"Consecration of Oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the Hands of Mary"

[MariaChristi]

"CONSECRATION OF ONESELF TO JESUS CHRIST, WISDOM INCARNATE
THROUGH THE HANDS OF MARY

1. Eternal and incarnate Wisdom, most lovable and adorable Jesus, true God and true man, only Son of the eternal Father and of Mary always Virgin, I adore you profoundly, dwelling in the splendour of your Father from all eternity and in the virginal womb of Mary, your most worthy Mother, at the time of your incarnation. I thank you for having emptied yourself in assuming the condition of a slave to set me free from the cruel slavery of the evil one. I praise and glorify you for having willingly chosen to obey Mary, your holy Mother, in all things, so that through her I may be a faithful slave of love. But I must confess that I have not kept the vows and promises which I made to you so solemnly at my baptism. I have not fulfilled my obligations, and I do not deserve to be called your child or even your loving slave. Since I cannot lay claim to anything except what merits your rejection and displeasure, I dare no longer approach the holiness of your majesty on my own. That is why I turn to the intercession and the mercy of your holy Mother, whom you yourself have given me to mediate with you. Through her I hope to obtain from you contrition and pardon for my sins, and that Wisdom whom I desire to dwell in me always.
2. I turn to you, then, Mary immaculate, living tabernacle of God, in whom eternal Wisdom willed to receive the adoration of both men and angels. I greet you as Queen of heaven and earth, for all that is under God has been made subject to your sovereignty. I call upon you, the unfailing refuge of sinners, confident in your mercy that has never forsaken anyone. Grant my desire for divine Wisdom and, in support of my petition, accept the promises and the offering of myself which I now make, conscious of my unworthiness.
3. I, an unfaithful sinner, renew and ratify today through you my baptismal promises. I renounce for ever Satan, his empty promises, and his evil designs, and I give myself completely to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after him for the rest of my life, and to be more faithful to him than I have been till now. This day, with the whole court of heaven as witness, I choose you, Mary, as my Mother and Queen. I surrender and consecrate myself to you, body and soul, with all that I possess, both spiritual and material, even including the spiritual value of all my actions, past, present, and to come. I give you the full right to dispose of me and all that belongs to me, without any reservations, in whatever way you please, for the greater glory of God in time and throughout eternity…

NOTE due to word limit, I cannot complete this prayer in one post so for the remainder of this beautiful Prayer to Consecrate Oneself, please continue by clicking HERE The link will take you to the Table of Contents for the book and you can scroll down to the bottom and you’ll be able to click on “The
Consecration…” which folows Chap. 17.

May the Lord bless each of us. Thanks be to Him for all His Gifts! Amen.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Mindypin,

Thanks for your “heart” to let us know you read, and hopefully you prayed the prayer of Consecration, appreciating the words God gave to St. Louis de Montfort. Perhaps you have already read St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. If you haven’t yet read it or if you have not read the whole of it, I encourage you to read it again. prayerfully and slowly asking the Holy Spirit to bring you into the fullness of His Truth as Jesus promised His disciples:

…when He comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to all Truth. (Jn 16:13)

Thanks again

 

[patricius79]

,I give myself completely to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after him for the rest of my life, and to be more faithful to him than I have been till now. This day, with the whole court of heaven as witness, I choose you, Mary, as my Mother and Queen. I surrender and consecrate myself to you, body and soul, with all that I possess

Hi MariaChristi,

Does St. Louis recommend making this consecration at the end of “The Love of Divine Wisdom”? Does he give directions for the 33 Day preparation first?

I was just wondering. I remember doing the 33 Days for the first time and it was hard to wait for the consecration after I read True Devotion to Mary, and saw the beauty of what he was saying. I wanted to do the consecration and then do the preparation, and then re-affirm my consecration. But I waited.

This reminds me of a beautiful passage in True Devotion to Mary, which was part of what made it a little painful to wait.

