It is important to remember that Almighty God did not then and does not now need the Blessed Mary in order to fulfill His will and be glorified. He needs only to will something in order to make it so. Mary is but a simple creature that has been created by God and next to Him, she is nothing. Even so, St. Louis De Montfort has this to add:
Nevertheless, I say that, things being as they are now—that is, God having willed to commence and to complete His greatest works by the most holy Virgin ever since He created her—we may well think He will not change His conduct in the eternal ages; for He is God, and He changes not, either in His sentiments or in His conduct. (T.D., no. 14)
Through Mary, God the Father gave His only Son to the world. Whatever the saints, prophets, and patriarchs may have wished for, and despite whatever prayers they may have prayed, despite thousands of years of many godly souls wishing and waiting for God’s treasure, and perhaps longing to be an intimate part of His arrival into the world, it was only the holy and humble Mary who earned that right. Only Mary found grace before the Most High through her powerful prayers and the greatness of her virtues. St. Augustine says that the world was unworthy to receive God’s Only-begotten directly from God Himself. Therefore, God gave His Son to Mary so that the world would receive Him through her, a human.
I think this is an important place to pause and reflect upon something that has been gradually but steadily making its way into mainstream circles, and that is the topic of alien beings from outer space. The subject is ever so slowly gaining traction with not only die-hard sci-fi fans, but also many other groups of people, even Christians, who are starting to hear rumblings about space aliens and UFOs in news stories or documentaries. The chatter is ramping up, and soon (or at least in the not too distant future) it is said that we will be presented with the astounding claim that the aliens are here to save us from ourselves! Here’s the problem with that: The Blessed Mary, a human, was chosen by God Almighty to give birth to His only Son. That only Son, Jesus Christ, is our Lord and Savior. This isn’t to suggest that alien creatures from outer space flying around in their spaceships are not real, but they are most certainly not of God. If the Blessed Mary, Jesus Christ’s beloved Mother, is our Mother, then where do the little green or gray or rainbow-colored space aliens fit in? They don’t. The devil, the father of lies, sows many seeds of deceit. Please don’t fall for the coming lies and propaganda. There will be more about this in future posts.
Christians know that Jesus, the Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that it all started with Mary and the visitation of the angel, Gabriel, who presented Mary with God’s request; Mary then consented. It was in Mary and by Mary that Jesus came into the world to save us from sin. St. Louis De Montfort says
God the Father communicated to Mary His fruitfulness, inasmuch as a mere creature was capable of it, in order that He might give her the power to produce His Son and all the members of His Mystical Body. (T.D., no. 17) God the Son descended into her virginal womb as the New Adam into His terrestrial paradise, to take His pleasure there, and to work in secret marvels of grace. (T.D., no. 18)
God allowed Himself to be carried in the womb of a humble woman. His magnificence was hidden from all earthly creatures and revealed only to Mary. St. Louis De Montfort is very clear about this when he tells us
God made Man found His liberty in seeing Himself imprisoned in her womb. He made his omnipotence shine forth in letting Himself be carried by that humble maiden. He found His glory and His Father’s in hiding His splendors from all creatures here below, and revealing them to Mary only. He glorified His independence and His majesty in depending on that sweet Virgin in His conception, in His birth, in His presentation in the temple, in His hidden life of thirty years, and even in His death, where she was to be present in order that He might make with her but one same sacrifice and be immolated to the Eternal Father by her consent, just as Issac of old was offered by Abraham’s consent to the will of God. It is she who nourished Him, supported Him, brought Him up and then sacrificed Him for us. (T.D., no. 18)
St. Louis De Montfort goes on to tell us that by submission to His Mother, Jesus gave more glory to His Father during those thirty years of His hidden life on earth than He would’ve given Him by working the most astounding miracles that would’ve resulted in a worldwide conversion. Can we even wrap our minds around this concept? And he tells us that when we submit ourselves to Mary, we glorify God, with Jesus Christ as our perfect role model or “sole Exemplar.” We find further insight here:
Oh, admirable and incomprehensible dependence of God, which the Holy Ghost could not pass over in silence in the Gospel, although He has hidden from us nearly all the admirable things which the Incarnate Wisdom did in His hidden life—as if He would enable us, by His revelation of that at least, to understand something of its excellence and infinite glory! (T.D., no. 18)
How many of us truly know and understand that it was the Blessed Lord’s will to have His miracles begin with Mary? For instance, we may consider the sanctification of St. John in St. Elizabeth’s womb by Mary’s word. This was the Lord’s first miracle of grace. And then we examine the marriage of Cana, where Jesus changed the water into wine after Mary had expressed her concern to Him that the wine had run out. This was His first miracle of nature. Throughout the Blessed Lord’s life, He continued performing His miracles by Mary, and that will not change; He will continue to do so until the end of time.
This next point is absolutely crucial to accept and understand before we can move on to anything else: When the Holy Spirit finds Mary in any soul, He flies there. The extent of His mighty presence in a soul, which produces Jesus Christ in that soul and that soul in Jesus Christ, is determined by how much that soul has found Mary. St. Louis De Montfort is not suggesting that the Holy Spirit needs Mary in order to be fruitful. But instead he is saying
the Holy Ghost chose to make use of our Blessed Lady, though He had no absolute need of her, to bring His fruitfulness into action, by producing in her and by her Jesus Christ and His members—a mystery of grace unknown to even the wisest and most spiritual among Christians. (T.D., no. 21)
1 thought on “Necessity of Devotion to Mary”
That last point makes me think of a locket that starts out empty–then if you open the little door and insert the image of Mary, the Holy Spirit comes through the door to join her, and the image of Jesus appears.