THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

2. The Value of Virginity.
From this you can deduce what this mysterious virtue means for God and for Mary. Although without any counsel or command to follow, without either any example to guide Her, Mary seems to guess the value of virginity in God's eyes; and realizing that it gives Him pleasure and glory decides to embrace it. She could see that this virtue, unknown as it was in Her world, would not be appreciated; that, indeed, all Her companions and even Her very relations would deem Her dishonored.
She foresaw that to be a virgin would draw down on Her sorrow, reproaches, rudeness and contempt. However, She does not hesitate. God wants it, that suffices. The rest She will leave in the hands of God. What an example of detachment and generosity for us, who are always complaining, we who are so reluctant to obey that at times we even refuse Him. So half-hearted is our surrender, so calculating are we when it is a matter of making a heavy sacrifice.
But God was already preparing Her reward. God cannot be beaten in generosity. When we are generous with Him, He overwhelms us with new graces and favors. Mary thought that by that pledge She was renouncing to be the Mother of God, that as She later on told the angel the divine maternity was not possible for Her. And yet the reward of that vow of virginity was none other than that God appoints Her to be His Mother. How great is God in His rewards, but especially how generously He rewards virginity and purity. How great must be the value of this virtue when it so attracts and enamors the Heart of God!

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

For those of us who love and follow our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, here is a link to a great Blog with the same intentions:

AmericanPapist: Not Your Average Catholic!

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

Her Virginity. We might end our meditation on the Presentation of Our Lady by thinking of Her virginity, since it was on that occasion that She made Her vow of virginity to God.

1. The Vow of Virginity of Our Lady.
It is not dogmatically certain that She made this vow, for we are told only that She was a Virgin, before, during and after Her giving forth the Child Jesus. However, with many doctors and holy fathers, the Church admits that Mary chose to be united with God through this vow. Tradition tells us that She uttered this vow when She was presented in the Temple at the age of three. Contemplate that scene as best you can. Mary in the Temple, in the presence of God surrounded by choirs of admiring angels. The angels do not know what is going to happen. Yet they guess something great is about to take place, since God is all intent. Then She opens Her lips and utters Her vow of virginity. What a marvelous sight! Hear the canticles intoned by the angels in praise of this young maid. Picture God's joy on hearing that vow. Innumerable graces were poured on Our Lady, at that moment.
How many sins are committed in the world! How much He is offended, how deeply His Heart is wounded. However, the joy and complaisance of God in the vow of Mary was much greater than all the sorrow that the sins of the world could cause Him. She alone by this action gave God enough glory to cancel out all the loss of glory destroyed by sinners with their horrible sins.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

4. Your Own Life in The Temple.
Remember how Our Lord Jesus Christ once cast out from the Temple those who were profaning it. Although His goodness and kindness were so great, yet on this occasion He purified that Mansion of Prayer, the House of God, with energetic wrath and a holy, burning zeal, even taking a scourge in His hand to purify it the better.
The House of God! How well was that term understood by Our Blessed Lady! How worthily She lived it! When you are in the Temple do you also imitate Our Lady? Or do you rather imitate those who caused such displeasure to Our Lord? Have you nothing to reprove yourself with as regards your reverence towards the House of God or in your way of speaking with Him? Do you honestly try hard to fight against voluntary distractions?
Think, moreover, that there is another Temple where above all God wishes to dwell, to speak with you and to be spoken to by you. It is the Temple of your heart. He has condescended to be in those temples scattered over the earth, that He might establish His Mansion in the living temples of our souls. It is there that He achieves His communion with us. Have you mastered the art of withdrawing into the solitude of the sanctuary of your soul, there to speak with God? Do you always behave with the dignity due to the Mansion of God that you have in your heart? Derive from Mary a greater devotion to the shrine of your soul. Often visit Jesus and His churches and tabernacles; but do not forget to visit Him much oftener in the Temple of your Heart!

