13 December 2007

Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit

We should reverence our souls and bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Ghost. As fire springs up from earth, so let your heart soar towards heaven. Let this celestial flame consume your earthly attachments, and draw you to the love of eternal things. Ask help from our Lady, spouse of the Holy Ghost.
~ La Vie de N. S. Jesus Christ Meditée

"The power of the Most High overshadowed the Virgin, that she might conceive; and her fruitful womb made a fertile meadow for all desiring to reap salvation as they chant: Alleluia."
~Akathist, Ode 4

"When the Holy Spirit finds His Spouse in a soul, He flies to that soul, to communicate Himself to it, to fill it with His presence, in proportion as He discovers there the presence and the fullness of His Spouse. One of the major reasons why the Holy Spirit does not now work blinding wonders of grace in our souls is that He does not find in us a sufficiently strong union with Mary his indissoluble Spouse."
~ St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary 1:1:2

"The Immaculate is united with the Holy Spirit in an ineffable way, by the fact that she is His Spouse, but she is in an incomparably more perfect sense than this term can express in creatures. What kind of union is this? It is above all interior; it is the union of her being with the being of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, in fact, dwells in her, lives in her, and does so from the first instant of her existence, always and for all eternity."
~St. Maximilian Kolbe

"We stand in great need of an immediate interior strengthening of the will, which no one save the Holy Ghost can afford us; and then, too, some sudden exterior relief from the threatening danger can avail us, such as the good spirits and angels are wont to bestow. Both Mary can and will obtain for us ; for she is the spouse of the Holy Ghost and the queen of angels. Omnipotent by her intercession with God, she can obtain for us grace sufficient and efficacious to stand and conquer in the battle of salvation. Her mighty protection suffices to suppress interior temptations, to strike down the enemies that attack us from without, and to keep us from sin."
~ Bp. John Theodor Laurent, 1901

"Gabriel was sent to prepare the worthy chamber for the pure spouse; Gabriel was sent to wed the creature with the Creator;"
~Gregory Thaumaturgus, Homily On The Annunciation (3rd c.)

"Our example is the Mother of Jesus, the spouse of the Holy Ghost. It is the duty and high privilege of every one of us, “to form Jesus Christ in our hearts to the praise and glory of God,”—so Holy Scripture teaches. Each one of us in his degree is summoned to this high calling. "Whosoever shall do the will of My Father, Who is in heaven," our Master said, “he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” The Holy Ghost, by Whose overshadowing power God was made man in Mary's womb, effects this mystical work of grace in the souls of men."
~S.L. Emery, Inner Life of the Soul

"O Mary, Spouse of the Holy Ghost, who received in such abundance His most precious gifts, have compassion upon me, your child, and obtain for me, by your intercession, those special graces of which I stand the most in need. You corresponded so faithfully to His inspirations, that you were worthy to become the Mother of our Saviour. By the remembrance of that mysterious hour when the power of the Most High overshadowed the you, and of the Day of Pentecost when He indicated by an emblematic sign that you should be the central Light—to attract and to illuminate souls—in His Holy Church, I beseech you to pray for me, that the Holy Spirit may ever dwell in me; and make me to imitate your own fidelity to His grace."
~Abbe de Brandt, Growth in the Knowledge of the Lord

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