Last post until the New Year…

Dear readers,

Today I will be leaving home to embark on a 5 week trip around Europe. I was hoping to post part 2 of the last article, but I simply haven’t had the time.

Please pray that I, and those with whom I travel, may be safe. I will be arriving in Paris in approximately 30 hours.

From Paris I will be travelling to Italy, Portugal, Germany, Hungary, and most likely, Poland.

I will not forget to pray for the readers of “Littlest Souls”, asking Mary, the Mother of Mercy, to draw you, and many other souls, to the Heart of her Beloved Son. Be a “little soul” and all will go well for you.

Jesus to St. Mechtilde: “I, who am the Creator of the Universe, need no reward, but you yourself are My reward since My Heavenly Father has given you to Me to be My spouse and My child.”

St. Mechtilde: “Why, most loving Lord, do you act thus towards me, who have nothing of good in me?”

Jesus: “Because of My Goodness, because I have placed the delights of My heart in you.”

Pax Domine!

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St. Mechtilde: Some Anecdotes

St. Mechtilde is one of my favourite Saints. What I admire most about her, apart from her great charity, is her bold confidence in Almighty God. She expected everything from Him. He was ever in her heart, and she was ever in His.

Earlier today, the thought came to me to read some of the beautiful revelations that were given to St. Mechtilde. How consoled I was.

Later, it came to my attention that today is the Feast Day of St. Mechtilde! It is in gratitude to St. Mechtilde, therefore, that I dedicate this post.

Some Anecdotes from the Life of St. Mechtilde

+ “It was thought by those present at her birth that she was coming into this world only to leave it, and she was taken in great haste to be baptized by the priest who was about to celebrate Mass, probably, from this circumstance, in the castle and chaplain of the family. He was a man of remarkable holiness, and after he had performed the ceremony he turned to those around who trembled for the infant’s life and said:

“Why are you afraid? this child will not die, but will become a holy nun in whom God will work great marvels, and she will finish the days of her life in a good old age.”

+ “Another time this same Saint being in via said to our Lord in a spirit of great abasement: “The greatest of Thy miracles Lord I consider to be that the earth bears the weight of so great a sinner” and our Lord, who loves to exalt the humble, replied:

“Willingly may the earth bear thee, when the whole dignity of heaven expects with immense exultation that most joyful hour when the honour of bearing thee shall be given it.”

+ “…all her holiness, her zeal for the Work of God, and her union with Him, she had her very human difficulties; once during the ceremonies of a Solemn Mass she gave way to sloth and sleepiness, and afterwards being much ashamed of herself she bewailed her negligence with sorrow to God, who answered her:

“If you found nothing to displease you in yourself, in what would you recognise My goodness?”

And surely the little faults of so great a Saint are a great encouragement to us; they put her more within reach of our imitation, and draw our attention to that spiritual teaching which assures us that perfection and holiness are not always synonymous.”

+ And she said to Him: “O Lord, God who art the unfailing Truth, Thou hast deigned to declare to me, unworthy though I am, that Thou wilt increase Thy delights in us and our love for Thee, how then is it that some of us complain today of feeling more cold in our love towards Thee?”

He answered:

“I am He who contains in Myself all good things and I distribute them in their due time to each one as is best for him.”

+ “What thanksgiving can be rendered to Thee, only sweetness, for that wound of love which Thou didst receive on the cross for man, when love pierced Thy most sweet Heart with the dart of unconquerable love, whence flowed for our salvation water and blood: and thus, vanquished by the greatness of Thy love for Thy Spouse, Thou didst die a death of love?”

And the Lord answered:

“That a man should conform his entire will to Mine; and that My will should content him in and above everything.”

References

1. To read her Life and Revelations (from which the anecdotes are taken):  https://archive.org/details/lifeofstmechtild00rome
2. To read some of her incredible prayers (and those of St. Gertrude, whose Feast Day was three days ago): https://archive.org/details/PrecesGertrudianae (Speaking of this book, Servant of God Fr. Paul of Moll said: “Of all prayer books, this is the most beautiful.”)

St. Mechtilde, pray for us!

St. Gertrude, pray for us!

Our Lady Comforts Her Children at the Moment of Death

The Necessity of Devotion to Our Lady

The more one reads about what the Church has to say about Our Lady, the harder it is to disagree with the consensus of the Saints, namely, that a tender love of Mary is a true indication that one loves and is loved by God.

“Many have proved invincibly, from the sentiments of the Fathers – among others: St. Augustine, St. Ephrem, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Damascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas, and St. Bonaventure – that devotion to Our Most Blessed Virgin is necessary for salvation [true devotion consists in charity], and that it is an infallible mark of reprobation to have no esteem or love for the Holy Virgin while, on the other hand, it is an infallible mark of predestination to be entirely and truly devoted to her. The figures and words of the Old and New Testaments prove this. The sentiments and examples of the Saints confirm it. Reason and experience teach and demonstrate it. Even the Devil and his crew, constrained by the force of truth, have often been obliged to avow it in spite of themselves.”

St. Louis de Montfort

Mary Protects the Mystical Body of her Son

Many perish because they are led into heresy. Devotion to Mary is a safeguard against heresy. Our Lady protected Our Lord, so you can be certain that she will not abandon His Mystical Body, the Church, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

“Follow her and you cannot go wrong, says St. Bernard. There is no danger of a true child of Mary being led astray by the devil and falling into heresy.”

– St. Louis de Montfort

Like us, Mary is an instrument of God’s Blessings

Jesus uses the members of His Mystical Body, the Church, as channels for His grace. This should be obvious enough; look at the Saints. Mary is simply the channel of grace par excellence. To draw near to Mary, therefore, is to draw near to her Son, her All. He lives in and through her without restraint; she offers her Son no resistance; she is perfectly docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. “Fiat voluntas tua!” (“Thy Will be done” – Mt. 6:10).

Mary leads us to her Son

All those who love Mary come to love her Son. This is because Mary’s will is God’s will; her entire life and being is fixed on God, her All. “Where Mary is, there is the Son!” (St. Paul of the Cross). She cannot fail to lead us to Him. If you think the Saints led many souls to God, look at Mary and what the Saints say about her!

“She is the mediator between us and Christ, just as Christ is the mediator between us and God.”

– St. Bonaventure

Our Lady appears to her children at the hour of death

When death comes, God will judge us as He finds us. If we stay close to Mary, she will take special care of us; she will do everything in her power to ensure that we are led safely to Jesus.

Our Lady has appeared to many Saints and holy souls throughout the centuries – and even to great sinners. And her message is always the same. She reminds us that there is an abyss of love and mercy for us if we will take her hand and approach God with confidence. In her great love for us, her children, she has promised to protect us, or even appear to us at the moment of death if only we serve her faithfully (cf. the Three Hail Marys devotion). And how do we serve her? “Stay close to my Son,” she said to one Saint. In a word, we must love Jesus and let Him act in and through us. “Fiat voluntas tua!”

“I will, as a most loving mother, without fail be present at the death of all those who piously and holily serve me, and will console and protect them.”

– Our Lady to St. Mechtilde

You can be sure that Jesus will be there with her!