Article V — Particular Practices of This Devotion

I. Exterior Practices

Although the essential part of this devotion consists in the interior, it nonetheless involves several exterior practices that must not be neglected: Haec oportet facere et illa non omittere — "These things you ought to do, and not leave the others undone." This is because, first, the exterior practices, well performed, aid the interior ones; second, they remind man, who always guides himself by his senses, of what he has done or ought to do; third, they edify the neighbor who sees them, which the purely interior ones do not. Let no worldly or critical person, therefore, poke his nose in here to say that true devotion is in the heart, that one must avoid what is exterior, that there may be vanity in it, that one must hide one's devotion. I reply with my Master that men should see our good works so that they may glorify our Father who is in heaven. Not that, as St. Gregory says, one ought to perform outward actions and devotions to please men and to win praise — that would be vanity. But one sometimes performs them before men, with a view to pleasing God and having him glorified thereby, without caring about the contempt or praise of men.

I shall report only briefly some exterior practices, which I do not call exterior because one performs them without interior spirit, but because they have something outward about them, to distinguish them from those that are purely interior.

First Practice. Those who wish to enter into this particular devotion — which is not established as a confraternity, though it would be desirable — after having, as I said in the first part of this preparation for the reign of Jesus Christ, spent at least twelve days emptying themselves of the spirit of the world, which is contrary to that of Jesus Christ, shall spend three weeks filling themselves with Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin. Here is the order they may follow.

During the first week, they shall use all their prayers and works of piety to ask for knowledge of themselves and contrition for their sins; and they shall do everything in a spirit of humility. For this purpose they may, if they wish, meditate on what I have said about our evil nature, and consider themselves, for the six days of this week, as nothing but snails, slugs, toads, swine, serpents, and goats; or these three words of St. Bernard: Cogita quid fueris, semen putridum; quid sis, vas stercorum; quid futurus sis, esca vermium — "Consider what you were: corrupt seed; what you are: a vessel of filth; what you shall be: food for worms." They shall pray to Our Lord and his Holy Spirit to enlighten them, with these words: Domine, ut videam — "Lord, that I may see"; or Noverim me — "Let me know myself"; or Veni Sancte Spiritus — "Come, Holy Spirit." And they shall say every day the Ave Maris Stella and the Litany of the Holy Spirit.

During the second week, they shall apply themselves, in all their prayers and works of each day, to knowing the Blessed Virgin. They shall ask the Holy Spirit for this knowledge. They may read and meditate on what we have said about her. They shall recite, as in the first week, the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella, and in addition a Rosary every day, or at least a chaplet, for this intention.

They shall spend the third week in knowing Jesus Christ. They may meditate on all that we have said of him, and say the prayer of St. Augustine found in the first part of this treatise. With the same saint, they may say and repeat a hundred and a hundred times a day: Noverim te — "Lord, that I may know you"; or Domine, ut videam — "Lord, that I may see who you are." They shall recite, as in the previous weeks, the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella, and add every day the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus. At the end of three weeks, they shall go to confession and communion with the intention of giving themselves to Jesus Christ, in the quality of slaves of love, through the hands of Mary. After communion, which they shall endeavor to receive according to the method given further on, they shall recite the formula of their consecration, which they will also find further on. They should write it out or have it written out if it is not printed, and sign it on the same day they make it. It would also be good for them to pay some tribute to Jesus Christ and to the Blessed Virgin on that day, either as a penance for their past infidelity to their baptismal vows, or as a protest of their dependence on the dominion of Jesus and Mary. This tribute will be according to the devotion and capacity of each person — a fast, a mortification, an alms, a candle. Even if they gave only a pin as an act of homage, with a good heart, that would be enough for Jesus, who looks only at the good will. Every year at least, on the same day, they shall renew the same consecration, observing the same practices for three weeks. They may even renew every month, every day, all that they have done, in these few words: Tuus totus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt — "I am all yours, and all that I have belongs to you," O my lovable Jesus, through Mary your holy Mother.

