SECTION 2: Contemplate the Our Father as we take St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Mother Teresa as our guides.
Action:
1.
Resolve to pray a complete set of mysteries of the Rosary every day –
as an act of love to God and in fulfillment of Mary’s requests to us.
So, therefore, PRAY the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary today and every
day – see day 8 for instructions/ guidance on how to fit this into your day.
2.
Skim through the accompanying pictures and the extraordinary wisdom of
St. Louis and St. Maximilian Kolbe, and read through as much (below) as
possible.
3. Continue to choose to enter more deeply into the daily prayer program (below) at least in this way:
Ponder
and pray the Our Father today and the accompanying Scripture texts as
you meditate and PRAY THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES – while praying for the
grace to listen, to hear and respond to God as Mary does.
Let us now also strive to pray also ALL THE LUMINOUS MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY as well, as we pray
for the grace to surrender whatever is keeping us from responding fully
– in and through and with Mary’s love and help.
the light of our meditations on the Rosary and the wisdom of the saints below, let us begin,
then, by praying the Our Father, with all of these mysteries in mind – while entering into the depth of this most perfect prayer that Jesus taught us:
Father, Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy Will be done,
on earth as it is in Heaven.
us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
LIVING THE EUCHARIST IN AND WITH MARY
Today we seek to incorporate the entire life of Christ into our lives and families … through the Rosary and Holy Mass, who is alive, now, in our time especially in the Eucharist and in Mary, who are our pillars of safety…
(watch to hear St. John Bosco’s vision that speaks of this)
and also to hear St. Mother Teresa’s letter to each of us… may her words help us enter into Jesus’ Thirst for us!
O, how He thirsts for our love!
This letter is one of the most profound letters ever written. It is well worth your time to listen (starts a few minutes into the video).
Life of Christ in our lives/ world
contemplate entire life of Christ –
were made
truly existed in history
eternally
through Mary incarnationally
the new era – in time – in the Church’s life
Eucharist
anchors in storm
so we can love our families
Daily Prayer Program for these 33 Days:
is important to make a commitment to strive to pray more deeply, more
intensely and with more of your heart during these days of preparation.
Here are some guidelines and suggestions for how to live these days.
Pray about how you can grow in each of these areas listed below and
while living out this prayer program it is especially important to
• To Jelena: “I’m going to reveal a spiritual secret to you:
if you want to be stronger than evil, make yourself a plan of personal
prayer. Take a certain time in the morning, read a text from Holy
Scripture, anchor the Divine word in your heart, and strive to live it
during the day, particularly during the moment of trials. In this way,
you will be stronger than evil.” (Our Lady of Medjugorje, April 19,
1984)
• St. Louis de Montfort – Mary will form the greatest saints
who ever lived – easiest shortest most sure way to sanctity
PART 2: “Everywhere Is Love!”: Day 8 in the Preparation for Total Consecration According to St. Maximilian Kolbe
On Day 8, this
last day of preparation for our consecration, let us contemplate
further St. Maximilian’s insight and wisdom regarding the Immaculata –
who guided him at each moment of his life – up until he obtained the
crown of martyrdom he had chosen as a young boy.
“Just a few hours
before his second and final arrest, St. Maximilian Kolbe on
February 17, 1941, wrote down his last reflections on the Immaculate Conception. The question,
“Who are you, O Immaculate Conception?” occupied his priestly mind and heart forming him to be a living
witness of the power of the Immaculate and to die as a living offering of love.
“IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. These
words fell from the lips of the Immaculata herself. Hence, they
must tell us in the most precise and essential manner who she
really is.
Since human words are incapable of expressing divine realities,
it follows that these words: “Immaculate,” and “Conception” must
be understood in a much more profound, much more beautiful and
sublime meaning than usual: a meaning beyond that which human
reason at its most penetrating, commonly gives to them.
St. Paul wrote, quoting the Prophet Isaiah: “Things that the eye
has not seen, that the ear has not heard, that the heart of man
has not imagined” (Is. 64,4), such are the good things that God
has prepared for those who love him (I Cor. 2,9). Here, these
words apply fully.
However, we can and should reverently inquire into the mystery
of the Immaculata and try to express it with words provided by
our intelligence using its own proper powers.
