Sunday, July 12, 2009

Imitate Mary to get closer to her Son


"Thérèse loved Mary and lived in the closest union with her, following the purest traditions of Carmel; but in addition, she also lived her life in such a manner that it was to serve as a model for souls who were to talk in her Little Way. It was a life patterned after that of the Blessed Virgin, a life quite ordinary and simple. No doubt, Jesus remains always the divine model to which we must conform according to the will of the heavenly Father. Mary herself, the perfect reproduction of this model, holds for us the grace to help us reproduce Christ's life in our own. Without this help we should know that it is impossible to re-live Christ's life, that is, to be truly Christian.

Though Mary has sublime prerogatives and is the highest of God's saints in heaven, yet she remains always our mother, whose great role is to give Jesus a multitude of brothers and sisters, other Christs. That is why, like Thérèse, we must constantly go to Mary, giving ourselves completely to her, that she may form Jesus in us. The closer our union with Mary, the more quickly also will that transformation be accomplished."

-- Complete Spiritual Doctrine of St Thérèse of Lisieux by Fr François Jamart, ocd

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