"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 32 of 33:
SECTION 4: ENTERING INTO GREAT HEIGHTS OF HOLINESS DESTINED FOR THOSE CONSECRATED TO MARY
Today we will contemplate the holiness Mary leads us to ...taking Mary herself, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa and St. Louis de Montfort as our guides.
Action:
1. 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 - see day 8 for instructions/ guidance on how to fit this into your day.
2. Skim through the accompanying pictures and the extraordinary wisdom of St. Louis de Montfort and St. Mother Teresa and read through as much (below) as possible.
3. Continue to choose to enter more deeply into the daily prayer program (below) at least in this way:
Ponder and pray The Magnificat today and the accompanying Scripture texts as you meditate and
PRAY THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES,
THE LUMINOUS MYSTERIES and
THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY
- while praying for the grace to listen, to hear and respond to God as Mary does. And to pray for the grace to surrender whatever is keeping us from responding fully to God - in and through and with Mary’s love and help.
4. Take steps to make the Mass the center of your life - begin to strive to participate in daily Mass as often as possible.
5. In preparation for our consecration, go to confession beforehand (or within 8 days afterward) - then choose to make the sacrament a regular part of your life (i.e. at least monthly). A great way to do this is to honor the 1st Friday and 1st Saturday devotions, which ask us to confess and receive communion to honor the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts and repair for all the ingratitude and dishonor they receive.
6. Pray the 5th Glorious Mystery: The Coronation of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth.
God Himself has crowned Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth!
What a wondrous gift for all humanity!
We, who are nothing but dust, were not only brought to life through the
breath of God, but have also been bestowed with so much dignity that He
longs to join us with Himself in glory and share His divinity with us!
We see this manifested first of all,
in His bringing His Mother,
whom He chose from all eternity...
who suffered so much with Him,
to heaven
to now reign in glory with Him...
a glory of service ...
a glory that seeks only to bring all souls to Him!
We, too, are called to this glory!
As always there is so much to share!
Today I've included truly amazing stories of St. John Paul II and Mother
Teresa and their faith and devotion to Mary that I hope will draw each
us ever further into this great consecration that we'll be undertaking
tomorrow.We also consider further the great prophesies of St. Louis de Montfort
regarding the latter times and the role Mary's role in bringing souls to
Christ.
Jesus in Mary! Glory to Mary in Jesus! Glory to God alone!
4. Mary's part in the latter times
49. The salvation of the world began through Mary and through her it must be accomplished. Mary scarcely appeared in the first coming of Jesus Christ so that men, as yet insufficiently instructed and enlightened concerning the person of her Son, might not wander from the truth by becoming too strongly attached to her. This would apparently have happened if she had been known, on account of the wondrous charms with which Almighty God had endowed even her outward appearance. So true is this that St. Denis the Areopagite tells us in his writings that when he saw her he would have taken her for a goddess, because of her incomparable beauty, had not his well-grounded faith taught him otherwise. But in the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and openly revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be known, loved and served through her. The reasons which moved the Holy Spirit to hide his spouse during her life and to reveal but very little of her since the first preaching of the gospel exist no longer.
1) God wishes to make Mary better known in the latter times.
50. God wishes therefore to reveal Mary, his masterpiece, and make her more known in these latter times:
(1) Because she kept herself hidden in this world and in her great humility considered herself lower than dust, having obtained from God, his apostles and evangelists the favour of being made known.
(2) Because, as Mary is not only God's masterpiece of glory in heaven, but also his masterpiece of grace on earth, he wishes to be glorified and praised because of her by those living upon earth.
(3) Since she is the dawn which precedes and discloses the Sun of Justice Jesus Christ, she must be known and acknowledged so that Jesus may be known and acknowledged.
(4) As she was the way by which Jesus first came to us, she will again be the way by which he will come to us the second time though not in the same manner.
(5) Since she is the sure means, the direct and immaculate way to Jesus and the perfect guide to him, it is through her that souls who are to shine forth in sanctity must find him. He who finds Mary finds life, that is, Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. But no one can find Mary who does not look for her. No one can look for her who does not know her, for no one seeks or desires something unknown. Mary then must be better known than ever for the deeper understanding and the greater glory of the Blessed Trinity.