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

3. A Life of Labor.
Hers was a life of labor in God and for God. She had always worked for God; but now in the Temple whatever She did was to be exclusively for God. See the little maiden all intent on the cleanliness and tidiness of the things used in the temple services. What love and devotion accompanied Her work. Whatever we do for God, even when it is very small, has an immense value. There is nothing small in the service of the Almighty. Also you must learn how to raise all your labor to God so that you always grow in love and merit in His presence. Then nothing will go unrewarded.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY

continued

2. A Life of Sanctification.
The Temple is also the House of Sanctification. God led Mary there in order to prepare Her for Her high destiny: that of being the Mother of God. Later on, Jesus, before His public life, withdrew into the desert, left His house and went far away from the world in order the more intimately to contact God.

You can imagine the life of interior and external recollection which Our Lady led in the Temple. It is an image of the interior life of the soul. How fond we are of an external life! We like it and we believe that the more external works we perform, the more we move about, the more we do for God's glory. Yet a life of apostolate which is not grounded on the interior life is completely useless. God does not bless it. It yields no fruit. It is good to work for others but first, it is necessary that we work for ourselves. Ask Our Lady for a greater love of retirement, of solitude, of self-denial; pray for an increase of interior life.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

I don't agree with everything Maggie Gallagher has to say in her opinion page on Yahoo.com but today's column hit the 'nail on the head'! Here is an excerpt:

Bringing together "the two sister churches of Rome and Constantinople," the pope said, is a "very important moment in the search for Christian unity." It is, he acknowledged, a symbolic encounter, but one that "is not just empty, but is full of reality."

One of the realities the pope seeks to call to our attention is how utterly oppressed by the Turkish government this tiny flock of Orthodox Christians remains.

Too many powerful people, when they talk about the importance of defending civil liberties, really mean (as Kevin J. Hasson of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty puts it) "their favorite civil liberties." Which may be one reason why, although I was acutely aware that the government of Turkey faced sharp criticism from the West for putting novelists, historians, journalists -- and even, in one case, an archeologist with novel theories about the uses to which ancient Sumerians put headscarves -- on trial, I had not heard before of the disgraceful state of dhimmitude to which the patriarch of Constantinople and his church remain subject to this day.

George Weigel points out in Newsweek that the Turkish government closed the patriarchate's seminary in 1971 and refuses to permit it to reopen. The patriarchate is not permitted to own property, including the churches in its jurisdiction. "Turkish authorities have also confiscated houses, apartment buildings, schools, monasteries and lands that were once owned by the Ecumenical Patriarchate; the state seized the patriarchate's 36 cemeteries, which are now the property of various legal subdivisions of the city of Istanbul; and, earlier this year, the state confiscated the boys' orphanage run by the patriarchate (which is the oldest wooden building in Europe and of great historical value)," reports Weigel. The Turkish government also determines who may teach in Orthodox schools and what books they use. With considerable understatement, he adds: "No Christian community in the West would tolerate such conditions, which involve violations of basic human rights."

None of which has made news in Europe or America in the same way that oppressing academics, artists, editors or other symbolic analysts has. With Orthodox Christians amounting to less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the population, it is hard to identify a more vulnerable minority, or one with fewer influential public defenders.

Let us hope one may be enough. Just before takeoff, Benedict told reporters on the plane he begins the trip with "great trust and hope," counting on the support and prayer of many persons -- including, he said, the Turkish people, "who want peace."

"Turkey has always been a bridge between cultures, a place of meeting and dialogue," the pope said.

Like I said: a brave man.

(Readers may reach Maggie Gallagher at MaggieBox2006@yahoo.com.)

MEDITATION 16

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

The life of Our Lady in the Temple is an excellent subject for meditation, since it is the continuation of Her offering to God. We can, therefore, find in it great lessons for our own behavior.

1. A Life of Prayer.
The Temple is called the House of Prayer. Certainly we can pray to God anywhere but the Temple is a chosen place for prayer. Thus Mary not satisfied with the communion with God She can observe at home, wishes to enter the Temple where she may lead a more prayerful life. See the tender maid so pure and innocent, prostrate in the Temple praying to, speaking with, God. What intimate communication between God and Her! What a model of fervor!

Test the qualities of your own prayer in the light of this example: humility, attention, trust, perseverance. Mary at prayer is the perfect model. Kneel by Her side and compare your prayer with Hers. Is there any resemblance? Are you aware that the Temple is a House of Prayer and that you go there only to speak with God and adore Him? Do you know how to pray in the company of Our Blessed Lady?

