*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *
Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.
Arenāt we already consecrated to Christ by our Baptisms?
From St. Louis Mary de Montfortās
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, which St. Maximilian Mariaās consecration is based on,
ewtn.com/library/montfort/truedevo.htm. To the best of my horribly imperfect knowledge, St. Maximilian Maria went around posting excerpts of St. Louis Mary de Montfortās
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin at one time in his life. This devotion is a **2. A perfect renewal of baptismal promises **
**126. ** I have said that this devotion could rightly be called a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism. Before baptism every Christian was a slave of the devil because he belonged to him. At baptism he has either personally or through his sponsors solemnly renounced Stan, his seductions and his works. He has chosen Jesus and his Master and Sovereign Lord and undertaken to depend upon him as a slave of love. This is what is done in the devotion I am presenting to you. We renounce the devil, the world, sin and self, as expressed in the act of consecration, and we give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary. We even do something more than at baptism, when ordinarily our god-parents speak for us and we are given to Jesus only by proxy. In this devotion we give ourselves personally and freely and we are fully aware of what we are doing.
In holy baptism we do not give ourselves to Jesus explicitly through Mary, nor do we give him the value of our good actions. After baptism we remain entirely free either to apply that value to anyone we wish or keep it for ourselves. But by this ocnsecration we give ourselves explictly to Jesus through Maryās hands and we include in our consecration the value of all our actions.
**127. ** āMenā says St. Thomas, āvow in baptism to renounce the devil and all his seductions.āThis vow,ā says St. Augustine, is the greatest and the most indispensable of all vows.ā Canon Law experts say the same thing: The vow we make at baptism is the most important of all vows." But does anyone keep this great vow? Does anyone fulfill the promises of baptism faithfully? Is it not true that nearly all Christians prove unfaithful to the promises made to Jesus in baptism? Where does this universal failure come from, if not from manās habitual forgetfulness of the promises and responsibilities of baptism and from the fact that scarcely anyone makes a personal ratification of the contract made with God through his sponsors?
**128. ** This is so true that the Council of Sens, convened by order of the Emperor Louis the Debonair to remedy the grave disorders of Christendom, came to the conclusion that the **main cause of this moral breakdown was manās forgetfulness of his baptisimal promises and his disregard for them. ** It could suggest no better way of remedying this great evil than to encourage all Christians to renew the promises and vows of baptism.
**129. ** The Cathechism of the Council of Trent, faithful interpreter of that holy Council, exhorts priests to do the same and to encourage the faithful to remember and to hold fast to the belief that they are bound and consecrated as slaves to Jesus, their Redeemer and Lord. The parish priest shall exhort the faithful never to lose sight of the fact that they are bound in conscience to dedicate and consecrate themselves for ever to their Lord and Redeemer as his slaves."
**130. ** Now the Councils, the Fathers of the Church and experience itself, all indicate that the best remedy for the frequent lapses of Christians is to remind them of the responsibilities of their baptism and have them renew the vows they made at that time. Is it not reasonable therefore to do this in our day and in a perfect manner by adopting this devotion with its consecration to our Lord through his Blessed Mother? I say, ,āin a pefect mannerā for
in making this consecration to Jesus, we are adopting the perfect means of giving ourselves to him which is the most Blessed Virgin Mary.
Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.
*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *
Okay, please form a line and weāll get each of you moving and answer your questions about consecration to the Blessed Virgin and the work that we Knights do.