Six Common Biblical Fallacies Used to Criticize Devotion to Mary

STEPHEN BEALE

Anti-Marian Protestants often rely on several biblical fallacies to minimize the significance of Mary and slander Catholics as well as others who are devoted to her. Identifying these fallacies and calling them out for what they really are is an essential part of defending the faith.

Here are six common fallacies you’ll often encounter when discussing devotion to Mary:

1. “The Bible doesn’t say much about Mary, so she must not be that important.”

The absurdity of this claim can be readily exposed by looking at examples of other things that aren’t that are vital but don’t take up a lot of space in Scripture. Consider the doctrine of the Trinity. This is a core article of faith. But the three persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—are only listed in sequence in a manner that indicates their equality only a handful of time. (Check out this list here, for example.)

Likewise, a foundational tenet of our faith is that God is our creator. But there are only three creation accounts in the Old Testament. (In addition to the familiar one in Genesis 1, there is also God’s own account in Job 39 and David’s in Psalm 104.)

2. “We can only do something if the Bible explicitly says we can.”

“Because the Bible doesn’t specifically commend us to venerate and pray to Mary, then we can’t,” so the argument goes. If that’s true, Christians are in big trouble.

Where does the Bible say we can pray to Jesus? Seriously. Go look for it. Jesus Himself never actually says that He should be prayed to. But it’s strongly insinuated that He wants us to. For example, in John 5:23, Jesus says that the Father wants all men to honor Son just as the Father is honored. That’s pretty close to saying we should pray to Him, but still it’s not explicit.

Of course, there are other verses where it’s pretty clear that St. Paul is invoking Jesus’ name. He may not come out and explicitly command us to pray directly to Jesus, but He doesn’t need to—it’s obvious from the example he sets. (See this breakdown of verses here.). St. Stephen also is another model of prayer for us. (See my previous article on his prayer here.)

3. “Mary is never venerated in the Bible.”

This is false, according to scripture. In Luke 1, her cousin Elizabeth greets her using language that echoes Old Testament accounts of how David venerated the ark of the covenant. In particular, Elizabeth’s loud greeting, her surprise at Mary’s arrival, and the joyful leap of John the Baptist echo the Old Testament language, upon a close examination of the texts. (See my previous article on this here.)

Much of Catholic devotion to Mary is also inspired by the image of Mary in Revelation 12, which, incidentally immediately follows after the appearance of the ark of the covenant in Revelation 11. (Don’t forget that the chapters and verses were added after the original texts were written, so the ark was not meant to be separate from Mary’s appearance.) Just as St. Paul’s prays to Jesus serve as an example to us, so also the above instances of veneration are set forth for our imitation.

4. “Praying to Mary gets in the way of Jesus.”

Philosophically speaking, this statement is deeply problematic. But it’s also unbiblical. It’s just not how Jesus operates. If Jesus wants us to encounter Him in isolation then why did He appoint twelve apostles? Why did He preordain John the Baptist to be His forerunner?

5. “We never see Mary interceding for us.”

Perhaps someone might grant the above points, but then they would come back and say, ‘What’s the point of praying to and venerating Mary? We don’t ever see her interceding on our behalf in the gospels.” Again, that’s false.

At the wedding at Cana in John 2, Mary intercedes on behalf of the guests, pressing Jesus about their need for wine. Of course, it was about more than wine. First, this was Jesus’ first miracle in John. Second, it launched His ministry in John. And, third, it was of enormous symbolic importance, given the connections between Cana and the heavenly wedding feast, the Eucharist, and Jesus’ Passion. (The latter is clear from his response that His ‘hour’ had not yet come, which is a term for His Passion in John.) Mary plays an intercessory role in at least two other places. The first is when she literally brings Jesus to Elizabeth. The second is at the crucifixion, when, according to Simeon’s prophecy, she shared in Jesus’ suffering. I would say that’s a pretty significant participation in His ministry.

6. “Jesus distanced Himself from Mary.”

