DAY 4
De Montfort's Consecration
(Part Two)
Yesterday, I said that St. Louis gives two special emphases in
his teaching on Marian consecration: (1) a renewal of our
baptismal vows and (2) a particularly intimate gift of ourselves
to Mary. We covered the first emphasis yesterday. Now let's look
at the second, beginning by asking the question, "Why should
we give ourselves to Mary?"
We should give ourselves to Mary in imitation of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. After all, didn't Jesus give himself to Mary
from the moment of the Incarnation? Yes, he did. And aren't we
called to imitate Christ? Yes, we are. But isn't Mary a creature?
Yes she is, but she's unique. Not only is Mary free from sin and
totally conformed to God's will, but by God's will and good
pleasure — as we learned from the introduction — Mary has a
special role in our sanctification. Therefore, we should give
ourselves to the Mother of God, so she can help form us into
saints, into other Christs. We should give her our yes. But St.
Louis takes all of this a step further. His yes to Mary is
particularly deep, a profoundly intimate gift of himself to
Mary:
This devotion consists, then, in giving ourselves
entirely to Our Lady, in order to belong entirely to Jesus through
her. We must give her (1) our body, with all its senses and its
members; (2) our soul, with all its powers; (3) our exterior goods
of fortune, whether present or to come; (4) our interior and
spiritual goods, which are our merits and our virtues, and our
good works, past, present, and
future.14
This fourth point is most interesting. By this aspect of our
consecration to Mary — according to St. Louis — our gift of self
to her goes even beyond what is required when people offer
themselves to God through religious vows. For instance, by virtue
of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, a religious
sister does not give God the right to dispose of the grace of all
her good works nor does she give up her merits. Allow me to bring
into better focus just how radical a gift of oneself this Marian
consecration really is.
First, in regard to others, if we give Mary the right to
dispose of the graces of our good works, then this means we cannot
unconditionally apply such graces to whomever we choose. So, for
instance, if I make such an offering to Mary, I cannot insist that
the graces from a sickness I am offering up go to the person I
want them applied to. Second, in regard to ourselves, if we
consecrate ourselves to Mary, then when we die, we won't get to
appear before God clothed with the merits of our prayers and good
works. In fact, we'll have to appear before God with empty hands,
because we will have given all our merits to Mary.
If the radical nature of this offering has got you worried,
don't be worried. Tomorrow, we'll see why this offering is not to
be feared, and in fact, why it's incredibly beautiful and
completely worth it. Until then, we can reflect on the second part
of de Montfort's formula for Marian consecration, which speaks of
this intimate gift of ourselves to Mary:
In the presence of all the heavenly court, I choose
you this day for my Mother and Queen. I deliver and consecrate to
you, as your slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and
exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past,
present, and future; leaving to you the entire and full right of
disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception,
according to your good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in
time and eternity.15
Today's Prayer:
Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary. Help me to give myself
entirely to Jesus through Mary.
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