Devotion to Jesus: how to make the perfect consecration to Jesus Christ

120. Since all our perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ, the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly the one that conforms us, unites and consecrates most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, being Mary, of all creatures, the most conforming to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, the one that consecrates and conforms most a soul to Jesus Christ the Lord is devotion to the Holy Virgin, his Mother and that the more a soul will be consecrated to Mary, the more it will be to Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that the perfect consecration to Jesus Christ is nothing but a perfect and total consecration of oneself to the Holy Virgin, which is the devotion that I teach; or, in other words, a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism.

121. This devotion therefore consists in giving oneself totally to the Holy Virgin, to be, through her, totally of Jesus Christ. You have to donate them: 1st. our body, with all senses and limbs; 2nd. our soul, with all faculties; 3rd. our external goods, which we call makeshift, present and future; 4th. inner and spiritual goods, which are merits, virtues, good works: past, present and future. In a word, we give everything we have, in the order of nature and grace, and all that we may have in the future, in the order of nature, grace and glory; and this without any reserve, not even a penny, or a hair, or the smallest good deed, and for all eternity, without claiming or hoping for any other reward, for its offer and its service, than honor to belong to Jesus Christ through her and in her, even if this lovable Sovereign was not, as she always is, the most generous and grateful of creatures.

122. It should be noted here that there are two aspects in the good works we do: satisfaction and merit, that is: satisfactory or impetratory value and meritorious value. The satisfactory or impetratory value of a good work is the same good deed as it repays the punishment due to sin, or obtains some new grace. The meritorious value, or merit, is good deed insofar as it is capable of deserving eternal grace and glory. Now, in this consecration of ourselves to the Holy Virgin, we give all the satisfactory, impetratory and meritorious value, that is, the ability that all our good works have to satisfy and deserve; we donate our merits, graces and virtues, not to communicate them to others, since properly speaking, our merits, graces and virtues are incommunicable; only Jesus Christ was able to communicate his merits to us, making himself our guarantor to his Father; we donate these to be preserved, enhanced and embellished, as we will say later. Instead, we give you the satisfactory value so that you communicate it to whoever it will seem best and for the greater glory of God.

123. It follows that: 1st. With this form of devotion, one gives oneself to Jesus Christ, in the most perfect way because it is through the hands of Mary, all that can be given and much more than with other forms of devotion, where one gives or a part of one's time , or a part of one's good works, or a part of the satisfactory value or mortifications. Here everything is given and consecrated, even the right to dispose of one's inner goods and the satisfactory value that one acquires with one's good works, day by day. This is not done in any religious institute; there, the goods of luck are given to God with the vow of poverty, with the vow of chastity the goods of the body, with the vow of obedience one's will and, in some cases, the freedom of the body with the vow of cloister; but we do not give ourselves the freedom or the right we have to dispose of the value of our good works and we do not undress completely what a Christian has most precious and dear, which are the merits and the satisfactory value.

124. 2nd. Those who voluntarily consecrated and sacrificed themselves to Jesus Christ through Mary can no longer dispose of the value of any of their good deeds. All that suffers, that thinks, that does good, belongs to Mary, because she disposes of it according to the will of her Son and for her greater glory, without however that this dependence in any way jeopardizes the duties of one's state , present or future; for example, the obligations of a priest who, because of his office, must apply the satisfactory and impetratory value of the Holy Mass for a particular intention; this offer is always made according to the order established by God and in accordance with the duties of one's own state.

125. 3rd. Therefore we consecrate ourselves at the same time to the Holy Virgin and to Jesus Christ: to the Holy Virgin as the perfect means that Jesus Christ has chosen to join us and to join us, and to Jesus Christ the Lord as our ultimate goal, to which we owe all that we are, since it is our Redeemer and our God.

126. I said that this practice of devotion could very well be called a perfect renewal of the vows, or promises, of holy baptism. In fact, every Christian, before baptism, was a slave to the devil, because he belonged to him. In baptism, directly or through the mouth of the godfather or godmother, he then renounced It is solemnly to Satan, his seductions and his works and chose Jesus Christ as his master and sovereign Lord, to depend on him as a slave of love. This is what is also done with this form of devotion: as indicated in the formula of consecration, the devil, the world, sin and oneself is renounced and one gives oneself entirely to Jesus Christ by the hands of Mary. On the contrary, something more is also done, since in baptism we usually speak by the mouth of others, that is, by the godfather and godmother and therefore we give ourselves to Jesus Christ by proxy; here instead we give ourselves by ourselves, voluntarily and with knowledge of the cause. In holy baptism one does not give oneself to Jesus Christ by the hands of Mary, at least explicitly and does not give Jesus Christ the value of one's good works; after baptism one remains entirely free to apply it to whoever one wishes, or to keep it for oneself; with this devotion instead we expressly give ourselves to Jesus Christ the Lord through the hands of Mary and to him we consecrate the value of all our actions.