Some anti-Marians suggest that Jesus diminished Mary’s importance. A common go-to passage is Matthew 12:46-50, where Jesus asks who His mother and brothers are and answers His own question, saying it’s whoever does the will of His Father, pointing to His disciples. The anti-Marian interpretation holds that He is effectively denying any spiritual importance to Mary. But this is a deeply problematic conclusion. It’s leap that assumes that Mary is not one who does the will of the Father. From the account of the Annunciation, we know that’s not true. A similar argument is made about the version of this account that appears in Luke 11:27-28, where someone cries out that blessed is the womb that bore Jesus. He responds and says that rather blessed are those who follow the word of God. Again, the criticism assumes that Mary does not follow God’s word, which is absurd. Moreover, we know from Luke 1 that she is ‘blessed among women.’ Scripture cannot contradict itself so fidelity to Scripture’s integrity compels one to accept the Catholic interpretation of this text.

Conclusion

The upshot of all of this is that opposition to Mary is unbiblical. Many of those who criticize devotion to her as a product of Catholic culture are themselves guilty of applying a cultural lens to distort the true message of the Bible. In defending the truth of Scripture, we are not only defending Mary but we are also defending Christ. Refuting claims against any son’s mother honors the son as well. Moreover, in defending the truth of Scripture we are also showing special reverence for Christ, who is Himself the Truth.

How Bishop Sheen Helped Me to Reconcile With the Blessed Mother

AL SMITH

Have you ever wondered what it means to be a child of God? The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that through baptism, we become “an adopted child of God, who has become a partaker of the divine nature, member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.” (CCCC 1265)   

Similarly, the Church teaches us that when Our Blessed Lord spoke these words from the Cross: “Woman behold your son, Son behold your Mother” (Jn. 19:26), that we were given at that moment, the title, ‘Children of Mary.’

To help explain this spiritual adoption in a deeper way, let’s consider a few words by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. In the book The Cries of Jesus from the Cross, Sheen writes:

​From the Cross, He completed His last will and testament. He had already committed His blood to the Church, His garments to His enemies, a thief to Paradise, and would soon commend His body to the grave and His soul to His Heavenly Father. To whom, then, could He give the two treasures which He loved above all others, Mary and John? He would bequeath them to one another, giving at once a son to His Mother and a Mother to His friend. “Woman!”  It was the second Annunciation!   

“Behold your son!” It was the second Nativity! Mary had brought forth her Firstborn without labor, in the cave of Bethlehem; she now brings forth her second-born, John, in the labors of the Cross. At this moment, Mary is undergoing the pains of childbirth, not only for her second-born, who is John but also for the millions who will be born to her in Christian ages as ‘Children of Mary.’ Now we can understand why Christ was called ‘her First-born.’ It was not because she was to have other children by the blood of flesh, but because she was to have other children by the blood of her heart. Truly, indeed, the Divine condemnation against Eve is now renewed against the new Eve, Mary, for she is bringing forth her children in sorrow.  

Mary, then, is not only the Mother of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but she is also our Mother, and this not by a title of courtesy, not by legal fiction, not by a mere figure of speech, but by the right of bringing us forth in sorrow at the foot of the Cross. It was by weakness and disobedience at the foot of the tree of Good and Evil that Eve lost the title, Mother of the Living; it is at the foot of the tree of the Cross that Mary, by sacrifice and obedience, regained for us the title, Mother of the Living. What a destiny to have the Mother of God as my Mother and Jesus as my Brother!

What a tremendous gift from God to be spiritually adopted! But what does this adoption mean? Our Lord giving us His Mother? Should I embrace this holy Mother and include her in my life, or should I ignore her like so many have done, and leave her uninvited into my home, activities, and my family? 

Life passes by very quickly, and there will come a time when we will have to make an accounting before Our Lord. During the particular judgment, many of us might wonder what questions Our Lord will ask of us. But what if I told you that the one question Jesus may ask is, “Did you love my Mother?”   

“Did You Love My Mother?”

Pondering this question has caused me many a restless night. To be honest, I had ignored Mary for many years. I had given her lip service, with a few half-hearted rosaries and novenas. I had been guilty of saying that Mary was my Mother—but in name only. In actual fact, I had not been letting Mary be my Mother. Eventually, I did imitate St. John in taking her into my home as he did on Good Friday

With time I started to think, did not Christ desire to share with me His Kingdom and all its treasures? Why would I choose to ignore the one person that God chose to be His Mother and mine? Why would I choose to reject the love, guidance, graces, and blessing that the Blessed Mother wanted to give me, as she certainly gave Our Lord during His life?  

