On Devotion to the Blessed Virgin by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

May 7 (edited) • Faith

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church and founder of the Order of the Redemptorists, had a great devotion to the Mother of God and preached the same with great zeal.

In his masterpiece “The Glories of Mary”, this is what he says about devotion to Our Lady:

“This Holy Virgin is called a plane-tree, because, as the plane shelters travelers under its branches from the heat of the sun and from the rain, so do men find refuge under the mantle of Mary from the ardor of their passions and from the fury of temptations. When a soul loses devotion to Mary, it is immediately enveloped in darkness. Woe to those who are in opposition to this sun! Woe to those who despise its light, that is to say, all who despise devotion to Mary! O, did all men but love this most benign and loving Lady, had they but recourse to her always, and without delay, in their temptations, who would fall? Who would ever be lost? He falls and is lost who has not recourse to Mary.”

Let us not diminish the value of our devotion to Our Lady—not even for ecumenical reasons! Let us not fear to defend with zeal the honor and glories of the Mother of God before our Protestant brethren. Let us, as Saint Alphonsus himself explains in the same work, render concrete honor to the Blessed Virgin: by the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary, the brown scapular, the Saturday fast and so on. What matters is not the multiplicity of devotions, but constancy in a few. Do not grieve your Mother then, and turn to her often and with confidence. She will unite you to her Divine Son more quickly, more gently and more gloriously than any other.

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