How different from the world, am I? are we?

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This morning I was reading in Zenit, some words Pope Francis spoke in Ecuador, I was especially blessed by this:

…I asked Jesus several times in prayer: “What do these people have that is different?” And praying this morning it came to me: that consecration to the Sacred Heart. I think I should say it as a message from Jesus. All this richness that you have, the spiritual richness of piety, of depth, comes from having had the courage – even though there were very difficult times – of consecrating the nation to the heart of Christ, that divine and human heart that loves us so much. And I notice it with a little bit of that, divine and human [nature]. Of course, you are sinners, so am I, but the Lord forgives all. And you guard this. Then, several years later, there was the consecration to the heart of Mary. Do not forget that consecration is a milestone in the history of the people of Ecuador. And from that consecration I feel how that grace that you have comes, that piety, that thing that makes you different…

For me, I know (and am very grateful) that my total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, praying both the “Act of Consecration” written by St. Louis De Montfort and the one by St. Maximilian Kolbe have made a great difference in my life. By God’s Grace, I continue to renew these Acts of Consecration and strive to live the words I pray. I’m grateful to be a member of the Legion of Mary, founded by Servant of God Frank Duff and a small group who wanted to live their total Consecration.

How about you? Do you experience the grace to be “different” in your life, lived in the world but not “of the world”? I hope so – and I hope the number of persons consecrating themselves as clergy, religious and lay men, women and children will grow.

 

[AKDee]

As a new Catholic, I feel drawn to being consecrated…to something. I feel incomplete.

The problem for me is that I don’t know what. There seems to be all these different scapulars, all these different third orders, groups like Opus Dei, etc. I have looked but not found a place that sums them up so that I can figure out what exactly it is I am called to do or be. I know I’m not called to be a nun, but that’s about the only thing I’m sure of. I have been asked to consider being a sacristan, but I’m not sure if that’s a calling or just a hope from our parish Sacristan for some additional help.

 

[MariaChristi]

As a new Catholic, I feel drawn to being consecrated…to something. I feel incomplete.

The problem for me is that I don’t know what. There seems to be all these different scapulars, all these different third orders, groups like Opus Dei, etc. I have looked but not found a place that sums them up so that I can figure out what exactly it is I am called to do or be. I know I’m not called to be a nun, but that’s about the only thing I’m sure of. I have been asked to consider being a sacristan, but I’m not sure if that’s a calling or just a hope from our parish Sacristan for some additional help.

Welcome to the Family, AKDee!

Thanks for your reply. As a new member of the Catholic Church, it can be “overwhelming” to learn of all the many devotions and prayers, and the “Acts of Consecration” composed by saints and others. It is wise to ask the Holy Spirit: “Lord what would you have me do?” If you are feeling drawn to consecrating yourself, then it seems good that you responded to this thread and it may be good for you to study further, if either or both these consecrations are the Lord’s will for you.

Both are intended for lay persons, so in praying either or both of these prayers, you are not becoming a “consecrated religious” nor are you joining any particular group. There are lay groups that do consecrate themselves in a special way. such as the Secular Franciscans or Lay Carmelites or Oblates of St. Benedict, but simply praying the Act of Consecration can be anyone who simply wants to further their personal commitment to Jesus through Mary.
We are all called to holiness. A “personal consecration” can be a help in our journey to that holiness to which we are called.

HERE is St. Maximilian Kolbe’s Prayer.

St. Louis de Montfort’s Act of Consecration is longer and is probably best understood after reading his small book on True Devotion. Link to the online version is HERE

Finally you may be helped by this link which speaks simply about “consecrated persons”;
see HERE

Please feel free to write again with any questions. I’ll be happy to answer, by God’s Grace, whatever I can. Thanks again for your reply and welcome to the Catholic Family!

 

[AKDee]

MariaChristi- thank you!

 

[MariaChristi]

MariaChristi- thank you!

Dear AKDee,

You are most welcome! The last link I gave you is to a website my husband and I began some time ago. He continues to add to it, and if you have read the Introduction at the link I posted, you can see he has also written some good books, also.

