On the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this sermon considers one of Our Lady’s greatest virtues: flawless perseverance until the end.
Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that continuing in a difficult task for a long time presents a special difficulty of its own. Unlike the angels, human beings experience instability, weakness, weariness, discouragement, and repeated falls. Yet Christian perseverance does not mean that we never stumble—it means that we continually turn back to God and rise again.
This sermon distinguishes between heroic perseverance, found most perfectly in the Blessed Virgin and the saints, and ordinary perseverance, by which struggling souls continue fighting despite weakness and failure.
“It doesn’t matter if we fall a thousand times, as long as we love the fight and do not love the fall.”
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we receive the grace to remain faithful, die in the state of grace, and persevere until our final hour.
Our Lady of Final Perseverance, pray for us.
0:00 Introduction
0:47 Opening Prayer
0:55 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1:00 “Blessed Are Those Who Keep My Ways”
1:09 Mary’s Flawless Perseverance
1:51 Why Perseverance Is Difficult
2:28 Persevering Until the End
2:48 The Stability of the Angels
3:34 Human Instability and the Weakness of the Flesh
4:26 Asking Mary for Final Perseverance
5:00 What Is Perseverance?
5:11 Two Types of Perseverance
5:17 Heroic Perseverance
5:41 Transforming Union and Fidelity to God
6:09 The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost
7:02 Ordinary Perseverance
7:43 Falls, Weariness and Discouragement
8:45 Continually Turning Back to God
9:37 Fall a Thousand Times—Rise Again
10:07 The Perseverance God Commands
10:35 Our Lady’s Abiding Love
11:12 Prayer for Perseverance Until Death
11:35 Sponsor Message
11:42 Download the Sensus Fidelium App
