Daily Meditations in the School of Mary

The month of Mary is the month of a profound reform of heart: we must leave ourselves and adorn ourselves with every virtue and every spiritual good.

In the springtime plants are reborn to a new life; they are adorned with flowers full of perfume and attractive. My soul also needs to re-flower in order to be full of virtue and peace!

In your Heart, O Mary, I will re-flower as a lily because you are purity. In your love my coldness will be transformed into warmth because you are full of the flames of divine charity. In your hands I will find refuge because you are the Mother of mercy!

O Mary, O Mary, cast the glance of your goodness upon me! Even I am a little flower of heaven?s field … Cultivate me and speak to me, O Mary, because by your word I will draw life and love.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a “Way of the Cross” … But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

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Day #1: My Heart, a Flower which Mary must Cultivate

MARY: O my daughter, your mother is always ready to cultivate you provided that you treat me as a mother and not as a stranger. How many times you?ve been afraid of me, even while knowing that I am all loving! How many times have you virtually fled from me, so slack has your devotion been. Come to my heart and let it be a school of virtue for you since God himself has made me great for your good. Follow me faithfully, even if your soul feels arid and without any fervor. Confide your pains to me. Turn toward me because in this month I have so many treasures of grace to dispense and I give them to those who turn to my motherly heart with trust.

THE SOUL: O my good Mama, don?t you see what an ugly flower I am? I?m a withered flower, almost without
leaves and without life. … Help me! I entrust my soul to you that you might cultivate it and heal it. …

The bells of your temple are ringing for the feast, Mary, yet I groan with sluggishness. Your throne is rich with flowers, and my heart, which ought to be your throne, is so poor and devoid of everything!

O my Mother, while the plaintive harmony of these bells dissipates in the air, the groan of my poor heart reaches your Heart and moves it to have pity on me! I need grace because I am so miserable: ?Maria mater grati?, mater misericordi? tu nos ab hoste protege et mortis hora suscipe? (Mary mother of grace, mother of mercy, protect us from the evil one and receive us at the hour of death).

ASPIRATION: O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

LITTLE WORK: Accept with patience and calm the rudeness which comes your way.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a “Way of the Cross” … But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #1: My Heart, a Flower which Mary must Cultivate first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #2: My Heart and the Heart of Mary

MARY: My little daughter, your mother is calling you and showing you what distinguishes her as Mother: the Heart! Draw near to my Heart, kiss it, and experience how burning is its love for you! God has submerged his mercies in it and wants it to be the center of regeneration for those children whom he has entrusted to me. You are my daughter and so entrust yourself to the Heart of your Mother who loves you so much.

THE SOUL: If you show me your Heart, Mary, I will also show you mine! How much smallness there is in my little heart! You are immaculate and pure, the delight of God and I am full of imperfections and faults! You love God immensely and I am so cold toward Him! You are so full of gifts and graces and I am your little poor one! … O my Mother, I place my heart in yours; work on it; lift it up into the holy love of God … reform it! It?s so ugly … even if I don?t really know it yet because I?m so blinded by pride … Tear the secrets from this heart; curtail its self-deceptions with your light; adorn it with virtues by the help of your grace so that I can truly call myself your child.

MARY: If you want to know your heart, measure it against mine. Don?t believe that all is evil within you nor
that all is good. Don?t be discouraged or presumptuous, but recognize your weaknesses with filial simplicity without hiding them from your sight and without getting irritated … Always remain in peace and I will help you to reform yourself.

ASPIRATION: O Heart of Mary, be my model and the refuge of my poor heart.

LITTLE WORK: Deprive yourself of something superfluous to which you feel attached.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a “Way of the Cross” … But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #2: My Heart and the Heart of Mary first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #3: My Temperament

THE SOUL: In order to reform my heart I must study it intimately as it is, my good Mother. I look at it and I seem to see there a mass of confusion which doesn?t allow me to see it clearly. How full I am of darkness! You tell me what my temperament is, that is the fundamental character of my heart.

