What is the difference between Consecration and Fr. de Montfort’s Approach to Total Consecration? (from the Consecration Renewal Conference)
We must give her all we have … without reserve…without pretending in, or hoping for any other recompense for our offering and service except the honor of belonging to Jesus Christ through Mary, and in Mary. (St. Louis de Montfort TD 121)
In the Catholic Community, many people when they hear the words “Act of Consecration to Our Lady”, they automatically think of St. Louis de Montfort’s approach to consecration, and that is not always the case. In fact St. Louis de Montfort, explains Fr. Hugh Gillespie, SMM, at a recent Consecration Renewal Conference, is not the originator of Marian Consecration. That existed even before Fr. de Montfort was born.
But especially since the early 20th Century, there are a number of consecration approaches that exist and that may cause some confusion. It is often explained in the Christian Community that consecration is placing on a cloak to keep one-self safe, or family safe, from the evils in today’s world. That is not Total Consecration.
Consecration is defined as “putting aside of something for religious purposes”. Various consecration methods, and the Act of Total Consecration according to Fr. de Montfort, differ by the responses to these three questions:
- What is Being put Aside?
- For What Purpose?
- What is the Motivation?
In Part One of Fr. Hugh’s Consecration Renewal Conference, based upon the spiritual teachings of St. Louis de Montfort, he explains the differences between consecration and St. Louis de Montfort’s approach to the Act of Total Consecration.
You are invited to listen to this 53 minute audio that explains this topic and more.
