Catholic Virtues
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Gravity: A Virtue of Every Good Catholic
This commentary is based on an excerpt from the
Preparation for Total Consecration to Our Lady, Knowledge of Mary, Into to Part II.
Excerpt: “We must unite ourselves to Jesus through Mary - this is the characteristic of our devotion; therefore Saint Louis De Montfort asks that we employ ourselves in acquiring a knowledge of the Blessed Virgin. Mary as our Sovereign and our Mediatrix, our Mother and our Mistress. Let us then endeavor to know the effects of this royalty, of this mediation, and of this maternity, as well as the grandeurs and prerogatives which are the foundation or consequences thereof.” 
Our Lady, the model of seriousness
Gravity implies being serious, being a person who reflects the habit of contemplating elevated things, of one who is happy to think of elevated things and do things of great responsibility. This is what characterizes the man whose horizons are set upon these perspectives.
That is to say, the good Catholic, the true Catholic is not a man who is always joking and playing around; he is not an irresponsible person, a man who sees reality in a superficial way. The true son of Mary is grave, he is serious, and this is a point that can never be insisted upon sufficiently.
Gravity destroyed by Hollywood
Gravity is one of our principal obligations. I say "our" because as counter-revolutionaries we must take into account that if there is one thing that the Revolution wants to sweep from the face of the earth, it is gravity. Everyone likes to be photographed as happy, laughing, content, as if the normal state of man in this valley of tears were joy. The earth would not be a valley of tears if the normal position of man on earth were joy.
New models: Lucille Ball always joking in I Love Ludy; Bing Crosby’s & Danny Kaye’s foolish dancing in White Christmas
And that is when a certain new style appeared, a certain way of being cheerful, playful, superficial, laughing at everything and joking about everything, which is the opposite of the Catholic way of being and the opposite of what a son of Our Lady should be, because she is grave and serious.
You gentlemen have never seen, and I challenge you to find one – except of course in some progressivist statue – a statue or image that represents Our Lady laughing. For example, opening her mouth wide and giving a hearty laugh. It is unimaginable, inconceivable. And I do not dare to even imagine Our Lord in that same attitude.
Why? Because they are grave, they are serious, with their minds constantly turned toward high concepts and, elevated thoughts. It is this that gives men grandeur and makes nations great. What is a great nation? It is a nation that has many great men. And what constitutes greatness in a man? The great man likes to contemplate high things; if he likes to speak about trifles, he has no greatness.
To these perpetually merry jokers, the censure of God applies: "For your thoughts are not My thoughts, nor your ways My ways." (Is 55:8) That is to say, your way is not Heaven, but Hell!
'Your thoughts are not My thoughts'….
Few words of Our Lord have impressed me so much as these: "Your thoughts are not my thoughts, nor your ways my ways."
What does this mean? He is saying, "When you think about things, you do not think as I do; you do not think with depth, excellence, elevation, sublimity. You think in a vulgar and ordinary vile way, and usually about vile things! Thence comes the appropriate chastisement.”
Serious men of the past, clockwise top left: Louis Veuillot, Gabriel Garcia Moreno, Dom Vital, Dom Chautard
But this man left the table immediately; as soon as dinner was over he got up and went to the terrace outside the dining room. I saw this, but I remained at the table. I was also very hot and as soon as I could, I also got up and went out onto the terrace.
I saw him walking back and forth, but since he was much older than I, I did not dare approach him. I just walked back and forth on the terrace as well. Finally, he approached me and said: "Do you know why I am walking here?" I said: "No, sir."
He said: "Did you notice that during the dinner I took out my watch many times?" I said: "I noticed."
He said: "Every time I took out my watch I could see the obscene figure that is on it. It is an obsession I cannot control. So I am out here looking at my watch to see that obscene picture, which is always there."
II almost said to him: "It is because your thoughts are not His thoughts and your ways are not His ways. You should learn this now, for at your age the time is rapidly approaching when your will face Him!"
But I thought that this would be inappropriate. In the end, I learned he did receive the sacraments before he died. But I wanted to say this to him to point out the punishment that awaits one who has a lack of gravity.
Grace Kelly & the lack of seriousness
Grace Kelly, adopting the Hollywood laugh when she was an actress
She died in a car accident. But she seemed to lead, at least after she was married, an upright and pious life. So, among the great personages of the time, she made an almost edifying impression. But a recent issue of the magazine Point de Vue, if I am not mistaken, published some photographs of her, and among them was one of her on a beach at about age three. She is already laughing, with that Hollywood laugh, enchanted by the things of the beach and ready to enjoy life.
This is man as he should not be. This is woman as she should not be. You will see that Our Lord's description of the strong woman in the Gospel is absolutely not a woman like this: She is a serious woman who fulfills her duties even when they are difficult, she fulfills them willingly and well. She fulfills them excellently and she is content to do this, which is different from laughing all the time. But she is always ready in spirit to support the trials of life. That is how one should be.
And that is what one should learn on the pathway of Our Lady.
At left, Card. Geissel, Archbishop of Cologne (1864);
right, Card. Dolan, Archbishop of New York (2016)
Posted August 1 2025
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