Nov. 11 - "...we consecrate ourselves at one and the same time to Mary and to Jesus."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we continue to listen to the Wisdom, God gave to St. Louis de Montfort in writing “True Devotion”. In our time as in the time of St. Louis there were persons who did not understand the Truth God conveys to us through Scripture, Tradition and the official Magisterium of the Church.

St. Louis de Montfort was a priest who loved God and chose for his motto: “God Alone”. In seeking to do God’s Will, all the Saints have looked to Mary, in obedience to the words of Jesus from His Cross on Calvary, to His Beloved Disciple John standing with Mary:

Behold your Mother.

John took her into his home and into his life. In Chapter 3 of True Devotion, St. Louis continues to explain “…why perfect consecration to Jesus is but a perfect and complete consecration of oneself to the Blessed Virgin…”:

1. (2) It follows then that anyone who in this way consecrates and sacrifices himself voluntarily to Jesus through Mary may no longer dispose of the value of any of his good actions. All his sufferings, all his thoughts, words, and deeds belong to Mary. She can then dispose of them in accordance with the will of her Son and for his greater glory. This dependence, however, is without detriment to the duties of a person’s present and future state of life. One such duty, for example, would be that of a priest who, by virtue of his office or otherwise, must apply the satisfactory or prayer value of the Holy Mass to a particular person. For this consecration can only be made in accordance with the order established by God and in keeping with the duties of one’s state of life.
2. (3) It follows that we consecrate ourselves at one and the same time to Mary and to Jesus. We give ourselves to Mary because Jesus chose her as the perfect means to unite himself to us and unite us to him. We give ourselves to Jesus because he is our last end. Since he is our Redeemer and our God we are indebted to him for all that we are.

We thank you Lord for your working in all the saints to show us how great a Love You have for Mary, and how you have given her to us as our Mother and Model. Come, Holy Spirit, kindle in us the Fire of Your Love. Jesus, I trust in You! Mary, Mother and Model of the Church, pray for us.

 

[hazcompat]

The heart of the Church is Mary’s unique place​

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By decision of Pope Francis, the Roman Rite Catholic Church now celebrates, every year, the memory of the “Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church” on the Monday after Pentecost.

In 1964, Saint Pope Paul VI gave the Virgin Mary the venerable title of “Mother of the Church” in his speech approving the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium . And as Father Claude Touraille explains, “We are far from a mere respectable Marian devotion. We are touching here on the mystery of the Church, and on the fact that the Second Vatican Council dedicated the 8th chapter of Lumen Gentium to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Her place is at the heart of the Church, and it is a unique place. She is her Mother.”

The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, (§222), teaches that by His incarnation, the Son of God united Himself in some way to every man. It follows naturally that the Blessed Virgin Mary became the Mother of humanity.

Moreover, according to the Council of Ephesus in 431, Mary is Theotokos , that is to say the Mother of God. “Therefore the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is but one person, and He has two natures since He is also truly her Son born of her substance.” (Father M.J. Lagrange O.P.)

Saint Augustine, Doctor of the Church, wrote that the body of Jesus is united to the Church, thus forming the total Christ, head and body. This is what we proclaim with this hymn at Pentecost: “We are the body of Christ, each one of us is a member of this body; each one receives the grace of the Spirit for the good of the whole body.”

At Pentecost, the Church was instituted, and sent on a mission, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit: “When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that He might continually sanctify the Church” (Vatican II - Lumen Gentium # 4). By placing the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, on Pentecost Monday, our Pope wished to remind us that Mary was in the Upper Room with the Apostles on the day of Pentecost and that she has been maternally accompanying the Church in her mission since that day.

Adapted from: Catholic78

Read more on mariedenazareth.com :

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.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear hazcompat,

The title of your post; “The heart of the Church is Mary’s unique place” is so beautiful, and so true ! How often we have heard and experienced the truth that Mothers are the “heart” of the family.

Mary is our Mother, given to us by God Himslef, as Jesus said to John from His Cross, and to all of us:

Behold your Mother

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Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful. Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love.