Full of Grace: True Devotion and Consecration to Our Lady
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you”…During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
Luke 1:26-28; 39-45
When I have shared my struggles with my sexuality with people and I tell them how deeply seated my desires were the question they often ask is, “Why didn’t you ever succumb to them with a man?”
The only answer I can offer is that I am under what I like to call the “Immaculate Protection”. I owe it to none other than Jesus Christ with the special intercession of His Mother. It is no strength on my part at all; of that I am convinced. So, since Our Lady seemed to have taken me for her own and placed me under her protection, it seemed only logical that I should formally offer myself to her.
I did this using what is commonly known as the “Total Consecration to Our Lady” or more simply, the “DeMontfort Consecration”, after Saint Louis DeMontfort, the great priest who spread this devotion and wrote the “textbook” on it. In essence, what I really did was to renew my baptismal vows to Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin.
This entailed offering myself completely to the Mother of Jesus so that she can perfect the work of Christ in me and make my own works more efficacious. Thus, I offer to her all my prayers, works, sufferings, hopes and dreams and allow her to dispose of them as she wishes. In return, she covers me in her mantle and presents me to Christ through her own spotless soul. It’s a good deal!
DeMontfort writes in True Devotion to Mary:
I have said that this devotion could rightly be called a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism. Before baptism every Christian was a slave of the devil because he belonged to him. At baptism he has either personally or through his sponsors solemnly renounced Satan, his seductions and his works. He has chosen Jesus as his Master and sovereign Lord and undertaken to depend upon him as a slave of love. This is what is done in the devotion I am presenting to you. We renounce the devil, the world, sin and self, as expressed in the act of consecration, and we give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary. We even do something more than at baptism, when ordinarily our godparents speak for us and we are given to Jesus only by proxy. In this devotion we give ourselves personally and freely and we are fully aware of what we are doing. (126)
Now you may object and say, “Isn’t Jesus Christ enough? There is only one Mediator between God and man. Why go through another intercessor?”
Yes. Jesus Christ is enough and no, strictly speaking, He does not directly need Mary to bring us to salvation. And no, we do not need other intercessors besides Him. We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ alone, apart from Mary. That’s not the issue here. What is really at stake is not whether we are saved by Jesus but rather, how we are saved by Him. There are billions of people on this planet and among them billions of Christians. Thus, there are bound to be a lot of diverse ways of reaching the perfection of Jesus Christ.
What Saint Louis de Monfort and other saints are saying is simply that the Total Consecration is the most perfect and efficacious way to “work out our salvation in fear and trembling” (Phillipians 2:12). The Scriptural basis for this, according to DeMontfort is rather simple.
How did Jesus Christ come to us? He came to us through Mary.
DeMontfort notes:
The Most High God came down to us in a perfect way through the humble Virgin Mary, without losing anything of his divinity or holiness. It is likewise through Mary that we poor creatures must ascend to almighty God in a perfect manner without having anything to fear. (157)
If she is the perfect vessel to bring him to us, how then should we go to Him? By that same perfect vessel, of course.
DeMontfort continues,
As all perfection consists in our being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus it naturally follows that the most perfect of all devotions is that which conforms, unites, and consecrates us most completely to Jesus. Now of all God's creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. It therefore follows that, of all devotions, devotion to her makes for the most effective consecration and conformity to him. The more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus. (120)
Can we go other ways? Sure we can. However, DeMontfort argues that the other ways of spirituality are much harder and that we merit more actual grace doing it this way.
This devotion is a smooth way. It is the path which Jesus Christ opened up in coming to us and in which there is no obstruction to prevent us reaching him. It is quite true that we can attain to divine union by other roads, but these involve many more crosses and exceptional setbacks and many difficulties that we cannot easily overcome. We would have to pass through spiritual darkness, engage in struggles for which we are not prepared, endure bitter agonies, scale precipitous mountains, tread upon painful thorns, and cross frightful deserts. But when we take the path of Mary, we walk smoothly and calmly. (152)
DeMontfort also notes the many blessings which come to us if we come to Christ this way (213-222) including:
1. Knowledge of our unworthiness: By the light which the Holy Spirit will give you through Mary, his faithful spouse, you will perceive the evil inclinations of your fallen nature and how incapable you are of any good. Finally, the humble Virgin Mary will share her humility with you so that, although you regard yourself with distaste and desire to be disregarded by others, you will not look down slightingly upon anyone.
