Virgin most venerable . . .

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Mary is not only worthy of, but entitled to, and in a sense, demands our veneration and respect; not out of fear, but because of love.  Who is she, but the Mother of God.  She is the mother of God's human nature.  Christ is a divine person with a divine nature from all eternity.  Mary is the mother  of Christ who became man, to become like us, to die for us, and to so redeem us for the only reason that we have the opportunity to share as friends in His glory, and that of the Father, and the Holy Spirit.  Mary's dignity reflects that of Her Son.  No angel, no created object is her equal.

Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the son by the praise we lavish on the mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son.   There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son.
  (1)  St. Bernard-abbot of Clairvaux

“Full of Grace,” that was the angel’s salutation.  How then can she who became the mother of God be anything but the ladder of paradise, the gate of heaven, the advocate of the world, the terror of demons, the hope of sinners and the true and real Mediatrix between God and man? (2)  St. Laurence Justinian

That one woman is both mother and virgin, not in spirit only but even in body.  In spirit she is mother, not of our head, who is our Savior himself – of whom all, even she herself, are rightly called children of the bridegroom – but plainly she is the mother of us who are his members, because by love she has cooperated so that the faithful, who are the members of that head, might be born in the Church.  In body, indeed, she is the Mother of that very head. (3)  St. Augustine of Hippo

Do not marvel at the novelty of the thing, if a Virgin gives birth to God. (4)  St. Jerome

After the love which we owe Jesus Christ, we must give the chief place in our heart to the love of His Mother Mary.      (5)  St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

The pious and learned Jesuit, Suarez, Justus Lipsius, a devout and erudite theologian of Louvain, and many others have proved incontestably that devotion to our Blessed Lady is necessary to attain salvation.  This they show from the teaching of the Fathers, notable St. Augustine, St. Ephrem, deacon of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Demascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure.  Even according to Oecolampadius and other heretics, lack of esteem and love for the Virgin Mary is an infallible sign of God’s disapproval.  On the other hand, to be entirely and genuinely devoted to her is a sure sign of God’s approval.
  (6)  St. Louis Marie de Montfort

For if we are bidden to honor carnal fathers and mothers, how much more the spiritual? . . . If this virtue of Charity has been overlooked, a man will lose any fruit of salvation in any good he may do. (7)  St. Gregory VII, pope

I have great doubts about the salvation of those who do not have special devotion to Mary.   (8)  St. Francis Borgia

Jesus Christ is the only mediator of justice, and that by his merits he obtains for us all graces and salvation; but Mary is the Mediatrix of graces, because she prays and asks for it in the name of Jesus Christ.  (9)  St. Alphonsus Liguori

When Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His agony, said to Mary: "Woman, there is your Son," He gave His holy mother for our mother.  And when He said to St. John: "There is your mother," He made us sons of His holy mother.  (10)  St. Vincent Pillotti

Place yourself in the hands of Mary and do not let anything worry you. (11)  St. Vincent Pillotti

Jesus grants us without delay the petitions of His mother, Mary. (12)  St. Vincent Pillotti

O, blessed are they who bind themselves with love and confidence to these two anchors of salvation, Jesus and Mary.  Certainly, they will not be lost. (13)  St. Alphonsus de Liguori

If Jesus is the Father of our souls, Mary is also their mother; for she, by giving us Jesus, gave us true life; and afterwards, by offering the life of her Son on Mount Calvary for our salvation, she brought us forth to the life of grace.  (14)  St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Mary, in order that she might save many souls, exposed her own to death; meaning, that to save us, she sacrificed the life of her Son.  And who but Jesus was the soul of Mary?  He was her life, and all her love. (15)  St. William

So it is that each one who loves this good Mother, and relies on her protection, should animate himself to confidence, remembering that Jesus is our Brother, and Mary our Mother. (16)  St. Bonaventure

Full of kindness and love, she transmits to her Son the invocations by which we daily beseech her. (17)  St. Pius X, pope

It is impossible to say how pleasing and gratifying to the Blessed Virgin it is when we greet her with the Angelic Salutation, 'full of grace'; and in repeating it do we not fashion these words of praise into a crown of devotion for her?  For every time we say them, we recall the memory of her exalted dignity and of the redemption of the human race which God began through her. (18)  Leo XIII, pope

