The Glories of Mary

I just started reading The Glories of Mary, by St. Alphonsus de Liquori. It is an amazing book, and is considered St Alphonsus' masterpiece. He wrote it to defend Mary's sublime position in traditional Catholicism against certain writers of his time, who were preaching the errors of Jansenism, and ridiculing devotion to the Mother of God. This book is his answer to the critics of his time, and has promoted devotion to Mary ever since:

How great, then, should be our confidence in this queen, when we know on the one hand how powerful she is with God, and on the other how tremendously rich in mercy she is - so much so that there is not a person on earth who does not share in Mary's kindness. The Blessed Virgin herself revealed this to Saint Bridget. "I am the queen of the world and the Mother of Mercy. I am the joy of the just and the gate that opens up to sinners the way to God. There is no sinner on earth so abandoned that, while he lives, he will be deprived of my mercy. If he receives no other grace, he will receive at least the grace to be less frequently tempted by the devils than he would otherwise be."

"Nobody," adds Our Lady, "provided he has not been already definitely damned (and this refers to the final irrevocable sentence of damnation), is so cut off from God that he will not return to God and find mercy if he calls on me. Everybody calls me the Mother of Mercy, and indeed it is God's mercy that has made me merciful." She concludes with these words: "He will be very miserable who does not approach me, merciful as I am, when he can do so." There is no doubt then that that man will be miserable forever in the life to come who in this life can have recourse to Mary (who is so compassionate and so eager to help everyone), but who refuses to do so and thus damns himself.

Come, then, you and I - if we want to be saved, let us hasten to the feet of this sweetest of queens. If we are frightened and discouraged at the sight of our sins, we must realize that it was precisely for this that Mary was made the queen of mercy, to protect and save the greatest and most abandoned sinners who beg her for help. These sinners are to be her crown in heaven, according to the words of her divine spouse: "Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come; you shall be crowned...from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards" (Cant 4:8). What else are these dens of wild beasts and monsters but wretched sinners? Their souls have become dens of sin and they are the most hideous monsters that can be found. It is these same miserable sinners, comments the Abbot Rupert, the sinners you have saved, O Mary, who will crown you in heaven. Their salvation will be your crown, a worthy and becoming crown for a queen of mercy.

If you have been wanting a copy of this particular book, here is your chance to get it for free. I will send a copy to one of the people who respond to this request. Just leave a comment below, and then I will choose one person from those who reply, and have the book sent to the winner directly from the publisher.