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| Mother of Life by Nellie |
“God sure is clever,” my friend, Nellie Edwards and I often say to one
another. It is understood between us as
an understatement of God’s often subtle and surprising ways.
that Satan has been surprised a few times by God’s cleverness. The devil chose Hell rather than to humble
himself. How ironic that God saved us
through his own humility.
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| Adoration by Nellie |
have expected God, to become a baby, born in a manager, raised by a carpenter,
and put to death on a cross, to save the world; least of all Satan. The devil
preferred to leave Heaven for eternity in Hell rather than to humble himself
before his creator. And his first big
score against humanity—original sin—was made possible through the pride of Adam
and Eve eating the fruit so they would become like God. Humility would have protected them from their
foolishness.
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| Love Crucified by Nellie |
clever it is that through our humility and thus obedience to God, the devil is
defeated. St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, who was
often harassed by the devil, related a conversation with him. “I can do
everything you do, I can also do your penances, I can imitate you in
everything. There is one thing, however, that I cannot do, I cannot imitate you
in humility.”
defeat you,” St. Vianny responded.
the sacraments, are the most powerful tools against the devil. How fitting it is then, that the Blessed
Mother, the holiest and most humble mother of our Savior Jesus Christ, would
defeat Satan through her humility with the lowest part of her body—her heel.
beloved Blessed Mother, is found referenced in the first
book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis (3:15): “I will put enmities between thee and
the women, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt
lie in wait for her heel.”
Spirit Daily on the Heel
that will crush Satan. He pointed out that the Miraculous Medal revealed in 1830 to St. Catherine Labouré in France
shows the Blessed Mother stepping on the serpent. And in the apparitions of Our
Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico her very name in the native tongue means, “Who
crushes the serpent.”
Montfort on the humble power of Mary in his work True Devotion to Mary: “…Mary’s
power over the evil spirits will especially shine forth in the latter
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| Clothed with the Son |
times,
when Satan will lie in wait for her heel, that is, for her humble servants and
her poor children whom she will rouse to fight against him…They will be great
and exalted before God in holiness. They will be superior to all creatures by
their great zeal and so strongly will they be supported by divine assistance
that, in union with Mary, they will crush the head of Satan with their heel,
that is, their humility, and bring victory to Jesus Christ” (TD, No. 54).
the feet of Mary, our Heavenly Mother, ever humble, always pointing to God: “And Mary said, ‘Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word’” Luke 1:38.
‘Do whatever he tells you’” John 2:5.
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| Our Lady Undoer of Knots |
humility as a powerful weapon against evil and gave us His Mother Mary, the humblest
and most blessed of all, to defeat the devil in the lowliest way—with the heel
of her foot.
Mother does not face off in combat with the devil. She refers all to her Divine Son and the devil
is defeated under her feet. And so, we
stand at the feet of Mary, knowing it is a place of Divine protection, and oh,
so very clever of God.
Follow-up note: In the comment section, it has been brought up that when St. Jerome had translated the Old Testament in Hebrew to Latin he mistakenly changed the masculine pronoun “he” into “she” resulting in the error of Mary crushing the head of satan rather than Jesus being the one. Upon checking with my parish priest, Fr. Nick Schnieder, who has a doctorate in liturgy, he agreed that St. Jerome was in error using “she” instead of “he” in the translation, the Vulgate. However, he said that many others understood both Hebrew and Latin and did not correct it initially (although later versions did) because the theology is correct in that Mary plays a role in crushing the head of satan. And it is correct that it is the humility of both Mary and Jesus (and of course the power of God) that defeats Satan.
