Saturday of Our Lady

There are several interior practices of true devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Here briefly are the main ones:

1). Honoring her as the worthy Mother of God, by the cult of hyperdulia, that is, esteeming and honoring her more than all the other saints as the masterpiece of grace and the foremost in holiness after Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

2). Meditating on her virtues, her privileges and her actions.

3). Contemplating her sublime dignity.

4). Offering to her acts of love, praise and gratitude.

5). Invoking her with a joyful heart.

6). Offering ourselves to her and uniting ourselves to her.

7). Doing everything to please her.

8). Beginning, carrying out and completing our actions through her, in her, with her and for her in order to do them through Jesus, in Jesus, with Jesus and for Jesus, our last end. We shall explain this practice later.

(True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, #115)

As Secular Carmelites we are called to have a special devotion to Our Lady who leads us to the summit of Mt. Carmel, Christ our Lord. True Devotion to Mary is an excellent devotion that helps to unite us with Christ through Mary. The late Pope John Paul II was a Secular Carmelite. He also promoted the Total Consecration to Mary as outlined by St. Louis de Montfort. It is said that he renewed his consecration each day by praying the long form of the total consecration. Although we do not promote Montfortian spirituality in our Carmelite meetings, this is an excellent devotion one can embrace in their spiritual life.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

____________________