Friday
June 24, 2005
vol 16, no. 175

The Holy Bible is the Word of God and about God; the Gospels the Life of Christ, King of our hearts. No greater work exists. But The Mystical City of God is the Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Immaculate Queen. Royalty beautifully bestowed.

"A similar argument can be used to determine the relative excellence of spiritual books. For what purpose (or office) was it destined by Almighty God? By this standard, as by any other, Holy Scriptures is the supreme book, and no book could ever equal it, since its purpose is none other than the official public record of Divine Revelation to man. It holds the same place among books as its subject, Our Lord Jesus Christ, holds among saints- infinite supremacy, since He is God and the Holy Scripture is the true and only book possessing Divine inspiration."

    In the last article, proof was given that the Mystical City of God by Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda has been fully approved by the Catholic Church. Let us now examine the excellence of this book.

    Why is this important? Because we must first know the value of something if we are to treasure it as we ought. A prime example is the "merchant seeking good pearls who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt. 13:45-46). How would the merchant have known the "pearl of great price" unless he was knowledgeable of pearls? And how would he have found his treasure unless he sought it?

    The same, of course, is true concerning Almighty God. The more we know God, the more we shall love Him and serve Him. Thus the desire to grow in the knowledge of God is of fundamental importance in the spiritual life of any Catholic. A primary means always used by the saints - besides, of course, the Mass, the sacraments, and prayer - is spiritual reading.

    This, then, is why we must know the excellence of the City of God, for only then shall we treasure it as we ought and include it in our spiritual reading as a powerful means to grow in the love, service, and imitation of Our Lord and His Immaculate Mother, thereby fulfilling the purpose for which it was given us.

Purpose

    It is a universally-accepted dictum that a quick way to determine the greatness of a saint - at least in a relative sense - is to examine the office given him by God. Thus our heavenly Queen is supreme among creatures since her office of Mother of God is the greatest dignity possible to a mere creature. This argument is also applied by various authors to great St. Joseph. Because his offices as Spouse of Our Lady and Foster Father of Jesus Christ are second in dignity only to the Divine Maternity, his dignity and place in Heaven are second only to Our Lady among the saints. 1

    A similar argument can be used to determine the relative excellence of spiritual books. For what purpose (or office) was it destined by Almighty God? By this standard, as by any other, Holy Scriptures is the supreme book, and no book could ever equal it, since its purpose is none other than the official public record of Divine Revelation to man. It holds the same place among books as its subject, Our Lord Jesus Christ, holds among saints- infinite supremacy, since He is God and the Holy Scripture is the true and only book possessing Divine inspiration.

    Other books, though, are great in their respective degrees due primarily to the office assigned each. Examples of pre-eminent books are the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, destined to be the compendium of Catholic dogma; the Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, destined to lead scores of thou-sands of souls to love and practice virtue; and True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, destined to teach souls how to truly love and serve Most Holy Mary.

    What, then, is the office Almighty God assigned the City of God? Just as the purpose of Scriptures is to reveal the Life of Christ, true God and Man, the purpose of the City of God is to reveal the life of Mary, true Mother of God; and though neither "public" nor "official" in the sense of Scriptures, nevertheless it is the unique record of the life and virtues of our Queen - absolutely unique, having been specifically reserved by Divine Providence for our days. Both Almighty God and Our Lady expressly stated the unique purpose of the book, and also why its contents were not explicitly revealed in the Sacred Scriptures.

    Almighty God said to Venerable Mary:

"In fatherly love I sent [men] eternal salvation and a remedy for the incurable infirmities of human nature, thus justifying My cause. And just as I then chose the opportune time for the greater manifestation of My mercy, so I now select this time for showing toward them another very great favor... I have not revealed these mysteries in the primitive Church, because they are so great, that the faithful would have been lost in the contemplation and admiration of them at a time when it was more necessary to establish firmly the law of grace and of the Gospel... On this same account the Person of the Incarnate Word said to His disciples at the Last Supper: 'Many things have I to say to you; but you are not yet disposed to receive them' (John 16:12). These words He addressed to all the world, for it was not yet capable of giving full obedience to the law of grace and full assent to the faith in the Son, much less was it pre-pared to be introduced into the mysteries of His Mother. But now, mankind has greater need for this manifestation, and this necessity urges Me to disregard their evil disposition. And if men would now seek to please Me by reverencing, believing and studying the wonders which are intimately connected with this Mother of Piety, and if they would all begin to solicit her intercession from their whole heart, the world would find some relief. I will no longer withhold from men this mystical City of refuge; describe and delineate it to them, as far as thy shortcomings allow. I do not intend that thy descriptions and declarations of the life of the Blessed Virgin shall be mere opinions or contemplations, but reliable truth. They that have ears to hear, let them hear." 2

    Our Lady told Venerable Mary:

"As thou art now again astonished that the Evangelists should not have made any mention of these wonderful favors of the Lord toward me, I will repeat what I already told thee; for I wish that all mortals should remember the reason for the reticence of the Gospels, I myself have commanded the Evangelists not to write anything about my privileges except what is contained in the articles of faith and in the commandments of the divine law and what was necessary for the establishment of the Church... The manifestation of my prerogatives, being included in the dignity of Mother of God and in my being full of grace, for reserved by the Divine Providence for a more opportune and convenient time; namely, when the Faith should be better known and established. In the course of the centuries, some mysteries pertaining to me have been made plain, but the plenitude of light has been given to thee, who art a poor and insignificant creature; and this has been done on account of the necessities and unhappy state of the world. God in His kindness wishes to offer this opportune remedy to men, in order that all of them may seek help and eternal salvation through my intercession" (Transifixion, pp. 768-769).

    Finally, Venerable Mary herself often reiterates these reasons of Our Lord and Our Lady. 3 Thus we see the purpose of the City of God is absolutely singular, having been reserved for our days in which, as our Queen said, "the world and the centuries are far advanced" (Coronation, p. 661). In the next article I will delve into the actual authorship of The Mystical City of God.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Cf. Pere Binet, The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph, Rockford, IL; TAN Books, 1983), p. 21; E.H.Thompson, The Life and Glories of St. Joseph (TAN, 1980), pp. 5 ff.

2 Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God (Washington, NJ):Ave Maria Institute, 1971), Conception, pp. 32-4. Hereafter I shall refer only to the particular volumes: the Conception, Incarnation, Transfixion, or Coronation.

3 Ex., cf. Incarnation, p. 337

(First Published in Reign of Mary #77, Spring 1994)

For the full volumes of Venerable Mary of Agreda's work on line, see THE MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD

For past articles in Fiat Voluntas Dei, see 2005tim.htm Archives