From: "Trudie" 

March 25th - The Feast of the Annunciation and the Incarnation of the Word

Texts of St. Louis Grignion de Montfort:

First text: "Those who undertake this holy slavery should have a
special devotion to the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word.
Indeed, the Incarnation is the mystery proper to this practice, insomuch as
it is a devotion inspired by the Holy Ghost: 1. First, to honor and imitate
the ineffable dependence that God the Son was pleased to have on Mary, for
His Father's glory and our salvation. This dependence appears in a
particular way in this mystery, where Our Lord Jesus Christ is a captive
and a slave in the bosom of the Most Holy Virgin, and depends on her for
all things.

2. Second, to thank God for the incomparable graces He has given Mary, and
particularly for having chosen her to be His most worthy Mother, which
choice as made in this mystery." (True Devotion to Mary, Montfort
Publications, 1975, p. 165).
Second text: "Time does not permit me to explain here the excellences
and grandeurs of the mystery of Jesus living in Mary, in other words, the
Incarnation of the Word. I will content myself to say these few words. We
have here the first mystery of Jesus Christ-the most hidden, the most
exalted, and the least known. It is in this mystery that Jesus, in concert
with Mary, has chosen all the elect. For this reason, her womb is called by
the saints aula sacramentorum, the room of the secrets of God. From this
mystery, He has wrought all the subsequent mysteries of His life .. Hence,
this mystery is the summation of all mysteries and contains the will and
grace of all. Finally, this mystery is the throne of the mercy, the
liberality, and the glory of God." (Ibid., p. 167)


Comments of late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)

The two texts here are co-related. First, St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
affirms that the mystery of Incarnation is par excellence the one to which
the true slaves of Our Lady should have devotion. Second, he sustains that
the mystery of the secret life of Jesus in Mary is a mystery that contains
all the others, that it was the point of departure for all the wonders of
His life.

Let us analyze the first part and then the second.

The Treatise of True Devotion to Our Lady is, in my opinion, a prophetic
book with regard to what it states about the mysteries and devotion to Our
Lady. One sees that the profound things St. Louis de Montfort says will be
revealed as theology develops in the Reign of Mary. Today, the meaning of
his words cannot be fully comprehended. For example, who can entirely
understand his affirmation that Our Lord was the slave of Our Lady during
the time He lived in her? After the Annunciation and the fiat of Our Lady,
Our Lord was made flesh in her bosom. From that moment, He had a perfect
knowledge of everything. He was cloistered inside her, living in exclusive
contact with her, in a complete dependence on her, the most complete
dependence a person can have upon another.

The Word Incarnate, completely lucid from the first moment of His being,
chose to live this life inside another creature. It was by His design He
lived inside that temple, that palace, in a mysterious relation with Our
Lady.

God manifested His omnipotence in the Incarnation. He also manifested His
power by maintaining Our Lady a Virgin before, during, and after the
parturition. Everything about the Incarnation is so extraordinary that He
could have arranged for Our Lord to be born just a short time after the
conception. But He did not do this. He chose to live the full nine months
in her. He wanted to establish that special form of dependence upon her. He
chose to have that profound and mysterious relations of soul with her. In
short, He wanted to be her slave. But a special kind of slave, because the
normal slave has his own life, he breathes on his own, he has freedom of
movement. What He wanted was more than this, it was to depend entirely on
Our Lady.

What kind of relation of souls was established during this period? What
type of union took place? It is an impenetrable matter. But just to have a
certain reference point, we should consider that in the mystery of the
Incarnation, Our Lord assumed a human nature, that is, in addition to being
true God, He also became true Man. That is, He had soul and a body, as we
do. He was a descendent of Adam and Eve like us. But parallel to this, His
human soul had-and has-a union with God so close that Jesus Christ is part
of the Holy Trinity. In Jesus Christ there are not two persons, there is
only one Person, even though the human soul of Christ was created. How can
a human soul constitute one person with God? It is a mystery. Theology
teaches us that this is a hypostatic union, but it does not explain the
mystery.

Considering His divine and human natures, how can one explain why Our Lord
cried out on the Cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou abandoned
Me?" At that moment, He continued to be God, but He chose to suffer in
His humanity a kind of abandonment and isolation that made Him feel in His
human nature a complete abandonment, even though He remained united with
God in His Divinity. Again, we have a mystery.

The union of Our Lord with Our Lady when He was in her womb is less than,
but similar to His hypostatic union. It is entirely incomprehensible, but a
day will come when light will fall on it for mankind. I believe that in the
Reign of Mary a theological explanation will be made for the greater glory
of God and the good of the souls.

There are still many unexplained mystical points regarding the union that
Our Lady has with each one of her slaves, which is incomparably less than
the divine mystery of her union with Our Lord.

All these mysteries follow the same line, but we do not know how to explain
them. What we can see, however, is that these mysteries take a direction
diametrically opposed to the Revolution in two of its principal doctrines:
Pantheism and Individualism.

According to Pantheism, everything is god; one thing has no essential
distinction from another. Every creature is united with every other, all
making just one single person.

Individualism asserts that each one is himself alone and does not need to
be united with anyone else.

The Catholic position opposes both errors. It affirms that each person is
himself alone, an individual, but open to relations with others that will
serve to greatly enhance his person. The deep explanation of how this
occurs, however, is another mystery that I hope theology and philosophy
will explain in the Reign of Mary.

Once I read in a book of revelations-I don't remember if the author was a
pious person or a saint-affirming that when the relation of Our Lord living
in Our Lady will be explained, the key to understand the Apocalypse will be
found. Then, a new theological dawn will shine on the world, which will
illuminate and expand the former theological horizons. I believe that we
should hope and pray that these linked mysteries will one day be disclosed.

St. Louis de Montfort sustains that the mystery of the Incarnation contains
all the others. We know that on each feast day, the Church gives us special
graces related to it. Therefore, on the day of the Annunciation of the
Angel and the Incarnation of the Word, these linked mysteries impart a
special fragrance related to the first mysterious union between Our Lord
and Our Lady.

We should recommend ourselves very much to Our Lady on this feast day and
ask her to initiate with us a relation of soul of Mistress and slave. That
she make us her humble subjects, like the Child Jesus when He was living in
her.


Saint Quote:
Gaze upon the Lord,
Gaze upon his face;
Gaze upon the One who holds you in his embrace. Gaze upon his life;
Gaze upon his love;
Gaze upon his coming poor from heaven above.
-Saint Clare of Assisi

Bible Quote:
5 For neither did his brethren believe in him. 6 Then Jesus said to them:
My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot
hate you; but me it hateth: because I give testimony of it, that the works
thereof are evil.  (John 7:5-7)



The second glorious mystery prayer of the Eucharistic Rosary, to be offered
before the Blessed Sacrament:

The Ascension of Our Lord, offered for confidence in God and desire of heaven.

O divine Saviour!  Thy triumph in this mystery has reached its perfection!
By raising Thyself up to heaven through Thy own power, Thou hast taken
possession of Thy Kingdom, and Thou art seated at the right hand of Thy
Father to be forever the joy of the angels and saints.  Every day also
without quitting Thy throne Thou comest upon our altars, under the form of
bread, to bring us a foretaste of the heavenly beatitude.

O Thou, the delight of pure souls, we adore Thee and we beg of Thee,
through the intercession of Thy holy Mother, an ardent desire of possessing
Thee here below under the Eucharistic veils, and to possess Thee in heaven
in the splendor of Thy glory.

Imprimatur:  + John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, Sept 19, 1908.

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