The Glories of Mary

Description

This appears to be abridged compared to this edition.

pt. V, §6 is on her chastity / vow of virginity, which quotes St. Gregory of Nysa on how she valued virginity so much she would've even renounced the dignity of being mother of God to preserve it (and God rewarded her generosity by allowing her to be perpetual virgin and mother of God!).

Mary may be said to be their [the angels'] mediatrix “by congruous merit,” since she hastened the coming of the Redeemer by her prayers.

and:

she burned with the desire to be alive at the time when the Messiah would appear, so that she could become the servant of that virgin chosen to be his mother.” All this is disclosed in the Revelations of Saint Bridget.

This is consistent; she was too humble to think she could fulfill Isaias 7:14's prophecy herself.

[Also, St. Jean Eudes speaks of some doctors/fathers saying that she vowed (presumably conditionally*) virginity at the instant of her conception.

*She could only vow virginity absolutely after her marriage (else she'd've not been in a valid marriage). ]

Our B.V.M. is the most beautiful woman: part 1, §3 "Our Hope," §§ "Mary is the Hope of Sinners":

Example

In the fourth part of The Treasury of the Rosary we read a story about a gentleman who was greatly devoted to the Blessed Virgin. He built a special oratory in her honor in his home and he went there to pray frequently, not only during the day but even at night. His wife, a very devout woman, could not help noticing that frequently, in the dead of night, her husband rose from bed, left the room, and stayed away for a considerable time. She naturally became jealous and suspected that something was wrong. In order to settle the matter once and for all, she one day asked her husband if he loved another woman. “Yes,” he replied, “I happen to be in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. I’ve given my heart to her and I’d rather die than stop loving her. If you knew her, you would tell me to love her even more than I do.” Of course, he was referring to the Blessed Mother. But the poor wife, not knowing this, became more and more uneasy and kept questioning whether it was to visit this lady that he rose every night and left the room. Unaware how greatly disturbed his wife was, the man answered, “Yes.” Misled by this answer, she fell into a fit of despair. That evening, after he had left the room, she took a knife, cut her throat, and died.

The man finished his devotions and returned to the room and found the corpse of his wife. He realized immediately that she had killed herself in a fit of jealousy. He locked the door of the room, went back to the chapel, and fell on his knees before the statue of Mary. “Mother,” he said in the midst of his sobs, “see what I have done. You must help me. Think of it! Because I came to honor you, I find my wife dead and condemned to hell for all eternity. Mother, you can set matters straight! Please do so!”

No sooner had he finished this prayer than he heard one of the maids calling him. “Go to your room, sir,” the servant was saying; “your wife is calling for you.” The gentleman could hardly believe his ears. “Go back and see if she really wants me,” he said to the maid. When she returned with the same message, the man went up to the room, unlocked the door and found his wife alive. The poor woman was greatly disturbed and, in the midst of tears, begged her husband’s pardon. “Forgive me for my suspicions,” she said. “Because of your prayers to the Blessed Mother, she has rescued me from hell.” Weeping now for joy, both of them went back to the chapel to give thanks to Mary. The following day, the gentleman gave a banquet for all his relatives and at the banquet requested his wife to tell the whole story. She did so and even showed them the scar on her neck as proof. All who heard her were inflamed with love for the merciful Mother of God.23

Another story involving a wife (ibid. , part 1, §9 "O Clement! O Loving!," §§ "The Clemency and Compassion of Mary"), which shows how mercy is entrusted to Our Virgin Mother (it also shows how Our B.V.M. deals with crazy ladies):

Example

Father Carlo Bovio tells the story of a married man who lived in the province of Puy de Dôme in France. This man had had sinful associations with another woman while his wife was still living. The wife could not endure this and constantly begged God to punish him. One day she visited the Blessed Virgin’s altar in a certain church and prayed that justice be visited on the woman with whom her husband was in love. The other lady was also accustomed to visit that altar and say a Hail Mary every day.

One night, Mary appeared to the wife in a dream and the woman at once began her old refrain: “Justice, Mother of God, justice!” But the Madonna answered: “Justice? Do you ask me for justice? Go, look for someone else to give you justice; I will not grant what you ask. For that woman says a Hail Mary in my honor every day, and whenever anyone does this, regardless of who it is, I simply cannot allow that person to suffer and be punished for sin.”

On the following morning, the wife went to hear Mass in the same church of the Madonna. As she was leaving the church, she encountered her husband’s friend. She no sooner saw her than she began to insult the woman, saying that she was a witch, that by her witchcraft she had cast a spell even on the Blessed Virgin. “Be silent!” the people said. “What do you mean by such an accusation?” And she said, “Why should I be silent? What I say is true. Last night the Madonna appeared to me and when I asked her for justice, she replied that she could not obtain this for me because this woman said a prayer to her every day.” Then the people asked the other woman what prayer it was that she daily said to the Blessed Virgin, and she replied that it was the Hail Mary. When the woman learned that the Blessed Virgin was so merciful to her simply because of such a small devotion, she threw herself at the feet of the Madonna’s statue and, in the presence of all the people, begged pardon for the scandal she had caused and made a vow of perpetual chastity. This was not all. She donned the habit of a nun, prepared a small room for herself near the church, locked herself in it, and lived there in continuous penance until she died.

The Glories of Mary, widely regarded as Saint Alphonsus Liguori's finest masterpiece, has for two and a half centuries stood as one of the Catholic Church's greatest expressions of devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Written as a defense of Our Lady at a time when Jansenistic writers were ridiculing Marian devotion, this classic work combines numerous citations from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church with Saint Alphonsus' intense personal piety to produce a timeless treasury of teachings, prayers, and practices.