Marian Consecration
What is Marian Consecration
Marian consecration is a person’s willful, deliberate decision to set themselves aside and dedicate themselves to the Virgin Mary; they are giving themselves to Jesus through Mary. This is, in my opinion, a life-long commitment. It is a lifestyle change and requires devotion to Our Lady but devotion is required to get to the point of consecration anyway, is it not?
Marian Consecration is not some off-the-cuff idea. My experience is that I had to put a lot of thought into this decision. I struggled for a while really questioning whether I really wanted to or needed to do this. The unknown played a part in delaying the decision. What if I did not like it? Could I reverse it?
Fortunately for me, my motives were very strong.
Saints and the Holy Mother
The Virgin Mary has a history of being personally involved with people throughout the ages. Saints are exceptionally high on this list. At least over the past few hundred years, it is said, every saint in the past had a deep and strong devotion to Our Lady. I assume all present and future saints will do the same.
The definition of Devotion is having love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. It is that love, loyalty, and enthusiasm, or Devotion, that binds us to Our Lady along with the recitation of the Rosary.
In this article and the following, I will include my experiences in the consecration subjects I have chosen to write about. I can not say that you will have the same experiences I have had if you follow what I did, but I know for sure it will help.
My Motives for Marian Consecration
Why did I want to consecrate myself to Mary in the first place? There are a number of reasons and they revolved around Our Lady herself.
- I wanted to be as close to her as I could get.
- It was my desire to be under her maternal care.
- I wanted her to be directly involved in my life.
- I wanted to belong to her.
The reason for pursuing marian consecration and Our Lady is because she had just walked with me and carried me through the end of alcohol addiction (something I tried to achieve many times without her help and failed). She helped me through something that I could not do myself; quit drinking. Our Lady also helped me through a widow maker heart attack and open heart surgery to full recovery. And she was quite active in my life and I wanted more.
What did I need to accomplish these motives?
Courage to Persevere
Even after all of the above, I had moments where I wanted to just quit. Still not completely trusting her, I had a fear of the unknown and what lay ahead for me. So to combat this, I would go over my life from the last 7 years and recount the path she had led me down. This helped some, but there were some days I just had to bone up and trudge through.
Build Trust
The consecration process consisted, for me, of building a complete trust in her. A real and intimate relationship and friendship was forming and had to consist of trust. If I could not be trusted there would be no intimacy and if I could not trust her, there would be no relationship either. Building trust was the basis for everything. We could not advance without it. Although I could not see or measure it, it was building.
Devotion
I would have to be devoted to her also. Remember our definition of devotion? Having love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause.
It is necessary for me to be devoted to Our Lady. Although I am not perfect, perfect devotion is not required. I pray rosaries at the beginning of every day and I get up early to do it. The days I miss, it seems as though there is something missing and this is true today.
Everyday I read or listen to something, usually private revelation, concerning Our Lady. I have much reading material on her, church approved and otherwise. This is not out of duty, but out of desire as a lot of my devotion is. I want to learn and know all I can about her.
I will fast or attempt to fast once a week, usually on Wednesday. By the time Friday rolls around I am weak or just plain lazy and give in. I try to follow the Five Stones of Medjugorje that I was exposed to while visiting there in 2019. The five stones consists of the following items.
- Prayer (Rosary)
- Scripture reading
- Confession
- Fasting
- Mass attendance weekly
Love
This is it. Love is the reason above all reasons for my consecration. Love of the Virgin Mary. Although some who read this will cry “idol worship,” it is not. It is love for her. She creates nothing and she forgives no sins. She is not worthy of worship and is not a deity, as Jesus is. But Our Lady is not just an ordinary person either. She loves us beyond imagination. To please her is to please Jesus.
Don’t confuse this with spousal or earthly love. I am not talking about the same thing here.
Maximilian Kolbe, the saint from Auschwitz, had this to say about it.
“When you start to read something on the Immaculate, do not forget that at that moment you are coming into contact with a living being, who loves you, who is pure, without any stain. Also, remember that the words you see are unable to express who she is, because they are human words, drawn from earthly concepts, words that present all things in a human manner, while the Immaculate is a being totally of God.”
I believe that consecration is a product of something that is not ordinary or commonly found and people who consecrate themselves are a little different. Also, it is my belief that consecration is a result of a significant spiritual event that has happened in one’s life.
What my Consecration led to
If you are contemplating consecration you have, in my opinion, made it one of the high decisions in this life. Just to be in this position is remarkable. Think about that.
If you are like me, your life will change drastically just being associated with the Virgin Mary. Mine has. Now I am doing things I never dreamed of and not all of them are spiritually related.
My life, looking back was a mess. A complete mess. I was headed to the grave and I almost made it too. Now, I am clean and addiction free and more productive and more efficient than ever that I can remember. But most of all, my life is fun and I am extremely grateful for that. Sure there are things that I don’t like that are required of me. And I lose my temper, say things I should not say, etc. But I know I am on the right path, now. Mary’s path. I am planning to stay on this path the rest of my days regardless of the cost.
This is the result of my Marian Consecration.
One Thing that I Believe That We You Must Do
There is one thing I believe that must be done in my relationship to the Blessed Mother and it is so important, in my opinion.
When I look back at the path I am on, the one major things that stands out to me is that I pay close attention to her. If I made a request of her, I watched and paid attention looking or it’s fulfillment. I always thanked her for what she did for me at the time of fulfillment, not three days later. It was rare that I would have more than one request at a time before fulfillment. I am talking about special requests here, not everyday “please be my guide and protectoress of my faith” which I say everyday.
Paying Attention is Essential
It is my belief that paying attention to her is essential.
If a person asks their spouse to do something for them, do they just forget the request and act like they never made it? And when the request is filled, they don’t even say thank you?
One of the things I found out about her is she never misses and she never forgets. Do we not forget important things we are supposed to do for others, regardless of the reason? She does not do this. She delivers 100 percent of the time and is perfectly consistent. That is the kind of person I want in my life. I believe it is because she loves her children and they are so important to her, that she is always there. I try to treat her the same way.
You Cannot Love Someone you do not Know.
You Cannot totally give yourself to Someone you do not Love.
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- Last Publish: December 24, 2024 08:40