We Belong to Jesus and Mary
Fr. James McMillian, SMM
After establishing that Christ is the end of all devotion to Mary (see this article), St. Louis de Montfort proceeds to lay down a second fundamental truth of True Devotion. This truth may be expressed thus: We belong to Jesus and Mary as their slaves.
”We must conclude from what Jesus Christ is with regard to us, that, as the Apostle says, we do not belong to ourselves but are entirely His, and His members and His slaves, whom He has bought at an infinitely dear price, the price of all His Blood. Before Baptism we belonged to the devil, as his slaves; but Baptism has made us true slaves of Jesus Christ etc. … What I say absolutely of Jesus Christ, I say relatively of Our Lady” (T.D. Nos. 68, 74).
WE BELONG TO JESUS AND MARY
T he realization that there is nothing revolting about calling ourselves ”slaves” of Jesus and Mary is often enough the first step in accepting Montfort’s total consecration to our Blessed Lady. For the early Christians, the Apostle St. Paul, the Council of Trent, the Popes, and the saints of the Church, the word ”slave” was a term of honor and dignity. They understood fully that there is no opposition between calling ourselves children of God and slaves of God. It is only when the imagination gets out of line with reality that we begin to conjure up visions of God as a snap-the-whip Simon Legree. Once we learn to focus our attention on the meaning of the word, rather than on its arbitrary connotations, we see that it conveys better than any other the idea of complete and total dependence upon our Blessed Mother and her divine Son.
BY BAPTISM, WE BELONG TO JESUS AND MARY
Now the simple fact of the matter is that all the Baptized are already slaves of Jesus and Mary. It is entirely beside the point whether they like the word ”slave” or not, or whether they have made the total consecration or not. The Montfort consecration is nothing but the full, complete, practical recognition of a fact; we are already the slaves of Jesus and Mary through Baptism. The logic and simplicity of St. Louis de Montfort’s method consist in having us realize that truth and live up to it, as fully as possible, in our every- day lives.
An examination of the fundamental truth that we are already the slaves of Jesus and Mary through Baptism will show us how useless it is to quibble about a word, and undoubtedly help us to perceive the doctrinal solidity of the total consecration.
WE ARE SLAVES OF JESUS
”We must conclude,” says Fr. de Montfort, ”from what Jesus Christ is with regard to us, that, as the Apostle says, we do not belong to ourselves but are entirely His, as His Members and His slaves, whom He has bought at an infinitely dear price, the price of all His Blood. . . . Baptism has made us true slaves of Jesus Christ, who have no right to live, to work or to die, except to bring forth fruit for that God-Man; to glorify Him in our bodies and to let Him reign in our souls, because we are His conquest, His acquired people and His inheritance” (T.D. n. 68).
Adoration of the Magi: Sandro Botticelli: Italian Painter: 1475
The painting resides in the National Art Gallery, Washington, DC
Editors Note: This article talks about Slavery. Another article that QoAH members should read before this article is: Slave of Mary: Or, how Christianity transformed a word! That article may be found here.
Focus our attention on the meaning of the word, rather than on its arbitrary connotations. In doing so, we see that it conveys better than any other the idea of complete and total dependence upon our Blessed Mother and her divine Son
WE BELONG TO JESUS
Here is the truth that is repeated time and again in the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church; the basic, elementary truth that we belong to Jesus as His property and possession. We belong by right of His conquest of sin and the devil. In no sense can we claim to be ”on our own” in the supernatural order. ”But now set free from sin and become slaves of God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and as your end, life everlasting” (Romans: 6, 12) . As a result of the Redemption (and its application in Baptism), we belong to Christ.
Montfort does nothing more than reiterate this constant teaching of the Church in the passage quoted above. He refers to the Apostle St. Paul: ”Do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought at a great price” (I Cor. 6, 13-20) . Note the expressions used by St. Paul to impress upon the Corinthians that they belong to Christ: “you are not your own,” and ”you have been bought at a great price.” They are terms that could have only one meaning to people living in an age when slavery was so common: the idea of complete possession by another.
