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This article consists of extracts taken from an Italian book of the same
title written by Father Stefano Manelli. The book is written in Italian
and we are working on making it available in English in the near future.
Please pray that we shall be able to complete this project soon. The
Fatima Crusader first published, in English, Father Manelli's book "Jesus
Our Eucharistic Love" which has now gone into several hundred
thousand copies. We are sure you will also enjoy these beautiful
writings of Father Manelli.
By Father Stefano Manelli, O.F.M. Conv., S.T.D.
Padre Pio of Pietrelcina once wrote at the beginning of the month of May,
"Finally, here comes the month of the beautiful Mother."
As it has been for ages, the month of May is the month of Mary par excellence.
It is the most beautiful month of the year because of its splendid springtime;
thus, it is consecrated to Her to whom the Church sings and praises as "All
Fair".
It is the month when fragrant roses bloom in the warmth of bright nature; and
so it is consecrated to Her whom the Church exalts as "Mystical Rose".
"The month of May", says Pope Paul VI, "reminds us of our childhood joy where
we bring flowers before the altar of Our Lady. The lamps, the songs, the prayers
and the little flowers are joyful expressions of our devotion to Mary Most Holy,
who has become for us the Queen of springtime, the spring of nature and the
spring of souls."
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There's a letter written by St. Gabriel of the Mother of Sorrows, to his friend in
high school in which he wrote: "You are right in saying that the world is full of
dangers and troubles and that it is very difficult to save our own soul; but this
should not discourage us ... Do you want to be saved? Avoid bad companions
and theaters where frequently you enter with the grace of God and come out
losing it or putting it in great danger.
Do you want to be saved? Avoid useless conversations, bad books that harm
all ..."
Let us listen to the Saints. Let us use the means to safeguard our souls so as
not to ruin them.
There is nothing of more value than the salvation of our soul. "What exchange
shall a man give for his soul?" (Mt. 16:26.)
deeply, he understood well how worthy is the pain of renouncing the possession
of power and earthly glory, to consecrate oneself wholly to Jesus and to attain
eternal glory by consuming oneself for the love of God and neighbor.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori absolutely bound himself with a vow: the vow of not
wasting even a single moment, and he observed it with great heroism. After
writing for hours the pages of doctrine and piety which have enlightened many
souls, he would get headaches. Then while pressing his forehead with one hand,
he would continue to write with the other.
If we are to examine the use of our time and the motive of our actions, we
might find ourselves scratching our heads.
How much time wasted! Perhaps we are prompt to speak of not having time
even for the morning and evening prayers, to recite the Rosary (for fifteen
minutes), or to perform good works ...; then are we not aware of the time we
waste every day, spending our free time in front of the television or in the
movie house, in bars or in the streets or stadiums, on cigarettes, on popular
music hits, or on gossip ... This is how many Christians waste their time!
St. Bernadette confided that Our Lady is very beautiful and she expressed the
desire to die a thousand times just to be able to see Her again.
One time Saint Maximilian M. Kolbe received well wishes from friends that he
die a quick death so that he would soon be with the Immaculata in Heaven. And
the Saint, deeply moved, thanked them. St. Leonard of Porto Maurizio, an
ardent apostle gave a homily and asked for prayers from the faithful for the
grace to die so that he could be with the Immaculate Virgin soon. Once from the
pulpit he said to the faithful, "I want to die to live with Mary, so recite one Hail
Mary for me. Obtain for me the grace to die now on this pulpit ... I want to see
Mary."
When one truly loves Our Lady, he thinks and aspires untiringly for Heaven
because it is there that Our Lady waits for us and attends to us. The Cur of
Ars said, "She waits for us like a mother waiting for the arrival of her children to
have them all around Her in eternal joy.
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A sublime Lady with Her Son "crushes the head of the serpent" (Gen. 3:15).
The Immaculate Virgin, who conquered satan, shines through the darkness of
sin, with Her Divine Son. The Immaculate Virgin is the defeat of satan.
The Immaculate Virgin is likened to a dawn that rises in the darkness of
mankind's sinfulness as God Himself presents Her in the pages of Genesis. The
inspired author of the Canticle of Canticles thus exclaims: "Who is She that
cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible
as an army set in array?" (Canticle of Canticles 6:9.)
This is the Immaculate Virgin, the invincible warrior, the Lady of Victories, the
terror of the devils.
It is enough for us to recall a particular story from St. Bernadette Soubirous on
the Immaculate Virgin at Lourdes. The young visionary saw from the side of the
grotto a crowd of bustling devils shouting infernal screams. Frightened, St.
Bernadette soon raised her eyes to the Immaculate Virgin. It was enough for
Mary to cast a severe look at the devils that they soon vanished.
Thus the devil, before the Immaculate One, demonstrates himself to be truly
what his name Beelzebub signifies, namely "god of the flies."
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Saint Maximilian M. Kolbe wrote that today "the serpent raises its head on the
whole world, but the Immaculate Virgin crushed its head victoriously".
To beat the devil in a more humiliating way we need to have recourse to the
Immaculate Virgin. As St. Louis de Montfort explains (in his True Devotion No.
50 - 52) the devil is primarily afraid of Her who is as "terrible as an army in
battle array" (Song of Songs 6:9).
When St. Veronica Giuliani was assailed physically by the devil before she could
hardly invoke Our Lady, the devil ran away shouting "Do not call on my enemy."
The strongest Marian prayer against the devil is the Rosary. Once the devil was
asked during the exorcism which prayer he fears most. He replied, "The Rosary
is my scourge."
If Christians would carry with them and use often this "scourge of the devils",
how many damages, misfortunes and sins will be removed from the world.
grace. They attack the forms of Marian devotion, even the most venerable like
that of the holy Rosary and the month of May.
We must react and defend with the vigor of sons, the honor and the beauty of
our Heavenly Mother. Let us recall St. Alphonsus de Liguori that when he took
up his pen to defend the Madonna from the attacks of Her enemies, he cried
scalding tears. What a great heart of a son he had.
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