DAY 6
Should We Really Give Mary
Everything?
(Part Two)
Okay, so yesterday we looked at how, when we fully consecrate
ourselves to Mary, we give up the right to distribute the grace of
our prayers and merits to others. But we saw that it all works out
even better in the end. Now, today, we turn to ourselves. Isn't it
crazy to give to Mary all the value of our good actions and
prayers and so appear before God with empty hands? No, it's not
crazy. Remember, Mary is not outdone in generosity. If we give her
all our merits, she'll give us all of hers. And that's a big
deal.
I once read a story about a saint on earth who had a vision of
heaven. In her vision, she saw the saints in heaven and their
different degrees of glory. With some saints, she was astonished
because they had risen so high in glory as to be worshiping God
with the Seraphim, the highest choir of angels. Another time, I
read a passage in the Diary of St. Faustina in which Faustina had
a similar vision of heaven. She related that if we were to see the
differences among the degrees of glory in heaven, we would
willingly suffer anything on earth just to move one degree
higher.18
After reading these testimonies, I say to myself, "I not only
want to go to heaven, but I want to reach the highest degree of
glory in heaven that I possibly can." There's an easy way for
us to do this: We give Mary everything. We rely not on our own
merits but on hers. Saint Louis explains:
The most holy Virgin ... who never lets herself be
outdone in love and liberality, seeing that we give ourselves
entirely to her ... meets us in the same spirit. She also gives
her whole self, and gives it in an unspeakable manner, to him who
gives all to her. She causes him to be engulfed in the abyss of
her graces. She adorns him with her merits; she supports him with
her power; she illuminates him with her light; she inflames him
with her love; she communicates to him her virtues: her humility,
her faith, her purity, and the rest. ... In a word, as that
consecrated person is all Mary's, so Mary is all
his.19
Now, despite these consoling words, one might still be troubled
and say, "That's great! I'm all for having a high degree of
glory in heaven. But what I'm worried about is purgatory. I'm
afraid that if I give away all my merits, even to Mary, then I'll
have to suffer in purgatory for a very long time." Saint
Louis responds:
This objection, which comes from self-love and
ignorance of the generosity of God and His holy Mother, refutes
itself. A fervent and generous soul who gives God all he has,
without reserve, so that he can do nothing more; who lives only
for the glory and reign of Jesus Christ, through His holy Mother,
and who makes an entire sacrifice of himself to bring it about -
will this generous and liberal soul, I say, be more punished in
the other world because it has been more liberal and more
disinterested than others? Far, indeed, will that be from the
truth! Rather, it is toward that soul ... that Our Lord and His
holy Mother are the most liberal in this world and in the other,
in the orders of nature, grace, and
glory.20
Okay, this settles it — and we get a gentle rebuke on top of it
all. Saint Louis repeats the important point: Mary is not outdone
in generosity! If we are especially generous with her, then she'll
be especially generous with us. And he makes another good point:
the gentle rebuke. He says that these kinds of concerns come from
self-love. So, yes, we should aim high. Yes, we should have holy
ambition and want to reach the highest heights of holiness. But
our motive should not be self-love; rather, it should be that we
want to please God and give great glory to him. We should keep
this important point in mind when, tomorrow, we read about some of
the awesome benefits of being consecrated to Mary.
Today's Prayer:
Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary. Help me to give great
glory to God by giving all I am and have to Mary.
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