J.M.J. "120. As all perfection consists in our being conformed, united and
consecrated to Jesus it naturally follows that the most perfect of all devotions is that
which conforms, unites, and consecrates us most completely to Jesus. Now of all God's
creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. It therefore follows that, of all
devotions, devotion to her makes for the most effective consecration and conformity to
him. The more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus.
"That is why perfect consecration to Jesus is but a perfect and complete
consecration of oneself to the Blessed Virgin, which is the devotion I teach; or in other
words, it is the perfect renewal of the vows and promises of Holy Baptism.
"121. This devotion consists in giving oneself entirely to Mary in
order to belong entirely to Jesus through her. It requires us to give:
(1) Our body with its senses and members;
(2) Our soul with its faculties;
(3) Our present material possessions and all we
shall acquire in the future;
(4) Our interior and spiritual possessions, that
is, our merits, virtues and good actions of the past, the present and the future.
In other words, we give her all that we possess both in our natural life
and in our spiritual life as well as everything we shall acquire in the future in the
order of nature, of grace, and of glory in Heaven. This we do without any reservation, not
even of a penny, a hair, or the smallest good deed. And we give for all eternity without
claiming or expecting, in return for our offering and our service, any other reward than
the honor of belonging to our Lord through Mary and in Mary, even though our Mother were
not--as in fact she always is--the most generous and appreciative of all God's
creatures."
--Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 120-121.
--Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 120-121.
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