Vigils Reading

THE INSTRUCTIONS OF MARY

QUEEN OF THE ANGELS

Given to Venerable Mary of Agreda5

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Your astonishment at the singular favor conferred by me on my

servant…at his death, affords me an occasion to tell you of a privilege confirmed

to me by the Almighty at the time when I bore the soul…to heaven. Although I

have already on other occasions revealed to you something of this secret, you

shall now understand it more fully in order to increase your filial devotion

toward me. When I brought to heaven the happy soul…the eternal Father spoke

to me:

“My Daughter and Dove…let my courtiers, angels and saints

understand that, for the exaltation of my holy name, for your glory and for the

benefit of mortals, I now give you my royal word, that if men, in the hour of

their death invoke you and call upon you with affection…I will bend to them in

clemency and look upon them with eyes of fatherly mercy; I will defend and

guard them against the dangers of that last hour; I will ward off the cruel

enemies that seek the perdition of souls in that hour; I will furnish them

through you with great helps for resisting these enemies and gaining grace, if

they wish to avail themselves of this help; and you shall present to Me their

souls to be rewarded by my liberal hands.”

For this privilege the whole triumphant Church, and I with it, sang hymns of

thanks and praise to the Most High.

Since I see you desirous of knowing how you can obtain from me this

favor so precious to the soul, I answer your pious wish by exhorting you to take

care lest you make yourself unworthy by ingratitude and forgetfulness; and

before all, to gain for yourself that inviolate purity, which I expect of you… For

the great love which I owe and cherish toward God, obliges me, with sincerest

affection and charity to demand of all the observance of his holy law and the

preservation of their friendship and grace with God. This you must prefer before

your life and be willing to die rather than offend your God and highest Good.

I wish that you set about obeying me, act out my instructions, and work

with all your might to imitate what you see and write of me; that you permit no

intermission in your love, nor forget for one moment the heartfelt affection you

owe to the liberal mercy of your Lord; that you be thankful for all his blessings

and to me, since your obligations are far beyond the power of fulfillment by you

in this mortal life. Be faithful in your correspondence, fervent in your devotion,

ready to do what is most holy and perfect. Let your heart expand and do not

narrow it…following the instigations of the devil. Extend your hand to strong

and powerful deeds, filled with confidence in the Lord; be not oppressed by

adversities, thus impeding the will of the Lord in you, and the high ends of his

glory. Retain vivid faith and hope, even in the greatest assaults and temptations.

In all this let…the certain knowledge of possessing through me the happy

security of those who live under the protection of the Most High… Raise up your

heart…and withdraw it from these deceits; aspire to that which is most pure and

holy, since with you shall be the arm of the Almighty, who wrought such great

wonders in Me.