MARY: The temperament is the sum of the constant tendencies of the heart which propel it to act in the same way. You know your temperament from the defects into which you most often fall, from the spontaneous acts of your heart, from your habits …

Are you very easily given to anger, … do you get disturbed over nothing, do you react, show yourself offended? … Are you closed, taciturn, leaden; do you build so many castles in the air? … Are you insensitive, hard, egotistical, obstinate in your judgments? … Are you lazy, indolent, slow, negligent, pessimistic? … Do you see everything black and think that everyone is against you? Do you give too much weight to a word that innocently escapes from another and construe it to be an insinuation, an injury, a resentment? Do you easily hold a grudge, show resentment in small ways, react violently, backbite, grumble and even lie and calumniate? … Are you proud, full of yourself, vain, desirous of being admired, praised, given special consideration? … Are you greedy, attached to earthly things? Are you always looking for entertainment, ruminating about worldly ideals, hankering after your satisfactions, seeking after your tastes, complaining about your food, drink and clothing? … Examine yourself and where you perceive major lacks there you will discover your temperament and there is the field where you must exert more effort. It isn?t difficult to amend your ways; start a little at a time; begin to conquer yourself at least a few times every day
and you will see that your temperament will be modified and your heart will be changed.

ASPIRATION: O Mary, deliver me from the wretchedness of my character … from anger, from impatience …

LITTLE WORK: If it seems that a person who has offended you deserves to be reproved, don?t do it when you are still in a fit of anger, but wait until tomorrow to correct him.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a “Way of the Cross” … But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #3: My Temperament first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #4: Imagination

MARY: Why do so many hearts that desire perfection rarely attain their objective? How many persons close themselves in silence, abandon the world, seek to free themselves from all that binds the impulses of their heart … and yet they?re always the same!

Look at a shrub covered with ivy. How beautiful it seems! The woody part is completely hidden, its leaves seem to be like a head of hair on a green trunk. … That plant doesn?t bear fruit, however; it doesn?t grow; it always remains sterile … why?

The leaves which adorn its trunk are only a parasite. The ivy beautifies the shrub externally, but it also sucks its vital forces and impedes its life. It is necessary that the trunk appears as what it is, namely a trunk, and that the leaves not be the sterile appearance of a plant, but that they be full of flowers and fruit.

How many times you also would like to appear beautiful to your own glance … Your imagination deceives you and you cover your trunk with parasites which seemingly adorn you, but in fact take away your life.

A forced and oppressive silence is nothing other than ivy … You are externally silent, but speak all the more internally with your imagination, with outbursts of temper, with so many castles in the air … Get rid of this ivy! If you must converse, do it with great simplicity and preserve your heart recollected in God. Don?t dream of doing harsh penances when your heart isn?t yet penitent. Don?t be negligent and sloppy about your clothing, but be modest and simple. Don?t disguise your egotism with the tinsel of piety, but be charitable and good to all.

I want from you a gentle, sincere, profound, simple virtue, without ostentation, without vanity, without exaggeration … So many times you dream of martyrdom when you are not capable of benefiting from the daily contrariness which you find in your family!

THE SOUL: O my good Mother, how many miseries do you not make me discover in my heart? It?s true, I?m so fanciful that I believe myself to be immediately a saint, when I?m so poor in virtues … Give me a little humility so that the parasites don?t attach themselves to the humble and hidden little plants, but to the high trunks … Make my poor heart simple so that I may live only for God.

ASPIRATION: O Mary, free my heart from false virtue. O Jesus, forgive the sins that I don?t see in myself!

LITTLE WORK: If you want to do an act of virtue and realize that it would make you pleasant in the eyes of others, put off doing it to another time, if possible, when no one will see you and praise you.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a ?Way of the Cross? ? But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #4: Imagination first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #5: Hiddenness

MARY: Do you know what is the real cause of the life and the beauty of a flower? … You see its brilliant shades, smell its delicate fragrance and yet you don?t recognize that all of this buds forth from those humble roots which are hidden in the barren and often muddy earth. It is the humble earth that secures the vital part of a flower and in it that the roots are hidden and these cannot give life to the flower if they are not hidden! Virtue is always born from an intimate and profound hiddenness! Flowers must certainly be seen for Jesus says: ?Let your good deeds be seen by others?, but the seeds from which they bud, the life of the heart must remain concealed and hidden.