St. Bonaventure says that Mary used to pray seven times a day and that during those prayers She used to address the following supplications to God: 1, to love Him with the whole of Her heart; 2, to love Her neighbor in God and for God; 3, to have a implacable hatred for all sin, for every imperfection; 4, to beg profound humility, together with all other virtues, especially immaculate purity; 5, to ask the grace of knowing the promised Messiah; 6, to be very obedient to the priests of the Temple as the representatives of God, and to let Herself be led by them in order always to do the Holy Will of God; 7, that God should as soon as possible send a Redeemer for the salvation of the world.

Do you not think that you also should ask something similar? Consider all these petitions and you will soon see how in every one of them you can in imitation of Mary find something to implore from God.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

The Naughty And Nice List - Which Companies are
Allowing a "Merry Christmas"

ORALANDO, FL, November 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As part of the Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign, Liberty Counsel has created a "Naughty and Nice" checklist (available online in pdf or MSWord) which catalogs retailers who either censor or recognize Christmas. The list was compiled from information gathered by Liberty Counsel supporters.

Partial "Naughty List"

Lowe's - Employees cannot say "Merry Christmas" to customers. Lowe's corporate advised that only when customers initiate a "Merry Christmas" greeting can employees respond in kind.
Toys 'R' Us - "Holidays" are in, "Merry Christmas" is out.
Banana Republic - Web site has "Holiday Gift Guide" with no mention of Christmas.
Bed Bath & Beyond - No mention of any holidays.
Barnes & Noble - Web site says "Gift Guide," "Holiday gift baskets," "Holiday sled," "Holiday delivery," but no Christmas. Stores not allowed to put up Christmas trees, and employees are not allowed to say "Merry Christmas."
Best Buy - Web site says "Unique gifts for the season," "Holiday gift ideas." Spokesperson said the use of "Merry Christmas" is disrespectful.
Dick's Sporting Goods - Web site says "gifts" and has images, but no mention of Christmas.
Eddie Bauer - Customer service would not recognize Christmas, they "don't want to offend Jews, those who celebrate Kwanza and those who have no religious preference."
Gap - "Holiday Survival Guide" with no mention of Christmas.
Home Depot - Web site says "Holiday Store" and "Holiday Lighting" and only at bottom of site says "Make your Christmas decorations complete." Stores have "Holiday Home Accents."
K-Mart - Selling "Holiday trees" and "Holiday wreaths."

Partial "Nice List"

Dillard's - Advertises "Christmas Catalog."
JC Penney - Web site has "Christmas Shipping Countdown."
Joann Fabrics - Offers Christmas and Holiday fabrics.
Kohl's - Christmas is all over TV, print and radio ads.
L.L. Bean - Advertises and distributes "Christmas Catalog."
Linens 'N Things - Has a "Christmas Shop" and "Christmas Checklist."
Macy's - "Merry Christmas!" on its home page.
Michaels - Web site has a Christmas section.
M&M-Mars Candies - Will have red and green candies with pictures of Christmas trees and angels among other images.
Target - Web site says "Christmas Decor," although the physical store has "Holiday entertaining." TV ad says "Merry Christmas."
Wal-Mart - Has a "Christmas Shop," plays Christmas carols, and employees can say "Merry Christmas."

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, commented: "Every consumer should make a list and check it twice, stop patronizing retailers which are naughty and shop at those which are nice. Retailers which seek to profit from Christmas while pretending it does not exist should realize they have offended the vast majority of Americans who enjoy Christmas. Customers have a choice and they will not patronize corporate Scrooges."

Naughty and Nice List in PDF format
http://lc.org/helpsavechristmas/naughty_nice2006.pdf

Naughty and Nice List in MSWord format
http://lc.org/helpsavechristmas/naughty_nice2006.doc

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY

3. A Life of Fervor.
Hence you will deduce that the Lord wants us to serve Him, not anyhow but just as Our Lady did, with fervor (as opposed to tepidity which is the state into which we blindly fall if we make no effort in our spiritual life). When routine prevails, when there is no spirit of self-denial or self-control, when we are overcome by laziness and spiritual indifference, we immediately fall into tepidity. But God is nauseated by tepidity. The Lord says that He will cast away the tepid as we reject food which stomach cannot retain.