Who then are you, O Immaculate conception?
Not God, of course, because he has no beginning. Not an angel,
created directly out of nothing. Not Adam, formed out of the
dust of the earth (Gen. 2,7). Not Eve, molded from Adam’s rib
(Gen. 2,21). Not the Incarnate Word, who exists before all ages,
and of whom we should use the word “conceived” rather than
“conception”. Humans do not exist before their conception, so we
might call them created “conceptions.” But you, O Mary, are
different from all other children of Eve. They are conceptions
stained by original sin; whereas you are the unique, Immaculate
Conception.
Everything which exists, outside of God himself, since it is
from God and depends on him in every way, bears within itself
some semblance to its Creator; there is nothing in any creature
which does not betray this resemblance, because every created
thing is an effect of the Primal cause.
It is true that the words we use to speak of created realities
express the divine perfections only in a halting, limited and
analogical manner. They are only a more or less distant echo- as
are the created realities that they signify- of the properties
of God himself.
Would not “conception” be an exception to this rule? No; there
is never any such exception.
The Father begets the Son; the Spirit proceeds from Father and
Son. These few words sum up the mystery of life of the Most
Blessed Trinity and of all the perfections in creatures which
are nothing else but echoes, a hymn of praise, a many-hued
tableau, of this primary and most wondrous of all mysteries.
We must perforce use our customary vocabulary, since it is all
we have; but we must never forget that our vocabulary is very
inadequate.
Who is the Father? What is his personal life like? It consists
in begetting, eternally; because he begets his Son from the
beginning, and forever.
Who is the son? He is the Begotten-One because from the
beginning and for all eternity he is begotten by the Father.
And who is the Holy Spirit? The flowering of the love of the
Father and the Son. If the fruit of created love is a created
conception, then the fruit of divine Love, that prototype of all
created love, is necessarily a divine “conception.” The Holy
Spirit is, therefore, the “uncreated, eternal conception,” the
prototype of all the conceptions that multiply life throughout
the whole universe.
The Father begets; the Son is begotten; the Spirit is the
“conception” that springs from their love; there we have the
intimate life of the three Persons by which they can be
distinguished one from another. But they are united in the
oneness of their Nature, of their divine existence.
The spirit is, then this thrice holy “conception,” this
infinitely holy, Immaculate Conception.
Everywhere in this world we notice action, and the reaction
which is equal but contrary to it; departure and return; going
away and coming back; separation and reunion. The separation
always looks foreword to union, which is creative. All this is
simply an image of the Blessed Trinity in the activity of
creatures. Union means love, creative love. Divine activity,
outside the Trinity itself, follows the same pattern. First, God
creates the universe; that is something like a separation.
Creatures, by following the natural law implanted in them by
God, reach their perfection, become like him, and go back to
him. Intelligent creatures love him in the conscious manner;
through this love they unite themselves more and more closely
with him, and so find their way back to him. The creature most
completely filled with this love, filled with God himself, was
the Immaculata, who never contracted the slightest stain of sin,
who never departed in the least from God’s will. United to the
Holy Spirit as his spouse, she is one with God in an
incomparably more perfect way than can be predicated of any
other creature.
What sort of union is this? It is above all an interior union, a
union of her essence with the “essence” of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit dwells in her, lives in her. This was true from the
first instant of her existence. It was always true; it will
always be true.
In what does this life of the Spirit in Mary consist? He himself
is uncreated Love in her; the Love of the Father and of the Son,
the Love by which God loves himself, the very love of the Most
Holy Trinity. He is a fruitful Love, a “Conception.” Among
creatures made in God’s image the union brought about by married
love is the most intimate of all (cf. Mt. 19,6). In a much more
precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy Spirit
lives in the soul of the Immaculata, in the depths of her very
being. He makes her fruitful, from the very first instant of her
existence, all during her life, and for all eternity.
This eternal “Immaculate Conception” (which is the Holy Spirit)
produces in an immaculate manner divine life itself in the womb
(or depths) of Mary’s soul, making her the Immaculate
Conception, the human Immaculate Conception. And the virginal
womb of Mary’s body is kept sacred for him; there he conceives
in time- because everything that is material occurs in time- the
human life of the man-God.
