So far, so good

"At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children...'" - Luke 10:21

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I'm working my way through 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC (along with a group of other young adults) in order to renew my total consecration to Jesus through Mary.  Day 8 day began the readings on St. Maximilian Kolbe (probably my favorite guy Saint.)  So far, so good.

The first week was on the teachings of St. Louis de Montfort - good stuff.  If you've never read his "True Devotion to Mary" you owe it to yourself to read it because it is *the* classic on devotion to Mary.  His writings are the reason St. John Paul II chose "Totus Tuus" as his papal motto.  Reading "True Devotion to Mary" was (as JPII himself put it) a "turning point" in his life.  It could be for you, too.

St. Louis' thought on devotion to Mary could perhaps be summed up in simply living out the total consecration of ourselves through our baptism with the aid, intercession, and care of the Mother of God.  Because we want to be faithful to Christ whom we were baptized into we ought not refuse the aid of His and our Mother.  The one who is devoted to Our Lady is the one whom the Holy Spirit desires to fill the most because He recognizes the imprint which His spouse, Mary, has left on the devotee's soul.  When God becomes aware of the perfume of Mary in a soul He lavishes it with greater graces than otherwise because it is a sign to Him that this soul desires to love Christ above all else.  To go to Mary indicates the tremendous desire to reach Christ in the safest, surest, most perfect way possible.  The world can go to Jesus in the same way that Jesus came to the world - through Mary. 

So give all you have to Mary and, in exchange, she will give you all that she has.  That's a pretty good deal considering that she is the Queen of Heaven who is "full of grace."

All of this is based on the reality and teaching of her "spiritual motherhood" over us.  When she conceived Christ in the body she also conceived, in a mystical way, all of those who would be incorporated into His body.  To be in the body of Christ is, necessarily, to be born of Mary and the Holy Spirit because that is where Christ's body came from in the first place: Mary and the Holy Spirit.

To deny Mary her maternal rights would be a terrible loss for the Christian.  

God is our Father because we are in Christ.  Mary is our Mother because we are in Christ.  To be in Christ means to have the relationships His has, especially His Father and Mother, Mary.  Jesus emphasized this when He said at the Cross "Behold, your Mother"' and after the Resurrection when he said "I am ascending to My Father and your Father..."

True Devotion to Mary just means acknowledging and living out the truth about Mary  as our Mother.  If we knew how much she loved us then we wouldn't argue against devotion to Mary because it would make all the sense in the world.

"Honor your Father and Mother." 

"At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children...'" - Luke 10:21

If you want to know Mary as Mother then you have to become a little child.  In order to see the Kingdom (which belongs to children) and see its King and Queen then you have to have the heart of a child.  

"Wise" and "learned" grown ups don't need a Mother and a Father. But children do.

Accept who you are and then you will be able to accept who she is; your Mother