S
Spirithound
Guest
Hi y’all…I think God is calling me to make the heroic act of charity, but I’m a little scared. Prayers and advice please?
- Status
W
water
Guest
I prayed and asked St. Francis of Assisi and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta to pray for you and to give you courage to do what is pleasing to God.
Don’t be afraid. God will provide - trust in Him.
God bless.
edited: I’ve had few situations like that before, and the urge of doing something that I had not done before was great and it was really hard for me to refuse. During the moment of not wanting to do it, I kept on praying, praying and praying and asked God to give me the courage and trust in Him to do it.
When I had done it, what I gained the most is happiness. Sometimes, He has given me back more than what I did - but this is not the reason for me to give though.
Don’t be afraid. God will provide - trust in Him.
God bless.
edited: I’ve had few situations like that before, and the urge of doing something that I had not done before was great and it was really hard for me to refuse. During the moment of not wanting to do it, I kept on praying, praying and praying and asked God to give me the courage and trust in Him to do it.
When I had done it, what I gained the most is happiness. Sometimes, He has given me back more than what I did - but this is not the reason for me to give though.
M
Mordocai
Guest
Instead of the Heroic Act of Charity (while i dont know everything about it, but i think it is simply giving all the merit of your life to God for his purposes?) I would recommend the total consecration according to St. Louie DeMontfort. Every read True Devotion to Mary? It’s THE book on Marian devotion. Anyway.
The consecration involves not only an actual consecration to Her of all your merits and prayers and works and whatever else you have, but it is a total submission to Her work in your life. Wherein, if you have a request, you go to Our Lady and make it of Her. This doesn’t mean you never talk to God again of course; actually, in my experience, She’s exponentially led me closer to Him and I’ve gained a far and wide deeper prayer life because of my consecration to Her.
Anyway, the idea is to completely trust in Her. Where my attitude, motives, etc. are all directed toward My Mother and her purposes and intentions (indulgences, penance and reparation for Her purposes, prayers etc.)
I realize more and more every day that I truly do not know
A.) What to pray for
and
B.) How to pray
I don’t know what each sacrifice ought to be offered up for. I’m just a small soldier in God’s Army.
But Mary, on the other hand, is His general. She knows exactly the plan and will put our merit and grace to the best use if we offer it to Her.
And will She, who is gracious Herself, not bless us for our generosity towards Her? Will She not repay us 100 fold for what we offer? I can say, literally in my experience, an emphatic YES.
She has protected me much more powerfully than before
She has taught me much more intensely and with higher things than before.
She has armed me with Her Spouses gifts much more ardently than before.
She has brought me far closer to Her Son Jesus Christ than I ever could have come before.
Without Her (and now with the experience of the before and after) I would be nowhere near where I am in the Spiritual life (which is a far cry away from where I should be! The Lord knows that!) if not for Her own generosity to me.
I abandon myself to God through Her; it’s all very simply.
I just pray and sacrifice; I give it all to Her. I just try to love as best I can; and I offer that to My Mother.
This doesn’t mean I don’t have concerns and petitions; but when I go to pray I simply say “I offer this for this intention (meaning, this is my motivation for petition) but Mary, I prefer Your Will to be accomplished.”
And it always is.
If it’s an indulgence, I give it to Her for whatever Her purposes are. If she wants to grant the grace upon me; so be it. If on a soul in purgatory, so be it.
Mother knows best.
So the heroic act of charity is truly the love of God.
But the total consecration to Mary is the love of God in the Heart of Mary (I feel at least)
To live out our consecration to Her more and more each day is the goal of this act of consecration (preceded by spiritual preparation) and the results, as I’ve said before, have been far better than I imagined. She’s easy on me; yet She pushes me hard. She encourages me. The trials seem harder yet more gentle. She grants the strength to match the greater difficulties which are themselves God’s gifts to us. She is the mode of God’s gentleness being enacted upon us.
Like I said, I’ve experience the efficacy of Marian devotion.
It has empowered, simplified, and brought much joy to my prayer life. I just let Mom do all the thinking; I just pray and do penance
All very simple, as it should be.
Plus, how well do you think Her Son would look upon the soul who has entrusted Himself completely to Her; as completely as He did during His earthly life.
The blessings have been immense.