Second Practice. They shall recite every day of their lives — without, however, making it a burdensome obligation — the little crown of the Blessed Virgin, composed of three Our Fathers and twelve Hail Marys, in honor of the twelve privileges and grandeurs of the Blessed Virgin. This practice is very ancient and has its foundation in Holy Scripture. St. John saw a woman crowned with twelve stars, clothed with the sun, and having the moon beneath her feet; this woman, according to the interpreters, is the Blessed Virgin. There are many ways of saying it well, which would be too long to report. The Holy Spirit will teach them to those who are most faithful to this devotion. However, to say it quite simply, one first says: Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata; da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos — "Grant me the grace to praise you, O holy Virgin; give me strength against your enemies." Then one says the Creed, then one Our Father, four Hail Marys, and one Glory Be; then another Our Father, four Hail Marys, and a Glory Be; and so on for the rest. At the end one says: Sub tuum praesidium, etc.

Third Practice. It is very praiseworthy, very glorious, and very useful for those who have thus made themselves slaves of Jesus in Mary to wear, as a mark of their loving slavery, small iron chains blessed with a proper blessing.

These outward marks, it is true, are not essential, and a person may very well do without them even though he has embraced this devotion. Nevertheless, I cannot help but greatly praise those who, having shaken off the shameful chains of the slavery of the devil, in which original sin and perhaps actual sins had bound them, have voluntarily bound themselves in the glorious slavery of Jesus Christ, and glory with St. Paul in being "in chains for Jesus Christ" — chains a thousand times more glorious and precious, though made of iron, than all the golden necklaces of emperors.

There was a time when nothing was more infamous than the cross; but now this wood is the most glorious thing in Christendom. Let us say the same of the fetters of slavery: there was nothing more ignominious among the ancients, and there still is nothing so among the pagans; but among Christians, nothing is more illustrious than these chains of Jesus Christ — because they free us and preserve us from the infamous bonds of sin and the devil; because they set us at liberty and bind us to Jesus and Mary, not by constraint and force, as galley slaves, but by charity and love, as children: Traham eos in vinculis caritatis — "I will draw them to me," says God through the mouth of the Prophet, "by chains of charity" — chains which are consequently strong as death, and in a sense even stronger in those who are faithful in carrying these glorious marks until death. For although death will destroy their bodies by reducing them to corruption, it will not destroy the bonds of their slavery, which, being of iron, will not easily corrode. And perhaps on the day of the resurrection of the body, at the great Last Judgment, these chains, still binding their bones, will form part of their glory, and will be changed into chains of light and glory. Happy, then, a thousand times happy, the illustrious slaves of Jesus in Mary who carry their chains to the tomb!

Here are the reasons why one wears these little chains. First, to remind the Christian of the vows and commitments of his baptism, of the perfect renewal he has made of them by this devotion, and of the strict obligation he is under to be faithful to them. Since man, who is often guided more by his senses than by pure faith, easily forgets his obligations to God unless he has something outward to remind him of them, these little chains serve wonderfully to remind the Christian of the chains of sin and the slavery of the devil from which holy Baptism has delivered him, and of the dependence on Jesus Christ which he vowed in holy Baptism and ratified through the renewal of his vows. Second, to show that one is not ashamed of the servitude and slavery of Jesus Christ, and that one renounces the slavery of the world, of sin, and of the devil. Third, to protect oneself and to guard against the chains of sin and the devil; for we must carry either "chains of iniquity or chains of charity" and salvation: Vincula peccatorum aut vincula caritatis. Oh, my dear brother, "let us break the chains of sinners and of the world, of the devil and his minions, and let us cast far from us their deadly yoke": Dirumpamus vincula eorum et projiciamus a nobis jugum ipsorum. Let us put our feet, to use the words of the Holy Spirit, into his glorious fetters, and our neck into his collars: Injice pedem tuum in compedes illius, et in torques illius collum tuum; subjice humerum tuum et porta illam, et ne acedieris vinculis ejus. You will note that the Holy Spirit, before saying these words, prepares the soul lest it reject this important counsel. Here are his words: Audi, fili, et accipe consilium intellectus, et ne abjicias consilium meum — "Listen, my son, and receive a counsel of understanding, and do not reject my counsel." You will allow, my very dear friend, that I here unite myself with the Holy Spirit to give you the same counsel: Vincula illius alligatura salutis — "His chains are chains of salvation." As Jesus Christ on the Cross must draw all things to himself, willingly or unwillingly, he will draw the reprobate by the chains of their sins, to chain them like galley slaves and devils to his eternal wrath and avenging justice. But he will draw, especially in these last times, the predestinate by chains of charity: Omnia traham ad meipsum. Traham eos in vinculis caritatis.

