Our Journey to Jesus through Mary (consecration thread)

So we begin our journey to Jesus through Mary today, as our 33 day consecration begins. We have come together with our "Fiat" to our heavenly mother to mold us into saints and take us to her son on the most direct path possible. Our goal is "interior dependance" on Mary so that everything we do is with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary. Our consecration group includes Josephite, Torrentum, Charity, Patty78 (and daughter), Glenn, Miker, Clare A, Julia, Ecclesiaticus 2, Pinecone Jill, and Mario. Please pray for us as we post our thoughts, challenges, joys, reflections, questions, or whatever comes to mind. We will be using different methods of consecration (de Montfort, Gaitely, etc.) but all are encouraged to post. Having said that, I will be using de Montfort for the first time and have no idea what to expect each day!!

Below is part of a prayer to Mary from de Montfort's Secret of Mary that I really liked, as it summarizes what we are striving for and may we all help each other get there!!!

Destroy in me everything that is displeasing to God. Uproot it and bring it to nothing. Implant in me all that you deem to be good; improve it and make it increase in me. May the light of your faith dispel the darkness of my mind. May your deep humility take the place of my pride. May your heavenly contemplation put an end to the distractions of my wandering imagination. May your continuous vision of God fill my memory with his presence. May the burning love of your heart inflame the coldness of mine. May your virtues take the place of my sins. May your merits be my adornment and make up for my unworthiness before God. Finally, most dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but yours to know Jesus and his divine will. May I have no soul but yours to praise and glorify the Lord. May I have no heart but yours to love God purely and ardently as you love him.

 

Maryn is joining us as well. Welcome Mary

 

The focus this week with de Montfort is emptying myself of this world...casting off the spirit of this world. This is done through examination of conscience, prayer, practicing renouncement of my own will, mortification, and purity of my heart.

There is plenty for me to work on. How will I "die to self" today, or in other words, renounce my own will? I will ponder in my heart how I can do this today and each day of the week. Help me to be the salt of the earth and a light of the earth (from today's consecration reading) so other's may see God in me.

Oh, and I remember from Gaitely's writings...let me do all this with zeal!!

 

Donna Kelly is joining us as well and be using 33 Days to Morning Glory. What a big group!! We are so blessed!!

 

count me in tater...just finished day 1 w/St Louis

 

The group keeps growing!! Welcome IJoP...I know you will not be shy about chiming in

 

I did some self reflection today, especially as I got ready for my DM confession. I realize that I do not trust God fully yet, and sometimes delay in doing His will, even when I know in my heart it is what He wants me to do. I attribute this to a spirit of fear that I sometimes live with, which I believe can be attributed to the crosses I have carried for about 5 years now, where absolutely nothing went right. The ship is slowly turning around regarding things going much better for me, but it is still hard to overcome that feeling that everything will go wrong again. So I am really going to work on not procrastinating doing anything that I feel God wants me to do, and try to not let my imagination take hold of me with thoughts of negative outcomes to situations. And may I trust in God's will for me and may that trust build to where it needs to be when the coming storm hits home soon.

 

Romans 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

Praise God for the spirit of adoption! That's why I can call you my sister, PS! The road ahead will be dark and rough, but Mary has been by your side and will be so for the duration of the Storm! Be not afraid! Alleluia!

Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!

 

!

 

yesterday I didn't prep before praying, so today I quieted my inner spirit and what a difference. Maybe this Holy Spirit prayer will benefit others as well....

Cardinal Mercier's Prayer To The Holy Spirit

I am going to reveal to you a secret of sanctity and happiness. For five minutes every day quieten your imagination, close your eyes to everything visible and your ears to all external sounds and withdraw into the sanctuary of your baptised soul which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. There, speak to the Holy Spirit and say:

O Holy Spirit
soul of my soul
I adore you.
Enlighten
guide,
strengthen and console me.

Tell me what I ought to do
and command me to do it.
I promise to submit to everything
that you ask of me
and to accept all
that you allow to happen to me.
Just show me what is your will.

