Mary, like many a young Israelite woman, lived a life of obscurity.  Had it not been for the few times she is mentioned in Sacred Scripture (the Gospels to be exact) nothing would be known of her.  Indeed, Mary was known only to God.  Her entire life is a mystery; yet saints and mystics have written much about her from their own private revelations.  Regardless of these writings, of what little is said of her, or attributed to her in the Gospels, and of what has been handed down through tradition, her life remains a mystery.  Indeed her conception, birth, life, dormition and assumption remains hidden to the eyes of man.

Mary is without a doubt the Almighty's greatest work of creation.  God rests in Mary with greater joy than anywhere else.  We read in Genesis that God planted a garden so that man could live, but I tell you that he created Mary so that through her, salvation may come to man; because in her, God would take upon himself our humanity.  The Almighty so loved Mary that all that Jesus is, his flesh, his blood - his entire human nature comes from Mary alone.  To know Mary is to know Jesus; and if we do not know the real Jesus perhaps it is because we do not know Mary.  How great must God's work in Mary be when she, the most humble of all creatures exclaims "The Mighty One has done great things for me!"


God utilizes Mary in the Incarnation
Only through Mary does God give us his Only Begotten Son.  Many people will give greater glory to the patriarchs and prophets of Israel who, for four thousand years pleaded with God for a savior.  Yet only Mary found favor with God and only through Mary did God give us his Son.  The Holy Spirit formed Jesus within Mary's womb only after her consent to do so.  God the Son descended as a new Adam into Mary's virginal womb - into this new paradise to give life to a new world - a new creation brought forth from Mary's humbleness.  By submitting himself to Mary, God's Only Begotten Son was exulted.

For thirty years, our Lord's life was molded by Mary - first in her womb, then as a child, and finally as a man whose fidelity would bring redemption to all creation.  Through Mary, Jesus was cared for, fed, instructed, and sacrificed; and through his submission to Mary greater glory was given to God than all the miracles he performed.

Jesus' great works begin with Mary.  Through Mary's word and presence, St. John the Baptist was sanctified.  At the moment she greets her cousin, the child in Elizabeth's womb leapt with joy because the grace conceived in Mary's womb was given for the first time; and at Mary's humble petition, Jesus blesses a marriage by changing water into wine; the first of his public signs and the first miracle as relates to nature.  Through Mary, he continues to work wonders until the end of time.

In the same way that God the Father and Creator gathered the waters and called them "seas", he also gathered all that is precious, all that is splendid and beautiful, all that is rare and called it Mary.  Even his greatest treasure, his Only Begotten Son Jesus was contained in her, thereby making her the fountain by which we obtain everything from God - not because it was necessary for God to do this, but because it was his will that everything flow from Mary.  Nothing comes to us unless it comes through Mary.  Indeed even Jesus fulfills the plan of salvation by coming to us through Mary.

St Bernard, St. Bernardino, and St. Bonaventure among others tell us that everything has submitted itself to the Blessed Virgin, even God because so great is the authority that the Lord has bestowed upon Mary, that it appears she has the same power as God and that her pleas and petitions are so effective before God's throne that He would never resist what is asked by his Mother who always conforms to His Will.  In the book of Exodus (32:10-14) the Almighty turns away his anger from the Israelites at Moses' pleas; how much more powerful must be the humble prayer of Mary, the Mother of God before the Most High?  Surely her intercession must be greater than all the angels and saints together.

In the natural order of things, there exists a father and a mother; so too in the supernatural God is Father and Mary is Mother.  All true Christians have God as their Father and Mary as their Mother.  Those who refuse Mary as their Mother do not have God as Father.  There are those who in vainglory declare that God is their Father yet deny, despise or show indifference to Mary.  This is a total contradiction; for if God himself gives praise to Mary, how can anyone call themselves a child of God the Father yet deny the Mother?  We cannot, however, condemn those who have not come to know the true Mary and the mystery of her person.  But if Almighty God - Father, Son, & Holy Spirit - together praise and honor Mary, who are we to minimize her person?  How can anyone claim to love God and call themselves members of Christ's body and yet show indifference and disdain for Mary?