These loving slaves of Jesus Christ, or "those chained for Jesus Christ" — vincti Christi — may carry their chains either on their neck or on their feet. Fr. Vincent Caraffa, seventh General of the Society of Jesus, who died in the odor of sanctity in 1643, wore as a mark of his servitude an iron ring on his feet and said his only sorrow was that he could not publicly drag his chain. Mother Agnes of Jesus, of whom we have spoken, wore an iron chain around her waist. Others have worn it around the neck, as a penance for the pearl necklaces they had worn in the world. Some have worn it on their arms, to remind them in the work of their hands that they are slaves of Jesus Christ.

Fourth Practice. They shall have a very great devotion to the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, on March 25, which is the proper mystery of this devotion. This devotion was inspired by the Holy Spirit: first, to honor and imitate the ineffable dependence that God the Son willed to have on Mary for the glory of God his Father and for our salvation — a dependence that appears especially in this mystery, where Jesus is captive and slave in the womb of the divine Mary and depends on her for all things; second, to thank God for the incomparable graces he bestowed on Mary, and especially for having chosen her as his most worthy Mother — a choice made in this mystery. These are the two principal ends of the slavery of Jesus Christ in Mary.

Note, if you please, that I ordinarily say: the slave of Jesus in Mary, the slavery of Jesus in Mary. One could, in truth, as several have done until now, say the slave of Mary, the slavery of the Blessed Virgin. But I believe it is better to say the slave of Jesus in Mary, as M. Tronson, Superior General of the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, renowned for his rare prudence and consummate piety, advised an ecclesiastic who consulted him on this subject. Here are the reasons.

First, since we are in a proud age, in which there is a great number of puffed-up scholars, strong minds, and critics who find fault with the most well-established and most solid practices of piety, it is better — to avoid giving them an unnecessary occasion for criticism — to say the slavery of Jesus in Mary and to call oneself the slave of Jesus Christ, taking the name of this devotion from its last end, which is Jesus Christ, rather than from the road and the means of arriving at that end, which is Mary — although one can, in truth, do either without scruple, as I myself do. For example, a man going from Orleans to Tours by way of Amboise can perfectly well say he is going to Amboise and he is going to Tours, that he is a traveler to Amboise and a traveler to Tours — with this difference, however, that Amboise is only his direct route to Tours, and Tours alone is his last end and the terminus of his journey.

Second, since the principal mystery celebrated and honored in this devotion is the mystery of the Incarnation, where Jesus Christ can only be seen in Mary, incarnate in her womb, it is more fitting to say the slavery of Jesus in Mary — of Jesus residing and reigning in Mary — according to that beautiful prayer of so many great men: O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in us, in your spirit of holiness... ¹

Third, this way of speaking shows more clearly the intimate union between Jesus and Mary. They are so intimately united that the one is wholly in the other: Jesus is wholly in Mary and Mary wholly in Jesus; or rather, she is no more, but Jesus alone is in her. And one could sooner separate the light from the sun than Mary from Jesus. So that we may call Our Lord "Jesus of Mary," and the Blessed Virgin "Mary of Jesus."

