Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.
The Virgin With Angels.
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
Date: 1900.
Current location: Petit Palais, Paris, France.
Source: Art Renewal Center image.
Copied from the English Wikipedia to Commons.
This File: 8 July 2005.
User: Phrood.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The book was written at a time when some Jansenists (Jansenism was declared heretical by the Pope) were criticising Marian devotions, and was written in part as a defence of Marian devotion. The book combines numerous citations, in favour of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the Church Fathers and the Doctors of the Church, with Saint Alphonsus' own personal views on Marian veneration, and includes a number of Marian prayers and practices.
The Virgin at Prayer.
Artist: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609–1685).
Description: Giovanni Battista Salvi "Il Sassoferrato", Jungfrun i bön (1640-1650).
Date: Between 1640 and 1650.
Current location: National Gallery, London.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The second part of the book deals with the key Marian Feasts, such as the Immaculate Conception, Nativity, Purification, Annunciation, Assumption, etc. The third part focuses on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, explaining how her "prolonged martyrdom" was greater than that of all other martyrs. The fourth part discusses ten different Virtues of the Blessed Virgin, while the fifth part provides a collection of Marian prayers, meditations and devotions. An appendix is devoted to defending the role of Mary as Mediatrix of all Graces.
PLEASE NOTE: AN ARTICLE ON SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, WILL APPEAR ON ZEPHYRINUS, SHORTLY.
