"The most perfect...of all devotions to the Blessed Virgin consists in..."

[MariaChristi]

1. We must avoid joining those whose devotion is false and hypocritical, being only on their lips and in their outward behaviour. Neither must we be among those who are critical and scrupulous, who are afraid of going too far in honouring our Lady, as if honour given to our Lady could detract from her Son. We must not be among those who are lukewarm or self-interested, who have no genuine love for our Lady or filial confidence in her, and who only pray to her to obtain or keep some temporal benefit. We must not be like those who are inconstant and casual in their devotion to the Blessed Virgin, who serve her in fits and starts, honour her for a short time and fall away when temptation comes. Lastly, we must avoid joining those whose devotion is presumptuous, who under the cloak of some exterior practices of devotion to Mary, conceal a heart corrupted by sin, and who imagine that because of such devotion to Mary they will not die without the sacraments but will be saved, no matter what sins they commit.
2. We must not neglect to become members of our Lady’s confraternities, especially the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, fulfilling faithfully the duties prescribed which can only make us holy.
3. But the most perfect and most profitable of all devotions to the Blessed Virgin consists in consecrating ourselves entirely to her, and to Jesus through her, as their slaves. It involves consecrating to her completely and for all eternity our body and soul, our possessions both spiritual and material, the atoning value and the merits of our good actions and our right to dispose of them. In short, it involves the offering of all we have acquired in the past, all we actually possess at the moment, and all we will acquire in the future. As there are several books treating of this devotion, I will content myself with saying that I have never found a practice of devotion to our Lady more solid than this one, since it takes its inspiration from the example of Jesus Christ. Neither have I found any devotion which redounds more to God’s glory, is more salutary to the soul, and more feared by the enemies of our salvation; nor, finally, have I found a devotion that is more attractive and more satisfying.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Some object to the word “slave” insisting Jesus called His disciples “friends” – so we are not “slaves”. The Father called Jesus “My Beloved Son” – yet in His Word, through St. Paul He tells us, Jesus took the form of a “slave” exhorting us to do the same:

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. (Phil 2: 5-8)

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful. Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love. Jesus we trust in You! Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us.

 

[DMKG]

Thank you for this inspiring post. I recently completed the book “33 Days to Morning Glory” by Fr Michael Gaitley.
It is a modern day version of St Louis de Montfort’s work. I have been thinking about also making my total consecration to Our Blessed Mother using the original St Louis de Montforts book. I was wondering if you know if there is much of a difference between the two?
I have been going through an incredibly difficult spiritual battle for quite a long time, and I know that the intercession of Our Blessed Mother is critical in this type of battle. I pray the Rosary daily, and ask for Her intercession constantly. May I ask you to keep me in your prayers, and ask Our Blessed Mother to intercede to Our Savior Jesus Christ on my behalf?
Thank you, and may Almighty God bless you.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear DMKG,

Thanks so much for your reply! I read the book “33 Days to Glory” but always recommend the reading of St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” for several reasons. While Fr. Gaitley’s book can help some to grow closer to Jesus through Mary, St. Louis de Montfort goes far more deeply into continual growth in the Spiritual Life God intended for us from Baptism until we “finish the race” here on earth and the spiritual battle is over!

Praying the Rosary is important because we are drawn into the lives of Jesus and Mary to ponder those mysteries. It is a great grace you’ve received in desiring to continue to pray the Rosary daily and constantly ask for Mary’s intercession. Of course, you are now, and will be in my prayers each day.

Take your time in reading St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Read prayerfully, trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide you into all Truth, Who is Jesus… Some books include more prayers and readings than St. Louis de Montfort. I simply follow the outline St. Louis gives for the 33 Days in Preparation to Consecrate oneself to Jesus through Mary, in Chapter 7 of “True Devotion” paragraphs 227 through 242.

You can read the treatise online by simply clicking on the link for the title or you can purchase a small inexpensive paperback through Amazon. If you have any questions please feel free to post the question on this thread or in a Private Message. When he completed this last Chapter of St. Louis de Montfort’s “Love of Eternal Wisdom” he included a copy of his own prayerful Act of Total “Consecration of Oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the Hands of Mary.”

It seems to me St. Louis wrote his “Treatise on True Devotion to Mary” after the “Love of Eternal Wisdom” so he could continue cooperating with the graces God was giving him. Please let us pray for one another and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy, that we all may cooperate with God’s grace and obey Jesus’ words from His Cross:

BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER!

