Readings and Prayers for St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary
12 Days of Preparation renouncing the spirit of the world
Day 6 of 33:
Meditate on Imitation of Christ, by Thomas á Kempis: Book 1, Chapter 18
On the examples of the Holy Fathers.
will see how little it is, and almost nothing that we do. Alas, what is our life when we compare it with theirs? Saints
and friends of Christ, they served our Lord in hunger and in thirst, in cold, in nakedness, in labor and in weariness,
in watching, in fasting, prayers and holy meditations, and in frequent persecutions and reproaches. Oh, how many
grievous tribulations did the Apostles suffer and the Martyrs and Confessors and Virgins, and all the rest who
resolved to follow the steps of Christ! For they hated their lives in this world, that they might keep them in life
everlasting. Oh what a strict and self-renouncing life the holy Fathers of the desert led! What long and grievous
temptations did they bear! How often were they harassed by the enemy, what frequent and fervent prayers did
they offer up to God, what rigorous abstinence did they practice!
What a valiant contest waged they to subdue their imperfections! What purity and straightforwardness of purpose
kept they towards God! By day they labored, and much of the night they spent in prayer; though while they
labored, they were far from leaving off mental prayer. They spent all their time profitably. Every hour seemed
short to spend with God; and even their necessary bodily refreshment was forgotten in the great sweetness of
contemplation. They renounced all riches, dignities, honors and kindred; they hardly took what was necessary for
life. It grieved them to serve the body even in its necessity. Accordingly, they were poor in earthly things, but very
rich in grace and virtues.
Listen, Sing and Watch or Pray just the words depending on your time constraints: Veni Creator, Ave Maris Stella, Magnificat, and Glory Be
And in our souls take up thy rest;
Come with Thy grace and heavenly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
Great Paraclete! To Thee we cry,
O highest gift of God most high!
O font of life! O fire of love!
And sweet anointing from above.
Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts art known,
The finger of God’s hand we own;
The promise of the Father, Thou!
Who dost the tongue with power endow.
Kindle our senses ‘from above,
And make our hearts o’erflow with love;
With patience firm and virtue high
The weakness of our flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread,
And grant us Thy true peace instead;
So shall we not, with Thee for guide,
Turn from the path of life aside.
Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
The Father and the Son to know,
And Thee through endless times confessed
Of both the eternal Spirit blest.
All glory while the ages run
Be to the Father and the Son
Who rose from death; the same to Thee,
O Holy Ghost, eternally. 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.
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
(Lk 1:46-55)
Examine your conscience, pray, practice renouncement of your own will; mortification, purity of heart. This purity is the indispensable condition for contemplating God in heaven, to see Him on earth and to know Him by the light of faith. The first part of the preparation should be employed in casting off the spirit of the world which is contrary to that of Jesus Christ.
The spirit of the world consists essentially in the denial of the supreme dominion of God; a denial which is manifested in practice by sin and disobedience; thus it is principally opposed to the spirit of Christ, which is also that of Mary.
It manifests itself by the concupiscence of the flesh, by the concupiscence of the eyes and by the pride of life, and by disobedience to God’s laws and the abuse of created things. Its works are: sin in all forms, then all else by which the devil leads to sin; works which bring error and darkness to the mind, and seduction and corruption to the will. Its pomps are the splendor and the charms employed by the devil to render sin alluring in persons, places and things.
Read:
St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary paragraphs 42-50.
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reaching to heaven, at the top of which stood the Blessed Virgin. This is the ladder, he was told, by which
we must all go to heaven.
(2) There is another related in the Chronicles of St. Dominic. Near Carcassonne, where St. Dominic
was preaching the Rosary, there was an unfortunate heretic who was possessed by a multitude of devils.
These evil spirits to their confusion were compelled at the command of our Lady to confess many great and
consoling truths concerning devotion to her. They did this so clearly and forcibly that, however weak our
devotion to our Lady may be, we cannot read this authentic story containing such an unwilling tribute paid
by the devils to devotion to our Lady without shedding tears of joy.
43. 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.
44. Mary alone found grace before God without the help of any other creature. All those who have
since found grace before God have found it only through her. She was full of grace when she was greeted by
the Archangel Gabriel and was filled with grace to overflowing by the Holy Spirit when he so mysteriously
overshadowed her. 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.
