Do whatever He tells you, the Virgin tells us
and Jesus tells us, make friends for
yourselves with dishonest wealth (Lk 16:9).
Consecration
consists “in giving ourselves entirely to our Lady, in order to belong
entirely to Jesus Christ, through her.”[1]
To give oneself entirely means to give
all that belongs to us, our interior and exterior goods.
1. We should give to the Virgin all the
exterior goods namely of wealth, present and future
A lay person who is not consecrated
could ask, “What does this mean Father? Should I give away my goods? Should I
sell them?” No.
To give to the Virgin all exterior goods
does not mean that the slave of Mary renounces the use of his goods but rather
that we should use them with permission of the Virgin (like when the religious
asks permission of his superior).
Except that in our case, since we cannot
see nor hear the Superior, the permission is presumed and understood
(conjecture by evidence…when there are no clear signs of the contrary).
For this reason, the salves of Mary do
not have a problem in continuing to dispose of their goods as before, though it
is done in a different manner. Otherwise, with reason their conscience would
accuse them of being unfaithful to their word when they misuse or do not use
well the goods that they have consecrated to the Holy Virgin in things that
they presumed were not pleasing to her. For example to spend money on frivolous
things, not helping the poor when it is possible, being stingy, wasting time,
not making the effort to work with dedication, losing peace of soul when minor
temporal problems arise, buying immoral things, magazines, etc. With greater
reason must we be faithful since we have professed a vow of poverty.
2. All our interior and spiritual goods
that is all our past, present, and future merits, virtues, and works.
This surrender is in reality the
fulfillment of what is called the heroic act. We surrender our material goods
so that She can preserve us from attachment to worldly goods and inspire us to
make the best use of them. We surrender our body and our senses so that She can
preserve them in perfect purity. In addition, we give her our spiritual goods.
With regards to our works, there are
three things that are communicable to other souls: the merit of benefit, the supplication
prayer or action and the satisfaction (indulgence for the deceased). These
goods, by virtue of our consecration, must be left in the hands of the Virgin
(like in the case of the temporal goods) in such a way that we can make use of
them with her implicit permission.
Two objections:
a. If we renounce these goods, we would
not pay our debt and our time in purgatory would increase (this is the
objection that the devil posed to St. Bridget when she prepared to make this
act).
It is an objection that springs from
self-love and forgets the goodness of Mary. She will not be outdone in
generosity…and our generous act of surrender multiplies our merits.
Some may say
that this devotion will hinder us from helping our deceased relatives since we
surrender to the Virgin the value of our good works, mortifications, and
almsgiving. To these, St Louis Marie responds:
1. Jesus and
Mary will know best how to help our relatives, friends, and benefactors whether
it is it from our small spiritual wealth or from another’s.
2. This practice does not prevent us from offering our prayers for
those we wish, even though its application depends on the Most Holy Virgin.
Let us prepare ourselves to consecrate ourselves better through
Jesus through Mary!
Let us live the heroism of our Christian life with jubilation!
Let us allow ourselves to be molded by Mary to
belong totally to Jesus!
