Here are St
Montfort’s words taken from his Masterpiece: “True Devotion to Mary”:
“Moreover, Jesus, being more than ever Mary’s fruit, as heaven and earth repeat
thousands of times a day: “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”, it
is therefore certain that, for every man in particular who possesses him,
Jesus is as well, truly the fruit and work of Mary, as truly he is for
all mankind in general; therefore, if any of the faithful has Jesus formed in
his heart, he can boldly say: “A Great “Thank you” to Mary: what I possess
[Jesus] is her effect and fruit, and without her I would not have him.”; we
can attribute more truly to her what Saint Paul said of himself, “I am in
labor again with all the children of God until Jesus Christ, my Son, is formed
in them to the fullness of his age.” Saint Augustine, surpassing himself as
well as all that I have said so far, says that in order to be conformed to the
image of the Son of God all the predestinate, while in the world, are hidden
in the womb of the Blessed Virgin where they are kept, nourished, cared for
and developed by this good Mother, until the day she brings them forth to glory
after death, which the Church calls the birthday of the just. This is indeed a
mystery of grace unknown to the reprobate and little known even to the
predestinate!” (True Devotion to Mary, n°33)
These words, this
reasoning and the conclusion he reaches are really difficult to "swallow",
understand and fathom. Exactly as Nicodemus found it difficult when he entered deeper in Jesus’ mysterious teaching. He said to Jesus: “Can a man enter a second time into his
mother's womb?” (John 3:4). Let us try to understand these words, by following step by
step Montfort's reasoning.
1. Through Baptism,
Jesus dwells in each one of us. We call this new reality in us: “the New Man” or
the “New Creature”, or “the kingdom of God”. Remember that Jesus compares the
Kingdom in us to a Divine Seed, very tiny initially, but it becomes the biggest
tree of the Garden.
“Another parable
he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of
mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all
seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."”
(Matthew 13:31-32)
What Montfort is
trying to say is that Jesus is always the fruit of Mary. So if Jesus is born in
us (by Baptism), in fact He is born in Mary. Or if you prefer: Mary as well is
in us, carrying Him!
Since Jesus in us is the “New Creature”, the “New man” in us, He is part of us. A portion of us
is progressively transformed into Him. Therefore, Mary is carrying the “New
Creature”, “the New man”, us, in Her womb.
In this sense, we
are all enclosed in Mary, in her Heart, in her womb. It is not possible to have
a "Jesus" (any of us) growing somewhere without having Mary’s womb to have Him grow in it.
It is like saying:
for the "Divine Seed", we need always the "Good Soil" (see Matthew 13). For the "New Wine", we need
the "New Skin"… The bipolarity of our faith is fundamental. We often overlook the
necessity of a Soil, or a Skin. And if we notice its importance, we overlook
its quality: new, good, “Immaculate” I would say, not any. A one that can bear
the intensity of the Divine Seed/Wine.
Jesus is always
and in any place, Mary’s fruit, not only individually (incarnation) but in each
one of us (baptism, sanctification): “Moreover, Jesus, being more than ever
Mary’s fruit, as heaven and earth repeat thousands of times a day: “Blessed
is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”, it is therefore certain that, for
every man in particular who possesses him, Jesus is as well, truly the
fruit and work of Mary, as truly he is for all mankind in general;”
2. Considering now
the great truth that Jesus is in our heart by Baptism, we need (it is
necessary) to consider His relationship with Mary in us. We need to search for
Mary’s place in us. This is the newness of what Montfort is addressing. He even
calls it in his book “a mystery”, something “hidden”, a “secret”: “therefore,
if any of the faithful has Jesus formed in his heart, he can boldly say: “A
Great “Thank you” to Mary: what I possess [Jesus] is her effect and fruit, and
without her I would not have him.”;”
3. In order to
strengthen this search for Mary in us, he will show us that it is not that
unusual to do so. He will find in St Paul’s writings something that shows that
a mere human being can spiritually carry others in himself. Mystically, the
person united to Jesus, like saint Paul, can “carry” others, pray for them,
suffer for them, nourish them: “I am in labour again with all the children of
God until Jesus Christ, my Son, is formed in them to the fullness of his age.”
