Day 22 (Wk 2 - Day 3) - to acquire an understanding of Mary

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday’s Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe strengthend my conviction of our “need” for Mary as our Mother. Jesus’ words from the Cross:
When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple there whom He loved, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. (Jn 19: 26-27)
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It is impossible for us to know exactly the depth and breath of Mary’s mind and heart on hearing the words of Jesus, but we know that she was so united with the Holy Spirit that she heard with the ears of her heart, God’s Truth. The word “Woman”, it seems to me would have recalled Genesis and God’s Word spoken in Eden:
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
They will strike at your head,
while you strike at their heel. (Gen 3:15)
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Mary’s faithfulness to God’s Word was ever fruitful, and by His powerful Grace, she may have heard the Universal Motherhood to which Jesus called her. She may have realized in some way she was the new Eve; John and all those to be in Christ, were her offspring.

When Mary heard Jesus say, to John: “Behold your Mother” she looked at John with that tenderness we saw and heard from her at Guadalupe. Mary saw a “Juanito”-- a little one – and with the beloved disciple John she received all the little ones who would follow Jesus. In our desire this week to “acquire an understanding of Mary”, it seems to me we need to see her above all as “Mother” and to see ourselves as willing as John to obey Jesus’ words and take her into our lives.

Let us continue to pray to the Holy Spirit for the graces we need to open our minds and hearts to make room for Jesus through Mary to live in us, and continue to pray for our Mother’s intercession. Come, Holy Spirit! Mother of Tenderness, pray for us.

Litany to the Holy Spirit HERE
Ave Maris Stella HERE
Pray the Most Holy Rosary (with attention and devotion)
 
I’m still with you. How fast time goes. Praying that the Blessed Mother wraps me in her mantle and keeps me on the right path… to Jesus through Mary.
 
Thanks so much, dear Petra, for letting the rest of us know you are still with us! 🙂

Yes, time goes fast! This Sunday is the midpoint in Advent - “Gaudete Sunday”. We light the pink candle on our Advent wreaths and the priest changes from purple to a “rose-colored vestment”. It is as if the Church can hardly wait; she wants to rejoice because Christ is Coming!

Hope everyone is being blessed in special ways this Advent, both by our 33 day preparation journey to Bethlehem for our Christmas Consecration, and the unique experience each one is given by grace. God knows each child of His and so He gives different graces to each. No two souls are exactly alike, each one is unique and unrepeatable.

So I thank Him for all the graces He is giving us all. It has been a very special Advent and preparation journey for me. I’ve made this journey before but this one has been and continues to be just special. Please let us continue to pray for one another, for the Church, and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy, through Mary.
 
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I’m doing this on my own. Last time I was with a group from the church. Is there anything special I need to do as I wrap it up? Don’t want to wait till the last minute. I did tell my priest I was doing this.
 
Dear Petra,

Thanks again for your devotion to Jesus through Mary which prompts your effort to persevere and to make this Total Consecration as well as you can! 🙂

St. Louis De Montfort, whose guidance we are following, in [True Devotion] (https://www.ewtn.com/library/Montfort/TRUEDEVO.HTM). In Chapter 7, he wrote these paragraphs regarding the Consecration:
  1. At the end of these three weeks they should go to confession and Holy Communion with the intention of consecrating themselves to Jesus through Mary as slaves of love. When receiving Holy Communion they could follow the method given later on. They then recite the act of consecration which is given at the end of this book. If they do not have a printed copy of the act, they should write it out or have it copied and then sign it on the very day they make it.
  2. It would be very becoming if on that day they offered some tribute to Jesus and his Mother, either as a penance for past unfaithfulness to the promises made in baptism or as a sign of their submission to the sovereignty of Jesus and Mary. Such a tribute would be in accordance with each one’s ability and fervour and may take the form of fasting, an act of self-denial, the gift of an alms or the offering of a votive candle. If they gave only a pin as a token of their homage, provided it were given with a good heart, it would satisfy Jesus who considers only the good intention.
  3. Every year at least, on the same date, they should renew the consecration following the same exercises for three weeks. They might also renew it every month or even every day by saying this short prayer: “I am all yours and all I have is yours, O dear Jesus, through Mary, your holy Mother.”
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If this is your first Consecration, you can also enroll in the Association of Mary, Queen of all Hearts, AFTER you actually finish preparation and pray the Consecration Prayer of St. Louis de Montfort. See HERE There is a tab at the top pf the page for “Enrollment” and if you click on it there is an Enrollment form so you can enroll yourself online. The website was begun by the Montfort Fathers, the Religious Order of Priests which St. Louis founded. It is a great website.
 
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Ah, dear Petra, it is a blessing for me to share! It is a joy for me to have you as a companion on this journey. God knew from all eternity how much we would need Mary and need one another! 🙂
 
I have to share something. Yesterday we had a party at our house. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pray all day like I usually do so I said a prayer that Jesus and Mary have their hands in all the preparations and be with me all through the day… It was funny. My leg hurt like all get out and I offered it to Jesus to join with the pain his legs must have felt dragging that cross to the top of the hill and then hanging on that cross with nails in his feet. The pain in my leg didn’t let up and it hurt so badly that I did complain some… but about the fixings for the party–the people kept going on and on about how good everything was… I’m not that good of a cook… I really feel like Jesus and Mary had their hands in it…
 
Thanks so much, dear petra, for sharing the beautiful work of Jesus and Mary in your life. I’m sure Jesus and Mary were helping you and making everything just right! There are times we do not realize how much They love us and yet at times we experience similar things as you shared.

May we be always ready to offer ourselves to Jesus and Mary as “Totally Theirs!” It was little St. Therese who wrote: “Love is the willingness to suffer”. Certainly Jesus and Mary teach us how to love as they loved on this earth and continue to love us from heaven.
 
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