Catholic Bible 101

The Blessed Virgin Mary versus the devil?What a match up. The  epitome of humility, virtue, and life, against the epitome of pride, vice, and death.  Where in the world does the Catholic Church get this match up from? Isn?t Mary a dead person, while the devil is a live spirit?

MARY CRUSHES THE SERPENT (Recommended reading) 

The short answer is no.  Mary is very much alive in heaven (Revelation 12).  Luke says that her soul magnifies the Lord (makes Jesus larger, clearer, and more in focus) in Luke 1:46.  The bible says that people who die and go to heaven are equal to the angels (Luke 20:36).  She is at enmity with the devil.  This enmity is talked about in the Bible in Genesis 3:15:  I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.  Enmity comes from the word enemy, and it means open hatred that manifests itself in attacks or aggression.  Genesis 3:15 happens right after God told the serpent (the devil) that he would be banned from all wild creatures and crawl on his belly.  Some people make the mistake of thinking ?The Woman? in Genesis 3:15 is Eve, but Eve is not at enmity with the devil; rather, she is union with the devil through her sin.  And since women don?t have seeds, but eggs, this verse implies that a very special future woman (Immaculately Conceived who would later give birth to her seed as a virgin) would come on the scene later on.  Her seed would strike at the devil?s head (crush the serpent?s head in some translations).  Jesus did this on the cross, at a place called Golgotha, the place of the Skull. His great sacrifice on the cross crushed the head of the serpent by opening the gates of heaven that had been shut to all since the Garden of Eden.

In the last book of the Bible, Revelation (or Apocalypse), in the 12th chapter, there is a huge battle going on (enmity) between Mary,  the woman clothed with the sun who gives birth to a savior, and the devil.  The devil tries to take her out, but God miraculously rescues her and her child by putting them into the desert, away from Herod?s evil clutches.  Revelation 12:17 says that we are her children if we obey the commandments and bear testimony to her son, Jesus.  This is a great bookend to the Garden of Eden, where an immaculately created virgin, Eve, says yes to the demon Lucifer, and allowed sin to enter the world.  Mary, also an immaculately created virgin, says yes to the angel Gabriel, and allowed salvation to enter the world.  Eve came out of Adam, Jesus came out of Mary.

Many people believe that one can be harassed, or even possessed by the devil, a spirit. Know that you can be influenced by the spirit of Mary also.  Mary is the mother of Jesus, the daughter of God the Father, and the Bride of the Holy Spirit.  Who better to lead you to heaven than her? She already knows the way!

So now that you know all of this, what now?  Without a doubt, the thing that you can do every day to help Mary continue this battle against satan is to say the rosary EVERY day.  Next to the Mass, the Holy Rosary is the best way to honor God and to defeat satan.  A lot people make the mistake of thinking that getting close to Mary moves you further away from Jesus.  This is like saying that getting close to your mother moves you further away from your father!  By honoring God?s greatest creation, the Blessed Virgin Mary, you are getting much closer to Jesus than ever, and much faster. Just what part of "The Lord is with you" do they not understand?  It?s no different than praising an artist?s greatest work ? Your praise of the work is also a praise of the creator.  One can get very close to God by going to Muir Woods or the Grand Canyon, two of His greatest creations.  The physical beauty of those places does not lead one away from God, but gives one pause to praise God for having created them in the first place.  The same goes for Mary, God's greatest creation, because she was chosen from all time to be the living tabernacle of Jesus Himself!  Imagine how Michelangelo would have felt if you came into the Sistine Chapel after he spent years on his back painting it, and then said, "Hey, no big deal." And by the way, Jesus got his sacred body and blood from MARY!

Another one of the really great things to do is to take the 33 day Consecration to Jesus through Mary that St. Louis de Montfort championed.  The way it works is that you do readings, prayers, and meditations for 33 days prior to a Marian feast day, like the Assumption.  Since the Assumption is August 15, you would start the 33 day consecration on July 13.  On the 34th day, August 15th, after a good confession, you take the formal consecration to Jesus through Mary, in church, preferably right after Holy Communion, and then you renew it once a year.  What this does is that it signs you up in Mary?s army that is at enmity with the devil.  Through Mary?s motherly intercession for you, bad things that would have happened to you through demonic activity are either lessened or they go away, depending on your level of consecration (it can?t just be lip service, but a radical shift in your view of life and death, through Mary).  And your whole life changes for the better as a result.  The same Blessed Virgin Mary who protected Jesus from Herod now protects you from satan, ALL THE TIME. What a deal!

Just as Jesus came to this world the first time through Mary, he is coming to world a second time through Mary. That's what all of the approved Marian apparitions are about at LaSalette, Lourdes, and Fatima. Mary is trying her best to warn us all to get ready, because the time is short.  Just like God saved the Israelites through the actions of Moses, He is now trying to save us through the actions of Mary.  The devil is certainly gaining members in his army, through the acceptance of abortion, pornography, the occult, Wicca, dirty movies, adultery, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, fornication, drugs, etc., as being normal, right, and good.  Sign up now in Mary's army to defeat all of that. The world needs to be saved from this darkness, and you can help by assisting Mary in crushing satan through the rosary and the consecration.

