THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS SATAN'S MOST FEARFUL ENEMY

  

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel." - Genesis 3:15


That was what the Lord said to the devil who was poorly disguised as serpent.  But who's this woman that would definitely crush the serpent's head?  


I have long learned from the teachings of the Catholic Church that the woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary.  That was what I simply know and understand for a long time, until I read St. Louis Marie de Montfort's book "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin".  I never knew that that particular bible passage was an introduction to Mary's role in God's plan.  


The following are excerpts from the book "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin" by St. Louis Marie de Montfort which remarkably expounded the meaning of Genesis 3:15.

"God has established only one enmity - but it is an irreconcilable one - which will last and even go on increasing to the end of time. That enmity is between Mary, his worthy Mother, and the devil, between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and followers of Lucifer.  


Thus the most fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil is Mary, his holy Mother.  From the time of the earthly paradise, although she existed then only in his mind, he gave her such a hatred for his accursed enemy, such ingenuity in exposing the wickedness of the ancient serpent and such power to defeat, overthrow and crush this proud rebel, that Satan fears her not only more than angels and men but in a certain sense more than God himself.  This does not mean that the anger, hatred and power of God are not infinitely greater than the Blessed Virgin's since her attributes are limited.  It simply means that Satan, being so proud, suffers infinitely more in being vanquished and punished by a lowly and humble servant of God, for her humility humiliates him more than the power of God.


What Lucifer lost by pride Mary won by humility.  What Eve ruined and lost by disobedience Mary saved by obedience.  By obeying the serpent, Eve ruined her children as well as herself and delivered them up to him. Mary, by her perfect fidelity to God, saved her children with herself and consecrated them to his divine majesty."


That's why the ancient serpent is trying his best to discredit Mary at all costs.  From that day in paradise until now, Satan is continually trying to destroy any real knowledge of the Blessed Virgin.  But in spite of all these, Mary is still here, strong as ever, and still giving infinite glory to God.


Holy Mary, pray for us!

THE DIVINE MERCY AND POPE JOHN PAUL II

Today, May 1, 2011 is a very significant day for Catholics around the world for two very important reasons:

1st - Today is the second Sunday of Easter which is the feast of The Divine Mercy.

2nd - Today is the day of Pope John Paul II's beatification.

A Short Background

In the 1930's, a Polish nun named Sister Faustina Kowalska received revelations from our Lord Jesus Christ - who appeared to her on February 22, 1931 - about God's mercy.  She wrote all of these revelations in a diary.  But in 1959, the spreading of The Divine Mercy message was banned by the church, and Sister Faustina's diary was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books which is a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. The prohibition of Sister Faustina's writing was due to the faulty and confusing translations of her diary that were submitted to the Holy See.

In 1965, Pope John Paul II who was then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla intervened.  A new investigation of Sister Faustina's life and her diary was commissioned that led to the complete lifting of the ban in 1978.

Papal Support

cc photo by Beyond Forgetting on flickr

Pope John Paul II continued to support the spreading of The Divine Mercy message.  In 1981, he published an encyclical letter entitled Rich In Mercy. During his visit to the Shrine of Merciful Love at Collevalenza, Italy, he pointed out that it was his special task to propagate the Divine Mercy message.

Significant feasts of The Divine Mercy

- On April 18, 1993, feast of The Divine Mercy, Pope John Paul II beatified Sister Faustina, and on June 7, 1997, he prayed at St. Faustina's tomb in Poland.

- On April 30, 2000, feast of the Divine Mercy, Pope John Paul II canonized Blessed Faustina.  It was also on this date that the Pope declared the 2nd Sunday of Easter as the Divine Mercy Sunday.

- On April 2, 2005 or April 3, 2005 (depending on a country's time zone), feast of the Divine Mercy, Pope John Paul II passed away.

- Today, May 1, 2011, feast of the Divine Mercy, is the day of the beatification of Pope John Paul II by his successor Pope Benedict XVI.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!


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References:
- The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion, Revised Edition, by Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC with Vinny Flynn and Robert A. Stackpole, Marian Press 2001, ISBN-0-944203-58-2
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Faustina