How many times do you not love to appear virtuous before those who see you and seek the vain praise of others? Then you remove the root from being hidden, it unhappily dries up and also the flower wilts and dies. The paid gardener cuts the flower and ties it to an artificial stem so that it may be admired … but in doing this he kills it! When you seek human praise, you cut the flower of virtue and you place it on an artificial stem … After empty praise it is nothing more than a mass of withered leaves. Therefore love hiddenness and desire that only God sees you and reads the secret of your heart.

THE SOUL: O Mary, open your humble Heart to me as a refuge so that I may hide myself in it! Human
praise disturbs me, agitates me, makes me so ugly and I recognize that I get worse after praise. I?m full of pride and I can?t free myself of it except by hiding myself in God! O Mary, give me the strength to flee human praise and my vanity!

ASPIRATION: O Mary, give me humility of heart.

LITTLE WORK: When something redounds to your praise, don?t say it for the love of holy humility.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a ?Way of the Cross? ? But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #5: Hiddenness first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #6: Trust

MARY: You must hide yourself in God; but precisely in order to do this, you must trust in him alone. God must be the true life of your soul, the profound peace of your heart. Hiding oneself doesn?t mean being despondent; hiddenness is true when it is trusting. Often you see nothing around yourself but duplicity and deception; you see the insufficiency of the help of others, the poverty
of your powers, your weakness …

Trust, trust, and, as a fragile little child, throw yourself into the arms of your heavenly Father, who is your life, your riches, your peace! You must be hidden in God; you must please him alone; you must rest on him alone!

Trust in him: your faults he looks on with pity and forgives, if you repent of them with trust in his mercy. Your miseries he eliminates, if you offer yourself entirely to him. In your battles he comforts and sustains you, if you lean on him.

THE SOUL: I?m almost ashamed to speak with you, Mary, so far am I from this trust! Up to now I have trusted only in creatures, in my powers, in the good will of the great ones of the earth and for this I loved to make myself noticed, admired and praised. What a sad experience I?ve had with creatures! What a sad experience I?ve had with myself! Therefore I beg you to hide me in God and to help me to trust in him alone.

ASPIRATION: O Mary, my hope, expand the trust in God in my heart.

LITTLE WORK: When an act of virtue seems difficult, trust in God, and, filled with this trust, do it promptly … Go, thus, and perform an act of courtesy for the person you find most disagreeable.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a ?Way of the Cross? ? But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #6: Trust first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #7: God

MARY: If you must have trust in God and hide yourself in him alone, it?s necessary to meditate on him. His infinite greatness could oppress you, even while it ought to be the most beautiful subject of your trust. What is God? He is the most pure and most perfect spirit, the Creator and Master of all things. He is a spirit; he, therefore, being infinite, embraces all, understands all, without even minimally having to work or force himself to embrace all. Nothing escapes from the tenderness of his providence: he cares for the atom as for the giant, forgives evil, exalts virtue; he loves, he loves and is infinitely good! Such is his infinite goodness that he despises no creature. He loves all of them as a father; he regards all with pity, he watches over them, welcomes them, favors them … And if he cares with such love for all creatures, how much more does he care for you, made in his image and likeness? You see him as the great God, and yet there is no moment when he does not stoop down to you, you even live, move and are in him!

?How lovable you are, O my God! Even I am your creature … you loved me even before the ages … I was nothing and already your goodness was raising me up in your eternal designs! From the kiss of your heart I came forth pure and immaculate … from your mercy I attained the strength to conquer the infernal enemy … I am Mary because you are the God of infinite goodness! If you were not God, you would not have lifted me up with such goodness and mercy!? Your mother, my daughter, is for you the living proof of that divine greatness which is infinite, yes, but is also the loving refuge for the smallest creatures! Hide yourself, then, in the heart of your God … don?t worry about the little things of this world. LOVE GOD!

THE SOUL: How can you wish that I experience no sense of bewilderment before a God so beautiful, so holy,so good, that I have so often offended? Obtain for me, then, the pardon of my so many faults and show me that same mercy, you who are the Mother of mercy. Into your hands I entrust my soul; clothe me with yourself; present me to God because only with you my trust becomes great, in spite of my so many sins.

ASPIRATION: O my God, I thank you that you created me and that you are always near me.

