The Catholic Prayer Book and Manual of Meditations/Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
EVERY true and pious Catholic will preserve in his heart a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and this for many and most obvious reasons, among which are the following:
1. It is Mary who gave birth to Jesus Christ our Redeemer: she is, therefore, the true Mother of God. Think seriously for a moment, Christian, on these few words: Mary is the Mother of God. Could God bestow on her a nobler name, or a greater dignity? O then, with what eyes will not one day Jesus look on those who would not honour his Blessed Mother, although he himself has honoured her so much! Is there indeed a creature more beloved by God than Mary, and will you not love her whom God loves so much?
2. The Holy Church of God itself teaches us devotion to Mary. How many churches and altars have been erected in her honour, how many feasts instituted for her glory, how many confraternities and even religious orders established under her name, how many treasures of grace and of indulgences have been attached by the church to the practice of honouring Mary!
Has not God performed innumerable miracles through her intercession, as so many privileged places of devotion and of pilgrimage show us? Have not kings and princes placed their states under her protection? All who truly revere Jesus Christ raise their voices in honour of Mary. For how can he honour the Son, who despises the Mother?
3. Mary is our Hope. The Holy Church names her so, when she salutes her with these words: “ Hail, our Hope! ” God refuses her nothing that she asks, because he is her Son. Neither will she refuse anything to us because she is our Mother. Jesus gave her to us for our Mother, with these words: “Woman, behold thy son!” She is the tenderest, the most devoted, the most compassionate, and most loving of all mothers. Are you a great sinner? Do not despair of salvation on that account: pray to Mary, the refuge of sinners, and you will not sink in the stormy waves of the sea of life. Would you grow in virtue? Ask of Mary, the Queen of Saints, and she will certainly obtain grace for you. Are you troubled? Call on Mary, the consoler of the unhappy, and you will certainly be comforted.
“ Remember, O most compassionate Virgin,” St. Bernard exclaims, “ that it never was heard that any one has sought for refuge under thy protection, without obtaining relief!”
Cultivate carefully , then, in your heart, this devotion to the blessed Mother of God, and be sure that Mary will obtain for you great graces in return for the little acts of love and homage which you offer to her. In particular, do not neglect those devotions which are so well approved and so generally practised by devout Catholics, such as the visits to the Blessed Virgin, the Litany, and the Rosary.