To cause nausea to Our Lord!, to provoke repugnance in God! This is a thought to fill us with holy fear. Are you anywhere near this state? Do you keep a watch over yourself so that you steer as far as possible from tepidity? Then the example of Mary will encourage you. Work with energy, with decision, with promptitude, with fervor just like Mary. No time for complacency. No more wasting the graces of God; and wasted they are when this accursed tepidity enters into a soul. Fight lukewarmness and routine. Follow your Mother so that your soul may be really and entirely God's.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY

2. The Consecration of Our Lady.
She enters the Temple and delivers Herself up to God in order to be His, entirely and for ever. How fervently would Our Lady accomplish this consecration and how pleasing it would be to God. remember how many times you have said something similar to God, how often you consecrated yourself to Him, how you also told Him that you wanted your soul to be always and entirely His. But what a difference between your word and Mary's! Yours will have sometimes caused sorrow to God when He foresaw how badly you would fulfill your promise. Instead, what an amount of glory was given to God by this most perfect surrendering of Our
Heavenly Mother, a surrender so entire and so enduring.

The thought of pleasing God is ever present to Mary. She was His from the very first moment of Her conception. She never ceased being God's property. And since She was aware of the graces She had received from God She well knew it. And She wishes that Her union with God should if possible be more intimate and perfect. What a shining example! And you, who on account of your misery, need this union much more urgently, how little you care for it, how little you try to achieve to belong to God! And yet this should be your ruling thought, your greatest longing. Ask Mary for that grace.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple
Vecellio Tiziano
1539
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

MEDITATION 15

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY

This mystery of the life of Our Heavenly Mother so highly practical for the great lessons we can derive from it, is so tender and delicate.


1. Readiness to Follow the Divine Vocation.
This is one of the most admirable lessons of this mystery. See Our lady, a tender maid of three years, saying goodbye to Her parents, quickly climbing the steps of the Temple without turning back, and delivering Herself to the service of God in the sanctuary. What sublime details at the age of three! How Our Lady hastens to give Herself up to the service of God!
By an exceptional miracle, Mary had already at that age the use of reason. So deliberately and quite aware of what She was doing She ran to the Temple. There was no danger whatsoever at home for Her, for Hers was a home of saints. She does not consider Her tender age, at which She needs so much the care of a father and, far more, that of a mother. She does not stop at the thought of the sorrow which is going to be inflicted on Her parents. She is not preoccupied about the new kind of life She is going to undertake. All those considerations remain for human prudence. But She has heard the voice of God and immediately runs to answer it. The sooner the better. All delay is too great for Her. She climbs rapidly the flight of steps which leads to the Temple. What a fine lesson of fervor is given to us by that incomparable maid. Do you try to serve God in the same manner? What do you do with God's inspirations? Do you follow them with the same promptitude? Do you, like Mary, throw yourself into the arms of God, equally blindly and confidently without any preoccupation, leaving to Him the care of the rest? When shall we reach that absolute detachment from all, even from ourselves, from our way of looking at things, from our judgment, so that we do only what God wants, and as He wants?

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

Here is Mother Mary's latest Message from Medjugorje:

Message from Our Lady of Medjugorje - November 25, 2006

"Dear children! Also today I call you to pray, pray, pray. Little children, when you pray you are close to God and He gives you the desire for eternity. This is a time when you can speak more about God and do more for God. Therefore, little children, do not resist but permit Him to lead you, to change you and to enter into your life. Do not forget that you are travellers on the way toward eternity. Therefore, little children, permit God to lead you as a shepherd leads his flock. Thank you for having responded to my call."

