P. Pius IX on the confidence that Catholics should have for Our Blessed Mother

[Michael Wilson]

Let them fly with utter confidence to this most sweet Mother of mercy and grace in all dangers, difficulties, needs, doubts, and fears. Under her guidance, under her patronage, under her kindness and protection, nothing is to be feared; nothing is hopeless. Because, while bearing toward us a truly motherly affection and having in her care the work of our salvation, she is solicitous about the whole human race. And since she has been appointed by God to be the Queen of heaven and earth, and is exalted above all the choirs of angels and saints, and even stands at the right hand of her only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she presents our petitions in a most efficacious manner. When she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard."

Pope Pius IX

[Polymath]

When she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard.

I don't understand this.  Here's how I see it.  There are only two options: either she can pray against God's will or she can't.  If she can, then the quote means that God's mind can be changed, and that the Virgin Mary controls God like a genie and therefore is the one we should be worshipping.  If she can't, then her prayers are redundant, and she doesn't have any real power to help us independently from what God is already doing.  Given these two options, I would go for the latter.

[Polymath]

Someone just PM'ed me; apparently I haven't been clear enough.  What I mean to say is that because of the dilemma I've presented, I don't understand how all that can be.  I know it is because it's Church teaching.  I would like some help in understanding.  I believe that a good explanation would also help people reading this thread.

(I would have just edited the post, but that wasn't an option.)

[·]

We are taught that prayer is an elevation of the mind to God to adore Him, to thank Him, and to ask Him for what we need (Catechism of Pius X, Prayer In General, Q 2)

But if God knows what we need, why pray? The catechism again answers: Although God knows all that is necessary for us, He nevertheless wills that we should pray to Him so as to acknowledge Him as the Giver of every good gift, to attest our humble submission to Him, and to merit His favours for ourselves. (Ibid. Q 13)

Rather than study theology, one can just heed the words of God, and in following them, one will understand. It is written even though God knows what we all need and want, we should pray to God so that we may receive what we request. (Matthew 6:6-13) We pray to others so that their prayer and merits may be shared with us as they pray to God too. (ST II-II Q 83 A 4)

For the specific concern that the saints in Heaven will only what God wills and that it is useless for them to pray, we have a great answer prepared: prayers for others proceed from Charity and the saints have greater Charity and thus they prayer more for us and their prayers are more efficacious and their prayers are perfectly conformed to God's will. (ST II-II Q 83 A 11)

We prayer and the saints pray to God, not to give Him knowledge of our desires, but so that we acknowledge our dependence on God and have recourse to God, and obtain what God has appointed and what God wishes to give us because it is good. (Ibid. A 2)

For the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in particular, we have the example of scripture: They have no wine and Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. (John 2) She did not say what He should do or ask Him to do anything in this life. One of the most important reasons for devotion to the Mother of God is not that she has power of her own or that she can change the mind of God, but that she is the closest to God and easy to approach. God entered the world in the flesh through her flesh. God wills devotion to her!

There is a quote from a great work on this from Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort on why we should have devotion to our Blessed Lady: it leads to more perfect devotion to her Son, our Lord.

The mysteries of God should not be examined too closely: we will be overwhelmed and such inquiries may lead to doubts and distract from what we are taught. We should be as children (Luke 18:17): do children ever think that they should never ask their parents for anything? Are not human parents willing to grant what is asked if only they are asked if it is a good thing to give?

[Acolyte]

Someone just PM'ed me; apparently I haven't been clear enough.  What I mean to say is that because of the dilemma I've presented, I don't understand how all that can be.  I know it is because it's Church teaching.  I would like some help in understanding. I believe that a good explanation would also help people reading this thread.

(I would have just edited the post, but that wasn't an option.)

"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God"

That's all we need to know.

[josh987654321]

I don't understand this.

To understand we need to go back to the Old Testament and through salvation history, as it follows biblical typology in multiple ways to truly understand the massive importance of the Mother of God in our salvation.

It took both Adam and Eve to lose our salvation, Christ is the new Adam, and Mary is the new Eve. Mary will be the one to crush the head of the serpent.

In the monarchy of King David, as well as in other ancient kingdoms of the Near East, the mother of the ruling king held an important office in the royal court and played a key part in the process of dynastic succession. In fact, the king's mother ruled as queen, not his wife.

We also had the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

Now the Ark of the Covenant was not God, nevertheless, it was the holy of holies on Earth, and whenever the Israelites were faithful to God and went into battle with the Ark of the Covenant they could not lose.

