33 Day Consecration to Mary - St Louis de Montfort

[Shin]

Source of heavenly water, have mercy on us
Consuming fire, have mercy on us
Ardent charity, have mercy on us

Fire and water! I remember a little prayer I love, "May the most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the waters of life, wash us free from sin."

There is so much said in praise of obedience.. It makes meritorious so many ordinary everyday actions.. to put one's entire life under it.. gains the great grace of always doing the will of another.. holy obedience. . the will of God..

'That Mary was a true martyr cannot be doubted, as Denis the Carthusian, Pelbart, Catharinus, and others prove; for it is an undoubted opinion that suffering sufficient to cause death is martyrdom, even though death does not ensue from it.

Saint John the Evangelist is revered as a martyr, though he did not die in the caldron of boiling oil, but he came out more vigorous than he went in. Saint Thomas says, "that to have the glory of martyrdom, it is sufficient to exercise obedience in its highest degree, that is to say, to be obedient unto death."

"Mary was a martyr," says Saint Bernard, "not by the sword of the executioner, but by bitter sorrow of heart." If her body was not wounded by the hand of the executioner, her blessed heart was transfixed by a sword of grief at the passion of her Son; grief which was sufficient to have caused her death, not once, but a thousand times. From this we shall see that Mary was not only a real martyr, but that her martyrdom surpassed all others; for it was longer than that of all others, and her whole life may be said to have been a prolonged death.

"The passion of Jesus," as Saint Bernard says, "commenced with His birth". So also did Mary, in all things like unto her Son, endure her martyrdom throughout her life. Amongst other significations of the name of Mary, as Blessed Albert the Great asserts, is that of "a bitter sea." Hence to her is applicable the text of Jeremias: "great as the sea is thy destruction." For as the sea is all bitter and salt, so also was the life of Mary always full of bitterness at the sight of the passion of the Redeemer, which was ever present to her mind. "There can be no doubt, that, enlightened by the Holy Ghost in a far higher degree than all the prophets, she, far better than they, understood the predictions recorded by them in the sacred Scriptures concerning the Messias." This is precisely what the angel revealed to Saint Bridget; and he also added, "that the Blessed Virgin, even before she became His Mother, knowing how much the Incarnate Word was to suffer for the salvation of men, and compassionating this innocent Saviour, who was to be so cruelly put to death for crimes not His own, even then began her great martyrdom."'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Brigid]

15th Day


Luke 13:1-5
Examples inviting Repentance

And there were present, at that very time, some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answering, said to them: Think you that these Galileans were sinners above all the men of Galilee, because they suffered such things? No, I say to you: but unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower fell in Siloe, and slew them: think you, that they also were debtors above all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem? No, I say to you; but except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.

True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Nos. 81 and 82
We Need Mary in order to Die to Ourselves

Secondly, in order to empty ourselves of self, we must die daily to ourselves. This involves our renouncing what the powers of the soul and the senses of the body incline us to do. We must see as if we did not see, hear as if we did not hear and use the things of this world as if we did not use them. This is what St. Paul calls "dying daily". Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain and does not bear any good fruit. If we do not die to self and if our holiest devotions do not lead us to this necessary and fruitful death, we shall not bear fruit of any worth and our devotions will cease to be profitable. All our good works will be tainted by self-love and self-will so that our greatest sacrifices and our best actions will be unacceptable to God. Consequently when we come to die we shall find ourselves devoid of virtue and merit and discover that we do not possess even one spark of that pure love which God shares only with those who have died to themselves and whose life is hidden with Jesus Christ in him.

Thirdly, we must choose among all the devotions to the Blessed Virgin the one which will lead us more surely to this dying to self. This devotion will be the best and the most sanctifying for us.



The prayers of the Blessed Virgin, being the prayers of a mother, have in them something of a command; so that it is impossible that she should not obtain what she asks.

St. Antonius

And perchance, if it is unworthy of the benignity of the Lord to be thus jealous of the honor of His Mother, who declares that He came into the world, not to break, but to observe the law: but this law commands us to honor our parents.

St. Augustine

[martin]

Secondly, in order to empty ourselves of self, we must die daily to ourselves. This involves our renouncing what the powers of the soul and the senses of the body incline us to do. We must see as if we did not see, hear as if we did not hear and use the things of this world as if we did not use them.

Thank you again Brigid for these meditations and prayers. I'm finding them so useful to read before going to bed.
A line or two usually sticks in my mind and I can meditate on them while lying in bed(and usually fall asleep doing so). 
The above words I'll be using tonight please God.

[Brigid]

Thanks! I'm finding that looking for a Saint's quote has been really instructive to me as far as increasing my devotion greatly to Our Lady.

[Brigid]

16th Day 

From True Devotion To the Blessed Virgin Mary, No. 228
Preparatory Exercises


During the first week they should offer up all their prayers and acts of devotion to acquire knowledge of themselves and sorrow for their sins. Let them perform all their actions in a spirit of humility. With this end in view they may, if they wish, meditate on what I have said concerning our corrupted nature, and consider themselves during six days of the week as nothing but sails, slugs, toads, swine, snakes and goats. Or else they may meditate on the following three considerations of St. Bernard: "Remember what you were -corrupted seed; what you are - a body destined for decay; what you will be -food for worms." They will ask our Lord and the Holy Spirit to enlighten them saying, "Lord, that I may see," or "Lord, let me know myself," or the "Come, Holy Spirit". Every day they should say the Litany of the Holy Spirit, with the prayer that follows, as indicated in the first part of this work. They will turn to our Blessed Lady and beg her to obtain for them that great grace which is the foundation of all others, the grace of self-knowledge. For this intention they will say each day the Ave Maris Stella and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.


