Treatise on True Devotion - td11a

Treatise on True Devotion - td11a

PART I: TRUE DEVOTION TO OUR LADY IN GENERAL (cont)

Ch 2: In what Devotion to Mary Consists (cont)

2. Marks of false and authentic devotion to Mary

3. False devotion to our Lady(cont)

Critical devotees

93. Critical devotees are for the most part proud scholars,

people of independent and self-satisfied minds, who deep down

in their hearts have a vague sort of devotion to Mary.

However, they criticise nearly all those forms of devotion to

her which simple and pious people use to honour their good

Mother just because such practices do not appeal to them. They

question all miracles and stories which testify to the mercy

and power of the Blessed Virgin, even those recorded by

trustworthy authors or taken from the chronicles of religious

orders. They cannot bear to see simple and humble people on

their knees before an altar or statue of our Lady, or at

prayer before some outdoor shrine. They even accuse them of

idolatry as if they were adoring the wood or the stone. They

say that as far as they are concerned they do not care for

such outward display of devotion and that they are not so

gullible as to believe all the fairy tales and stories told of

our Blessed Lady. When you tell them how admirably the Fathers

of the Church praised our Lady, they reply that the Fathers

were exaggerating as orators do, or that their words are

misrepresented. These false devotees, these proud worldly

people are greatly to be feared. They do untold harm to

devotion to our Lady. While pretending to correct abuses, they

succeed only too well in turning people away from this

devotion.

Scrupulous devotees

94. Scrupulous devotees are those who imagine they are

slighting the Son by honouring the Mother. They fear that by

exalting Mary they are belittling Jesus. They cannot bear to

see people giving to our Lady the praises due to her and which

the Fathers of the Church have lavished upon her. It annoys

them to see more people kneeling before Mary’s altar than

before the Blessed Sacrament, as if these acts were at

variance with each other, or as if those who were praying to

our Lady were not praying through her to Jesus. They do not

want us to speak too often of her or to pray so often to her.

Here are some of the things they say: “What is the good

of all these rosaries, confraternities and exterior devotions

to our Lady? There is a great deal of ignorance in all this.

It is making a mockery of religion. Tell us about those who

are devoted to Jesus (and they often pronounce his name

without uncovering their heads). We should go directly to

Jesus, since he is our sole Mediator. We must preach Jesus;

that is sound devotion.” There is some truth in what they say,

but the inference they draw to prevent devotion to our Lady is

very insidious. It is a subtle snare of the evil one under the

pretext of promoting a greater good. For we never give more

honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour

her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We

go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus,

her Son.

95. The Church, with the Holy Spirit, blesses our Lady first,

then Jesus, “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Not that Mary is greater than

Jesus, or even equal to him - that would be an intolerable

heresy. But in order to bless Jesus more perfectly we should

first bless Mary. Let us say with all those truly devoted to

her, despite these false and scrupulous devotees: “O Mary,

blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy

womb, Jesus.”

Superficial devotees

96. Superficial devotees are people whose entire devotion to

our Lady consists in exterior practices. Only the externals of

devotion appeal to them because they have no interior spirit.

They say many rosaries with great haste and assist at many

Masses distractedly. They take part in processions of our Lady

without inner fervour. They join her confraternities without

reforming their lives or restraining their passions or

imitating Mary’s virtues. All that appeals to them is the

emotional aspect of this devotion, but the substance of it has

no appeal at all. If they do not feel a warmth in their

devotions, they think they are doing nothing; they become

upset, and give up everything, or else do things only when

they feel like it. The world is full of these shallow

devotees, and there are none more critical of men of prayer

who regard the interior devotion as the essential aspect and

strive to acquire it without, however, neglecting a reasonable

external expression which always accompanies true devotion.

Presumptuous devotees

97. Presumptuous devotees are sinners who give full rein to

their passions or their love of the world, and who, under the

fair name of Christian and servant of our Lady, conceal pride,

avarice, lust, drunkenness, anger, swearing, slandering,

injustice and other vices. They sleep peacefully in their

wicked habits, without making any great effort to correct

them, believing that their devotion to our Lady gives them

this sort of liberty. They convince themselves that God will

forgive them, that they will not die without confession, that

they will not be lost for all eternity. They take all this for

granted because they say the Rosary, fast on Saturdays, are

enrolled in the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary or the

Scapular, or a sodality of our Lady, wear the medal or the

little chain of our Lady.