And so the return to God (which is love), that is to say the
equal and contrary reaction, follows a different path from that
found in creation. The path of creation goes from the Father
through the Son by the Holy Spirit; this return trail goes from
the Spirit through the Son back to the Father; in other words,
by the Spirit the Son becomes incarnate in the Womb of the
Immaculata; and through this Son love returns to the Father.
And she (the Immaculata), grafted into the Love of the Blessed
Trinity, becomes from the first moment of her existence and
forever thereafter the “complement of the Blessed Trinity”.
In the Holy Spirit’s union with Mary we observe more than the
love of two beings; in one there is all the love of the Blessed
Trinity; in the other, all of creation’s love. So it is that in
this union heaven and earth are joined; all of heaven with all
the earth, the totality of eternal love with the totality of
created love. It is truly the summit of love.
At Lourdes, the Immaculata did not say of herself that she had
been conceived immaculately, but, as St. Bernadette repeated,
“Que soy era immaculada councepciou”: “I am the Immaculate
Conception.”
If among human beings the wife takes the name of her husband
because she belongs to him, is one with him, becomes equal to
him and is, with him, the source of new life, with how much
greater reason should the name of the Holy Spirit, who is the
divine Immaculate Conception, be used as the name of her in whom
he lives as uncreated Love, the principle of life in the whole
supernatural order of grace?”
(Sketch: Feb. 17, 1941″)https://www.piercedhearts.org/hearts_jesus_mary/heart_mary/max_kolbe_immaculate_conception.htm
O,
how great are the depths of these mysteries and how we must give
ourselves time to ponder them – for the above wisdom is the fruit of St.
Maximilian’s lifelong contemplation of Mary within the plan of the Holy
Trinity.
To
help us, let’s read further of the exuberant joy that comes from
contemplating the greatness of God’s love and His plan of salvation:
With Mary on a Mission
“Everywhere Is Love!”
“Scrutinizing with ecstatic admiration the divine plan of salvation, whose origin is the Father who freely willed to communicate to creatures the divine life of Jesus Christ revealed wondrously in Mary Immaculate, Father Kolbe, fascinated and enraptured, exclaims: ‘Everywhere is love’ (KW1291).
The gratuitous love of God is the answer to all doubts.‘God is love,’ says St. John (1Jn 4:8)”. These words, pronounced by Pope St. John Paul II during his homily of December 8,1982, at Santa Maria Maggiore, two months after the canonization of Father Kolbe, hold the key to understanding mission in the perspective embraced and lived by St. Maximilian.
Mission, in fact, it is all about love: the “excessive” love of God the Father who dreams of the happiness of every creature and gives His Son for us (cf.Jn 3:16). It is about the “excessive” love of Christ, who became man for us in Mary’s womb, let His Heart be pierced on the Cross to quench our dry and hard hearts with the living Water of His Spirit, with His Body broken and his Blood poured forth for us (Jn 19:17–37). It is about the humble love of the young woman of Nazareth, who offered her womb and heart to God in the abandonment of faith, so that in time and in history He could realize this plan of salvation and love (cf.Lk 1:26 –38).
With the depth of the mystics and saints, Maximilian, follower of St. Francis, understood that the infinite love of the Triune God for humanity was fully revealed through Jesus Christ. In the mystery of the Incarnation and the Cross, God humbled Himself, became poverty, weakness, flesh. The Lord Jesus stripped / emptied Himself of everything and surrendered to our hands (cf. Phil 2:6–7):
He is totally–given Love…
St. Maximilian, however, did not forget that the mystery of this “emptying” took place in the womb of Mary, as St. Paul reminds us: “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law”(Gal 4:4). For a special gift of grace, we could say for a unique “charism,” Maximilian was allowed to grasp and accept with great clarity the mystery and mission of Mary in God’s plan.
