|
Devotion
to Mary / Devotion to Mary is Recommended
Also See:
Blessed Virgin Mary (Topic Page)
|
"Honor your father and your mother"
(Ex. 20:12)
"Trust
Mary, implore her aid." (Pope Leo XIII)
"Mary
is our sure way to Christ." (Pope St. Pius X)
"Mary...is
the surest means of leading souls to Jesus." (Pope Pius XII)
"He who is devout to the Virgin Mother will
certainly never be lost." (St. Ignatius of Antioch)
"Happy is he who lives and dies under the
protection of the Blessed Virgin." (St. John Vianney)
"We ought to love the Blessed Virgin very
much." (St. John Vianney)
"Pray to her that she may give you the
strength to follow him to the end with faith." (Pope Pius
XII)
"All the saints
have a great devotion to Our Lady" (St. John Vianney)
"...all
know how much more sure is our salvation if we serve the Mother of
God" (Muller)
"With
what ardor ought we to honor Mary, in whom was set all the
fullness of good!" (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the
Church)
"Love
Our Lady and make her loved. Recite the Rosary and recite it
always and as much as you can." [St. Pio of Pietrelcina
(Padre Pio), two days before his death]
"[D]evotion
to the Virgin Mother of God [is] a sign of 'predestination'
according to the opinion of holy men" (Pope Pius XII,
"Mediator Dei", 1947)
"To
be devout to you, O holy Virgin, is an arm of salvation which God
gives to those whom He wishes to save" (St. John Damascene,
Doctor of the Church)
"Those
who lack the faith are to recommended particularly to Mary as a
means to finding Christ, the Son of God." (Archbishop Fulton
Sheen)
"I
have never read of any saint who did not have a special devotion
to the glorious Virgin" (St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the
Church, 13th century A.D.)
"If you persevere until death in true
devotion to Mary, your salvation is certain." (St. Alphonsus
Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"The faithful also cherish the firm belief,
supported by long experience, that all those who seek Mary's
protection will be saved for all eternity." (Pope Benedict
XV)
"If you invoke the Blessed Virgin when you
are tempted, she will come at once to your help, and Satan will
leave you." (St. John Vianney)
"There is no sinner in the world, however
much at enmity with God, who cannot recover God's grace by
recourse to Mary, and asking her assistance." (St. Bridget of
Sweden)
"When
you want to offer anything to God, take care to offer it by the
most agreeable and worthy hands of Mary, unless you wish to have
it rejected." (St. Bernard, Doctor of the Church)
"The
mightiest helper of the Christian people, and the most merciful,
is the Virgin Mother of God. How fitting it is to accord her honor
ever increasing in splendor." (Pope Leo XIII)
"Let
all, with humble prayer and entreaty, implore of God, through the
intercession of Mary... We know, indeed, from experience that such
prayer, born of charity and trust in the Virgin, has never been in
vain." (Pope St. Pius X)
"When our hands have touched spices, they
give fragrance to all they handle. Let us make our prayers pass
through the hands of the Blessed Virgin. She will make them
fragrant." (St. John Vianney)
"What honor, what loves does not our Lord
oblige us to render her, since He has filled her with the
plentitude of all good in such a way that, if we have some chance
of salvation, we have it all from Mary." (St. Bernard of
Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church)
"To serve Mary and to be her courtier is
the greatest honor one can possibly possess, for to serve the Queen
of Heaven is already to reign there, and to live under her
commands is more than to govern." (St. John of Damascus,
Doctor of the Church)
"Mary
will assist us if we but call upon her. There is not a single
unhappy soul or sinner in the world who calls upon Mary who is
left without mercy. Anyone who invokes her will have the wounds of
his soul healed." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
"Devotion
to Mary will make possible in you a better understanding of Christ
and a more intense union with his mysteries. You will receive
Christ from his mother's arms and she will allow you to love him
and imitate him." (Pope Pius XII)
"Fly
with greater confidence to the Mother of God. There the Christian
people have always sought chief refuge at the hour of danger,
because 'she has been constituted the cause of salvation for the
whole human race.' (St. Irenaeus)" (Pope Pius XII)
"Poor
abandoned sinners, do not despair! Raise your eyes to Mary and be
comforted, trusting in the clemency of this good Mother. For she
will rescue you from the shipwreck you have suffered and conduct
you to the haven of salvation." (St. Alphonsus Liguori,
Doctor of the Church)
"Let
us take as our mediatrix with God the most glorious Virgin Mary,
the invincible Queen of the Rosary, Who has such great power over
the forces of hell, and has so many times made Italy feel the
effects of Her maternal love." (Pope Leo XIII, "Dall'alto
Dell'apostolico Seggio", 1890)
"Can.