Time does not permit me to pause here to explain the excellences and grandeurs of the mystery of Jesus living and reigning in Mary, or of the Incarnation of the Word. I will content myself with saying in a few words that this is the first mystery of Jesus Christ, the most hidden, the most exalted, and the least known; that it is in this mystery that Jesus, in concert with Mary, in her womb — which is for this reason called by the saints the hall of the secrets of God — chose all the elect; that it is in this mystery that he worked all the mysteries of his life that followed, by the acceptance he made of them: Jesus ingrediens mundum dicit: Ecce venio ut faciam voluntatem tuam — "Jesus, entering the world, says: Behold, I come to do your will." And consequently this mystery is an epitome of all the mysteries, containing the will and the grace of all of them. Finally, this mystery is the throne of the mercy, the generosity, and the glory of God. The throne of his mercy for us, because since one cannot approach Jesus except through Mary, one can only see Jesus and speak to him through the mediation of Mary; Jesus, who always hears his dear Mother, always grants his grace and mercy to poor sinners: Adeamus ergo cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae — "Let us therefore approach with confidence the throne of grace." It is the throne of his generosity for Mary, because while this new Adam dwelt in this true earthly paradise, he worked there so many wonders in secret that neither the angels nor men can comprehend them. This is why the saints call Mary "the magnificence of God" — magnificentia Dei — as if "God were magnificent only in Mary": Solummodo ibi magnificus Dominus. It is the throne of his glory for his Father, because it is in Mary that Jesus Christ perfectly appeased his Father, angered against men; that he repaired the glory that sin had stolen from him; and that, by the sacrifice he made there of his will and of himself, he gave him more glory than all the sacrifices of the Old Law had ever given him; and finally, he gave him an infinite glory that he had never before received from man.

Fifth Practice. They shall have a great devotion to saying the Hail Mary, or the Angelic Salutation, whose worth, merit, excellence, and necessity few Christians, however enlightened, truly know.

It was necessary for the Blessed Virgin to appear many times to great and enlightened saints to show them the merit of this prayer — to St. Dominic, to St. John Capistrano, and to Blessed Alan de la Roche. They composed entire books on the wonders and the efficacy of this prayer for converting souls. They loudly proclaimed and publicly preached that, since salvation began with the Hail Mary, the salvation of each person in particular is bound to this prayer; that this prayer made the dry and barren earth bear the Fruit of life; and that this same prayer, well said, must cause the word of God to germinate in our souls and bring forth the Fruit of life, Jesus Christ; that the Hail Mary is a heavenly dew that waters the earth — that is, the soul — to make it bear its fruit in due season; and that a soul not watered by this prayer bears no fruit, producing only thorns and thistles, and is ready to be cursed.

Here is what the Blessed Virgin revealed to Blessed Alan de la Roche, as is recorded in his book De Dignitate Rosarii: "Know, my son, and make it known to all, that a probable and proximate sign of eternal damnation is to have an aversion, a lukewarmness, a negligence in saying the Angelic Salutation, which has repaired the whole world." Scias enim et secure intelligas et inde late omnibus notum facias, quod videlicet signum probabile est et propinquum aeternae damnationis, horrere et acediari ac negligere Salutationem Angelicam, totius mundi reparationem. These are words both most consoling and most terrible, which one would have difficulty believing if we did not have as guarantee that holy man, and before him St. Dominic, and, since then, several great personages, along with the experience of many centuries. For it has always been observed that those who bear the mark of reprobation — such as all impious heretics, the proud, and the worldly — hate or despise the Hail Mary and the Rosary.

Heretics still learn and recite the Our Father, but not the Hail Mary or the Rosary: that is their horror. They would sooner carry a serpent on their person than a rosary. The proud also, though Catholic, having the same inclinations as their father Lucifer, have nothing but contempt or indifference for the Hail Mary, and regard the Rosary as a devotion fit only for the ignorant and the illiterate.

