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JMJ
Consideration: Discernment of the True Devotion to Our Blessed Mother (I)
by St. Louis Marie de Montfort
Jesus Christ Our Savior, true God and true Man, ought to be the last end of all our devotions, else they are false and delusive... Jesus Christ is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end (Isaias 41.4; Apocalypse 1.17; 22.13], of all things... It is in Him alone that the whole plenitude of the divinity dwells, together with all the other plenitude of graces, virtues, and perfections; because it is in Him alone that we been blessed with all spiritual benediction; and because He is our only Master, Who has to teach us; our only Lord, on Whom we ought to depend; our only Head, to Whom we must belong [as Its Body]; our only Model, to Whom we should conform ourselves; our only Physician, Who can heal us [especially our spiritual infirmities]; our only Shepherd, Who can feed us [with His Flesh and Blood in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, our heavenly food giving us eternal life]; our only Way, who can lead us; our only Truth; our only Life, Who can animate us; and our only All in all things, who can suffice us. There has been no other name given under heaven, except the name of Jesus, by which we can be saved. God has laid no other foundation of our salvation, of our perfection, and of our glory, except, Jesus Christ. Every building which is not built upon that firm rock is founded upon the moving sand, and sooner or later will fall infallibly. Every of the faithful who is united to Him, as a branch to the stock of the vine, shall fall, shall wither, and shall be fit only to cast into the fire....
If, then, we establish the solid devotion to Our Blessed Mother, it is only to establish more perfectly the devotion to Jesus Christ, and to put forward an easy and secure means for finding Our Lord Jesus Christ. [And if, then, we establish the solid devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel - of which the Scapular is the sign of our consecration - which the Most Blessed Trinity requests of us at Fatima, Portugal, it is only to establish more perfectly the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord]. If devotion to our Blessed Mother removed us from Jesus Christ, we should have to reject it as an illusion of the devil; but on the contrary, so far from this being the case, there is nothing which makes devotion to Our Blessed Mother more necessary for us... than that it is the means of finding our Lord Jesus Christ perfectly, of loving Him tenderly, and of serving Him faithfully.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Head [Ephesians 1.22; 5.23] wished to form Himself, and so to speak, to incarnate Himself, every day in His members. He speaks through His Apostle St. Paul: My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you (Epistle to the Galatians, 4.19) so that we may exclaim with the same Holy Apostle: And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me (Epistle to the Galatians, 2.20) - the goal or purpose of the whole of our Christian Spiritual Life. But He wishes to form Himself in us through our dear Mother. He said to Her: This man and that man is born in her (Psalms 86.5, chapter and verse follow the Sacred Latin Vulgate Bible). According to the explanation of some of the Church Fathers, the first man that is born of Mary is the God-Man, Jesus Christ; the second is a mere man, the child of God and Mary by adoption. If Jesus Christ the Head of the Church is born in Her, the predestinate, who are the members of that Head, ought also to be born in Her by necessary consequence. One and the same mother does not bring forth into the world the head without the members, nor the members without the head; for this would be a monster of nature. So in like manner, in the order of grace, the Head and the members are born of the same Mother; otherwise, he would not be one of the predestinate, nor a member of Jesus Christ, but simply a monster in the order of grace.
Besides this, Our Lord being at present as much as ever the Fruit of Mary - as heaven and earth repeat thousands and thousands of times a day, "And blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus" - it is certain that Our Lord is, for each man in particular who possess Him, as truly the fruit if the womb of Mary, as He is for the whole world in general; so that if any one of the faithful has Jesus Christ formed in his heart [see our considerations for the Fifth and Sixth Days of Novena: "Jesus Christ, the Ideal of True Christian Virtue"], he can boldly, All thanks be to Mary! what I possess is Her effect and Her fruit, and without Her I should never have had it. St. Augustine... affirms that all the predestinate, in order to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, are in this world hidden in the womb of the most holy Virgin; where they are guarded, nourished, brought up, and made to grow by that good Mother until She has brought them forth to glory after death, which is properly the day of their birth, as the Church calls the death of the just.