If you do this, your life will be happy and serene. Even in the midst of troubles you will experience great consolation, for grace will be given to strengthen and help you to cope with every difficulty

 

Jesus, I Trust in You said when doubts arise really helps. for me....sometimes all day long

April 12th St Margaret Mary meditation,
When you are in trouble and anxiety, go and plunge yourself in the peace of this adorable Heart, which no one can take from you.

DAY 2 what really jumped out at me was the Our Father... Give us this day our supersubstantial bread....Eucharist

 

This year I am renewing my consecration with the Gaitley book. We will be taking a short holiday at the end of the month and I know I won't have the time and space to do the de Montfort program. However, as the Gaitley book does not involve a great deal of time per se, I am also trying to read from The Imitation of Mary each day. This is a very helpful little book which I found in my church library but it's still in print. There is a lot that is relevant to the consecration, and the content is far from trite or sentimental (my beef with a lot of 'religious' books). Last night, for instance, I read a passage about shunning worldliness, which leads from God and the spiritual life. Especially today's world with its attractions. These things are not bad in themselves, but we are reminded that here is not our real home and we should not get too comfortable. We should aim to please God and to do his will in our lives to the exclusion of every other thing - I am so BAD at this!!!!

Something else just occurred to me - we have just celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday, with the novena to precede it, and 'holy slavery' in the de Montfortian way really means a total reliance of mercy - Mary/Jesus I trust in you. This is what handing over all our merits to Our Lady means. It's an insight into Divine Mercy from a Marian perspective.

 

Its All about our Lady for the Greater Glory of Jesus ! I try to make my morning offering when I wake to our Blessed Mother,offering my pains ,sorrows, merits and indulgences gained, known and unknown....etc My communion I give to her as well.... now im in need so, Im ready to call some favors in...lol AVE MARIA!

 

Thank you, Clare!

Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!

 

I really thought a lot about the divine mercy indulgence I imagine a lot of us received this past weekend. I can remember in years past, how I was happy to do it to save myself time in purgatory...year after year stockpiling them up like water during hurricane season...all for myself so I would suffer a lot less in purgatory (presuming I did not go off the rails and land lower).

But the consecration changes all that...as it all goes to my heavenly mother who will do with it what she pleases. I recall this gave me pause when I first consecrated myself. But now I look forward to offering that to her, especially knowing she will be keeping my family close to her heart while augmenting it and handing it out. It also inspires me to seek out other indulgences to offer up (like doing stations of the cross, I believe has an indulgence tied to it). How merciful of God!! Such little work and effort on my part for such a generous outcome...how awesome is our God and how awesome is consecration to Jesus through Mary!!!

As many here know, my brother died unexpectedly in the fall. I know in my heart he cashed in on a divine mercy indulgence. Cha-ching baby...it does not get any better than that!!!

 

How is everyone doing on their quick, easy, secure way to holiness?!?!

For those reading Gaitley, you have moved from de Montfort to Kolbe. I loved Kolbe's drive, as from the Gaitly readings, I got a sense he was a type A type of person who urgently wanted bring the whole world to God through Jesus under the generalship of Mary as quickly as possible. He called this the Militia Immaculata. He was on a mission, that's for sure!

In today's de Montfort reflection, we read about resisting temptation, and how it is best to resist right away, as the longer one delays, the weaker we become and stan has a way in to get a stronger grip on us. I am a very laid-back person and one of my biggest weaknesses is I am a terrible, terrible procrastinator. Yeah, I was always the one doing all-nighters in college cramming for a test or writing a paper, convincing myself I work best under pressure. After reading this, I realize how stan is using my habit of procrastination to get a stronger grip on me in a way. If I procrastinate in resisting a temptation, I will have a harder time completely resisting it, and have a much greater chance of falling. And the more you fall...well, you get the picture.

