Why should you devote yourself to the Blessed Mother?
As the Church celebrates the Queenship of Mary on Aug. 22, here are a few reasons why Our Lady should reign as the “queen” of your heart:
1) Many of the greatest saints devoted their hearts to Mary.
Countless saints devoted themselves to the Blessed Mother, but here are just a few examples:
Saint Louis de Montfort wrote many books in honor of the Blessed Mother, including "True Devotion to Mary," "The Secret of the Rosary," and "The Secret of Mary."
He said, “The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them.”
Saint Therese of Lisieux, a Doctor of the Church, said, “In trial or difficulty, I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.”
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, a Franciscan priest, stigmatist, and mystic, said, “Let us bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our Heavenly Mother and reflect on its boundless grief of how precious is our soul.”
2) Jesus gave her to us as our Mother.
At the foot of the cross, Jesus put his Mother into the hands of Saint John.
“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” (Jn. 19:26-27)
Saint John represents the entire human race; therefore, Mary is our spiritual mother as well.
3) She is the “Mediatrix of All Graces.”
The Second Vatican Council said,
“In suffering with Him as He died on the cross, she cooperated in the work of the Savior, in an altogether singular way, by obedience, faith, hope, and burning love, to restore supernatural life to souls. As a result, she is our Mother in the order of grace.” ("Lumen Gentium," 61-62)
In his encyclical "Adiutricem," Pope Leo XIII explained that the power “put into her hands is all but unlimited.”
Pope Pius X said in his encyclical, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum," that Mary is the “Dispensatrix of all the gifts that Our Savior purchased for us by His Death and by His Blood.”
He also quotes Saint Bernardine of Siena, saying that Mary “is the neck of Our Head, by which He communicates to His mystical body all spiritual gifts.”
How incredible are the graces we can receive from our most Holy and Blessed Mother!
4) She leads us to Jesus.
When we are devoted to Mary, our love for Jesus increases because her greatest desire is to lead us to Him.
Saint Louis de Montfort wrote in his book, "True Devotion to Mary":
“All our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore, the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that which the most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, that which most consecrates and conforms the soul to our Lord is devotion to His holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more is it consecrated to Jesus.”
5) She is our perfect pathway to holiness.
As Saint Louis de Montfort said, “All our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ.”
Mary’s ability to bring us closer to her Son draws us to greater holiness because she was completely sinless.
Pope Paul VI said in "Lumen Gentium,"
“But while in the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she is without spot or wrinkle, the followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin. And so they turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues.”
With all this said, we can devote ourselves to the Blessed Mother in many ways.
We can pray the Rosary, the Angelus, consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary, practice the Seven Sorrows Devotion, or the Five First Saturdays devotion. The list goes on!
Why not resolve to begin one of these devotions today? It will certainly change your life.