PRAYERS TO OUR LADY

DAY 15 OF 33 TOTAL CONSECRATION

Begin With The Following Prayers:

Come Holy Ghost fill the hearts of Thy faithful...

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.

Meditation: 1-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.

Meditation: 2-From The Imitation of Mary

CHAPTER 10

CONFIDENCE IN MARY

Mary---MY CHILD, you do not have perfect confidence in me. At times you are slow to call on me when you are in need, and at all times you seem unsure of my good will toward you.

I want you to have all the confidence in me that any son should have in his mother, knowing as he does her tender love and her goodness. Come to me always and everywhere, in all your spiritual and temporal needs, in difficulties of soul and body, in the difficulties of your relatives and friends.

Is it a sign of any great confidence in me if you turn to me only from time to time, on my feast days, for example, as some Christians do? You should imitate the Church which asks nothing of God without appealing to my intercession.

The Church has recourse to me as dispenser of the Lord's graces; let her conduct be the norm for yours, and, like her, have unfailing confidence in me, a confidence that is all-embracing, ardent, sweet, and affectionate.

Turn to God through Jesus, but turn to Jesus through His Mother. I am the surest way of reaching Jesus, of finding Him, and of receiving a warm welcome from Him.

The Believer---Queen of Heaven, I acknowledge your power and goodness, but I fear that I am unworthy of you. Can a virgin so pure, so zealous for God's honor, and so perfect, turn to me in compassion?

Mary---My child, am I not the refuge of sinners? I intercede for all those who want to turn back to God's service and who call upon me with confidence.

Moved by my concern for their reconciliation, God has never said no to my prayer. For many sinners I am the only means left them and the only means God gives them of regaining His friendship. I have won pardon for sin, even enormous sins, for so many Christians. They asked my protection against God's justice, and I protected them until I won their reconciliation with their Judge.

Some sinners live stubbornly on in their sins while deluding themselves that I will win for them the grace of not dying in their sins.

That is presumptuous confidence and an insult to me. Others, however, groan beneath the weight of their sins and want to cast it off; they are aware of their weakness and put their trust and hope in me, praying that through my intercession I may win the grace of strength and forgiveness for them. Come! Draw near! I will not reject you but welcome you with love.

The Believer---Mother of my Lord, the moment your greeting sounded in my ears [Lk 1,43-44], all my disquiet vanished, and my confidence in you returned, stronger than ever.

To me you are like the dove that returned after the flood carrying an olive branch, the symbol of peace. Accept under your saving protection this sinner who is ashamed, deeply moved, and sorry for the sins of his lifetime, sins that he would like to expiate with his blood.

Obtain for me the grace to weep bitterly for the sins I have committed and to die rather than commit once again sins I so much detest. Through the holy Child of your womb, you won peace between God and men. Win peace for me as well, between me and my conscience, between me and my God.

Virgin, powerful and so full of kindness, how grateful I should be for all the blessings I receive from God through your intercession! Let all hearts be forever dedicated to you! Let all mouths voice the praises which Heaven speaks to earth: "May Mary be loved and glorified!" and which earth echoes back to Heaven: "May Mary be glorified and loved through all ages!"

Reflection: Taken from the book Absolute Abandonment

O you who aspire to perfection and are tempted to discouragement by what you read in the lives of the saints and find prescribed in certain pious books! O you who are overwhelmed by the terrible ideas that you form of perfection! It is for your consolation that God permits that I write this. Learn what you seem not to know. In the order of nature, necessary things, as air, water, earth, the God of all goodness has made common and easy of attainment. Nothing is more necessary than breath, sleep, food, and nothing is more common. Love and fidelity are no less necessary in the spiritual order; therefore the difficulty of acquiring them cannot be as great as you represent it to yourselves.

Observe your life; of what does it consist? Of a multitude of unimportant actions. Yet with these same unimportant actions God deigns to be content. This is the co-operation required of the soul in the work of its perfection. God Himself expresses it too clearly to admit of doubt: " Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is all man" (Eccles. xii. 13). That is to say, this is all that is required on man's part; in this consists his active fidelity. Let him fulfill his part; God will do the rest. Grace, working by itself, effects marvels which surpass the intelligence of man. For ear has not heard, eye has not seen, heart has not felt, what God conceives in His mind, resolves in His will, executes by His power in souls wholly abandoned to Him.