The exercises of the Month of Mary have extended to the most humble villages, and there is scarcely a parish without its confraternity in honor of the Blessed Virgin.
Science, eloquence, poetry, music, sculpture, painting and architecture have rivalled one another in celebrating the glory of the Virgin Mother.
What may we deduce from this wonderful increase of devotion to the Immaculate Mary?
The impression naturally produced is that of confidence. A society which pays such homage to Mary, cannot perish. If, as St Bernard says, it is unheard of that any one has been forsaken who had recourse to her intercession, how were it possible that the fervent prayers of an entire people should fail to touch her heart? No, the future is not without hope; the mediation of Mary will save us.
The venerable Grignion of Montfort, in his Treatise on true devotion to the Blessed Virgin has written these lines: "It is by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ came into the world; it is also by her, that he is to reign in the world. If then, as is certain, the reign of Jesus Christ will come, so likewise is it certain that this reign will be a necessary consequence of the knowledge and reign of the Blessed Virgin. Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, produced that most stupendous of all creations, a Man-God, and she will produce by the power of this same Holy Spirit, the greatest prodigies in these latter times. It is through Mary the salvation of the world began, it is through Mary the salvation of the world is to be consummated. Mary will display still greater mercy, power and grace in these days. Mercy, to bring back poor sinners; power, against the enemies of God; grace, to sustain and animate the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, combating for His interests. Ah! when will arrive the day that establishes Mary mistress and sovereign of hearts, to subject them to the empire of Jesus?... Then will great and wonderful things be accomplished.... When will this joyful epoch come, this Age of Mary, in which souls absorbed in the abyss of the interior of Mary, will become living copies of the sublime, original, loving and glorifying Jesus Christ?"
Father de Montfort adds, in addressing our Saviour: Ut adveniat regnum tuum, adveniat regnum Mariæ! May the reign of Mary come that they reign, O Jesus, may come!
Is not this the Age of Mary? Was there ever in the Church, a period in which Mary was, if we may thus express it, so lavish of favors as in these, our days? Was there ever a period in which she has appeared so frequently and familiarly, in which she has given to the world, admonitions so grave and maternal; in which she has worked so many miracles; and poured out graces so abundantly? The reader of this volume will answer unhesitatingly, that no period of history offers anything comparable to what we have witnessed in our own days.
It is true, that the day of triumph announced by the venerated Montfort, appears far distant; one might say that the kingdom of God on earth is more compromised than ever. The wicked make unexampled efforts to demolish the social edifice; they are numerous, powerful, and possessed of incalculable resources. But for the Church, when all seems lost, then is her triumph at hand. God sometimes permits the malice of men to exceed all bounds, that His power may be the more manifest when the moment of their defeat arrives.
All the united efforts of the Church's enemies in the course of ages, all their errors, hatred and violence directed against her, the Spouse of Christ, are now concentrated in what is termed the Revolution—that is, anti-Christianity reduced to a system and propagated throughout the world, it is Satan usurping the place of Jesus Christ.