THE NAME OF MARY
Continued

3. The Sea and the Star of the Sea.
The sea is a gathering together of the waters of the earth and of the rain from the skies. Genesis says that when God created the earth, He gathered all the waters in one place and called it the sea. So with Our Lady. God gathered in Mary all the graces which He had distributed amongst His creatures, whether angels or men. And therefore She is a Sea of graces where we can find whatever we want.
From the sea rise the clouds which later on come down upon the earth bringing with them rain which gives fertility to the fields. In the same manner Our Blessed Lady from the immense ocean of Her graces pours all the gifts that bear sanctity and virtue into the souls of men.
The waters of the sea are bitter, as were also the sorrows of the Heart of Mary, that veritable ocean of bitterness, since She suffered during the passion of Her Son more than all other human hearts together. On account of that She is called the Queen of Martyrs, because She suffered more than them all.
Finally, She is the Star of the Sea, because She is the light which guides those who are sailing across the ocean of this earthly life, across the sea of our passions where shipwreck is always possible, across the sea of darkness where we are groping for our bearings, where self-love, blindness and the violence of our passions carry us away.
She is the Star which shines from high so that no matter where we are we can find Her. God placed Her so high, that She might be seen from everywhere. But for that same reason unless we lift our eyes we cannot see Her. The more we lower them towards the things of the earth, the less we see Her rays. Hence how fitting is the name of Mary in each and every one of its connotations! Try to imitate Mary, try to keep Her always in view by ceaselessly repeating Her most sweet Name, just as the lover never grows tired of repeating the name of the person he loves.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE NAME OF MARY
Continued

2. Lady and Mistress.
How certain it is that She really is Queen and Mistress. She was never a slave to sin, to the devil, or to the passions. She was, it is true, the Handmaid of the Lord; but just on account of that She is Queen and Mistress. And Christians have always thus understood it. Therefore they called Her Our Lady. She is the Queen of the Angels, of those angels who take a pride in serving Her. The angels were very often Her servants. In the Annunciation, in the Flight to Egypt, in the grotto of Bethlehem, in Calvary itself, where the angels of sorrow went to comfort and to weep with Her. She is Lady and Mistress over the devils who fear Her and are put to flight at the mere mention of Her name. On hearing Her holy Name, heavens and earth bend the knee. And God has willed that the devil fears Our Lady even more than he does Jesus; thus his humiliation is the greater and the triumph of Our Lady the more admirable.
Lastly, She is Lady and Mistress of all men, but She is Lady and Queen of Mercy. Jesus wanted Her to share His kingdom and sceptre, thus while He took justice upon Himself as the Judge of the living and the dead, to Mary He entrusted the power and administration of mercy. Her majesty and grandeur do not hurt, do not frighten, but rather lovingly urge us through sweet force. See whether you also feel these sentiments when you are at the feet of this great Lady. She is Queen and Lady of our hearts. She alone has the right to command our hearts. Is She truly the absolute Queen of your heart?

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

Meditation 14

THE NAME OF MARY
Continued

That this holy Name may not be indifferent to us but rather induce us to a deeper knowledge and to a more fervent invocation of it, it is imperative that we should meditate on its meaning.
As about 300 different interpretations have been given it is rather difficult to ascertain its true meaning. But it is providential that God should have left it open to so many interpretations, all of them so good and so meaningful, and thus make us understand that all excellences and perfections are contained in Our Blessed Lady.
The most probable of all these interpretations are the following:

1. Beautiful, or rather, the beautiful par excellence, as though to mean that She is Beauty itself. And there is no other way to see Her. As beautiful as the moon, sings the Church. Indeed, just as in the darkness of night, when everything is deprived of beauty, the placid and serene light of the moon suddenly shines, greater than the stars, so does Mary with Her shining beauty dispel darkness and share Her light with all who would partake of it.
She is also called Tota Pultra, [All Beautiful]. All, Tota. In Mary there is nothing that is not extremely beautiful; body, soul, eyes, senses, heart, everything. In Her there is nothing unsightly, nothing stained, nothing to mar Her beauty. Give a thought to the things that the world calls beautiful and you will be convinced that the world has no idea of what real beauty is. The world gives the name of beauty only to corporeal beauty, which oftener than not, is artificial and merely outward, external. The world is satisfied with that beauty because it knows no other. Instead, Mary is always and at every moment most beautiful, Tota Pulchra. How aptly then the name of Mary applies to Her as thus interpreted.

