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God wants it! Mary asks for it! The Church needs it!
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Marian Slavery
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This slavery is also called by the saint, “willing” or “loving slavery.” We freely and willingly, moved only by love, offer ourselves and all our goods to Mary and to Jesus Christ through her.
By this slavery of love, we offer Christ through Mary not only our bodies, souls, and exterior goods, but also our past, present, and future good works, together with their satisfactory and meritorious value. Thus, may the Mother of Heaven dispose of everything according to her goodwill.(1) We are certain that through Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word, we must go to Him, and that she will form “great saints.”(2) Saint Louis Marie wants the faithful who consecrate themselves to be willing to work constantly and daily in order to live this consecration well, which becomes a school of spirituality that leads to holiness. The preparatory exercises, as conceived by the saint, propose emptying the soul of the spirit of the world and its own self-love, in such a way that, the soul may “imbue [itself] with the spirit of Jesus through the most Blessed Virgin.”4At the end of the Secret of Mary, Saint Louis Marie compares the consecration with the tree of life, which will yield its fruit in due season, and this fruit is Jesus Christ. Thus, it is a seed thrown on the ground, which needs time and care in order to grow. ______ 1 The True Devotion to Mary by Saint Louis Marie, 121-125. 2 The True Devotion to Mary by Saint Louis Marie, 47. 3 The True Devotion to Mary by Saint Louis Marie, 227. |
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Preparation for
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