To be a hero and help Mary crush satan, take the 33 day consecration.  Pope John Paul II, quite possibly the greatest man of the 20th Century, did. His motto was "Totus Tuus", or "Totally Yours" (Mary's).  As a result of his leadership, there is no more Soviet Union - A Catholic workers' union in the streets of Poland brought down the godless Soviets, which began as an atheist workers' revolt in the streets of Moscow.  Mother Teresa also took it.  Just look at how their lives changed the world as a result!  The 33 day Total Consecration and the schedule for Marian feast days are here .

The words of the Consecration on day 34 are as follows:

O Eternal and incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most adorable Jesus! True God and true man, only Son of the Eternal Father, and of Mary, always virgin! I adore Thee profoundly in the bosom and splendors of Thy Father during eternity; and I adore Thee also in the virginal bosom of Mary, Thy most worthy Mother, in the time of Thine incarnation.

I give Thee thanks for that Thou hast annihilated Thyself, taking the form of a slave in order to rescue me from the cruel slavery of the devil. I praise and glorify Thee for that Thou hast been pleased to submit Thyself to Mary, Thy holy Mother, in all things, in order to make me Thy faithful slave through her. But, alas! Ungrateful and faithless as I have been, I have not kept the promises which I made so solemnly to Thee in my Baptism; I have not fulfilled my obligations; I do not deserve to be called Thy child, nor yet Thy slave; and as there is nothing in me which does not merit Thine anger and Thy repulse, I dare not come by myself before Thy most holy and august Majesty. It is on this account that I have recourse to the intercession of Thy most holy Mother, whom Thou hast given me for a mediatrix with Thee. It is through her that I hope to obtain of Thee contrition, the pardon of my sins, and the acquisition and preservation of wisdom.

Hail, then, O immaculate Mary, living tabernacle of the Divinity, where the Eternal Wisdom willed to be hidden and to be adored by angels and by men! Hail, O Queen of Heaven and earth, to whose empire everything is subject which is under God. Hail, O sure refuge of sinners, whose mercy fails no one. Hear the desires which I have of the Divine Wisdom; and for that end receive the vows and offerings which in my lowliness I present to thee.

I, N_____, a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity.

Receive, O benignant Virgin, this little offering of my slavery, in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to thy maternity; in homage to the power which both of you have over this poor sinner, and in thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity has favored thee. I declare that I wish henceforth, as thy true slave, to seek thy honor and to obey thee in all things.

O admirable Mother, present me to thy dear Son as His eternal slave, so that as He has redeemed me by thee, by thee He may receive me! O Mother of mercy, grant me the grace to obtain the true Wisdom of God; and for that end receive me among those whom thou lovest and teachest, whom thou leadest, nourishest and protectest as thy children and thy slaves.

O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple, imitator and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ thy Son, that I may attain, by thine intercession and by thine example, to the fullness of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven. Amen.

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In 1863 A Bernardine Sister was shown in spirit the vast desolation caused by the devil throughout the world. At the same time, she heard the Blessed Virgin telling her it was true, Hell had been let loose upon the earth, and that the time had come to pray to her as Queen of Angels and to ask of her the assistance of the Heavenly Legions to fight against these deadly foes of God and men.

?But, my good Mother,? she replied, ?you who are so kind, could you not send them without our asking??

?No,? Our Lady answered, ?because prayer is one of the conditions required by God Himself for obtaining favors.?

Then the Blessed Virgin communicated the following prayer, bidding her to have it printed and distribute it everywhere.

August Queen of Heaven, sovereign Mistress of the Angels, who didst receive from the beginning the mission and the power to crush the serpent?s head, we beseech thee to send thy holy Angels, that under thy command and by thy power, they may pursue the evil spirits, encounter them on every side, resist their bold attacks, and drive them hence into the abyss of woe.

Most holy Mother, send thy Angels to defend us and to drive the cruel enemy from us. Amen.

All ye holy Angels and Archangels help and defend us.

St. Louis de Montfort was a truly GREAT saint. Pope John Paul II read his books about Mary below, and he became totally devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary (Totus tuus, or "Totally Yours".)  Father Corapi also has taken his cue from St. Louis. To read them yourself, just click on the links below. He has a way of writing that is easy for the common person to understand.  St. Louis says that since Jesus chose to humble Himself and come to us through the Virgin Mary, we can also humble ourselves by going to Jesus through Mary.  He also says that the fastest way to get to Jesus is by adopting the Mother of God as our Mother, who will then mold us just like she molded Jesus.

The Secret of Mary, by St. Louis de Montfort

The Secret of the Rosary, by St. Louis de Montfort

True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, by St. Louis de Montfort

A Letter to Friends of the Cross, by St. Louis de Montfort