On the contrary, experience has shown that those who have other great marks of predestination love, relish, and recite the Hail Mary with pleasure; and the more they belong to God, the more they love this prayer. This is what the Blessed Virgin also said to Blessed Alan, after the words I have just quoted. I do not know how this happens or why, but it is true nonetheless, and I have no better secret for knowing whether a person is of God than to examine whether he likes to say the Hail Mary and the Rosary. I say: if he likes it; for it can happen that a person may be naturally or even supernaturally unable to say it, but he always loves it and inspires it in others. Predestinate souls, slaves of Jesus in Mary, learn that the Hail Mary is the most beautiful of all prayers after the Our Father. It is the most perfect compliment you can pay to Mary, because it is the compliment that the Most High sent an archangel to pay her in order to win her heart. And it was so powerful upon her heart, by the secret charms of which it is full, that Mary gave her consent to the Incarnation of the Word, despite her profound humility. It is also by this compliment that you will infallibly win her heart, if you say it as you should.

The Hail Mary well said — that is, with attention, devotion, and modesty — is, according to the saints, the enemy of the devil, who is put to flight by it, and the hammer that crushes him; it is the sanctification of the soul, the joy of the angels, the melody of the predestinate, the canticle of the New Testament, the delight of Mary, and the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. The Hail Mary is a heavenly dew that makes the soul fruitful; it is a chaste and loving kiss given to Mary; it is a crimson rose presented to her; it is a precious pearl offered to her; it is a draught of ambrosia and divine nectar given to her. All these comparisons are from the saints.

I earnestly beg you, therefore, by the love I bear you in Jesus and Mary, not to be content with reciting the little crown of the Blessed Virgin, but also your chaplet, and even, if you have the time, your Rosary every day. And you will bless, at the hour of your death, the day and the hour that you believed me. And "having sown in the blessings of Jesus and Mary, you will reap eternal blessings in heaven": Qui seminat in benedictionibus, de benedictionibus et metet.

Sixth Practice. To thank God for the graces he has bestowed on the Blessed Virgin, they shall often say the Magnificat, following the example of Blessed Mary of Oignies and many other saints. It is the only prayer, the only work that the Blessed Virgin composed — or rather that Jesus composed in her, for it was he who spoke through her mouth. It is the greatest sacrifice of praise that God has received from a pure creature under the law of grace. It is, on the one hand, the most humble and most grateful, and on the other, the most sublime and most exalted of all canticles. There are in this canticle mysteries so great and so hidden that the angels themselves do not know them all. Gerson, who was so devout and learned a doctor, after having spent a great part of his life composing treatises full of erudition and piety on the most difficult subjects, did not undertake until near the end of his life, and then with trembling, to explain the Magnificat, in order to crown all his works. He tells us, in the folio volume he composed on it, many admirable things about this beautiful and divine canticle. Among other things, he says that the Blessed Virgin often recited it herself, and especially after Holy Communion, as a thanksgiving. The learned Bzovius, in explaining the same Magnificat, relates several miracles wrought by its power, and says that the devils tremble and flee when they hear these words of the Magnificat: Fecit potentiam in brachio suo, dispersit superbos mente cordis sui — "He has shown the might of his arm; he has scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts."

Seventh Practice. The faithful servants of Mary must greatly despise, hate, and flee the corrupt world, and make use of the practices of contempt of the world that we have given in the first part.

II. Interior Practices for Those Who Wish to Become Perfect

Besides the exterior practices of the devotion just described, which must not be omitted through negligence or contempt, insofar as the state and condition of each person permits, here are some very sanctifying interior practices for those whom the Holy Spirit calls to a high perfection.

It is, in four words, to do all one's actions through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary, in order to do them more perfectly through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, and for Jesus.

