May, month of Mary: meditation on day fourteen

VICTORY ON THE WORLD

14 DAY
Holy Mary.

Invocation. - Mary, Mother of mercy, pray for us!

VICTORY ON THE WORLD
In the act of receiving Holy Baptism, renunciations are made; the world, the flesh and the devil are renounced.
The first enemy of the soul is the world, that is, the set of maxims and doctrines contrary to the right reason and teachings of Jesus. The whole world is placed under the power of Satan and dominates the greed of wealth, pride of life and impurity.
Jesus Christ is the enemy of the world and in the last prayer he raised to the Divine Father before the Passion, he said: «I do not pray for the world! »(St. John, XVII, 9). Therefore we must not love the world, nor the things that are in the world.
Let us contemplate the conduct of the worldly! They do not care about the soul, but only about the body and temporal things. They do not think of spiritual goods, of the treasures of future life, but go in search of pleasures and are always restless in the heart, because they seek happiness and cannot find it. They are similar to feverish, thirsty, greedy for a drop of water and go from pleasure to pleasure.
Since the worldly are under the dominion of impure demons, they run there where they can caress the treacherous passions; cinemas, parties, hangouts, dances, beaches, strolls in immodest clothes ... all this constitutes the end of their life.
On the other hand, Jesus Christ gently invites him to follow him: «If anyone wants to come after me, deny himself, take up his cross and follow me! … What in fact is it beneficial to man if he gains the whole world and then loses his soul? »(San Matteo, XVI, 24 ...».
Our Lord promises Heaven, eternal happiness, but to those who make sacrifices, fighting against the attractions of the perverse world.
If the world is an enemy of Jesus, so is the enemy of Our Lady, and whoever cultivates devotion to the Virgin must hate the conduct of the worldly. You cannot serve two masters, that is, live the Christian life and follow the trend of the world. Unfortunately there are those who delude themselves; but don't mess with God!
It is not uncommon to find a person in the Church in the morning and then to see her in the evening, in a less than decent dress, in a ballroom, in the arms of worldly people. Souls are found, who communicate in honor of the Madonna and in the evening do not know how to renounce a show, where purity is so in danger.
There are those who recite the Holy Rosary and sing the praises of the Virgin and then in a conversation with the socialites she foolishly takes part in free speeches ... which make them blush. They would like to be devoted to Our Lady and at the same time follow the life of the world. Poor blind souls! They do not detach themselves from the world for fear of others' criticism and they are not afraid of divine judgments!
The world loves extras, vanities, shows; but whoever wishes to honor Mary must imitate her in retreat and humility; these are the Christian virtues very dear to Our Lady.
To be victorious over the world, it is necessary to despise his esteem and win human respect.

EXAMPLE

A soldier, by name Belsoggiorno, recited every day seven Pater and seven Ave Maria in honor of the seven rejoicing and seven sorrows of the Madonna. If during the day he lacked the time, he made this prayer before going to bed. Coming to forget her, if she remembered during the rest, she would get up and give the Virgin an act of respect. Of course the comrades mocked him. Belsoggiorno laughed at the critics and loved the pleasure of the Madonna more than his companions.
On one day of battle our soldier was in the front line, waiting for the signal of the attack. He remembered not saying the usual prayer; he then signed himself with the cross and, kneeling, recited it, while the soldiers who stood near him joked.
The battle started, which was bloody. What was not the wonder of Belsoggiorno when, after the fight, he saw those who had mocked him for prayer, lying corpses on the ground! Instead he had remained unharmed; during the rest of the war, Our Lady assisted him so that he would never suffer any injuries.

Foil. - Destroy the bad books, the dangerous magazines and the modest pictures that you had at home.

Giaculatoria.- Mater purissima, now pro nobis!