I usually stay out of the SSPX topics, but I am wondering... Who is it who does not have recourse to the Blessed Virgin? Doesn't everyone on earth have a chance to repent and call upon her for mercy?
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Like everything else, there are two kinds of being in regards to having recourse to Our Lady. One can have recourse
in act, or recourse
in potency. .
Everyone has recourse in potency, that is, everyone has the possibility of seeking the aid of Our Lady. Nothing can take that away, so everyone has it.
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But in regards to those who actually USE this power, or those who in fact seek auxiliary graces Our Lady offers to everyone, these are the souls who have recourse
in act. Whenever you make a prayer to God through the Blessed Virgin Mary, you avail yourself of this power.
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There are unfortunate souls who by an act of their will, choose not to use this power at their disposal, and because of their own choice they do not have
recourse in act to the Blessed Virgin. They still have
recourse in potency because nothing can change that (nothing in this life, that is -- but it changes at death because no souls in hell can receive her graces anymore).
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Having recourse in potency can be compared to having a fire hose charged with water and the ability to turn it on to extinguish a fire, but by choosing not to turn it on, you allow the fire to continue its destruction unabated. Or imagine jumping out of an airplane in flight, at 20,000 feet elevation, wearing a parachute. You therefore have the potency (the potential ability) of protecting your life by properly using the parachute that's strapped on your back. But if you choose to
not pull the rip cord and instead fall to your death, you have not had
recourse in act to your parachute, but you did have
recourse in potency up until the point where pulling the rip cord would do no good, like at 300 feet off the ground.
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This
Militia Immaculatae uses a prayer that hopes to provide a special grace for those who have for whatever reason chosen not to avail themselves of their recourse to the Immaculate Mother of God.
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We have many examples in our age of such graces working in erstwhile unwilling souls. A prominent example is the conversion of Alfonse Ratisbonne, who was a prominent Jєω from an influential family. He had nothing but contempt for the Catholic Faith and made rude insults at anyone who showed devotion to Our Lady. But in a minute of time the Blessed Virgin converted him, without his consent, when all he had done was to agree to wear a Miraculous Medal provided to him by his friend. We have another prominent example at the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, 1917, when hundreds or perhaps thousands of unbelievers had come for the sole purpose of mocking everyone else and jeering at their ignorance or superstition. They had utterly no intention of being converted or to see or experience anything of a supernatural order. They only wanted to enjoy themselves at the expense of others. But they came away from that event changed people -- that is, at least for the time being. How many of them changed their ways and became faithful Catholics, only God knows.
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