Consecration to Jesus Through Mary

Included in the Scapular devotion is the belief that Our Lady’s intercessory power may be expected by the departed souls in Purgatory in a special way for all those who had worn the Scapular in faith during their earthly sojourn (along with the further conditions of having practiced chastity according to one’s state in life and prayers designated by one’s confessor for this intention). (44) This extended spiritual benefit of Scapular devotion, called the "Sabbatine privilege," is traditionally traced back to a Marian inspiration given to Pope John XXII in 1322. Pope John XXII reportedly promulgated a papal bull stating that the faithful wearer of the Scapular who also fulfills the above mentioned conditions would be released from Purgatory on the first Saturday after death (hence the name, "Sabbatine" privilege).

Apart from questions surrounding the historical origins of the Sabbatine privilege, several subsequent papal documents have confirmed the legitimacy of this Marian privilege on her designated day of Saturday to intercede in an accentuated way for the holy souls in Purgatory who faithfully wore the Scapular during their earthly life. (45)

The Scapular, then, is an external symbol of Marian devotion and dependency, of a perpetual physical expression of Marian love and devotion that acknowledges her intercessory role throughout this life and also in relation to the purification of Purgatory that prepares the Christian for eternal life with God. Ideally and when fully understood, the Scapular can become a physical sign of the complete gift of self that takes place in authentic Marian consecration.

The spiritual benefit of Scapular devotion, while avoiding any formalistic misconception of its fruits, is well summarized by Pope Pius XII in a 1950 apostolic letter:

In sum, the interior nature and spirit of Marian consecration is well synthesized in the de Montfortian formula: "to do all our actions through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary: so that we may do them all the more perfectly through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, and for Jesus." (47) As St. Louis Marie describes, doing all for Mary does not mean "that we take her for the last end of our services, for that is Jesus Christ alone; but we take her for our proximate end, our mysterious means, and our easy way to go to Him..." (48)

We conclude with this succinct prayer of Marian consecration written by Pope John Paul II during the 1983 Holy Year of Redemption to be used by Christian families in giving themselves completely to Jesus through Mary:

This article was excerpted from Introduction to Mary: The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion, Queenship, Third Edition, June 2006, and is available from Queenship Publishing at 1-800-647-9882, www.queenship.org., or PO Box 220, Goleta, California, 93116, U.S.A.

Notes

(1) Cf. Fr. Michael O’Carroll C.S.Sp., "Consecration," Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Michael Glazier, Inc., 1983.

(2) St. John Damascene, Hom. I in dorm., in PG, 96, 720A.

(3) St. Ildefonsus of Toledo, De virginitate sanctae Mariae, ed., V.G. Blance, Madrid, 1937. Cf. O’Carroll, "Consecration," Theotokos, p. 109.

(4) Cf. Patrick J Gaffney, S.M.M., "The Holy Slavery of Love," Juniper Carol, O.F.M., ed., Mariology, Vol. III, Bruce, 1961, p. 145.

(5) St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Assumptione B.V.M., Sermo IV, in PL 183, 428.

(6) Cf. O’Carroll, "Consecration," Theotokos, p. 107.

(7) Cf. O’Carroll, "St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort," Theotokos.

(8) De Montfort, True Devotion, II, Ch I. No. 120.

(9) Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, Introduction; cf. also Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., The Mother of Our Savior and Our Interior Life, Tan, 1993, p. 256ff.

(10) Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., The Mother of Our Savior, Ch. 6.

(11) De Montfort, True Devotion, Supplement, Act of Consecration.

(12) Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother of Our Savior, Golden Eagle Book, Dublin, Ireland, 1948, p. 300.

(13) De Montfort, True Devotion, I, I, 44; I, II, 85.

(14) Cf. H. M. Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and Holy Spirit: The Marian Teachings of Fr. Kolbe, Wisconsin: Prow-Franciscan Marytown Press, 1977, Ch. I.

(15) St. Maximilian Kolbe, Letter to Fr. Mikolajczyk of July 28, 1935; Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit, p. 99.

(16) St. Maximilian Kolbe; Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit, p. 108.

