WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF THIS INTERIOR PRACTICE
53. Experience will teach you much more about this devotion
than I can tell you; and if you remain faithful to the little I have taught
you, you will find so many rich fruits of grace in this practice that you will
be surprised and filled with joy.
54. Let us set to work then, dear soul, and by the faithful
practice of this devotion let us obtain the grace "that Mary's soul may be
in us to glorify the Lord, that her spirit may be in us to rejoice in
God," as St. Ambrose says. "Do not think that there was more glory
and happiness in dwelling in Abraham's bosom, which was called Paradise, than
in the bosom of Mary, in which God has placed His throne," as the learned
Abbot Guerric says.
It Establishes Mary's Life in the Soul
55. This devotion, faithfully practiced, produces many happy
effects in the soul. The most important of them all is that it establishes,
even here below, Mary's life in the soul, so that it is no longer the soul that
lives, but Mary living in it; for Mary's life becomes its life. And when, by an
unspeakable yet real grace, the Blessed Virgin is Queen in a soul, what wonders
does she not work there! She is the worker of great wonders, particularly in
our soul, but she works them in secret, in a way unknown to the soul itself,
for were it to know, it might destroy the beauty of her works.
Mary Causes Jesus to Live in That Soul
56. As Mary is the fruitful Virgin everywhere, she produces in
the soul wherein she dwells purity of heart and body, purity of intention and
of purpose, and fruitfulness in good works. Do not think, dear soul, that Mary,
the most fruitful of all pure creatures, who has brought forth even a God,
remains idle in a faithful soul. She will cause Jesus Christ to live in that
soul, and the soul to live in constant union with Jesus Christ. "My dear children,
with whom I am in labor again until Christ is formed in you." [Gal. 4:
19]. If Jesus Christ is the fruit of Mary in each individual soul, as well as
in all souls in general, He is, however, her fruit and her masterpiece more
particularly in a soul in which she dwells.
Mary Becomes Everything to That Soul
57. To sum up, Mary becomes everything to that soul in the
service of Jesus Christ. The mind will be enlightened by Mary's pure faith. The
heart will be deepened by Mary's humility. It will be dilated and inflamed by
Mary's charity; made clean by Mary's purity; noble and great by her motherly
care. But why dwell any longer on this? Only experience can teach the wonders
wrought by Mary, wonders so great that neither the wise nor the proud, nor even
many of the devout can believe them.