2. A share in Mary's faith: Mary will share her faith with you. Her faith on earth was stronger than that of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles and saints.
3. The gift of pure love:The Mother of fair love will rid your heart of all scruples and inordinate servile fear.
4. Great confidence in God and in Mary: Our Blessed Lady will fill you with unbounded confidence in God and in herself because you will no longer approach Jesus by yourself but always through Mary, your loving Mother.
5. Communication of the spirit of Mary: The soul of Mary will be communicated to you to glorify the Lord. Her spirit will take the place of yours to rejoice in God, her Saviour, but only if you are faithful to the practices of this devotion.
6. Transformation into the likeness of Jesus: If Mary, the Tree of Life, is well cultivated in our soul by fidelity to this devotion, she will in due time bring forth her fruit which is none other than Jesus.
7. The greater glory of Christ: If you live this devotion sincerely, you will give more glory to Jesus in a month than in many years of a more demanding devotion.
Although I am still very much a work in progress, I can honestly say that I have experienced the great fruits of this consecration, particularly in the area of scrupulosity and servile fear. Growing up, what motivated my spirituality was the fear of hell more than the love of God. Over the years, as my relationship with the Lord Jesus grew deeper, I began to see more and more His great love for me. The scrupulosity faded and was gradually replaced by a sense of true freedom and true confidence in His love for me.
Of course, my experience is hardly unique. Many people who are a lot holier than I am also consecrated themselves in the way. In fact, many of our great modern saints did it. Among the most notable, of course is Saint John Paul II. Another great saint was Saint Maximillian Kolbe, who was martyred in the Nazi concentration camps and of course, who could forget the incomparable Saint Teresa of Calcutta? The fruits are simply undeniable.
Blessed indeed is the fruit of her womb and not only Jesus but all those who would be sanctified by Him and thus become her spiritual children, to whom He says, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:27).
As noted by the passages at the beginning of the chapter, from the moment the angel first appeared to her, he greets her with the Greek words, “Chaire, kecharitomene!” which is often translated “Hail! Full of grace!” or “Rejoice, most highly favored one!”
In reality, scholars say that this Greek term (which appears nowhere else in Scripture) actually means something more like, “completely-perfectly-enduringly-and-permanently-endowed-with-grace-both-before-and-after-this moment”. That’s a mouthful, huh? It’s no wonder the translation doesn’t do it justice.
This greeting is actually the basis for the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on Mary’s Immaculate Conception and the teaching of the Eastern Churches on Mary as “Panagia” or the “All-holy” whom they say is “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #493) very similar to Saint Maximillian Kolbe’s meditations on the nature of Mary.
Later, when she travels to visit Elizabeth, her cousin immediately recognizes her as the Ark of the New Covenant and greets her with words startlingly similar to the words David uses when the Ark of the Covenant is brought to him in 2 Samuel 6:9, "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?"
Elizabeth, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, realizes that the woman coming to her bears God's new and final covenant within her and like the ancient ark she too, is the pure house of gold and she also cannot be touched by any man. Even baby John the Baptist seems to recognize the singular grace of this mother and son and like David dancing before the ark he, “leaped in the womb” (Luke 1:44).
Once Mary hears Elizabeth's prophecy, the same Holy Spirit falls on her and she says,“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my Savior!”
In Latin, this is translated “Magnificat anima mea Dominum.” In English this reads, "My soul magnifies the Lord."
It's not that He is small so as to need magnification like fine print but rather, the other meaning of magnify serves better here. It's the same root as magna or “great”. So, Mary is actually saying that her soul makes the greatness of the Lord clearer. In other words, we see Jesus more clearly through her. What better reason have we to go to Jesus through any other means?
Thus, these passages at the beginning are what comprises the great “Hail Mary” prayer of the Roman Church.
We begin with the very words used by the angel Gabriel to greet Our Lady and then continue with the words of Elizabeth’s prophecy and conclude with the Church’s own petition for her maternal protection and intercession, “Now, and at the hour of our death.”