Does a mother give birth to an entire child or only its head?  Or does a mother give birth to a headless child?  In the natural order of things we would consider such a thing an abomination or freak of nature and certainly a creature like this would not be able to survive.  If a mother gives birth to a child this child has a head and a body and the mother nurtures the entire child - not just the head or just the body.  Jesus was born from Mary and if we truly believe the words of St. Paul, which tell us, that Jesus is the head and we are his body, then we too must be born of and through Mary.  For if Mary were to be only the mother of Jesus (the head) and not us (his body) then this would be an abomination in the order of grace. 

Jesus was, is, and always will be the fruit of Mary's womb.  Now as Christians our ultimate end is to be like Christ.  We must allow Christ into our hearts where he can mold us into a new person.  If Christ lives in us and Christ is the fruit of Mary's womb, then we too can call ourselves fruit of her womb.  Just as Jesus was formed in, nurtured, and taught by Mary, so must we allow her to do the same with us; that is why we should fly onto Mary so that through her we may share in the glory of her son.  We must allow ourselves to be possessed by her unwavering faith, her profound humility, her total mortification, her splendid prayer, her burning charity, her steadfast hope and all of her excellent virtues.  By allowing ourselves to be possessed by Mary we can offer to Jesus a sanctuary if you will, to live in; then we can truly exclaim with St. Paul "it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me."
TOP

Devotions to Mary
By his nature, Jesus is King of Heaven and earth; and by grace Mary is Queen of Heaven and earth.  Now just as Jesus' kingdom on earth is within the human heart, so too does Mary reign in our hearts.  Since God depends on Mary (he depended on her consent and will), then we need to depend on Mary as a means to our ultimate end.  Because of this, devotion to Mary should not be confused with devotions to other saints or thought of as less than or equal to other devotions of saints.  St. John Damascene says about the devotion to Mary: "To be devoted to you, oh Virgin Mary, is a great weapon that God gives to those He wishes to be saved".  St. Luís María Grignion de Monfort preaches that no one can have an intimate union with God or perfect fidelity with the Holy Spirit without being closely united with and dependant on Blessed Mary ever Virgin.

Whosoever finds Mary, finds life because the true Life and true Way is Jesus Christ - fruit of her womb.  But we cannot find Mary if we don't search for her and neither can we search for her if we do not know her; we don't look or desire for something unless we know what it is.  When we know and find Mary we know and find Jesus and when we know Jesus we know the Father for the Father and He are one, and when we know them both we know the Holy Spirit who proceeds from both the Father and the Son and then we can glorify the Holy Trinity.

Jesus Christ is the final end, (or the goal), of every true devotion.  Any devotion, whether it be to Mary or any other saint, that does not have Jesus as its center is false.  Jesus is the beginning and the end of everything.  Only Jesus is Lord and only in him should we depend because only He is the Head to which we should be united.  Jesus is the only Shepherd, the only Way and the Life and the Truth.  Only through Him are we saved; and only in Him can we build our faith.  He is the Vine and we are the branches.  Any branch that separates from the vine cannot live.

If then, we desire a devotion to the Virgin Mary, it should be only to reinforce our devotion to Jesus Christ.  If at any time a devotion to the Blessed Virgin separates us from Jesus, then that particular devotion would have to be judged as false and rejected regardless of how beautiful a devotion it is.  A true devotion should lead us to becoming more like Christ.  All devotions, whether it be to Mary or not, should help us to make room in our person so that Christ may live in us.  In other words, we need to empty ourselves of what we are; of all that is pitiful, mundane and sinful.  In essence, we need to give up our will so that God's Will may be done in us. 

Mary is our model.  From the moment the Angel Gabriel reveals to her God's plan of the Incarnation, Mary responds by giving herself entirely to God: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word." (Lk 1:38)  Mary gives up her will - she empties herself so that her entire being may be filled with God.  Not only would she allow God in the person of Jesus to live within her physically, she allowed herself to be possessed by his very essence in everything.  By declaring herself the handmaid of the Lord, Mary gives even her freedom and does so out of Love, that's why any true devotion to Mary must lead us to Jesus Christ and only to Him.

