Janette: Jesus is the last end of all our devotions (Par 60 - 64)

 I am about a week behind in the readings but at the same time am not experiencing a sense to rush - Each section is worth the savor!  Chapter II - as much as I have read so far - is a GEM!

Living outside the Catholic Church for a decade +, then returning to the Church, one of my trepidations was having a relationship with Mary - at the expense of my already seemingly strong relationship with Jesus. This First Truth described by St Louis would have brought my quivering heart to peace - and actually, in a deeper sense, does that today!  He says, "...solid devotion to our Blessed Lady...establishes more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and ... an easy and secure means of finding Jesus Christ.  If devotion to Our Lady removed us from Jesus Christ, we should have to reject it as an illusion of the devil..." (62)

St Louis' insights are timeless - Par 64 - where he speaks directly to Jesus and laments about Catholic Christians  - even the teachers among them - who speak rarely of Mary, are dry, indifferent.  He connects something else... "...all the while these teachers are without piety or tender devotion toward Thyself, simply because they have none for Mary."  He ends the Paragraph with nine heart-wrenching and rhetorical questions to Our Lord.  It is a precious and intimate passage to read and consider.... One really gains a sense of depth of love of St Louis - first, for Our Lord - which is most undoubtedly ever-strengthened through love of Our Lady. Whew - to gain such a heart!