Devotion to Our Lady: "Consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart"
Devotion to Our Lady: "Consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart"
To understand the meaning and importance that consecration to Mary has in the Church today, it is necessary to go back to the message of Fatima, when Our Lady, appearing in 1917 to the three young shepherd children, indicates her Immaculate Heart as an extraordinary means of grace and salvation. In more detail we note in fact how already in the second apparition Our Lady reveals to Lucia: «Jesus wants to use you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world ». Adding a very comforting message: «To those who practice it I promise salvation; these souls will be preferred by God, and like flowers they will be placed by me before His throne ».
To Lucia, who worried about the solitude that awaits her and the painful trials she will face, she confides: «Do not be discouraged: I will never abandon you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God ». Mary certainly wanted to address these reassuring words not only to Lucia, but to every Christian who trusts in her.
Even in the third apparition (which in the history of Fatima represents the most important apparition) Our Lady more than once indicates in the message the devotion to her Immaculate Heart as an extraordinary means of salvation:
in the initial prayer taught to the shepherd children;
after the vision of hell he announces that, for the salvation of souls, God wants to establish devotion to his Immaculate Heart in the world;
after announcing the Second World War he warned: «To prevent it I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the reparation Communion of the first Saturdays ...», also referring to her Sorrowful Heart;
finally, he concludes the message by announcing that there will still be many tribulations and purifications that await man in this difficult modern era. But behold, a marvelous dawn looms on the horizon: "In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph and as a consequence of this triumph a time of peace will be granted to the world".
Devotion to Our Lady: "Consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart"
To be valid and effective, this consecration cannot be reduced to the simple reading of a formula; rather, it consists of a program of Christian life and a solemn commitment to live it under the special protection of Mary.
To better facilitate the understanding of the spirit of this consecration, we report in this booklet a summary of the work of Saint Louis Maria Grignion de Montfort "The Secret of Mary" (it is a work that Montfort (16731716) wrote towards the end of the his life and contains his most significant experiences of apostolate, prayer and devotion to Mary. The original text can be requested from our apostolate center. "It is dear to me to remember, among the many witnesses and teachers of this spirituality, the figure of St. Louis Maria Grignion de Montfort, who proposed to Christians the consecration to Christ by the hands of Mary, as an effective means of faithfully living the baptismal commitments. "John Paul II:" Redemptoris Mater ", 48.)
Holiness constitutes the indispensable and specific vocation of every Christian. Holiness is a marvelous reality which gives man resemblance to his Creator; it is very difficult and even unattainable for the man who trusts only in himself. Only Diok with his grace can help us achieve it. It is therefore very important to find an easy means by which to obtain from God the grace necessary to become saints. And this is precisely what Montfort teaches us: to find this GRACE OF GOD it is necessary to find MARY.
Indeed, Mary is the only creature who has found grace with God, for herself and for each of us. She gave body and life to the Author of all grace, and for this reason we call her Mother of Grace.