"I am all yours, and all that I have is yours, O most loving Jesus, through Mary, your most holy Mother"
(True Devotion, 233).
DAY 5 of 33: Contemplating the Hail Mary.
Action: Pray one decade of the Rosary contemplating the 4th Joyful Mystery - the Presentation. Also read about and begin to pray the surrender novena, which takes just seconds a day.
"The Immaculate alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. She seeks souls that will consecrate themselves entirely to her, that will become in her hands forceful instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spread of God's kingdom." St. Maximilian Kolbe
As we contemplate Jesus being presented and offered back to God in the temple by Jesus and Mary in today's mystery of the Rosary, it is the perfect backdrop for understanding more about consecration. Mary and Joseph, in fulfillment of the law, went both for Mary's purification and to consecrate Jesus to the Lord, as God commanded:
Exodus 13: 1-2 The LORD spoke to Moses and said: 'Consecrate to me every firstborn; whatever opens the womb among the Israelites, whether of human being or beast, belongs to me.'
Furthering this thought, as I spoke about in yesterday's video study, all of us belong to God, whether we realize it or not. Nothing we have is of our own. Everything, except our sins, comes from God, for: "Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's... and each of us shall give an account of himself to God." (Romans 14).
This is the Reality that most of the world ignores or rejects. Satan has convinced millions that God doesn't exist and there is no eternal life.
Yet, when we consecrate ourselves, we begin our eternal glory here on earth... as we open ourselves up to and begin participating in the very Life of God, from and for whom we were created!!!
It is a glorious Reality!
One that satan wants to steal from us...
Satan lies to us.
He wants to cause us to fear the very God who formed us and gives us every good thing.
He wants us to hold back and cling to the lesser things - exchanging our glory for nothing of value... (cf. Ps. 106: 20), all the while, we are called and meant to live filled with
the riches and glory of God dwelling within us, Who is able to accomplish more than we can ever ask for or imagine:
...in accord with the riches of his glory be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or image, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Eph. 3: 14-21By surrendering ourselves, we are recognize who we are and who God is and freely giving ourselves - setting ourselves aside for His holy purposes.
We give our free will back to God, who first gave it to us!
And we can do this with great confidence because we have come to know and love Him, who is all in all, the first and the last, the good and all-loving God who is trustworthy...
we love Him for He first loved us and emptied himself out for us so we could live in eternal union with Him - that starts here on earth!!!
Lives given over completely
to God so He can live in us!
Where God can see and hear and think and act in us
It is Surrender to that the love of God
Who brings us to a Radical
transformation
As we receive Him in us, we become living
tabernacles
Living Christs
We become who we were
created to be!
We become who we are!
each an irreplaceable, unique reflection of God
We become who we are!
each an irreplaceable, unique reflection of God
each show forth his
Glory and goodness
each of us have a job to do,
each of us have a job to do,
that we can only do fully through this surrender!
"We were made for
you O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
give ourselves entirely:
1. body
2. soul
3. exteriorly
4 interiorly
– including merits, virtues, good works, past present and future:
This offering of our interior life is greater than what is given in religious vows! It is holding nothing back from the God who held nothing back from us.
Our doing this in and through and with Mary is in imitation of Him, who willed to come to us in the same way.
Our doing this in and through and with Mary is in imitation of Him, who willed to come to us in the same way.
It is Our Response
to God for All He Has Done for Us!
St. Louis de Montfort speaks of it as a great secret (in his book the Secret of Mary) that we have to humbly kneel before in order to enter into it and accept and live it's mysteries...
St. Louis de Montfort speaks of it as a great secret (in his book the Secret of Mary) that we have to humbly kneel before in order to enter into it and accept and live it's mysteries...
1."…thank God all
the days of your life for the grace He has given you to know a
secret you do not deserve to know. As you go on
making use of this secret in the ordinary actions of your life,
you will
comprehend its value and its excellence, which at first you
will not fully understand because of your many and grievous sins and because of
your secret attachment to self.
2. Before
you read any further, kneel down and say devoutly a Hail Mary,
slowly and devoutly, on one's knees, and a personal
prayer to the Holy Spirit in order to understand and
appreciate
this Divine mystery.
1.
The holy slavery of Jesus in Mary … this devotion is a secret:
first,
because there lies in it, as in all things supernatural, a hidden
treasure which grace alone can help us to find and utilize;
secondly,
because there are but few
souls that enter into the spirit of this devotion and go
beyond its exterior practices. Again, as no
one had as yet thoroughly explained this devotion nor shaped it into a definite
method of
spiritual
life, St. Louis De Montfort could say of a truth, "I have not been able to
find this secret in any
book, old or new."
2.
These words show how highly St. Louis De Montfort esteemed this devotion. As
there are
professional
secrets committed only to men who know how to appreciate and exploit them, so
this secret
of sanctity…
3…union
by other roads, but this method is an EASY, SHORT, PERFECT and SECURE
WAY that
leads
us to union with Our Lord."
4.
These words contain three important counsels:
1)
This devotion must be practiced
in the ordinary
course of life as well as in
the most important actions.
2)
Only when we steadily
persevere in it, and not
merely try it for a few weeks,
shall
we be able to judge of its excellence and know its fruit.
3)
It is necessary to remove all hindrances to this devotion, namely, sin
and secret
affection for that
which is sinful.
Action:
1. Read through the accompanying pictures and the extraordinary wisdom of St. Louis below if possible.
2. Continue to choose to enter more deeply into the daily prayer program (below) at least in this way:
Ponder and pray the Hail Mary today and the accompanying Scripture texts as you meditate and pray one decade of the Rosary - the 4th Joyful Mystery of the Rosary- the Presentation - while praying for the grace to listen, to hear and respond to God as Mary does.
Praying also for the grace to surrender whatever is keeping me from responding fully - in and through and with Mary’s love and help.
Daily Prayer Program for these 33 Days:
It
is important to make a commitment to strive to pray more deeply, more
intensely and with more of your heart during these days of preparation.
Here are some guidelines and suggestions for how to live these days.
Pray about how you can grow in each of these areas listed below and
while living out this prayer program it is especially important to
Trust in the Truth and Supernatural Reality of God’s Presence within each of them
1. Sacraments
• LIVE Grace and Renew our Baptism - renounce sin and Satan
• Mass and the Eucharist the Center of our lives
• Confession frequently
2. Scripture - Pray and Internalize it daily
• To Jelena: “I’m going to reveal a spiritual secret to you:
if you want to be stronger than evil, make yourself a plan of personal
prayer. Take a certain time in the morning, read a text from Holy
Scripture, anchor the Divine word in your heart, and strive to live it
during the day, particularly during the moment of trials. In this way,
you will be stronger than evil.” (Our Lady of Medjugorje, April 19,
1984)
• Rosary – With and in Mary, contemplating Scripture and the mysteries of God
3. Fill mind with wisdom of Mary and the Saints
• God is sending Mary to earth for she is the Crusher of Satan. Listen to her words.
• St. John Paul II – example of life given over – Totus Tuus
• St. Maximilian Kolbe – Militia Immaculata every soul consecrated to Mary will save the world
• St. Louis de Montfort – Mary will form the greatest saints
who ever lived – easiest shortest most sure way to sanctity
• St. Mother Teresa and many more
12 Days of Preparation renouncing the spirit of the world
PART 2: Readings and Prayers for St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary
- Learn about Mary's place in God's plan (words of St. Louis from True Devotion of Mary)
- Pray over Scripture
- Pray with the Heart
- Examine our conscience
PART 3: A taste of Fr. Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory:
Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary, help me be generous in giving all I am and have to Mary.”
© Janet Moore 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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