{"id":4171,"date":"2015-10-17T03:30:37","date_gmt":"2015-10-17T08:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/?p=4171"},"modified":"2015-10-06T17:28:26","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T22:28:26","slug":"devotions-to-mary-should-be-joined-with-holiness-mary-day-088","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/2015\/10\/17\/devotions-to-mary-should-be-joined-with-holiness-mary-day-088\/","title":{"rendered":"Devotions to Mary should be joined with holiness, Mary: Day 088"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"year_with_mary_alphonsus_3\"<\/a>Devotions to Mary should be joined with holiness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even lavish devotions to Mary, says St. Alphonsus, are useless if they aren\u2019t joined to personal holiness.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Queen of Heaven is so gracious and generous,\u201d says St. Andrew of Crete, \u201cthat she rewards her servants with the greatest lavishness for the small- est devotions.\u201d But there are conditions to this generosity. When we offer her our devotions, our souls should be free from sin. Otherwise, she might say to us what she said to a wicked soldier, once spoken of by St. Peter Celestine.<\/p>\n

This soldier every day performed some devotion in honor of our Blessed Lady. One day he was suffering greatly from hunger, when Mary appeared to him and offered him some most delicious meats. But they were in such a filthy vessel that he couldn\u2019t bring himself to taste them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the Mother of God,\u201d the Blessed Virgin then said, \u201cand I have come to satisfy your hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, Lady,\u201d he answered, \u201cI can\u2019t eat out of such a dirty vessel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd how,\u201d replied Mary, \u201ccan you expect me to accept your devotions, offered to me with so defiled a soul as yours?\u201d<\/p>\n

On hearing this, the soldier was converted, became a hermit, and lived in a desert for thirty years. At his death, the Blessed Virgin again appeared to him, and took him herself to heaven.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been said that it\u2019s morally impossible for someone devoted to Mary to be lost. But this statement must be understood to have the condition that he lives either without sin, or at least lives with the desire to abandon it. For then the Blessed Virgin will help him. But if anyone, on the other hand, should sin in the hope that Mary will save him, he would render himself unworthy and unable to enjoy her protection.
\n\u2014St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary<\/p>\n

IN GOD\u2019S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .<\/strong>
\nDo I ever find myself practicing exterior devotions to Mary while consciously disobeying God on some matter? What do I hope to gain from such devotions if my heart is in rebellion against God?<\/p>\n

CLOSING PRAYER<\/strong>
\nMary, help me hide these words in my heart: \u201cThe sacrifice of the \u00a0wicked is detestable;how\u00a0much more when he brings it with evil intent\u201d (see Prv 21:27).<\/p>\n

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