Well, after searching my heart and taking stock of my actions (or the lack of) towards the Blessed Mother, I truly started to experience a sense of sorrow. I knew that I needed to apologize to both Our Lord and Our Lady.  But sadly, this apology would take a while to materialize because, as you might know, the three hardest words to say in life are: “I am sorry!”  Fortunately for me, by God’s grace and Our Lady’s intercession, I eventually apologized to the Blessed Mother. But that apology came after a real-life situation, provided a kind of ‘epiphany.’

A Reckless One

We all know stories of drunk drivers who get behind the wheel of a car and kill innocent people. Sadly, this story is repeated time and time again. There are casualties on both sides of these tragic stories: the families devastated by their loss and the drivers who have to live with the consequences of their bad decisions.  

With this thought, I started to asked myself, how would I respond if a drunk driver asked me for mercy after killing my child? For some strange coincidence, while I was pondering on this thought, I saw out of the corner of my eye, a crucifix hanging on the wall in my living room. I looked at it for a few moments, and then my epiphany came. In that moment, I saw the connection between the drunk driver killing an innocent victim and the stark reality that it was my sins that caused the death of an innocent victim, and that was of my Lord. It was my sins that suffered Him to die on the Cross. 

I was in a similar way that drunk driver, intoxicated with the sins of the flesh and the love of the world.  It was my sin that nailed Jesus to His Cross. I was guilty of His death. I was the reckless one that now needed to apologize to the Victim’s Mother for the role that I played in the death of her Son.  That victim was Jesus, and the Mother of the victim was the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Archbishop Sheen writes,

If you can stand the gaze of a Crucifix long enough, you will discover these truths. First, if sin cost Him Who is Innocence, so much, then I who am guilty cannot take it lightly; second, in all the world, there is only one thing worse than sin, and that is to forget I am a sinner; third, more bitter than the Crucifixion must be my rejection of that Love by which I was redeemed.

There is no escaping the one thing necessary in the Christian life, namely saving our souls and purchasing the glorious liberty of the children of God. The crucifixion ends, but Christ endures. Sorrows pass, but we remain. Therefore, we must never come down from the supreme end and purpose of life, the salvation of our souls.

What had she done to deserve the Seven Swords? What crimes had she committed to rob her of her Son? She had done nothing, but we have. We have sinned against her Divine Son, we have sentenced him to the Cross, and in sinning against him, we wounded her.

In fact, we thrust into her hands the greatest of all griefs, for she was not losing a brother, or a sister, or a father, or a mother, or even just a son ​ — ​​ she was losing God. And what greater sorrow is there than this!

Finally, we should mourn for the greatest of all reasons, namely, because of what our sins have done to him. If we had been less proud, his crown of thorns would have been less piercing; if we had been less avaricious, the nails in the hands would have been less burning; if we had traveled less in the devious ways of sin, his feet would not have been so deeply dug with steel; if our speech had been less biting, his lips would have been less parched; if we had been less sinful, his agony would have been shorter; if we had loved more, he would have been hated less.

— Fulton Sheen, The Cries of Jesus from the Cross.

With these thoughts from Archbishop Sheen, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your relationship with the Blessed Mother and see if an apology might be in order. Imagine yourself approaching her at the foot of the Cross with St.Mary Magdalene weeping on her knees and St. John standing there with you. Look up to our Crucified Lord and then take a few moments to reflect. Then, may I encourage you to reach out and apologize to the Blessed Mother for the role you played in the death of her Son and your Saviour Jesus Christ.   

I recall a song written in 2001 by Fr. Eugene O’Reilly, CSsR. The song was entitled ‘Father I Have Sinned’ (The Prodigal Son). The lyrics are beautiful and provide a great consolation to many ‘prodigals’ like myself.  Having made my confession and asking for pardon, I envisioned the Blessed Mother singing the words of the chorus in that beautiful song: I forgive you. I love you.  You are mine. Take my hand.   Go in peace, sin no more, beloved one. 

I knew at once, when I made my apology to the Blessed Mother, my life changed; my relationship with her was strengthened. I rejoice in thinking how great her joy would be, to shelter under her mantle, one more of her Son’s lost sheep! 

Our Mother, Our Champion

I will leave you this one last pearl of wisdom from Archbishop Sheen: ​

May I recommend that if you have never before prayed to Mary, do so now. Can you not see that if Christ himself willed to be physically formed in her for nine months and then be spiritually formed by her for thirty years.  It is to her that we must go to learn how to have Christ formed in us? Only she who raised Christ can raise a Christian.”

