(written in the voice of Jesus)
My brother, it is love which has made Me the Son of Mary. Everything in My relations with her is explained by love. If you wish to understand My filial piety toward her, you must above all understand My love for her.
1. How I long to communicate to you a little of that love for My Mother which burns in My Heart. Strive to make yourself pure, humble, and generous, that I may pour into your heart the greatest possible amount of My filial love.
2. In recollection and prayer, ponder over all that I have thus far let you glimpse of My love for Mary: how I chose her from all eternity and overwhelmed her with privileges; how I lived intimately with her and associated her in My mission; how I love her, and will forever continue to love her through the Saints and through the whole Church on earth and in Heaven.
3. Then, entering more deeply into My Heart, meditate upon the motives which have impelled Me to love her so much.
4. I have loved her and I now love her because she is My Mother, a Mother of ravishing beauty and perfection; a Mother who gave Me more joy by the least of her words, by the least of her glances, than all the Saints ever gave Me by their most heroic actions; a Mother who loves Me far more than do the angels and the blessed in Heaven; a Mother who lived only for Me and who accepted in all willingness the most excruciating martyrdom a creature has ever endured. I have loved her because she aided Me in fulfilling the mission confided to Me by My Father;
—because she gave Me My human nature so that I could preach the Good Tidings to men and die for them;
—because in this mission she united herself to me by an act of her will, by her supplications, her sacrifices, and by her presence at the foot of My Cross;
—because she will labor even to the end of time to convert sinners, to sanctify the just, and to lead numberless souls to Me;
—because she herself is the great triumph of My mission as Redeemer, and because, by redeeming her in such a perfect manner, I have done more than by redeeming all the rest of the world.
5. I have loved her and I love her—because, thanks to her, I was able as man to offer to My Father adoration, reparation, and glory of infinite value—something I could not have given Him without the humanity with which she clothed Me;
—because she united herself to Me in My homage to the Father, and adored, venerated, and loved Him as He has never been adored, venerated, and loved by all the Saints and angels united;
—and because, through her, men will understand My Father better and act more and more His dutiful sons.
6. Never cease meditating upon the immensity of My love for My Mother; you will never reach its limits, not even during all eternity. As you meditate upon it, put yourself in My place; become Jesus, the Firstborn Son of Mary—for really My life is your life—and try to feel what I felt.
7. Consider, too, the special love that Mary has for you.
She loves you because I have loved you even to the point of dying for you, and because she loves what I love.
She loves you because your mother loves that child most who has cost her most pain, and you have cost her indescribable sufferings.
She loves you because, in order to bring you forth to life, she had to give Me up to death.
She loves you because you and I are one, and because in loving you she loves Me.
This article is taken from a chapter in My Ideal Jesus: Son of Mary by Fr. Emil Neubert S.T.D., which is available from TAN Books.
