"True Devotion to Mary" is universally acclaimed as the single greatest and most theologically authoritative book on the Blessed Virgin Mary ever to have been written. This work has had a tremendous impact on a number of the most significant and influential popes, from the late 19th Century right down to our own times: (1) Pope Leo XIII beatified de Montfort in 1888, adopted de Montfort's Mariological terminology (calling Mary the “Mediatrix” and “Co-Redemptrix”), and wrote no less than ten encyclicals on the Rosary; (2) Pope Saint Pius X, in 1904, wrote his key Marian encyclical, “Ad Diem Illum,” adopting much of the language and sentiment of de Montfort's book, "True Devotion," and even granted the Apostolic Blessing to all who would read de Montfort's great treatise on the Blessed Virgin (that is, the book you now hold in your hands!); (3) Pope Pius XII, also a deeply Marian pope, canonized de Montfort in 1947, raising him to the honors of the altar; and (4) our beloved Blessed Pope John Paul II, as many know, took his papal motto, "Totus Tuus," from de Montfort's Latin prayer of total consecration to the Blessed Virgin, stating that his reading of "True Devotion" marked a "decisive turning point" in his life and spirituality that would forever shape his person, priesthood and papacy. There has even been serious speculation regarding de Montfort being made a Doctor of the Church! Clearly, this book is the definitive MUST READ for every Catholic Christian!

True Devotion to Mary

Religion & Spirituality

de Montfort, St. Louis-Marie Grignion

Christian Books & Bibles

Marian Apostolate Publishing

This all-time Marian classic testifies to Saint Alphonsus De Liguori's profound love for and devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, as well as his keen awareness of the essential role played by the Blessed Virgin in the sanctification of souls. His goal, in this text, is to bring his readers to the awareness of the absolute necessity of cultivating a deep devotion to the Mother of the Redeemer, who is additionally our Spiritual Mother. Saint Alphonsus points out that Mary, being our Mother in the order of grace, has been entrusted by the Most Holy Trinity with the Maternal duty of co-operating with her divine Spouse, the Holy Spirit of God, in giving birth to the Image of Christ in our souls and, subsequently, nourishing our souls with the milk of divine grace. Herein is contained a veritable treasury of deeply moving and devotion-inspiring stories and theological truths concerning the most loving, most powerful, most merciful and most provident of all Mothers, to whom all of the great saints possessed a deep devotion, and without whom souls run the grave risk of falling victim to the wiles of the Adversary. Aware of the countless subtle and insidious heresies and false ideologies that even the most learned of theologians and the most advanced in virtue have succumbed to, precisely because they chose to dispense with holy Mother Mary, St. Alphonsus presents her as the sure protection against, and antidote for, all such attacks on behalf of the Evil One. This work is divided into two parts: in the first of these, our Saint provides a phrase-by-phrase, textual analysis of that ancient classic, the "Salve Regina;" in the second part, the Saint provides the reader with numerous meditations and reflections on myriad Marian themes - including her major feasts, her seven sorrows, her virtues, and practices of popular piety and devotion in her honour. This book will serve as a marvelous introduction to devotion to the Blessed Mother, especially for those Christians who have difficulty understanding why Catholics possess such love, respect and admiration for the Blessed Virgin, as well as the reason why Catholic Christians would choose to be escorted into the presence of Christ the King by His Most Holy and Immaculate Mother Mary.

The Glories of Mary

De Liguori, Saint Alphonsus

The private revelations mystically granted to and chronicled by Blessed Ann Catherine Emmerich provide an intimate glimpse into the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and, by extension, into the lives of her beloved family members, including, of course, those of her Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ; her earthly spouse, St. Joseph; her parents, Sts. Anne and Joachim; other relatives and ancestors. Myriad fascinating details regarding the Nativity and the early life of Our Lord, and the Blessed Mother's final days on earth, prior to her death and glorious Assumption, are provided in this fleshed-out compilation of the four Gospel narratives. Original illustrations of the life of Mary, footnotes and an Index of Scripture References are all included.