(17) Ibid.

(18) In 1853 the Holy See declared that the works of St. Louis Marie de Montfort were free from error. They had been very carefully examined because St. Louis was being considered for beatification. Cf. Positio super scriptis beatificationis et canonizationis Ven. Servi Ludovici Mariae Grignon de Montfort, Rome, 1853, p. 30; Gaffney, S.M.M., "The Holy Slavery of Love," Mariology, III, p. 159; cf. also de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, p. v.

(19) Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, p. v.

(20) Cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, preces et opera, Civitas Vaticana, 1950, No. 96; Gaffney, S.M.M., "The Holy Slavery of Love," Mariology, III, p. 160.

(21) Benedict XV, letter to the Superior General of the Montfort Fathers on the occasion of the second centenary of the death of their founder; AAS, Vol. 8, 1916, p. 172; Gaffney, S.M.M., "The Holy Slavery of Love," Mariology, III, p. 160.

(22) Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, p. v.

(23) Pius XII, homily on the day of the canonization of St. Louis Marie de Montfort; AAS 39, 1947, p. 331; Gaffney, S.M.M., "The Holy Slavery of Love," Mariology, III, p. 160.

(24) Pius XII, address to pilgrims in Rome for the canonization of St. Louis Marie de Montfort; AAS 39, 1947, p. 410-411; Gaffney, S.M.M., "The Holy Slavery of Love," Mariology, III, p. 160.

(25) John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, No. 48.

(26) Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, p. vi.

(27) John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, No. 45.

(28) Ibid.

(29) Ibid.

(30) John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, No. 15.

(31) Sr. Lucia, Memoirs, Fourth Memoir.

(32) Pius XII, radio broadcast to pilgrims at Fatima, October 31, 1942; AAS 34, 1942, p. 251-252.

(33) Pius XII, Apostolic Letter Sacro vergente anno, July 7, 1952; AAS 44, 1952, p. 343.

(34) Cf. letter of August 29, 1989 by Sr. Lucia, in Fr. Robert J. Fox, Documents on Fatima & the Memoirs of Sister Lucia, Fatima Family Apostolate, 2002, p. 122.

(35) Paul VI, entrustment of humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; AAS 56, 1964, p. 1017.

(36) Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Signum Magnum, May 13, 1967, No. 8; AAS 59, 1967, p. 475; for summary of papal consecration, cf. O’Carroll, "Consecration," Theotokos.

(37) Pope John Paul II, meditation with the Italian Bishops from the Policlinico Gemelli, May 13, 1994, Inseg., vol XVII/1, 1994, p. 1061.

(38) Author was present at consecration ceremony and translated the consecration prayer from the original Italian.

(39) Cf. letter of August 29, 1989 by Sr. Lucia in Fr. Robert J. Fox, Documents on Fatima & the Memoirs of Sister Lucia, Fatima Family Apostolate, 2002, p. 122; cf. John Haffert, God’s Final Effort, The 101 Foundation, 1999, p. 6.

(40) Cf. John Paul II, allocution at the Church of the Gesù in Rome, December 31, 1984.

(41) P.M. Xiberta, O. Carm., De Visione Sancti Simonis Stock, Rome, 1950; cf. Christian Ceroke, O. Carm., "The Scapular Devotion," Mariology, III, p. 129.

(42) Ceroke, O. Carm, "The Scapular Devotion," Mariology, III, p. 137.

(43) Pope Pius XII, Discourses and Radio Broadcasts, Vol. 12, 1950-51, p. 165.

(44) Ceroke, O. Carm, "The Scapular Devotion," Mariology, III.

(45) Cf. Ibid.

(46) Pius XII, Apostolic Letter Neminem profecto latet, February 11, 1950; AAS Vol. 42, 1950, p. 390-391.

(47) De Montfort, True Devotion, No. 257.

(48) De Montfort, True Devotion, No. 265.

(49) John Paul II issued this prayer on December 8, 1983 during the 1983-84 Holy Year of Redemption; it has been translated from the Italian by Lysbeth Miravalle.