Deeply, Gradually, Freely

Enter into Consecration to Mary

Padre Luigi Faccenda, OFM Conv.

Homily of Father Luigi Faccenda, OFM Conv., May 12, 1986

transcribed and translated by the Fr. Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata

Mary is the mother of Jesus, both God and Man. The consecration that you have made to Christ, you have made also to Mary Most Holy, as an inescapable consequence. It is true that every grace comes from God and that He is the source of all grace, but the mother of grace is Mary Most Holy.  I stop at this point about this specific charism that you have embraced and to which you have dedicated yourself, that is to say, the consecration to Mary in the spirit of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

You do not enter into the depths of the spirit or the fullness of this charism immediately, one day or another, but rather there are three ways.

First of all there is a need to enter personally with all the depth that we are capable of, second to enter gradually, and third to enter freely.

These three points very briefly are as follows:

1)      First of all there is a need to enter deeply into the consecration to Mary, not through sentimentalism, but embracing the essence of the consecration to Mary. The essence of the consecration to Mary is to live always more fully the consecration to Christ, that consecration that we have rediscovered at a certain point, that consecration that we made through Baptism. But the consecration to Mary, I repeat, must be made profoundly, giving to Mary all our faculties, of soul and body, the faculties of the spirit and the faculties of our body, the good and the bad that we have and that we do, our life, death, and eternity. If you follow these points, which are recited during the consecration, you understand that these are essential things, therefore, profound. One cannot say, “I am consecrated to Mary” and then do whatever they like; “I am consecrated to Mary” and then live superficially, in disobedience, in search of what is mine, putting God aside. We put God aside when we put ourselves first and do things because others are watching us, may praise us, and may even venerate us. Deeply.

2)      Gradually. It is logical that one cannot enter entirely into this profundity all at one time. One must arrive gradually. “Gradually” is not to say that little by little I will arrive when I am ninety. Who is to say that you will arrive at ninety? And, even if you do arrive at ninety – one hundred – what will you have done with your life? What will you give to God from a life that is wasted, spoiled doing whatever you felt, waiting for God to make you comfortable? What will you do with this kind of life? What will you give to Christ?

Gradually today, yes. Gradually tomorrow, yes. The day after tomorrow, yes. Gradually my mind, my obedience, my heart, my chastity, my body, my poverty... Gradually, day by day. The Church speaks to us of this journey, speaking of Mary and the Church herself, when she says that the Church is a pilgrim, Mary is a pilgrim, and we are pilgrims together with the Church and Mary. Gradually. “Pilgrim” here means to go forward, not to sit down, make myself comfortable, and let the others serve me. I must go to my knees in front of my brothers and sisters, because if I do not kneel before my brothers and sisters and serve them, I do not serve God. If I do not know how to put myself at the service of my brothers and sisters, then everything is at the service of my ego. I throw God out of my life, my house, just as those who do not want children throw out God and those who have everything in abundance throw out God because they are in need of nothing. Gradually and deeply.

3)      Freely. It shouldn’t be the formation directors and those responsible that tell you this, but you ought to consider the consecration such a great gift that God has given to you that you go out and meet it freely. Instead, when you beg, push, and yell (against what it entails), it is a sign that you have not considered freely the gift of consecration, this gift of the charism. You have therefore put your life and heart elsewhere, instead of accepting the gifts of God with liberty, love, serenity, and joy. Accept all physical ailments, all moral evil (against your person), and you will not rebel against God even in the face of the tortuosity of life.  You will have the ability to dance in your prisons, just as certain prisoners condemned to death in a consecration in Romania danced. They managed to dance with joy, because at a certain moment the Spirit overwhelmed them. There was a heart that believed in God, believed in the Holy Spirit, believed in the journey of consecration to God, and believed in the charism of consecration to Mary. Freely.