Excerpts from Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda

[Therese]

Hi Therese, yes, I am still plugging along, very slowly but that's ok.
Thank you for continuing your posts! 

You are very welcome, Whiterockdove!  It is good that you are still plugging along and getting something good out of the work.  God bless you!

[Therese]

'And although he [St. Joseph] resolved to leave Her (Matth. 1, 19) as he saw the outward tokens of pregnancy with his own eyes without the slightest knowledge of the cause; yet he never ventured to distrust  her honor and modesty, nor did he ever diminish in his holy and pure love, with which his most upright heart was bound to such a Spouse.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 590
(Bk. II, 775)

[Therese]

'Although She [Blessed Mary] could not, as a mere creature, merit the advent of God into the world, yet She merited the hastening of his advent, and She merited, that He should come in the rich ship of Her womb; for, since God could not take abode in any other inferior to Her in merit, She alone induced Him to become visible and to communicate Himself, and to nourish those who were so far off.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 593
(Bk. II, 780)

[Shin]

This is so edifying, this prayer. What a perfect method of surrendering to divine Providence!

[Therese]

This is so edifying, this prayer. What a perfect method of surrendering to divine Providence!

Which prayer, Shin?

[Shin]

I meant to share it! I must've typoed. Here, from the extracts you posted:

'Thy incessant prayer, my daughter, should be always to repeat: here I am, Lord, what wilt Thou do with me?  Prepared is my heart, I am ready and not disturbed; what does Thou wish for me to do for Thee?'

[Therese]

I meant to share it! I must've typoed. Here, from the extracts you posted:

'Thy incessant prayer, my daughter, should be always to repeat: here I am, Lord, what wilt Thou do with me?  Prepared is my heart, I am ready and not disturbed; what does Thou wish for me to do for Thee?'

I agree, it is most edifying and a perfect method of self-surrender.  God bless you!

[Therese]

'In the universal judgment saint Joseph, one of the men of the most holy Mary, will take his seat among the nobility of the kingdom of God; for he will sit in judgment with the Apostles over the world, enjoying this privilege as the spouse of the valiant Woman, the Queen of all, and as the putative father of the supreme Judge.  The other Man of this Lady is her Son, as I have already said (774), and He is acknowledged and recognized as the supreme Lord and true Judge both in the particular judgment, and that, which is to be held over the angels and all men.  This supreme power devolves in part also upon most holy Mary; for it was She, who gave Him the flesh, with which He redeemed the world.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 604
(Bk. II, 794)

[Therese]

'Yet although all the saints of the Church have spoken, being inspired and moved by her Man and Spouse, Christ and the Holy Ghost, nevertheless it seems as if He has at yet only kept silence and has not yet risen to publish the countless and exalted mysteries concerning his most holy Mother.  I was given to understand, that they are so great as to be reserved for revelation only in the triumphant Church after the last judgment; for it would not be opportune to manifest them now to this world, which is unworthy and incapable of understanding such wonders.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 607
(Bk. II, 799)

[Shin]

Yes there is much that in this life people would not understand properly. How much in the next that we have awaiting..

[Therese]

Yes there is much that in this life people would not understand properly. How much in the next that we have awaiting..

Yes!

[Therese]

'Soul, created by the hand of the Almighty, if thou wishest, as one of the elect, to follow in the path of the true light and attain the position of a most chaste spouse of the Lord, who calls thee, it is befitting, that thou observe the laws and precepts of love.  The first thing required of thee is, that thou reject entirely all earthy inclinations, renouncing all and every affection toward the transient things, so that thou have no love or affection toward any created being, no matter how beautiful, useful or agreeable it may appear to thee.  Cherish no created image, harbor no earthy affection; let thy will rest in no created object, except in so far as thy Lord and Spouse shall command thee for the well-ordering of thy love, or in so far as thou canst be aided thereby to love Him alone.'

A Voice to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, p. 12
(Introduction of Bk. 3, Para. 16)

[Therese]

'Many turned from sin at the mere sight of Her [Mary]; others amended their lives; all were effected at seeing Her and experienced heavenly influences in their souls.  But immediately they forgot the source of these influences; for if they could have remained in her presence, or could have retained the memory of her image, and if God had not prevented it by a mystery, nothing would have been able to divert their attention from Her and all would have sought Her without wavering.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, p. 24
(Bk. 3, Chap. 1, Para. 2)

[whiterockdove]

I'm so glad we as Catholics are encouraged to have those images of Mary in our homes, around our necks, the statues in our gardens.
It does help!

[Therese]

I'm so glad we as Catholics are encouraged to have those images of Mary in our homes, around our necks, the statues in our gardens.
It does help!

What a great help these sacramental are to/for me, Whiterockdove, and for so many others!

[Therese]

'Subject thyself gladly, not to the pleasurable in creatures, since that will obscure thy understanding and weaken thy will, but to the adverse and the painful resulting from their activity.  Suffer this with joyous willingness, for I have done the same in imitation of my Son, although I had the power to neutralize their molestations and had no sins to atone for.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, p. 39
(Bk. 3, Chap. 2, Para. 26)