Recite your Rosary with faith, with confidence, and with humility.
– St. Louis de Montfort
Saint Louis de Montfort was a great French missionary preacher especially renowned for fostering devotion to Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin Mary. For faithful Catholics the prayers of the Rosary are familiar. But they should be for all faithful Christians! As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, echoing Pope Paul VI in his Marialis Cultus - the title of a Mariological apostolic letter issued February 1974 - the rosary is an "epitome of the whole Gospel." Unfortunately, and mostly because it's unfamiliar to our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters, the rosary is misunderstood. Yet it's been a prayer for the ages because one cannot help but recite this great Marian prayer and not grow in one's love for Jesus Christ. Entering into the Rosary is taking Mary by the hand and allowing her to lead you to her Son. In future posts we will explore more about the rosary and the familiar Christian prayers. For insight from St. Louis de Montfort on contemplating the great mysteries of the life of Jesus through the eyes of his Mother please enjoy below. Peace be with you! From the Author, My Daily Bread: A Reason2bCatholic blog
The Way to Attain Perfection
The chief concern of the Christian should be to tend to perfection. Be faithful imitators of God, as his well-beloved children, the great Apostle [St. Paul] tells us…. Saint Gregory of Nyssa makes a delightful comparison when he says that we are all artists and that our souls are blank canvasses which we have to fill in. The colors which we use are the Christian virtues, and the original which we have to copy is Jesus Christ, the perfect living image of God the Father. Just as a painter who wants to do a lifelike portrait places the model before his eyes and looks at it before making each stroke, so the Christian must always have before his eyes the life and virtues of Jesus Christ, so as never to say, think, or do anything which is not in conformity with his model.
It was because our Lady wanted to help us in the great task of working out our salvation that she [instructed] the faithful to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ. She did this, not only that they might adore and glorify him, but chiefly that they might pattern their lives and actions on his virtues. Children copy their parents through watching them and talking to them, and they learn their own language through hearing them speak. An apprentice learns his trade through watching his master at work; in the same way the faithful…can become like their divine Master if they reverently study and imitate the virtues of Jesus which are shown in the…mysteries of his life. They can do this with the help of his grace and through the intercession of his blessed Mother.
Long ago, Moses was inspired by God to command the Jewish people never to forget the graces which had been showered upon them. The Son of God has all the more reason to command us to engrave the mysteries of his life, passion, and glory upon our hearts and to have them always before our eyes, since each mystery reminds us of his goodness to us in some special way and it is by these mysteries that he has shown us his overwhelming love and desire for our salvation.
An excerpt from The Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort. Saint Louis de Montfort († 1716) was a great French missionary preacher especially renowned for fostering devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Since the salvation of humanity began through the Hail Mary, the salvation of each individual is linked with this prayer… This same prayer, devoutly said, will cause the word of God to germinate in our souls, and to bear the fruit of life: Jesus Christ.
– St. Louis de Montfort
St. Louis de Montfort, great apostle and lover of our blessed lady, whose one desire is to set the world aflame with love for Jesus through Mary, pray for us.
Be not afraid! And may the peace of Christ be with you and your loved ones today and always. Holy Family, pray for us. Amen.