1276 It is good and useful suppliantly to invoke the Servants of
God reigning together with Christ and to venerate their relics and
images; but before the others, all the faithful shall follow the
Blessed Virgin Mary with filial devotion." (1917 Code of
Canon Law)
"It
is well known that we have taken advantage of every opportunity -
through personal audiences and radio broadcasts - to exhort Our
children in Christ to a strong and tender love, as becomes
children, for Our most gracious and exalted Mother." (Pope
Pius XII, "Ad Caeli Reginam", 1954)
"Take shelter under our Lady's mantle, and
do not fear. She will give you all you need. She is very rich, and
besides is so very generous with her children. So take advantage
without fear and with complete confidence, whenever you need
anything. She loves giving." (St. Raphaela Mary)
"I believe that anyone who wishes to be
devout and live piously in Jesus will suffer persecution and will
have a daily cross to carry. But he will never manage to carry a
heavy cross, or carry it joyfully and perseveringly, with out a
trusting devotion to our Lady, who is the very sweetness of the
cross." (St. Louis de Montfort)
"It seems
unbelievable that a man should perish in whose favor Christ said
to His Mother: 'Behold thy son' - provided that he has not turned
a deaf ear to the words which Christ addressed to him: 'Behold
thy Mother.'" (St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church)
"Nothing
seems more appropriate and valuable to us than to have the prayers
of the whole Christian family rise to the Mother of God, who is
invoked as the Queen of Peace, begging her to pour forth abundant
gifts of her maternal goodness in the midst of so many great
trials and hardships." (Pope Paul VI)
"Thus
the Faithful of every age, both in public misfortune and in
private need, turn in supplication to Mary...so that she may come
to their aid and grant help and remedy against sorrows of body and
soul. And never was her most powerful aid hoped for in vain by
those who besought it with pious and trustful prayer." (Pope
Pius XI, "Ingravescentibus Malis", 1937)
"Thou
wouldst have pardon? Fly to the Mother for protection, for she
holds on her lap the Infinite Fountain of Mercy. Often bend thy
knee before her, and with hopeful love salute her thus: Hail! Full
of Grace! As thou of old didst feed thy Jesus and stay his infant
tears; so now, dear mother, appease him angered by our sins."
[From ancient Roman-French Missal (Liturgical Year)]
"If thou fearest that on account of thy
faults God in His anger will be avenged, what hast thou to do? Go,
have recourse to Mary, who is the hope of sinners; and, if thou
fearest that she may refuse to take thy part, know that she cannot
do so, for God Himself has imposed on her the duty of succoring
the miserable." (St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church)
"Let
all, therefore, try to approach with greater trust the throne of
grace and mercy of our Queen and Mother, and beg for strength in
adversity, light in darkness, consolation in sorrow; above all let
them strive to free themselves from the slavery of sin and offer
an unceasing homage, filled with filial loyalty, to their Queenly
Mother." (Pope Pius XII, "Ad Caeli Reginam", 1954)
"God
could have given us the Redeemer of the human race and the founder
of the Faith in another way than through the Virgin, but since
divine Providence has been pleased that we should have the man-God
through Mary, who conceived him by the Holy Ghost and bore him in
her womb, it only remains for us to receive Christ through the
hands of Mary." (Pope St. Pius X)
"Love
for Mary, [St.] Maximilian states, is the simplest and
easiest way to sanctify ourselves, fulfilling our Christian
vocation. The love of which he speaks is certainly not a
superficial sentimentalism, but it is a generous commitment, it is
a giving of the whole person, as he himself showed us with his
life of evangelical fidelity right up to his heroic death."
(Pope John Paul II)
"While
Peter has the keys of heaven, Mary has the key to God's heart;
while Peter binds and looses, Mary also binds with the chains of
love and looses with the gift of pardon. While Peter is the
guardian and the minister of indulgences, Mary is the generous and
wise treasurer of God's favors. 'He who desires grace and does not
have recourse to Mary, desires to fly without wings.'
