Meditation 85
THE HEART OF MARY
THE HEART OF MARY
1. A Well-Spring of Actual Graces.
Let us go deeper into this subject until we are persuaded that we must profess devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You remember the promises that the Sacred Heart of Jesus has made in favor of His devotees. They may be arranged in three groups: 1, actual graces; 2, sanctifying grace; 3, final grace, namely that of reaching the possession of God in Heaven.
All souls, even the holiest ones, stand in need of those divine helps which are called actual graces, since indeed without them no meritorious act can be done, no supernatural act can be performed. These actual graces are a loving present proffered by the divine bounty. Man does not deserve them but God gives them abundantly and generously.
The source whence they spring is the Sacred Heart of Jesus who in this manner shows us the love He has for us. But the channel through which they flow into our heart is always Our Blessed Lady in whose most Pure Heart all those graces are stored like waters in a reservoir. Thence they flow to us. Do you now see where you will find those graces? Do not go to the throne of justice because nothing is due to you out of justice. Go to the throne of bounty and mercy of the very Heart of God. But which is that throne, where is it to be found? Nowhere elce save in the Most Pure Heart of Mary Our Beloved Mother.
It all, then, depends on you. You have the final word in the seeking out of that well-spring, in the approaching of this reservoir to draw from it those graces which you need and which God is most desirous to grant. In fact He does on a thousand occasions grant them to you even at times before you ask for them.
But now meditate on this one point. God always grants you sufficient actual graces according to your state and condition so that nothing is left undone on His part in order that you may save your soul and sanctify yourself. But it depends exclusively upon you whether you do so or whether you choose to harden yourself in sin, thus choosing your own condemnation. You yourself by your behavior, by your correspondence to grace, render those graces efficacious or inefficacious, useful or even totally useless. All this depends exclusively upon you. To you alone will one day be imputed your falls and faults. From you only will a strict account be demanded about the right or wrong use, the esteem or contempt of those graces. Will you, then, not turn to useful and efficacious count those graces which God gives you?
The chief interest of this devotion derives from these consideration. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Heart of Mary becomes easier. If you know how to get inside these two Hearts your soul will benefit incalculably. You should not fail to notice how in the promises of the Sacred Heart, the array of graces and favors promised is so abundant and so manifold that one might almost say that the Sacred Heart of Jesus wants to make sure that we profit to the utmost from this devotion.
There are promises for the sinners, even for the most hardened ones, for the tepid and cold, for the fervent striving after sanctity, for laymen, for religious, for religious communities, for individuals, families, nations, priests and apostles: to all an abundant shower of graces is promised; and above all, the efficacy of those graces is guaranteed.
Jesus will see to it that for His devotees these graces are not useless and void. Is there anything else you can think of, of more importance, or of greater interest for your soul? Why have you not embraced this true and solid devotion with all your might? Beg from the Heart of Our Lady to teach you how to know and love the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
Let us go deeper into this subject until we are persuaded that we must profess devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You remember the promises that the Sacred Heart of Jesus has made in favor of His devotees. They may be arranged in three groups: 1, actual graces; 2, sanctifying grace; 3, final grace, namely that of reaching the possession of God in Heaven.
All souls, even the holiest ones, stand in need of those divine helps which are called actual graces, since indeed without them no meritorious act can be done, no supernatural act can be performed. These actual graces are a loving present proffered by the divine bounty. Man does not deserve them but God gives them abundantly and generously.
The source whence they spring is the Sacred Heart of Jesus who in this manner shows us the love He has for us. But the channel through which they flow into our heart is always Our Blessed Lady in whose most Pure Heart all those graces are stored like waters in a reservoir. Thence they flow to us. Do you now see where you will find those graces? Do not go to the throne of justice because nothing is due to you out of justice. Go to the throne of bounty and mercy of the very Heart of God. But which is that throne, where is it to be found? Nowhere elce save in the Most Pure Heart of Mary Our Beloved Mother.
It all, then, depends on you. You have the final word in the seeking out of that well-spring, in the approaching of this reservoir to draw from it those graces which you need and which God is most desirous to grant. In fact He does on a thousand occasions grant them to you even at times before you ask for them.
But now meditate on this one point. God always grants you sufficient actual graces according to your state and condition so that nothing is left undone on His part in order that you may save your soul and sanctify yourself. But it depends exclusively upon you whether you do so or whether you choose to harden yourself in sin, thus choosing your own condemnation. You yourself by your behavior, by your correspondence to grace, render those graces efficacious or inefficacious, useful or even totally useless. All this depends exclusively upon you. To you alone will one day be imputed your falls and faults. From you only will a strict account be demanded about the right or wrong use, the esteem or contempt of those graces. Will you, then, not turn to useful and efficacious count those graces which God gives you?
The chief interest of this devotion derives from these consideration. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Heart of Mary becomes easier. If you know how to get inside these two Hearts your soul will benefit incalculably. You should not fail to notice how in the promises of the Sacred Heart, the array of graces and favors promised is so abundant and so manifold that one might almost say that the Sacred Heart of Jesus wants to make sure that we profit to the utmost from this devotion.
There are promises for the sinners, even for the most hardened ones, for the tepid and cold, for the fervent striving after sanctity, for laymen, for religious, for religious communities, for individuals, families, nations, priests and apostles: to all an abundant shower of graces is promised; and above all, the efficacy of those graces is guaranteed.
Jesus will see to it that for His devotees these graces are not useless and void. Is there anything else you can think of, of more importance, or of greater interest for your soul? Why have you not embraced this true and solid devotion with all your might? Beg from the Heart of Our Lady to teach you how to know and love the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
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