DAY OF CONSECRATION TO JESUS THE LORD THROUGH MARY AS A SLAVE OF LOVE FOR LOVE
Our spiritual master, St. Louis, till the end of his days lived the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the consecration to Mary as the slave of her love, and that’s what he taught. The foundation for this devotion was for him the text from the Gospel and Jesus’ wish from the cross: “‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home” (Jn 19:26‒27). Mary is a gift of Jesus for each of us—the Mother of God and the Mother of every human. St. Louis was and is the echo of Christ’s call from the cross. He met thousands of people, often poor and hopeless, and encouraged them to totally consecrate to Mary as the slave of love and through her to Jesus the Lord.
St. Louis writes about this slavery in the following terms:
“We must conclude, from what Jesus Christ is with regard to us, that we do not belong to ourselves, but, as the Apostle says, are entirely His, as His members and His slaves, whom He has bought at an infinitely dear price,—the price of all His Blood. Before Baptism we belonged to the devil, as his slaves; but Baptism has made us true slaves of Jesus Christ, who have no right to live, to work, or to die, except to bring forth fruit for that God-Man, to glorify Him in our bodies, and to let Him reign in our souls, because we are His conquest, His acquired people, and His inheritance.”41
“The slavery of the will is the most glorious to God, who looks at the heart, claims the heart, and calls Himself the God of the heart; that is, of the loving will, because by that slavery we make choice of God and His service above all things, even when nature does not oblige us to it.”42
“(…) a slavery of love and free choice. This is the kind chosen by one who consecrates himself to God through Mary, and this is the most perfect way for us human beings to give ourselves to God, our Creator.”43
Let’s recall the words of St. John Paul II: “The act speaks of ‘servitude’. It contains a paradox similar to the words of the Gospel according to which one must lose one’s life to find it (cf. Mt 10:39). For love constitutes the fulfilment of freedom, yet at the same time ‘belonging’, and so not being free is part of its essence. However, this ‘not being free’ in love is not felt as slavery but rather as an affirmation and fulfilment of freedom. The act of consecration in slavery indicates therefore a unique dependence and a limitless trust. In this sense slavery (non-freedom) expresses the fullness of freedom, in the same way as the Gospel speaks of the need to lose one’s life in order to find it in its fullness.”44
The first slave of love is Jesus the Lord, as St. Louis writes about it:
“Jesus, our great friend, has given Himself to us without reserve, body and soul, virtues, graces, and merits. Se toto totum me comparavit, said St. Bernard,—‘He has bought the whole of me by the whole of Himself.’ Is it not, then, a simple matter of justice and of gratitude that we should give Him all that we can give Him? He has been the first to be liberal towards us; let us, at least, be the second; and then in life and death, and throughout all eternity, we shall find Him still more liberal. Cum liberali liberalis erit.”45
God, God-Man, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit came into the womb of His Mother as a tiny, helpless child, dependent on her in everything. The Lord of everything, King of kings entrusts to Mary and to us totally. To this day He stays with us as a Slave of Love in a tiny white Host. At the voice of a priest, He descends on the altars of all the world, during every Holy Mass, to tell us: “I am all yours.”
And Mary is a faithful disciple of Christ. After hearing the call from heaven that the angel brought her, she said YES! She entrusts herself totally to the Creator to be all His and for Him: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). And we may repeat here after St. Paul: “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Mary’s answer may be translated as: “Behold, the slave of the Lord! Let it be with me according to what God wants!” The word fiat, let it be done, changed all of human history. The word after which God descended on earth and did the greatest miracle by the power of the Holy Spirit. New history of each of us. Mary becomes the Mother of God. Mary, who’s proclaimed the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Mary, whose Immaculate Heart will win, comes to each of us today.
When Karol Wojtyła lost all his family, it could be said that, in a human way, he lost everything. And that’s when he came across the Treatise by St. Louis, where he read about the Holy Slavery of Love: “Every time I pass by this factory (…) there comes to my mind a small book with a blue cover (…) entitled A Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin written by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort. I read this small book with a blue cover resembling a prayer book for many days and weeks. (…) I learned from it what true devotion to the Mother of God really is. (…) I read it so often that it was soiled with soda on the cover and inside. I remember these soda stains because they are crucial to my entire inner life.”46 Karol went through this retreat, and at the end of this way, he said to Mary: Totus Tuus. I am totally yours. This will be the motto of his life. And that’s how it began! Total yes to God through Mary. That was the beginning of his path. What path was it? From being a simple Karol from Wadowice, through a priest, bishop and pope, to the holiness. That’s how the Holy Spirit, through Mary, prepared young Karol for a GREAT mission.
While imprisoned, cardinal Wyszynski also had a retreat based on the teachings of St. Louis de Montfort. It can be said that God stopped everything else so that he could enter this path. And this retreat bore the fruit of a personal total consecration into the slavery of Mary. A lot could be written about the great works God accomplished through him. Today, he’s already there where God calls each of us, but he constantly intercedes for us so that we also may get there, so that Poland won’t be away from God, and we could be an example to the people God puts in our way.
