Day 13 -Preparation for Consecration

PREPARATION FOR CONSECRATION DAY 13

Prayers for the Preparatory Period (Days 1-33) to be said daily.

To see the prayers in their entirety click the links below...

Theme for the Week: Knowledge Of Self

Prayers, examinations, reflection, acts of renouncement of our own will, of contrition for our sins, of contempt of self, all performed at the feet of Mary, for it is from her that we hope for light to know ourselves. It is near her, that we shall be able to measure the abyss of our miseries without despairing.

We should employ all our pious actions in asking for a knowledge of ourselves and contrition of our sins: and we should do this in a spirit of piety. During this period, we shall consider not so much the opposition that exists between the spirit of Jesus and ours, as the miserable and humiliating state to which our sins have reduced us. Moreover, the True Devotion being an easy, short, sure and perfect way to arrive at that union with Our Lord which is Christlike perfection, we shall enter seriously upon this way, strongly convinced of our misery and helplessness. But how attain this without a knowledge of ourselves'?

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Meditation: 1

Luke 11:1-10

And it came to pass, that as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.

And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves, Because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me, and I have not what to set before him. And he from within should answer, and say: Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise, and give him as many as he needeth.

And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

Meditation: 2

We salute Mary with the Latin word "Ave." If we reverse this word, we have the Latin name of the first woman -- our first mother, Eva. What misery and misfortune did not the sin of this first woman bring upon the world! She is no longer the mother of the living, as her name denotes, but of the dead, of those who are spiritually dead. But it is right that we should salute Mary with the word "Ave," for she is in truth the opposite to Eva. By becoming the Mother of the Redeemer she won salvation, deliverance, and true spiritual life for the whole human race. As far as her example goes, she is also a direct contrast to Eve. We have been warned by the saints to beware of imitating Eve; I now desire earnestly to entreat you to endeavor to imitate the virtues of Mary. Behold her at the hallowed moment when the Angel brought to her the message from on High, and the mystery of inexpressible magnitude, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, was accomplished. What cannot we all learn form this "Virgin of virgins!"

Scripture tells us in the first place; "The angel being come in said unto her." Mary was not found out of doors, amid the tumult of the world, but in the sacred seclusion of her own room; she loved retirement.

Christian soul, love retirement and recollection. Of course, I do not mean that you ought to always remain at home, in your own room, or that you ought always to remain aloof from other persons. This is certainly not my meaning, unless, indeed, God were to call you to embrace a life of cloister and contemplation as a Religious.

Yet it still holds true, that if you wish to persevere in the path of piety, to be happy both in this world and also in the next, you must imitate Mary; you must love retirement; and though you live amid the bustle and turmoil of the world, you must not be of the world.

Especially you must endeavor to suppress the restless craving for the approbation of your fellow men. A desire to please, to attract the notice of others is often evident in most people to a greater or lesser degree. But this desire, so seldom resisted, so freely indulged, has effected the temporal and eternal ruin of many young people and of many older persons also. Struggle with all your might against this inordinate desire to please; like Mary, cultivate a love of seclusion. Remember the violet. Everyone loves and values this modest little flower, which thrives and blossoms most beautifully in the shade.

Prove your love of retirement by avoiding dangerous occasions and amusements as far as you possibly can. Such are unsupervised meetings with those of the opposite sex and modern amusements of an immoral tendency. Young persons who desire to preserve their innocence and virtue must exercise the greatest caution and prudence in regard to these and similar matters.

Give further proof of your love for retirement by remembering the presence of God at all times, and in all places, and by keeping Him before your eyes whatever you may be doing; whether you are at work or at school, partaking of your meals, or conversing pleasantly with those around you.

Reflection:

Taken from the book:

Absolute Surrender to Divine Providence

CHAPTER I. The Nature and Excellence of the Virtue of Holy Abandonment.

The Sanctity of the Righteous of the Old Law, and of Joseph and of Mary herself, consisted in Fidelity to the Order of God.

God speaks to-day as He spoke to our fathers, when directors were not so numerous, nor methods of direction so well defined. All their spirituality consisted in simple fidelity to the order of God; but it was not reduced to a science which explained it so sublimely or minutely, or contained so many precepts, so many maxims, so much instruction. Our present wants, no doubt, require this explanation.

It was not so in the first ages of the Church, when men were more simple and upright. Each moment brought a duty to be faithfully fulfilled this was sufficient for interior souls of that day.

Their whole attention was concentrated simply upon the duty of each successive moment with the fidelity of the hour-hand of a clock which steadily traverses stroke by stroke the circle in which it is appointed to move. The mind, unceasingly moved by divine grace, turned insensibly to the new duty which presented itself in the order of God every hour.

Such were the hidden springs of Mary's life, the most perfect example of simple and absolute self-abandonment to the will of God. The simple words, Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, with which she was content to answer the angel, expressed all the mystic theology of the ancients. Then, as now, it was all reduced to the simplest and most absolute abandonment of the soul to the will of God under whatever form it manifested itself. This noble and exalted disposition, the basis of all Mary's spirituality, is brilliantly manifested in the words Fiat mihi. Observe how perfectly they accord with those which our Lord would have ever on our lips and in our hearts: Fiat voluntas tua. True, the duty required of Mary at that supreme moment was a glorious one for her.

But all the splendor of that glory would have made no impression upon her if the divine will, alone capable of influencing her, had not arrested her attention.

It was this divine will which guided her in everything. Her occupations, whether ordinary or exalted, were in her eyes but shadows more or less obscure in which she found equal means of glorifying God and recognizing the workings of the Almighty.

She joyfully accepted the duty or suffering of each moment as a gift from Him who fills with good things the hearts which are nourished by Him alone, and not by appearances or created things.

Day 13 -Preparation for Consecration

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