His first book is almost a “primer” on classic Catholic Spirituality. It is a small but very important book. He wrote it after he completed his Masters in Theology because there was no book that he could find while he was studying, written by a lay person rather than a priest or religious, that brought together the writings of many saints on spiritual growth in a way more suitable for the lay person.

His book is written primarily for lay persons, but it has been read by priests and religious as well as lay men and women who have all been greatly helped by it. The title is The Ordinary Path to Holiness. It is well worth reading.

May the Lord continue to bless you and all of us on our spiritual journey, here on this earth, until we meet God Face to face in our heavenly home! What joy awaits all His children!

 

[Casilda]

How about you? Do you experience the grace to be “different” in your life, lived in the world but not “of the world”? I hope so – and I hope the number of persons consecrating themselves as clergy, religious and lay men, women and children will grow.

Very similar to AKDee, I feel as if I am a new Catholic. I was born into the faith but didn’t grow up in it. I am finding a treasure trove of possibilities but finding it extremely dispiriting trying to make initial contact with the religious orders or their lay counterparts (secular, oblates, etc). I have tried the local Legion of Mary, a secular order of discalced Carmelites, and lastly Regnum Christi. I am not a very confident person and after a few fails I tend to give up and move on. I found this list of religious orders, in hopes that at least one will respond

shc.edu/theolibrary/orders.htm

 

[MariaChristi]

Very similar to AKDee, I feel as if I am a new Catholic. I was born into the faith but didn’t grow up in it. I am finding a treasure trove of possibilities but finding it extremely dispiriting trying to make initial contact with the religious orders or their lay counterparts (secular, oblates, etc). I have tried the local Legion of Mary, a secular order of discalced Carmelites, and lastly Regnum Christi. I am not a very confident person and after a few fails I tend to give up and move on. I found this list of religious orders, in hopes that at least one will respond

shc.edu/theolibrary/orders.htm

Dear Casilda,

The list is primarily for Religious orders of men and women – some have made allowance for lay persons such as the Secular Franciscans, Oblates of St. Benedict and Secular Carmelites, but the Legion of Mary was founded as a Lay Apostolate for men women and children. I’m sorry you have not heard back from the Legion of Mary. As a member of the Legion for many years, and as a current President of our local Praesidium, I am saddened that they have not responded.

Maybe I’m not understanding you correctly. Did you attend a Legion Meeting perhaps and found it was not what you expected? Please let me know.

Consecration is not a matter of “joining” a Religious order or a Lay organization. It can be a help, however, to meet regularly with others who have consecrated themselves in a special way because we can encourage one another to be one in the mind and heart of Christ. Consecration is first and foremost a matter of the heart. It allows us to fulfill our desire to respond to God’s Love by giving ourselves to Him in a special way.

St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary explains how our total consecration to Jesus through Mary is a perfect renewal of our Baptismal promises. I hope you will read his little book and learn more. St. John Paul II wrote that reading De Montfort as a young man was a “turning point in his life”. Servant of God Frank Duff said pretty much the same thing – although Frank Duff admitted that he had a hard time reading De Montfort at first. HERE is a great article he wrote on his experience.

The Legion of Mary was begun by Frank Duff in company with his parish priest and a group of lay persons who wanted to “live” their consecration. It was more than just a prayer for them; they wanted to be not only “hearers” but “doers” of God’s Word. Members of the Legion are not required to make the Act of Consecration of St. Louis but are strongly encouraged to do so.

If you cannot find a local group of the Legion maybe you can check with your diocese to find the nearest one to you. If you cannot find one, I’d be happy to enroll you as an Auxiliary member of our Queen of Peace Praesidium. We have members from the UK, Canada and the Philippines who could not find a local group to join.

Keep praying to the Holy Spirit to guide you into the complete Truth. May our Lady hold you and all of us in the “crossing of her arms” as she told St. Juan Diego and may we stand (as Bl.Mother Teresa saw herself) as a child in Mary’s shadow, gazing on Jesus.

