J.M.J. "118. Having read nearly every book on devotion to the Blessed
Virgin and talked to the most saintly and learned people of the day, I can now state with
conviction that I have never known or heard of any devotion to our Lady which is
comparable to the one I am going to speak of. No other devotion calls for more sacrifices
for God, none empties us more completely of self and self-love, none keeps us more firmly
in the grace of God and the grace of God in us. No other devotion unites us more perfectly
and more easily to Jesus. Finally no devotion gives more glory to God, is more sanctifying
for ourselves or more helpful to our neighbor.
"119. As this devotion essentially consists in a state of soul, it
will not be understood in the same way by everyone. Some--the great majority--will stop
short at the threshold and go no further. Others--not many--will take but one step into
its interior. Who will take a second step? Who will take a third? Finally who will remain
in it permanently? Only the one to whom the Spirit of Jesus reveals the secret. The Holy
Spirit Himself will lead this faithful soul from strength to strength, from grace to
grace, from light to light, until at length he attains transformation into Jesus in the
fullness of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven."
--Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 118-119.
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