“The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad” (cf. Ps 126:3). The words of the psalmist well expresses the joy and gratitude of countless people who, through courses offered by the Heralds of the Gospel, have made their consecration as slaves of love to Jesus Christ, through the hands of Mary.
But what are the reasons for the joy that so many feel after making their consecration? What are the benefits of such a radical self-giving, following the method taught by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort in his True Devotion to Mary?
The highest, the most sublime reason for such a radical surrender is, undoubtedly, the fact that Mary gives, in exchange, her very best: her own Divine Son. For good reason, St. Louis says that this devotion is an “easy, short, perfect and secure way of attaining union with Our Lord, in which union the perfection of a Christian consists.” 1
Now, not satisfied with revealing to us this privileged path for becoming another Christ, Our Lady lends us powerful help in travelling it, granting many privileges to her slaves, some so excellent as to be beyond human comprehension. As a consequence, this consecration is an admirable means “of persevering and being faithful in virtue.” 2
Testimonies that have come in from all over Brazil help us see in a vivid and compelling way some of the abundant spiritual and even material benefits obtained by those who commit themselves as slaves of love to Jesus through the hands of Mary.
She teaches what is most pleasing to her Son
“My prayer habits were the first things to change, for I learned that a life without prayer is an empty life,” declares Cleidinéia Calixto, from the State of Espírito Santo, in telling of her experience with consecration to Our Lady.
She continues: “My clothing style also changed. I used to think that our way of dressing had no influence on our Christian life, but I learned that modesty is very important, and that what the world teaches – ‘anything goes’ – is not true.”
And, expressing her confidence in the maternal goodness of Mary, she concludes: “After consecration, Our Lady speaks in our hearts, teaching us what is most pleasing to her Son Jesus. We should place all our daily concerns into her hands, for She never fails to heed the request of a son or daughter consecrated to her Immaculate Heart.”
Strength and courage to confront hardships
In fact, as the best of all mothers, Mary treats and soothes the sorrows of her children, giving them strength and courage to face adversity. And how many sufferings must the poor banished children of Eve endure on this earth!
A year after making her consecration, Laninha Siqueira states: “I learned that trials are for our growth and, with the help of our Mother during hardships, everything is easier. Many trials come up in my life, but thanks to the protective arms of Our Lady of Fatima, I manage to overcome them. I already loved Mary before, but after the consecration, besides loving Her more, I have made Her part of my daily life through the holy Rosary.”
This experience expresses what St. Louis Grignion3 explains in True Devotion: slaves of Mary carry their crosses with greater ease, merit and glory, for She renders them sweet, like a sour fruit preserved in sugar.
That is why Rejane Machado, from Campo Grande, in testifying to the graces that the Mother of God poured out upon her family when she made the consecration together with her husband, joyfully comments: “Our Lady is wonderful; she places us in the arms of her Son. We really want everyone to learn this and to consecrate themselves to Our Lord through the hands of Mary, and to experience true joy.”
Help in material necessities
In the same way that Rebecca, with her care and resourcefulness, delivered Jacob from the dangers that threatened him (cf. Gn 27), this good Mother never ceases to defend and protect her servants. 4 The Blessed Virgin Mary bears them abounding love and is ready to help them also in their earthly necessities.
Joicy de Souza was in difficult financial straits, with her husband ill for over ten months, without a clear diagnosis. She decided to accept the invitation she received to participate in a preparation course for consecration to Our Lady, in Vitória, Brazil. She tells us that in the meetings she learned “to be more patient, to listen more and speak less,” and she became “a more prayerful person.”
“I always believed in the intercession of our Mother Mary, but it was during the course that I learned true devotion to Her. This made an enormous difference in my life.”
She solemnly consecrated herself to Her on the very day of her wedding anniversary, and she tells us about the first gift received from the Blessed Virgin Mary after becoming her slave of love: “Thanks be to God, a few days later, through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, my husband received the diagnosis of his illness. He was hospitalized for seven days, and today he is completely cured.”
Nadia Maria Freire, from Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil, also experienced the special protection of Our Lady, this time while she was completing the preparatory course for consecration in the Heralds of the Gospel community in this city.
She, her daughter and two friends were returning from Rio de Janeiro, when her car skidded on the road due to a heavy downpour, in risk of colliding with other vehicles. Inspired, she made an interior prayer asking that nothing would happen, and the car came back under control without incident.
Grateful for the heavenly assistance, she comments: “I strongly sensed Our Lady’s presence and this convinced me I was on the right path. She is the one who will deliver me in any other difficult situation that I may undergo.”
“I have the honour of belonging completely to Our Lady”
Enchanted by the topics raised by St. Louis in True Devotion, Rosilene Quadros began a new chapter in her life and in her devotion to Mary after the consecration course she attended in Salvador, Brazil: “I underwent a spiritual transformation in my personal, family and Christian life. Everything changed! I began to pray the Rosary every day and attend Mass. I am part of the liturgical committee, and the Pious Union of St. Anthony in my community, and am always involved in charitable works. Today, as a practising Christian, I have the honour of belonging completely to Our Lady.”
As the distinctive note of her surrender, she highlights one of the particular practices of those truly consecrated to the heavenly Mother: “O blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain that binds us to God, link of love that unites us to the Angels, salve Maria.”
