Perseverance in devotion to Mary, Mary: Day 360

Perseverance in devotion to Mary

Devotion to Mary can lose its reward, St. Alphonsus warns, if it proves to be short-lived.

We must have perseverance in devotion to Mary. “Perseverance alone,” says St. Bernard, “will merit a crown.” When Thomas à Kempis was a young man, he used to turn to the Blessed Virgin every day with certain prayers. But one day he left them off. Then he left them off for several weeks, and in the end he gave them up altogether.

One night Thomas saw Mary in a dream. She embraced all his compan- ions, but when his turn came, she said, “What do you expect—you who have given up your devotions? Go away; you’re unworthy of my embrace.” On hear- ing this, Thomas awoke in alarm and went back to saying the prayers he had once prayed faithfully.

Richard of Saint Lawrence says with good reason that “he who perseveres in his devotion to Mary will be blessed in his confidence, and will obtain all he desires.” But just as no one can be certain of this perseverance, no one before death can be certain of salvation.

The advice given by St. John Berchmans, of the Society of Jesus, deserves our particular attention. When this holy young man was dying, his companions begged him, before he left this world, to tell them what devotion they could per- form that would be most agreeable to our Blessed Lady. He replied in the follow- ing remarkable words: “Any devotion, however small—provided it is constant.” —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . .  .

Perseverance is an aspect of the virtue of fortitude. Am I persevering in my devotion to Jesus and Mary, or is my devotion feeble and fragile?

CLOSING PRAYER

Mary, pray for me that I will “never flag in zeal, be aglow with Spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (see Rom 12:11–12).

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