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60. Having spoken briefly of the necessity of devotion to the
Blessed Virgin, I must now explain what this devotion consists
in. This I will do with God's help after I have laid down
certain basic truths which throw light on the remarkable and
sound devotion which I propose to unfold.
First principle: Christ must be the ultimate end of all
devotions
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. Every one of the faithful
who is not united to him is like a branch broken from the stem
of the vine. It falls and withers and is fit only to be burnt.
If we live in Jesus and Jesus lives in us, we need not fear
damnation. Neither angels in heaven nor men on earth, nor
devils in hell, no creature whatever can harm us, for no
creature can separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus. 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.
63. Here I turn to you for a moment, dear Jesus, to complain
lovingly to your divine Majesty that the majority of
Christians, and even some of the most learned among them, do
not recognise the necessary bond that unites you and your
Blessed Mother. Lord, you are always with Mary and Mary is
always with you. She can never be without you because then she
would cease to be what she is. She is so completely
transformed into you by grace that she no longer lives, she no
longer exists, because you alone, dear Jesus, live and reign
in her more perfectly than in all the angels and saints. If we
only knew the glory and the love given to you by this
wonderful creature, our feelings for you and for her would be
far different from those we have now. So intimately is she
united to you that it would be easier to separate light from
the sun, and heat from the fire. I go further, it would even
be easier to separate all the angels and saints from you than
Mary; for she loves you ardently, and glorifies you more
perfectly than all your other creatures put together.
64. In view of this, my dear Master, is it not astonishing
and pitiful to see the ignorance and short-sightedness of men
with regard to your holy Mother?
I am not speaking so much of
idolaters and pagans who do not know you and consequently have
no knowledge of her. I am not even speaking of heretics and
schismatics who have left you and your holy Church and
therefore are not interested in your holy Mother. I am
speaking of Catholics, and even of educated Catholics, who
profess to teach the faith to others but do not know you or your
Mother except speculatively, in a dry, cold and sterile
way.
These people seldom speak of your Mother or devotion to
her. They say they are afraid that devotion to her will be
abused and that you will be offended by excessive honour paid
to her. They protest loudly when they see or hear a devout
servant of Mary speak frequently with feeling, conviction and
vigour of devotion to her. When he speaks of devotion to her
as a sure means of finding and loving you without fear or
illusion, or when he says this devotion is a short road free
from danger, or an immaculate way free from imperfection, or a
wondrous secret of finding you, they put before him a thousand
specious reasons to show him how wrong he is to speak so much
of Mary. There are, they say, great abuses in this devotion
which we should try to stamp out and we should refer people to
you rather than exhort them to have devotion to your Mother,
whom they already love adequately.
If they are sometimes heard speaking of devotion to your
Mother, it is not for the purpose of promoting it or
convincing people of it but only to destroy the abuses made of
it. Yet all the while these persons are devoid of piety or
genuine devotion to you, for they have no devotion to Mary.
They consider the Rosary and the Scapular as devotions
suitable only for simple women or ignorant people. After all,
they say, we do not need them to be saved. If they come across
one who loves our Lady, who says the rosary or shows any
devotion towards her, they soon move him to a change of mind
and heart. They advise him to say the seven penitential psalms
instead of the Rosary, and to show devotion to Jesus instead
of to Mary.
Dear Jesus, do these people possess your spirit? Do they
please you by acting in this way? Would it please you if we
were to make no effort to give pleasure to your Mother because
we are afraid of offending you? Does devotion to your holy
Mother hinder devotion to you? Does Mary keep for herself any
honour we pay her? Is she a rival of yours? Is she a stranger
having no kinship with you? Does pleasing her imply
displeasing you? Does the gift of oneself to her constitute a
deprivation for you? Is love for her a lessening of our love
for you?
65. Nevertheless, my dear Master, the majority of learned
scholars could not be further from devotion to your Mother, or
show more indifference to it even if all I have just said were
true. Keep me from their way of thinking and acting and let me
share your feelings of gratitude, esteem, respect and love for
your holy Mother. I can then love and glorify you all the
more, because I will be imitating and following you more
closely.
66. As though I had said nothing so far to further her
honour, grant me now the grace to praise her more worthily, in
spite of all her enemies who are also yours. I can then say to
them boldly with the saints, "Let no one presume to expect
mercy from God, who offends his holy Mother."
67. So that I may obtain from your mercy a genuine devotion
to your blessed Mother and spread it throughout the whole
world, help me to love you wholeheartedly, and for this
intention accept the earnest prayer I offer with St. Augustine
and all who truly love you.
Prayer of Saint Augustine
O Jesus Christ, you are my Father, my merciful God, my
great King, my good Shepherd, my only Master, my best helper,
my beloved friend of overwhelming beauty, my living Bread, my
eternal priest. You are my guide to my heavenly home, my one
true light, my holy joy, my true way, my shining wisdom, my
unfeigned simplicity, the peace and harmony of my soul, my
perfect safeguard, my bounteous inheritance, my everlasting
salvation.
My loving Lord, Jesus Christ, why have I ever loved or
desired anything else in my life but you, my God? Where was I
when I was not in communion with you? From now on, I direct
all my desires to be inspired by you and centred on you. I
direct them to press forward for they have tarried long
enough, to hasten towards their goal, to seek the one they
yearn for.
O Jesus, let him who does not love you be accursed, and
filled with bitterness. O gentle Jesus, let every worthy
feeling of mine show you love, take delight in you and admire
you. O God of my heart and my inheritance, Christ Jesus, may
my heart mellow before the influence of your spirit and may
you live in me. May the flame of your love burn in my soul.
May it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart. May it glow
in my innermost being. May it spread its heat into the hidden
recesses of my soul and on the day of my consummation may I
appear before you consumed in your love. Amen.
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