The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Emmerich, Blessed Anne Catherine

"I have not revealed these mysteries in the primitive Church, because they are so great, that the faithful would have been lost in the contemplation and admiration of them at a time when it was more necessary to establish firmly the law of grace and of the Gospel. Although all mysteries of religion are in perfect harmony with each other, yet human ignorance might have suffered recoil and doubt at their magnitude, when faith in the Incarnation and Redemption and the precepts of the new law of the Gospel were yet in their beginnings. On this same account the person of the incarnate Word said to his disciples at the last supper: "Many things have I to say to you; but you are not yet disposed to recieve them" (John 6, 12). These words He addressed to all the world, for it was not yet capable of giving full obedience to the law of grace and full assent to the faith in the Son, much less was it prepared to be introduced into the mysteries of his Mother. But now, mankind has greater need for this manifestation, and this necessity urges Me to disregard their evil disposition. And if men would now seek to please Me by reverencing, by living, and studying the wonders, which are intimately connected with this Mother of Piety, and if they would all begin to solicit her intercession from their whole heart, the world would find some relief. I will not longer withhold from men this mystical City of refuge; describe and delineate it to them, as far as thy shortcomings allow. I do not intend that thy descriptions and declarations of the life of the Blessed Virgin shall be mere opinions or contemplations, but reliable truth. They that have ears to hear, let them hear. Let those who thirst come to the living waters and leave the dried-out cisterns; let those that are seeking for the light, follow it to the end. Thus speaks the Lord God Almighty!"

The Mystical City of God: The Divine History and Life of the Virgin Mother of God (VOLUME IV THE CONCEPTION)

of Agreda, Venerable Mary

The great St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, within the pages of this marvelous devotional, explains that through each well-prayed Rosary, the Mother truly unites her most beautiful and all-powerful voice to ours, making of our prayer a truly pleasing and fragrant offering unto each of the persons of the Most Holy Trinity. In it, the Father rejoices in receiving sublime consolation from His creation through the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of His Son; the Son eagerly presses to His Most Sacred Heart all hearts that have been entrusted and offered to Him by His Most Holy Mother; the Spirit, or the Divine Advocate, is irresistibly drawn to each soul in whom His well-beloved spouse, the created Advocate – Mary – has made her dwelling. Finally, it goes without saying that our Spiritual Mother leaps with joy each and every time she is greeted, by one of her many beloved children, in the same manner that she was greeted by St. Gabriel, who, in announcing to her the exalted vocation to which she had been called by God, greeted her with that sweet “Ave.” Thus, after the supremely perfect glory and honor offered to God in the Liturgical celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, it would not be an exaggeration to state that the Holy Trinity receives its greatest adoration, glorification, gratitude, supplication and expiation from those individuals who, through, with and in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the masterpiece of God’s creation and the treasury of God’s greatest graces, allow themselves to be transformed ever more perfectly into Christ’s image and likeness through their meditation on the Salvific mysteries of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, as they repeat the words of the Angelic Salutation. The Rosary involves both meditative and vocal prayer, and quite often leads one into a passive state of contemplation, whereby the soul ceases to be active and rather rests in the peace, love and presence of God Himself. We must understand the distinction between meditation and contemplation. The former involves activity on our part; that is, as we meditate on any of the 20 mysteries of the Rosary, we simultaneously pray out loud to Our Lady, rendering unto her the praise and veneration that is Her due, and asking her to exercise her maternal mediation on our behalf. Contemplative prayer, on the other hand, is a free gift bestowed upon an individual who is properly disposed to receive this gift. We prepare ourselves precisely by performing the activities of both vocal and meditative prayer. Contemplation can be defined as the passive, phenomenological experience of the soul resting in the presence of God. Moreover, it should be noted that we do not pray in order to receive this free gift of contemplative prayer; God may or may not choose to impart this gift upon a soul, knowing, in His perfect Wisdom, precisely what each individual soul needs at any given time. Rather, we, having committed ourselves to the Blessed Virgin, have promised to stay united to her Most Immaculate Heart, and this is accomplished through, with and in the recitation of her prayer, the Most Holy Rosary, and active meditation on the sacred mysteries of our salvation.