... [It is] particularly at the end of the world, and indeed presently [see our post "The Great Sign in Heaven"], because the Most High with His holy Mother has to form for Himself great Saints, who shall surpass most of the other Saints in sanctity, as much as the cedars of Lebanon outgrow the little shrubs... These great souls, full of grace and zeal, shall be chosen to match themselves against the enemies of God, who shall rage on all sides; and they shall be singularly devout to our Blessed Mother, illuminated by Her light, nourished by Her milk, led by Her spirit, supported by Her arm, and sheltered under her [Scapular], so that they shall fight with one hand and build with another. With one hand they shall fight, overthrow, and crush the heretics with their heresies, the schismatics with their schisms, the idolaters with their idols, and the sinners with their impieties. With the other hand they shall build the temple of the true Solomon, and the mystical city of God... By their words and examples, they shall bend the whole world to true devotion to Our Blessed Mother [especially through Her Scapular and Her Rosary]. This shall bring upon them many enemies; but it shall also bring many victories and much glory for God alone.
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and
kindle in them the fire of Thine love. Send forth Thy
Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shall renew the
face of the earth.
O God, you instructed the hearts of the faithful by the
light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us by the same Spirit to be
truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Novena Prayer
“Flos Carmeli” by St. Simon Stock
Flos Carmeli Flower of Carmel
Vitis florigera Vine blossom-laden
Splendor Coeli Splendor of Heaven
Virgo puerpera Child-bearing Virgin
Singularis! None equals thee
Mater mitis Mother benign
Sed viri nescia Who no man didst know
Carmelitis On Carmel’s children
Da privilegia Thy favors bestow
Stella Maris! Star of the Sea
(Mention your petitions here.)
Concluding Prayers
Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. Show me herein that you are my Mother.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause into you hands.
There are none that can withstand Your power.
O Mary, help of Christians, you assured us that wearing your Scapular worthily would keep us safe from harm. Protect us in both body and soul with your continual aid. May all that we do be pleasing to your Son and to you.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Our Father..., Hail Mary..., Glory be...
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.
The Litany of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world...
God the Holy Ghost...
Holy Trinity, One God...
Holy Mary, pray for us sinners.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of heaven...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of heaven...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Vanquisher of Satan...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Dutiful Daughter...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Pure Virgin...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Devoted Spouse...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Tender Mother...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Perfect Model of Virtue...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sure Anchor of Hope...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Refuge in affliction...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Dispensatrix of God's gifts...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Tower of strength against our foes...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our aid in danger...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Road leading to Jesus...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our light in darkness...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our consolation at the hour of death...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Advocate of the most abandoned sinners...
For those hardened in vice,
with confidence we come to thee O Lady of Mount Carmel.
For those who grieve thy Son...
For those who neglect to pray...
For those who are in their agony...
For those who delay their conversion...
For those suffering in Purgatory...
For those who know thee not...
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Hope of the Despairing
Intercede for us with thy Divine Son.
(Let Us Pray)
(Let Us Pray)
O God, who has honored the Order of Carmel with the
special title of thy Blessed Mother Mary, ever Virgin,
grant in thy mercy that we who keep her memory this day
may be shielded by her protection and be found worthy
to attain unto joy eternal. Who livest and reignest with
God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God,
world without end. Amen.
Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively
confidence in your all-powerful and never failing
intercession, manifested so often through the Scapular, we
your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain
for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if
they be beneficial to our immortal soul, and the souls
which we pray.
You know, O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, our Immaculate Mother
and Queen of Carmel, how often our souls have been the
sanctuaries of your Son Who disdains iniquity. Obtain for
us then a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which
will attach us to God alone so that our every thought,
word, and deed, may tend to his greater glory.
Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we
may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at
length attain to that blessed abode where you are Queen of
angels and of people. Amen.
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