Theotokos! Our Lady, Thou art the Mother of God. Thou hast given Thyself totally to the will of God, Thy life was one of unfailing loyalty, a perpetual praise of adoration. In Thee, everything flowed from the love of God, and even Thy repose was worth more in the eyes of God than the merits of the saints.
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
Theotokos! Our Lady, Thou art the Mother of God. Thou hast given Thyself totally to the will of God, Thy life was one of unfailing loyalty, a perpetual praise of adoration. In Thee, everything flowed from the love of God, and even Thy repose was worth more in the eyes of God than the merits of the saints.
Ave Maria! We salute Thee, Mother of the Savior and Our Mother. We salute Thee with an infinite respect, Thou who, throughout Thy entire life knew to prefer the will of God to Thine own will. We salute Thee with the admiration of those who know they are poor, infirm, sinners and who contemplate with Thee the beauty of God in Thy Immaculate Conception. We salute Thee with a filial affection, Thou who, by Thy Fiat repeated even unto Calvary, hast become our Mother. We salute Thee and we rejoice in all Thy privileges, O triumph of the Heart of God and honor of Thy children.
Gratia plena! Thy soul is full of grace, O Mary. The splendor of God dwells in Thee and the God-Child receives in Thy womb His priestly consecration. Thou art the first and most sacred shrine of Christianity.
Gratia plena! This fullness of grace infinitely exceeds our understanding. God alone can measure it because only He surpasses it. Thou art, indeed, the Mirror of the Trinity, the Speculum Justitiae. Thy soul receives the limpid waters of grace without clouding them with the resistance of our miserable self-will. Completely abandoned to the Divine Will, Thou hast become a fountain of gushing waters; a fountain of grace whence divinity comes and quenches our thirst; a fountain of life where we receive the mercy of Thy maternal heart.
Gratia plena! Is it necessary to translate these words? Alas, it seems so. Not content with attacking Thy Son, the-modernists persist in-assaulting the Church; they attack Thee and aggressively deny Thine Immaculate Conception. They try to rally Thy children to their side by disfiguring the Angelic Salutation. Thus the phrase, "full of Grace, " which translates the ineffable fullness flooding Thy soul is now wretchedly rendered as "highly favored one. "
Some may think that this is only an old-fashioned war of words. It isn't true! Let us not forget, indeed, that all heresies have garnered souls by subtle changes which at first seemed such trivial things. This recent variation in language is, at the least, ambiguous. The fullness of Thy grace is no longer expressed the way it ought to be. It is insidiously implied that the majesty of the Divine Presence in Thee is no longer that fullness which defies time and measure. This insinuation is too much. The grace in Thee, O Most Holy Virgin, has been and remains eternally that plenitude which is beyond all human judgment. Thou art, O Virgin Mary, the Immaculate fullness of grace; fullness of the gifts of the Holy Ghost; fullness of the virtues; the fullness of God! We want to continue to salute Thee as such; Ave Maria Gratia Plena!
Dominus Tecum! This is Thy greatest secret. Thy being is not Thine own. Christ is the center of Thy soul. In us, mercifully, He resides and dwells. In Thee, His life is Thy life; with us, our life simply belongs to Him. All the difference lies in the fact that Thou art in the order of Being itself; we remain confined to the order of having. Thou ail of God; we are of Man.
Dominus Tecum! Thy life disappeared in the life of God. Thou are the most pure echo of the Creator. Thy heart only responds to His divine accents. St. Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort could justly affirm that when we salute Thee with the sweet name of Mary, in Thy soul Thou answerest, "Jesus." Thou knowest nothing other than Christ and His Love. Thy soul is but a divine, incandescent ember. Ora pro nobis, peccatoribus! Thou, Our Lady, art the Immaculate, free of all stain. We are naught else than poor sinners, weak and arrogant. We place our recourse in Thee, our Mother and Advocate. We place it especially in Thine Immaculate Conception because God has given Thee this unique privilege in view of Thy divine maternity. And yet, He wanted this maternity to extend to sinful souls and to be the privileged instrument of His mercy. Also, He gave to Thee the power of communicating the grace which adorns Thy soul to those who entrust themselves to Thee, who consecrate themselves to Thee as Queen. The herald of the Immaculate, St. Maximilian Kolbe, said very justly that Thou hast received from God a power of "immaculization" over all those who offer Thee a special devotion. May we belong to that number in order that Thine Immaculate Heart might come to purify our hearts!
Thou art Our Mother, O Mary Immaculate, and Thy maternal heart, far from backing away from the filth in our souls, corrupted by this our world, inclines towards us in order to rescue us from the mire of our iniquities. Mother, Thy reason for being is the gift of life, the Life of Grace which Thou livest. This Life truly makes of us Thy children because it is the vivifying presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in us, regenerating our souls. Dominus Tecum - Ora pro nobis, peccatoribus!
Thou art our Mother, O Immaculate Virgin, as Apostles of Jesus and Mary, because the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X has solemnly consecrated itself to Thee on the beautiful feast of Your Immaculate Conception. Every year, on that feast, we reiterate that consecration in order that we might be docile instruments in Thine all-pure hands. Guard our religious society and keep all its members safe from the errors of the world. Preserve us from the stains which offend Thy divine Son, preserve us most especially from the restless wandering which leads us away from the virtue of faith. In this apostate world, teach us to resist and remain unshakable in our fidelity. Without Thine aid and maternal protection we would not be able to cultivate all the virtues and Thy secular enemy, Satan, would overcome us. Keep our hearts chaste, safe from the appeals of the flesh, keep our souls in the nobility of the truth which is above any compromise; keep within our Society and in our souls the desire to fight to defend Thine honor and that of Thy Son.
Sustain our ardor, maintain happiness in our hearts, in order that, united to Thine Immaculate Heart, we might participate in Thine assured victory; in the end, Thine Immaculate Heart will triumph.
Our Lady, guardian of the faith, preserve our faith intact. Mother of Divine Charity, inflame our souls with the ineffable love of Thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lady of Blessed Hope, convert us.
Ave Maria, gratia plena - Dominus Tecum - Ora pro nobis, peccatoribus.
Fr. Yves le Roux