Day 9: God Alone - With, In and through Mary - 33 Days to Total Consecration

 "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 9 of 33: 
WEEK 2: Contemplate the Our Father as we take St. Maximilian Kolbe as our guide.

Action: 
Resolve to pray a complete set of mysteries of the Rosary every day - as an act of love to God and in fulfillment of Mary's requests to us.
Start by contemplating the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary - see day 8 for instructions/ guidance on how to fit this into your day.
Also, pray and contemplate the 1st Luminous Mystery - the Baptism of our Lord.

In the video, we contemplate not only the Baptism of Jesus, but also how to LIVE fully our Baptisms, which is as an integral part of this Call to Consecration.
In it, we also look at St. Peter to find encouragement in his 
transformation.
 
This week we are asked to ponder the Our Father Prayer and the Mystery of the Father who loves us so deeply. (I shared Psalm 139 and St. Patrick's Breastplate with those who came to the class last night to help us enter into this great love).
While contemplating this, it is providential that today we also are asked to consider the Baptism of Jesus, for  God reveals Himself as Father reveals there. In fact, this is the first time in Scripture we are made aware that God is Trinity - He is three persons in one God - 
Comprised of the Father - Who loves us so much that He sent His only Son and His Holy Spirit - not only to save us, but to fill our souls with His Divine Life (most especially at our Baptisms)! 
Furthermore, it is providential that we are considering the Baptism of Jesus at the same time we take St. Maximilian Kolbe as our guide to help us ponder Mary, who was made Immaculate at her conception. For, while the Holy Trinity gave Mary this untold and unfathomable grace at her conception, we also must be aware that we, too, have been made immaculate in our Baptisms. 
Not to the same extent  - but, still it is the same gift - given to each to the extent that God wills.
For, while Mary is made Immaculate to the supreme extent - as she was not only freed from sin and death but also freed from all the effects of sin as well - in our Baptisms we are made immaculate to the extent that we are freed from sin, but still have the tendency toward sin through concupiscence. 
At our baptisms we are given a foretaste of this supreme freedom from sin and its effects that Mary has been given. It is a foretaste because someday we will experience this fully in heaven. 
Yet, we don't have to wait for heaven to begin living this reality - because to the extent we enter into this Consecration, (to the extent that we die to ourselves to live in Mary and thus, LIVE the grace of our Baptism), is the same extent that we will be able to be filled with God's Divine Love and Life here and now ... and being so filled, the less will sin and its effects be able to rule us.

To begin to live this freedom, it is fitting, therefore, for us to renew and ratify the vows of our Baptism and to renounce sin and satan (these vows were often made by others who stood in our place in our infancy). Doing this is at the heart of St. Louis' consecration prayer: 

 I, N_____, a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy 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 thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity.

In Baptism, so many graces pour over and infuse our souls that we literally become a new creation - entirely recreated as a child of God through the infinite grace of Jesus' life, death and resurrection! As we renew and ratify our baptism, we are called upon to personally choose to renounce sin and satan, his pomps and works - the lies which he weaves to entice us and convince us that sin is desirable - the very things that Jesus suffered and died so horribly to free us from. We renounce our enslavement of sin and satan and freely choose to love God wholeheartedly as He commands: 

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!  
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength. 
Take to heart these words which I command you today. 
Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates."  Deuteronomy 6: 4-7

I fell in love with the Sacrament of Baptism when I was asked to teach about it. I am convinced that as you find out more about it that it will enthrall you and inspire you too. It is such an inestimable, precious, divine gift! When we recognize it as such, and contemplate the price that was paid for us to be given such a gift, it compels us to want to renew and ratify the vows of it each day - to say "Yes! I want to live fully this unfathomable Divine life I've been given!!!"
It would be a wonderful thing when you have the time to spend time reading about the extraordinary gifts of our Baptisms that can be found in the Catechism. 
In the meantime, here are some of the amazing gifts and effects of Baptism - with and in which we have been filled and transformed and made new!!! 
May pondering them be a grace for you!

LIVE Baptismal Grace (Divine supernatural life we were given)

Called Chosen Named

Each with a purpose unique – only you can fulfill

Freed

Child of God

Living tabernacle of Father, Son and Holy Spirit

We have Died with Christ so to rise with Him

Unless you are baptized you cannot enter my Kingdom

In Baptism we died with Christ so to live with Him

Forgiven and

Freed from punishment

New Creation

Filled with Holy Spirit

Living Tabernacles of the Most High

Infused with Sanctifying Grace

supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity

Incorporated into Christ –

Members of his Body the Church

Partakers of His Divinity –

Sharers in His Divine Nature

Adopted Children – Heirs

            Sealed with Indelible Spiritual Mark sin cannot erase

Action:
1. Skim through the accompanying pictures and words below that highlight the extraordinary wisdom of St. Maximilian and St. Louis. Read them more thoroughly as the Holy Spirit inspires you and as time allows and when it is possible.
2. Continue to choose to enter more deeply into the daily prayer program (below) at least in this way: 
Ponder and pray the Our Father today and the entire Joyful Mysteries as well as the 1st Luminous Mystery  - 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

PART 2: Day 9 Readings and Prayers for St. Louis de Montfort's 33 Day of Consecration to Jesus through Mary - An Online Guide

Readings and Prayers for St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary

12 Days of Preparation renouncing the spirit of the world

Praying over and reading Jesus' Words

Praying with the Heart

Examining our conscience 

Learning about Mary's place in God's plan 

PART 3: A taste of Fr. Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory if you have time:

“Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary. Unveil for me the meaning of the Immaculate Conception”.

CLICK HERE for podcast of Day 9 

© Janet Moore 2019. All Rights Reserved.