THE HEART OF MARY
2. Sanctifying Grace.
A consequence of the foregoing is that all actual graces rendered efficacious by this devotion will necessarily bring about a phenomenal increase of spiritual life, namely of sanctifying grace.
We have already considered something of this; but we can never dwell on it too much. Keep in mind that this sanctifying grace is a rich treasure, in fact the life of your soul. It is your capital, your personal fortune, the only one you will really possess, the only one worthwhile, the only one which one day will accompany you before the judgment seat of God. God granted you His first grace at holy baptism. It was, at it were, the initial capital that God invested in your soul and which He entrusted to your administration. He wanted that through your good works and especially through the loving reception of His holy sacraments you should enhance and increase it. But what have you done with that capital? Has it grown in your heart? Is it frozen, dissipated, lost, or inactive? Happy you are if it is yielding an ever mounting interest. But most unhappy if it is not. Devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary ensures life and growth in your soul. The fundamental practice of this devotion is love, a pure exercise of the love of God, and it is precisely the love of God that keeps, fosters and increases grace in our souls. St. Catherine pointed out that if one drop of the love of God fell into hell, hell would instantly be transformed into heaven and all the devils immediately changed again into angels. If this be so, what wonders will the practice of love work in a soul? And as the devotion to the Heart of Jesus is naught but the practice of love, is there any wonder that His precious promises are fulfilled? A man dying of asphyxia is restored by establishing again the rhythmical movements of his breathing. In the case of heart trouble an injection is given which quickens and stimulates the beating of the heart which otherwise might fail. This is what the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus does with us. It injects into us the love of God. It restores the breathing, the pulsation, the life of our soul by restoring in it the exercise of the love of God. That is why sinner there find pardon while the just find sanctification.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
A consequence of the foregoing is that all actual graces rendered efficacious by this devotion will necessarily bring about a phenomenal increase of spiritual life, namely of sanctifying grace.
We have already considered something of this; but we can never dwell on it too much. Keep in mind that this sanctifying grace is a rich treasure, in fact the life of your soul. It is your capital, your personal fortune, the only one you will really possess, the only one worthwhile, the only one which one day will accompany you before the judgment seat of God. God granted you His first grace at holy baptism. It was, at it were, the initial capital that God invested in your soul and which He entrusted to your administration. He wanted that through your good works and especially through the loving reception of His holy sacraments you should enhance and increase it. But what have you done with that capital? Has it grown in your heart? Is it frozen, dissipated, lost, or inactive? Happy you are if it is yielding an ever mounting interest. But most unhappy if it is not. Devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary ensures life and growth in your soul. The fundamental practice of this devotion is love, a pure exercise of the love of God, and it is precisely the love of God that keeps, fosters and increases grace in our souls. St. Catherine pointed out that if one drop of the love of God fell into hell, hell would instantly be transformed into heaven and all the devils immediately changed again into angels. If this be so, what wonders will the practice of love work in a soul? And as the devotion to the Heart of Jesus is naught but the practice of love, is there any wonder that His precious promises are fulfilled? A man dying of asphyxia is restored by establishing again the rhythmical movements of his breathing. In the case of heart trouble an injection is given which quickens and stimulates the beating of the heart which otherwise might fail. This is what the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus does with us. It injects into us the love of God. It restores the breathing, the pulsation, the life of our soul by restoring in it the exercise of the love of God. That is why sinner there find pardon while the just find sanctification.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
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