{From 'Marian Meditations' Book}

THE NAME OF MARY

3. Its Usefulness.
From all this you can deduce how we should respect this holy name and how after the name of Jesus there is no other so holy, so useful for us as the name of Mary.
If the name of Jesus is sanctifying, so, provided we know how to utter it with the respect and love that it deserves, is the name of Mary. That is why after God and Jesus Mary is the most popular name of all. Mothers teach it to their children, the sick and those in sorrow invoke it, the dying have it on their lips. How many churches, how many chapels have been raised the world over in honor of the name of Mary! How many sinners have been converted through its invocation. There is nothing sweeter for holy souls and nothing more profitable for the sinner than to put those two blessed names, Jesus and Mary, together, to utter them often, so as to draw from them the great advantage that their utterance brings to our souls. Do you also do it? Have you ever meditated on the importance of this most holy name and on its divine greatness? Do you utter it with fervor and especially in the temptations, difficulties and sorrows of life? Is it especially engraved on your heart?

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE NAME OF MARY

2. The Greatness of This Name.
In order to surmise its greatness it is enough to see that God is the Author of this name. God gave this name to Our Lady as a sign of what She was going to be. When the Lord chose anyone for some extraordinary mission, He would first of all change the name of the person so chosen and the new name would reflect the highest aim to which He was calling that person. So He changed the name of Abraham; He choose the name of Issac; through an angel He instructed Zacharias that the Precursor should be called John; and Christ Himself changed the name from Simon to Peter, when He founded His Church and appointed amongst His apostles the one who was going to be its head and foundation. Now, how compare the dignity and importance of the mission entrusted to Abraham, to Issac, to the Baptist and to Peter with the dignity and mission of Mary? Who then could but God Himself give Her a worthy name?

The name we bear was imposed at the choice of our parents, although, of course, a very different one could have been given to us. But with Our Lady it was not so. She was called Mary nor could She have any other name, because God Himself would find no better. How great and sublime is that most holy and sweet name. That is why the Gospel, which has so little about Our Lady, does not pass over this so important detail, but expressly states: And the name of the Virgin was Mary. ( St Luke 1:27)

So St. Peter Damian [1007-1072] says that the name of Mary was from eternity drawn from the divine Treasury when redemption through the incarnation of the Word was decreed in Heaven. [From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

Meditation 13

THE NAME OF MARY

1. The importance of This Name.

When a child is born, one of the first things we do, is to give him a name. All of us fondly commemorate our name feast. A name feast is a family feast when we manifest our filial devotion to our parents or to our children. We wish them many happy returns. We send them presents, we pay them visits. All this is part of the ritual of that happy day. Today, we are meditating on the feast of the Name of Mary, a feast which ought to be a great occasion for all Her devotees and Her loving children. The importance of a name depends on its fitness to the person to whom it is applied. The better the person is pictured by a name, the more appropiate that name is. In the world, oftener than not, names are given because of some particular liking for that name by the parents or on account of some family connection implied. We seldom pause to choose a name that suits the person concerned. But it was not so with Mary. It was not right and proper that just any name whatsoever should be given to Her. Her name must express all the graces and wonders and marvels with which God had endowed Her. Thus God and God alone could give Her a fitting and adequate name. And the name chosen was Mary.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE NATIVITY OF OUR LADY 12-3
Continued

3. Jesus is Always Preceded by Mary.
Lastly, this birth reminds us of the most sweet truth, that Mary goes always in front of Jesus. God wanted that in nature the sun should not rise all of a sudden but should be preceded by the clarity of the dawn. He has made the same arrangement in the order of grace. He disposed that the Word made flesh should appear in the world only after having been heralded by the splendid dawn of this Maiden, Queen of the angels, conceived without stain. God has so arranged that the Sun of Justice, Our Lord Jesus Christ, should not rise and shine in our souls without them having been previously visited by the Mother of All Grace. He has decided that His kingdom should not be established in this world unless there be first set in it the throne of Mary. Mary is, therefore, the dawn of Jesus. Study Mary deeply, love Her filially in order to know and love Jesus. Examine yourself on this most important point. See whether you do everything with Mary and through Mary in order to please Jesus. Imitate Mary, empty your soul of yourself and fill it with Her and thus be filled with that divine life which Jesus wishes to bring to your soul.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]