What to do about my love for Our Lady?

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Startingcatholic

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What should I do with my strong love for Our Lady as well as The Sacred Heart of Jesus? The reason I am struggling to find an answer is because I start RCIA in the fall so I can’t receive Eucharistic so any devotions are out of the question and I have to wait to be consecrated until after I have entered the church. Any ideas?
 
I guess I moreso felt it would be inappropriate to consecrate myself to Mary before even entering into the church, I feel like before I consecrate myself I should be in the church.
 
Say the Angelus daily.
Pray the Rosary.
Novenas, a Mary, Undoer of Knots.
Many litanies to Mary.
 
You can consecrate yourself to Mary any time you want. She would welcome you with open arms.

Also, once you consecrate yourself, you’re supposed to renew it every year, so you can certainly repeat your entire 33-day or 9-day consecration or however you are doing it, next year after you are received into the Church. And every year after that.

Likewise, you can venerate the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary right now. It’s not reserved for Catholics only.

The only things you can’t do until you become a Catholic is earn indulgences, receive the Holy Eucharist and go to confession. But other than that, you can pray, do devotions, anything you want for Jesus and Mary.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
The only things you can’t do until you become a Catholic is earn indulgences, receive the Holy Eucharist and go to confession.
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Re confession, if the OP is validly baptized and as along as he has asked his priest, he can go to confession before he finishes RCIA. Long before he finishes RCIA.
 
Our Lady welcomes you anytime! Say the Rosary, the Angelus, a novena to Mary and there are many other wonderful devotions to Our Lady. God bless you on your journey!
 
What a blessing to have such devotion to our lady already. Many of us converts struggle to build that relationship.

I just came into the church this past vigil. There certainly are some things you can do before becoming Catholic. You can say any Marian prayers you’d like. I think saying the rosary through RCIA was very beneficial to my relationship with Mary. You can also wear a Marian sacramental as a private devotion. A Miraculous Medal or a Brown Scapular would be good choices. You just have to bear in mind that you couldn’t be enrolled until you were confirmed. You also could begin to foster a particular devotion to our lady now even if you had to wait until confirmation for any indulgence work, etc.

So, there is still a lot you can do now. I’m sure she’d be happy for you to do so.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
The only things you can’t do until you become a Catholic is earn indulgences, receive the Holy Eucharist and go to confession
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Why can’t a non-Catholic receive partial indulgences? (Plenary, I can understand, because of the necessity of confession and communion.)
 
Dear Startingcatholic,

If God has given you a strong love for Our Lady as well as the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I encourage you to pray for Grace to grow in the Love He has given you.

May I ask how you came to love Jesus and Mary with such a strong love? God can draw us to Himself in many ways. Since I was baptized as an infant and went to Catholic Schools all my life, I’ve been blessed in learning to Love Jesus and Mary at an early age.

Were you drawn to the Catholic Church by devotions we have to honor Mary and through her to give greater honor to Jesus? Devotions like First Friday in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and First Saturday devotions in Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are beautiful. Perhaps you read or heard of St. Margaret Mary and the revelations of The Sacred Heart of Jesus to her, or you read books by Sister Lucia of Fatima and the Revelations of Jesus and Mary to her. Since those two particular devotions usually include “Communions of Reparation”, I can see where you may have connected them to Eucharist and thought you cannot participate.

It is true that one cannot receive Holy Communion until having been received into the Catholic Church, but perhaps you misunderstood what someone told you about “any devotions are out of the question”. You can have devotion to the Sacred Heart by praying to Him and offering Him the love in your heart. You can show love to others for love of Him. It is the same with devotion to Mary. Praying the Hail Mary with attention and devotion, or speaking to her in your own words is pleasing to her and to Jesus Who told us from His Cross: “Behold your Mother”. Devotion comes from the heart.

As someone has already suggested, it might be good to speak to the Priest or whomever is in charge of the RCIA Program you will begin in the fall. Consecration to Jesus through Mary is usually made after a good preparation, so it may be more prudent to wait until you have received more instruction because there is much to learn in RCIA and in fact much the Holy Spirit wants to teach all of us all through our lives.

Certainly continue to give your love to Jesus and Mary each day. If you have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, you can look in the Index and under Mary to find much to nourish your devotion. Mary is both Mother and Model for the Church. I know that I learned of Jesus and Mary as a child but as I grew into my teen age years I learned about Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. Having consecrated myself then, I continue to renew my Consecration often. May Our Lady guide you closer to Jesus every day, until you can receive Him in your First Holy Communion. Please let us pray for one another.
 
Thanks for that clarification. I assumed RCIA would tell him when he can/ should go as typically a baptized person would confess shortly before receiving their First Communion. If not baptized then he would not need to confess prior to being received into the Church since the baptism would suffice for him to receive First Communion and then he would be going to confession after that.
 