And to those Christians who have forgotten Mary, may we ask if it is proper for them to forget her whom He remembered on the Cross? Will they bear no love for that woman through the portals of whose flesh, as the Gate of Heaven, He came to earth?

When we read the scriptures, we see that the Virgin Mary and Christ are inseparable.  Wherever Our Lord is mentioned, she is found there near Him. When Christ comes again in glory and searches for his sheep, would it not be easier for Him to find us if His Mother has taken up residence with us and she is by our side? What a great advocate and companion we will have on that day when we are reunited with our Brother and Lord!”

— Fulton Sheen, The Cries of Jesus from the Cross.

Let us not be afraid to fully embrace the spiritual adoption that God has arranged for us at the foot of Calvary, to become ‘Children of Mary.’ 

God Love You.

How Bishop Sheen Helped Me to Reconcile With the Blessed Mother

AL SMITH

Have you ever wondered what it means to be a child of God? The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that through baptism, we become “an adopted child of God, who has become a partaker of the divine nature, member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.” (CCCC 1265)   

Similarly, the Church teaches us that when Our Blessed Lord spoke these words from the Cross: “Woman behold your son, Son behold your Mother” (Jn. 19:26), that we were given at that moment, the title, ‘Children of Mary.’

To help explain this spiritual adoption in a deeper way, let’s consider a few words by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. In the book The Cries of Jesus from the Cross, Sheen writes:

​From the Cross, He completed His last will and testament. He had already committed His blood to the Church, His garments to His enemies, a thief to Paradise, and would soon commend His body to the grave and His soul to His Heavenly Father. To whom, then, could He give the two treasures which He loved above all others, Mary and John? He would bequeath them to one another, giving at once a son to His Mother and a Mother to His friend. “Woman!”  It was the second Annunciation!   

“Behold your son!” It was the second Nativity! Mary had brought forth her Firstborn without labor, in the cave of Bethlehem; she now brings forth her second-born, John, in the labors of the Cross. At this moment, Mary is undergoing the pains of childbirth, not only for her second-born, who is John but also for the millions who will be born to her in Christian ages as ‘Children of Mary.’ Now we can understand why Christ was called ‘her First-born.’ It was not because she was to have other children by the blood of flesh, but because she was to have other children by the blood of her heart. Truly, indeed, the Divine condemnation against Eve is now renewed against the new Eve, Mary, for she is bringing forth her children in sorrow.  

Mary, then, is not only the Mother of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but she is also our Mother, and this not by a title of courtesy, not by legal fiction, not by a mere figure of speech, but by the right of bringing us forth in sorrow at the foot of the Cross. It was by weakness and disobedience at the foot of the tree of Good and Evil that Eve lost the title, Mother of the Living; it is at the foot of the tree of the Cross that Mary, by sacrifice and obedience, regained for us the title, Mother of the Living. What a destiny to have the Mother of God as my Mother and Jesus as my Brother!

What a tremendous gift from God to be spiritually adopted! But what does this adoption mean? Our Lord giving us His Mother? Should I embrace this holy Mother and include her in my life, or should I ignore her like so many have done, and leave her uninvited into my home, activities, and my family? 

Life passes by very quickly, and there will come a time when we will have to make an accounting before Our Lord. During the particular judgment, many of us might wonder what questions Our Lord will ask of us. But what if I told you that the one question Jesus may ask is, “Did you love my Mother?”   

“Did You Love My Mother?”

Pondering this question has caused me many a restless night. To be honest, I had ignored Mary for many years. I had given her lip service, with a few half-hearted rosaries and novenas. I had been guilty of saying that Mary was my Mother—but in name only. In actual fact, I had not been letting Mary be my Mother. Eventually, I did imitate St. John in taking her into my home as he did on Good Friday

With time I started to think, did not Christ desire to share with me His Kingdom and all its treasures? Why would I choose to ignore the one person that God chose to be His Mother and mine? Why would I choose to reject the love, guidance, graces, and blessing that the Blessed Mother wanted to give me, as she certainly gave Our Lord during His life?  

