Mar. 22, 2019

THE ANNUNCIATION

This Monday, March 25, you can consecrate yourself, your children, and your family to the Blessed Virgin Mother of God. These three acts of consecration follow after the reflection.

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“I receive all my children at my feet, when they greet me. Today, on this feast which is so dear to me, I address myself to everyone on earth. The Annunciation reminds me of so much sweetness: it was the great news that was to rejoice the world.

“It is for your happiness, my children, that I have given you my Son, my greatest treasure. I know that today the earth suffers. I come to prepare for you a heavenly rose…

“Come to me, mothers who suffer, fathers who have trouble and you also, young people and young girls…

“My children, I was purified and I have found grace. It flooded my heart so much that the divine Creator alone made all my happiness and all my joy. I stood in solitude and humility. I meditated the sweetness of the Most High. I have passed, on earth, days of joy and of happiness, but also days of sorrow and of pain.

“I am your model. Follow my example and the Holy Ghost will cover you with his lights.” (Annunciation, 25 March 1878).

[Source: pages 102-103, Le ciel en colloque avec Marie-Julie Jahenny, by Fr. Pierre Roberdel].

Reflection:

This March 25, is the wonderful Feast of the Annunciation. For all of us who have consecrated ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, this is a special day to pray and renew our consecration, putting our eternal souls under the protection of her Immaculate Heart.

The words she tells Marie-Julie in this ecstasy are just as valid for us today:

“I know that today the earth suffers. I come to prepare for you a heavenly rose…”

Our Blessed Mother consoles us with confidence and hope when she says: “I receive all my children at my feet, when they greet me.”

Especially because of the times we are living in, we should prepare to receive the heavenly rose that our Blessed Mother is preparing for us.

On Monday, March 25, remember to take the opportunity of this great Feast Day to consecrate yourself, your children, and your families, to the Blessed Virgin Mary – all three prayers for consecration follow here:

1. 1.    Consecration to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, through the Blessed Virgin Mary (according to Saint Louis de Montfort)

O Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most adorable Jesus! True God and true man, only Son of the Eternal Father, and of Mary, always virgin! I adore Thee profoundly in the bosom and splendors of Thy Father during eternity; and I adore Thee also in the virginal bosom of Mary, Thy most worthy Mother, in the time of Thine Incarnation.

I give Thee thanks for that Thou have annihilated Thyself, taking the form of a slave in order to rescue me from the cruel slavery of the devil. I praise and glorify Thee for that Thou have been pleased to submit Thyself to Mary, Thy holy Mother, in all things, in order to make me Thy faithful slave through her. But, alas! Ungrateful and faithless as I have been, I have not kept the promises which I made so solemnly to Thee in my Baptism; I have not fulfilled my obligations; I do not deserve to be called Thy child, nor yet Thy slave; and as there is nothing in me which does not merit Thine anger and Thy repulse, I dare not come by myself before Thy most holy and august Majesty. It is on this account that I have recourse to the intercession of Thy most holy Mother, whom Thou have given me for a mediatrix with Thee. It is through her that I hope to obtain of Thee contrition, the pardon of my sins, and the acquisition and preservation of wisdom.

Hail, then, O Immaculate Mary, living tabernacle of the Divinity, where the Eternal Wisdom willed to be hidden and to be adored by angels and by men! Hail, O Queen of Heaven and Earth, to whose empire everything is subject which is under God. Hail, O sure refuge of sinners, whose mercy fails no one. Hear the desires which I have of the Divine Wisdom; and for that end receive the vows and offerings which in my lowliness I present to thee. I, N., a faithless sinner—I renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.

In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity.

Receive, O benignant Virgin, this little offering of my slavery, in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to thy maternity, in homage to the power which both of you have over this poor sinner, and in thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity has favored thee. I declare that I wish henceforth, as thy true slave, to seek thy honor and to obey thee in all things.

O admirable Mother, present me to thy dear Son as His eternal slave, so that as He has redeemed me by thee, by thee He may receive me! O Mother of mercy, grant me the grace to obtain the true Wisdom of God; and for that end receive me among those whom thou love and teach, whom thou lead, nourish and protect as thy children and thy slaves.  

O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple, imitator and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ thy Son, that I may attain, by thine intercession and by thine example, to the fulness of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven. Amen.

(A plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception and April 28 – Preces et Pia Opera, 75).

[Source: True Devotion to Mary, by Saint Louis de Montfort. Imprimatur 1949].

1. 2.    How a Child is Consecrated to Mary

 “Many Christian mothers have the pious practice, before the birth of a child, of praying nine Hail Marys every day, in honour of the nine months in which Our Lady bore her Divine Son in her womb, to implore the favor of a safe delivery.

 “A mother who wishes to dedicate a child to Mary takes it to an altar of the Mother of God, or better still, to a shrine of the Blessed Virgin, and there presents and dedicates the child, giving it to the Mother of God as her property and begging her to accept it as her own, to take it under her special protection and lead it to everlasting life. If she prefers, the mother may ask a priest to make the consecration. The mother promises Mary to bring up the child carefully and to early implant in its heart a tender love for its Heavenly Mother. On the day of the dedication, the mother, if she has the means, may offer some gift to Mary in the name of the child, such as an alms to some charitable work, or she may have a Mass offered for her child in honor of Mary.

 “A child consecrated to the Mother of God has its soul and body placed under her special care during life and at death. Children consecrated to the Blessed Virgin do not easily lose their innocence, nor do they fall as deeply, or if they fall they sooner or later return to true repentance. Such children, it is quite safe to say, will not be lost, for Mary will find ways and means to save the souls dedicated to her. Venerable Catherine Emmerich relates how she once assisted at the bedside of a dying hermit. For years he had led a wicked life. Three years before his death, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, saying that at his birth his mother had consecrated him to her, and he should not defer his conversion any longer. He amended his life, did penance and died a happy death. From this example we may judge the efficacy of consecration to Mary.”

Consecration of Children to the Blessed Virgin Mary

 O most holy Mother of God, I esteem myself happy to entrust to thy motherly and powerful protection this child and to consecrate it today to thee. May it be forever the object of thy most tender care. Watch over it and preserve it in innocence and health. Under thy guidance may it grow in wisdom and virtue. Effect that it may become the joy of its parents, the glory of our Holy Church, and that, after having faithfully served God in this life, it may hereafter share the reward of the saints in eternity. O dearest Mother Mary, do thou obtain these graces for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Amen.

[Source: Under Mary’s Mantle, Imprimatur 1944].

1. 3.    Dedication of a Family to Mary

O Blessed Virgin, Immaculate Queen and our Mother Mary, refuge and consolation of all who turn to thee, prostrate before thy throne, with my whole family, I choose thee for my Lady, Mother and Advocate with God. I dedicate myself, with all who belong to me, forever to thy service, and beseech thee, O Mother of God, to receive us into the number of thy servants, by taking us all under thy protection, helping us in life and still more at the hour of our death. O Mother of Mercy, I appoint thee as Lady and Queen of my whole house, of my relatives, of my interests and of all my affairs. Disdain not to take charge of them; dispose of all as it pleases thee. Bless me, then, and all my family, and do not permit that any of us should offend thy Son. Do thou defend us in temptations, deliver us from dangers, provide for us in our necessities, counsel us in our doubts, comfort us in our afflictions, assist us in our infirmities and especially in the sorrows of death. Never allow the devil to glory in having any of us who are now consecrated to thee in his power; but grant that in Heaven we may with thee, and thanking thee, praise and love Jesus our Redeemer through all eternity. Amen.

[Source: Under Mary’s Mantle, Imprimatur 1944].

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