8) Mary's perfect resignation

Renewal of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

This is the last day before the great feast of the Annunciation, postponed this year because Easter came early. St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort recommends the Annunciation as being a most fitting day for consecration (or renewal of consecrations) to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary . He mentions this in his work True Devotion to Mary (1712) where he also refers approvingly to La triple couronne de la bien-heureuse Vierge Mère de Dieu (The Triple Crown of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God), by Fr F Poiré, published in 1634

In the days remaining before the Annunciation, I am posting excerpts taken from chapter 11 of the  of fourth treatise in The Triple Crown of the Blessed Virgin. This chapter addresses eight great qualities of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The final excerpt concerns her perfect resignation.

8) Mary's perfect resignation

Resignation to the divine will is the centre and essence of all the Christian virtues. The Blessed Virgin's resignation was altogether humble, complete and serene.

The Blessed Virgin's resignation was truly humble

     Mary's resignation was truly humble in the estimation she held of herself. When comparing herself to all created beings, she considered herself to be as nothing; but when comparing herself to God, she saw herself as less than nothing. She was truly humble because, in order to offer her perfect conformity to the will of God, she accepted the accepted the lowliest degree of service she knew. When she uttered the words: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word [Luc. i. 38],  she had in mind the lowest position she could conceive in terms of submission to the Divine Will.  Her words went further than Abraham's when he  called himself dust and ashes [1] ; further than David's when he said he was a dead dog, a flea [2] and a worm. [3] 

In short, she made a solemn declaration accepting God's Will, reckoning her status as the lowliest of all creatures. She was truly humble in subjecting herself to His sovereign Majesty, accounting herself altogether unworthy of the care He was taking of her, utterly astonished that in His adorable greatness He would deign to stoop so far as to remember her and be thinking about her.

 [1] And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes. Gen. xviii. 27

 [2] After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea. 1 Kings xxiv. 15.

 [3] But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. Ps. xxi. 7.

The Blessed Virgin's resignation was total

     Mary's resignation was unconditional in that it knew neither boundaries nor limits, in that by it the Blessed Virgin submitted herself to God's will without any qualification whatsoever. Mary's words that I have just cited seem in themselves to show her acceptance of the offer made to her of conceiving the Divine Word. It is, however, most certain that she also gave an interior assent to God, so that every last one of God's wishes were engraved in her heart and soul. She could echo the words of David, but in a higher degree: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready [Ps. lvi. 8]; let Him raise me up or put me down, let Him make me great or make me small, let Him make use of me or totally ignore me, let Him do with me as he pleases. For my own part, I have nothing to say other than that I am completely in the hands of His divine providence. Let Him ordain for my natural life either health or sickness, strength or weakness, a dwelling-place or an exit; in this I have no preference for the one or the other. Let Him dispose of my public life as He pleases, for honour or dishonour, for interactions with people or for solitude, for being in favour or out of favour . . . my heart will incline always to His good pleasure, wheresoever it appears.

The serenity of the Blessed Virgin's resignation

     Mary's resignation was marked by a deep serenity; in all that touched her life, she trusted completely in God's paternal affection and maintained a recollected calmness. The peace in her soul was so great that feelings of resentment were unknown to her and nothing could upset her inner equilibrium . . . She even prayed to have no other will than God's own, so that He might work through her without her own will contributing even in the least. Oh how this chaste Lover would rest gently on the bosom of her Beloved! Oh what pleasure was hers when drinking in long draughts from God, with a holy forgetfulness of herself! Oh what delight did the Spouse feel in His heart as He held her close in His embrace, sheltering her from anything that might disturb her peaceful repose!  

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.