On the Necessity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Attaining Salvation...

Scripture

“He is cursed of God who angers His Mother”
-Ecclesiaticus 3:18

“If you would enter into Life, keep the Commandments . . . Honor thy father and thy mother.”
-Matthew 19:17, 19

”Behold thy Mother!”
-John 19:27

Fathers, Doctors, Bishops, Popes, and Saints of the Church

“All the Elect obtain eternal salvation through the means of Mary.”
-Saint Ildephonsus, Bishop, d. 667 AD

“With reason did the Most Holy Virgin predict that all generations would call her blessed, for all the Elect obtain eternal salvation through the means of Mary.
-Saint Ildephonsus, Bishop, d. 667 AD

“Without the Blessed Virgin, a person travels along the road to damnation.”
-Saint Ildephonsus, Bishop, d. 667 AD

“No one will ever be the servant of the Son without serving the Mother.”
-Saint Ildephonsus, Bishop, d. 667 AD

"Devotion to you, O Blessed Virgin, is a means of salvation which God gives to those whom he wishes to save."
-Saint John Damascene, Father and Doctor of the Church, 676-787 AD

”There is no one, O Most Holy Mary, who can know God except through thee; no one who can be saved or redeemed but through thee, O Mother of God; no one who can be delivered from dangers but through thee, O Virgin Mother; no one who obtains mercy but through thee, O Filled-With-All-Grace!”
-Saint Germanus of Constantinople, Patriarch of Constantinople, d. 733 AD

”For if we are bidden to honor carnal fathers and mothers, how much more the spiritual? . . . If this virtue of charity has been overlooked, a man will lose any fruit of salvation in any good he may do.”
-Pope Saint Gregory VII, 1020-1085 AD

”It is impossible to save one's soul without devotion to Mary and without her protection.”
-Saint Anselm, Archbishop and Doctor of the Church, 1033-1109 AD

”Not only do they offend thee, O Lady, who outrage thee, but thou art also offended by those who neglect to ask thy favors . . . He who neglects the service of the Blessed Virgin will die in his sins . . . He who does not invoke thee, O Lady, will never get to Heaven . . . Not only will those from whom Mary turns her countenance not be saved, but there will be no hope of their salvation . . . No one can be saved without the protection of Mary.
-Saint Bonaventure, Cardinal-Bishop and Doctor of the Church, 1221-1274 AD

”We may seek graces, but shall never find them without the intercession of Mary.”
-Saint Cajetan, Founder of the Theatines, 1480-1547 AD

”I have great doubts about the salvation of those who do not have special devotion to Mary.”
-Saint Francis Borgia, 1510-1572 AD

”It seems unbelievable that a man should perish in whose favor Christ said to His Mother: ‘Behold thy son’, provided that he has not turned a deaf ear to the words, which Christ addressed to him: ‘Behold thy Mother.’”
-Saint Robert Bellarmine, Cardinal-Bishop and Doctor of the Church, 1542-1621 AD

”A man is no true Christian if he has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ.”
-Saint John Eudes, 1601-1680 AD

"All true children of God have God for their father and Mary for his mother; anyone who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his father."
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

”Let not that man presumes to look for mercy from God who offends His Holy Mother!
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

“For God, having given her power over his only-begotten and natural Son, also gave her power over his adopted children - not only in what concerns their body - which would be of little account - but also in what concerns their soul.”
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

“We must conclude that, being necessary to God by a necessity which is called "hypothetical", (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end. Consequently we must not place devotion to her on the same level as devotion to the other saints as if it were merely something optional.”
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

“The pious and learned Jesuit, Suarez, Justus Lipsius, a devout and erudite theologian of Louvain, and many others have proved incontestably that devotion to our Blessed Lady is necessary to attain salvation. This they show from the teaching of the Fathers, notably St. Augustine, St. Ephrem, deacon of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Demascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure. Even according to Oecolampadius and other heretics, lack of esteem and love for the Virgin Mary is an infallible sign of God's disapproval. On the other hand, to be entirely and genuinely devoted to her is a sure sign of God's approval.”
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

“The Son of God became man for our salvation but only in Mary and through Mary.”
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

“If devotion to the Blessed Virgin is necessary for all men simply to work out their salvation, it is even more necessary for those who are called to a special perfection. I do not believe that anyone can acquire intimate union with our Lord and perfect fidelity to the Holy Spirit without a very close union with the most Blessed Virgin and an absolute dependence on her support.”
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

“From day to day, from moment to moment, she increased so much this twofold plenitude that she attained an immense and inconceivable degree of grace. So much so, that the Almighty made her the sole custodian of his treasures and the sole dispenser of his graces. She can now ennoble, exalt and enrich all she chooses. She can lead them along the narrow path to heaven and guide them through the narrow gate to life. She can give a royal throne, sceptre and crown to whom she wishes. Jesus is always and everywhere the fruit and Son of Mary and Mary is everywhere the genuine tree that bears that Fruit of life, the true Mother who bears that Son.”
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

“The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them.”
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, 1673-1716 AD

”Woe to those who despise devotion to Mary! . . . The soul cannot live without having recourse to Mary and recommending itself to her. He falls and is lost who does not have recourse to Mary.”
-Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori, Doctor of the Church and Founder of the Redemptorists, 1696-1787 AD

”The honor of Mary is so intimately connected with the honor and glory of Jesus that to deny the one is at the same time a denial of the other.”
-Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, 1761-1850 AD

”To desire grace without recourse to the Virgin Mother is to desire to fly without wings.”
-Pope Pius XII, 1876-1958 AD

”The conflict with Hell cannot be maintained by men, even the most clever. The Immaculata alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan.”
-Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Martyr, 1894-1941 AD

”Jesus honored her before all ages, and will honor her for all ages. No one comes to Him, nor even near Him, no one is saved or sanctified, if he too will not honor her. This is the lot of Angels and of men.”
-Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Martyr, 1894-1941 AD

"If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother."
-Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr, 1894-1941 AD

“Always stay close to this Heavenly Mother, because she is the sea to be crossed to reach the shores of Eternal Splendour.”
-Saint Padre Pio, 1887-1968 AD