1. Oh! how happy is the man who has given everything to Mary, and has trusted himself to Mary in everything and for everything! He belongs all to Mary, and Mary belongs all to him. He can say boldly with David, Hcec facta est mihi — “Mary is made for me;” or with the beloved disciple, Accepi eam in mea — “I have taken her for all my goods;” or with Jesus Christ, Omnia mea tua sunt , et omnia tua mea sunt — “All that I have is thine, and all that thou hast is mine.”
2. If any critic who reads this shall take it into his head that I speak here exaggeratedly, and with an extravagance of devotion, alas! he does not understand me, either because he is a carnal man, who has no relish for spiritual things; or because he is a worldling, who cannot receive the Holy Ghost; or because he is proud and critical, condemning and despising whatever he does not understand himself. But the souls which are not born of blood, nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God and Mary, understand me and relish me; and it is for these that I write.
   True Devotion To Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks for your reply, and again for your “heart” to let us know you appreciated St. Louis de Montfort’s words in His prayer: “Consecration of Oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the Hands of Mary.”

It seems to me that St. Louis wrote this Prayer for anyone desiring to “Consecrate Oneself…” as the title indicates. It seems to me he wrote this book before he wrote his treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” because in “True Devotion” he gives far more details on “the why” and “the how” of Total Consecration.

Looking at the tiles of the Chapters in either the online version or a paperback edition you can see the progression of his thought – The program of 33 Days of Preparation for Consecration is given at the end in Chapter 7.

The nun who invited me and my classmates in our sophomore class to Consecrate ourselves, using St. Louis de Montfort’s Consecration Prayer, had not used the 33 Days Preparation. She explained what the Consecration entailed and those who were willing to Consecrate themselves, after some time to consider all that was asked of us in the Prayer, were free to make our consecration or not. I prayed the Consecration prayer before the Blessed Sacrament with several other girls in the Church next to our high school building. It was only later later on, probably in my Junior and Senior years that I began to read the entire Treatise and become familiar with the 33 Day Preparation.

Over many years, the more I read St. Louis’ book on “True Devotion”, the more I began to understand the precious gift given by God to this Saint, for the Church. Re-reading and sharing his book on “The Love of Eternal Wisdom” was a particular blessing this time as it helped me appreciate even more St. Louis de Montfort’s love for Holy Scripture and the importance of listening to Scripture in order to know God’s Revelation of Himself in The Word Made Flesh, through Mary. It seems to me the Church needs Mary now more than ever!

God has His own timing; He truly does work ALL things unto Good. By His Grace may we sing Mary’s praise of Him always: “My Soul magnifies the Lord, and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior”

 

[patricius79]

It seems to me the Church needs Mary now more than ever!

Amen!

§ 5. The soul of our Blessed Lady will communicate itself to you, to glorify the Lord. Her spirit will enter into the place of yours, to rejoice in God her salvation, provided only that you are faithful to the practices of this devotion. Sit in singulis anima Marice , ut magnificet Dominum: sit in singulis spiritus Marice , ut exultet in Deo (St. Ambrose)—“Let the soul of Mary be in each of us to glorify the Lord: let the spirit of Mary be in each of us to rejoice in God.” Ah! when will the happy time come, said a holy man of our own days, who was all absorbed in Mary—ah! when will the happy time come, when the divine Mary will be established mistress and queen of hearts, in order that she may subject them fully to the empire of her great and holy Jesus? When will souls breathe Mary, as the body breathes air? When that time comes, wonderful things will happen in those lowly places, where the Holy Ghost, finding His dear Spouse as it were reproduced in souls, shall come in with abundance, and fill them full to overflowing with His gifts, and particularly with the gift of wisdom, to work the miracles of grace. My dear brother, when will that happy time, that age of Mary, come, when souls, losing themselves in the abyss of her interior, shall become living copies of Mary, to love and glorify Jesus? That time will not come until men shall know and practise this devotion which I am teaching. Ut adveniat regnum tuum , adveniat regnum Marice .
True Devotion To Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Yes, how perfectly God has made Mary to be Queen of our hearts, with Jesus as King!

…when will that happy time, that age of Mary, come , when souls, losing themselves in the abyss of her interior, shall become living copies of Mary, to love and glorify Jesus?

How we need to keep thanking God for the Gift of Jesus through Mary – and opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit as she did to become more like her who brought Jesus to the world!

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful, kindle in us the fire of Your Love! Jesus we trust in you!
Mary our Queen and our Mother, keep us in the crossing of Your Arms, close to Jesus!

 

[patricius79]

…when will that happy time, that age of Mary, come , when souls, losing themselves in the abyss of her interior, shall become living copies of Mary, to love and glorify Jesus?

