Living the Consecration to Our Lady

[LausTibiChriste]

I've been perusing my True Devotion to Mary book trying to look for the specific quote to back me up, but I can't find it so I'll just go on anyways.

I seem to remember St. Louis de Montfort saying that the perfect way of living a life of true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is not by asking her for anything, but being content to do as She wills, when She wills it (I'm paraphrasing but hopefully you get the jist). So, in essence, since Our Lady knows our wants and needs even better than we do and in Her infinite mercy and love is willing to fulfill them far more than we are even capable of receiving them, we should not petition Our Lady for specifics, only to unite our will with Hers. That's all fine and makes perfect sense of course, but how do we do this in a practical sense? To me, it almost feels like I'm coping out and/or losing out on asking Her for graces/things I need etc...even though I know what St. Louis said to be perfectly true...almost like I don't have to do any work and I can just sit there and say, to an extent, "You know what I need and want, let it be so"  Anyone want to fill me in and enlighten me a bit as to the practicalities of living the consecration in a more perfect manner? Or am I totally out in left field in my reading of St Louis?


Danke

[Gardener]

I can't recall exactly where he talks about it, but I think you are misreading it. St. Maximilian Kolbe goes into the same idea.

Essentially, yes, we should ask for things but only with the idea that ultimately Mother knows best. If we ask for X and she gives Y, or even nothing that we can see, we should be content, as having X might actually lead us down a bad path.

For example, poverty in spirit: poverty in spirit can be in a person who is rich in fact, or poor in fact, just as richness in spirit can be in a person poor in fact, or rich in fact.

An example from the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe is when a nobleman (prince lubecki?) had promised to give Maximilian the land which you visited not too long ago: Terese Niepokalanów. He demanded the Franciscans say Masses for him in perpetuity in exchange. The head of the Order said no stinkin' way, Prince. Well, St. Maximilian had placed a statue of Our Lady there. And the prince asked him if he wanted the statue back since he wouldn't be getting the land. Maximilian said no, that it should stay there as a testament to the promise Mary didn't keep, and he would be back in a few days for a final answer from the prince. The prince was mortified at the answer from Maximilian, and could not eat, sleep, work, etc., for those few days. St. Maximilian came back for the answer and the prince gave the land to him with no strings attached.

Did Maximilian just sit on his butt and do nothing? No. Or when the Freemasons in Poland boycotted the sale of paper to him for the paper he produced... well, he just shipped in a load of it from Russia. And then they boycotted selling the paper at their news stands. So he set up his own news stands. He didn't sit around doing nothing. But, had the prince said no, or the paper not come, or whatever, he would have realized he was wrong, and accepted it from Our Lady -- likely, in the process, doing penance for pride and foisting his own will above that of the Immaculata's.

[Chestertonian]

are you saying he said our lay didn't keep her promise im confused

[Gardener]

are you saying he said our lay didn't keep her promise im confused

No, she did keep her promise.

[Rube]

I've been perusing my True Devotion to Mary book trying to look for the specific quote to back me up, but I can't find it so I'll just go on anyways.
I seem to remember St. Louis de Montfort saying that the perfect way of living a life of true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is not by asking her for anything, but being content to do as She wills, when She wills it (I'm paraphrasing but hopefully you get the jist). So, in essence, since Our Lady knows our wants and needs even better than we do and in Her infinite mercy and love is willing to fulfill them far more than we are even capable of receiving them, we should not petition Our Lady for specifics, only to unite our will with Hers. That's all fine and makes perfect sense of course, but how do we do this in a practical sense? To me, it almost feels like I'm coping out and/or losing out on asking Her for graces/things I need etc...even though I know what St. Louis said to be perfectly true...almost like I don't have to do any work and I can just sit there and say, to an extent, "You know what I need and want, let it be so" Anyone want to fill me in and enlighten me a bit as to the practicalities of living the consecration in a more perfect manner? Or am I totally out in left field in my reading of St Louis?
Danke

The history of this is that St. Louis wrote this and did not publish it. It was published after his death. The "total consecration" to Our Lady is the most perfect consecration, but it is not meant for everyone. In fact, I understand he didn't even permit his best religious sister to take it for some time even when she begged him to take it. The book was later entitled "True Devotion", but that is not the way it was titled by the Saint. It sort of gives the impression that if you have less than that total consecration, that you don't really have a "true" devotion. But this in not true. True devotion to Our Lady is true at many levels depending on the level that each individual is called.  An analogy is that third orders and religious orders are the more perfect vocation, but they are only meant for those who are called, and bad for those who are not called to them.

