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From True
Devotion To the Blessed Virgin Mary, No. 152-164
This devotion is
a smooth, short, perfect and sure way of attaining union with our Lord,
in which Christian perfection consists. (a) This devotion is a smooth
way. It is the path which Jesus Christ opened up in coming to us and in
which there is no obstruction to prevent us reaching him. It is quite
true that we can attain to divine union by other roads, but these
involve many more crosses and exceptional setbacks and many
difficulties that we cannot easily overcome. (b) This devotion is a
short way to discover Jesus, either because it is a road we do not
wander from, or because, as we have just said, we walk along this road
with greater ease and joy, and consequently with greater speed. We
advance more in a brief period of submission to Mary and dependence on
her than in whole years of self-will and self-reliance. (c) This
devotion is a perfect way to reach our Lord and be united to him, for
Mary is the most perfect and the most holy of all creatures, and Jesus,
who came to us in a perfect manner, chose no other road for his great
and wonderful journey. The Most High, the Incomprehensible One, the
Inaccessible One, He who is, deigned to come down to us poor earthly
creatures who are nothing at all. How was this done? The Most High God
came down to us in a perfect way through the humble Virgin Mary,
without losing anything of his divinity or holiness. It is likewise
through Mary that we poor creatures must ascend to almighty God in a
perfect manner without having anything to fear.(d) This devotion to our
Lady is a sure way to go to Jesus and to acquire holiness through union
with him. The devotion which I teach is not new. Indeed it could not be
condemned without overthrowing the foundations of Christianity. It is
obvious then that this devotion is not new. If it is not commonly
practised, the reason is that it is too sublime to be appreciated and
undertaken by everyone. This devotion is a safe means of going to Jesus
Christ, because it is Mary's role to lead us safely to her Son.
Prayers for the Second Week
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