The true lovers of Jesus and Mary are
the saints. They are now in heaven for
all eternity praising God forever with the Queen of all saints--- the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
The saints can teach us how to love
Jesus through our love, devotion and confidence in Mary. Mary does not distance
us from God. On the contrary she brings us closer to God. In fact the last
recorded words of Mary in the Bible were “Do
whatever He tells you.” (Jn. 2:5) The best advice ever! If only all we would heed and obey these
words of wisdom, taught to us by Mary, “The
Seat of Wisdom”.
Following are five explosive
expressions of the saints in their ardent love for Mary. The “Marian phrase” will be quoted and a
short explanation. With Blessed Pope John
Paul II let us give all to Jesus through Mary. “Totus Tuus, Ego Sum…”
1.
ST. FAUSTINA AND OUR LADY OF
MERCY. St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote a
Marian classic “The Glories of Mary”.
This great Doctor of the Church states that in God there is a harmonious
integration of justice and mercy. However, Mary is pure MERCY. As such we pray in the Hail Holy Queen, “Hail Holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life,
our sweetness and our hope…” Equally important in the Diary of Divine
Mercy, Saint Faustina extols God’s mercy as well as Mary’s role in the
dispensation of God’s mercy. Let us read, meditate and pray…
“To give worthy praise to the Lord’s mercy, we unite ourselves with Your
Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to you, because she
is chosen from among men and angels. Through her, as though a pure crystal, your
mercy was passed on to us. Through her, man became pleasing to God; Through her,
streams of grace flowed upon us.” (Diary of Mercy in my
soul # 1746).
2.
ST. JOHN MARIE VIANNEY—THE CURE OF
ARS. The devil tricked Adam and Eve
resulting in Original Sin. The devil is out on the prowl to tempt, trip and
enslave all of us until our last breath. However, if we have recourse to Mary
the devil will take to flight and victory is ours. Listen to the advice of the
Cure of Ars.
“If you invoke the Blessed Virgin when you are tempted, she will come at
once to your help, and Satan will leave you.”
3.
BLESSED MOTHER TERESA OF
CALCUTTA. Have you ever felt worried,
tired, tense, and stressed out in life? Why not turn to Mary and invoke her
sweet name. Let us concentrate on the
advice of a modern saint---Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta----
“If you ever feel distressed during your day--- call upon our Lady---
just say this simple prayer: “Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a mother to me
now.” I must admit--- this prayer has never failed me.”
4.
SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE. Another modern Marian saint is St. Maximilian
Kolbe. As a child Our Lady appeared to him offering him a choice of a red crown
or a white. He chose both; the white a life of consecration in the Religious
life and purity; the red which prophesied the shedding of his death as a
martyr. Kolbe warns us not to fight against the devil alone, but to have
recourse to Mary. Ears open now to hear
Kolbe!
“The conflict with Hell cannot be
maintained by men, even the most clever. The Immaculata alone has from God the
promise of victory over Satan.”
5.
SAINT ALPHONSUS MARIA LIGUORI. The greatest virtue that can be cultivated
in the human heart is that of charity. Charity is a supernatural love for God
and neighbor. The saints and angels have
an ardent love for both God and neighbor. However, neither the greatest angel
in heaven or the most passionate love of the greatest saint on earth can even
come close to the immense, ardent, passionate, and constant love that burned in
the Immaculate, most pure and merciful Heart of Mary the Mother of God, the
Mother of the Church and our tender and loving Mother. Saint Alphonsus
expresses in the most ardent of words the ineffable love that burned in the
Heart of Mary. Let us pray that Mary will share at least a spark of this love
to ignite our tepid, lukewarm and cold hearts!!!!
“Think of what the saints have done for their neighbor because they loved
God. But what Saint’s love for God can match Mary’s? She loved Him more in the
first moment of her existence than all the Saints and angels ever loved Him or
will love Him. Our Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire
of her love was most extreme. If Heaven and earth were placed in it, they would
be instantly consumed. And the ardors of the seraphim, compared with it, are
like cool breezes. Just as there is not among all the Blessed who loves God as
Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most
loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love of all that
mothers that have children, all the love of the husbands and wives, all the
love the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary’s love
for even a single soul.”
Mary is the Queen of the angels,
Queen of the Martyrs, Queen of Virgins, Queen of Confessors, the Queen beauty
of Carmel, and she is the Queen of all the saints. One of the favorite Marian expressions of
St. Louis de Montfort is Mary, Queen of all hearts.
In our lives, full of so many
temptations, trials, dangers, fears, insecurities and uncertainties, may we
find a sure refuge, haven, oasis, and home in two places, in two Hearts--- the
Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in the most Sacred heart of Our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