For Maximilian, Mary is not only the creature whom God chose as His Mother to enter into the world: she is the Immaculata, the new Woman, the redeemed humanity dreamed of by God. She is, even today, the Mother of God who became man, called to continue to work with the Holy Spirit in generating the Son in the hearts of men. (emphasis mine)
“… And the Word was made flesh (Jn 1:14) as the result of the love of God and the Immaculata. So He became the firstborn, the Man–God, and souls are not reborn in Christ by any other way, other than through the love of God toward the Immaculata and in the Immaculata.” (KW1296)
http://missionimmaculata.com/images/Documents/preparation_for_consecration/Preparation_for_MI_Consecration_Part_6.pdf
life, all existence, all grace is the excessive unbounding love of God,
which the Immaculata alone receives and incarnates perfectly – not only in and for herself – but in all those who unite themselves perfectly – (fully) to her!
“… It is true that we love the Father in the Son, in Jesus Christ,
and to Him we must give all our love, in order that in Him and
through Him all our love might be received by the Father. But it is not
any less true that our acts, be they even as holy as possible, are not
without blemish, and if we want to offer them to Our Lord pure and
immaculate, we must direct them straight to Her who alone is Immaculate,
and give them to Her as Her property, so that as Her own property She
might give them to Her Son. Then they will become without blemish,
immaculate. Having then received an infinite value through the Divinity
of Jesus they will worthily honor God.” https://saintmaximiliankolbe.com/the-essence-of-marian-devotion/
Lastly,
here is one last quote which, again, in practical terms expresses what
complete abandonment to the will of God through Mary looks like in our
lives:
From the Writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe (KW 46 and 56)
Let us work with prudence, patience, and humility, but with perseverance, purifying continuously our intentions, to fulfill only the will of God through the Immaculata, helping each other by prayer, advice and action.
Let us be led, let us be quiet, quiet, let us not claim to do more than she wants, or faster [than she wants it]. Let her carry us; she will take care of everything, she will provide for all our needs of the soul and the body; let us give to her any difficulty, displeasure, let us trust that she will take care of them better than we could. Therefore peace, peace, a lot of peace in unlimited confidence in her. We did not make the MI; we do not know nor can carry it forward. If the MI belongs to our Heavenly Mother, the obstacles will make it stronger, and if not, let it fall; why should we meddle? If even our Heavenly Mother would not want the MI to last, but be content with what it has done so far, she is Our Lady; may she do whatever she likes. Let us take care of things, but let us not worry about them. We need that the external and internal tribulations, the failures, the listlessness, the fatigue, the jeers, the misfortunes, and other crosses purify and strengthen us. It takes a lot of patience even with ourselves and even with the good God, who tries us out of love.”
This abandonment of everything into the hands of Mary is another way of expressing our abandonment of everything to God and His Holy Will;
for it is His Will that we give ourselves completely to Mary so she and the Holy Spirit can form us into other Christs…
When and if we do so,
we come to trust ever more fully that all is love, which is another way of saying with all trust that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28)
When we understand this, we can be filled with true joy and peace
even when all our plans fail,
even when we are ridiculed, rejected, tested and tried…
even when we are called to give up our life –
in a thousand tiny ways throughout each day or ultimately in martyrdom –
for we truly understand that it is in dying we are born to eternal life!
It
was this abandonment to God, through Mary the Immaculata, which enabled
Maximilian to be filled with the grace and peace and love of God in the midst of a “struggle
[that] is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the
powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil
spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6:12).
It can do the same for us.
If we also give all we are to Mary (for the love of God), their love will form us, too, into living
offerings of love and witnesses of the power of the Immaculata.
St.
Maximilian, be with us and help us to live this total consecration
through prayer, mortification and Charity in the midst of this great
battle for our souls and the
souls of all God’s children.
Intercede for us to become great saints in and through the Immaculata, our advocate – as we
attend Mass, pray the mysteries of the rosary and wear the miraculous
medal – not only in preparation for our Total Consecration, but from now
on daily (to the extent that it’s possible), praying:
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you,
and for all those who do not have recourse to you, especially the
enemies of Holy Church and all those recommended to you.
Day 16 Readings and Prayers for St. Louis de Montfort’s 33 Day of Consecration to Jesus through Mary – An Online Guide
PART 3: Readings and Prayers for St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary
THEME FOR THE WEEK: KNOWLEDGE OF SELF
Prayers,
examinations, reflection, acts of renouncement of our own will, of
contrition for our sins, of contempt of self, all performed at the feet
of Mary, for it is from her that we hope for light to know ourselves. It
is near her, that we shall be able to measure the abyss of our miseries
without despairing.