Revelation 11:19, 12:1
19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. 12 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;



Our Lady of Covadonga, Battle of Covadonga (718 or 722 AD).





Pelayo credited the intercession of the Virgin Mary for his victory. And in recognition of this miraculous intercession, King Alfonso I, the Catholic (739-757) commanded that a monastery and chapel be built on the site in honor of Our Lady of Covadonga.

Battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571 (Our Lady of Victory).





The victory of the Holy League is of great importance in the history of Europe and of the Ottoman Empire, marking the turning-point of Ottoman military expansion into the Mediterranean.

The Holy League credited the victory to the Virgin Mary, whose intercession with God they had implored for victory through the use of the Rosary. Andrea Doria had kept a copy of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe given to him by King Philip II of Spain in his ship's state room.[59] Pope Pius V instituted a new Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Victory to commemorate the battle, which is now celebrated by the Catholic Church as the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The Battle of Borodino, September 7, 1812.



General Field Marshall Kutuzov and Our Lady of Smolensk before the Russian troops at the Battle of Borodino 1812.



Napoleon and his Grande Armée of 20 languages at the Battle of Borodino 1812.

"Of all my fifty battles, the most terrible was the one I fought at Borodino." - Napoleon Bonaparte

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow, Russia.



When Napoleon Bonaparte retreated from Moscow, Tsar Alexander I signed a manifesto on 25 December 1812 declaring his intention to build a cathedral in honor of Christ the Saviour "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" and as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.



"In the end my Immaculate Heart will Triumph." - Our Lady of Fatima

In 1952 Pope Pius XII said to the Russian people and the Stalinist regime that the Virgin Mary was always victorious. "The gates of hell will never prevail, where she offers her protection. She is the good mother, the mother of all, and it has never been heard, that those who seek her protection, will not receive it. With this certainty, the Pope dedicates all people of Russia to the immaculate heart of the Virgin. She will help! Error and atheism will be overcome with her assistance and divine grace."

"A time will come when the decisive battle between the kingdom of Christ and Satan will be over marriage and the family." - Sister Lúcia

There is no doubt more, I also didn't include Our Lady of Guadalupe and the mass conversion of South American Aztecs/Pagans to the Catholic faith. There is also more for those who know more of their history.

Our Lady of Victory, Ark of the New Covenant, Pray for us!

God Bless

[Acolyte]

Good stuff here..
https://www.motherofallpeoples.com/mediatrix-of-all-graces

One of several in the article..
"As St. Bernard of Clairvaux, traditionally referred to as the "Doctor of Marian Mediation," explains:

 

This is the will of Him who wanted us to have everything through Mary.... God has placed in Mary the plenitude of every good, in order to have us understand that if there is any trace of hope in us, any trace of grace, any trace of salvation, it flows from her.... God could have dispensed His graces according to His good pleasure without making use of this channel (Mary), but it was His wish to provide this means whereby grace would reach you. (30)"

Even the VII popes acknowledged Mary as Mediatrix. (Not sure if Francis has)

[Michael Wilson]

This whole article is from St. Alphonus Liguori on the power and necessity of prayer; I will only post two paragraphs: 1. On why everyone needs to pray 2. On the efficacy of the prayers of Our Blessed Mother. (The whole article is very good).
https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/thepowerandnecessityofprayer/

The author of the Opus lmperfectum says that God has given to some animals swiftness, to others claws, to others wings, for the preservation of their life; but he has so formed man, that God himself is his only strength. So that man is completely unable to provide for his own safety, since God has willed that whatever he has, or can have, should come entirely from the assistance of his grace.

But this grace is not given in God's ordinary Providence, except to those who pray for it; according to the celebrated saying of Gennadius, 'We believe that no one approaches to be saved, except at the invitation of God; that no one who is invited works out his salvation, except by the help of God; that no one merits this help, unless he prays.' From these two premises, on the one hand, that we can do nothing without the assistance of grace; and on the other, that this assistance is only given ordinarily by God to the man that prays, who does not see that the consequence follows, that prayer is absolutely necessary to us for salvation? And although the first graces that come to us without any cooperation on our part, such as the call to faith or to penance, are, as St. Augustine says, granted by God even to those who do not pray; yet the saint considers it certain that the other graces, and specially the grace of perseverance, are not granted except in answer to prayer: 'God gives us some things, as the beginning of faith, even when we do not pray. Other things, such as perseverance, he has only provided for those who pray.'.....The Intercession of the Blessed Virgin

