Day 3 -Preparation for Consecration

PREPARATION FOR CONSECRATION DAY 3

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

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

Matthew 7:1-14

Judge not, that you may not be judged, For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. Any why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: Let me cast the mote out of thy eye; and behold a beam is in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear 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. Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent? If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!

Meditation:

Gratification of the Senses Drives Away the Spirit of Christ

“Wisdom,” the Holy Spirit declares, “is not found in the land of them that live in delights,” who gratify all the desires of their passions and bodily senses, for “they who are in the flesh cannot please God” and because “the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God” “My Spirit shall not remain in man because he is flesh”. (Job 28:13; Rom. 8:8,7; Gen. 6:3)

All those who belong to Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, have crucified their flesh, with its vices and concupiscence’s. They ever bear about in their bodies the mortification of Jesus. They continually do violence to themselves, carry their crosses every day, die daily and bury themselves in Christ. These words of the Holy Spirit show more clearly then the light of day that to possess Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ, we must practice mortification, renounce the world and self.

Do not think that Wisdom, purer then the rays of the sun, will enter a soul and a body sullied by the pleasures of the senses. Do not believe the He will grant His rest and ineffable peace to those who love the company of the vanities of the world. He tells us, “to him that overcometh the world and himself….I will give the hidden Manna” (Apoc.2:17).

Meditation:

The Narrow Gate of Poverty and Humility

Our Lord continues to transform our spirit into His, by the following words taken from the Gospels:

Whosoever will be greater among you, let him be your minister; and he that will be the first among you, shall be your servant…How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God…I say to you, love your enemies; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.

Woe to you who are rich, for you have your consolation…Enter ye in at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it […]

MEDITATION-The Loss of all Things in Death.

Taken from: The Way of Salvation and Perfection

By Saint Alphonsus

The day of destruction is at hand.

The day of death is called the day of destruction, because then is destroyed all that man has acquired; honours, friends, riches, possessions, kingdoms all are then no more. What then doth it profit us to gain the whole world if in death we must leave all? All is at an end at the bedside of the dying man. Is there any king, think you, said St. Ignatius to Xavier when he sought to bring him to God, who has taken with him into the other world even a thread of purple to mark his sovereignty? Has any rich man taken with him a single coin, or even one servant to attend him? In death all is left behind. The soul enters eternity alone and unattended, except by its works. Woe to me! where are my works to accompany me to a blessed eternity? I can discover none but such as render me deserving of eternal torments.

Men come into the world in unequal conditions: one is born rich, another poor, one a noble, another a plebeian; but all go out of it equal and alike. Consider the graves of the dead: see if you can discover among the bodies which are there interred, who was a master and who a servant, who was a king and who a beggar. O God! while others amass the fortunes of this world, may my only fortune be Thy holy grace. Thou alone art my only good both in this life and in the next.

In one word, everything on earth will come to an end. All greatness will end, all misery will end, honours will end, ignominies will end; pleasures will end, sufferings will end.

Blessed in death, therefore, not he who has abounded in riches, honours, and pleasures, but he who has patiently endured poverty, contempt, and sufferings! The possession of temporal goods affords no consolation at the moment of death: that alone consoles us which has been done or suffered for God. O Jesus! separate my heart from this world, before death entirely takes me from it. Help me with Thy grace; Thou indeed knowest how great is my weakness.

Permit me not to be any more unfaithful to Thee, as I have hitherto been. I am sorry, O Lord! for having so often despised Thee. Now will I love Thee above every good, and will die a thousand times rather than forfeit Thy grace. But the infernal one ceases not to tempt me; in mercy abandon me not, leave me not to myself, permit me not to be any more separated from Thy love. O Mary, my hope! Obtain for me the grace of perseverance.