J.M.J.
May 31, 2016
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Consecration Day
Dear Family of Mary!
We have made it to our day of consecration!! Thank you for sticking with us throughout these 33 days. I believe that Our Lady and the Holy Spirit have been active during this time, helping each of us to know ourselves with all our wounds and sorrows, all our joys and gifts; to know Our Lady in all her beauty and goodness; and to know Jesus, who is our ultimate end, our only Lord. We now can place ourselves in the hands of Mary and her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, as we ask to be Consecrated to Jesus through Mary's Maternal Heart.
St. Louis de Montfort suggests:
Day 34
Day of Consecration
On the day of consecration, either fast, give alms, or offer a votive candle for the good of another (or all of the above); do some spiritual penance and approach consecration in the spirit of mortification.
Now go to Confession (or, if that is not possible, go during the 8 days prior) and then receive Communion with the intention of giving yourself to Jesus, as a slave [a child] of love, by the hands of Mary.
Now pray the words of the consecration. Copy them and have them with you at church, read them after the Mass (in front of the tabernacle would be nice), and sign your copy of the Act of Consecration.
Of course, if you cannot make it to Mass, you can arrange to pray the prayers at home, and make a fervent spiritual communion! Our Lady understands our limits.
Here is a message Our Lady gave us about consecration:
"Dear children! My invitation that you live the messages which I am giving you is a daily one, specially, little children, because I want to draw you closer to the Heart of Jesus. Therefore, little children, I am inviting you today to the prayer of consecration to Jesus, my dear Son, so that each of you may be His. And then I am inviting you to the consecration of my Immaculate Heart. I want you to consecrate yourselves as parents, as families and as parishioners so that all belong to God through my heart. Therefore, little children, pray that you comprehend the greatness of this message which I am giving you. I do not want anything for myself, rather all for the salvation of your soul. Satan is strong and therefore, you, little children, by constant prayer, press tightly against my motherly heart. Thank you for having responded to my call." (October 25, 1988)
Our Lady wants only to draw us closer to the Heart of Jesus. We want to surrender ourselves to her so that she can do just that!
Here is the prayer of consecration, as Fr. Michael Gaitley composed it:
I, ___________________________ , a repentant sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands,
O, Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism. I renounce Satan and resolve to follow Jesus Christ even more closely than before.
Mary, I give you my heart. Please set it on fire with love for Jesus. Make it always attentive to his burning thirst for love and for souls. Keep my heart in your most pure Heart that I may love Jesus and the members of his Body with your own perfect love.
Mary, I entrust myself totally to you: my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions. Please make of me, of all that I am and have, whatever most pleases you. Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for bringing the greatest possible glory to God.
If I fall, please lead me back to Jesus. Wash me in the blood and water that flow from his pierced side, and help me never to lose my trust in this fountain of love and mercy.
With you, O Immaculate Mother - you who always do the will of God - I unite myself to the perfect consecration of Jesus as he offers himself in the Spirit to the Father for the life of the world. Amen.
You might like to add our daily consecration prayer:
TOTUS TUUS (Totally Yours)
Immaculate Conception, Mary my Mother, Live in me, Act in me, Speak in me and through me, Think your thoughts in my mind, Love through my heart, Give me your dispositions and feelings, Teach, lead me and guide me to Jesus, Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior, Possess my soul, Take over my entire personality and life, replace it with Yourself, Incline me to constant adoration, Pray in me and through me, Let me live in you and keep me in this union always. © 1956, Mother Immaculata, OCD
Thank you everyone, for joining in the wonderful time of prayer!!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
(c)Mary TV 2016
