Advent is a season of preparation, and for those of us making the consecration to Jesus through Mary, Advent is a season of double preparation. Just as the Church gives us Advent to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus, so too she recommends the 33 days leading up to a Marian feast as a period of preparation for Marian consecration. And just as Advent never seems long enough to get ready for Christmas, spiritually or materially, so 33 days has not seemed long enough for me to get ready for my total consecration.
I’ve decided, though, not to worry about my feelings. If I waited until I felt ready to do things, I might not do much at all, and I figure one big reason to consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary is so that she can help us, like a mother helping her very little child. I’ve decided, then, not to let a tiny thing like having no idea what I’m doing (despite all the readings and encouragement provided in 33 Days to Morning Glory) stop me from going to Mary for everything.
Last weekend I spoke to a friend who’s also doing the total consecration, and she made me laugh with her honesty about a snag she’s run into, namely the consequences of giving everything to Mary. She told me (I paraphrase), “It seems like it will be awkward saying to people, ‘I’ll offer a Rosary for you – if Our Lady doesn’t decide to use it for someone else!’”
I remember when, many years ago, I first did St. Louis de Montfort’s consecration to Jesus through Mary. I don’t know if St. Louis made a huge deal out of it or if I did, but I too was struck by this problem of giving Our Blessed Mother everything, even my merits. I was (after the consecration) really careful to NOT say I was offering up any particular prayers for anyone (say good-bye to spiritual bouquets, was my thought) because I figured, “If all my merits belong to Mary, how can I ‘dispense’ them?”
When I did the consecration last year, the Holy Spirit inspired a whole different attitude in me. I realized that we can offer all the particular prayers we want to (spiritual bouquets included) and know they won’t be diminished by passing through Our Lady’s hands, but quite the opposite: they will be increased.
I think St. Louis de Montfort had a story about this (the peasant offering a fruit to the king, and the queen first puts it on a gold platter)—but it doesn’t quite solve the problem, for while it illustrates that all offerings given through Mary are worth more to God, it doesn’t show how we are allowed to “use” them or “give” them to people for whom we want to pray. In the spirit of St. Louis, then, I have another story to illuminate how Mary will always help us when we’re trying to help those we love.
When I was a child, there was a girl in my class at school, and I loved this girl very much. Well, when we were in 2nd grade, her father died suddenly (the car he was in got hit by a train). My mom made a cake (or a casserole, or something) and popped me into the car and off we went to the other side of town to visit my friend’s family. I couldn’t have baked a cake or made a casserole, and I certainly couldn’t have driven across town, and I wouldn’t have known what to say when we got there, but my mom did, and she brought all the love I felt to fruition in one beautiful, multi-faceted act of mercy.
I’m sure it’s the same with Mary, and I think especially of plenary indulgences. Did you know you can get a plenary indulgence every day – though only one a day except on the day you die – and you can offer it for someone in purgatory to send them straight to Heaven? Some actions that gain plenary indulgences (like visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead in the first week of November) are connected to certain days of the year, but there are other “indulgenced acts” that can gain a plenary indulgence any day of the year, for instance:
+ reading the Bible for 30 minutes
+ praying before the Blessed Sacrament for 30 minutes
+ saying the family Rosary
+ praying the Rosary in church with the mysteries announced aloud.
Any of these gain you a plenary indulgence, as long as you receive Communion that day, go to confession within 20 days before or after (it used to be a week before or after but was extended during the Great Jubilee of 2000 and hasn’t been shortened since), say prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be are sufficient), and have a freedom from attachment to sin.
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