The Secret of the Rosary: With Preparation for Consecration

de Montfort, St. Louis Marie

"The Mystical City of God: Life of the Virgin Mother of God," as revealed to Venerable Mary of Agreda, 1602-1666; Translated from the original Spanish version into the English language by George J. Blatter; Imprimatur: H. J. Alerding, Bishop of Fort Wayne. Rome City, Ind., Aug. 24, 1912. "I have not revealed these mysteries in the primitive Church, because they are so great, that the faithful would have been lost in the contemplation and admiration of them at a time when it was more necessary to establish firmly the law of grace and of the Gospel. Although all mysteries of religion are in perfect harmony with each other, yet human ignorance might have suffered recoil and doubt at their magnitude, when faith in the Incarnation and Redemption and the precepts of the new law of the Gospel were yet in their beginnings. On this same account the person of the incarnate Word said to his disciples at the last supper: "Many things have I to say to you; but you are not yet disposed to recieve them" (John 6, 12). These words He addressed to all the world, for it was not yet capable of giving full obedience to the law of grace and full assent to the faith in the Son, much less was it prepared to be introduced into the mysteries of his Mother. But now, mankind has greater need for this manifestation, and this necessity urges Me to disregard their evil disposition. And if men would now seek to please Me by reverencing, by living, and studying the wonders, which are intimately connected with this Mother of Piety, and if they would all begin to solicit her intercession from their whole heart, the world would find some relief. I will not longer withhold from men this mystical City of refuge; describe and delineate it to them, as far as thy shortcomings allow. I do not intend that thy descriptions and declarations of the life of the Blessed Virgin shall be mere opinions or contemplations, but reliable truth. They that have ears to hear, let them hear. Let those who thirst come to the living waters and leave the dried-out cisterns; let those that are seeking for the light, follow it to the end. Thus speaks the Lord God Almighty!" (Mystical City of God, Vol I)

The Mystical City of God: The Divine History and Life of the Virgin Mother of God (VOLUME I THE CONCEPTION)

Agreda, Venerable Mary of

“The pious and learned Jesuit, Suarez, Justus Lipsius, a devout and erudite theologian of Louvain, and many others have proved incontestably that devotion to our Blessed Lady is necessary to attain salvation. This they show from the teaching of the Fathers, notably St. Augustine, St. Ephrem, deacon of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Demascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure. Even according to Oecolampadius and other heretics, lack of esteem and love for the Virgin Mary is an infallible sign of God's disapproval. On the other hand, to be entirely and genuinely devoted to her is a sure sign of God's approval.” “We must conclude that, being necessary to God by a necessity which is called "hypothetical", (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end. Consequently we must not place devotion to her on the same level as devotion to the other saints as if it were merely something optional.” "We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son." --Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

The Secret of Mary

A theologian of the eminence of Father Garrigou-Lagrange does not himself need to be introduced to the public, This present work of his would, however, seem to invite a few words of explanation. It is not a devotional book in the ordinary sense of the term: it is too openly theological for that. On the other hand, it is no mere theological treatise: the author’s aim has been to inflame hearts no less than to enlighten minds. The result is a work which demands more intellectual application than many others on Our Lady. But, by way of compensation, it touches the will at a deeper and more spiritual level than would a work of less rich content. The author’s insistence—a fully justified one—on the doctrinal side of his subject has, of course, left little room for mere literary ornament. But this lack, if lack it be, will not turn away any reader who is sincerely desirous to know Our Lady better. As for the translation itself, though care has been taken not to attribute to Father Garrigou-Lagrange anything he did not write, it has not been possible always to translate the original with literal fidelity. Theologians who wish to use the book for strictly scientific purposes would be well advised to compare passages they intend to quote with the original.

The Mother Of The Saviour: And Our Interior Life

Reverend Reginald Garrigou-lagrange O.p.

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