Words from Our Lady, Pope John Paul II, and St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Words from Our Lady, Pope John Paul II, and St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Our Lady of Medjugorje is teaching us many things about the spiritual life, essential elements of belonging to God. Our Lady said on October 25, 1988:

“Dear children, my call that you live the messages which I am giving you is a daily one, especially, little children, because I want to draw you closer to the Heart of Jesus. Therefore, little children, I am calling you today to the prayer of Consecration to Jesus, my dear Son, so that each of your hearts may be His. And then I am calling you to Consecration to my Immaculate Heart. I want you to consecrate yourselves as individuals, families, and parishes so that all belongs to God through my hands. Therefore, dear little children, pray that you may comprehend the greatness of this message which I am giving you. I do not want anything for myself, rather, all for the salvation of your souls. satan is strong and, therefore, you, little children, by constant prayer press tightly to my Motherly heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Bl. Pope John Paul II said:

“At first he thought he should distance himself from the Marian devotion of his childhood to focus more on Christ. But after reading St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion (Consecration) to Mary, he saw that the truest path to Christ was certainly through Mary.”

St. Louis de Montfort: (speaking on what perfect consecration to Jesus through Mary consists of)

“Chosen soul, this devotion consists in surrendering oneself in the manner of a slave to Mary, and to Jesus through Her, and then performing all our actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary. Let me explain this statement further.

“We should choose a special feast day 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, that is, the right to dispose of ourselves, of the value of our prayers, and alms, of our acts of self-denial and atonements. This is a sacrifice which no religious order would require of its members. 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.

“We leave to Her the right to dispose of all the satisfactory and prayer value of our good deeds, so that, after having done so and without going so far as making a vow, we cease to be master over any good we do. Our Lady may use our good deeds either to bring relief or deliverance to a soul in purgatory, or perhaps to bring a change of heart to a poor sinner.

“By this devotion we place our merits in the hands of Our Lady, but only that She may preserve, increase and embellish them, since merit for increase of grace and glory cannot be handed over to any other person. But we give to Her all our prayers and good works, inasmuch as they have intercessory and atonement value, for Her to distribute and apply to whom She pleases. If, after having thus consecrated ourselves to Our Lady, we wish to help a soul in Purgatory, rescue a sinner, or assist a friend by a prayer, an alms, an act of self-denial or an act of self-sacrifice, we must humbly request it of Our Lady, abiding always by Her decision, which of course remains unknown to us. We can be fully convinced that the value of our actions, being dispensed by that same hand which God Himself uses to distribute His Gifts and grace to us, cannot fail to be applied for His greatest glory. When you want to offer something to God, to be welcomed by Him, be sure to offer it through the worthy Mother of God, if you do not wish to see it rejected.”