Virgo Potens

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 17th TWELVE METHODS OF PRACTISING THIS DEVOTION (continued) 5. Assist the poor, widows, orphans and strangers, protect the helpless, console the afflicted, visit the sick and imprisoned, and perform other similar works of mercy. All these acts are most highly pleasing to the most merciful Heart of the Mother of Grace. ~ Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God (1680)

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 16th [148. continued] Secondly, when in seeking praise we value the esteem and approbation of one whose judgment is unreliable. (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

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Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 16th TWELVE METHODS OF PRACTISING THIS DEVOTION (continued) 4. Offer your heart frequently to the Queen of all hearts consecrated to Jesus, and implore her to take full and complete possession of your heart so that Mary may give it entirely to her Son, fill it with supernatural sentiments to adorn it with virtues, and mould it according to the Heart of the Divine Son and His Blessed Mother. ~ Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God (1680)

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 15th 149. Vainglory consists in an inordinate appetite for praise, and a desire that our merit should shine forth with glory, and in three different ways this glory can be called vain and wicked. Firstly, when we seek to be praised for a virtue or any other gift of body or soul which we do not possess, or else to be praised for some frail transitory possession which is not worthy of praise, such as health, beauty and other gifts of the body, riches, pomp and other goods which are called the gifts of fortune. (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 15th TWELVE METHODS OF PRACTISING THIS DEVOTION (continued) 3. One of the most useful and important ways of honoring the most worthy Heart of the Queen of virtues is to strive to imitate and to implant in your heart a lively image of her holiness, meekness and forbearance, humility, purity, devotion, wisdom and prudence, patience, obedience vigilance, faithfulness, love and all its other virtues. ~ Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God (1680)

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 14th [148. continued] All this evil proceeds from a false conscience, which leads us to believe that envy is not a great sin, and therefore, although it be a grievous evil, it is neither feared, nor avoided, nor do we study to amend ourselves of it. This reflection is from St. Cyprian: “Envy seems a small offense, so that, whilst it seems slight to us, it is not feared; whilst it is not feared, it is despised; whilst it is despised, it is not easily avoided, and thus becomes a secret source of ruin.” [See [St. Thomas, 2a 2æ, qu. xxxiv, art. 6; et qu. xvi, art. 1 et 2 etc.; et qu. clviii, art. 11 et 14] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

2 of 2 Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 14th These principal feelings are: i. Horror and abomination for every kind of sin. ii. Hatred and scorn for this corrupt world and everything pertaining to it. iii. The lowest possible esteem, and even of scorn and hatred, toward self. iv. Profound esteem, respect and love for all the things of God and His Church. v. Veneration and love for the Cross, that is, for privations, humiliations, mortifications and sufferings, which are one of the richest treasures that a Christian soul can possess in this world, according to the oracle from Heaven: "My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations," so that you may say with St. Paul: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." ~ Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God (1680)

1 of 2 Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 14th TWELVE METHODS OF PRACTISING THIS DEVOTION (continued) 2. In order that our Saviour may perfectly possess each heart, listen to these holy words and practise them: Hoc sentite in corde vestro, quod et in Corde Mariae, "Keep in thy heart the feelings which are in the Heart of Mary, the Mother of Jesus." (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 13th Now the sin consists in this: that when we ought, from a sense of charity, to rejoice at our neighbour’s prosperity, we are only saddened at it, wishing in our pride that it. might be ours, in order that we might be superior to our neighbour in merit; and this sin is the especial sin of the devil, as the Wise Man says, “the envy of the devil,” [Wisd. ii, 24] and therefore the Holy Ghost most justly commands us through St. Paul to guard against it: “Let us not be envying one another,” [Gal. v, 26] as it is easy to sin mortally in one way or another. But nevertheless, how common this vice is in families, in communities, in every state of life, to high and low, rich and poor, to seculars and even to the Religious themselves! (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 13th [148. continued] And it is thus that envy is born within us, when we see one who is richer, more learned than we are, another wiser and more virtuous than we, another who has more talent and ability, and whom therefore we should like to see deprived of these gifts in order that he might also be deprived of the praise and honour and any other advantages which we imagine are more due to us than to him. (continued)

Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin; give me strength against thine enemies. NOVENA to the IMMACULATE HEART of MARY To be said once a day for nine days, especially starting on August 13 and ending on August 21, the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Begins today at Christus Reignat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

2 of 2 Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 13th I. If you wish to afford extreme happiness to the virginal Heart of Our Lady, so zealous for the salvation of your soul, bear and do what our Lord tells you in these words: "My son, give me thy heart;" and "Be converted to me with all your heart.” To that end make a firm and true resolution to fulfil your solemn promise to God in baptism; to make a complete renunciation of Satan, of the works of Satan which are synonymous with sin, and of the pomps of Satan which are synonymous with the world; and to follow our Lord in His teaching, example and virtues. And in order to be converted to God not only in heart but with all your heart, cultivate an ardent desire (and ask Him for the grace to fulfil it), to transform all the passions of your heart and turn them toward His Divine Majesty, placing them at the service of His glory. For example, the passion of love should be directed towards loving only God and one's neighbor in God and for God; the passion of hate, towards hating only sin and all that leads to sin; the passion of fear, towards fearing nothing in the world except offending God; the passion of sadness, to the end of letting nothing sadden us except the sins we have committed against God; the passion of joy, towards seeking all our joy in the love and service of God, and in doing His most holy will everywhere and in all things; and so on with the other passions. ~ Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God (1680)

1 of 2 Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 13th TWELVE METHODS OF PRACTISING THIS DEVOTION ALL that has been said in. the foregoing pages demonstrates.that the devotion to the most holy Heart of the Blessed Virgin is most firm and well-established, and that we are obliged by a countless number of reasons to render special honor and veneration to this Heart. Therefore we must now seek proper and suitable methods of doing so. Here are twelve principal recommendations: (continued)

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 12th 148. Envy is a sadness arising from the contemplation of our neighbour’s welfare, when we imagine that the good which happens to him must be to our own detriment, prejudicial to our own glory and interest; but of his goods we only envy those which bring us esteem in the eyes of the world–—riches, dignity, the friendship and favours of the great, science, praise, fame, and all that which seems to us to contribute to our credit and to bring us honour. (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 12th TWELVE REASONS FOR HONORING THE HEART OF MARY (continued) 12. Finally consider all the attributes and perfections of the incomparable Heart of the Mother of Fair Love, and you must realize that there are just that number of reasons compelling us to praise, honor and love this most praiseworthy and lovable Heart. ~ Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God (1680)

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 11th [147. continued] The worst of ambition is that few people have any scruples about it, and the reason is that by this vice conscience is depraved, because it is united to this passion and seldom recovers its integrity. [St. Thomas, 2a 2æ, qu. cxxxi, art. 1 et 2; qu. clxxxv, art. 2] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 11th TWELVE REASONS FOR HONORING THE HEART OF MARY (continued) 11. Not only is the Heart of the Mother of Our Saviour the prototype and model of our own hearts, but her Heart, after the adorable Heart of Jesus, is also Sovereign Ruler of all the hearts that have been created to love God, since she is Queen of the universe. For that reason all hearts should look upon and imitate the Heart of Mary as their model, but in addition they are obliged to render it all the homage that they owe to it as to their Sovereign. ~ Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God (1680)

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Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ August 10th [147. continued] Jesus Christ shows a special hatred for this vice in several places in His gospel, [Matt. xviii, 20, 23; Luke ix, 12] and the Fathers argue from this that the ambitious man is in a state of mortal sin; and it is easy for the most spiritual persons to commit this sin, as St. Ambrose says: “Ambition often makes criminals of those whom no vice would delight, whom no lust could move, whom no avarice could deceive.” [Lib. 4 in Luc.] (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).