“Think of My Mother, whom I have given to be your mother also.” – Jesus to Sr. Mary of the Trinity
“On Calvary, Jesus gave me all men for my sons; come then, for you are my child… O how I love to think of Him as He bequeathed those souls to me.” – Our Lady to Sr. Josefa Menendez
“It was there, at the foot of the Cross, that Mary saw My Church born, that she accepted in her heart in the person of St. John all the priests in place of Me, and further, to be the Mother of all mankind” – Jesus to Conchita (Diary, April 8, 1928).
And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (Luke 1:28)
Do you have a devotion to Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary? If not, you MUST read this article. Even if you have some devotion to Mary, you must know the truths contained within this article, which pertain to your salvation, and which will bring you lasting joy, peace and love!
Many- if not most- misunderstand devotion to Mary. The Catholic Church, which was established by Christ and which has produced thousands of saints (both canonized ~ St. ~ and not canonized), has always preached the importance (nay, necessity) of devotion to Mary. Every saint was devoted to Mary. This article should give us some understanding of why.
Scriptures about Mary
I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations. They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst. He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. (Ecclesiasticus 24: 24-31)
For she is an infinite treasure to men. They who use this treasure become the friends of God. (Wisdom 7:14)
Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon earth . . . because He hath so magnified thy name that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord forever . . . Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, the joy of Israel, the honor of our people . . . and therefore thou shalt be blessed forever! (Judith 13:23, 25; 15:10,11)
Her children rose up and called her blessed. (Proverbs 31:28)
For behold: from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed . . . who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (St. Luke 1:48; St. John 1:13)
The Mother of all the living. (Genesis 3:20)
This Man and that man is born in her . . . This is the Gate of the Lord: the just shall enter into it. (Psalm 86:5; 117:20)
God loves those who love her. (Ecclesiasticus 4:15)
Devotion to Mary is a Great Sign of Predestination
*Firstly, let me say that God predestines no one to Hell; God desires that all men be saved (1 Timothy 2:4); and He grants sufficient graces for salvation to all.
“Devotion of My Rosary is a great sign of predestination.” – Our Lady to St. Dominic
“… to love thee is a great sign of predestination and a grace which God does not grant except to those whom He will save.” – St. Alphonsus Liguori
“Devotion to Mary is a sure sign of predestination to him who possesses it.” – Bl. Alan de la Roche
“Mary is the Mysterious Book of Predestination to glory.” – St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
“I have no better way of knowing if a man is for God than if he likes to say the Hail Mary and the Rosary.” – St. Louis de Montfort
“If you persevere until death in true devotion to Mary, your salvation is certain.” – St. Alphonsus
“The sign of those who will be saved consists in this: that they have a great devotion to Mary in their hearts.” – St. John of Avila
“I believe that devotion to thee, O Lady, is a certain sign of eternal salvation.” – St. Gabriel of the Most Sorrowful Virgin
“Love of Mary and devotion to her are a sure sign of obtaining eternal salvation.” – St. Bernard
“O Mother of Perpetual Help, confidence in thee is a certain pledge of everlasting salvation.” – Bl. Pope Pius IX
“Just as in the natural and corporal generation of children there are a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there are a Father, who is God, and a Mother, who is Mary. All the true children of God, the predestinate, have God for their Father and Mary for their Mother. He who has not Mary for his Mother has not God for his Father. This is the reason why the reprobate, such as heretics, schismatics and others , who hate our Blessed Lady or regard her with contempt and indifference, have not God for their Father, however much they boast of it, simply because they have not Mary for their Mother. For if they had her for their Mother, they would love and honour her as a true child naturally loves and honours the mother who has given him life.” – St. Louis de Montfort
Our Lady: Mother of Mercy
St. Bridget once heard Jesus say to Mary in a vision, “Ask of Me what Thou wilt. As Thou didst refuse Me nothing on earth, so I will refuse Thee nothing in Heaven.”
