Mar. 1 - Ash Wed. -Day 10 - on our journey to Total Consecration

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday, we looked at St. Louis de Montort’s description of sinners as symbolized by the figure of Esau to help us in “emptying ourselves of the spirit of the world which is opposed to Jesus”. Today, Ash Wednesday, as we begin the holy season of Lent, we acknowledge our sinfulness, but we also look to change.

It can help to go back to Chapter 5 in “True Devotion” to look at Jacob, who “is the type of our Lord and of souls who are saved”. St. Louis describes those who are like Jacob thus:

…196. It is in a similar manner that God’s chosen ones usually act. They stay at home with their mother - that is, they have an esteem for quietness, love the interior life, and are assiduous in prayer. They always remain in the company of the Blessed Virgin, their Mother and Model, whose glory is wholly interior and who during her whole life dearly loved seclusion and prayer. It is true, at times they do venture out into the world, but only to fulfil the duties of their state of life, in obedience to the will of God and the will of their Mother.

No matter how great their accomplishments may appear to others, they attach far more importance to what they do within themselves in their interior life, in the company of the Blessed Virgin. For there they work at the great task of perfection, compared to which all other work is mere child’s play. At times their brothers and sisters are working outside with great energy, skill and success, and win the praise and approbation of the world. But they know by the light of the Holy Spirit that there is far more good, more glory and more joy in remaining hidden and recollected with our Lord, in complete and perfect submission to Mary than there is in performing by themselves marvellous works of nature and grace in the world, … Glory for God and riches for men are in her house.

Lord Jesus, how lovely is your dwelling-place! The sparrow has found a house to dwell in, and the turtle-dove a nest for her little ones! How happy is the man who dwells in the house of Mary, where you were the first to dwell! Here in this home of the elect, he draws from you alone the help he needs to climb the stairway of virtue he has built in his heart to the highest possible points of perfection while in this vale of tears. “How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts!”

1. The elect have a great love for our Lady and honour her truly as their Mother and Queen. They love her mot merely in word but in deed. They honour her not just outwardly, but from the depths of their heart. Like Jacob, they avoid the least thing that might displease her, and eagerly do whatever they think might win her favour. Jacob brought Rebecca two young goats. They bring Mary their body and their soul, with all their faculties, symbolised by Jacob’s two young goats, 1) so that she may accept them as her own; 2) that she may make them die to sin and self by divesting them of self-love, in order to please Jesus her Son, who wishes to have as friends and disciples only those who are dead to sin and self; 3) that she may clothe them according to their heavenly Father’s taste and for his greater glory, which she knows better than any other creature; 4) that through her care and intercession, this body and soul of theirs, thoroughly cleansed from every stain, thoroughly dead to self, thoroughly stripped and well-prepared, may be pleasing to the heavenly Father and deserving of his blessing.

Is this not what those chosen souls do who, to prove to Jesus and Mary how effective and courageous is their love, live and esteem the perfect consecration to Jesus through Mary which we are now teaching them?..

1. They are subject and obedient to our Lady, their good Mother, and here they are simply following the example set by our Lord himself, who spent thirty of the thirty-three years he lived on earth glorifying God his Father in perfect and entire submission to his holy Mother. They obey her, following her advice to the letter, just as Jacob followed that of Rebecca, when she said to him, “My son, follow my advice”; or like the stewards at the wedding in Cana, to whom our Lady said, “Do whatever he tells you.”…

1. They have great confidence in the goodness and power of the Blessed Virgin, their dear Mother, and incessantly implore her help. They take her for their pole-star to lead them safely into harbour. They open their hearts to her and tell her their troubles and their needs. They rely on her mercy and kindness to obtain forgiveness for their sins through her intercession and to experience her motherly comfort in their troubles and anxieties. They even cast themselves into her virginal bosom, hide and lose themselves there in a wonderful manner. There they are filled with pure love, they are purified from the least stain of sin, and they find Jesus in all his fullness. For he reigns in Mary as if on the most glorious of thrones. What incomparable happiness! Abbot Guerric says, "Do not imagine there is more joy in dwelling in Abraham’s bosom than in Mary’s, for it is in her that our Lord placed his throne…

1. Finally, chosen souls keep to the ways of the Blessed Virgin, their loving Mother - that is, they imitate her and so are sincerely happy and devout and bear the infallible sign of God’s chosen ones… "

By God’s Grace, may we truly empty ourselves of the spirt of the world which opposes Jesus. Mary help us!

 

[esieffe]

Great post, thank you!

 

[patricius79]

1. They have great confidence in the goodness and power of the Blessed Virgin, their dear Mother, and incessantly implore her help. They take her for their pole-star to lead them safely into harbour. They open their hearts to her and tell her their troubles and their needs. They rely on her mercy and kindness to obtain forgiveness for their sins through her intercession and to experience her motherly comfort in their troubles and anxieties. They even cast themselves into her virginal bosom, hide and lose themselves there in a wonderful manner. There they are filled with pure love, they are purified from the least stain of sin, and they find Jesus in all his fullness. For he reigns in Mary as if on the most glorious of thrones. What incomparable happiness! Abbot Guerric says, "Do not imagine there is more joy in dwelling in Abraham’s bosom than in Mary’s, for it is in her that our Lord placed his throne…

1. Finally, chosen souls keep to the ways of the Blessed Virgin, their loving Mother - that is, they imitate her and so are sincerely happy and devout and bear the infallible sign of God’s chosen ones… "

Beautiful! Yes, let’s put all our trust only in Mary and Jesus, letting go of every dead weight and attachment.

Let’s cast ourselves into the virginal bosom of Mary, hiding ourselves there, and doing all that she wills for Christ’s sake.

 

[MariaChristi]

Great post, thank you!

Dear esieffe,

Thanks for your reply. I was so blessed in reading this Chapter 5 of True Devotion, that I went back to it again today. St. Louis de Montfort was given great gifts by God for the Church. His writing has continued to inspire many of us to see more deeply by faith, into the Truth of God’s Word Made Flesh and the beautiful role of His dear Mother in the Mystical Body of Christ.

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
Jesus we trust in You!

 

[MariaChristi]

Beautiful! Yes, let’s put all our trust only in Mary and Jesus, letting go of every dead weight and attachment.

Let’s cast ourselves into the virginal bosom of Mary, hiding ourselves there, and doing all that she wills for Christ’s sake.

Thanks for your reply, dear brother Pat,

These 12 preliminary days, “emptying ourselves of the spirit of the world which is opposed to the spirit of Jesus”, is so very much in the spirit of Lent. The 33 day preparation for renewing our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary begins with this determined effort to seek Jesus, and not the world. It is an ongoing conversion to remain in the Way, the Truth and the Life, Who is Jesus.

Mary is the one human person who knows Him best. No wonder Jesus told us from His Cross, “Behold Your Mother”. She is both Mother and Model for the Church. As she brought Jesus into this world by the power of the Holy Spirit, so she continues her vocation now as Mother in the order of Grace.

By God’s Grace, coming to us through Mary always by the power of the Holy Spirit, may we empty ourselves, making more room for Him to grow in us, each day of our lives.

O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in your servants, in the spirit of holiness, in the fullness of your power, in the perfection of your ways, in the truth of your virtues, in the communion of your mysteries. Rule over every adverse power, in your Spirit, for the glory of the Father. Amen – prayer of Fr. Jean Jacques Olier, S.S. (1608-1657)