So, if we accept
such strong affirmation about saint Paul, on the more reason, for the Woman
given by Jesus on the Cross to each one of us, as our true spiritual mother (see John 19), we
can apply St Paul's words in a stronger way: "we can attribute more truly to her what Saint Paul said of himself". Montfort underlines the “spiritual
maternity” of Mary to us, her personal relationship with each one of us. She
really carries us in her, like a real pregnant woman… where the Holy Spirit is
forming us, i.e. Jesus’ Body. As Montfort says it in a previous paragraph in
his book, God doesn’t change his logic, the way He treated the Head of the Body
(Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God), He treats us, who are Jesus’ Body: “God the Holy
Spirit, who does not produce any divine person, became fruitful through Mary
whom he espoused. It was with her, in her and of her that he produced his
masterpiece, God-made-man [the Head], and that he produces every day until the
end of the world the members of the body of this adorable Head.” (True
devotion n°20)
4. Now comes the
final conclusion that Montfort wants us to reach, acknowledge and experience:
“while on earth, we are all hidden in Mary” because we are formed by the Holy
Spirit, in her, at the Likeness of Jesus, the head of the Body. We are indeed
enclosed in her, in her womb. “Saint Augustine, surpassing himself as well as
all that I have said so far, says that in order to be conformed to the image of
the Son of God all the predestinate, while in the world, are hidden in the
womb of the Blessed Virgin where they are kept, nourished, cared for and
developed by this good Mother, until the day she brings them forth to glory
after death, which the Church calls the birthday of the just. This is indeed a
mystery of grace unknown to the reprobate and little known even to the
predestinate!”
What St Montfort
didn’t say, is that these words of Nicodemus, instead of being just a
superficial statement, do translate that very deep truth he just uttered,
quoting St Augustine: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a
second time into his mother's womb and be born?” (John 3:4). The answer to this
question, (how to enter in Mary, how to dwell in her, how to draw from her our
New Being, how to allow her to form us, to act in us, to be our Mould), is all
his book. It is a practical book, meant to show us how we can become “liquid”,
how we can pour ourselves in Her our True Mould (as she is being Jesus’ Mould), so
the Holy Spirit can form in us Jesus, to its perfection. Let us read another passage from the True Devotion:
“Please note that
I say that saints are moulded in Mary. There is a vast difference between
carving a statue by blows of hammer and chisel and making a statue by using a
mould. Sculptors and statue-makers work
hard and need plenty of time to make statues by the first method. But the
second method does not involve much work and takes very little time. St. Augustine
speaking to our Blessed Lady says, “You are worthy to be called the mould of
God.” Mary is a mould capable of forming people into the image of the God-man.
Anyone who is cast into this divine mould is quickly shaped and moulded into
Jesus and Jesus into him. At little cost and in a short time he will become
Christ-like since he is cast into the very same mould that fashioned a God-man.
I think I can very
well compare some spiritual directors and devout persons to sculptors who wish
to produce Jesus in themselves and in others by methods other than this. Many
of them rely on their own skill, ingenuity and art and chip away endlessly with
mallet and chisel at hard stone or badly-prepared wood, in an effort to produce
a likeness of our Lord. At times, they
do not manage to produce a recognizable likeness either because they lack
knowledge and experience of the person of Jesus or because a clumsy stroke has
spoiled the whole work. But those who accept this little-known secret of grace,
which I offer them, can rightly be compared to smelters and moulders who have
discovered the beautiful mould of Mary where Jesus was so divinely and so
naturally formed. They do not rely on their own skill but on the perfection of
the mould. They cast and lose themselves in Mary where they become true models
of her Son.” (True Devotion 219-220)
He ends all this
by saying: “You may think this a beautiful and convincing comparison. But how
many understand it? I would like you, my dear friend, to understand it. But
remember that only molten and liquefied substances may be poured into a mould.
That means that you must crush and melt down the old Adam in you if you wish to
acquire the likeness of the new Adam in Mary.” (True Devotion, n° 221)
"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; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery." (Revelation 12:1-2)
All Montfort’s Art, in his Book, is to teach us
how, practically, to realise this operation."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; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery." (Revelation 12:1-2)
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