And if this is true of the saints, much more is it true of the intercession of the Mother of God, whose prayers are certainly of more value in his sight than those of all the rest of the inhabitants of heaven together. For St. Thomas says that the saints, in proportion to the merits by which they have obtained grace for themselves, are able also to save others; but that Jesus Christ, and so also his Mother, have merited so much grace that they can save all men. 'It is a great thing in any saint that he should have grace enough for the salvation of many beside himself; but if he had enough for the salvation of all men, this would be the greatest of all; and this is the case with Christ, and with the Blessed Virgin.' And St. Bernard speaks thus to Mary: 'Through you we have access to your Son, O discoverer of grace and Mother of salvation, that through you he may receive us, who through you was given to us.' These words signify that as we only have access to the Father by means of the Son, who is the Mediator of justice, so we only have access to the Son by means of the Mother, who is mediator of grace, and who obtains for us, by her intercession, the gifts which Jesus Christ has merited for us. And therefore St. Bernard says, in another place, that Mary has received a twofold fullness of grace. I the first was the Incarnation of the Word, who was made Man in her most holy womb; the second is that fullness of grace which we receive from God by means of her prayers. Hence the saint adds: 'God has placed the fullness of all good in Mary, that if we have any hope, any grace, any salvation, we may know that it overflows from her who "ascends abounding with delights."' She is a garden of delights, whose odors spread abroad and abound; that is, the gifts of graces. So that whatever good we have from God, we receive all by the intercession of Mary. And why so? Because, says St. Bernard, it is God's will: 'Such is his will, who would have us receive everything through Mary.' But the more precise reason is deduced from the expression o f St. Augustine that Mary is justly called our Mother, because she cooperated by her charity. in the birth of the faithful to the life of grace, by which we become members of Jesus Christ, our head: 'But clearly she is the mother of his members (which we are); because she cooperated by her charity in the birth of the faithful in the Church, and they are members of that Head.' Therefore, as Mary cooperated by her charity in the spiritual birth of the faithful, so also God willed that she should cooperate by her intercession to make them enjoy the life of grace ill this world, and the life of glory in the next; and therefore the Church makes us call her and salute her, without any circumlocution, by the names, 'our life, our sweetness and our hope.'

[Bonaventure]

We are taught that prayer is an elevation of the mind to God to adore Him, to thank Him, and to ask Him for what we need (Catechism of Pius X, Prayer In General, Q 2)

But if God knows what we need, why pray? The catechism again answers: Although God knows all that is necessary for us, He nevertheless wills that we should pray to Him so as to acknowledge Him as the Giver of every good gift, to attest our humble submission to Him, and to merit His favours for ourselves. (Ibid. Q 13)

Rather than study theology, one can just heed the words of God, and in following them, one will understand. It is written even though God knows what we all need and want, we should pray to God so that we may receive what we request. (Matthew 6:6-13) We pray to others so that their prayer and merits may be shared with us as they pray to God too. (ST II-II Q 83 A 4)

For the specific concern that the saints in Heaven will only what God wills and that it is useless for them to pray, we have a great answer prepared: prayers for others proceed from Charity and the saints have greater Charity and thus they prayer more for us and their prayers are more efficacious and their prayers are perfectly conformed to God's will. (ST II-II Q 83 A 11)

We prayer and the saints pray to God, not to give Him knowledge of our desires, but so that we acknowledge our dependence on God and have recourse to God, and obtain what God has appointed and what God wishes to give us because it is good. (Ibid. A 2)

For the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in particular, we have the example of scripture: They have no wine and Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. (John 2) She did not say what He should do or ask Him to do anything in this life. One of the most important reasons for devotion to the Mother of God is not that she has power of her own or that she can change the mind of God, but that she is the closest to God and easy to approach. God entered the world in the flesh through her flesh. God wills devotion to her!

There is a quote from a great work on this from Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort on why we should have devotion to our Blessed Lady: it leads to more perfect devotion to her Son, our Lord.

The mysteries of God should not be examined too closely: we will be overwhelmed and such inquiries may lead to doubts and distract from what we are taught. We should be as children (Luke 18:17): do children ever think that they should never ask their parents for anything? Are not human parents willing to grant what is asked if only they are asked if it is a good thing to give?

Thank you for this excellent post.

[Goldfinch]

I don't understand this.  Here's how I see it.  There are only two options: either she can pray against God's will or she can't.  If she can, then the quote means that God's mind can be changed, and that the Virgin Mary controls God like a genie and therefore is the one we should be worshipping. If she can't, then her prayers are redundant, and she doesn't have any real power to help us independently from what God is already doing.  Given these two options, I would go for the latter.