Well, after searching my heart and taking stock of my actions (or the lack of) towards the Blessed Mother, I truly started to experience a sense of sorrow. I knew that I needed to apologize to both Our Lord and Our Lady.  But sadly, this apology would take a while to materialize because, as you might know, the three hardest words to say in life are: “I am sorry!”  Fortunately for me, by God’s grace and Our Lady’s intercession, I eventually apologized to the Blessed Mother. But that apology came after a real-life situation, provided a kind of ‘epiphany.’

A Reckless One

We all know stories of drunk drivers who get behind the wheel of a car and kill innocent people. Sadly, this story is repeated time and time again. There are casualties on both sides of these tragic stories: the families devastated by their loss and the drivers who have to live with the consequences of their bad decisions.  

With this thought, I started to asked myself, how would I respond if a drunk driver asked me for mercy after killing my child? For some strange coincidence, while I was pondering on this thought, I saw out of the corner of my eye, a crucifix hanging on the wall in my living room. I looked at it for a few moments, and then my epiphany came. In that moment, I saw the connection between the drunk driver killing an innocent victim and the stark reality that it was my sins that caused the death of an innocent victim, and that was of my Lord. It was my sins that suffered Him to die on the Cross. 

I was in a similar way that drunk driver, intoxicated with the sins of the flesh and the love of the world.  It was my sin that nailed Jesus to His Cross. I was guilty of His death. I was the reckless one that now needed to apologize to the Victim’s Mother for the role that I played in the death of her Son.  That victim was Jesus, and the Mother of the victim was the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Archbishop Sheen writes,

If you can stand the gaze of a Crucifix long enough, you will discover these truths. First, if sin cost Him Who is Innocence, so much, then I who am guilty cannot take it lightly; second, in all the world, there is only one thing worse than sin, and that is to forget I am a sinner; third, more bitter than the Crucifixion must be my rejection of that Love by which I was redeemed.

There is no escaping the one thing necessary in the Christian life, namely saving our souls and purchasing the glorious liberty of the children of God. The crucifixion ends, but Christ endures. Sorrows pass, but we remain. Therefore, we must never come down from the supreme end and purpose of life, the salvation of our souls.

What had she done to deserve the Seven Swords? What crimes had she committed to rob her of her Son? She had done nothing, but we have. We have sinned against her Divine Son, we have sentenced him to the Cross, and in sinning against him, we wounded her.

In fact, we thrust into her hands the greatest of all griefs, for she was not losing a brother, or a sister, or a father, or a mother, or even just a son ​ — ​​ she was losing God. And what greater sorrow is there than this!

Finally, we should mourn for the greatest of all reasons, namely, because of what our sins have done to him. If we had been less proud, his crown of thorns would have been less piercing; if we had been less avaricious, the nails in the hands would have been less burning; if we had traveled less in the devious ways of sin, his feet would not have been so deeply dug with steel; if our speech had been less biting, his lips would have been less parched; if we had been less sinful, his agony would have been shorter; if we had loved more, he would have been hated less.

— Fulton Sheen, The Cries of Jesus from the Cross.

With these thoughts from Archbishop Sheen, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your relationship with the Blessed Mother and see if an apology might be in order. Imagine yourself approaching her at the foot of the Cross with St.Mary Magdalene weeping on her knees and St. John standing there with you. Look up to our Crucified Lord and then take a few moments to reflect. Then, may I encourage you to reach out and apologize to the Blessed Mother for the role you played in the death of her Son and your Saviour Jesus Christ.   

I recall a song written in 2001 by Fr. Eugene O’Reilly, CSsR. The song was entitled ‘Father I Have Sinned’ (The Prodigal Son). The lyrics are beautiful and provide a great consolation to many ‘prodigals’ like myself.  Having made my confession and asking for pardon, I envisioned the Blessed Mother singing the words of the chorus in that beautiful song: I forgive you. I love you.  You are mine. Take my hand.   Go in peace, sin no more, beloved one. 

I knew at once, when I made my apology to the Blessed Mother, my life changed; my relationship with her was strengthened. I rejoice in thinking how great her joy would be, to shelter under her mantle, one more of her Son’s lost sheep! 

Our Mother, Our Champion

I will leave you this one last pearl of wisdom from Archbishop Sheen: ​

May I recommend that if you have never before prayed to Mary, do so now. Can you not see that if Christ himself willed to be physically formed in her for nine months and then be spiritually formed by her for thirty years.  It is to her that we must go to learn how to have Christ formed in us? Only she who raised Christ can raise a Christian.”