Amen.
Luke 1:26-28; 39-45
When I have shared my struggles with my sexuality with people and I tell them how deeply seated my desires were the question they often ask is, “Why didn’t you ever succumb to them with a man?”
The only answer I can offer is that I am under what I like to call the “Immaculate Protection”. I owe it to none other than Jesus Christ with the special intercession of His Mother. It is no strength on my part at all; of that I am convinced. So, since Our Lady seemed to have taken me for her own and placed me under her protection, it seemed only logical that I should formally offer myself to her.
I did this using what is commonly known as the “Total Consecration to Our Lady” or more simply, the “DeMontfort Consecration”, after Saint Louis DeMontfort, the great priest who spread this devotion and wrote the “textbook” on it. In essence, what I really did was to renew my baptismal vows to Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin.
This entailed offering myself completely to the Mother of Jesus so that she can perfect the work of Christ in me and make my own works more efficacious. Thus, I offer to her all my prayers, works, sufferings, hopes and dreams and allow her to dispose of them as she wishes. In return, she covers me in her mantle and presents me to Christ through her own spotless soul. It’s a good deal!
DeMontfort writes in True Devotion to Mary:
I have said that this devotion could rightly be called a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism. Before baptism every Christian was a slave of the devil because he belonged to him. At baptism he has either personally or through his sponsors solemnly renounced Satan, his seductions and his works. He has chosen Jesus as his Master and sovereign Lord and undertaken to depend upon him as a slave of love. This is what is done in the devotion I am presenting to you. We renounce the devil, the world, sin and self, as expressed in the act of consecration, and we give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary. We even do something more than at baptism, when ordinarily our godparents speak for us and we are given to Jesus only by proxy. In this devotion we give ourselves personally and freely and we are fully aware of what we are doing. (126)
Now you may object and say, “Isn’t Jesus Christ enough? There is only one Mediator between God and man. Why go through another intercessor?”
Yes. Jesus Christ is enough and no, strictly speaking, He does not directly need Mary to bring us to salvation. And no, we do not need other intercessors besides Him. We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ alone, apart from Mary. That’s not the issue here. What is really at stake is not whether we are saved by Jesus but rather, how we are saved by Him. There are billions of people on this planet and among them billions of Christians. Thus, there are bound to be a lot of diverse ways of reaching the perfection of Jesus Christ.
What Saint Louis de Monfort and other saints are saying is simply that the Total Consecration is the most perfect and efficacious way to “work out our salvation in fear and trembling” (Phillipians 2:12). The Scriptural basis for this, according to DeMontfort is rather simple.
How did Jesus Christ come to us? He came to us through Mary.
DeMontfort notes:
The Most High God came down to us in a perfect way through the humble Virgin Mary, without losing anything of his divinity or holiness. It is likewise through Mary that we poor creatures must ascend to almighty God in a perfect manner without having anything to fear. (157)
If she is the perfect vessel to bring him to us, how then should we go to Him? By that same perfect vessel, of course.
DeMontfort continues,
As all perfection consists in our being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus it naturally follows that the most perfect of all devotions is that which conforms, unites, and consecrates us most completely to Jesus. Now of all God's creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. It therefore follows that, of all devotions, devotion to her makes for the most effective consecration and conformity to him. The more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus. (120)
Can we go other ways? Sure we can. However, DeMontfort argues that the other ways of spirituality are much harder and that we merit more actual grace doing it this way.
This devotion is a smooth way. It is the path which Jesus Christ opened up in coming to us and in which there is no obstruction to prevent us reaching him. It is quite true that we can attain to divine union by other roads, but these involve many more crosses and exceptional setbacks and many difficulties that we cannot easily overcome. We would have to pass through spiritual darkness, engage in struggles for which we are not prepared, endure bitter agonies, scale precipitous mountains, tread upon painful thorns, and cross frightful deserts. But when we take the path of Mary, we walk smoothly and calmly. (152)
DeMontfort also notes the many blessings which come to us if we come to Christ this way (213-222) including:
1. Knowledge of our unworthiness: By the light which the Holy Spirit will give you through Mary, his faithful spouse, you will perceive the evil inclinations of your fallen nature and how incapable you are of any good. Finally, the humble Virgin Mary will share her humility with you so that, although you regard yourself with distaste and desire to be disregarded by others, you will not look down slightingly upon anyone.
