(From True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis Marie de Monfort)
Be persuaded, then, that the more you look at Mary in your prayers, contemplations, actions and sufferings, if not with a distinct and definite view, at least with a general and imperceptible one, the more perfectly will you find Jesus Christ, who is always, with Mary, great, powerful, active and incomprehensible—more than in Heaven or in any other creature. Thus, so far from the divine Mary, all absorbed in God, being an obstacle to the perfect in attaining union with God, there has never been up to this time, and there never will be, any creature who will aid us more efficaciously in this great work; either by the graces she will communicate to us for this purpose—for as a saint has said, “No one can be filled with the thought of God except by her”—or by the protection she will afford us against the illusions and trickeries of the evil spirit.
Where Mary is, there the evil spirit is not. One of the most infallible marks we can have of our being conducted by the good spirit is our being very devout to Mary, thinking often of her and speaking often of her. This last is the thought of a saint, who adds that as respiration is a certain sign the body is not dead, the frequent thought and loving invocation of Mary is a certain sign the soul is not dead by sin.
As it is Mary alone, says the Church (and the Holy Ghost Who guides the Church), who makes all heresies come to naught—”Thou alone hast destroyed all heresies in the whole world”—we may be sure that, however critics may grumble, no faithful client of Mary will ever fall into heresy or illusions, at least formal ones. He may very well err materially, take falsehood for truth, and the evil spirit for the good; and yet he will do even this less readily than others. But sooner or later he will acknowledge his material fault and error; and when he knows it, he will not be in any way self-opinionated by continuing to believe and maintain what he had once thought true.
Whoever, then, wishes to put aside the fear of illusion, which is the besetting timidity of men of prayer, and to advance in the way of perfection and surely and perfectly find Jesus Christ, let him embrace with greatheartcdncss—”with a great heart and willing mind”—this devotion to our Blessed Lady which perhaps he has not known before; let him enter into this excellent way which was unknown to him and which I now point out: “I show you a more excellent way.” It is a path trodden by Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, our sole Head. One of His members cannot make a mistake in passing by the same road.
It is an easy road, because of the fullness of the grace and unction of the Holy Ghost which fills it to overflowing. No one wearies there; no one walking there ever has to retrace his steps. It is a short road which leads us to Jesus in a little time. It is a perfect road, where there is no mud, no dust, not the least spot of sin. Lastly, it is a secure road, which conducts us to Jesus Christ and life eternal in a straight and secure manner, without turning to the right hand or to the left. Let us, then, set forth upon that road and walk there day and night, until we come to the fullness of the age of Jesus Christ.
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