'The Glories of Mary' by St. Alphonsus de Liguori C.Ss.R. (1696-1787)

                             'Virgin and Child in landscape' (c1500)  
                                  by Master of the Embroidered Foliage.

                                          **********

For my Lenten reading, I have turned  to  ‘The Glories of Mary’, written  by  St Alphonsus de Liguori, and  first published in 1750 at Naples.  St Alphonsus was then fifty-four years old.

In the introduction to his book St. Alphonsus writes, ‘ I have seen innumerable works of all sizes, which treat of the glories of Mary, but finding that they were either rare, voluminous, or did not answer the object I had in mind, I endeavoured to collect from as many authors as I could lay my hands on, the choicest passages, extracted from Fathers and theologians, and those which seem to me to be the most to the point, and have put them together in this book, in order that the devout may with little trouble and expense be able to inflame themselves with the love of Mary, and more particularly to furnish priests with matter for their sermons, wherewith to excite others to devotion towards this divine Mother.’

That everyone may be persuaded how important it is, both for his own good and that of others, to promote devotion towards  Mary, it is useful to know what theologians say on the subject.

St Bonaventure says that those who make a point of announcing to others the glories of Mary are certain of heaven;  and this opinion is confirmed by Richard of St.Laurence,  who declares, “that to honour this Queen of Angels is to gain eternal life”; and he adds, “that this most gracious Lady will honour in the next world those who honour her in this”.  And who is ignorant of the promise made by Mary herself, in the words of Ecclesiastes, to those who endeavour to make her known and loved here below, “they that explain me shall have life everlasting”, for this passage is applied to her by the Church, in the office of the Immaculate Conception.  “Rejoice then,” exclaims St Bonaventure   (who did so much to make the glories of Mary known), “rejoice my soul, and be glad in her; for many good things are prepared for those who praise her”; and he says that the whole of the sacred Scriptures speak in praise of Mary:  let us therefore always with our heart and tongue, honour this divine Mother, in order that we may be conducted by her into the kingdom of the blessed.”

‘The devout Blosius declares that “she is the only refuge of those who have offended God, the asylum of all who are oppressed by temptation, calamity, or persecution.  This Mother is all mercy, benignity, and sweetness, not only to the just but also to despairing sinners;  so that no sooner does she perceive them coming to her, and seeking her health from their hearts, than she aids them, welcomes them, and obtains their pardon from her Son.  She knows not how to despise anyone,  however unworthy he may be of mercy, and therefore denies her protection to none;   she consoles all, and is no sooner called upon than she helps whoever it may be that invokes her.  She by her sweetness often awakens and draws sinners to her devotion who are the most at enmity with God and the most deeply plunged in the lethargy of sin;  and then, by the same means, she excites them effectually, and prepares them for grace, and thus renders them fit for the kingdom of heaven.  God has created this his beloved daughter of so compassionate and sweet a disposition, that no one can fear to have recourse to her.”  The pious author concludes in these words: “ It is impossible for any one to perish who attentively and with humility, cultivates devotion towards this  divine Mother.”

Basil of Seleucia encourages sinners, saying, “O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all thy necessities; call her to thine assistance, for thou wilt always find her ready to help thee;  for such is the divine will that she should help all in every kind of necessity.”

The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St Bridget, 'that there is no sinner in the world, however much he may be at enmity with God, who does not return to Him and recover his grace, if he has recourse to her and asks her assistance.'  The same St Bridget one day heard Jesus Christ address His mother, and say that 'she would be ready to obtain the grace of God for Lucifer himself, if only he humbled himself so far as to seek her aid.'  That proud spirit will never humble himself so far as to implore the protection of Mary; but if such a thing were possible, Mary would be sufficiently compassionate, and her prayers would have sufficient power to obtain both forgiveness and salvation for him from God.  But that which cannot be verified with regard to the devil, is verified in the case of sinners who have recourse to this compassionate mother.

It was then, not without reason that St Bernard addressed the Blessed Virgin, saying, “Thou, O Lady, does not reject any sinner who approaches thee, however loathsome and repugnant he may be.  If he asks thy assistance, thou dost not disdain to extend thy compassionate hand to him, to extricate him from the gulf of despair.”   May our God be eternally blessed and thanked, O most amiable Mary, for having created thee so sweet and benign, even towards the most miserable sinners!  Truly unfortunate is he who loves thee not, and who, having it in his power to obtain thy assistance, has no confidence in thee.  He who has not recourse to Mary is lost; but who was ever lost that had recourse to the most Blessed Virgin?
                                                               ****************

The above extracts are but a taste of the spiritual riches to be found in the 'Glories of Mary'. 

The whole book is divided into five sections:-
Part the First, an explanation of the  'Salve Regina' (Hail Holy Queen), divided into ten chapters, each concentrated on separate aspects of Our Lady as recited in the prayer.

Part the Second, with Discourses on the Principal Feasts of Mary  1. Mary's Immaculate Conception.
2. The Birth of Mary.  3.The Presentation of Mary.  4.  The Annunciation of Mary.  5. The Visitation of Mary.  6.  The Purification of Mary.  7. The Assumption of Mary.  8. Second discourse on the Assumption of Mary. 

Part the Third, the Dolours of Mary - Reflections on each of the seven dolours of Mary.  1. St Simeons prophecy.  2.  The flight of Jesus into Egypt.  3.  The loss of Jesus in the Temple.  4. The meeting of Mary and Jesus when He was carrying His Cross to Calvary.  5.  The death of Jesus.     6.  The piercing of the side of Jesus and His taking down from the cross. 7.  The burial of Jesus.

Part the Fourth, the Virtues of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary - 1. Mary's humility.  2. Mary's love of God.  3.  Mary's love of her neighbour. 4. Mary's faith.  5.  Mary's hope.  6.  Mary's chastity.
7.  Mary's poverty.  8.  Mary's obedience. 9. Mary's patience. 10. The spirit of prayer and meditation in Mary. 

 Part the Fifth, practices of devotion in honour of the Divine Mother - 1. The Hail Mary.
2. Novenas.  3. The Rosary and the Office of our Blessed Lady. 4.  Fasting.  5.  The visiting of the images of Mary.  6.  The scapular.  7.  The confraternities of our Blessed Lady. 8. The alms given in Mary's honour.  9. Frequent recourse to Mary. 10. Several other practices in honour of Mary.

                                               St Alphonsus de Liguori (1696-1787)