Startingcatholic said:
I have to wait to be consecrated until after I have entered the church. Any ideas?
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The term ‘consecration’ is quite misused. What we are doing is entrusting ourselves to Our Blessed Virgin Mary.
Anyone can do that. It doesn’t need a 30 day program , it doesn’t need a long extended format.
All you need do is ask Our Blessed Virgin Mary to take you and for you to be entrusted to her.
And anyone from any denomination or no denomination can do that.

Do you pray the Rosary? You can start doing a little of the Rosary too if you like.

Consecration is a term for religious, Priests or Religious, the clergy if you like.

You are in my prayers
 
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Consecration to Jesus through Mary is the devotion started by Saint Louis-Marie de Monfort and it is for anyone who wants to do it. You don’t have to be Catholic either. Consecration is not just a term for Priests or Religious.
 
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Yeah, it’s important to note that while some might think the word “Consecration” is misused, the 33-day and 9-day “Marian Consecrations” or even just saying a short prayer of “Marian Consecration” at the end of a rosary novena has become very popular.

The OP is going to hear the term “Marian Consecration” as there are currently many websites promoting this and many prayer groups doing it. Some of them are using the St. Louis de Montfort consecration, some are using 33 Days to Morning Glory, some are using the 9-day Maximilian Kolbe consecration, some are just using some consecration prayer, but it has become a generally accepted term and it is not just for priests and religious.
 
In this usage of the word, it means entrusting ourselves to the saint we are venerating.

Clergy and religious are consecrated, laity are not. Don Ruggero, a clergy member who used to frequent this forum, made an excellent post or two about the difference and usage of the word and what it actually meant to live the consecrated life. And he also spoke of entrusting ourselves to Mary. Don Ruggero, as well as a member of the clergy, is a Professor in Marian Theology.
 
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Dear LB,

I agree that the word “consecration” is often misunderstood and thus often misused. However the 33 Day preparation which St. Louis de Montfort taught in his Mission for lay persons was to help them to renew the promises made at Baptism. Most baptisms are given when we are very young (physically and or spiritually) so St. Louis’ preaching and teaching was intended to bring lay persons into the full stature of Christ (cf Eph 4:13)

The Consecration of Religious is a unique form of Consecration, but all are called to holiness. The word can be used not only for religious and clergy but for all those desiring to give themselves more fully to God. “Entrustment” is also used as did St. John Paul II, however I believe he used that as a word more easily understood for some who were not Catholic.

It is true that anyone can give themselves more completely to God in an instant, Catholics or non Catholics, but in most cases the better the preparation the better the result will be, it seems to me. I pray for all those who will be preparing to enter the Church in the fall with our “startingcatholic” . Hopefully all the Church will grow in their love for Jesus through Mary as each new member is born again! 🙂
 
Dear LB

The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses the word “consecration” in reference to the laity in paragraphs 871, 784, 901, 1141 and 1280 . Don Ruggero may have referred to the specific and very special “consecration” of clergy and religious, but the Catechism uses the word Consecration specifically in reference to laity also.

Paragraph 1535 demonstrates several uses of the word “consecration” in relation to the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony and Holy Orders:

1535 Through these sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and Confirmation1 for the common priesthood of all the faithful can receive particular consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders are consecrated in Christ’s name "to feed the Church by the word and grace of God."2 On their part, "Christian spouses are fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and dignity of their state by a special sacrament."3
 
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I am absolutely confident a Professor of Marian Theology and a member of the clergy knows what he is talking about.

Your catechism quote covers religious, clergy and the vocation of marriage, marriage being a special sacrament in itself that two people share and is witnessed in public and recognised by the Church in public.
Your quote does not cover the topic I have raised.

With regard to the way we can choose to entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, people can go the route outlined by St Louis de Montfort over 300 years ago,
Or people can go other routes, including acts of entrustment via prayer and other routes outlined by other saints.
It is up to the individual, and what suits them best. And neither way is better or worse.
The end result is entrusting ourselves to Mary, and living our lives with regard to that.
There are Public Associations of the Faithful who include entrustment to Mary as part of their formula of prayer, as an act of prayer, a simple prayer repeated during group meetings. There is one such association, formed for clergy, by clergy that uses a prayer of entrustment, as compared to a 33 day long preparation. A person joining the Legion of Mary, a recognised Public Association of the Faithful, is free to go any path they wish. For example.
I have found that preference for either way seems to be quite regional.
We renew our baptismal promises every time we attend a baptism and at different times over the Liturgical year.

There is a danger in people such as the OP, thinking there are too many roadblocks or hoops to jump through when in reality, a private devotion can be taken up by anyone of any denomination at any time. I am sure Mary is waiting and wanting to gift those yet to enter into full communion with the church , her love and intercession. And all they need to is ask.
 
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