We
should employ all our pious actions in asking for a knowledge of
ourselves and contrition of our sins: and we should do this in a spirit
of piety. During this period, we shall consider not so much the
opposition that exists between the spirit of Jesus and ours, as the
miserable and humiliating state to which our sins have reduced us.
Moreover, the True Devotion being an easy, short, sure and perfect way
to arrive at that union with Our Lord which is Christlike perfection, we
shall enter seriously upon this way, strongly convinced of our misery
and helplessness. But how attain this without a knowledge of ourselves’?
Day 16 of 33:
Meditation From True Devotion To the Blessed Virgin Mary, No. 228
Preparatory Exercises
themselves and sorrow for their sins. Let them perform all their actions in a spirit of humility. With this end in view
they may, if they wish, meditate on what I have said concerning our corrupted nature, and consider themselves
during six days of the week as nothing but sails, slugs, toads, swine, snakes and goats. Or else they may
meditate on the following three considerations of St. Bernard: “Remember what you were -corrupted seed; what
you are – a body destined for decay; what you will be -food for worms.” They will ask our Lord and the Holy Spirit
to enlighten them saying, “Lord, that I may see,” or “Lord, let me know myself,” or the “Come, Holy Spirit”. Every
day they should say the Litany of the Holy Spirit, with the prayer that follows, as indicated in the first part of this
work. They will turn to our Blessed Lady and beg her to obtain for them that great grace which is the foundation of
all others, the grace of self-knowledge. For this intention they will say each day the Ave Maris Stella and the
Litany of the Blessed Virgin.
Imitation of Christ, by Thomas á Kempis: Book 2, Chapter 5
Of Self-consideration
We cannot trust over much to ourselves (Jer. 17:5), because grace oftentimes is wanting to us, and
understanding also. Little light is there in us, and this we quickly lose by our negligence. Oftentimes too we
perceive not our inward blindness how great it is. Oftentimes we do evil, and excuse it worse (Psalm 141:4). We
are sometimes moved with passion, and we think it zeal. We reprehend small things in others, and pass over our
own greater matters (Matt. 7:5). Quickly enough we feel and weigh what we suffer at the hands of others; but we
mind not how much others suffer from us. He that well and rightly considereth his own works, will find little cause
to judge hardly of another.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Father all powerful, have mercy on us
Jesus, Eternal Son of the Father, Redeemer of the world, save us.
Spirit of the Father and the Son, boundless life of both, sanctify us.
Holy Trinity, hear us
Holy Ghost, Who proceedest from the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Holy Ghost, Who art equal to the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Promise of God the Father, have mercy on us.
Ray of heavenly light, have mercy on us
Author of all good, have mercy on us
Source of heavenly water, have mercy on us
Consuming fire, have mercy on us
Ardent charity, have mercy on us
Spiritual unction, have mercy on us
Spirit of love and truth, have mercy on us
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, have mercy on us
Spirit of counsel and fortitude, have mercy on us
Spirit of knowledge and piety, have mercy on us
Spirit of the fear of the Lord, have mercy on us
Spirit of grace and prayer, have mercy on us
Spirit of peace and meekness, have mercy on us
Spirit of modesty and innocence, have mercy on us
Holy Ghost, the Comforter, have mercy on us
Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier, have mercy on us
Holy Ghost, Who governest the Church, have mercy on us
Gift of God, the Most High, have mercy on us
Spirit Who fillest the universe, have mercy on us
Spirit of the adoption of the children of God, have mercy on us
Holy Ghost, inspire us with horror of sin.
Holy Ghost, come and renew the face of the earth.
Holy Ghost, shed Thy light in our souls.
Holy Ghost, engrave Thy law in our hearts
Holy Ghost, inflame us with the flame of Thy love.
Holy Ghost, open to us the treasures of Thy graces
Holy Ghost, teach us to pray well.
Holy Ghost, enlighten us with Thy heavenly inspirations.
