Mary and Holy Communion
Father Roger Charest, SMM
Former Managing Editor of the Queen of All Hearts Magazine
Mary and …
O ne of the great gifts of St. Louis de Montfort as a preacher of the Word of God, and as a Spiritual writer, is that of being able to bring you right into the heart of the matter of every subject that he treats.
For example, after writing his treatise on “True Devotion to Mary”, in which he laid down the fundamental truths underlying all true devotion to Mary; after describing the role of the Three Divine Persons, in Mary’s life before, during and after the Incarnation, thereby establishing the necessity of Mary in our own spiritual lives; after warning us against false devotions to Mary and defining True Devotion to Mary.
. . . Holy Communion
Additionally, after introducing us into a perfect form of devotion to Mary which consists of a perfect renewal of our baptismal promises through a total consecration of ourselves to Jesus Christ, with and through Mary; after outlining some of the motives for this consecration and some of its wonderful effects in our souls; after singling out a few exterior and interior practices, he ends his treatise by giving us one example of how this devotion can be lived out in our lives. The example is how to live “This Devotion in Holy Communion.”
Talk about going into the heart of the matter! What could be more central to our faith than Christ in Holy Communion? Well, Montfort thought it would be well to share with us his own approach to this most intimate union with Christ.
For our readers who do not (yet) have St. Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion to Mary” on hand, I would like to quote a few excerpts from the Saint’s brief description. A description of his own ideas on this important spiritual experience which is the reception of Holy Communion. His full text can be found in #266-273. Also in, “God Alone,” pp. 375-377.
Before Communion
“BEFORE HOLY COMMUNION:
- Place yourself humbly in the presence of God.
- Renounce your corrupt nature and dispositions, no matter how good self-love makes them appear to you.
- Renew your consecration saying, ‘I belong entirely to you dear Mother, and all that I have is yours.’
- Implore Mary to lend you her heart so that you may receive her Son with her dispositions. Tell her that if she will take up her abode in you to receive her Son – which she can do because of the sovereignty she has over all hearts – he will be received by her in a perfect manner without danger of being affronted or being forced to depart.
“Tell her, finally, that Jesus, whose love for her is unique, still wishes to take his delight and his repose in her, even in your soul, even though it is poorer and less clean than the stable which he readily entered because she was there”.
St. John the Evangelist Giving Communion to the Virgin Mary: Spanish Painter: Alonzo Cano: 1601 – 1667
Talk about going into the heart of the matter! What could be more central to our faith than Christ in Holy Communion? Well, Montfort thought it would be well to share with us his own approach to this most intimate union with Christ.
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During Communion
Here are a few excerpts lot the section: DURING HOLY COMMUNION:
“After the Our Father, when you are about to receive Our Lord, say to Him three times, the prayer, ’Lord, I am not worthy.’ Say it the first time as if you were telling the Eternal Father that because of your evil thoughts and your ingratitude to such a good Father, you are unworthy to receive His Only-Begotten Son, but that here is Mary, his handmaid, who acts for you and whose presence gives you a special confidence and hope in him, etc .
Say to God the Son, ’Lord, I am not worthy.’ Tell him that you are not worthy to receive him because of your useless and evil words and your carelessness in his service etc .
Say to the Holy Spirit, ’Lord, I am not worthy.’ Tell him that you are not worthy to receive the masterpiece of his love because of your Luke warmness, etc., etc.,”
After Holy Communion
“AFTER HOLY COMMUNION:
Close your eyes and recollect yourself. Then usher Jesus into the heart of Mary; You are giving him to his Mother who will receive him with great love . . . and perform many offices for him of which we, in our ignorance, would know nothing”.
Please, dear readers, get a copy of the True Devotion and read it all for yourself. You’ll be grateful that I have introduced you to a method of receiving Holy Communion that many a Saint before and after St. Louis de Montfort has followed.
