Q&A: Saint Louis de Montfort’s “consecration ” is distinguished by his insistence that we give to Mary even the impetratory value of all our good actions. Modem theology has moved away from such terminology and also from such divisions of “good actions”. That seems to destroy any uniqueness of Montfort’s consecration.
Fr. Gaffney, SMM
From Fr. PA., London, England
Montfort’s Spirituality in Today’s World
At Saint Louis de Montfort’s time, and right up to Vatican Council II, the understanding of good actions as found in True Devotion 121- 123 was commonplace. In his insistence that we are totally, personally consecrated to Jesus-Wisdom through Mary. Montfort had to address the question of what happens to our actions since that was an issue of his times.
His answer was simple; everything, even the “prayer-value” of our good actions belongs to Mary so that they may more perfectly belong to Jesus. If that understanding of the value of good actions does not fit in with much of contemporary theology, that does not change an iota of the fundamental characteristic of the Montfort consecration; our entire person, with everything to which we may claim ownership in anyway whatsoever, is formally and explicitly turned over to Our Lady.
Today, we may have different ways of itemizing these “possessions” or of describing the loving surrender of our person. So be it. However, the central issue is this; we are not following the Montfort Way if we are not lovingly and formally surrendering our person. That is surrendering from every point of view. Surrendering all our possessions no matter how we may describe them, our past, our present and our future.
There are other distinguishing characteristics of the Montfort consecration in addition to its “totality”. You will find them described in the article “Consecration” in the Handbook of the Spirituality of Saint Louis Marie de Montfort which is available from Montfort Publications.
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