That Promise You Made at Baptism

That Promise You Made at Baptism

THROUGH baptism,” says the Second Vatican Council, “we are formed in the likeness of Christ.

‘For in one Spirit we are all baptized into one body’. (1 Cor 12:13). In this sacred rite fellowship in Christ’s death and resurrection is symbolized and is brought about.  ‘For we were buried with Him by means of baptism into death“.  And if ‘we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death . . . we shall be so in the likeness of His resurrection also’. (Rom. 6:4-5). In this way all of us are made members of His body.”

A Perfect Renewal

To understand the meaning and the importance of St. Louis de Montfort’s form of total consecration to Jesus through Mary, it is necessary that we first understand at least something of the meaning and importance of the sacrament of baptism. For according to Montfort, this particular form of consecration is nothing more than a perfect renewal. A perfect renewal of the vows and promises that we made at the time of our baptism.

Far too often people look upon the sacrament of baptism as nothing more than a rite of initiation. It is this, of course, because it does in fact make us formal members of the Church. But this baptismal initiation is in no way comparable to, let’s say, joining the local Rotary club for the purpose of enjoying the benefits of such an organization. Baptism, as the Church teaches, does much more than that.

A Share in the Life of Christ

To begin with, baptism forms us “in the likeness of Christ”. It unites us to Him as the members of the human body are united to the head. And, it gives us a mysterious, but nevertheless real, share in the life of Christ, in His death and in His resurrection. It makes our union with Him a union that is not merely external. As for example, is the bond among members of the same club or organization. These people are united only by reason of a common goal or purpose. They do not share the same life. What baptism does is to make us share in the very life of Christ Himself.

Baptism: Our Life is now His Life

And this union with Christ, through the sacrament of Baptism, means that, from now on, we belong totally to Him. Our life is
now His life, and His life is now ours. We are, in fact, a real living part of Him. Just as the human hand is a real living part of the same human body.

IT is this basic religious truth of our being part of Christ, of belonging to Him by sharing in His life, that is the foundation of St. Louis de Montfort’s Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary.

Sharing in His Life: The Foundation of Total Consecration

“All our perfection,” he writes, “consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence it follows that the most perfect of devotions is without doubt the one that conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. This is the devotion that I am teaching . . . a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of baptism.”

Perfect Renewal for Two Reasons

Note that Montfort calls this form of consecration a perfect renewal of the baptismal vows. It is perfect for two reasons. First, it is as
complete as a human being can make it. And second, because this renewal uses the most perfect of all means to draw us closer to Christ. Namely, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is as complete as we can make it. Because we give to Christ all that we are and all that we have. We dedicate and consecrate our body and soul with all of their talents and powers, our material possessions, and the spiritual value of all of our prayers and good works. And, we give everything we own to Christ. We give, so as to share as closely as possible in this new life. His own life, that He has given to us in Baptism.

We Go to Our Lord . . .

And we use the same means that He used in becoming one of us: we go to Him through His mother Mary just as He came to us through her. We recognize that without her He would not have become the Head of the “members of His body.” Further, we recognize that He made her indispensable in the work of our redemption, and that consequently we should make her the indispensable means of our union with Him. We recognize that without her we should not have had a share in the very life of Christ that He gives to us in baptism. We imitate Christ Himself by going to Him through Mary, for this is the only way that He chose to come to us.

“Of all creatures,” Montfort writes, “Mary is the most conformed to Jesus Christ. It follows then that of all devotions, the one that consecrates and conforms a soul the most to Our Lord is devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, His holy mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated to Jesus Christ.”

. . . Through Our Lady

The Church, in the Liturgy, realizes the importance of at least an annual renewal of the promises of Baptism. This liturgical renewal is a reminder – and a reminder that we all need – of the fact that as Christians we live the very life of Christ Himself. What the Montfort form of consecration to Jesus through Mary does is to vivify this renewal in our everyday lives. It is more than an annual reminder. It is a practical way of making our daily activity a continual drawing closer to Christ our Lord. The Montfort consecration stresses this day-to-day living in union with Christ in accordance with the meaning and importance of our baptismal promises.

AND yet it happens often enough that people find this form of consecration to be an infringement of their spiritual freedom, in the sense that it restricts them from praying for others, from applying the value of their prayers and good works to their relatives and friends and especially to the souls in Purgatory.

Our Lord and Our Lady . . .

This is an objection that apparently never ceases to recur. As our regular readers know from the questions that come into this magazine. It is a difficulty that Montfort foresaw right from the beginning; and it is to be noted that he brought it up himself right after his explanation of the consecration as a renewal of the baptismal promises. He put his finger right on the nub of the issue; the question arises from a lack of trust in the goodness and generosity of Christ and our Blessed Lady. He could have added that it also comes from a rather legalistic and commercial way of looking at the value of our prayers and good works; we say a prayer with a certain amount of fervor and God responds with a corresponding amount of spiritual credit.

. . . Can Never Be Outdone in Generosity

The objection disappears with the simple consideration that Christ and His Blessed Mother can never be outdone in generosity. It is impossible to imagine that we, our relatives and friends and the souls in Purgatory will be deprived of anything at all of spiritual value because we have given everything we possess to Christ and our Blessed Lady. Montfort explains that, even in the natural order of things, when you are generous with someone else, that person is in turn more inclined to be generous with you.

This applies even more – infinitely more – when we are speaking of Christ and His Blessed Mother. After all, they gave their very lives for our salvation. Christ, who died on the cross to save us, and our Blessed Lady, who stood beneath the cross offering her Son for us, couldn’t possibly allow us to be deprived of anything conducive to our salvation. Especially when our gift to them is like their gift to us; an act of dedication, consecration and love.