A Good Book For Understanding Devotion To Our Lady?

[CorMaria]

I come across a lot of Catholic youth who don't understand devotion to Our Lady, I was thinking about giving them True Devotion... I'm not sure if it's a little full on for a first up book. Though he did write it for the simple.

What do you think?

[zunshynn]

The World's First Love by Archbishop Fulton Sheen is awesome...

I'm also a huge fan of the books by the Franciscans of the Immaculate. For teenagers, I'd especially recommend All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed, because it explains the scriptural foundation for devotion to Our Lady, and talks about how she is foreshadowed, and what the few but profound mentions of her in the New Testament can teach us. Beautiful book... the only drawback might be that it is a bit thick that some teenagers might not even want to give it a chance. But it's not overly hard to read. It's very fascinating.

I haven't read True Devotion myself, but I do know of people who did when they were teenagers (and really did not have a devotion to her before that) and loved it and were very much impacted by it.

[holly.o]

[i]Hail, Holy Queen[/i] by Scott Hahn is good & easy to understand.

& I haven't read them yet so I can't really comment on them, but I've heard good things about the three-volume set [i]Mary, Mother of the Son[/i] by Mark Shae.

But experiential knowledge--a real relationship with Mary--is always the best. At least for me, the heart goes before the head. Just to pray the Rosary in faith instills a greater devotion to Mary than I think any book could ever touch. You could encourage this (maybe just one decade at a time if they aren't used to it), or even to say a short prayer like "Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us." Mary's intercession will change them through this effort, & I think they'll want to seek out more information after that.

[mommas_boy]

[quote name='CorMaria' date='17 September 2009 - 11:58 PM' timestamp='1253246303' post='1968433']
I come across a lot of Catholic youth who don't understand devotion to Our Lady, I was thinking about giving them True Devotion... I'm not sure if it's a little full on for a first up book. Though he did write it for the simple.

What do you think?
[/quote]

I definitely recommend True Devotion. You can find several free copies online:

http://www.jesus-passion.com/TrueDevotion.htm

Also, this page has links to a very many books on de Montfort's devotion:

http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/True%20Devotion%20to%20Mary%20by%20St_%20Louis%20De%20Montfort.htm

[Selah]

Hail Holy Queen is a great one, and of course, True Devotion to Mary.

[Innocent]

Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary wrote an article about his experiences with the True Devotion:

[url="http://sites.google.com/site/legionofmarysenatusofontario/Home/frank-duff/frank-duffs-writings/frank-duff-reveals-his-thoughts-on-the-true-devotion-to-mary"]Frank Duff Reveals His Thoughts on the True Devotion to Mary[/url]

If you don't have time to read the article in its entirety here's a very short summary:

1. Frank Duff initially started with the True Devotion but couldn't understand it properly.
2. But then through repeated readings at the urging of a priest friend, he says that he received through Divine Grace the conviction that what was in the True Devotion was true.
3. Later he visited a monastery and, when there was asked if he wanted any book to read, and he asked for any good book on Marian Theology, and was given "The Knowledge of Mary" by Father Januarius de Concilio.
4. On reading this, his understanding of the True Devotion was perfected even more. Frank Duff says of this book:

[quote]It was the perfect introduction to the True Devotion. Nothing better from my point of view could be conceived. As I went on, it filled every gap and met every difficulty which had troubled me. The light that it afforded was so suitable to me that I could not but look on the book as rather a wondrous gift. As I have said, it was another emotional and intellectual experience for me.[/quote]

Note that this book, The Knowledge of Mary is available for free download from the Internet Archive:

[url="http://www.archive.org/details/theknowledgeofma00concuoft"]Internet Archive: The Knowledge of Mary[/url]

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='CorMaria' date='18 September 2009 - 12:58 PM' timestamp='1253246303' post='1968433']
I come across a lot of Catholic youth who don't understand devotion to Our Lady, I was thinking about giving them True Devotion... I'm not sure if it's a little full on for a first up book. Though he did write it for the simple.

What do you think?
[/quote]

In addition to the already mentioned books, I'd also recommend [u]Devotion to Our Lady[/u] by Fr. Stefano M. Manelli, FI -- published by the Academy of the Immaculate (Franciscans of the Immaculate). It's a little over 160 pages, but very easy to read and understand. Plus, I would think for a teenager, it might be a tad more "reader friendly" than de Montfort's [u]True Devotion[/u] -- the chapters are short and sweet, and Fr. Stefano gives several examples from the lives of the saints.

*Edited for spelling mistake.

Edited September 28, 2009 by laetitia crucis

[Hietanen]

St Louis de Montford - True Devotion to Mary.pdf


A must read, please, consecrate yourself to Mary! Search for the above book on google, first hit is the one!
Heres the link by the way, [url="http://www.hismercy.ca/content/ebooks/St.Louis%20de%20Montford-True.Devotion.to.Mary.pdf"]True devotion to Mary![/url]


Another good book is the Revelations of St. Bridget which can be read at this site, [url="http://www.prophecyfilm.com"]www.prophecyfilm.com[/url]

[sacredheartandbloodofjesus]

-Aim Higher = St. Maximillian Kolbe
-Hail Holy Queen = Scott Hahn
-True Devotion = St. Louis
-The Worlds First Love = Fulton J. Sheen