By God’s grace, let us do as John did and take Mary into our homes, our hearts and our lives – that we may remain in Jesus as Mary did on this earth and live forever with them in heaven.

 

[pulchraesamicamea]

I have this book! Thank you for sharing.
I just love Our Lady. I just am really glad that I am a member of the Holy Catholic Church.

 

[patricius79]

You can read the treatise online by simply clicking on the link for the title or you can purchase a small inexpensive paperback through Amazon.

I agree.

However, if someone has a little more money, amazon has a beautiful hardcover copy which is likely to last a lot longer than a paperback. I started with a paperback from TAN, but as you say this book is so profound that I would keep reading my favorite passages and the book eventually fell apart. Here is the hardcover I would recommend, for about 14.00 (plus shipping, unless one has prime):

https://www.amazon.com/True-Devotion-Mary-Preparation-Consecration/dp/1783790040

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear pulchraesamicamea.

Thanks for your reply, and I join you in being grateful for the gift of Mary in my life also. As St. Louis teaches in his treatise on True Devotion, the Consecration to Jesus through Mary is a perfect renewal of our Baptismal promises. We were truly “born again” when we were baptized into the Body of Christ, and Mary our Mother cares for us with such tender love – even as she cared for the Son of her womb, The Incarnate Son of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is so sad to me that many Catholics today, seem to be either forgetting what they were taught about the Church’s devotion to Mary or never were taught in the first place. So many children have parents who were not well-formed in the faith, and who therefore are less devoted it seems than in years past. Let us pray fervently to Jesus through Mary for all our brothers and sisters who have yet to know and love our Mother as true sons and daughters of our Father and broters and sisters of Jesus.

 

[patricius79]

I have never found a practice of devotion to our Lady more solid than this one, since it takes its inspiration from the example of Jesus Christ. Neither have I found any devotion which redounds more to God’s glory,

St. Maximilian Kolbe, who taught the same as St. Louis DeMontfort, said that by uniting our actions with Mary they acquire perfect purity. Then Mary unites them to Christ, who gives them an infinite value, so that God the Father receives infinite glory from our little actions and sufferings.

Here is St. Louis in True Devotion to Mary on this point:

1. By this practice, faithfully observed, you will give Jesus more glory in a month than by any other practice, however difficult, in many years; and I give the following reasons for it:

§ 7.1. Because, doing your actions by our Blessed Lady, as this practice teaches you, you abandon your own intentions and operations, although good and known, to lose yourself, so to speak, in the intentions of the Blessed Virgin, although they are unknown. Thus you enter by participation into the sublimity of her intentions, which are so pure, that she gives more glory to God by the least of her actions—for example, in twirling her distaff or pointing her needle—than St. Lawrence by his cruel martyrdom on his gridiron, or even all the Saints by all their heroic actions put together. It was thus that, during her sojourn here below, she acquired such an unspeakable aggregate of graces and merits, that it were easier to count the stars of the firmament, the drops of water in the sea, or the grains of sand upon its shore, than her merits and graces. Thus it was that she gave more glory to God than all the Angels and Saints have given Him, or ever will give Him. O prodigy of a Mary! thou canst not help but do prodigies of grace in souls that wish to lose themselves altogether in thee!
True Devotion To Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort

 

[Limoncello4021]

Remember too that you can consecrate yourself to Mary any day at any time. It is nice to do the long preparations but not necessary. She gets it. Say a simple act of consecration to Jesus through Mary, and say the daily Rosary with devotion.

 

[Justin_Mary]

I recently completed the book “33 Days to Morning Glory” by Fr Michael Gaitley.
It is a modern day version of St Louis de Montfort’s work. I have been thinking about also making my total consecration to Our Blessed Mother using the original St Louis de Montforts book. I was wondering if you know if there is much of a difference between the two?

I’ve read both as well. My consecration to Jesus through Mary is a bit of an amalgamation of the two. I see Fr Gaitley’s book as a nice introduction to the spiritual life, but as MariaChristi noted de Montford’s book takes you further.

To his credit, Gaitley goes further into the spiritual life with his other books but 33 days to Morning Glory is an excellent start.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Limoncello,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, it is true, that we can consecrate ourselves to Mary any day, anytime, but it is not just “nice” to pray during 33 Days of Preparation, as St. Louis de Montfort has written, to consecrate oneself totally to Jesus through Mary the first time, or to renew that consecration. It is a special relationship with Jesus through Mary that is intended to grow. It is not a “casual thing”. Daily we can use the short form, of course, and our Mother is pleased with our love always, but we need to pray the Rosary and the prayer of Consecration with growing attention and devotion.

