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Total
Consecration
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Christian Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
In the article, "In Defense of
Fatima: Defending Marian Theology", we demonstrate that it is an obligation of
Christians to have devotion to the Mother of God. Marian devotion has long been
practiced amongst the Angels, as was evidenced by the Archangel Gabriel’s
homage to Her who was "full of grace" (Lk. 1:28).
Certainly, Our Lord Jesus
Christ, who came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (cf. Mt. 5:17),
fulfilled in a perfect manner the commandment to "honor thy mother" (Ex. 20:12;
Lk. 2:51). As soon as He began gathering together disciples, they noted the
devotion Our Lord had for His Mother. This is evidenced by the fact that St.
John was so struck by the power of Our Lady’s intercession at Cana, that
he remembered it and recorded it decades later (cf. Jn. 2:1-11). At the wedding
feast at Cana, seeing that the wine had run out, Our Lady desired Our Lord to
work a miracle. Though Our Lord declared, "My hour is not yet come," He would
not refuse His Mother, and worked His first public miracle at Her request. On
the Cross, Christ made the devotion to His Mother a precept of His religion by
telling His disciples, through St. John, "Behold thy Mother" (Jn. 19:27).
According to the earliest
extant evidence, Mary has long been honored prominently in Christian art and
liturgy. A painting of Our Lady, done by St. Luke the Evangelist, is still in
existence in St. Mary Major in Rome, brought there by the Apostles. Another
painting of Our Lady, also painted by Saint Luke, is found in India, in Madras
(now called Chennai) on Mount Saint Thomas. St. Thomas the Apostle had carried
it there to India almost 2000 years ago (see Painting of Our Lady
by St. Luke). Thus we can see devotion to Our Lady is of Apostolic
origin.
Likewise, apostles for the
Blessed Virgin have not been wanting. St. Irenaeus, a disciple of St. Polycarp
who was himself a disciple of St. John the Apostle, wrote, "As the human race
was subjected to death through a virgin (Eve), so it was saved by a virgin
(Mary)". St. Athanasius preached, "O Virgin! You are greater than all
(creatures), O Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark
in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna … the flesh
in which the Divinity resides." Some of the earliest definitions of the Church
councils were of the Blessed Virgin’s Divine Maternity and Her perpetual
Virginity. Throughout Catholicism and even in Eastern Orthodoxy, the Liturgy is
permeated with the praises of the Blessed Virgin, and has been from time
immemorial.
The de Montfort Devotion
The Holy Ghost has given
Christians, especially Saints, different means to exercise devotion to the
Blessed Virgin Mary. According to Blessed Pius IX, the best and most acceptable
form is the devotion proposed by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort
(1673-1716). Pope John Paul II said, "This perfect devotion is indispensable to
anyone who means to give himself without reserve to Christ and to the work of
redemption." This devotion, which St. Louis calls "a perfect renewal of the
Baptismal Vows" (True Devotion to Mary, §120), is a "quick, easy,
and secure way to perfection" (§152).
All our perfection consists in
being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, "Be
perfect as Your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt. 5:48). This perfection is in
the imitation, union, and consecration of the Christian to Jesus Christ.
- Imitation: "I have given you an example that as I have done to you,
so you do also" (Jn. 13:15); "God … predestined (Christians) to be made
conformable to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
brethren" (Rom. 8:29).
- Union: "Abide in Me, and I in you. … Without Me, you can do
nothing." (Jn. 15:4-5); "You are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28).
- Consecration: "You are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world" (Jn. 15:19); "Be you also as living stones, built up, a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God
by Jesus Christ" (1 Pe. 2:5).
Therefore, the most perfect
devotion is that which most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to
Jesus Christ. St. Paul told the Christians: "be followers of me as I also am of
Christ" (1 Cor 11:1). To follow in the footsteps of those conformed to Christ
is to conform to Christ Himself. Since Mary is the creature that is the most
conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus, the more someone is conformed,
united, and consecrated to Mary, the more he is conformed, united, and
consecrated to Christ.
Giving All to Mary
The devotion St. Louis
promotes consists in giving everything – one’s body, soul, exterior
goods, and even one’s virtues and the merits of his good works – to
Jesus through Mary. Other acts of devotion do an immense good, the first among
those is Our Lady’s Rosary. Even that does not, in and of itself, impose
an obligation to give everything one has, does, and is – without reserve
– to the Blessed Virgin. Once the act of consecration that St. Louis
proposes is made, one has given every thought, word, deed, and suffering to
Mary, without reserve, unless there is an intentional retraction.
This should give comfort to
the Christian. It is like the parable of the talents. (Mt. 25:14-30) You and I
are the Christians who are, perhaps, given fewer talents, and perhaps are weak
and liable to bury them in the sand. The Blessed Virgin is certainly the one
who gained the most talents, being "Blessed amongst women" (Lk. 1:42). What
this consecration does is it gives the talents of one’s life to the one
who has gained many to invest for us. Perhaps from the merits of our life, the
Master would be dissatisfied with us. But by giving them to Mary, surely the
wise and faithful Servant (the Blessed Virgin), who reaped the interest, will
look after us. When Christ comes to us as Judge, there’s no one we would
rather see at our defense than His Mother.
To Jesus through Mary
The perfect gift of self to
Mary helps us to conform to Jesus. This is because we are only imitating Him,
Who "emptied Himself" (Php. 2:7), and was obedient and subject to Mary, and
relied upon Her for everything in His first years. This devotion unites us to
Jesus, Who said, "I seek not My own glory" (Jn. 8:50), but sought His
Father’s glory "by finishing the work which Thou gavest Me to do" (Jn.
17:4). This devotion to Mary unites us with Him in glorifying the Trinity by
giving that by which we glorify God and the merits for our works to Our Lady,
who can render God the greatest glory with our small gifts.
Through this devotion, we are
consecrated to Jesus, by our being set aside for Him by Our Lady. Just as Jacob
received the blessing from his father Isaac only by being prepared for it by
his mother Rebecca (cf. Gen. 27:1-40), we are set aside for consecration to
Jesus most efficaciously by being prepared by the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We can often ruin our good
works by having a motive that is mixed together with self-love. Now you can
understand how much merit slips through our fingers. But if Our Lady presents
these merits to God, He will not refuse them. Our Lady will purify any stain of
self-love or self-interest.
On Personal Consecration to the Blessed Virgin
In an extract of Father Paul
Trinchard’s book, The Awesome Fatima Consecrations (See Related Articles, "Your Awesome Act of Consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary"), the author reflects on the very important personal
Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in light of the prophetic
Fatima Message. These inspiring reflections demonstrate how truly awesome this
Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart is, and what a tremendous impact it
can have on one’s life and one’s soul.
Related Articles:
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