I. One must do one's actions through Mary — that is, one must obey the Blessed Virgin in all things and be guided in all things by her spirit, which is the Holy Spirit of God. "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God": Qui Spiritu Dei aguntur, ii sunt filii Dei. Those who are led by the spirit of Mary are children of Mary, and consequently children of God, as we have shown. Among so many devotees of the Blessed Virgin, only those are true and faithful who are guided by her spirit. I have said that the spirit of Mary is the Spirit of God, because she was never guided by her own spirit, but always by the Spirit of God, who made himself so completely the master of it that he became her own spirit. This is why St. Ambrose says: Sit in singulis Mariae anima, ut magnificet Dominum; sit in singulis spiritus Mariae, ut exsultet in Deo — "Let the soul of Mary be in each one to magnify the Lord; let the spirit of Mary be in each one to rejoice in God." How happy is a soul when, like a certain good Jesuit brother named Rodriguez, who died in the odor of sanctity, it is wholly possessed and governed by the spirit of Mary — a spirit that is gentle and strong, zealous and prudent, humble and courageous, pure and profound! In order that the soul may let itself be guided by this spirit of Mary, it must: first, renounce its own spirit, its own lights and its own will, before doing anything — for example, before making one's prayer, saying or hearing Holy Mass, or receiving Communion — because the darkness of our own spirit and the malice of our own will and operation, if we followed them, even though they seemed good, would be an obstacle to the spirit of Mary. Second, one must deliver oneself to the spirit of Mary, to be moved and guided by it in whatever way she wishes. One must put oneself and leave oneself in her virginal hands, like an instrument in the hands of a workman, like a lute in the hands of a skilled player. One must lose oneself and abandon oneself to her, like a stone thrown into the sea. This is done simply and in an instant, by a single glance of the mind, a slight movement of the will, or verbally — by saying, for example: "I renounce myself; I give myself to you, my dear Mother." And though one may feel no sensible sweetness in this act of union, it is no less real — just as if one were to say, which God forbid, "I give myself to the devil," with as much sincerity, even though one said it without any perceptible change, one would no less truly belong to the devil. Third, from time to time, during and after one's action, one must renew the same act of offering and union; the more one does so, the more one will be sanctified, and the sooner one will arrive at union with Jesus Christ, which always necessarily follows union with Mary, since the spirit of Mary is the Spirit of Jesus.

II. One must do one's actions with Mary — that is, one must, in one's actions, look upon Mary as an accomplished model of every virtue and perfection, formed by the Holy Spirit in a pure creature, for us to imitate according to our small capacity. In each action, therefore, we must consider how Mary did it or would do it if she were in our place. For this we must examine and meditate on the great virtues she practiced during her life, and especially: first, her lively faith, by which she believed the angel's word without hesitation and believed faithfully and constantly to the foot of the Cross; second, her profound humility, which caused her to hide, to keep silence, to submit to all, and to put herself last; third, her utterly divine purity, which has never had and never will have its equal under the heavens; and all her other virtues as well. Let us remember — I say it a second time — that Mary is the great and the unique mold of God, fit for making living images of God at little cost and in little time; and that a soul that has found this mold and has lost itself in it is soon changed into Jesus Christ, whom this mold represents to the life.

III. One must do one's actions in Mary. To understand this practice well, one must know: first, that the Blessed Virgin is the true earthly paradise of the new Adam, and that the ancient earthly paradise was only its figure. There are, therefore, in this earthly paradise riches, beauties, rarities, and incomprehensible sweetnesses, which the new Adam, Jesus Christ, left there. It is in this paradise that he took his delight for nine months, that he worked his wonders, and that he displayed his riches with the magnificence of a God.