(Dante)" (Pope Pius XII)
"Can.
1186 To foster the sanctification of the people of God, the Church
commends to the special and filial veneration of Christ's faithful
the Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, the Mother of God, whom Christ
constituted the Mother of all. The Church also promotes the true
and authentic cult of the other Saints, by whose example the
faithful are edified and by whose intercession they are
supported." (1983 Code of Canon Law)
"If
devotion to the most holy Virgin Mary is necessary to all men
simply for working out their salvation, it is still more so for
those who are called to any special perfection; and I do not think
anyone can actually acquire an intimate union with Our Lord and a
perfect fidelity to the Holy Ghost without a very great union with
the most holy Virgin, and a great dependence on her
assistance." (St. Louis Marie de Montfort)
"God gave her all the immense graces
necessary to make her the perfect Mother of God, but He also gave
her all the graces, the tenderness, the love necessary to be our
most perfect and loving Mother. No mother on earth ever loved a
child as Our Blessed Lady loves us. Therefore, in all our troubles
and sorrows, let us go to Our Blessed Lady with unbounded
confidence." (Fr. O'Sullivan)
"The Catholic Church, schooled by the Holy
Ghost, has always most diligently professed, not only to venerate
Mary most devoutly as the Mother of the Lord and Redeemer, the
Queen of heaven and earth, but also to honor her with filial
affection as the most loving Mother who was left to her with the
last words of her dying Spouse." (Pope Benedict XIV)
"Rest assured that the more you turn to
Mary in your prayers, meditations, actions and sufferings, seeing
her if not perhaps clearly and distinctly, at least in a general
and indistinct way, the more surely you will discover Jesus. For
he is far greater, more powerful, more active, and more mysterious
when acting through Mary than he is in any other creature in the
universe, or even in heaven." (St. Louis de Montfort)
"The Lord, the apostles, and the prophets
have taught us that we must venerate in the first place the Holy
Mother of God, who is above all the heavenly powers. If anyone
does not confess that the holy, ever virgin Mary, really and truly
the Mother of God, is higher than all creatures visible and
invisible, and does not implore with a sincere faith her
intercession, given her powerful access to our God born of her,
let him be anathema." (Second Council of Nicaea)
"This storm of evils, in the midst of which the
Church struggles so strenuously, reveals to all her pious children
the holy duty whereto they are bound to pray to God with instance,
and the manner in which they may give to their prayers the greater
power. Faithful to the religious example of our fathers, let us
have recourse to Mary, our holy Sovereign. Let us entreat, let us
beseech, with one heart, Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, our
Mother." (Pope Leo XIII, "Octobri Mense", 1891)
"All our perfection consists in being
conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore
the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that
which most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus
Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to
Jesus Christ, it follows that of all devotions, that which most
consecrates and conforms the soul to our Lord is devotion to His
holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the
more it is consecrated to Jesus." (St. Louis de Montfort)
"What
can I say of her whom earth and heaven cease not to praise, though
never as her merits deserve? May you believe beyond all doubt
that, as she is higher and better and more holy than all human
mothers, so she is more gracious and tender toward every sinner
who turns to her. Cease, therefore, every sinful desire and,
prostrate before her, pour out your tears from a humble and
contrite heart. You will find her, I surely promise you, more
ready than any earthly mother and more lenient in her love for
you." (Pope St. Gregory VII, 1074 A.D.)