2. A share in Mary's faith: Mary will share her faith with you. Her faith on earth was stronger than that of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles and saints.
3. The gift of pure love:The Mother of fair love will rid your heart of all scruples and inordinate servile fear.
4. Great confidence in God and in Mary: Our Blessed Lady will fill you with unbounded confidence in God and in herself because you will no longer approach Jesus by yourself but always through Mary, your loving Mother.
5. Communication of the spirit of Mary: The soul of Mary will be communicated to you to glorify the Lord. Her spirit will take the place of yours to rejoice in God, her Saviour, but only if you are faithful to the practices of this devotion.
6. Transformation into the likeness of Jesus: If Mary, the Tree of Life, is well cultivated in our soul by fidelity to this devotion, she will in due time bring forth her fruit which is none other than Jesus.
7. The greater glory of Christ: If you live this devotion sincerely, you will give more glory to Jesus in a month than in many years of a more demanding devotion.
Although I am still very much a work in progress, I can honestly say that I have experienced the great fruits of this consecration, particularly in the area of scrupulosity and servile fear. Growing up, what motivated my spirituality was the fear of hell more than the love of God. Over the years, as my relationship with the Lord Jesus grew deeper, I began to see more and more His great love for me. The scrupulosity faded and was gradually replaced by a sense of true freedom and true confidence in His love for me.
Of course, my experience is hardly unique. Many people who are a lot holier than I am also consecrated themselves in the way. In fact, many of our great modern saints did it. Among the most notable, of course is Saint John Paul II. Another great saint was Saint Maximillian Kolbe, who was martyred in the Nazi concentration camps and of course, who could forget the incomparable Saint Teresa of Calcutta? The fruits are simply undeniable.
Blessed indeed is the fruit of her womb and not only Jesus but all those who would be sanctified by Him and thus become her spiritual children, to whom He says, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:27).
As noted by the passages at the beginning of the chapter, from the moment the angel first appeared to her, he greets her with the Greek words, “Chaire, kecharitomene!” which is often translated “Hail! Full of grace!” or “Rejoice, most highly favored one!”
In reality, scholars say that this Greek term (which appears nowhere else in Scripture) actually means something more like, “completely-perfectly-enduringly-and-permanently-endowed-with-grace-both-before-and-after-this moment”. That’s a mouthful, huh? It’s no wonder the translation doesn’t do it justice.
This greeting is actually the basis for the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on Mary’s Immaculate Conception and the teaching of the Eastern Churches on Mary as “Panagia” or the “All-holy” whom they say is “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #493) very similar to Saint Maximillian Kolbe’s meditations on the nature of Mary.
Later, when she travels to visit Elizabeth, her cousin immediately recognizes her as the Ark of the New Covenant and greets her with words startlingly similar to the words David uses when the Ark of the Covenant is brought to him in 2 Samuel 6:9, "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?"
Elizabeth, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, realizes that the woman coming to her bears God's new and final covenant within her and like the ancient ark she too, is the pure house of gold and she also cannot be touched by any man. Even baby John the Baptist seems to recognize the singular grace of this mother and son and like David dancing before the ark he, “leaped in the womb” (Luke 1:44).
Once Mary hears Elizabeth's prophecy, the same Holy Spirit falls on her and she says,“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my Savior!”
In Latin, this is translated “Magnificat anima mea Dominum.” In English this reads, "My soul magnifies the Lord."
It's not that He is small so as to need magnification like fine print but rather, the other meaning of magnify serves better here. It's the same root as magna or “great”. So, Mary is actually saying that her soul makes the greatness of the Lord clearer. In other words, we see Jesus more clearly through her. What better reason have we to go to Jesus through any other means?
Thus, these passages at the beginning are what comprises the great “Hail Mary” prayer of the Roman Church.
We begin with the very words used by the angel Gabriel to greet Our Lady and then continue with the words of Elizabeth’s prophecy and conclude with the Church’s own petition for her maternal protection and intercession, “Now, and at the hour of our death.”
Amen.