The true lovers of Jesus and Mary are the saints. They are now in heaven for all eternity praising God forever with the Queen of all saints— the Blessed Virgin Mary. The saints can teach us how to love Jesus through our love, devotion and confidence in Mary. Mary does not distance us from God. On the contrary she brings us closer to God. In fact the last recorded words of Mary in the Bible were “Do whatever He tells you.” (Jn. 2:5) The best advice ever! If only all we would heed and obey these words of wisdom, taught to us by Mary, “The Seat of Wisdom”. Following are five explosive expressions of the saints in their ardent love for Mary. The “Marian phrase” will be quoted and a short explanation. With Blessed Pope John Paul II let us give all to Jesus through Mary. “Totus Tuus, Ego Sum…”
1. ST. FAUSTINA AND OUR LADY OF MERCY. St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote a Marian classic “The Glories of Mary”. This great Doctor of the Church states that in God there is a harmonious integration of justice and mercy. However, Mary is pure MERCY. As such we pray in the Hail Holy Queen, “Hail Holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope…” Equally important in the Diary of Divine Mercy, Saint Faustina extols God’s mercy as well as Mary’s role in the dispensation of God’s mercy. Let us read, meditate and pray… “To give worthy praise to the Lord’s mercy, we unite ourselves with Your
Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to you, because she is chosen from among men and angels. Through her, as though a pure crystal, your mercy was passed on to us. Through her, man became pleasing to God; Through her, streams of grace flowed upon us.” (Diary of Mercy in my soul # 1746). 2. ST. JOHN MARIE VIANNEY—THE CURE OF ARS. The devil tricked Adam and Eve resulting in Original Sin. The devil is out on the prowl to tempt, trip and enslave all of us until our last breath. However, if we have recourse to Mary the devil will take to flight and victory is ours. Listen to the advice of the Cure of Ars. “If you invoke the Blessed Virgin when you are tempted, she will come at once to your help, and Satan will leave you.” 3. BLESSED MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA. Have you ever felt worried, tired, tense, and stressed out in life? Why not turn to Mary and invoke her sweet name. Let us concentrate on the advice of a modern saint—Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta—- “If you ever feel distressed during your day— call upon our Lady— just say this simple prayer: “Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a mother to me now.” I must admit— this prayer has never failed me.” 4. SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE. Another modern Marian saint is St. Maximilian Kolbe. As a child Our Lady appeared to him offering him a choice of a red crown or a white. He chose both; the white a life of consecration in the Religious life and purity; the red which prophesied the shedding of his death as a martyr. Kolbe warns us not to fight against the devil alone, but to have recourse to Mary. Ears open now to hear Kolbe! “The conflict with Hell cannot be maintained by men, even the most clever. The Immaculata alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan.” 5. SAINT ALPHONSUS MARIA LIGUORI. The greatest virtue that can be cultivated in the human heart is that of charity. Charity is a supernatural love for God and neighbor. The saints and angels have an ardent love for both God and neighbor. However, neither the greatest angel in heaven or the most passionate love of the greatest saint on earth can even come close to the immense, ardent, passionate, and constant love that burned in the Immaculate, most pure and merciful Heart of Mary the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church and our tender and loving Mother. Saint Alphonsus expresses in the most ardent of words the ineffable love that burned in the Heart of Mary. Let us pray that Mary will share at least a spark of this love to ignite our tepid, lukewarm and cold hearts!!!! “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 ardors of the seraphim, compared with it, are like cool breezes. Just as there is not 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 of all that mothers that have children, all the love of the husbands and wives, all the love the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul.” Mary is the Queen of the angels, Queen of the Martyrs, Queen of Virgins, Queen of Confessors, the Queen beauty of Carmel, and she is the Queen of all the saints. One of the favorite Marian expressions of St. Louis de Montfort is Mary, Queen of all hearts. In our lives, full of so many temptations, trials, dangers, fears, insecurities and uncertainties, may we find a sure refuge, haven, oasis, and home in two places, in two Hearts— the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in the most Sacred heart of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Amen