Holy Ghost, lead us in the way of salvation
Holy Ghost, grant us the only necessary knowledge.
Holy Ghost, inspire in us the practice of good.
Holy Ghost, grant us the merits of all virtues.
Holy Ghost, make us persevere in justice.
Holy Ghost, be Thou our everlasting reward.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Send us Thy Holy Ghost.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, pour down into our
souls the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, grant us the Spirit of
wisdom and piety.
V. Come, Holy Ghost! Fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
R. And enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
Let Us Pray
Grant, O merciful Father, that Thy Divine Spirit may enlighten, inflame and
purify us, that He may penetrate us with His heavenly dew and make us
fruitful in good works, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who with
Thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, liveth and reigneth forever and
ever. R. Amen.
God’s own Mother blest,
Ever sinless Virgin,
Gate of heavenly rest.
Which from Gabriel came,
Peace confirm within us,
Changing Eva’s name.
Light on blindness pour,
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.
May the Word Divine,
Born for us thy Infant,
Hear our prayers through thine.
Mildest of the mild,
Freed from guilt, preserve us,
Pure and undefiled.
Keep our life all spotless,
Make our way secure,
Till we find in Jesus
Joy forevermore.
Through the highest heaven
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son and Spirit,
One same glory be. Amen.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary,
pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,
pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins,
pray for us.
Mother of Christ,
pray for us.
Mother of divine grace,
pray for us.
Mother most pure,
pray for us.
Mother most chaste,
pray for us.
Mother inviolate,
pray for us.
Mother undefiled,
pray for us.
Mother most amiable,
pray for us.
Mother most admirable,
pray for us.
Mother of good counsel,
pray for us.
Mother of our Creator,
pray for us.
Mother of our Savior,
pray for us.
Virgin most prudent,
pray for us.
Virgin most venerable,
pray for us.
Virgin most renowned,
pray for us.
Virgin most powerful,
pray for us.
Virgin most merciful,
pray for us.
Virgin most faithful,
pray for us.
Mirror of justice,
pray for us.
Seat of wisdom,
pray for us.
Cause of our joy,
pray for us.
Spiritual vessel,
pray for us.
Vessel of honor,
pray for us.
Singular vessel of devotion,
pray for us.
Mystical rose,
pray for us.
Tower of David,
pray for us.
Tower of ivory,
pray for us.
House of gold,
pray for us.
Ark of the Covenant,
pray for us.
Gate of Heaven,
pray for us.
Morning star,
pray for us.
Health of the sick,
pray for us.
Refuge of sinners,
pray for us.
Comforter of the afflicted,
pray for us.
Help of Christians,
pray for us.
Queen of angels,
pray for us.
Queen of patriarchs,
pray for us.
Queen of prophets,
pray for us.
Queen of apostles,
pray for us.
Queen of martyrs,
pray for us.
Queen of confessors,
pray for us.
Queen of virgins,
pray for us.
Queen of all saints,
pray for us.
Queen conceived without Original Sin,
pray for us.
Queen assumed into Heaven,
pray for us.
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
pray for us.
Queen of peace,
pray for us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord God, that we Thy Servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, be delivered from present sorrow and enjoy eternal happiness. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Read:
St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary paragraphs 126-134.
126. I have said that this devotion could rightly be called a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of
holy baptism. Before baptism every Christian was a slave of the devil because he belonged to him. At
baptism he has either personally or through his sponsors solemnly renounced Satan, his seductions and his
works. He has chosen Jesus as his Master and sovereign Lord and undertaken to depend upon him as a slave
of love. This is what is done in the devotion I am presenting to you. We renounce the devil, the world, sin
and self, as expressed in the act of consecration, and we give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary. We
even do something more than at baptism, when ordinarily our god-parents speak for us and we are given to
Jesus only by proxy. In this devotion we give ourselves personally and freely and we are fully aware of what
we are doing.
In holy baptism we do not give ourselves to Jesus explicitly through Mary, nor do we give him the
value of our good actions. After baptism we remain entirely free either to apply that value to anyone we
wish or keep it for ourselves. But by this consecration we give ourselves explicitly to Jesus through Mary’s
hands and we include in our consecration the value of all our actions.
