theme for the Week: Knowledge Of Jesus Christ

During this period we shall apply ourselves to the study of Jesus Christ. What is to be studied in Christ? First the God-Man, His grace and glory; then His rights to sovereign dominion over us; since, after having renounced Satan and the world, we have taken Jesus Christ for our Lord. What next shall be the object of our study? His exterior actions and also His interior life; namely, the virtues and acts of His Sacred Heart; His association with Mary in the mysteries of the Annunciation and Incarnation, during His infancy and hidden life, at the feast of Cana and on Calvary.

From True Devotion To the Blessed Virgin Mary, Nos. 61-62

61. Jesus, our Saviour, true God and true man must be the ultimate end of all our other devotions; otherwise they would be false and misleading. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of everything. "We labour," says St. Paul, "only to make all men perfect in Jesus Christ." For in him alone dwells the entire fullness of the divinity and the complete fullness of grace, virtue and perfection. In him alone we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing; he is the only teacher from whom we must learn; the only Lord on whom we should depend; the only Head to whom we should be united and the only model that we should imitate. He is the only Physician that can heal us; the only Shepherd that can feed us; the only Way that can lead us; the only Truth that we can believe; the only Life that can animate us. He alone is everything to us and he alone can satisfy all our desires. We are given no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. God has laid no other foundation for our salvation, perfection and glory than Jesus. Every edifice which is not built on that firm rock, is founded upon shifting sands and will certainly fall sooner or later. Through him, with him and in him, we can do all things and render all honour and glory to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit; we can make ourselves perfect and be for our neighbour a fragrance of eternal life.

62. If then we are establishing sound devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only in order to establish devotion to our Lord more perfectly, by providing a smooth but certain way of reaching Jesus Christ. If devotion to our Lady distracted us from our Lord, we would have to reject it as an illusion of the devil. But this is far from being the case. As I have already shown and will show again later on, this devotion is necessary, simply and solely because it is a way of reaching Jesus perfectly, loving him tenderly, and serving him faithfully.

Mary Is a Compassionate Advocate
for Even the Most Miserable

WE have so many reasons for loving this truly lovable Queen that, if Mary were praised all over the world, if all preachers spoke about her alone, and if all human beings laid down their lives for her, it would be little compared with the honor and thanks we owe her for the tender love she feels for all, even for the most desperate sinners who happen to have the slightest spark of devotion to her. She is the singular Refuge of the abandoned, the Hope of the miserable, and the Advocate of every sinner who turns to her.

"It is the great prerogative of Mary to be all-powerful with her Son. But what good would such a prerogative be, as far as we are concerned, if she did not bother about us? No, let us have no misgivings about it; and let us thank our Lord and His Blessed Mother. As she is far more powerful than all the Saints, to the same degree she is more tender and solicitous for our happiness."

But suppose sinners have no doubts about her power, yet do wonder about her compassion, because they fear she will be reluctant to help any whose sins are as great as theirs. They ought to take heart from what St. Bonaventure says: Mary takes care of all, even of sinners. In fact, she glories especially in being called the " Advocate of sinners," as she once declared to the Venerable Sister Mary Villani: " After the title of Mother of God, I glory most in being called the Advocate of sinners." We would be in a very bad way indeed, sinners as we are, if we did not have this great Advocate, who is so powerful and merciful, so prudent and wise, that the Judge, her Son, cannot condemn the guilty when she defends them. Then all hail, O Court for settling every case!

St. Bonaventure calls Mary " Abigail the Wise." Abigail is the woman we read about in the Second Book of Samuel who knew so well how to appease King David with her beautiful prayers when he was angry with Nabal. She was so successful that David blessed and thanked her for using her gentle persuasion to prevent him from taking personal revenge on Nabal. This is exactly what Mary is always doing in Heaven for countless sinners. She knows so well how to placate the justice of God with her tender and compelling prayers, that God Himself blesses her for it and thanks her for stopping Him, when He might well abandon sinners and punish them as they deserve.

"So," says St. Bernard, "our Heavenly Father, Who wants to show us all possible mercy, gives us Jesus Christ as our principal Advocate, and then gives us Mary as our Advocate with Jesus. "It is true, of course, that Jesus Christ is the only Mediator of justice between human beings and God, and that, by virtue of His own merits, He can obtain for us and wants to obtain, pardon and grace as He promised. But in Christ human beings cannot help recognizing and fearing the Divine Majesty, which belongs to Him as God. "So it was necessary to appoint another Advocate, to whom we can have recourse with less fear and with greater confidence. And this second Advocate is Mary . "We can find no one with more compelling influence over His Divine Majesty, or with more mercy for us. . . We would insult Mary's mercy if we feared to approach this sweetest of Advocates, who has nothing severe or frightening about her, but is all gentle, all lovable, all benign.

"Read as often as you like all that is said of her in the Gospels, and if you can find the least instance of severity recorded there, then you may fear to approach her . But you will never find such an instance. Then go to her cheerfully, and she will save you by her intercession."

Reflection: Uniformity with God's Will

Liguori, St. Alphonsus de (1696-1787)

God wills our Good.

O the supreme folly of those who resist the divine will! In God's

providence, no one can escape hardship: "Who resisteth his will [46] ?"

A person who rails at God in adversity, suffers without merit; moreover

by his lack of resignation he adds to his punishment in the next life

and experiences greater disquietude of mind in this life: "Who

resisteth him and hath had peace [47] ?" The screaming rage of the sick

man in his pain, the whining complaints of the poor man in his

destitution--what will they avail these people, except increase their

unhappiness and bring them no relief? "Little man," says St. Augustine,