Consecrated through

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday we pondered living our consecrated lives “through Mary” and we continue today:

1. The person who wishes to be led by this spirit of Mary:

1. Should renounce his own spirit, his own views and his own will before doing anything, for example, before making meditation, celebrating or attending Mass, before Communion. For the darkness of our own spirit and the evil tendencies of our own will and actions, good as they may seem to us, would hinder the holy spirit of Mary were we to follow them.

1. We should give ourselves up to the spirit of Mary to be moved and directed as she wishes. We should place and leave ourselves in her virginal hands, like a tool in the hands of a craftsman or a lute in the hands of a good musician. We should cast ourselves into her like a stone thrown into the sea. This is done easily and quickly by a mere thought, a slight movement of the will or just a few words as, “I renounce myself and give myself to you, my dear Mother.” And even if we do not experience any emotional fervour in this spiritual encounter it is none the less real. It is just as if a person with equal sincerity were to say - which God forbid! - “I give myself to the devil.” Even though this were said without feeling any emotion, he would no less really belong to the devil.

1. From time to time during an action and after it, we should renew this same act of offering and of union. The more we do so, the quicker we shall grow in holiness and the sooner we shall reach union with Christ, which necessarily follows upon union with Mary, since the spirit of Mary is the spirit of Jesus.

To some who read the above excerpt from St. Louis De Montfort’s Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the words may seem “extreme” but when we ponder them in light of the Gospel of today and the commentary given by St. John Eudes, we find that living our total consecration through and with, by and for Mary is simply growing in the Life of Christ. St. John Eudes wrote:

Thursday of the Third week of Lent

Commentary of the day
Saint John Eudes (1601-1680), priest, preacher, founder of Religious Insitutes
The Kingdom of Jésus, 3, 4 (trans. Breviary, Friday of the 33rd week)
“The kingdom of God has come upon you”

We ought to imitate and complete in ourselves the various states and mysteries of Christ. We should frequently beseech him to bring them to perfection in us and in the whole Church. For, though in his person they are perfected, the mysteries of Jesus have not yet reached completion in us, his members, nor in the Church, which is his mystical body (Eph 5,30). The Son of God plans to make us sharers in his mysteries, and, in a certain manner, continue them in us and in the Church… This is how he wishes to complete his mysteries in us. For this reason the apostle Paul can say that the whole Christ is being brought to perfection in the Church, and that all of us are contributing to his being built up and arriving at full maturity (Eph 4,13)… In another text the same apostle says that by his physical sufferings he is completing what still remains of Christ’s sufferings (Col 1,24)…

When he is born again in our souls by the holy sacraments of baptism arid the blessed eucharist, and conforms us to his likeness, the Son of God wishes to complete in us the mysteries of his incarnation, birth and hidden life. He makes it possible for us to live an interior spiritual life, hidden with him in God. He intends to bring to perfection in us the mysteries of his passion, death and resurrection by causing us to suffer, to die and to rise with him and in him. Finally, he plans to complete his state of glorious immortality in us by bringing it about that we shall lead a glorious everlasting life with him and in him in heaven…

Thus the mysteries of Jesus will not reach their completion until the end of the time which he has decreed, that is, until the end of the world.

The great mystery of the Incarnation is renewed in us each day. Mary is the icon of the Church and each of us is called to receive Jesus and to grow in our union with Him as she did so that the Church throughout time shines in the darkness of the world, bringing Jesus – Light, and Life and Love to all.

 

[tawny]

Praying with all.

 

[MariaChristi]

Praying with all.

Dear tawny,

Thanks again for your faithful prayers. I wonder if you’d be willing to share more about your own experiences with Jesus and Mary, through the writings of St. Louis De Montfort and in particular his treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Each of us is a gift from God for others, and while your prayers are indeed a blessing, It helps me to learn more of each person’s unique gift in the building up of the Body of Christ. Thanks.