45. To Mary alone God gave the keys of the cellars of divine love and the ability to enter the most
sublime and secret ways of perfection, and lead others along them. Mary alone gives to the unfortunate
children of unfaithful Eve entry into that earthly paradise where they may walk pleasantly with God and be
safely hidden from their enemies. There they can feed without fear of death on the delicious fruit of the tree
of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They can drink copiously the heavenly waters of that
beauteous fountain which gushes forth in such abundance. As she is herself the earthly paradise, that virgin
and blessed land from which sinful Adam and Eve were expelled she lets only those whom she chooses
enter her domain in order to make them saints.
46. All the rich among the people, to use an expression of the Holy Spirit as explained by St. Bernard,
all the rich among the people will look pleadingly upon her countenance throughout all ages and particularly
as the world draws to its end. This means that 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.
47. I said that this will happen especially towards the end of the world, and indeed soon, because
Almighty God and his holy Mother are to raise up great saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints
as much as the cedars of Lebanon tower above little shrubs. This has been revealed to a holy soul whose life
has been written by M. de Renty.
48. These great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are
raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light,
strengthened by her food, guided by her spirit, supported by her arm, sheltered under her protection, they
will fight with one hand and build with the other. With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing and
crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and
their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city
of God, namely, the Blessed Virgin, who is called by the Fathers of the Church the Temple of Solomon and
the City of God. By word and example they will draw all men to a true devotion to her and though this will
make many enemies, it will also bring about many victories and much glory to God alone. This is what God revealed to St. Vincent Ferrer, that outstanding apostle of his day, as he has amply shown in one of his
works.
all the ends of the earth. They will be converted towards evening and they will be as hungry as dogs and
they will go around the city to find something to eat.” This city around which men will roam at the end of
the world seeking conversion and the appeasement of the hunger they have for justice is the most Blessed
Virgin, who is called by the Holy Spirit the City of God.
4. Mary’s part in the latter times
49. The salvation of the world began through Mary and through her it must be accomplished. Mary
scarcely appeared in the first coming of Jesus Christ so that men, as yet insufficiently instructed and
enlightened concerning the person of her Son, might not wander from the truth by becoming too strongly
attached to her. This would apparently have happened if she had been known, on account of the wondrous
charms with which Almighty God had endowed even her outward appearance. So true is this that St. Denis
the Areopagite tells us in his writings that when he saw her he would have taken her for a goddess, because
of her incomparable beauty, had not his well-grounded faith taught him otherwise. But in the second coming
of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and openly revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be known,
loved and served through her. The reasons which moved the Holy Spirit to hide his spouse during her life
and to reveal but very little of her since the first preaching of the gospel exist no longer.
1) God wishes to make Mary better known in the latter times.
50. God wishes therefore to reveal Mary, his masterpiece, and make her more known in these latter
times:
(1) Because she kept herself hidden in this world and in her great humility considered herself lower
than dust, having obtained from God, his apostles and evangelists the favour of being made known.
(2) Because, as Mary is not only God’s masterpiece of glory in heaven, but also his masterpiece of
grace on earth, he wishes to be glorified and praised because of her by those living upon earth.
(3) Since she is the dawn which precedes and discloses the Sun of Justice Jesus Christ, she must be
known and acknowledged so that Jesus may be known and acknowledged.
(4) As she was the way by which Jesus first came to us, she will again be the way by which he will
come to us the second time though not in the same manner.
(5) Since she is the sure means, the direct and immaculate way to Jesus and the perfect guide to
him, it is through her that souls who are to shine forth in sanctity must find him. He who finds Mary finds
life, that is, Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. But no one can find Mary who does not look
for her. No one can look for her who does not know her, for no one seeks or desires something unknown.
Mary then must be better known than ever for the deeper understanding and the greater glory of the Blessed
Trinity.
(6) In these latter times Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, power and grace; in mercy,
to bring back and welcome lovingly the poor sinners and wanderers who are to be converted and return to
the Catholic Church; in power, to combat the enemies of God who will rise up menacingly to seduce and
crush by promises and threats all those who oppose them; finally, she must shine forth in grace to inspire
and support the valiant soldiers and loyal servants of Jesus Christ who are fighting for his cause.
(7) Lastly, Mary must become as terrible as an army in battle array to the devil and his followers,
especially in these latter times. For Satan, knowing that he has little time – even less now than ever – to
destroy souls, intensifies his efforts and his onslaughts every day. He will not hesitate to stir up savage
persecutions and set treacherous snares for Mary’s faithful servants and children whom he finds more
difficult to overcome than others.