Last month, I wrote about the need for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Because this month is devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I thought that it would be particularly appropriate to discuss a few Marian devotions that Jesus & Mary revealed to Mariamante in Apostolate of the Holy Motherhood.
Among other devotions that were revealed were several Marian devotions including:
- Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary & the Five First Saturday’s
- the Brown Scapular, and
- Consecration to the Mother of God for the Glory of God
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is focused on Mary’s love for God and it’s purpose is for us to imitate her humility, obedience, gratitude and adoration for Him. As part of the devotion we should be emulating her virtues, offering reparations for offending her, and asking her intercession with God on our behalf. Wearing the Miraculous Medal, while common, is not essential.
There are several things to do in reparation for offending her, however:
- recite at least five Decades of the Rosary every day
- wear the Brown Scapular
- offer our daily duty to God as an act of sacrifice (ie., make the Morning Offering)
- make Five First Saturdays of Reparation to Her Immaculate Heart
- the Pope, in union with all the bishops of the world, must consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. Russia would be converted through this means, and a period of peace to be given to the world. If this is not done (and it hasn’t been done), Russia will “spread her errors throughout the world.” This consecration must be of Russia — not “the world,” but Russia by name
The brown scapular consists of two brown pieces of wool connected by two pieces of cord. One piece of the wool hangs in front like a necklace would, and the other goes down your back. The brown scapular has a picture of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on one side and St. Simon Stock on the other. It used to be that you followed the Little Office of Our Lady, but that is no longer required. You should, however, recite the Rosary daily and live chastely. You do need to be enrolled, if you have not already done so. If you wear the cloth scapular, you do not need to be enrolled every time you purchase a new one. If you get a medal, however, each new one does need to be blessed. The purpose of the scapular is to remind you of your obligations and Mary’s promise to help attain the grace of final perseverance (i.e. not going to hell).
Consecration to Jesus through Mary can be fully explained in St. Louis deMontfort’s book, Total Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (reviewed here). If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I would say that by consecrating yourself to Mary, you give everything to Mary so that she can spiff up your efforts and pass them on to Jesus in such a way that He will be more pleased with them than if you directly gave them to Him. Practically speaking, to do this requires a 33-day preparation. Once you have gone through the plan, the 34th day is the consecration. If there is no formal consecration celebrated at your parish, you will need to either fast, give alms or light a votive candle for the good of another. You will also be required to go to confession (within 8 days, either side) and receive communion (the day of) with the intention of giving yourself to Jesus through the hands of Mary. Say the Act of Consecration after Mass and sign your document. You can find more details on what is required before and after, as well as why you should, at Fish Eaters.com.
Can you make the time to add at least part of this devotion, if not all, to your schedule? A scapular, a medal, an extra Mass a month (and confession if you aren’t doing the Devotion to the Sacred Heart), and a daily Rosary and Morning Offering. It doesn’t sound like much when it’s listed like that, does it? Will you join me?