Mary, help me to break from my natural state of procrastinating so stan can not use this as a way to lead me to fall to greater temptation. May I have the discipline Kolbe seemed to have in his desire to fulfil his mission of the Militia Immaculata.

 

The demon of lazyness and procrastination...i believe in it also. He is always popping its ugly head at me. If we really study the life of Jesus...he was always moving and working. Our Lord was continueously working His mission. Some truely Holy priest i know are totally disciplined and do not waste one minute. If we reflect on Mother Teresa and Padre Pio their life was one of constant work. They might be washing dishes or giving spiritual direction but they are always working.

If the "created one" is chaos...Our Lord Jesus is divine order.

I guess the path to Holyness is based on order. Get it done and move on to the next the next challenge...all for the Greater Glory of God.

May Gods Will be Done

 

from myconsecration.org

Victory is Coming But Not Without the Battle You Must Enter

Satan seems to be triumphing in the world right now. But fear not! Precisely because God has permitted Satan's power to grow, the Father wills Mary to appear more openly in order to blind him and then crush his head with her heel. A tremendous Victory is reserved by the Trinity for Mary to demonstrate God's Love for us through His Mother and our Mother! God loves mankind so much as to share both our humanity through Christ and motherhood through Mary!! Think about that fact and cherish it each day! God has chosen to "need" our cooperation for the Victory.

Do you wish to accelerate the Victory? Do you wish to have peace, joy and protection through the coming Passion and Storm of the Church before the Victory? Then follow the incredible example of humility of Jesus Christ Himself and give yourself entirely to His Mother who is our Mother! We can not love Mary properly, unless we love her with the love Jesus had for her! We can not love Jesus properly, unless we love Him with the love Mary had for Him!

You can either be a lukewarm standby in her Army; or you can be a zealous warrior volunteering for the front lines. Make, renew and live your Consecration (www.myconsecration.org) and you will have the Grace and zeal to be in the front lines of the Victory for God's Glory and the salvation of many souls! Wear your Scapular proudly; make the First Saturdays every month; pray your Rosary from the heart every day; fast from food or something as often as you can; enter into His Passion through mental prayer; and offer your daily duty for souls. This is the Spiritual boot camp that prepares you for the front lines of Victory! Your reward in Heaven will be beyond your imagining!

Based in a meditation from Fr. Emil Neubert from "My Ideal: Jesus Son of Mary"

 

Day 16:

"...I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus- one to one- you and Jesus alone. We may spend time in the chapel- but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love? Do you really know the living Jesus- not from books but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you? Ask for the grace, for He is longing to give it. Until you hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying, "I thirst" in the hearts of the poor..." (Mother Teresa's own words on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1993).

When I heard of the many climbers trapped on Mount Everest due to the Nepal earthquake, I thought of this quote. Do I experience the beautiful life-giving dynamic of which Mother Teresa speaks? This loving encounter is absolutely essential! Jesus reveals his Love in the poverty of my soul, so that I may, in turn, speak His Love to others (the poor) in my daily life by words and actions. Oh, I pray that there might be Catholics on that mountaintop to speak the love of Jesus that burns within their hearts!

Yet, how many times have I hesitated to speak that love to others! How many times has JoeJerk intimidated me into an empty silence out of fear of what others may think? And it might very well be the last possibility for them to know. Jesus is Mercy! Jesus is Love! He loves you personally and completely, without reservation!

This is why the Consecration renewal is so vital to me! For Our Lady holds this vital and necessary grace in her Heart. This grace is always in the Divine Will, so I pray that she will share what I ask for: the fearless humility to speak our living Jesus' Love to others; to be one of the Apostles that St. Louis foresaw! I know you hear me, Dear Lady! Do not hesitate to respond!

Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!

 

Saint Louis Marie de Montfort Feast day today

Saint Catherine of Sienna 4/29

Pope Saint Pius V who led the rosary crusade 4/30

Also the 15th anniversary of Saint Faustinas' canonization 4/30..My moms Birthday(RIP)
ALL Rosary wariors