Pope Pius XI has summed up this consequence of the Redemption in the encyclical ”Quas Primas” (On the Kingship of Chxist) : ”He (Christ) has an acquired right . . . for He is our Redeemer and has purchased His subjects with His Blood. ’You were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled’ (I Pet. I, 18). We are no longer our own property but Christ has bought us at ’a great price.’ ” (I Cor. 6, 20)
SLAVES OF MARY
We belong to Jesus and are the slaves of Christ as a result of the Redemption. We are also slaves of Mary as a result of her Co-Redemption. Because she redeemed us along with Christ. She has the same acquired property rights, so to speak, over the entire human race. Christ who bought us back from the slavery of sin and the devil did so through Mary and with Mary. For in the entire work of the Redemption Mary was with Him, actively co-operating in every phase of our salvation. In the words of Pope Benedict XV: ”She can be rightfully said to have redeemed the human race with Christ” (Inter Sodalicia).
This is nothing more than a logical consequence of the perfect and indissoluble union of Jesus and Mary. A union which began at the Incarnation of the Son of God and which will continue for all eternity. ”Jesus Christ chose her,” says Fr. de Montfort, ”for the inseparable companion of His life, of His death, of His power in heaven and upon earth” (T.D. n. 74).
The conclusion, therefore, is inescapable: if through the Redemption we have become the slaves of Christ, then through the Co-Redemption we have become the slaves of Mary. However, this should not be construed as a double slavery; in the sense that we owe one form of allegiance to Jesus and another to Mary. For just as Christ redeemed us through Mary, so in parallel fashion we belong to Christ, but through our Blessed Lady. ”Mary and Jesus, having but the same will and the same power, have also the same subjects, servants and slaves” (T. D. n. 74) .
MARY IS QUEEN BY GRACE, BY DIVINE RELATIONSHIP
… Pope Pius XII has emphasized this consequence of the Redemption. ”The Son of God reflects on His heavenly Mother the glory, the majesty, and the dominion of His Kingship. For having been associated to the King of Martyrs in the ineffable work of human Redemption as Mother and co-operating, she remains forever associated with Him, . . . Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest; through Him and with Him and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace. By divine relationship, by right of conquest, and by singular election.” (Address to the Pilgrims of Fatima, May 13, 1946) .
Thus we see that the matter is definitely settled. We are Christians: we are slaves of Jesus and Mary. That point has already been taken care of by our Redemption. We are supposed to be living in an age of realism. However, there are still many who hesitate about using the word ”slave”. They imagine it to be dishonorable, implying a debasement of our human nature. Their repugnance is, of course, understandable. But may we remind them that they are paying entirely too much attention to the imaginative pictures which the term evokes, rather than to what it means in itself? There is nothing dehumanizing about being totally dependent upon God and totally dedicated to His service. For as the prayer of the Church tells us: ”to serve Him is to reign.”
TRUE LOVE, GIVES ALL
Being a slave of Jesus and Mary does not mean that we cannot love them; nor does it mean that they do not love us. In fact, it’s just the other way around. It is precisely because we can think of no better way to show our love that we call ourselves ”slaves”. We glory in the title. True love doesn’t draw the line; it’s ”all the way” or nothing. And what could be more normal than for a lover to call himself the slave of the one he loves? Love songs and poems are full of the word ”slave” for the simple reason that there is no better word to express complete dedication and devotion.
As was mentioned above, the logic and simplicity of total consecration to our Blessed Lady consist in recognizing the basic truth that we belong to Jesus and Mary, and putting that truth to its perfect realization. In Fr. de Montfort’s consecration, we don’t make ourselves slaves of Christ and His Blessed Mother. We simply try to act in the most perfect accordance with our condition of dependence. We do so by dedicating ourselves, body and soul, with all that we have, to recognize God’s loving dominion over us ”for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity” (Act of Consecration).