LITTLE WORK: Think often during the day of the great blessedness of your soul in living under the glance of God and offer him? an act of love.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a ?Way of the Cross? ? But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #7: God first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #8: Jesus

MARY: I present Jesus to you this morning; he is my Son and he is the Son of God! He is the flower, the admirable, the prince of peace! Let your glance meet with his, … and tell me if he is beautiful, if he is lovable! … Do you not see Jesus? Jesus is Jesus because no beauty equals his, no love can describe him outside of his own love! … Kiss this divine Heart, daughter; I give it to you so that you may love him, so that you may love him in greater depth! …

Rest on this adored Heart … I give it to you so that it may appease your misery, so that it may eliminate it! Submerge yourself in this sea of mercies; I present it to you so that it may cancel your fearfulness and render you full of courage, with him. Do you not see Jesus? He is your divine gardener; it is he who loves you, who lovingly cares for you, who forgives you.

Do you not hear how many words of love that he makes you hear from that Heart?

You have contemplated him disfigured, dripping with blood, full of bitterness … has he not undergone this for your love?

You have admired him glorious and triumphant outside of the tomb … did he not triumph in order to be your resurrection and life?

Jesus, Jesus … is your spouse! He binds you with bonds of love that can never be broken; he has offered you to his Father as part of his Heart … do you not love your Jesus?

THE SOUL: O Mary, the very name of Jesus makes me melt with love … O how gentle and mild you are, O lovable Heart of Jesus! My fearfulness cannot endure before you because you are goodness … O how I love you, Jesus! You are the God-man who became man for my love and precisely to stoop all the way down to me and to save me!

Therefore expand your wounds, O Jesus; I want to heal my miseries in them! Open to me your divine Heart; I want to obtain from you love and virtue! I love you, O good Jesus, I love you and you gaze on me with eyes of mercy!

O Mary, teach this poor heart of mine unlimited trust, total abandonment to a God so good! …

Jesus! how sweet your name is, how gentle is your love, how great is your mercy!

ASPIRATION: O Jesus, I offer you my heart and my life; my Jesus, mercy!

LITTLE WORK: Call upon the holy name of Jesus during the day and for the sake of his love deprive yourself of something you really like at table.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a “Way of the Cross”. But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #8: Jesus first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Day #9: My Soul

THE SOUL: I must not only know God in order to love him, I must also know myself. The careful examination of my misery makes me annihilate myself in the sight of God and makes his compassionate mercy lower itself even to me. O Lord, how wretched I am! I’m always seeking myself, full of egotism, following my whims, full of defects and strange traits … I find myself worm ridden and I am ashamed. Tell me, Mary, my extreme wretchedness doesn’t obstruct the path of God’s goodness to me, does it?

MARY: Your misery does not separate you from the mercy of God when you recognize it and humble yourself: He never disdains a heart contrite and humbled! God even takes delight in his poor creature when it lifts its heart up to him and sheds tears full of confidence and love at his feet. Do not fear. Embrace the cross which you have; rest yourself on my motherly Heart, which is full of love and mercy, and never let yourself worry when you perceive your misery, but lift your voice to me so that I may present you before the throne of God!

THE SOUL: … Myself; here is the most treacherous enemy which I have! It is a hidden enemy because it comes out in the open seldom; it is a dangerous enemy because it lives with me and because I naturally resist fighting against it; it is an astute enemy because it deceives me with false illusions of good.

O Mary, is it not true that I always seek to excuse all of my wretchedness? … I get easily upset if someone points out one of my flaws; I seek praise and am pleased with it; I consider others worse than me when in reality no one is worse than me. I criticize; I react in anger … I am a heap of faults … and yet I can hardly recognize the nothing that I am, so great is my pride!

I beg you, O Mary, to have pity on me and to teach me a little of that holy humility which made you so great so that I may recognize myself for what I am and humble myself profoundly before God. Amen.

ASPIRATION: O Jesus, deliver my soul from the delusions of evil.

LITTLE WORK: Deprive yourself of something at table.

About the Meditations

The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.

Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a ‘Way of the Cross’. But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)

To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy

Ave Maria!

The post School of Mary – Day #9: My Soul first appeared on AirMaria.com.