When you tell them that such a devotion is only an

illusion of the devil and a dangerous presumption which may

well ruin them, they refuse to believe you. God is good and

merciful, they reply, and he has not made us to damn us. No

man is without sin. We will not die without confession, and a

good act of contrition at death is all that is needed.

Moreover, they say they have devotion to our Lady; that they

wear the scapular; that they recite faithfully and humbly

every day the seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys in her

honour; that sometimes they even say the Rosary and the Office

of our Lady, as well as fasting and performing other good

works.

Blinding themselves still more, they quote stories they

have heard or read - whether true or false does not bother

them - which relate how people who had died in mortal sin were

brought back to life again to go to confession, or how their

soul was miraculously retained in their bodies until

confession, because in their lifetime they said a few prayers

or performed a few pious acts, in honour of our Lady. Others

are supposed to have obtained from God at the moment of death,

through the merciful intercession of the Blessed Virgin,

sorrow and pardon for their sins, and so were saved.

Accordingly, these people expect the same thing to happen to

them.

98. Nothing in our Christian religion is so deserving of

condemnation as this diabolical presumption. How can we

truthfully claim to love and honour the Blessed Virgin when by

our sins we pitilessly wound, pierce, crucify and outrage her

Son? If Mary made it a rule to save by her mercy this sort of

person, she would be condoning wickedness and helping to

outrage and crucify her Son. Who would even dare to think of

such a thing?

99. I declare that such an abuse of devotion to her is a

horrible sacrilege and, next to an unworthy Communion, is the

greatest and the least pardonable sin, because devotion to our

Lady is the holiest and best after devotion to the Blessed

Sacrament.

I admit that to be truly devoted to our Lady, it is not

absolutely necessary to be so holy as to avoid all sin,

although this is desirable. But at least it is necessary (note

what I am going to say), (1) to be genuinely determined to

avoid at least all mortal sin, which outrages the Mother as

well as the Son; (2) to practise self-restraint in order to

avoid sin; (3) to join her confraternities, say the Rosary and

other prayers, fast on Saturdays, and so on.

100. Such means are surprisingly effective in converting even

the hardened sinner. Should you be such a sinner, with one

foot in the abyss, I advise you to do as I have said. But

there is an essential condition. You must perform these good

works solely to obtain from God, through the intercession of

our Lady, the grace to regret your sins, obtain pardon for

them and overcome your evil habits, and not to live

complacently in the state of sin, disregarding the warning

voice of conscience, the example of our Lord and the saints,

and the teaching of the holy gospel.

Inconstant devotees

101. Inconstant devotees are those whose devotion to our Lady

is practised in fits and starts. Sometimes they are fervent

and sometimes they are lukewarm. Sometimes they appear ready

to do anything to please our Lady, and then shortly afterwards

they have completely changed. They start by embracing every

devotion to our Lady. They join her confraternities, but they

do not faithfully observe the rules. They are as changeable as

the moon, and like the moon Mary puts them under her feet.

Because of their fickleness they are unworthy to be included

among the servants of the Virgin most faithful, because

faithfulness and constancy are the hallmarks of Mary’s

servants. It is better not to burden ourselves with a

multitude of prayers and pious practices but rather adopt only

a few and perform them with love and perseverance in spite of

opposition from the devil the world and the flesh.

Hypocritical devotees

102. There is another category of false devotees of our

Lady, - hypocritical ones. These hide their sins and evil

habits under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin so as to appear

to their fellow-men different from what they are.

Self-interested devotees

103. Then there are the self-interested devotees who turn to

her only to win a court-case, to escape some danger, to be

cured of some ailment, or have some similar need satisfied.

Except when in need they never think of her. Such people are

acceptable neither to God not to his Mother.

104. We must, then, carefully avoid joining the critical

devotees, who believe nothing and find fault with everything;

the scrupulous ones who, out of respect for our Lord, are

afraid of having too much devotion to his Mother; the exterior

devotees whose devotion consists entirely in outward

practices; the presumptuous devotees who under cover of a

fictitious devotion to our Lady wallow in their sins; the

inconstant devotees who, being unstable, change their

devotional practices or abandon them altogether at the

slightest temptation; the hypocritical ones who join

confraternities and wear emblems of our Lady only to be

thought of as good people; finally, the self-interested

devotees who pray to our Lady only to be rid of bodily ills or

to obtain material benefits.