127. “Men,” says St. Thomas, “vow in baptism to renounce the devil and all his seductions.” “This vow,”
says St. Augustine, “is the greatest and the most indispensable of all vows.” Canon Law experts say the
same thing: “The vow we make at baptism is the most important of all vows.” But does anyone keep this
great vow? Does anyone fulfil the promises of baptism faithfully? Is it not true that nearly all Christians
prove unfaithful to the promises made to Jesus in baptism? Where does this universal failure come from, if
not from man’s habitual forgetfulness of the promises and responsibilities of baptism and from the fact that
scarcely anyone makes a personal ratification of the contract made with God through his sponsors?
128. This is so true that the Council of Sens, convened by order of the Emperor Louis the Debonair to
remedy the grave disorders of Christendom, came to the conclusion that the main cause of this moral
breakdown was man’s forgetfulness of his baptismal obligations and his disregard for them. It could suggest
no better way of remedying this great evil than to encourage all Christians to renew the promises and vows
of baptism.
129. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, faithful interpreter of that holy Council, exhorts priests to
do the same and to encourage the faithful to remember and hold fast to the belief that they are bound and
consecrated as slaves to Jesus, their Redeemer and Lord. “The parish priest shall exhort the faithful never to
lose sight of the fact that they are bound in conscience to dedicate and consecrate themselves for ever to
their Lord and Redeemer as his slaves.”
130. Now the Councils, the Fathers of the Church and experience itself, all indicate that the best remedy
for the frequent lapses of Christians is to remind them of the responsibilities of their baptism and have them renew the vows they made at that time. Is it not reasonable therefore to do this in our day and in a perfect
manner by adopting this devotion with its consecration to our Lord through his Blessed Mother? I say “in a
perfect manner”, for in making this consecration to Jesus they are adopting the perfect means of giving
themselves to him, which is the most Blessed Virgin Mary.
Fathers of the Church, and many authors both past and present, speak of consecration to our Lord or
renewal of baptismal vows as something going back to ancient times and recommended to all the faithful.
Nor is it valueless, since the chief source of moral disorders and the consequent eternal loss of Christians
spring from the forgetfulness of this practice and indifference to it.
132. Some may object that this devotion makes us powerless to help the souls of our relatives, friends
and benefactors, since it requires us to give our Lord, through Mary, the value of our good works, prayers,
penances, and alms-giving.
To them I reply:
(1) It is inconceivable that our friends, relatives and benefactors should suffer any loss because we
have dedicated and consecrated ourselves unconditionally to the service of Jesus and Mary; it would be an
affront to the power and goodness of Jesus and Mary who will surely come to the aid of our relatives,
friends and benefactors whether from our meagre spiritual assets or from other sources.
(2) This devotion does not prevent us from praying for others, both the living and the dead, even
though the application of our good works depends on the will of our Blessed Lady. On the contrary, it will
make us pray with even greater confidence. Imagine a rich man, who, wanting to show his esteem for a great
prince, gives his entire fortune to him. Would not that man have greater confidence in asking the prince to
help one of his friends who needed assistance? Indeed the prince would only be too happy to have such an
opportunity of proving his gratitude to one who had sacrificed all that he possessed to enrich him, thereby
impoverishing himself to do him honour. The same must be said of our Lord and our Lady. They will never
allow themselves to be outdone in gratitude.
133. Some may say, perhaps, if I give our Lady the full value of my actions to apply it to whom she
wills, I may have to suffer a long time in purgatory. This objection, which arises from self-love and from an
unawareness of the generosity of God and his holy Mother, refutes itself.
Take a fervent and generous soul who values God’s interests more than his own. He gives God all
he has without reserve till he can give no more. He desires only that the glory and the kingdom of Jesus may
come through his Mother, and he does all he can to bring this about. Will this generous and unselfish soul, I
ask, be punished more in the next world for having been more generous and unselfish than other people?
Far from it! For we shall see later that our Lord and his Mother will prove most generous to such a soul with
gifts of nature, grace and glory in this life and in the next.
134. We must now consider as briefly as possible: (1) The motives which commend this devotion to us,
(2) the wonderful effects it produces in faithful souls, and (3) the practices of this devotion.