DAY 8 OF 33 TOTAL CONSECRATION

Begin With The Following Prayers:

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

Imitation of Christ

Of Resisting Temptations

As long as we live in this world, we cannot be without temptations and tribulations. Hence it is written in Job "Man's life on earth is a temptation." Everyone therefore should be solicitous about his temptations and watch in prayer lest the devil find an opportunity to catch him: who never sleeps, but goes about, seeking whom he can devour. No one is so perfect and holy as sometimes not to have temptations and we can never be wholly free from them. Nevertheless, temptations are very profitable to man, troublesome and grievous though they may be, for in them, a man is humbled, purified and instructed. All the Saints passed through many tribulations and temptations and were purified by them. And they that could not support temptations, became reprobate, and fell away.

Many seek to flee temptations, and fall worse into them. We cannot conquer by flight alone, but by patience and true humility we become stronger than all our enemies. He who only declines them outwardly, and does not pluck out their root, will profit little; nay, temptations will sooner return and he will find himself in a worse condition. By degrees and by patience you will, by God's grace, better overcome them than by harshness and your own importunity. Take council the oftener in temptation, and do not deal harshly with one who is tempted; but pour in consolation, as thou wouldst wish to be done unto yourself. Inconstancy of mind and little confidence in God, is the beginning of all temptations. For as a ship without a helm is driven to and fro by the waves, so the man who neglects and gives up his resolutions is tempted in many ways.

Pray to Know Thyself

They should then offer up all their prayers and pious actions to ask for knowledge of themselves and contrition for their sins; and they should do this in a spirit of humility. For that end, they can, if they chose, meditate on what I have said before of our inward corruption. They can look upon themselves during this week as snails, crawling things, toads, swine, serpents and unclean animals; or they can reflect on these three considerations of St. Bernard: the vileness of our origin, the dishonors of our present state, and our ending as the food of worms. (True Devotion pp228)

They should pray Our Lord and the Holy Ghost enlighten them; and for that end they might use the ejaculations, “Lord that I may see!” (Lk. 18:41); or “May I know myself!” or “Come Holy Ghost”, together with the Litany of the Holy Ghost and the prayers which follows….They should have recourse to the Blessed Virgin and ask her to grant them this immense grace, which must be the foundation of all others; for this end, they should say the Ave Maris Stella and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. (True devotion pp228)

We now enter the second week of preparation---a period dedicated to knowledge of self; something indispensable for our progress in the spiritual life. Too often we have only a superficial knowledge of ourselves---imagining ourselves to be what we are not. The purpose of this week is to see ourselves as we really are---to see ourselves as God sees us. How shall we achieve this knowledge of ourselves? By…

Prayer---asking God for the grace to see ourselves as we really are. True knowledge of self, will only be achieved by the grace of God and this grace will only come if we ask it of God, through humble and sincere prayer.

Examining Our Life---to see how we have spent or misspent our lives. To help you examine your life thoroughly, we have included an extensive examination of conscience (if you click the word examnation of conscience it will take you to it) for day 2 of this week. This covers all the 10 Commandments and various sins based on different states in life. It is also an ideal way to prepare for confession. It is recommend that you make a general confession of your whole life, or at least from the time of your last general confession. However this is only recommended NOT obligatory and it suffices to make a regular confession in preparation for the consecration.

Realizing that it can be difficult to find both the priest and the time for a general confession, it is suggested that you make your confession at any time during the five week preparatory period---or in cases of impossibility, at any time before or after the consecration.

Reflection---on why we were created? By Whom? Where we came from? Where we are going? Everyone ends up in one of two places----heaven or hell. Reflect upon the fact that we cannot serve God and the world. Which one do we really put first? Are we really committed to serving God? Is it only on Sundays and in private? Or only in those things which we find to our liking?

Meditation:

Taken From: Sin and Its Consequences