On the contrary, she is the Virgo Potens. Nobody is closest to God than His mother. Her petitions are always heard. Our forefathers in the 3rd century, already flew with unwavering faith to Her patronage. O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Dear Polymath, ponder on this point: an indisputable sign to differentiate between Christians and heretics is precisely the devotion of the former to the Mother of God and the way they honor Her with all Her titles and prerogatives. God willed it thus. She is our Mother (John 19:27), She is the one who crushes the serpent's head. Heretics and schismatics can love Christ, they can even have the mass, but they can never truly honor Her. They feel repelled by the filial adoration that Christians give to the Seat of Wisdom. The Mother of God is the criterion that distinguishes truth from falsehood. Those who refuse Her motherly protection, will inevitably fall prey to sin and loss of faith.

After centuries of repression, Catholic missionaries were allowed to go back to Japan. There they found a remnant of the faithful who had gone underground for generations, the Kakure Kirishitan, the descendants of the martyrs. The Japanese recognized the priests as legitimate successors of the missionaries of old by three signs: they were under the authority of the Pope of Rome, they were celibate and they venerated the Blessed Virgin. Powerful and moving:

However, in spite of persecution some vague and infrequent signs seemed to indicate that all the Christians of Japan had not perished. The Corean missionaries several times attempted to assure themselves of this, but without success, for since 1838 it had been impossible to enter "the mysterious empire" from any side. Interest in the Japanese mission, however continued to increase, and in April, 1844, Père Forcade was sent to Japan as a missionary. He stayed at Okinawa in the Riu-kiu islands with the Chinese catechist Ko as a companion. He was followed by Pères Leturdu, Adnet, Furet, Murmet, Gerard and Mounicou of the Société des Missions Etrangères of Paris. They waited for fourteen years, on the Riu-kiu or at Hong-Kong, seeking by every means to gain entry into Japan. During fourteen years of labour and sufferings they baptized two Japanese. Finally a treaty was signed between France and Japan, 8 October, 1858, and ratified 22 September, 1859. The missionaries were free to reside in open ports, and have there a church for the service of foreigners. Père Girard was provisionally named superior of the mission, and for the ratification of the treaty he went as interpreter to Yedo with the Consul-general, de Bellecourt. The three ports of Hakodate, Kanagawa-Yokahama, and Nagasaki were soon occupied. The labour in these places was difficult and the sojourn there dangerous, for prejudice against foreigners and Christians had not disappeared. Père Mermet built a house and a church at Hakodate and Père Furet did the same at Nagasaki. At first they taught French in order to make friends and prepare for the future. In the new church at Nagasaki on 17 March, 1865, occurred an ever-memorable event, when fifteen Christians made themselves known to Père Petitjean, assuring him that there were a great many others, about 50,000 in all being known. It is easy to imagine the joy which greeted this discovery after more than two centuries of waiting and patience. There were three marks by which these descendants of martyrs recognized these new missionaries as the successors of their ancient fathers: the authority of the Pope of Rome, the veneration of the Blessed Virgin, and the celibacy of the clergy. In the following year (1866) Père Petitjean was named Vicar Apostolic of Japan. (Catholic Encyclopedia)

[Goldfinch]

I was talking to my wife after Mass today and she reminded me of the following: Our Lady, being immaculately conceived and never having sinned in Her life, can never will anything contrary to the will of God. Her will is in perfect conformity to His. So the idea that She could ask God to do something other than His own will is an absurdity. She loves God perfectly and She is nearest to Him than any other creature. This is why Her prayers are always heard and why all graces are dispensed through Her. By uniting our prayers to Hers, and by placing ourselves under Her protection, we perfect our charity and our obedience. God doesn't grant us favors that He knows are not for our own good. No one has power over God. The Blessed Virgin is a model of submission to Him, as exemplified by Her fiat. The implication that She is like a goddess, having the power to command God, is nonsense used by heretics to sow confusion.

[Michael Wilson]

Goldfinch,
beautiful post about the secret Christians in Japan, and also about our Blessed Mother.

[Prayerful]

Someone just PM'ed me; apparently I haven't been clear enough.  What I mean to say is that because of the dilemma I've presented, I don't understand how all that can be.  I know it is because it's Church teaching.  I would like some help in understanding.  I believe that a good explanation would also help people reading this thread.

(I would have just edited the post, but that wasn't an option.)

One thing I note is the edit window seems really narrow now, but otherwise my comment is merely that Bl Pius IX provided words of great comfort.