With this in mind, we need to sift through the many popular devotions, which exist regarding Mary.  We live in a time where people hunger for spiritual food.  It is a time when many will inadvertently fall into false devotions.  One of the greatest evils that exist is making something that is wrong seem right, and in many occasions this is exactly what happens with respect to false devotions.  The soul that hungers for spiritual food can devour everything that it is given and without knowing, can even acquire a taste for false devotions.  That is why it becomes so important to distinguish between false and true devotions to Mary.

St. Luís María Grignion de Monfort outlines seven specific and false devotions and devotees to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which we will treat individually throughout this afternoon:

                                        1. Critical Devotees
                                        2. Scrupulous Devotees
                                        3. Exterior Devotees
                                        4. Presumptuous Devotees
                                        5. Inconsistent Devotees
                                        6. Hypocritical Devotees
                                        7. Selfish Devotees

The first type of false devotee is the critical devotee.  These persons are usually well learned and arrogant or proud; they're usually strong willed and conceited whom deep down hold some sort of devotion to the Blessed Virgin.  However, these people criticize almost every pious act that simple and humble people might do in honor of Mary.  This type of person goes to great lengths to cast doubt on miracles and other such occurrences attributed to Mary and in some instances even deny such things even when documented by dignified authors.  They become angry if they see simple and humble people kneel before an image of Mary to pray and even go as far as labeling them as idolaters.  They claim that they're not so weak minded as to fall victim to such practices or to pay attention to so many idiotic tales about the Virgin Mary.  These types of persons are a real danger because they succeed in driving people away from Mary with the excuse that they're just trying to stop abuses of the faith.

The scrupulous devotees are those who fear that they are diminishing Jesus by honoring his Mother.  They can't understand why more people kneel before an altar of Mary than before the Blessed Sacrament.  They fail to realize these people are in fact praying to Christ through Mary and that devotion to Mary in no way minimizes devotion to Jesus.  These people don't want others to speak so frequently about Mary.  They consider external devotions like the rosary as a means of ridicule of our Catholic faith and as a sign of ignorance.  They insist on speaking only of Jesus (which is in fact good) but they themselves don't honor him.  No greater honor can be given to Jesus than honoring his mother.  If we meditate on Scripture we cannot deny that even God honors Mary before honoring Jesus, not because she is greater than Jesus, but because in order to honor Jesus more perfectly, we need to honor Mary first.  "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb".

External devotees are those that base their devotion solely on external acts, but inside everything is sterile.  They pray the rosary frequently, but hurriedly; the attend mass frequently, but rarely pay attention; they belong to Marian ministries, but do not change their way of life and never really try to imitate her way of life - never practicing her virtues.  They don't really care for spiritual and essential part of the devotion they're just interested in outward appearances.

The fourth type of false devotee is the presumptuous.  This devotee is complacent or happy to continue living their life without any true desire for change. They've come to the wrong conclusion that God will forgive them no matter what they do.  They continue to live their lives immorally, oppressing others, practicing injustice, feeding their arrogance and hardening their hearts.  They're convinced they'll go to heaven because they pray the rosary or because they fasted every once-in-a-while or because they wear a scapular of the Virgin around their necks.  They claim they love Mary and Jesus, but how can anyone make such a claim and still offend God by their actions?  It's true that God is Merciful and Forgiving, but God is also just!

By no means am I stating that we have to be sinless in order to love God and Mary, but we do have to have a resolve.  Resolve to change our lives; resolve to avoid occasions of sin; resolve to live a virtuous life.  In essence, any devotion to Mary that does not lead us changing our lives so that we become more like Christ is a false devotion.

Inconsistent devotees are those who practice devotions every once-in-a-while.  They only pray to Mary or Jesus when they feel up to it.  At times they're burning with desire and other times they're cold and indifferent.  At the spur of the moment they'll sign up with many ministries but can't or will not fulfill the obligations.  They start coming up with excuses to not attend meetings or prayer groups because it just doesn't do anything for them.  Their moods change as often as the seasons.  Instead of overloading themselves with so many different things they should just stick to one but do that one thing well.

The sixth type of false devotees, are the hypocrites who hide bad habits and sinful nature behind the image of the Blessed Virgin.  They try to appear to be something that they're not and can consequently be a means of scandal to others.