Mary, being the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus Christ in the practice of all virtues, was the first also that of humility, and by it merited to be exalted above all creatures.  (19)  St. Alphonsus de Liguori

The Blessed Virgin had always the majesty of God, and her own nothingness, present to her mind. (20)  St. Bernardine

After the Son of God, no creature in the world was so exalted as Mary, because no creature in the world ever humbled itself so much as she did. (21)  St. Bernardine

Mary humbled herself so much, and thereby merited so great a grace, because she knew, that of herself she possessed nothing.  (22)  St. Bridget

Elizabeth wondered that Mary should have come to visit her; but that which is still more admirable is, that she came not to be ministered to, but to minister. (23)  St. Bernard

Of all virtues, there is perhaps none the practice of which is more difficult to our nature, corrupted as it is by sin, than that of humility.  But there is no escape; we can never be true children of Mary if we are not humble. (24)  St. Gregory of Nyssa

Come, my daughter, and hide yourself under my mantle; this mantle is my humility. (25)  Mary's message to St. Bridget

The Blessed Virgin recognizes and loves those who love her, and is near to all who call upon her; and especially those whom she sees like unto herself in chastity and humility. (26)  St. Bernard

When we say that Mary is the Mother of God, we speak of a dignity which is above every other dignity that can be named or thought of, after that of God. (27)  St. Anselm

O Lady, nothing equals thee; for all is either above thee, and this is God alone, or beneath thee, and this is all that is not God.  (28)  St. Anselm

Mary could not be more closely united to God without becoming God. (29)  St. Albert the Great

This great Mother of God is, then, indeed worthy of our veneration, since God himself could not have made her greater than he did when he made her his Mother. (30)  St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Mary, leave me not in my own hands, for I should then be lost; grant that I may always have recourse to you.  Save me, my hope, same me from sin, which alone can condemn me to hell. (31)  St. Alphonsus de Liguori

From Jesus, however, it is that we receive grace as the author of grace, from Mary as a mediatress; from Jesus as a Savior, from Mary as an advocate; from Jesus as a source, from Mary as a channel. (32)  St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Mary bears Jesus in her womb as in a sacred tabernacle and offers him as the greatest gift to Zechariah, to Elizabeth, his wife, and also to the infant developing in her womb.  "Behold," the Mother of John the Baptist says, "when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy" (Lk 1:44).  Whoever opens his or her heart to the Mother encounters and welcomes the son and is pervaded by his joy. (33)  Benedict XVI, pope

To transform the world, God chose a humble young girl from a village in Galilee, Mary of Nazareth, and challenged her with this greeting: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you."  In these words lies the secret of an authentic Christmas.  God repeats them to the Church, to each one of us: Rejoice, the Lord is close!  With Mary's help, let us offer ourselves with humility and courage so that the world may accept Christ, who is the source of true joy. (34)  Benedict XVI, pope

True Marian devotion never obscures or diminishes faith and love for Jesus Christ Our Savior, the one Mediator between God and humankind.  On the contrary, entrustment to Our Lady is a privileged path, tested by numerous saints, for a more faithful following of the Lord.  Consequently, let us entrust ourselves to her with filial abandonment! (35)  Benedict XVI, pope

Mary of Nazareth, icon of the nascent Church, is the model for each of us, called to receive the gift that Jesus makes of himself in the Eucharist. (36)  Benedict XVI, pope

May the Virgin Mary, the Woman of the Eucharist, introduce us into the secret of true adoration.  Her humble and simple heart was ever pondering the mystery of Jesus, in whom she adored the presence of God and of his redeeming love. (37)  Benedict XVI, pope

Mary most Holy, Mother of God, passes unnoticed, as just one more among the women of her village. – Learn from her how to live with “naturalness.”  (38)  St. Josemaria Escriva

Say: Mother of mine - yours, because you are hers on many counts - may your love bind me to your son's Cross: may I not lack Faith, or courage, or daring, to carry out the will of our Jesus.  (39)  St. Josemaria Escriva

Love for Our Lady is proof of good spirit, in organizations and in individual people. - Distrust any undertaking that does not have this sign.  (40)  St. Josemaria Escriva

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