Also from the Bahian capital come these expressive words from Carlos Augusto dos Reis about what he learned in the preparatory course: “I acquired a lot of knowledge on the Catholic Church, and this helped to further strengthen and increase my faith. Now that I am consecrated, I am consolidating and deepening that knowledge, constantly growing in my love of the Catholic Church, Our Lady and Our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank the Heralds for the knowledge obtained and for my consecration to Jesus through the hands of Mary.”
Carried in the arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary
According to the couple Everton Luiz and Liliane Perucci, in narrating the changes worked by Mary in their lives, grace moves those who consecrate themselves to Our Lady to cast themselves into and lose themselves in the maternal arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a marvellous way, so as to be enkindled with love, to purify themselves of the least stains and to fully encounter Jesus.
Grieved to see their son struggling with medical problems and obtaining no improvement with treatment, they asked her help with great faith, and were readily heeded: “We went to a Mass at the Heralds of the Gospel in São Carlos at the insistence of our daughter – but without being very familiar with this work – and since then our son has become a calmer, more disciplined child, without the use of medication, and more dedicated to his studies despite all his problems.”
The Perucci couple goes on to admit: “But our lives were truly changed after we made the consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary, on the day of Our Lady of Sorrows, becoming aware that we wanted to carry our crosses and suffer so that we could, with merit, attain our salvation!” And they recognize that they could only progress in virtue with the help of the Blessed Mother, who always led them by the hand, but after the consecration carries them in her arms.
Sign of being on the right path
From the capital of Parana, Rogério Peixoto tells of his meeting the Heralds, starting with the first times he and his wife attended Mass in the house of the institution until their consecration to Our Lady: “Today I can say that everything in our life has greatly improved. Our marriage has matured and my young children pray the Rosary with us every day. To the outside world, we have become misfits, which in a way makes us happy, for it is the surest sign that we are on the right path.”
In fact, St. Louis teaches in True Devotion that “the reprobate daily hate and persecute the predestinate, openly and secretly. They feel the predestinate are a burden to them, they despise them, they criticize them, they ridicule them, they abuse them, they rob them, they cheat them, they impoverish them, they drive them away, they bring them low into the dust; while they themselves are making fortunes, are taking their pleasures, getting themselves into good positions, enriching themselves, becoming greater and living at their ease.” 5
Aware of this reality, Rogério concludes: “We have much progress to make spiritually, but now we know that the grace of God exists and that holiness depends on it. The Blessed Virgin has brought us this far, and She will not leave the work unfinished, on the way to union with Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
True model to be followed
All progress in the spiritual life is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is He who leads souls to perfection, progressing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace and light to light, until they are transformed into Jesus Christ. 6 But for Him to obtain for us this much-desired union, we must have recourse to the merciful intercession of the Mother of God.
This is what Lidiane Cristina Rocha of Recife relates: “I took the course for consecration to Our Lady in the House of the Heralds of the Gospel, and, by this means, I increasingly discovered the beauty of the Holy Church. My love for Our Lord grew. I began to go to Sunday Mass, and later I started attending daily Mass. I went to Confession more often and started to pray more.”
And she adds: “I also began to see Our Lady as the true model to be followed. I often stop and think: ‘Would Our Lady go to such a place?’ If the answer is affirmative, fine; if not, I try to avoid it. I do the same regarding habits, conversations, friendships, choices of recreation, clothing, etc. I began to look for clothes that were more modest and I try to pass on this way of being and acting to my daughters. I ask Our Lady for the grace to be a holy mother, so that my daughters will follow my example much more than my words.”
Mary is never outdone in generosity
These testimonies, among many from other countries and states of Brazil that could be cited, show how consecration to Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin Mary helps souls to grow spiritually and places them under her special protection.
It is true that this devotion demands that we abandon ourselves completely into the hands of Mary, and the very formula of the consecration composed by St. Louis emphasizes this: “I deliver and consecrate to Thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to Thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity.” 7
But – wonder of wonders! – True Devotion affirms that “the divine Mary, being the most gracious and liberal of all pure creatures, never lets herself be outdone in love and liberality. As a holy man said of Her, for an egg She gives an ox; that is to say, for a little that is given to Her, She gives much of what She has received from God.” 8
May the Reign of Mary come!
In these days in which humanity finds itself in a state of extreme degeneracy, Our Lady wishes to be more generous than ever with her children and She pours out superabundant graces upon those who thus abandon themselves to Her, fortelling the moment in which her Immaculate Heart will triumph over all the earth, as She foretold in Fatima.
The miracle of the Wedding of Cana was accomplished through the intercession of Mary. In an analogous way, “through the omnipotent supplications of the Blessed Virgin, there will be a transmutation, an immense turning back of repentant souls to the eternal values of the Catholic Faith.” In this return, “water will be transformed into excellent wine, the best wine in history.” 9 And our sinful world will be transformed into that Reign of Mary whose grandeur St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort prophetically described in ardent terms.
May the Reign of Mary come in hearts so that it will be established over the face of the earth! ◊
Notes
1 ST. LOUIS-MARIE GRIGNION DE MONTFORT. True Devotion toMary, n.152, Rockford, IL: TAN, 1985, p.96.
2 Idem, n.173, p.110.
3 Cf. Idem, n.154, p.98.
4 Cf. Idem, n.210, p.132-133.
5 Idem, n.190, p.119-120.
6 Cf. Idem, n.119, p.73.
7 Idem, p. 198.
8 Idem, n.181, p.115.
9 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conference. São Paulo, 29 Jan. 1967.
