Virgin most renowned . . .
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Mary
Introduction
Mary's Litany
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
With these words the Angel Gabriel, God's messenger, delivered the heavenly greeting to Mary. She is completely filled with God's life. Her being centers upon Him. He has chosen her and raises her above all women and creation because of her role in His plan of redemption for all men. She has found favor with God and is blessed; for from her womb will spring the savior of the world. No other woman or man has been addressed this way by God. No other woman or man has been given more favors and blessings. The name of Mary identifies her as the handmaid of the Lord. She is the best and highest example of humble service to Him. For our welfare her name must be spread and known to all.
No
one is equal to you, O Lady, for all are either above or beneath you; above Mary
is God only, beneath Mary is all that is not God.
(1) St. Anselm of Canterbury
Let us
ask many graces from God, but let us ask them through Mary; she is the aqueduct
by which they descend to us.
(2) St. Bernard-abbot of Clairvaux
If a hundred tongues and a hundred throats would sing, and if I had a thundering voice, I still could not say anything worthy of you, O Mary. (3) St. Bernard-abbot of Clairvaux
God esteems her prayers so greatly, and is so desirous to satisfy her, that when she prays it seems as if she rather commands than prays, and is rather a queen than a handmaid. (4) St. Peter Damian
We must conclude that, being necessary to God by a necessity which is called “hypothetical”, (that is, because God so willed it), the blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end. Consequently we must not place devotion to her on the same level as devotion to the other saints as if it were merely something optional. (5) St. Louis Marie de Montfort
Only after the Last Judgment will Mary get any rest; from now until then, she is much too busy with her children. (6) St. John Vianney
Devotion to you, O Blessed Virgin, is a means of salvation which God gives to those whom he wishes to save. (7) St. John Damascene
What will it cost you, O Mary, to hear our prayer? What will it cost you to save us? Has not Jesus placed in your hands all the treasures of His grace and mercy? You sit crowned as Queen at the right hand of your Son: your dominion reaches as far as the heavens, and to you are subject the earth and all creatures dwelling thereon. Your dominion reaches even down into the abyss of Hell, and you alone, O Mary, save us from the hands of Satan. (8) Pius XI, pope
Now
of all the blessed in heaven who can compare with the august Mother of God in
obtaining grace? . . . Who is allowed more power in moving God? (9) Leo XIII, pope
All praise that is given to the Mother redounds to the honor of the Son. (10) St. Ildephonsus of Toledo
God
accepts the praises which are lavished on Mary, as if they were bestowed on
himself. (11) St. George of Nicomedia
All who honor her in this world will be honored by her in the next. (12) St. Anselm
Mary
by becoming the Mother of God was the means of the salvation of sinners, so are
sinners saved by proclaiming her praises.
(13) St. Anselm
All cannot be preachers, but all can praise her, and speak to relatives and friends in familiar conversation of the merits of Mary, of her powers and mercy, and thus lead them to devotion toward this divine Mother. (14) St. Alphonsus de Liguori
From
this time forward I am determined to do all that I can to cause thee to be
venerated and loved by all. Accept my desire, and help me to execute it;
in the mean time inscribe me in the number of your servants, and never permit me
again to become a slave of Lucifer.
(15) St. Alphonsus de Liguori
In
contemplating the face of Christ, and in Christ, the face of the Father, Mary
Most Holy precedes, sustains and accompanies us.
(16) Benedict XVI, pope
O blessed confidence! O safe refuge! The Mother of God is our Mother; the Mother of Him in whom we hope, and whom alone we fear, is our Mother; the Mother of Him, who alone can save or destroy is our Mother. (17) St. Anselm