Perfect Renewal
Fr. James McMillian, SMM
Perfect Renewal
“T HE PARISH PRIESTS shall exhort the faithful, in order that they may realize how fitting it is . . . for us to devote and consecrate ourselves forever to our Redeemer and Lord as His very slaves”. This is not the statement of a writer or theologian expressing a personal opinion. It is the teaching of the Catechism of the council of Trent, a work of rather high authority in the Catholic Church.
The words used by the Catechism do nothing more than remind us of an obligation. An obligation which we have contracted as a result of the Sacrament of the Redemption. For one of the effects of the death of Christ on the cross was to liberate mankind from the power of sin and the devil and return the human race to its original position of honor as children and subjects of God.
The Meaning of the Redemption
Now this is a fact to which we undoubtedly pay too little attention. The tremendous meaning of the Redemption is something we often fail to grasp in its entirety. Whether we are over-occupied with the cares of every-day life, or have become so accustomed to this basic truth that we no longer appreciate its significance, it is difficult to say. Perhaps the full import of the Redemption was never explained to us. Perhaps we think of it as so far removed in time. Removed in time that it takes on the aspect of being far removed in reality. The point, however, is this; until we begin to look upon it as something real, something literally true, something which applies to each one of us personally, we will never understand the precise nature of the Christian life.
It is this misunderstanding of the full meaning of the Redemption that leads so many to look upon total consecration as an exaggerated form of devotion. Because they fail to grasp the idea. The idea that by the Redemption we already belong to Christ. They cannot see why we should recognize that dependence in a perfect manner. They do not realize the underlying inconsistency of their objection. For they themselves, in their Baptismal promises, have publicly recognized the fact that they belong to Christ as His subjects and His slaves. There can be no valid objection to Montfort’s perfect consecration, for it is nothing more than the perfect renewal off the promises we all made in Baptism.
Interrelating The Redemption, The Sacrament of Baptism, and Montfort’s Total Consecration
The Redemption, the Sacrament of Baptism, and Montfort’s total consecration are all closely interrelated. The Redemption offered by Christ on Calvary liberated mankind from the slavery of sin and the devil. It is by The Redemption that transferred the human race to the kingdom of Christ. As St. Paul puts it: ”Who (i.e., God) has delivered us from the power of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love: in whom we have redemption through His Blood, the remission of sins.” (Col. 1, 13-14) .
The Holy Family: Flemish Painter: Peter Paul Rubens: 1630s
An excited Saint Francis adores the Infant Jesus in a vision. Jesus appears with the Virgin Mary and her mother, Saint Anne. The painting also includes Saint Joseph, and a playful young Saint John the Baptist.
The Christian promises in Baptism, . . . to live as one who belongs to Christ is, according to St. Augustine, the greatest and most indispensable of all vows and promises. It supersedes all others in importance, for without it one cannot be a Christian.
It is a recognition of the fact that we have been bought back from the devil by the Blood of Christ. And that we now belong to Him as His subjects and His slaves. Only by living up to that promise made in Baptism can we ever hope to have the fruits of the Redemption applied to us.
The total consecration of St. Louis De Montfort simply renews and ratifies the promises of Baptism.
Now this is a truth which, we repeat, must be fully grasped. A truth to grasp if we are to understand what this consecration of St. Louis de Montfort really means. That we belong to Christ as a result of His death on the cross is not a pious figure of speech. It is a fact that must be accepted in its literal sense. Christ did not die only to prove His great love for us, only to give us an example of how to love God and our fellow-man, only to teach us how to suffer.
The Redemption
These elements are present, of course. They are not to be tossed aside lightly. But if we restrict the Redemption to such considerations and leave out the aspect of our incorporation into His kingdom, then we distort the true meaning of the Redemption. What the death of Christ accomplished was the offering of an expiatory sacrifice to pay back the price of Adam’s sin, to merit grace and heaven for us, to liberate us from the power of the devil and make us his subjects. By the Redemption we belong to Christ as truly as a man’s property is his own.
The Redemption, however, was not decreed just for the human race in general. It must be applied to each and every human being individually. Its application is elected by the Sacrament of Baptism, the Sacrament that washes away the stain of original sin in our souls and brings us individually under the rule of Christ. In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas : ”Just as the sin of Adam is transmitted to others only through carnal generation, so the merit of Christ is transmitted to others only through spiritual regeneration, which is elected by Baptism, through which human beings are incorporated into Christ.”
The Purpose of Baptism
The purpose of Baptism is to remove the stain of sin and make us one with our Lord. The Christian promises in Baptism, either by himself or through his sponsors, to renounce the devil and all his works and pomps, and to adhere to Jesus Christ. This promise to live as one who belongs to Christ is, according to St. Augustine, the greatest and most indispensable of all vows and promises. It supersedes all others in importance, for without it one cannot be a Christian. It is a recognition of the fact that we have been bought back from the devil by the Blood of Christ, and that we now belong to Him as His subjects and His slaves. Only by living up to that promise made in Baptism can we ever hope to have the fruits of the Redemption applied to us.
Total Consecration
The total consecration of St. Louis De Montfort simply renews and ratifies the promises of Baptism. Since we have been bought back by our Lord and made the members of His kingdom, and since we have had the Redemption applied to us in Baptism, it is only fitting, argues St. Louis, that we should recognize our dependence upon Christ in a practical way.
The manner of renewal is by means of a consecration of ourselves to our Lord through His Blessed Mother. The consecration is basically only an explicit affirmation of what is already true. That we belong to Christ as His subjects. What differentiates St. Louis’ consecration from other forms of devotion is that we explicitly give ourselves to Christ through our Blessed Lady and that we give her our merits to keep and embellish and the value of our good works to dispose of as she sees fit, for the greater honor and glory of God.
This explains why Montfort insisted so much that his consecration was nothing more than a Perfect Renewal of the vows and promises of Baptism. Strictly speaking, the consecration does not make us the subjects and slaves of Christ and our Blessed Mother. The Redemption and its application to us in Baptism have already fulfilled that purpose. A Christian who has not made this consecration is also a slave of Jesus and Mary, whether he realizes it or not. By renewing our dedication to our Lord in the Montfort manner, we reaffirm our status as subjects of Christ in the most perfect way possible, and take upon ourselves the obligation of living as one totally dedicated to Him.
The Perfect Renewal
In his Treatise on True Devotion, St. Louis de Montfort claimed that no one could object to this perfect consecration without overturning the very foundations of Christianity. The truth of this statement becomes quite obvious. It becomes obvious once we stop to consider the connection that exists between the Redemption and Baptism, and between Baptism and the total consecration.
All that Montfort does is to emphasize in a practical manner truths. Truths that too many of us are inclined to misunderstand in their full import. First, the fact that the human race belongs to Christ as a result of the Redemption. Secondly, the fact that the Sacrament of Baptism has the positive effect of making us members, subjects and slaves of Christ. And thirdly, the fact that by this perfect consecration we do not, strictly speaking, make ourselves the slaves of Jesus and Mary. We simply recognize in a perfect way the duties and obligations of a Christian to live as one who belongs to Christ.
Montfort sums up this truth in a concise paragraph: ”If the Councils, the Fathers, and even experience itself shows us that the best means of remedying the irregularities of Christians is by making them call to mind the obligations of their Baptism, and persuading them to renew the vows they made then, is it only right that we should do it in a perfect manner by this devotion and consecration of ourselves to our Lord, through His holy Mother? I say in a perfect manner; because in thus consecrating ourselves to Him, we make use of the most perfect of all means. Namely, the Blessed Virgin” (T.D. 130) .