Generally, the calling for most people is what Our Lady of Fatima mentioned, devotion to her immaculate heart by saying the daily Rosary.

[Gardener]

Do you have sources for what you're claiming?

It's totally contradictory to St. Maximilian's writings.

[Rube]

Do you have sources for what you're claiming?
It's totally contradictory to St. Maximilian's writings.

If it was total consecration, Our Lady at Fatima would have said so.

[LausTibiChriste]

Youre bad at logic

[Chestertonian]

to me the consecration means that while you might bring specific cares and concerns to our lady, you open your heart and will to hearing "no," "not now," etcc

or while you might have specific intentions you open yourself up to our lady disposing of the graces from your prayers and sufferings where she sees fit. 

often when people think about prayer they think that in order for it to be considered an answered prayer the answer must be yes. 

[MundaCorMeum]

to me the consecration means that while you might bring specific cares and concerns to our lady, you open your heart and will to hearing "no," "not now," etcc

or while you might have specific intentions you open yourself up to our lady disposing of the graces from your prayers and sufferings where she sees fit. 

often when people think about prayer they think that in order for it to be considered an answered prayer the answer must be yes.

This is how I understand it, too.  You give everything to Her to do with as She sees best, which of course She will.  She, better than any of us, conforms Herself to the will of God perfectly, so it stands to reason that we should always defer to Her, even with our own needs (which may not even be what we really need in the first place....blinded as we are down here).  Any graces you merit, good works you perform, etc....are all to be completely and utterly at Her disposal.  Not that you can't ask Her for things, but that ultimately you do so with the caveat of "if this is what Our Lady so desires".  I think it's more about submitting our will to Hers, as Her slave, rather than it feeling like a cop out.  It's kind of like a wife with her husband.  Submission to him does not mean not being able/allowed to talk to him about her concerns, desires, needs, or suggestions for the welfare of herself, the children, and the family.  On the contrary, she should bring her needs and insights to him.  It's integral to the marriage relationship.  But in the end, he gets the final say, and she should joyfully and lovingly obey and carry out his decisions.  So, too, with Our Lady.  She wants us to go to Her, like a child to its mother, but as Ches said, we have to willing to accept "no", "not now", or "something else entirely".  While it may feel like you may be missing out on graces that way, you aren't.  It's a paradox.  Do you really think Our Lord would not reward the generosity of a soul who is willing to always place the needs of others before his own?  Or, a soul who is willing to take any and all graces he receives and place them lovingly into the hands of his most beloved Mother for Her to dispense as She sees fit, even if those graces go somewhere not of his choosing?  Or, a soul who doesn't even think to ask for his own needs, because his trust is competely laid at the heart of Our Lady, whom He knows will take care of his needs without him even needing to ask?  What you said about "you know what I need and want, let it be so" sounds like a good prayer to me.  Obviously, it's not easy.   I, for one, fail over and over and over again. And, Satan wants us confused.  So, ask Her for things, She wants your whole heart for love of Her Son: needs, desires and all......but, don't 

[Rube]

Youre bad at logic

So, you are saying Our Lady at Fatima was sent by God to tell everyone to take the total consecration as proposed by St. Louis, but didn't mention it?

[Gardener]

Do you have sources for what you're claiming?
It's totally contradictory to St. Maximilian's writings.

If it was total consecration, Our Lady at Fatima would have said so.

This doesn't even make sense.

[LausTibiChriste]

Youre bad at logic

So, you are saying Our Lady at Fatima was sent by God to tell everyone to take the total consecration as proposed by St. Louis, but didn't mention it?

I never mentioned Fatima, you did.

Our Lady didn't say a lot of things at Fatima - are we supposed to ignore those points as well?