One day, Saint Alphonsus Rodríguez, a very good and holy Jesuit lay brother, was praying before an image of Mary.
He was already elderly and spent long hours at the feet of his good Mother in Heaven. Sometimes he would weep like a child; at other times, he would smile like an angel. If he suffered, he would immediately go to tell Our Lady. If he experienced joy, he would run to share it with the Mother of Heaven. If he was tempted by demons, he would hasten to the feet of the Immaculate and beg her not to abandon him, neither in life nor in death.
On that day, he was telling Our Lady that he loved her with all his heart. And it seemed to the holy old man that the Blessed Virgin smiled at him kindly. Then he heard, or thought he heard, deep within his soul, a voice saying:
— Alphonsus, how much do you love me?
And the good old man replied:
— Look, my good Mother in Heaven: I love you so, so much that it is impossible for you to love me as much as I love you.
Hearing this, Our Lady raised her loving hand, gave him a gentle slap, and said:
— Be silent, Alphonsus, be silent!... What are you saying? I love you immeasurably more than you can love me.
That is why we must love Mary: she loves us so much that we can never fully understand the greatness of her love.
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