"During
periods of stress and trial - chiefly when every lawlessness of
act seems permitted to the powers of darkness - it has been the
custom in the Church to plead with special fervor and perseverance
to God, her author and protector, by recourse to the intercession
of the saints - and chiefly of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God -
whose patronage has ever been the most efficacious. The fruit of
these pious prayers and of the confidence reposed in the Divine
goodness, has always, sooner or later, been made apparent."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Quamquam Pluries", 1889)
"When
Mary interposes her powerful protection, the gates of hell cannot
prevail. She, in fact, is the most loving and most powerful Mother
of God, and of us all, and never was it heard that anyone has had
suppliant recourse to her and has not experienced her most
efficacious protection. Continue, therefore, as you have been
doing, to venerate her with fervent piety, and to love her
ardently and to invoke her with these words which you have been
accustomed to address to her:
'To you alone has it been given O
most holy and most pure Mother of God, unfailingly to have your
petitions ever answered.'" (Pope Pius XII)
"I consider it impossible then for those
who believe the Church to be one vast body in heaven and earth, in
which every holy creature of God has his place, and of which
prayer is the life, when once they recognize the sanctity and
dignity of the blessed Virgin, not to perceive immediately, that
her office above is one of perpetual intercession for the faithful
militant, and that our very relation to her must be that of
clients to a patron, and that, in the eternal enmity which exists
between the woman and the serpent [that is, Satan], while the serpent's strength
lies in being the tempter, the weapon of the second Eve and Mother
of God is prayer." (Cardinal Newman)
"I
answer that, Since latria is due to God alone, it is not due to a
creature so far as we venerate a creature for its own sake. For
though insensible creatures are not capable of being venerated for
their own sake, yet the rational creature is capable of being
venerated for its own sake. Consequently the worship of latria is
not due to any mere rational creature for its own sake. Since,
therefore, the Blessed Virgin is a mere rational creature, the
worship of latria is not due to her, but only that of dulia: but
in a higher degree than to other creatures, inasmuch as she is the
Mother of God. For this reason we say that not any kind of dulia
is due to her, but hyperdulia." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor
of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")
"... many others have proved invincibly,
from the sentiments of the Fathers (among others, St. Augustine,
St. Ephrem, deacon of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St.
Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Damascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard,
St. Bernardine, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure), that devotion to our Blessed Lady is necessary to
salvation, and that...it is an infallible mark of reprobation to
have no esteem and love for the holy Virgin; while on the other
hand, it is an infallible mark of predestination to be entirely
and truly devoted to her." (St. Louis Marie de Montfort)
"Before such splendor of virtue, the first
duty of all those who recognize in the Mother of Christ the model
of the Church, is to unite themselves to her in giving thanks to
the Most High for working great things in Mary for the benefit of
all mankind. But this is not enough. It is also the duty of all
the faithful to pay as tribute to the most faithful handmaid of
the Lord, a veneration of praise, of gratitude and of love
because, by a wise and mild divine provision, her free consent and
her generous cooperation in the designs of God had, and still
have, a great influence in the attainment of human salvation.
Therefore every Christian must make St. Anselm's prayer his own:
'Oh, glorious Lady, grant that through you we may deserve to
ascend to Jesus, your Son, who through you deigned to descend
among us.'" (Pope Paul VI, 1967
A.D.)
"[W]ho
will not see that we have with good reason claimed for Mary that -
as the constant companion of Jesus from the house at Nazareth to
the height of Calvary, as beyond all others initiated to the
secrets of his Heart, and as the distributor, by right of her
Motherhood, of the treasures of His merits, - she is, for all
these reasons, a most sure and efficacious assistance to us for
arriving at the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Those, alas!
furnish us by their conduct with a peremptory proof of it, who
seduced by the wiles of the demon or deceived by false doctrines
think they can do without the help of the Virgin. Hapless are they
who neglect Mary under pretext of the honor to be paid to Jesus
Christ! As if the Child could be found elsewhere than with the
Mother!" (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum",
1904)
"Just
as in natural and bodily generation there is a father and a
mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there is a
father who is God and a mother who is Mary. All true children of
God have God for their father and Mary for their mother; anyone
who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his
father. This is why the reprobate, such as heretics and
schismatics, who hate, despise or ignore the Blessed Virgin, do
not have God for their father though they arrogantly claim they
have, because they do not have Mary for their mother. Indeed if
they had her for their mother they would love and honor her as
good and true children naturally love and honor the mother who
gave them life. An infallible and unmistakable sign by which we
can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemy of
God, from one of God's true friends is that the heretic and the
hardened sinner show nothing but contempt and indifference for our
Lady." (St. Louis Marie de Montfort)
"When
we present anything to Jesus by ourselves, and relying on our own
efforts and dispositions, Jesus examines the offering, and often
rejects it because of the stains it has contracted through
self-love, just as of old He rejected the sacrifices of the Jews
when they were full of their own will. But when we present Him
anything by the pure and virginal hands of His well-beloved, we
take Him by His weak side, if it is allowable to use such a term.