And to those Christians who have forgotten Mary, may we ask if it is proper for them to forget her whom He remembered on the Cross? Will they bear no love for that woman through the portals of whose flesh, as the Gate of Heaven, He came to earth?

When we read the scriptures, we see that the Virgin Mary and Christ are inseparable.  Wherever Our Lord is mentioned, she is found there near Him. When Christ comes again in glory and searches for his sheep, would it not be easier for Him to find us if His Mother has taken up residence with us and she is by our side? What a great advocate and companion we will have on that day when we are reunited with our Brother and Lord!”

— Fulton Sheen, The Cries of Jesus from the Cross.

Let us not be afraid to fully embrace the spiritual adoption that God has arranged for us at the foot of Calvary, to become ‘Children of Mary.’ 

God Love You.

✠

Excerpts of Fulton Sheen’s work in this article are from The Cries of Jesus From the Cross: A Fulton Sheen Anthology, which was edited by Al Smith. It is available from Sophia Institute Press

Mr. Smith also edited the latest Fulton Sheen anthology, Lord, Teach Us to Pray. Also check out his previous article, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen – My Trusted Guide for Lent.

You can learn more about Fulton Sheen by listening to our two podcast interviews—“Ven. Fulton J. Sheen as a Lenten Guide” and “What Fulton J. Sheen Can Teach Us About Prayer”—by clicking the play buttons below or searching for Catholic Exchange on your favorite podcast app.

Photo by DDP on Unsplash

Ven. Fulton J. Sheen as a Lenten Guide | feat. Allan Smith

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What Fulton J. Sheen Can Teach Us About Prayer | feat. Al Smith

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Tagged as: Fulton J. Sheen, Mary, Reconciliation28

By Al Smith

Al Smith is the editor of two best-selling books available from Sophia Institute Press: The Cries of the Jesus from the Cross: A Fulton Sheen Anthology (2018) and Lord, Teach Us To Pray: A Fulton Sheen Anthology (2020). He is a husband, father, grandfather, a man of trade, and a business owner. Al has served the Church for fifteen years as a Catholic evangelist, radio host, writer, Internet broadcaster, and retreat director. He is the founder and director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Mission Society of Canada and has served on the Board of Directors of the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation in Peoria, Illinois, which promotes the cause of Fulton J. Sheen’s canonization process. Al is the creator of the website Bishop Sheen Today, which features the life and works of the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

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Of all of the gifts that we can receive on earth, as pilgrims travelling towards our eternal home, the grace of God is by far the greatest treasure. It is the pearl of infinite price!
Whereas the worldly and sensual pursue money, fame, power, and pleasure as their ultimate source of happiness (which really is a lie and illusion), God’s true friends pursue ardently and constantly to grow in grace. Another rather simple way to understand the life of grace is simply this: friendship with God. God desires ardently to be our Friend; however, He respects our freedom to accept Him.
The life of grace all starts in the moment that we receive the Sacrament of Baptism. The graces that flow from Baptism are extraordinary, almost mind-boggling—how good God really is. Once the water is poured on the head and the words: “I baptize you, In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, invisible but real miracles occur: an intimate relationship with the Blessed Trinity, the infusion of the theological virtues, moral virtues, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Still of paramount importance is the reality of Grace that permeates and imbues the soul in the moment of Baptism!
With the waters of Baptism we enter into a deep and intimate friendship with the Triune God and we become partakers of His divine nature—we become sons of God and have as inheritance—if we persevere in grace—heaven forever! For that reason the saints teach us: grace is the seed of eternal life.
Given that grace in our souls is the greatest gift and presence, we should do all in our power to preserve grace, grow in grace, so as to die in the state of grace. Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church and author of the classic Glories of Mary, states that the grace of all graces is to die in the state of grace. This should be our prayer every day for our souls, that of our loved one as well as for the whole world. Indeed Jesus came as universal Savior—to save the whole world through His Paschal mystery—His passion, death and Resurrection from the dead!
Then there are the two worse things in the universe are the following: 1) Committing a mortal sin (this indeed is terrible); 2) Worse still is dying in the state of mortal sin; this, of course results in an eternal separation from God for all eternity! May God save us from the reality of mortal sin. Nonetheless, if we do have the misfortune of falling into mortal sin, we should never give into despair. On the contrary, we should have a limitless confidence in God’s infinite mercy and have recourse to the wonderful Sacrament of God’s mercy that we call Confession! The Psalmist reminds us with these encouraging words: “God is slow to anger and rich in kindness.” Saint Paul reiterates the same theme: “Where sin abounds, the grace of God abounds all the more.”
Ways to Grow in the Grace of God
We should do all in our power to preserve God’s grace in our souls, but also to grow daily in God’s grace. God’s grace and His intimate Friendship in our soul are worth more than the whole created universe. The natural realm in which we live can never be compared to the supernatural realm in which we find the concept and reality of grace. As a fish swims in water, as a bird flies in the sky so should we be swimming and flying in the atmosphere of grace! This should be the most ardent desire of our hearts, mind and souls!

