The Sistine Madonna - by RAFFAELLO Sanzio - from Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
The Sistine Madonna - by RAFFAELLO Sanzio -
from Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
The praise of Mary is an
inexhaustible fount;
the more it is enlarged the fuller it gets,
and the more you fill it so much the more is it enlarged
 |
 Note
Bene: Bible verses quoted in this Book are from the
English Douay-Rheims translation commissioned by the Catholic Church. |
Chapter I
|
| This section focuses on the seven major Marian feasts: Mary's Immaculate Conception, her Birth, her Presentation, the Annunciation, the Visitation, her Purification, and her Assumption. Using the same method found in part one, Alphonsus tries to bridge whatever gaps might exist between the reader's personal devotion to Mary and the Church's liturgical celebrations. |
Mary's Immaculate Conception
The
Birth of Mary
The Presentation
of Mary
The Annunciation of
Mary
The Visitation of Mary
The Purification
of Mary
The Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary, Discourse Two
| This next section focuses on the sorrows of Mary. It emphasizes her participation in the sufferings of her Son, showing that she collaborated in the work of redemption not just at Jesus' birth but also during the Way of the Cross. It begins with a discourse on Mary under the title of "Queen of martyrs" (463-481), then offers a sermon on the-dolors of Mary (482-492) before entering into an extended reflection on each of her seven sorrows: Simeon's prophecy, the flight into Egypt, her meeting with Jesus on the way to Calvary, the death of Jesus, the piercing of His side and descent from the Cross, and His burial (493-537). It concludes with a series of hymns commemorating Mary's suffering to be used during communal services pertaining to the Passion of the Lord, Mary's words of sorrow on Calvary, the Stabat Mater (538-544). The thrust of this section is to demonstrate Mary's total unity with the suffering of her Son. Her "yes" to God means that her life is inexorably tied to her Son's in all respects. Mary's sorrows, moreover, make her approachable. In them, the readers see someone human like themselves, who will listen to them, understand what they themselves are going through, and lend a helping hand. |
Mary is the Queen of Martyrs
First Dolor - Simeon's
Prophecy
Second Dolor - The Flight
into Egypt
Third Dolor - The Loss of
Jesus in the Temple
Fourth Dolor - The meeting
of Jesus and Mary when He was going to Death
Fifth Dolor - The Death of
Jesus
Sixth Dolor - The piercing
of the side of Jesus and His descent from the Cross
Seventh Dolor - The burial
of Jesus
| This next section focuses on the ten virtues most closely associated with Mary: humility, charity towards God, charity towards her neighbor, faith, hope, chastity, poverty, obedience, patience, and a spirit of prayer (547-587). In Alphonsus's day, these virtues were those most closely associated with the life of perfection and especially (although not exclusively) with religious life. Today, he most likely would emphasize these virtues as expressions of discipleship, a concept which spans the various "states of life" in the Church and which would appeal to all members of Christ's body, regardless of their state in life: priestly, religious, lay. In this treatise, Alphonsus departs from his usual methodology by omitting the example and by incorporating a prayer in its shortened form at the end. The reason for omitting the examples here should be obvious. Mary herself is the example par excellence of the virtues he is extolling. There is no need to point to anyone or anything else. Mary's life speaks for itself as a model of Christian living for all to admire and seek to imitate. To substantiate this point, the treatise ends with some appropriate hymns in praise of Mary's life. Alphonsus's goal here is to present Mary as the model Christian. Rooted in humility, "the foundation and guardian of virtues" (547), her following of Christ extends throughout her life and to every dimension of her being. Mary, in other words, was Jesus' closest disciple and led the kind of life that all Christians should aspire to. |
Fifth Part
Various Practices of Devotion
in Honor of the Divine Mother
In this section, Alphonsus outlines the various popular devotions close to the heart of Mary -- the Hail Mary, novenas in her honor, the rosary, her Office, fasting, visiting her images, wearing her scapular, confraternities dedicated to her, giving alms in her honor, having recourse to her-to name but a few (593-616). Before doing so, he reminds his readers that such devotional practices assure Mary's graciousness and protection only if they are performed free from sin (or at least the desire to be free from it) and with perseverance (591-592). In this, the most practical section in the entire book, Alphonsus takes great pains not only to describe the makeup of each devotion, but also to delineate the various ways of putting it into practice. His aim in all of this is to provide his readers with as many choices as possible so that they will be able to make appropriate selections that fit into the exigencies of their own lives. Appearing at the end as it does, this practical orientation serves as a useful guide to Marian devotion as practiced in Alphonsus's day. By ending on the question of praxis, he encourages his readers to reflect on the ways in which they can best express their devotion to Mary, the Mother of their Lord.
Appendix
For Alphonsus, Mary was a close collaborator with Jesus in the work of redemption. Without her, God's mysterious plan of salvation would never have borne fruit. Included in this Appendix are various additional Meditations, Novenas, Prayers, Consecrations, Acclamations, Sermons, and Examples reflecting his deep and affectionate devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Meditations
(Aka Presentation of the Lord/Candlemas; Celebrated 2 February, 40 Days after Christmas)
(Aka Feast of the Incarnation; Celebrated 25 March, 9 months before the Nativity of Our Lord on 25 December)
(Celebrated 31 May)
(Celebrated 15 August)
(Celebrated 8 September)
(Celebrated 21 November)
(Celebrated 8 December)
(Celebrated 19 March)
(A holy day of obligation, celebrated 1 January. Aka World Day for Peace, Circumcision of the Lord and Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus)
For Alphonsus, Mary was a close collaborator with Jesus in the work of redemption. Without her, God's mysterious plan of salvation would never have borne fruit. Included in this Appendix are various additional Meditations, Novenas, Prayers, Consecrations, Acclamations, Sermons, and Examples reflecting his deep and affectionate devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Novena of the Titles of Mary
For Alphonsus, Mary was a close collaborator with Jesus in the work of redemption. Without her, God's mysterious plan of salvation would never have borne fruit. Included in this Appendix are various additional Meditations, Novenas, Prayers, Consecrations, Acclamations, Sermons, and Examples reflecting his deep and affectionate devotion to the Blessed Mother.
For Alphonsus, Mary was a close collaborator with Jesus in the work of redemption. Without her, God's mysterious plan of salvation would never have borne fruit. Included in this Appendix are various additional Meditations, Novenas, Prayers, Consecrations, Acclamations, Sermons, and Examples reflecting his deep and affectionate devotion to the Blessed Mother.
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