He does not consider so much the thing that is given Him as the
Mother who presents it. He does not consider so much whence the
offering comes, as by whom it comes. Thus Mary, who is never
repelled but always well received by her Son, makes everything she
presents to Him, great or small, acceptable to His Majesty. Mary
has but to present it for Jesus to accept it and be pleased with
it." (St. Louis Marie de Montfort)
"Let
all the children of the Catholic Church, who are so very dear to
us, hear these words of ours. With a still more ardent zeal for
piety, religion and love, let them continue to venerate, invoke
and pray to the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, conceived
without original sin. Let them fly with utter confidence to this
most sweet Mother of mercy and grace in all dangers, difficulties,
needs, doubts and fears. Under her guidance, under her patronage,
under her kindness and protection, nothing is to be feared;
nothing is hopeless. Because, while bearing toward us a truly
motherly affection and having in her care the work of our
salvation, she is solicitous about the whole human race. And since
she has been appointed by God to be the Queen of heaven and earth,
and is exalted above all the choirs of angels and saints, and even
stands at the right hand of her only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, she presents our petitions in a most efficacious manner.
What she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard."
(Pope Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus", 1854)
"Among
the saints in heaven the Virgin Mary Mother of God is venerated in
a special way. Because of the mission she received from God, her
life is most closely linked with the mysteries of Jesus Christ,
and there is no one who has followed in the footsteps of the
Incarnate Word more closely and with more merit than she: and no
one has more grace and power over the most Sacred Heart of the Son
of God and through Him with the Heavenly Father. Holier than the
Cherubim and Seraphim, she enjoys unquestionably greater glory
than all the other saints, for she is 'full of grace,' she is the
Mother of God, who happily gave birth to the Redeemer for us.
Since she is therefore, 'Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness
and our hope,' let us all cry to her 'mourning and weeping in this
vale of tears,' and confidently place ourselves and all we have
under her patronage. She became our Mother also when the divine
Redeemer offered the sacrifice of Himself; and hence by this title
also, we are her children. She teaches us all the virtues; she
gives us her Son and with Him all the help we need, for God
'wished us to have everything through Mary.'" (Pope Pius XII,
"Mediator Dei", 1947)
"In
Mary we see how a truly good and provident God has established for
us a most suitable example of every virtue. As we look upon her
and think about her we are not cast down as though stricken by the
overpowering splendor of God's power; but, on the contrary,
attracted by the closeness of the common nature we share with her,
we strive with greater confidence to imitate her. If we, with her
powerful help, should dedicate ourselves wholly and entirely to
this undertaking, we can portray at least an outline of such great
virtue and sanctity, and reproducing that perfect conformity of
our lives to all God's designs which she possessed in so marvelous
a degree, we shall follow her into heaven. Undaunted and full of
courage, let us go on with the pilgrimage we have undertaken even
though the way be rough and full of obstacles. Amid the vexation
and toil let us not cease to hold out suppliant hands to Mary with
the words of the Church: 'To thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears; turn then, most
gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us...Keep our lives
all spotless, make our ways secure, till we find in Jesus joys
that will endure.'" (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris",
1892)
"And you, Venerable Brethren, - the more
you have at heart the honor of Mary, and the welfare of human
society, the more diligently apply yourselves to nourish the piety
of the people towards the great Virgin, and to increase their
confidence in her. We believe it to be part of the designs of
Providence that, in these times of trial for the Church, the
ancient devotion to the august Virgin should live and flourish
amid the greatest part of the Christian world. May now the
Christian nations, excited by Our exhortations, and inflamed by
your appeals, seek the protection of Mary with an ardor growing
greater day by day; let them cling more and more to the practice
of the Rosary, to that devotion which our ancestors were in the
habit of practicing, not only as an ever-ready remedy for their
misfortunes, but as a whole badge of Christian piety. The heavenly
Patroness of the human race will receive with joy these prayers
and supplications, and will easily obtain that the good shall grow
in virtue, and that the erring should return to salvation and
repent; and that God who is the avenger of crime, moved to mercy
and pity may deliver Christendom and civil society from all
dangers, and restore to them peace so much desired." (Pope
Leo XIII, "Supremi Apostolatus Officio", 1883 A.D.)