 

[Casilda]

…Consecration is not a matter of “joining” a Religious order or a Lay organization. It can be a help, however, to meet regularly with others who have consecrated themselves in a special way because we can encourage one another to be one in the mind and heart of Christ. Consecration is first and foremost a matter of the heart. It allows us to fulfill our desire to respond to God’s Love by giving ourselves to Him in a special way.

The Legion of Mary was begun by Frank Duff in company with his parish priest and a group of lay persons who wanted to “live” their consecration. It was more than just a prayer for them; they wanted to be not only “hearers” but “doers” of God’s Word. Members of the Legion are not required to make the Act of Consecration of St. Louis but are strongly encouraged to do so…

Consecration is a rather big word for a child, but I made a promise to Jesus when a child, to follow him even if I was not allowed to. Someone gave me a Bible when I was 13, I still have it because I learned about Him by reading it. I have three cousins that seriously wanted to become nuns. Their parents thwarted their efforts. Two remained unmarried to this day. Maybe this is what my parent were afraid of (?)

I also want to live this. To do, for the Lord. Everyone seems to know how to get connected. There is a handful of oblates in my parish, but it seems a secretive group. Questions I have asked are not answered. I am new to the parish, it is an ethnic parish with a smattering of Roman Catholic refugees. I just belong to Jesus. I am searching where to utilize my talents, I am bilingual, read, write, speak and translate; I have nurse assistant experience with the elderly; I have home taught my three children, who all went to college; I have organized and taught woman’s Bible study (I try to share that knowledge here). At the moment I attend two woman’s groups that are social and caring outlets for widows or divorced older women, one Catholic the other inter-faith. I guess this is where the Lord wants me for now. But it is only two days.

To answer your question, “How different from the world, am I? are we?”
I am an alien on this world. Actually thought I was from another planet when I was younger, lol. No. I really, really feel this. I search out your threads because I understand them, there is a depth to them, that feed my spiritual emptiness. Maybe what I need is to up my prayer routine, it has grown lax, and read more.

 

[MariaChristi]

Consecration is a rather big word for a child, but I made a promise to Jesus when a child, to follow him even if I was not allowed to. Someone gave me a Bible when I was 13, I still have it because I learned about Him by reading it. I have three cousins that seriously wanted to become nuns. Their parents thwarted their efforts. Two remained unmarried to this day. Maybe this is what my parent were afraid of (?)

I also want to live this. To do, for the Lord. Everyone seems to know how to get connected. There is a handful of oblates in my parish, but it seems a secretive group. Questions I have asked are not answered. I am new to the parish, it is an ethnic parish with a smattering of Roman Catholic refugees. I just belong to Jesus. I am searching where to utilize my talents, I am bilingual, read, write, speak and translate; I have nurse assistant experience with the elderly; I have home taught my three children, who all went to college; I have organized and taught woman’s Bible study (I try to share that knowledge here). At the moment I attend two woman’s groups that are social and caring outlets for widows or divorced older women, one Catholic the other inter-faith. I guess this is where the Lord wants me for now. But it is only two days.

To answer your question, “How different from the world, am I? are we?”
I am an alien on this world. Actually thought I was from another planet when I was younger, lol. No. I really, really feel this. I search out your threads because I understand them, there is a depth to them, that feed my spiritual emptiness. Maybe what I need is to up my prayer routine, it has grown lax, and read more.

Dearest sister in Christ, Casilda,

My husband and I have often shared with each other how “alien” we feel in this world, but we are encouraged by Scripture assuring us:

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul. (1 Peter 2:11)

Probably all of us could “up our prayer routine”. It is easy to grow lax, but by God’s Grace we can keep growing spiritually. Spiritual reading has always been a big help to me. I find saints like St. Louis De Montfort are steeped in Scripture and so their writing has the unction of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to read from the two links I gave you in my last reply: 1) True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary see HERE and 2). Servant of God Frank Duff writing about his experience with True Devotion, see HERE. He wrote this when St. John Paul II was Pope.

I like to begin my day with the Daily Readings for Mass: See HERE I try to pray the Rosary daily, taking time to pray slowly, mediating on the mysteries in the lives of Jesus and Mary.

