So this SD who I have only met with twice told me last time to do the consecration to Mary. Tomorrow I am supposed to do it and I don’t quite feel ready. My friends said this sounds rather protestant, but I LOVE Mary. I pray the rosary daily and appreciate her so much for what she did to me. But some parts of this book by Louis Du Montford (sp?) makes it seem like he couldn’t live without Mary. I would rather consecrate myself directly to Jesus than go through Mary. Should I continue with it even though my heart is not in it?
Hi,
I think it really depends. If you really understand this and what it means and the day before you’re just suddenly feeling unsure about the whole thing, that just might be a trial of some sort. But it might also mean that you’re not ready. I wanted to make this consecration and while ago and it didn’t work out, so now I’m planning on making it in July on the feast day of Our Lady of Mt Carmel. My reasoning here is that I wasn’t prepared before, and now that I look back, I see that I wasn’t. I’m not saying this to discourage you…just think about it and see where you are.
This consecration is pretty serious cause it’s essentially like making yourself a slave (willingly). That sounds very …well, intense, because it sort of is. When a person lives out this consecration (because of course, the whole point of making it is to live it out afterwards), they try to give up their own will. There are people who make the consecration not realizing what it meant until afterwards, and don’t immediately start living it out, and that might mean that they weren’t ready… but if they’re ready now, that means God gave them graces through it anyways
sort of like how some people become believers long after their Baptism.
That is wonderful that you love Mary
what do you mean by your friends saying it’s too “protestant”? hehe I’d say Protestants wouldn’t agree with de Montfort at all
To be honest the only part of your post that sort of makes me think is this:
But some parts of this book by Louis Du Montford (sp?) makes it seem like he couldn’t live without Mary. I would rather consecrate myself directly to Jesus than go through Mary.
Maybe it would help you to read the book again but very slowly and prayerfully. Which book do you mean, True Devotion or the Secret of Mary? Both are good… (true devotion is more indepth)
It’s a VERY deep book and every time I open it I seem to learn something new that I never noticed before. It’s definitely the sort of thing you can re-read over and over again.
Here’s why I’m saying this… and again, I don’t know where you are, I only have your one post to go by,
one important part of this devotion, it seems, is seeing the importance of going to Jesus through Mary. If you don’t really see the importance, maybe you just need some more time to think about it. (and pray about it). You already love Mary and pray the Rosary so it sure doesn’t sound like you’re blocking yourself from her in any way. That is good… but sometimes we just need time to understand concepts like this cause they’re sort of mystical. We have to almost ‘feel’ them before we can understand them with our minds.
hmm Maybe it would help if I summarized why I think we can go through Mary…
Mary only ever does God’s will, so when we come to her, we can’t help but start loving Jesus better. When we say “Mary”, she answers “Jesus”. So if we are truly devoted to her, this is for the ultimate end of being more devoted to Him. The reason why de Montfort says that it’s good to consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary and not simply through Jesus (though there’s nothing wrong with that!!) - is because while He is perfect and reaches down to us in a perfect way, our own efforts to reach Him are imperfect. The way we pray, worship, serve Him, the way we love Him, all need improvement. So if we consecrate ourselves to Jesus directly, what He does would be flawless, but what we do in cooperation with His grace would be lacking. We can still achieve holiness in this way, don’t get me wrong!! But it’s longer. The way through Mary is the easier way… because when we consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary, she takes all our efforts that I just spoke about, and perfects them. So now what Jesus does is perfect, and our own cooperation, love, worship, etc, - is much better - because our Mother helps us with it. It’s like…she takes us by the hand, and leads us to her Son. Sure, we can walk to Jesus without her too, but it’s much safer, surer, and perhaps quicker, with her. And, she’s a loving Mother and it’s wonderful to know her
Although I haven’t myself yet made this consecration, I suppose that those who do (and really live it out) get to know Mary on a more personal level and that is beautiful.
So that’s just my two cents…
I might be wrong on some points and I might have misunderstood the book,
St Louis de Montfort says it much better so I highly recommend just slowly reading and praying through “True Devotion” or “Secret of Mary”, or if you can, both
God bless you.