Imitation of Christ, by Thomas á Kempis: Book 2, Chapter 5
Of Self-consideration

We cannot trust over much to ourselves (Jer. 17:5), because grace oftentimes is wanting to us, and understanding also. Little light is there in us, and this we quickly lose by our negligence. Oftentimes too we perceive not our inward blindness how great it is. Oftentimes we do evil, and excuse it worse (Psalm 141:4). We are sometimes moved with passion, and we think it zeal. We reprehend small things in others, and pass over our own greater matters (Matt. 7:5). Quickly enough we feel and weigh what we suffer at the hands of others; but we mind not how much others suffer from us. He that well and rightly considereth his own works, will find little cause to judge hardly of another.

[Brigid]

..... Mary, having merited to give flesh to the divine Word, and thus supply the price of our redemption, that we might be delivered from eternal death; therefore is she more powerful than all others to help us to gain eternal life.

St. Augustine


The prayers of His Mother are a pleasure to the Son, because He desires to grant all that is granted on her account, and thus recompense her for the favor she did Him in giving Him His body.

St. Theophilus

[Shin]

Quickly enough we feel and weigh what we suffer at the hands of others; but we mind not how much others suffer from us. He that well and rightly considereth his own works, will find little cause to judge hardly of another.

Thought provoking words...

'But, my daughter, I am going a step further, and I bid you everywhere and in everything rejoice in your own abjection. Perhaps you will ask in reply what I mean by that. In Latin abjection means humility, and humility means abjection, so that when Our Lady says in the Magnificat that all generations shall call her blessed, because God hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden, she means that He has accepted her abjection and lowliness in order to fill her with graces and favours. Nevertheless, there is a difference between humility and abjection; for abjection is the poverty, vileness and littleness which exist in us, without our taking heed to them; but humility implies a real knowledge and voluntary recognition of that abjection. And the highest point of humility consists in not merely acknowledging one's abjection, but in taking pleasure therein, not from any want of breadth or courage, but to give the more glory to God's Divine Majesty, and to esteem one's neighbour more highly than one's self. This is what I would have you do;'

St. Francis de Sales

[Brigid]

17th Day


From True Devotion To the Blessed Virgin Mary, No. 228

Of Judgment, and the Punishment of Sinners In all things look to the end; and how thou wilt stand before that strict Judge (Heb. 10:31) to whom nothing is hid, who is not appeased with gifts, nor admitteth excuses, but will judge according to right. O wretched and foolish sinner, who sometimes art in terror at the countenance of an angry man, what answer wilt thou make to God who knoweth all thy wickedness (Job 9:2)! Why dost thou not provide for thyself (Luke 16:9) against the day of judgement, when no man can be excused of defended by another, but every one shall be a sufficient burden for himself!

Luke 16:1-8
The Crafty Steward

And he said also to his disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said to him: How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst be steward no longer. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do, that when I shall be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. Therefore calling together every one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much dost thou owe my lord? But he said: An hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then he said to another: And how much dost thou owe? Who said: An hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill, and write eighty. And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.

[Brigid]

.... Mary knows not how to do otherwise than love those who love her; and that even she does not disdain to serve those who serve her; and in favor of such a one, should he be a sinner, she uses all her power in order to obtain his forgiveness from her blessed Son.

Blessed Raymond Jordano


.... our Queen is constantly before the Divine Majesty, interceding for us with her most powerful prayers.

Blessed Amadeus

[Shin]

In all things look to the end; and how thou wilt stand before that strict Judge (Heb. 10:31) to whom nothing is hid, who is not appeased with gifts, nor admitteth excuses, but will judge according to right.

But will judge according to the right. It's beautiful and terrible at once!

Thank God for His Queen and ours and the mercy He gives us through her.

[Brigid]

Mary knows not how to do otherwise than love those who love her;

I think this loving of her is the key.

[martin]

The crafty steward parable seems to be coming up a lot lately Brigid and like I said in another thread it seems that the Lord is pleading for as much effort to be put into spiritual matters as is given to material affairs.


In the absence of a meaningful sermon today on the feast of Christ the King, I listened to 3 Audio Sancto sermons on the subject during the day.  How terrible it is that nearly all the western world has pushed our dear Lord to the fringes of society and politics, depending on man alone to sort out the worlds problems.

Shin after reading your post on the 3rd commandment, that Golden Arrow prayer won't leave my head.
How much we must console the Lord and plead for His mercy amid so much ungratefulness.
It's almost a necessity that we be consecrated to the Blessed Virgin in these times

[Brigid]

The crafty steward parable seems to be coming up a lot lately Brigid and like I said in another thread it seems that the Lord is pleading for as much effort to be put into spiritual matters as is given to material affairs.

I wonder if this is due to those on this site needing that particular parable right now, more than some? You think?

[Shin]

I think you might be on to something there Brigid. 

[martin]

The crafty steward parable seems to be coming up a lot lately Brigid and like I said in another thread it seems that the Lord is pleading for as much effort to be put into spiritual matters as is given to material affairs.

I wonder if this is due to those on this site needing that particular parable right now, more than some? You think?

Hmm.  We may be under-estimating the plans Our Lord has for this little family here. Judging from the dedication you all show in following your faith I think the Lord might not be content until He's achieved His grand purpose for our lives. And don't we all know what that is?
To that end He may be asking more from us than we in our own minds think we are capable/worthy of giving.   
Just my thoughts.   

[Brigid]

If that is the case, Martin, we'll need a lot of His grace through His Mother!

"My God, I believe, I adore, I trust, and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust, and do not love Thee."