May God bless you in your journey to enter into that trust which is so necessary for saving the souls of others. May He grant you the courage to do His Will.
Mordocai
The consecration involves not only an actual consecration to Her of all your merits and prayers and works and whatever else you have, but it is a total submission to Her work in your life. Wherein, if you have a request, you go to Our Lady and make it of Her. This doesn’t mean you never talk to God again of course; actually, in my experience, She’s exponentially led me closer to Him and I’ve gained a far and wide deeper prayer life because of my consecration to Her.
Anyway, the idea is to completely trust in Her. Where my attitude, motives, etc. are all directed toward My Mother and her purposes and intentions (indulgences, penance and reparation for Her purposes, prayers etc.)
I realize more and more every day that I truly do not know
A.) What to pray for
and
B.) How to pray
I don’t know what each sacrifice ought to be offered up for. I’m just a small soldier in God’s Army.
But Mary, on the other hand, is His general. She knows exactly the plan and will put our merit and grace to the best use if we offer it to Her.
And will She, who is gracious Herself, not bless us for our generosity towards Her? Will She not repay us 100 fold for what we offer? I can say, literally in my experience, an emphatic YES.
She has protected me much more powerfully than before
She has taught me much more intensely and with higher things than before.
She has armed me with Her Spouses gifts much more ardently than before.
She has brought me far closer to Her Son Jesus Christ than I ever could have come before.
Without Her (and now with the experience of the before and after) I would be nowhere near where I am in the Spiritual life (which is a far cry away from where I should be! The Lord knows that!) if not for Her own generosity to me.
I abandon myself to God through Her; it’s all very simply.
I just pray and sacrifice; I give it all to Her. I just try to love as best I can; and I offer that to My Mother.
This doesn’t mean I don’t have concerns and petitions; but when I go to pray I simply say “I offer this for this intention (meaning, this is my motivation for petition) but Mary, I prefer Your Will to be accomplished.”
And it always is.
If it’s an indulgence, I give it to Her for whatever Her purposes are. If she wants to grant the grace upon me; so be it. If on a soul in purgatory, so be it.
Mother knows best.
So the heroic act of charity is truly the love of God.
But the total consecration to Mary is the love of God in the Heart of Mary (I feel at least)
To live out our consecration to Her more and more each day is the goal of this act of consecration (preceded by spiritual preparation) and the results, as I’ve said before, have been far better than I imagined. She’s easy on me; yet She pushes me hard. She encourages me. The trials seem harder yet more gentle. She grants the strength to match the greater difficulties which are themselves God’s gifts to us. She is the mode of God’s gentleness being enacted upon us.
Like I said, I’ve experience the efficacy of Marian devotion.
It has empowered, simplified, and brought much joy to my prayer life. I just let Mom do all the thinking; I just pray and do penance
All very simple, as it should be.
Plus, how well do you think Her Son would look upon the soul who has entrusted Himself completely to Her; as completely as He did during His earthly life.
The blessings have been immense.
May God bless you in your journey to enter into that trust which is so necessary for saving the souls of others. May He grant you the courage to do His Will.
Mordocai
A
Andruschak
Guest
Prayers, yes. Especially to Mary and The Holy Spirit
Advice: talk this over with your spiritual director (if you have one), or your regular confessor (if you have one), or a priest you are comfortable with. It is a big step, with no “get out of purgatory early” cards.
There is NO shame involved if you decide not to. God WILL understand. Honest.
But if, after talking it over and praying about it, you may get the grace of the Holy Spirit to do so.
A
ANGELIC_PEACE
Guest
hi spirithound
…i answered a similar question to yours on a different link about a month ago :yup:so instead of just repeating myself :whacky: …i’ll post the link as my answer and you can read it…(mine is answer number 24)
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=125552&page=2
hope this is helpful to you
ANGELIC PEACE :angel1:
S
Spirithound
Guest
Thank you all for your prayers and advice! I have not made the Heroic Act, but instead, a modified form of St. Louis de Montford’s total consecration to Mary. I’m now taking the year to discern whether to make the full consecration. Please pray for my discernment.
Peace and love,
Spirithound
Peace and love,
Spirithound
W
water
Guest
I am using a 30 day novena for the Holy Souls, and the way the book says about The Heroic Act is:
- Status