1. Prayer.
   Every time we pray with humility of heart, purity of intention and a desire to please God we immediately grow in grace. For that reason we should treasure prayer, our prayer life and the prayer life of others as the highest and greatest of all realities. Parents who teach their children to pray are the best of parents; parents who are slothful and negligent in the education of their children in the arena of prayer will have to give an account on the day of their judgment! Because of the numerous distractions of daily life, how easy it is for parents—who must be the first educators of their children—to be negligent and sloppy in teaching their children to pray! May God have mercy on us!
2. Charity.
   The Word of God teaches us this consoling truth: “Love covers a multitude of sins.” If we can find ways and opportunities that God offers us on a daily basis to practice charity and service or even alms-giving towards others then we have another means to augment grace in our souls. In the movie Little Boy , the little boy was given what the priest called the “Magic list” to accomplish so that his father would return home safe and sound from the World War. The magic list is nothing more than less than the corporal works of mercy listed in (Mt. 25:31-46) “ I was hungry and you gave me to eat; thirsty and you gave me to drink; a foreigner and you welcomed me; sick and in prison and you came to visit me; dead and you provided burial…” Beg the Holy Spirit in prayer which of these He is calling you to carry out in practice in your life so as to increase grace in your soul!
3. Penance.
   Jesus stated that some devils can be cast out only through prayer and fasting. The Lord also reminds us: “Anyone who wants to be my follower must renounce himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Every time we say “no” to our selfish desires and “yes” to a sacrifice that the Holy Spirit has inspired in our hearts then once again the grace of God rises in our hearts! An added blessing from God when we undertake a life of sacrifice is conquering our bad habits and interior peace of mind, heart and soul! Let us be generous with a God who loves us so much!
4. Sacraments: The Eucharist.
   Of course the greatest action in the whole universe is that of receiving the greatest of all Sacraments—The Eucharist! The Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion, is truly and substantially the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Receiving Our Lord with the best of dispositions, in grace, with faith, love, humility and desire for a deeper conversion to His love is an infinite source of grace because this Sacrament is God Himself! For this reason there is no greater action we can do as pilgrims and wayfarers on earth than to receive Jesus with lively faith, frequency and burning love! If you like a simple image, upon receiving Jesus with burning love the gas gauge in your spiritual tank (your soul) shoots up way beyond the full. Beg for the grace to have a daily hunger for the Bread of life so as to constantly skyrocket in grace—to penetrate the high heavens even while on earth! In the Our Father we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread…” Perhaps Jesus is challenging you to aim at daily Mass and daily Holy Communion so as to surmount the highest mountains in the realm of grace.
5. Our Lady: Hail Mary.
   On one occasion, the German mystic and saint, Saint Gertrude, saw Jesus in heaven. He was resplendent in glory, but He was doing an intriguing gesture: placing a golden coin on top of a huge mound of other gold coins. The saint was just finishing praying to our Lady the Hail Mary. Jesus responded in this manner. “Gertrude, every time you pray to my mother the
   Hail Mary with faith and devotion, I am depositing a Golden coin in heaven that will be yours for all eternity.” If we want to be multi-billionaires in heaven let us love Mary and the prayer that Mary loves so much— Hail Mary. In the Hail Mary we greet the Queen of Heaven and earth with these beautiful words: “Hail Mary, Full of Grace.”
   Therefore, let us get into the habit of praying the daily Rosary, with the beautiful prayer Hail Mary. If done, Our Lady, through her powerful intercession will be storing up for you infinite treasures and an eternal home in heaven! May we love grace, treasure grace, strive to grow in grace and finally die in grace through the intercession of Mary, the “Full of grace.”