The last type of false devotees is the selfish that run to Mary as soon as a problem arises.  They only think of her in times of trouble: when someone is sick or in danger, or when they want to gain something, but they never remember Mary or her son at any other moment.  Mary becomes a crutch to lean on that can be discarded after the problem has been resolved.
TOP

The True Devotion to Mary
The true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is in the interior, tender, holy, constant and unselfish. By being an interior devotion, I mean giving our heart and soul to Mary - interior conversion to be more like her every day.  Secondly, our devotion to Mary must be tender.  We must have total confidence in Mary in the same way that a child feels the safe confidence in its mother.  A tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin allows our soul to fly onto Mary for all our needs: to bring light into our darkness, to show us the way when we're lost, to sustain us in temptation, to give us strength in our weakness, to raise us when we fall, and to console us as we carry our cross.

By being holy, we try to avoid every opportunity of sin and try to imitate Mary's virtues: her profound humility, her burning faith, her absolute obedience, her constant prayer, her divine wisdom, and her angelic sweetness.  By constant is meant not given to the temptation of abandoning the practice of pious works and to encourage strength so as to avoid wrong inclinations.  And finally, a true devotion is not selfish.  In other words, it should never entice the soul to search for anything except God and through the Blessed Virgin.

The true devotion to Mary means being at her service without expecting anything in return.  No one should be devoted because of favors granted, or benefits reaped.  Mary deserves to be honored through devotions because she is worthy of honor, because in serving and honoring Mary, we serve and honor God.
TOP

Practicing the Devotions
There are various ways to practice our devotions to Mary.  St. Luís divides them into two groups:  Interior practices and Exterior practices.  He furthermore lists 8 interior practices and 12 exterior ones.

Within the interior practices of the true devotion to the Blessed Virgin he lists the following:
1. Venerate Mary as Mother of God.  She is undoubtedly God's greatest work and therefore deserves greater honor and veneration than any other of the saints.
2. Meditate on her virtues, privileges and works.
3. Contemplate her grandeur.
4. Speak to her with words of love and recognition.
5. Invoke her from the depths of our heart.
6. Offer our self to her and look at her with our spiritual eyes.
7. Do good works in order to please her.
8. Begin and finish every work for her, in her, and with her, that by serving her we may serve her son Jesus Christ who is our ultimate end.

These interior practices, which are unseen and unknown except by us, God and Mary, allow us to practice a true devotion to Mary, which becomes visible to others through the exterior practices, which are:

1. Becoming an active member in guild or ministry dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
2. Becoming a member of a religious order dedicated to Mary.
3. Preach about Mary.
4. Give alms, fast and deny one self for Mary.
5. Wear things that identify us with her: scapular, medals, etc.
6. Pray the rosary or the Divine Office with contemplation, modesty and devotion.  Other well-known prayers should also be meditated.
7. Sing songs or canticles dedicated to Mary.
8. Repeat words of love and praise throughout the day in her honor.
9. Insure that the goals of Marian ministries become reality, and treat with reverence images of the Virgin.
10. Keep in a place of honor an image of Mary, honor her images in processions.
11. Make every effort to have her image grace our churches and homes.
12. Solemnly consecrate ourselves to Mary.

All of these practices allow us to reach a greater state of sanctity as long as we remember that the intention should always be to please God, unite ourselves with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, and edify our brothers and sisters.  As long as we do them with careful attention, not allowing ourselves to be voluntarily distracted, with piety, modesty and without rushing through them.
TOP

The Practice of the Perfect Devotion
There is one more devotion with unites us more perfectly with the person of Jesus Christ.  This devotion, which St. Luís calls the perfect devotion, is the solemn Perfect Consecration to Jesus.  Because Mary is the creature who most perfectly identifies with Jesus, it is through her that this consecration is done.  Through this devotion, we give to Mary:

1. Our body and our senses.
2. Our soul with all of its potential and faculties.
3. Our possessions, both present and future.
4. Our virtues and good works: past, present and future.

In essence, we give to Mary all that we have and all that we are, that in doing so we may empty ourselves to make room for her son Jesus Christ.  Through this devotion we can better imitate the person of Jesus; we receive the assistance of Mary; our good works will be made beautiful through her.  Through this devotion we give greater glory to God and unite ourselves more perfectly to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savoir, and participate in the faith of Mary.

TOP