“Consecration” may be a big word for little children, but Our Lady of Fatima did not hesitate to say big words to three little shepherd children at Fatima. Little children are capable of great love! May we be such children – worthy sons and daughters of such a noble Mother.

PS You didn’t mention whether you heard anything from the local Legion of Mary or if you would consider becoming an Auxiliary Member of our group: Queen of Peace Praesidium. If there is anything I can do to help you come closer to Jesus and Mary through the Legion, I’d be very happy to do so. Please ask any questions at all.

If there is any depth to anything I write it is by God’s Grace. I thank Him for any good He can work through me and others. He certainly is a Father Who knows how to give good gifts to His Children.

 

[Casilda]

PS You didn’t mention whether you heard anything from the local Legion of Mary or if you would consider becoming an Auxiliary Member of our group: Queen of Peace Praesidium. If there is anything I can do to help you come closer to Jesus and Mary through the Legion, I’d be very happy to do so. Please ask any questions at all.

I had contacted them over a year ago, almost two. I had read that they assist reverts coming back into the church. I made it to a meeting once, but it was a business meeting, lots of planning, etc. I was hoping to be able to talk to the priest at this particular parish but he was removed by the Bishop. No explanation. Another Legion group at the Cathedral are hard to contact, only email. I will try them again. They usually take a week to answer.

 

[MariaChristi]

I had contacted them over a year ago, almost two. I had read that they assist reverts coming back into the church. I made it to a meeting once, but it was a business meeting, lots of planning, etc. I was hoping to be able to talk to the priest at this particular parish but he was removed by the Bishop. No explanation. Another Legion group at the Cathedral are hard to contact, only email. I will try them again. They usually take a week to answer.

Dear Casilda,

Thanks for getting back to me on your experience. It is a heartache to me, when I hear of anyone having difficulties with a particular local group of Mary’s Legion. We were founded to bring Jesus into the world through Mary, and when any Legion member or group is inaccessible to another brother or sister in Christ — it seems so “out of character”.

Our Legion Praesidium has an outreach to returning Catholics, and we do all we can to get people involved. We advertise in secular papers as well as Church bulletins, school bulletins and even put posters all over town to let people know that we want our Catholics to “come home”. We’ve run a special 6 week program on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11:30 am which has been much appreciated by those who have returned. We run this program three times a year. This ministry is very much in the spirit of the Legion of Mary.

When the Legion began, the first work they took up was visiting the sick but the founder, Servant of God Frank Duff, soon realized that illnesses and weaknesses people experience in their bodies are tended far more often than the even greater needs in their souls. So the Legion set about seeking the lost and wandering sheep. It is a beautiful story of God’s work in persons who are so imbued with His Spirit coming to them through Mary’s maternal care.

However, your seeking and not finding a group may be a matter of “God’s timing” for you. My husband and I knew of no Legion Group where we lived for many years and then Divine Providence brought us to our present parish where a new Legion group had begun about 2 years before we arrived. Our Queen of Peace Praesidium is a very sweet group of 9 Active Members and 109 Auxiliary Members.

If you succeed in contacting the Legion at the Cathedral and go to a meeting with them, I’m sure the Lord will give you His wisdom as to whether the Active Legion Membership is a ministry you may want to try or whether becoming an Auxiliary Member is better for you at this time. In either form of membership the Legion provides a “probationary period of three months” for you to try it out before joining as a permanent member.

For me, the Legion was the “place” where I first began to know Mary as a real person, and I also learned about consecrating myself totally to Jesus through her. It has been more of a blessing than I can adequately describe, and so I invite anyone to read about the Legion and the three Legion members whose causes have been introduced for canonization: Servant of God Frank Duff (the founder); Venerable Edel Quinn ( Legion Envoy to Africa) and Servant of God Alphonsus Lamb (Legion Envoy to Latin America).

Let me stop here, I could go on and on about Mary’s Legion. Maybe you will share more after you get to know the Cathedral Legionaries. May your time with them be blessed. I may have already given you a link to the Legion’s official website but in case I didn’t or in case anyone reading this thread is interested you can read more HERE . Spiritual Reading can help all of us to grow and learn how to live our vocation to holiness.