Our Morning Offering – 28 April – The Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Monfort “Proposed Doctor of the Church” – The cause for his declaration as a Doctor of the Church is now far advanced.
PRAYER TO JESUS
By St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort
Saint Louis de Montfort’s Prayer to Jesus is a reflection of his philosophy of “total consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary.” Although St Louis is perhaps best known for his Mariology and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, his spirituality is founded on the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and is centred on Christ, as reflected in his collected works God Alone.
As the prayer suggests, St. Louis introduced the key concepts that underlie Roman Catholic Mariology today: that Jesus and Mary are son and mother, redeemer and redeemed and that the path to Jesus is through Mary. Theologically, the prayer reflects the inherent inclusion of Mariology in Christology.[3] This concept was echoed by Pope John Paul II about his reading of Montfort’s works:
“Then I understood that I could not exclude the Lord’s Mother from my life without neglecting the will of God-Trinity.”
LET US PRAY:
O most loving Jesus, deign to let me pour forth my gratitude before You,
for the grace You have bestowed upon me in giving me to Your holy Mother
through the devotion of Holy Bondage, that she may be my advocate
in the presence of Your majesty and my support in my extreme misery.
Alas, O Lord! I am so wretched that without this dear Mother
I should be certainly lost. Yes, Mary is necessary for me at Your side
and everywhere that she may appease Your just wrath,
because I have so often offended You; that she may save me from the eternal
punishment of Your justice, which I deserve; that she may contemplate You,
speak to You, pray to You, approach You and please You;
that she may help me to save my soul and the souls of others;
in short, Mary is necessary for me that I may always do Your holy will
and seek Your greater glory in all things.
Ah, would that I could proclaim throughout the whole world
the mercy that You hast shown to me!
Would that everyone might know I should be already damned,
were it not for Mary!
Would that I might offer worthy thanksgiving for so great a blessing!
Mary is in me.
Oh, what a treasure! Oh, what a consolation!
And shall I not be entirely hers?
Oh, what ingratitude! My dear Saviour, send me death rather than
such a calamity, for I would rather die than live without belonging entirely to Mary.
With St. John the Evangelist at the foot of the Cross,
I have taken her a thousand times for my own and as many times
have given myself to her but if I have not yet done it as You, dear Jesus, wishes,
I now renew this offering as You desire me to renew it.
And if You see in my soul or my body anything that does not belong to this august Princess,
I pray to You to take it and cast it far from me,
for whatever in me does not belong to Mary is unworthy of You.
O Holy Spirit, grant me all these graces.
Plant in my soul the Tree of true Life, which is Mary; cultivate it and tend it
so that it may grow and blossom and bring forth the fruit of life in abundance.
O Holy Spirit, give me great devotion to Mary, Your faithful spouse;
give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy,
so that by her You may truly form in me Jesus Christ,
great and mighty, unto the fullness of His perfect age. Amen.
Like this:
Like Loading...
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.