"...the freedom of the children of God..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

How few there may be in this world who understand what “True” freedom means!

God alone can give us the True freedom we need. St. Louis de Montfort, in his treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” continues to write about the many motives which can lead us to undertake and live this devotion. Motives #6 and #7 will conclude this section over the next few days:

6. It gives great liberty of spirit

1. It gives great liberty of spirit - the freedom of the children of God - to those who faithfully practise it. Through this devotion we make ourselves slaves of Jesus by consecrating ourselves entirely to Him. To reward us for this enslavement of love, our Lord frees us from every scruple and servile fear which might restrict, imprison or confuse us; He opens our hearts and fills them with holy confidence in God, helping us to regard God as our Father; He inspires us with a generous and filial love.
2. Without stopping to prove this truth, I shall simply relate an incident which I read in the life of Mother Agnes of Jesus, a Dominican nun of the convent of Langeac in Auvergne, who died a holy death there in 1634.

When she was only seven years old and was suffering great spiritual anguish, she heard a voice telling her that if she wished to be delivered from her anguish and protected against all her enemies, she should make herself the slave of our Lord and his Blessed Mother as soon as possible. No sooner had she returned home than she gave herself completely to Jesus and Mary as their slave, although she had never known anything about this devotion before. She found an iron chain, put it round her waist and wore it till the day she died. After this, all her sufferings and scruples disappeared and she found great peace of soul.

This led her to teach this devotion to many others who made rapid progress in it - among them, Father Olier, the founder of the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, and several other priests and students from the same seminary. One day the Blessed Virgin appeared to Mother Agnes and put a gold chain around her neck to show her how happy she was that Mother Agnes had become the slave of both her and her Son. And St. Cecilia, who accompanied our Lady, said to her, “Happy are the faithful slaves of the Queen of heaven, for they will enjoy true freedom.” …

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love and bring us into ALL Truth.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks patricius, for your faithful “heart”. I had a feeling you might be the first to give your heart to this post. Thank you for your faithful love and dependence on Jesus through Mary and I thank them for their love and patience with all of us who continue to travel on the “narrow road” leading to Eternal Life. Please let us continue to pray for one another, for the Church and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy, through Mary.

 

[patricius79]

Thank you, MariaChristi,

This part speaks to me today:

To reward us for this enslavement of love, our Lord frees us from every scruple and servile fear which might restrict, imprison or confuse us; He opens our hearts and fills them with holy confidence in God, helping us to regard God as our Father

 

[StephieNorthCo]

We, as a people are so much conditioned against the word slave (and even servant) that it is hard for them (us) to get past that conditioning.

It’s such a shame as being a slave to the will of God brings sooo many benefits.

God Bless,

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Yes, you quoted a particular part of St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise that I hope many of us were blessed by, as you were:

To reward us for this enslavement of love, our Lord frees us from every scruple and servile fear which might restrict, imprison or confuse us; He opens our hearts and fills them with holy confidence in God, helping us to regard God as our Father

So many of us can hold onto our “fears” that bind and imprison us. True “Fear of the Lord” frees us to love Him. By God’s gifts of the Holy Spirit given in Baptism and Confirmation and renewed, our only fear after our repentence and conversion from past sins, is that we may do something in the future that could offend Him.

So we pray for Wisdom and an increase in all the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, and keep our focus fixed on Jesus, through Mary. The past is over, and the present is still a warfare, but we know Jesus has won the battle and we fight on with Mary who intercedes with Jesus before the Father for us, until the end.

Let us Pray always for one another, for the Church, especially the Pope, as the Amazonian synod is coming to a close in Rome this Sunday, and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Stephie,

Thanks for your reply, and your insights into the difficulty for so many in their reading the word “slave” in such a negative way – especially when we hear in God’s Word the beauty of St. Pauls description of Jesus:

“…He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave…” (Phil 2:7)

There seems to be a misunderstanding in the minds and hearts of some who simply do not want to be “under” anyone, including God! How foolish that is when we consider God Himself became Flesh in order to give us His beautiful example of humility and to inspire St. Matthew to include these words of Jesus in the Gospel:

“…Learn of Me for I am Meek and Humble of Heart…” (cf Mt. 11:29)

Please let us pray for one another, for the Church, and in particular the Pope as the Amazonian synod comes to a close this Sunday that God will pour down Graces upon Pope Francis’ Petrine Ministry that he may confirm his brethren in Supernatural Faith, by giving an unambiguous statement to reject errors.

Let us continually pray for all those in most need of God’s Mercy.