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

[Shin]

Some particularly telling quotations!

[Therese]

Some particularly telling quotations!

They are very telling quotations, Shin.  We'd better always welcome the Cross and fill our days with pious meditations on our Lord's Passion and Death, with praise and thanksgiving for all that He and our Lady have suffered for us, lest we join the ranks of the ungrateful and forgetful who will be punished for their gross forgetfulness and lack of gratitude.

[Therese]

'I wish that in imitation of my cousin Elisabeth, thou do not enter into any friendship with any human creatures, except those, with whom thou canst and should converse about the works of the Most High and of his mysteries, and with whom thou canst learn to pursue the true path of his divine pleasure.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 230

[Shin]

'I wish that in imitation of my cousin Elisabeth, thou do not enter into any friendship with any human creatures, except those, with whom thou canst and should converse about the works of the Most High and of his mysteries, and with whom thou canst learn to pursue the true path of his divine pleasure.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 230

This beautiful quote reminds me of the Christian Conversation selections.

[Therese]

I am eager to read all of the Christian Conversation selections, Shin.  Thanks for bringing them to our attention!  What good reading for Lent they will be!

[Therese]

'In thy own mind assume the lowest place  beneath all creatures, so that when the occasion and the time of exercising the acts of humility arrive, thou mayest be found prompt and willing to exercise them.  Only then wilt thou be the mistress of they passions, if first thou hast acknowledged thyself in thy heart as the least and weakest and most useless of all creatures.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 253

[Therese]

'I desire thee to give thanks in compensation for the great number of those, who forget it [the mysteries of the Incarnation, Passion and Death of our Lord], and I assure thee that the mere memory and contemplation of these mysteries are terrible to hell, torment and drive away the demons, and that they avoid and fly those who thankfully remember the life and passion of my divine Son.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 724

[Therese]

Dear friends,

Please join me in following our Lady's every instruction.  If we ignore her instructions, we cannot complain should our lives end in hell.  Our Lady knows our weaknesses and all that we need to get to heaven.  Please do not make the mistake of reading the above quotes without applying them to your life and putting them into practice.  Learn from them and change anything in your life that needs changing.  God bless you and Mary keep you!

Yours in Mary Immaculate, our loving Mother and Advocate,
Kathryn  

[Therese]

I added some matter in brackets to my last quote to clarify what is being said by our Lady.  Sorry for having omitted it to start with.  God bless you all.

[Shin]

'In thy own mind assume the lowest place  beneath all creatures, so that when the occasion and the time of exercising the acts of humility arrive, thou mayest be found prompt and willing to exercise them.  Only then wilt thou be the mistress of they passions, if first thou hast acknowledged thyself in thy heart as the least and weakest and most useless of all creatures.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 253

This reminds me of how virtue is easy to those accustomed to it, happy to be lived and done, and so "graceful".

[Therese]

'In thy own mind assume the lowest place  beneath all creatures, so that when the occasion and the time of exercising the acts of humility arrive, thou mayest be found prompt and willing to exercise them.  Only then wilt thou be the mistress of they passions, if first thou hast acknowledged thyself in thy heart as the least and weakest and most useless of all creatures.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 253

This reminds me of how virtue is easy to those accustomed to it, happy to be lived and done, and so "graceful".

Those who have obtained perfect charity have all their thoughts, words and actions governed and moved by holy Charity.  They are saints and virtue comes very easy to them.  But very few people reach this state of perfect charity or sainthood.  Most people are proud and filled with self-love and are self-willed.  Our Lady in MCG has said that if we are not humble in all things then we are not humble.  In light of her statement, how many people out there do you think have real humility?  Without humility all the other virtues are tainted.  How few humble souls there really must be in light of our Lady's statement.  How few souls there are who can suffer an insult in imitation of our Lord and our Lady!  How many souls look down on their neighbor because they think they are superior!  

[Therese]

If we are obstinate, duplicitous, boastful, ambitious, resentful, revengeful, have contempt for others, looking down judgmentally upon them, then we are proud like the Pharisees and do not have the virtue of humility like our Lord and our Lady.  If a man hasn't the foundation (humility), then how can he easily grow/be built up in charity and in all the other virtues?  Our Lady in MCG says some very important things about the virtue of humility and how important it is.  What she has said that strikes me most about humility is that if we are not humble in all things, then we aren't humble.  May God help every one of us to be humble in all things.  Being prideful and envious are Lucifer's major traits; being humble and charitable are among our Lady's major traits/virtues.  May each one of us be an imitator of our Lady and not of Lucifer.  Without humility one can not be a saint or enter heaven, for humility is the throne of charity.  To meet a truly humble person of faith is a wonderful joy and blessing!  Faith, hope, charity, humility, purity--we can't enter heaven without them.

[Therese]

'For to ask Him with upright intention and through my mediation, is always the most efficacious means of moving his Majesty.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 268

[Therese]

'I wish that thou offer up all thy petitions and prayers in the name of my most holy Son and my own; and be assured without doubt, that they will be heard, if they are joined with the upright intention of pleasing God.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 269

[Therese]

'The consolation which the humanity of Christ drew from the certainty of his blessed Mother's holiness gave Him strength and, as it were, new courage to conquer the malice of mortals; and He counted Himself well recompensed for suffering such atrocious pains by the fact that to mankind belonged also his most beloved Mother.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 496

[Therese]

'Saint Luke mentions the return of our Queen before he speaks of the birth of St. John, although this happened before She returned.  The sacred text anticipates the mention of the journey, in order to have done with it, and not to interrupt the thread of the narrative of the Precursor's birth.  This is what I was told to write down in explanation of the text.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. II, 273