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Dear Friends and
Benefactors,
As the year 2012 begins,
it is my desire to dedicate the new year to our Blessed Mother and Her Sorrowful
and Immaculate Heart. She is our refuge and hope in all difficulties, and it is
with great confidence that we entrust to Her ourselves, the priests of the
United States District, the faithful and their families, our parishes and
schools, all of our actions, and especially our apostolic work.
St. Louis-Marie Grignion
de Montfort wrote this in his book
True Devotion to the
Blessed Virgin:
The
greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue, will be the most assiduous
in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to
imitate and as powerful helper to assist them. I said that this will happen
especially towards the end of the world, and indeed soon, because Almighty God
and his holy Mother are to raise up great saints who will surpass in holiness
most other saints as much as the cedars of Lebanon tower above little shrubs...
...these great souls
filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are
raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin.
Illuminated by her light, strengthened by her food, guided by her spirit,
supported by her arm, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one
hand and build with the other. With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing
and crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schism,
idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and their wickedness. With the other
hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of
God. By word and example they will draw all men to a true devotion to her and
though this will make many enemies, it will also bring about many victories and
much glory to God alone.
This meditation from St.
Louis de Montfort is a beautiful one with which to start this New Year. I do not
quote this text meaning to prophesy the end of the world soon, even though St.
Louis, a few centuries ago, was already announcing it as soon.
“But
as to that day and the exact time no one knows.”
It is not an effort to search for that time, neither to say that the era
described by St. Louis de Montfort is already here. The point is in the devotion
and virtues he describes; that is what we must strive for.
We must continue our
efforts to work on an always deeper and greater devotion to our Blessed Mother.
We ought to focus our efforts on the Rosary Crusade, confident that it will “bring
about many victories and much glory to God.”
We need not tire ourselves
fighting the enemies of God: heresies, schisms, idolatries, paganism, and sins,
etc. On the contrary, illuminated, strengthened, guided, supported, and
sheltered by the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we ought to fight the good fight,
first of all in our spiritual lives, filled with grace and zeal.
We ought to keep building
the City of God, restoring all things in Christ. There is nothing that can be
more pleasing to God than to rebuild His Church, stone by stone, meaning soul by
soul, priest by priest, family by family, chapel by chapel, school by school…
This is the reason why I
wish to dedicate the new year to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, confident that
the more we endeavor to love Her and imitate Her, the more we will draw souls
into Her motherly protection, and the faster we can hope She will restore all
things in Her Divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. May our Heavenly Queen reign
over us!
In a more concrete manner,
I wish to emphasize once again our Rosary Crusade, which will continue until
Pentecost, May 27, 2012. Here we have a practical way to make of the new year a
truly Marian one. Let me quote once more St. Louis de Montfort from
The
Secret of the Rosary:
The Blessed Virgin,
protectress of the Church, has given us a most powerful means for appeasing her
Son’s anger, uprooting heresy, and reforming Christian morals, in the
Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, as events have shown. It has brought back
charity and the frequent reception of the sacraments as in the first golden
centuries of the Church, and it has reformed Christian morals.
There, in praying and
meditating on the Holy Rosary, is our hope and our strength.
With my priestly blessing
to you, your family and friends, as well as my prayers in the Immaculate Heart
of Mary.
Fr. Arnaud Rostand |