I really like that part, too, MariaChristi. Thank you for emphasizing it.

Yes, it’s one thing to know intellectually that Jesus saved us through Mary. It’s another thing to really understand it.

May we all come to understand and emrbace the gift of Mary as our “mother in the order of grace” (Vatican II).

This reminds me of a beautiful passage I read in Pope St. John Paul II’s Encyclical, Redemptoris Mater:

1. Of the essence of motherhood is the fact that it concerns the person. Motherhood always establishes a unique and unrepeatable relationship between two people: between mother and child and between child and mother. Even when the same woman is the mother of many children, her personal relationship with each one of them is of the very essence of motherhood. For each child is generated in a unique and unrepeatable way, and this is true both for the mother and for the child. Each child is surrounded in the same way by that maternal love on which are based the child’s development and coming to maturity as a human being.
   …
   The Redeemer entrusts his mother to the disciple, and at the same time he gives her to him as his mother. Mary’s motherhood, which becomes man’s inheritance, is a gift: a gift which Christ himself makes personally to every individual.
   Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987) | John Paul II

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Patricius,

Thanks again for your reply. God willing, tomorrow I hope to begin re-reading St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on "True Devotion to Mary’ and posting daily a paragraph or two for those interested in learning from the Wisdom God gave to St. Louis – who so ardently desired Wisdom and prayed continuously, practicing universal mortification and coming finally to the conviction that the best means of all to acquire Wisdom was a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

His Treatise on True Devotion to Mary "fleshes out, in a way, all he learned after writing the 17th Chapter of his book on the “Love of Eternal Wisdom” and composing his prayer of “Consecration of Oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the Hands of Mary”. After prayerfully considering what I might focus on for posts on CAF, it seemed most appropriate – especially beginning my posts on "[True Devotion to Mary] tomorrow – the First Saturday in August, the month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Thanks for your quote from Pope St. JPII’s encyclical on “The Mother of the Redeemer”, How truly he wrote, as you quoted:

Mary’s motherhood, which becomes man’s inheritance, is a gift: a gift which Christ himself makes personally to every individual.

Let us thank God today for the gift of Mary to us, on this Feast of St. Alphonsus Ligouri another saint who loved our Mother so much!

 

[patricius79]

That sounds wonderful, Deborah Mary.

I need to start, soon, my 33 Day Preparation to renew my consecration to Jesus through Mary, so it will be good to be discussing the book True Devotion to Mary at this time.

Thanks for letting me know that today is the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori. I love his book “The Glories of Mary”, which has brought me much consolation and an increase in trust in God and in Mary.

Thank you, also, for telling me that August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

[hazcompat]

A sinner who goes to Mary must never be afraid of being rejected. ‘‘Mary is the new ark. As brute animals were saved in the ark, so great sinners will gain salvation in Mary.’’ (Saint Bernard) Saint Gertrude saw a vision of Mary welcoming lions, bears and tigers. She realized that these were abandoned sinners who went to Mary and were saved from eternal death by her. Let us enter the ark. She will not reject us. …

Because it saved all kinds of beasts, Noah’s ark is a true figure of Mary. Sinners, by their vices, are already beasts. There is one difference. The animals on the ark remained animals, but under the mantle of Mary, sinners cease to be beasts. Saint Gertrude saw Mary with all kinds of wild animals under her mantle. These represented sinners whom Mary welcomed the moment they turned to her.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

Read more on mariedenazareth.com:​

St Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church (1696-1787)

 

[patricius79]

That passage is very consoling to me, hazcompat.

Here is another passage from the Glories of Mary (by St. Alphonsus Liguori) which I love:

St. Germanus justly called the most holy Vir
gin the breath of Christians; because, as the body
cannot live without breathing, so the soul can
not live without having recourse and commend
ing itself to Mary, through whose means the life
of divine grace is obtained for us and preserved
in us.* As respiration is not only the sign, but
also the cause of life, so is the name of Mary,
when it is spoken by the servants of God, not
only proves that they are living, but procures
and maintains this life, and obtains for them every
aid
Full text of "The glories of Mary"

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks for the beautiful quote, Dear hazcompat and patricius also for your quote from St. Alphonsus Ligouri! Ah the Wisdom of the Saints!