Every one of us, like John Paul II, cardinal Wyszyński, St. Maximilian Kolbe or many other saints, has a mission God gave us. This is our GREAT mission, a mission of our life—the most important and most precious that happens only once. Are we going to be recognised worldwide or living an ordinary life? Here, where we are today? Will these be spectacular things or these minor, tiny, concealed as Mary lived? It doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that everything is always consecrated to her, the one even God entrusted to!
Today, after 33 days of preparations based on the teachings of St. Louis, we are faced with the decision of saying our FIAT. We face the Eternal Love that wants to have us totally. This is a great and momentous occasion. It is a perfect renewal of our baptism vows, which were already an enormous grace and thanks to them, we became the children of God. Today, we want to confirm those vows and proclaim them once again. Deeper. To consecrate totally to Mary, entrusting everything to her, not keeping anything to you, anything, so that you belong entirely to God. Entrust everything and forever! As slaves of Love and for Love.
St. Louis encourages us: “We should choose a special feastday on which to give ourselves. Then, willingly and lovingly and under no constraint, we consecrate and sacrifice to her unreservedly our body and soul. We give to her our material possessions, such as house, family, income, and even the inner possessions of our soul, namely, our merits, graces, virtues and atonements.
Notice that in this devotion we sacrifice to Jesus through Mary all that is most dear to us (…). We leave everything to the free disposal of our Lady, for her to use as she wills for the greater glory of God, of which she alone is perfectly aware.”47
“But happy, very happy indeed, will the generous person be who, prompted by love, consecrates himself entirely to Jesus through Mary as their slave, after having shaken off by baptism the tyrannical slavery of the devil.”48 Today, you may say you FIAT—to Mary, to God, to His Loving Will!
Act of Consecration to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary
“Eternal and incarnate Wisdom, most lovable and adorable Jesus, true God and true man, only Son of the eternal Father and of Mary always Virgin, I adore you profoundly, dwelling in the splendour of your Father from all eternity and in the virginal womb of Mary, your most worthy Mother, at the time of your incarnation. I thank you for having emptied yourself in assuming the condition of a slave to set me free from the cruel slavery of the evil one. I praise and glorify you for having willingly chosen to obey Mary, your holy Mother, in all things, so that through her I may be a faithful slave of love. But I must confess that I have not kept the vows and promises which I made to you so solemnly at my baptism. I have not fulfilled my obligations, and I do not deserve to be called your child or even your loving slave. Since I cannot lay claim to anything except what merits your rejection and displeasure, I dare no longer approach the holiness of your majesty on my own. That is why I turn to the intercession and the mercy of your holy Mother, whom you yourself have given me to mediate with you. Through her I hope to obtain from you contrition and pardon for my sins, and that Wisdom whom I desire to dwell in me always.
I turn to you, then, Mary immaculate, living tabernacle of God, in whom eternal Wisdom willed to receive the adoration of both men and angels. I greet you as Queen of heaven and earth, for all that is under God has been made subject to your sovereignty. I call upon you, the unfailing refuge of sinners, confident in your mercy that has never forsaken anyone. Grant my desire for divine Wisdom and, in support of my petition, accept the promises and the offering of myself which I now make, conscious of my unworthiness.
I, ____________ an unfaithful sinner, renew and ratify today through you my baptismal promises. I renounce for ever Satan, his empty promises, and his evil designs, and I give myself completely to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after him for the rest of my life, and to be more faithful to him than I have been till now. This day, with the whole court of heaven as witness, I choose you, Mary, as my Mother and Queen. I surrender and consecrate myself to you, body and soul, with all that I possess, both spiritual and material, even including the spiritual value of all my actions, past, present, and to come. I give you the full right to dispose of me and all that belongs to me, without any reservations, in whatever way you please, for the greater glory of God in time and throughout eternity.
Accept, gracious Virgin, this little offering of my slavery to honour and imitate the obedience which eternal Wisdom willingly chose to have towards you, his Mother. I wish to acknowledge the authority which both of you have over this little worm and pitiful sinner. By it I wish also to thank God for the privileges bestowed on you by the Blessed Trinity. I solemnly declare that for the future I will try to honour and obey you in all things as your true slave of love. O admirable Mother, present me to your dear Son as his slave now and for always, so that he who redeemed me through you, will now receive me through you.
Mother of mercy, grant me the favour of obtaining the true Wisdom of God, and so make me one of those whom you love, teach and guide, whom you nourish and protect as your children and slaves. Virgin most faithful, make me in everything so committed a disciple, imitator, and slave of Jesus, your Son, incarnate Wisdom, that I may become, through your intercession and example, fully mature with the fullness which Jesus possessed on earth, and with the fullness of his glory in heaven. Amen.”
St. Louis Marie de Montfort, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, 223‒227