“No sinner, howsoever great and abominable he might be, shall be excluded from redemption and justification, nor shall he fail to attain eternal life, if he invoke the intercession of this powerful Lady and Advocate.” – Ven. Mary of Agreda
In the book, The Mystical City of God, revelations to Venerable Mary of Agreda, Spain, in the 1600’s, it says, a little before the Ascension of Christ, Mary had a vision of the Holy Trinity amid the choirs of angels and saints. Mary of Agreda heard the three Divine Persons, addressing the choir of holy angels and the saints, saying: “This is the Queen of all created things in Heaven and earth; (Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever … The Queen stood on Thy right, in gilded clothing,” Ps. 44:7,10), She is the Protectress of the Church, the Mistress of creatures, the Mother of piety, the Intercessor of the faithful, the Advocate of sinners, the Mother of beautiful love and holy hope; She is mighty in drawing Our will to mercy and clemency. In her shall be deposited the treasures of Our grace and Her most faithful heart shall be the tablet whereon shall be written and engraved Our holy law. In Her are contained the mysteries of Our Omnipotence for the salvation of mankind. She is the perfect work of Our hands, (One is My dove, My perfect one is but one … The daughters saw Her, and declared Her most blessed … Cant. 6:8), through whom the plenitude of Our desires shall be communicated and satisfied without hindrance in the currents of Our divine perfections. Whoever shall call upon her from his heart shall not perish; whoever shall obtain her intercession shall secure for himself eternal life. What she asks of us, shall be granted, and we shall always hear Her requests and fulfil Her will; for She consecrated Herself perfectly to what pleases us.”
“However great a sinner may have been, if he shows himself devout to Mary he will never perish.” – St. Hilary of Poitiers (Our Lady herself confirmed these words to St. Bridget)
“He who is faithful in the service of Mary will certainly be saved . . . There is no one, however wicked, whom Marydoes not save by her intercession when she wishes . . . He who has recourse to Mary shall be saved.” – St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori
“No one, not even a sinner, who devoutly recommends himself to her shall ever become the prey of Hell.” – St. Catherine of Siena
“He who is devout to the Virgin Mother will certainly never be lost.” – St. Irenaeus
“Not a single soul who has really persevered in her service has ever been damned.” – St. Louis Marie de Montfort
“Mary is the Mother of those who live by grace, as Eve is the mother of those who die according to nature.” – St. Peter Chrysologus
Miscellaneous Quotes
“He who remembers having invoked the name of Mary in an impure temptation, may be sure that he did not yield to it.” – St. Alphonsus
“When the devil wishes to make himself master of a soul, he seeks to make it give up devotion to Mary.” – St. Alphonsus
“Know that of all devotions the most pleasing to Mary is to have frequent recourse to her, asking for favours.” – St. Alphonsus
“Of all prayers the Rosary is the most beautiful and the richest in graces; of all it is the one which is most pleasing to Mary, the Virgin Most Holy. Therefore, love the Rosary and recite it every day with devotion: this is the testament which I leave unto you so that you may remember me by it.” – St. Pope Pius X
“The salvation of the whole world began with the ‘Hail Mary.’ Hence, the salvation of each person is also attached to this prayer.” – St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
“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 ardours of the seraphim, compared with it, are like cool breezes. Just as there is not one 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 that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul.” – Saint Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary
“According to St. Bonaventure, all the angels in heaven unceasingly call out to her: “Holy, holy, holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God.” They greet her countless times each day with the angelic greeting, “Hail, Mary”, while prostrating themselves before her, begging her as a favour to honour them with one of her requests. According to St. Augustine, even St. Michael, though prince of all the heavenly court, is the most eager of all the angels to honour her and lead others to honour her. At all times he awaits the privilege of going at her word to the aid of one of her servants.” – St. Louis Marie de Montfort
“Let those who think that the Church pays too much attention to Mary give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord Himself gave ten times as much of His life to her as He gave to His Apostles.” – Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Littlest Souls 