We are familiar with this verse. These words were addressed to the servants at the wedding at Cana and came from Mary, who, on her part obeyed everything what God told her. Often we feel that doing whatever Jesus tells us is not practical. Do not worry. She will help us in this endeavour.
We hope our readers are familiar with the idea of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin. It is all about helping us do whatever Jesus tells us. St Louis de Montfort was the pioneer in popularising this devotion. His motto was ‘ To Jesus, through Mary’. We had earlier posted an article titled ‘ Totus Tuus’ describing the importance of consecrating our lives to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and mentioning the procedure lasting 33 days and culminating in the act of consecration on Day 34.
During her apparition at Fatima in 1917, the Blessed Virgin promised: “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph”. This triumph should happen through each one of us, her children, when we become united with Jesus through Mary. Jesus is our elder brother. We are his brothers and sisters. If Mary gave birth to Jesus, we should also go through a process of spiritual birth through her Immaculate Heart so that we can rightfully claim to be Christ’s siblings. Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel, yet he couldn’t understand it when Jesus said; ‘ Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit’ (John 3:5-6). Consecration is a powerful tool to convert those who are born of the flesh into new creatures born of the Spirit.
Jesus is the head of the Church. St Paul reminds us that we are members of the mystical body of Christ. If it was Mary who gave birth to the head of the Church, it is natural that other members of the mystical body of her son also should take birth through her. In his final moments, during the excruciating pain he endured for us, Jesus didn’t forget to entrust his disciples (whom John represented) to the maternal care of his mother.
“Woman, here is your son” ( John 19:26). It looks strange that somebody entrusting his disciples to the care of his mother just before death. What we expect normally is that he would have entrusted his mother to the care of his disciples! It was Jesus’ intention that each and every man and woman believing in him should be protected in the Immaculate Heart of his mother as it is the surest way to remain in true faith. As for this last generation, to which we belong, it is all the more important.
With this few words, we invite all our readers to join us in preparing themselves for consecrating their lives to the Blessed Virgin. We are presenting the daily prayers for the next 33 days of preparation. Traditionally, this consecration is being done on any of the feast days of the Blessed Virgin and preparation started accordingly. For example, if you are planning the consecration on December 8, the feast of Immaculate Conception, then the preparation should start on November 5.
Consecration to Mary is nothing but imitating Christ. If God sent his only Son to this world through Mary, there is no doubt that Mary is the easiest way to reach Jesus. With this understanding let us prepare for the next 33 days of which the first 12 days are to be utilised for casting out the spirit of this world from us. Next 21 days are divided into three weeks each for knowing self, knowing Mary and finally knowing Jesus respectively. It is our humble request that nobody approach consecration as a ritual or as an ordinary spiritual exercise. In fact we are starting a spiritual journey on Day 1 with Mary, progressing in steps, cultivating in us all those virtues dear to Mary, and finally imitating Christ in everything we do. It should not stop there. In fact day 34 is the real beginning of our journey into spiritual perfection. But our comfort is that we will not be alone in that phase of journey. Our dear mother will hold our hand while walking. She will cover us with her blue mantle while sleeping. In these days of false prophets and false teachings, we need grace, that too in abundance, to do what Jesus says. Mary will teach us to do what her Son says.
May the Blessed Virgin help us in this endeavour with her powerful intercession.