This most holy place is composed of nothing but a virgin and immaculate soil, of which the new Adam was formed and nourished, without any stain or blemish, by the operation of the Holy Spirit who dwells there. It is in this earthly paradise that we truly find the tree of life that bore Jesus Christ, the Fruit of life; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which gave light to the world. There are in this divine place trees planted by the hand of God and watered by his divine unction, which have borne and daily bear fruits of a divine flavor. There are flower beds enameled with the fair and varied flowers of the virtues, casting a fragrance that delights even the angels. There are meadows green with hope, impregnable towers of strength, delightful dwellings of confidence. (Only the Holy Spirit can make known the truth hidden beneath these figures of material things.) There is in this place an air of perfect purity; a beautiful sun without shadow, of the Godhead; a beautiful day without night, of the holy humanity; a continual and blazing furnace of charity, where all the iron that is cast is set ablaze and changed into gold. There is a river of humility that springs from the earth and, dividing into four branches, waters this entire enchanted place: these are the four cardinal virtues.

The Holy Spirit, through the mouths of the holy Fathers, also calls the Blessed Virgin the Eastern Gate, through which the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, enters and leaves the world. He entered by her the first time, and he will come by her the second.

This is the sanctuary of the Godhead, the resting place of the Most Holy Trinity, the throne of God, the city of God, the altar of God, the temple of God, the world of God. All these different titles and praises are most true in relation to the different marvels that the Most High has worked in Mary. Oh, what riches! What glory! What pleasure! What happiness to be able to enter and dwell in Mary, where the Most High has set the throne of his supreme glory! But how difficult it is for sinners like us to have the permission, the capacity, and the light to enter into a place so high and so holy, which is guarded not by a cherub, as was the ancient earthly paradise, but by the Holy Spirit himself, who has made himself its absolute master, and of which he says: Hortus conclusus, soror mea sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus — "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a garden enclosed and a fountain sealed." Mary is closed; Mary is sealed. The wretched children of Adam and Eve, driven from the earthly paradise, cannot enter this one except by a particular grace of the Holy Spirit, which they must merit.

After one has obtained this signal grace by one's fidelity, one must remain in the beautiful interior of Mary with delight, rest there in peace, lean there with confidence, hide there in safety, and lose oneself there without reserve — so that in this virginal bosom: first, the soul may be nourished with the milk of her grace and maternal mercy; second, it may be delivered from its troubles, fears, and scruples; third, it may be safe from all its enemies — the world, the devil, and sin — which have never had entrance there. This is why she says that "those who work in her shall not sin" — Qui operantur in me non peccabunt — that is, those who dwell in the Blessed Virgin in spirit do not commit any considerable sin; fourth, so that the soul may be formed in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in it, because her womb is, as the holy Fathers say, the hall of the divine sacraments, where Jesus Christ and all the elect have been formed: Homo et homo natus est in ea — "Man and man has been born in her."

IV. Finally, one must do all one's actions for Mary. Since one has delivered oneself entirely to her service, it is fitting that one do everything for her, as a servant, a valet, and a slave — not taking her as the last end of one's service, which is Jesus Christ alone, but as the proximate end, the mysterious middle, and the easy means of going to him. Like a good servant and slave, one must not remain idle; but, relying on her protection, one must undertake and do great things for this august Sovereign. One must defend her privileges when they are challenged; one must uphold her glory when it is attacked; one must draw everyone, if possible, to her service and to this true and solid devotion. One must speak and cry out against those who abuse devotion to her in order to outrage her Son, and at the same time establish this true devotion. One must claim from her, as the reward of these small services, nothing but the honor of belonging to so lovable a princess, and the happiness of being through her united to Jesus her Son, by an indissoluble bond, in time and in eternity.

Glory to Jesus in Mary!

Glory to Mary in Jesus!

Glory to God alone!

Footnotes

1. Translator's note: The full prayer, widely used in French seminaries, reads: "O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in us, your servants, in your spirit of holiness, in the fullness of your power, in the perfection of your ways, in the truth of your virtues, in the communion of your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, in your Holy Spirit, to the glory of your Father. Amen." ↩