Day 9 - Feb. 29 - It's never too late

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It’s never too late to begin! Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta used the phrase, “something beautiful for God”. It is a good phrase to describe De Montfort’s Act of Total Consecration of oneself to Jesus through Mary – and for the 33 Day Preparation for that act or the renewal it. If you have not yet begun, I hope you will consider joining us on our journey, or at least begin to read about it in True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Louis de Montfort. It is a small book that has been a turning point for many like St. John Paul II and Servant of God Frank Duff. Bl Mother Teresa of Calcutta consecrated herself totally and encouraged her Missionaries of Charity to do so. She often used an expression taken directly from St. Louis De Montfort, encouraging others to ask Our Lady to “lend them her heart.”

In paragraph 266, St. Louis describes the practice of True Devotion in receiving Holy Communion:

1. …Implore Mary to lend you her heart so that you may receive her Son with her dispositions. Remind her that her Son’s glory requires that he should not come into a heart so sullied and fickle as your own, which could not fail to diminish his glory and might cause him to leave. Tell her that if she will take up her abode in you to receive her Son - which she can do because of the sovereignty she has over all hearts - he will be received by her in a perfect manner without danger of being affronted or being forced to depart. “God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved.”

Tell her with confidence that all you have given her of your possessions is little enough to honour her, but that in Holy Communion you wish to give her the same gifts as the eternal Father gave her. Thus she will feel more honoured than if you gave her all the wealth in the world. Tell her, finally, that Jesus, whose love for her is unique, still wishes to take his delight and his repose in her even in your soul, even though it is poorer and less clean than the stable which he readily entered because she was there. Beg her to lend you her heart, saying, “O Mary, I take you for my all; give me your heart.”

Today is Day 9 in the preliminary 12 days which begin the 33 Day journey. In seeking to rid ourselves of the spirit of the world, we have been listening to, and pondering, what God says about this spirit of the world: “…Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever…” (1 John 2: 15-17). In order to rid ourselves of that spirit which opposes God, we have need to see our choices. We cannot serve two masters, so if we are to love God, we need to choose Him over all those things which are not from the Father.

If you have not yet considered this possibility of Total Consecration before, hopefully you will consider it today. For those who have considered it and are journeying toward it or journeying toward renewal, I would be happy to hear from you. Thanks.