This is not to infer that you do not pray with attention and devotion, Limoncello, but I would not want anyone coming to this thread to learn more about “The Love of Eternal Wisdom” and Consecration to Jesus through Mary, in a way that is not as worthy of Them. Jesus and Mary have suffered more than we can imagine, and so our efforts should always be the best we can give. Please let us continue to pray for one another, that God may help us all to grow in the Supernatural Faith, Hope and above all Charity we received in Baptism. St. Louis rightly teaches that the Total Consecration of oneself is a perfect renewal of our Baptism. Thanks again for your reply.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks for your reply, dear Justin_Mary, and I appreciate your understanding of the difference between the two books on Devotion to Mary. I suspect Fr. Gaitley’s other books go further because by God’s Grace he has grown more in his own spiritual life.

It seems to me that is what God desires – that we continue to grow listening to His Word in Scripture – St. Louis de Montfort consistently refers to both Old and New Testament Scriptures in his writing as well as to the Fathers and Doctors of the church and the Magisterium. — he earnestly encourages us to listen and learn from Jesus as Mary did.

As you said, Fr. Gaitley’s book may be a “start” but the goal is to be “perfect as Our Heavenly Father is perfect” as Jesus has told us. (cf 5:48).

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thanks again for another beautiful quote from St. Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. As many times as I have read this little treatise, I learn more each time I read and ponder all the Grace God gave to St. Louis de Montfort to write such a book! Yes, both St. Louis and St. Maximilian are great champions of Mary who encourage us to know and love her more.

By God’s Grace, may we continue to trust Jesus to purify us in the Fire of His Love, by the power of His Holy Spirit.

 

[Justin_Mary]

Mother is pleased with our love always, but we need to pray the Rosary and the prayer of Consecration with growing attention and devotion

I try to pray the Rosary daily. There was a time when I prayed all the mysteries daily. But that didn’t last long. I keep remembering our mother asked us to pray the rosary at Fatima, so I try.

I’m also preparing to temporarily profess into the third order Carmelites who have a rich Marian devotion, but they don’t stress praying the Rosary. They don’t even recommend it (not that they discourage it).

But they see wearing the brown scapular prayerfully as a consecration to Jesus through Mary.

 

[Wm777]

Very beautiful chants to Our Lady!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Justin Mary,

Thanks for your desire to Honor Jesus theough Mary by praying our Mother’s Rosary as she asked. Mary is always interceding for us, and her apparitions at Fatima are very important. Her words to us are likewise important for Mary Listened to all Jesus said and did, and pondered them in her heart. Mary told the servants, and she tells us: “Do Whatever He tells you”.

Personally I would pray seriously to the Holy Spirit and through Mary’s intercession for the Truth of whether or not to join any group that does not give some importance to the Rosary. I love the Carmelite Saints, and have read and continue to read the works of St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Thereese of Lisieux, and others. I also wear the Brown Scapular. Sacramentals are beautiful gifts and it is good to use them to draw closer to Jesus, but the Scriptures come first in God’s Revelation.

St. John of the Cross and St. Louis de Montfort have this in common: when they wrote they constantly refer to God’s Word. May the Holy Spirit direct you as you seek to grow in your love for Jesus through Mary.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear William,

Thanks so much for this beautiful gift of Gregorian chants sung so beautifully by the Benedictine nuns.
Gregorian chant is still the official music of the Church yet we hear it so seldom in our Catholic parishes now.

How different when I consider we learned Gregorian chant as early as 4th Grade in the Catholic elementary school I attended. The entire school grades 4 through 8 also attended the Miraculous Medal Novena after school. That novena to Our Lady left an impression on me because even after I graduated from school I attended that Novena in our parsih until I left for college. We also had a shrine to Mary in every classroom in the Month of May – but I see few of those traditions being kept in many Catholic schools today.

Thanks for sharing your own love for Jesus through Mary, your love of Mary as Mother and Model, and your love for beautiful music with us.

