Why?

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It occurred to me after posting a thread on beginning the 33 Day Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, some people may ask “Why consecrate myself?” Others have objected to St. Louis de Montfort’s use of the word “slave” and “slavery” and so I thought I’d post some quotes from True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary to answer:

1. Why consecrate myself?

1. As all perfection consists in our being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus it naturally follows that the most perfect of all devotions is that which conforms, unites, and consecrates us most completely to Jesus. Now of all God’s creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. It therefore follows that, of all devotions, devotion to her makes for the most effective consecration and conformity to him. The more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus.

That is why perfect consecration to Jesus is but a perfect and complete consecration of oneself to the Blessed Virgin, which is the devotion I teach; or in other words, it is the perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism.

1. Why the words “slave” and “slavery”?

Second principle: We belong to Jesus and Mary as their slaves

1. From what Jesus Christ is in regard to us we must conclude, as St. Paul says, that we belong not to ourselves but entirely to him as his members and his slaves, for he bought us at an infinite price—the shedding of his Precious Blood. Before baptism, we belonged to the devil as slaves, but baptism made us in very truth slaves of Jesus.

We must therefore live, work and die for the sole purpose of bringing forth fruit for him, glorifying him in our body and letting him reign in our soul. We are his conquest, the people he has won, his heritage.

It is for this reason that the Holy Spirit compares us: 1) to trees that are planted along the waters of grace in the field of the Church and which must bear their fruit when the time comes; 2) to branches of the vine of which Jesus is the stem, which must yield good grapes; 3) to a flock of sheep of which Jesus is the Shepherd, which must increase and give milk; 4) to good soil cultivated by God, where the seed will spread and produce crops up to thirty-fold, sixty- fold, or a hundred-fold. Our Lord cursed the barren fig-tree and condemned the slothful servant who wasted his talent.

All this proves that he wishes to receive some fruit from our wretched selves, namely, our good works, which by right belong to him alone, “created in Jesus Christ for good works”. These words of the Holy Spirit show that Jesus is the sole source and must be the sole end of all our good works, and that we must serve him not just as paid servants but as slaves of love. Let me explain what I mean.

1. There are two ways of belonging to another person and being subject to his authority. One is by ordinary service and the other is by slavery. And so we must use the terms “servant” and “slave”. Ordinary service in Christian countries is when a man is employed to serve another for a certain length of time at a wage which is fixed or agreed upon. When a man is totally dependent on another for life, and must serve his master without expecting any wages or recompense, when he is treated just like a beast of the field over which the owner has the right of life and death, then it is slavery.

1. Now there are three kinds of slavery; natural slavery, enforced slavery, and voluntary slavery. All creatures are slaves of God in the first sense, for “the earth and its fullness belong to the Lord”. The devils and the damned are slaves in the second sense. The saints in heaven and the just on earth are slaves in the third sense. Voluntary slavery is the most perfect of all three states, for by it we give the greatest glory to God, who looks into the heart and wants it to be given to him. Is he not indeed called the God of the heart or of the loving will? For by this slavery we freely choose God and his service before all things, even if we were not by our very nature obliged to do so.

1. There is a world of difference between a servant and a slave. 1) A servant does not give his employer all he is, all he has, and all he can acquire by himself or through others. A slave, however, gives himself to his master completely and exclusively with all he has and all he can acquire. 2) A servant demands wages for the services rendered to his employer. A slave, on the other hand, can expect nothing, no matter what skill, attention or energy he may have put into his work. 3) A servant can leave his employer whenever he pleases, or at least when the term of his service expires, whereas the slave has no such right. 4) An employer has no right of life and death over a servant. Were he to kill him as he would a beast of burden, he would commit murder. But the master of a slave has by law the right of life and death over him, so that he can sell him to anyone he chooses or—if you will pardon the comparison—kill him as he would kill his horse. 5) Finally, a servant is in his employer’s service only for a time; a slave for always…

Read more in the complete book [HERE](http://totalconsecration.ageofmary.com/ … otion.html)

 

[omegapd]

Thanks for posting. I’m starting mine on Friday to end on Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Feast day. Pretty excited about it!

 

[Dorothy]

I plan on doing the consecration again also.

Our Blessed Mother, the perfect disciple, has much to give us. She helps us love Jesus more perfectly.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks for posting. I’m starting mine on Friday to end on Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Feast day. Pretty excited about it!

Dear omegapd,

Thanks for your reply. Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of my favorite icons. I especially treasure her words to St. Juan Diego: “Am I not your Mother? Are you not in the crossing of my arms?”

 

[MariaChristi]

I plan on doing the consecration again also.

Our Blessed Mother, the perfect disciple, has much to give us. She helps us love Jesus more perfectly.

Dear Dorothy,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, our Mother is our Model in becoming the best disciples we can be, learning from her to love Jesus more and more each day. Like St. Louis de Montfort, I’d be lost without her.