Mar 24 - Wk 3 - Day 7 - Last Day of Preparation

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today is the Vigil of the Great Feast of the Incarnation/ Annuciation. It is the 33rd and last day of preparation before we pray our Act of Total Consecration tomorrow. How beautifully the Holy Spirit inspired St. Louis de Montfort to write for us the treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, leading us through 12 days of seeking to rid ourselves of the spirit of the world; Wk 1 - seeking true self knowledge; Wk 2 - seeking to understand Mary better and finally this Wk 3, seeking to know Jesus better! In his treatise, St. Louis wrote:

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. (Method for Holy Communion is HERE) 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.”

If you do not have the opportunity for confession in your parish tomorrow before you pray your Act of Consecration, your last confession will suffice, and receive confession as soon as you can. If you do not have the opportunity to receive Holy Communion, you may make a Spiritual Communion and speak to God who dwells within you. It is the love with which we make our Consecration to Jesus through Mary that is most important. On this last day of preparation in which we seek to know Jesus better, it seems to me that the Liturgy of the Hours for this vigil gives us a “picture” of Jesus to ponder, from Philipians 2: 5 - 11:

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Not only do we ponder but we are called to live in Christ, through Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray for one another, grateful for all the graces of our journey, and for the Church that we may bring Christ to all in need.

Litany of the Holy Spirit HERE
Ave Maris Stella HERE
Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus HERE