 

[Limoncello4021]

You totally misread my post and somehow assume I don’t pray with attention and devotion, or that I take my relationship with Jesus and Mary too casually? Goodness, where did you get this from? Please be careful not to make assumptions about one’s spiritual life. My point is stated in the post above: you do not have to follow the de Montfort or Gaitley books to consecrate yourself to Mary. Many are turned off by these books, and it is important not to speak as if they are doctrinal necessities just because someone likes them and finds them beneficial.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Limoncello,

So sorry for the misundertanding. Please go back to my post and re-read the second paragraph in which I wrote:

This is not to infer that you do not pray with attention and devotion, Limoncello, but I would not want anyone coming to this thread to learn more about “The Love of Eternal Wisdom” and Consecration to Jesus through Mary, in a way that is not as worthy of Them.

I wrote those because I was aware you might not understand what I was trying to say to all who might read this thread – and I included myself in the warning that we all need to have due reverence for God and our Mother Mary in all our prayers. There is a tendency to be “casual” – in the way we can slip into treating God and Our Mother as if they were on the same level rather than as they are truly. Jesus humbled Himself to assume our human nature and became like us in all things except sin. Mary was created without sin and remained sinless. We all need to love and treat God and His Mother with reverence – even as we approach them as loving sins and daughters – we need to remember who God is and who we are. I still don’t know if you are understanding what I tried to say, but…

I meant no offense to you or to anyone for I know only God can judge the heart. I simply want to repeat in a way – what St. Teresa of Avila told her nuns and that is – if they did not pray with “attention and devotion”, they may be moving their lips but they are not praying. I’m sorry you were offended – that was not my intention. Hopefully, you and any others who read my post and were offended will re- read the second paragraph closely and take to heart these words:

…Jesus and Mary have suffered more than we can imagine, and so our efforts should always be the best we can give. Please let us continue to pray for one another…

Thanks again for your reply to let me know your feelings, and I trust you will forgive or have already forgiven the unintended offense you suffered.

 

[patricius79]

Mary was created without sin and remained sinless . We all need to love and treat God and His Mother with reverence – even as we approach them as loving sins and daughters

I agree that we must treat God and His Mother with reverence. However, this reverence should be very very soft and not at all repellent.

And I wonder if we shouldn’t say that familiarity is even more important. I don’t mean in the sense of not realizing God’s Majesty and Holiness, or in not realizing our great sinfulness. This is why some liturgical music bothers me and it bothers me that most churchgoing catholics don’t go to Confession and–according to my perception— continue to habitually practice certain immoralities without trying to stop. In my opinion, the priest should probably also face the tabernacle rather than the congregation.

But since God’s highest attribute is not Holiness or Justice, but is rather His Goodness and Mercy, it seems to me that we should emphasize confidence in God more than reverence. Therefore, even if we are the greatest sinner, we should–as St. Faustina tells–throw ourselves with contrition into Christ’s arms like a child into the arms of his mother, with full confidence that He will not punish us.

And likewise I see Mary’s role in this as being especially to increase our confidence. It is certainly not to make us in the least afraid of God. And the thought of being afraid of Mary makes no sense, since, as St. Alphonsus tells us, she does not have to do with justice, but rather with mercy.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear patricius,

Thank you for your reply. There is really is no conflict between our receiving God’s Love, Mercy and Goodness and our need for Reverence.

Perhaps the word “intimacy” is more appropriate than “familiarity” in speaking of our relationship with God because the word “familiarity” has some negative connotations in the present culture.

None of us can “judge” another’s heart, but with brotherly and sisterly love we can observe certain things that are not in line with God’s revelation in His Word. As you said in another post, dear brother, we need discernment. Today’s culture has become irreverent, thinking too much of or about self and thinking too little of God’s presence in themselves and others. It seems to me, much of this stems from the lack of Reverence for God. “Familiarity” seems to lead people to ignore God’s Presence in The Eucharist and in His Word at Mass.

How often entering the House of God , we hear conversations out loud or greetings to friends with little Reverence for God in the tabernacle or for those trying to pray and seek the “intimacy” with God that comes from His Grace. How many people really listen to the Gospel? Again, I’m trying to explain Reverential “Fear of the Lord” which is “the beginning of Wisdom” (Prov.9:10), and not the servile fear of punishment.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

Love is our goal. Let us continue to trust Him as Mary did in her “Yes”. Mary had that perfect Reverence, as she she answered God: “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, Be it done to me according to Your Word.” Mary was not fearful but she was made perfect in her love.

I’m not sure if I explained “Reverence” as different from “familiarity” in a helpful way but I hope you’ll pray over the differences mentioned. Thanks again for your continued love for Jesus through Mary.