"In
her Revelations, St. Bridget of Sweden quotes the Blessed Mother
as saying: 'The people of earth have need of a triple mercy:
sorrow for their sins, penance to atone for them, and strength to
do good.' And Mary promised these mercies to all who would call
upon her. As the Son shows the Father the wounds He received in
saving man in the Battle of Calvary, so Mary shows the body
pierced with seven swords in the same Siege against Sin. No sinner
in the world is beyond the hope of redemption; no one is so cursed
that he cannot obtain pardon if he but calls on Mary. It is
necessary to be in the state of sanctifying grace to be saved, but
it is not necessary to be in the state of grace to call on Mary.
As she was the representative of sinful humanity who gave consent
to the Redemption, so she is still the representative of those who
are not yet in the sate of friendship with God. It is easy for the
brothers of Christ to call on the Father, but it is not easy for
the strangers and the enemies. This role Mary plays. She is not
only the Mother of those who are not in the state of grace but
also the Queen of those who are not. The true name of Satan is
'Without Mercy' (Hos. 1:6,8), one whose nature cannot ask for
pardon. He first tries to convince a soul that evil is not evil;
then, when evil is done, he tries to convince it that there is no
hope. Thus does presumption beget despair. Satan refuses the
humiliation of pardon both for himself and for others, but Mary
asks pardon even for those who, as agents of Satan, would
recrucify her Son. Her name is the antithesis of Satan: 'One who
has received Mercy' (Hos. 2:1), and therefore one who dispenses
it." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
"Mary...is
interpreted to mean 'Star of the Sea.' This admirably befits the
Virgin Mother. There is indeed a wonderful appropriateness in this
comparison of her with a star, because as a star sends out its
rays without harm to itself, so did the Virgin bring forth her
Child without injury to her integrity. And as the ray does not
diminish the rightness of the star, so neither did the Child born
of her tarnish the beauty of Mary's virginity. She is therefore
that glorious star, which, as the prophet said, arose out of
Jacob, whose ray enlightens the whole earth, whose splendor shines
out for all to see in heaven and reaches even unto hell... She, I
say, is that shining and brilliant star, so much needed, set in
place above life's great and spacious sea, glittering with merits,
all aglow with examples for our imitation. Oh, whosoever thou art
that perceiveth thyself during this mortal existence to be rather
drifting in treacherous waters, at the mercy of the winds and the
waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away thine eyes from
the splendor of this guiding star, unless thou wish to be
submerged by the storm! When the storms to temptation burst upon
thee, when thou seest thyself driven upon the rocks of
tribulation, look at the star, call upon Mary. When buffeted by
the billows of pride, or ambition, or hatred, or jealousy, look at
the star, call upon Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly
desire violently assail the frail vessel of thy soul, look at the
star, call upon Mary. If troubled on account of the heinousness of
thy sins, distressed at the filthy state of thy conscience, and
terrified at the thought of the awful judgment to come, thou art
beginning to sink into the bottomless gulf of sadness and to be
swallowed in the abyss of despair, then think of Mary. In dangers,
in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not
her name leave thy lips, never suffer it to leave thy heart. And
that thou mayest more surely obtain the assistance of her prayer,
see that thou dost walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, thou
shalt never go astray; whilst invoking her, thou shalt never lose
heart; so long as she is in thy mind, thou shalt not be deceived;
whilst she holds thy hand, thou canst not fall; under her
protection, thou hast nothing to fear; if she walks before thee,
thou shalt not grow weary; if she shows thee favor, thou shalt
reach the goal" (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the
Church)
Also
See: Praise
of Mary | Mary
is Always Ready To Help Us | Powerful
Intercession of Mary | Jesus
& Mary [Pg.] | We
Should Imitate Mary / Mary is Our Model | Marian
Devotions [Pg.] | Mary
as Mediatrix / Co-Redemptrix | Mary's
Maternity [Pg.] | Deceptive
Piety Towards Mary / Presumptuous Devotees | Do
Catholics Worship Mary? | Some
Reasons
to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mary | Some
Thoughts on the Blessed Virgin Mary
Note:
Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related
to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more
'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.
Top |
Reflectns.: A-Z | Catg.
| Scripture: A-Z |
Catg.
| Help
|