(6) In these latter times Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, power and grace; in mercy, to bring back and welcome lovingly the poor sinners and wanderers who are to be converted and return to the Catholic Church; in power, to combat the enemies of God who will rise up menacingly to seduce and crush by promises and threats all those who oppose them; finally, she must shine forth in grace to inspire and support the valiant soldiers and loyal servants of Jesus Christ who are fighting for his cause.
(7) Lastly, Mary must become as terrible as an army in battle array to the devil and his followers, especially in these latter times. For Satan, knowing that he has little time - even less now than ever - to destroy souls, intensifies his efforts and his onslaughts every day. He will not hesitate to stir up savage persecutions and set treacherous snares for Mary's faithful servants and children whom he finds more difficult to overcome than others."
If you're interested, here is another teaching by Dr. Brant Pitre on how he sees Mary as the New Rachel:
https://watch.formed.org/lectio-mary-with-dr-brant-pitre/season:1/videos/the-new-rachel
Let us begin by praying the
Jesus in Mary! Glory to Mary in Jesus! Glory to God alone!
4. Mary's part in the latter times
49. The salvation of the world began through Mary and through her it must be accomplished. Mary scarcely appeared in the first coming of Jesus Christ so that men, as yet insufficiently instructed and enlightened concerning the person of her Son, might not wander from the truth by becoming too strongly attached to her. This would apparently have happened if she had been known, on account of the wondrous charms with which Almighty God had endowed even her outward appearance. So true is this that St. Denis the Areopagite tells us in his writings that when he saw her he would have taken her for a goddess, because of her incomparable beauty, had not his well-grounded faith taught him otherwise. But in the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and openly revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be known, loved and served through her. The reasons which moved the Holy Spirit to hide his spouse during her life and to reveal but very little of her since the first preaching of the gospel exist no longer.
1) God wishes to make Mary better known in the latter times.
50. God wishes therefore to reveal Mary, his masterpiece, and make her more known in these latter times:
(1) Because she kept herself hidden in this world and in her great humility considered herself lower than dust, having obtained from God, his apostles and evangelists the favour of being made known.
(2) Because, as Mary is not only God's masterpiece of glory in heaven, but also his masterpiece of grace on earth, he wishes to be glorified and praised because of her by those living upon earth.
(3) Since she is the dawn which precedes and discloses the Sun of Justice Jesus Christ, she must be known and acknowledged so that Jesus may be known and acknowledged.
(4) As she was the way by which Jesus first came to us, she will again be the way by which he will come to us the second time though not in the same manner.
(5) Since she is the sure means, the direct and immaculate way to Jesus and the perfect guide to him, it is through her that souls who are to shine forth in sanctity must find him. He who finds Mary finds life, that is, Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. But no one can find Mary who does not look for her. No one can look for her who does not know her, for no one seeks or desires something unknown. Mary then must be better known than ever for the deeper understanding and the greater glory of the Blessed Trinity.
(6) In these latter times Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, power and grace; in mercy, to bring back and welcome lovingly the poor sinners and wanderers who are to be converted and return to the Catholic Church; in power, to combat the enemies of God who will rise up menacingly to seduce and crush by promises and threats all those who oppose them; finally, she must shine forth in grace to inspire and support the valiant soldiers and loyal servants of Jesus Christ who are fighting for his cause.
(7) Lastly, Mary must become as terrible as an army in battle array to the devil and his followers, especially in these latter times. For Satan, knowing that he has little time - even less now than ever - to destroy souls, intensifies his efforts and his onslaughts every day. He will not hesitate to stir up savage persecutions and set treacherous snares for Mary's faithful servants and children whom he finds more difficult to overcome than others."
If you're interested, here is another teaching by Dr. Brant Pitre on how he sees Mary as the New Rachel:
https://watch.formed.org/lectio-mary-with-dr-brant-pitre/season:1/videos/the-new-rachel
Let us begin by praying the
MAGNIFICAT,
which St. Louis recommends below and is prayed daily in evening prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours
Luke 1:46-55which St. Louis recommends below and is prayed daily in evening prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours
The soul rejoices in the Lord
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
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 32 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
PART 3: Spend the day pondering John Paul’s Marian teaching as it is summarized by these three words:
Mother, Entrust-acration, Mercy.
© Janet Moore 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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