Beware! The True Devotion is a trap!

[Muckmuck]

On 4/15/2015, 8:06:17, The Historian said:

I was recently reading some words by Blessed Columba Marmion, one of the greatest spiritual directors of the 20^th century.  In fact, one of the greatest spiritual directors in all of the Church’s history.  God speed the day when he’s declared a Doctor of the Church!  But something he said greatly upset me.  He did not appreciate Saint Louis Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary.  He found it exaggerated.  He added the caveat that perhaps he just was not graced by the Holy Ghost to have a calling to this devotion (and did encourage his correspondent to pursue it).  But I found myself in a turmoil.  How could this man, who loved our Blessed Lady, who wrote such beautiful words on her, who placed an obligation on Catholics to be devoted to her, reject what is the best devotion to her?  I felt like my friend, one of my best friends, had confided a dark and secret sin to me.

 

It made me re-examine the devotion of the holy slavery.  And I came to the conclusion that the devotion is a snare and a trap because the true devotion is no devotion at all.

 

It is so much more.  It is a vocation.  When we make our consecration to this Queen of Hearts, when we surrender our heart to her, we take on a character that is religious in nature.  Over the past couple of years I have struggled in the practise of my consecration to her.  I have waxed and I have waned.  I have been an inconsistent devotee.  I remember when I was so on fire with passion to practise it.  I remember when rosaries were said so easily and with such peace of mind!  Oh, how I miss those days.  Increasingly I lost touch with my consecration.  Oh, I still said my daily renunciation, I still tried to say my beads.  But I fell into the great trap I spoke of above.  I began to view it as a mere devotion.  Which means I began to compartmentalise it.  “Okay, Lauds at 7am, rosary at 10am, Divine Mercy chaplet at 3pm,” etc.  We put our devotions into these little boxes.  It’s how we manage them, it’s how we keep track of them.  We have devotions for assisting at Mass which we use only at Mass, we have specific authors and books that we read at various times of the year (Faber at Advent, Martinez at Pentecost, etc.).  And I put my consecration into its own little devotional box, where I’d try and set aside a little time a day to practise it.  And because of this I lost track of it.  It has not been in my life what it was meant to be.

 

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is necessary for us if we are to obtain eternal salvation.  We cannot win our crown in heaven without her aid.  If any man or woman snubs devotion to her, if they choose not to love her, then their souls will be lost.  But this specific devotion is not for everyone just as not everyone is called to the same vocation.  It is a particular devotion that only some are called to.  This does not mean that not anyone can practise it.  It is a universal devotion, everyone is called, but few are chosen.  And we still must spread the word of this state of holy slavery.  But I am no longer bemused or alarmed by a person’s rejection of this devotion in their own lives (as long as they do not reject it for improper reasons).  As long as they love Our Lady, and practise some devotion to her, then well and good.  If the Holy Ghost calls them, then they will find their way to kneeling before her altar.

 

But some of us have

On 4/15/2015, 8:06:17, The Historian said:

I was recently reading some words by Blessed Columba Marmion, one of the greatest spiritual directors of the 20^th century.  In fact, one of the greatest spiritual directors in all of the Church’s history.  God speed the day when he’s declared a Doctor of the Church!  But something he said greatly upset me.  He did not appreciate Saint Louis Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary.  He found it exaggerated.  He added the caveat that perhaps he just was not graced by the Holy Ghost to have a calling to this devotion (and did encourage his correspondent to pursue it).  But I found myself in a turmoil.  How could this man, who loved our Blessed Lady, who wrote such beautiful words on her, who placed an obligation on Catholics to be devoted to her, reject what is the best devotion to her?  I felt like my friend, one of my best friends, had confided a dark and secret sin to me.

 

It made me re-examine the devotion of the holy slavery.  And I came to the conclusion that the devotion is a snare and a trap because the true devotion is no devotion at all.

 

It is so much more.  It is a vocation.  When we make our consecration to this Queen of Hearts, when we surrender our heart to her, we take on a character that is religious in nature.  Over the past couple of years I have struggled in the practise of my consecration to her.  I have waxed and I have waned.  I have been an inconsistent devotee.  I remember when I was so on fire with passion to practise it.  I remember when rosaries were said so easily and with such peace of mind!  Oh, how I miss those days.  Increasingly I lost touch with my consecration.  Oh, I still said my daily renunciation, I still tried to say my beads.  But I fell into the great trap I spoke of above.  I began to view it as a mere devotion.  Which means I began to compartmentalise it.  “Okay, Lauds at 7am, rosary at 10am, Divine Mercy chaplet at 3pm,” etc.  We put our devotions into these little boxes.  It’s how we manage them, it’s how we keep track of them.  We have devotions for assisting at Mass which we use only at Mass, we have specific authors and books that we read at various times of the year (Faber at Advent, Martinez at Pentecost, etc.).  And I put my consecration into its own little devotional box, where I’d try and set aside a little time a day to practise it.  And because of this I lost track of it.  It has not been in my life what it was meant to be.

 

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is necessary for us if we are to obtain eternal salvation.  We cannot win our crown in heaven without her aid.  If any man or woman snubs devotion to her, if they choose not to love her, then their souls will be lost.  But this specific devotion is not for everyone just as not everyone is called to the same vocation.  It is a particular devotion that only some are called to.  This does not mean that not anyone can practise it.  It is a universal devotion, everyone is called, but few are chosen.  And we still must spread the word of this state of holy slavery.  But I am no longer bemused or alarmed by a person’s rejection of this devotion in their own lives (as long as they do not reject it for improper reasons).  As long as they love Our Lady, and practise some devotion to her, then well and good.  If the Holy Ghost calls them, then they will find their way to kneeling before her altar.

 

But some of us have been graced by the Holy Ghost to consecrate ourselves to His beloved spouse and this consecration demands a radical conversion within us.  We cannot, we must not, treat this consecration as a mere devotion.  Imagine if a Dominican viewed his Dominican vocation and vows as a mere devotion!  Imagine if a Benedictine viewed his state of life as a mere devotion!  It has to consume our lives.  It has to define our lives.  As a Franciscan is defined by his evangelical vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, we must be defined by our consecration of our entire selves, all of our earthly and spiritual possessions, to the care of this sweet Queen of Mercy.  I often wondered to myself.  “How do I obey Mary?  What does that even mean?”  Yes, it can be hard to grasp how we are to obey her when we cannot see her.  I don’t know about you, but she’s never personally left me a memo asking me to do this or that.  But I think, now, I do know what it means.  It means to view Our Lady as our superior, as our Mother Superior.  She is the prioress of our very own little priory.  It’s taken me near enough 5 years to realise this vocational character of the true devotion.  I am sure many of you have already seen this truth.  I am sure many more of you are asking me why I missed something so obvious!  But to my fellow slaves who many find themselves struggling in the practise of this consecration perhaps you have experienced the same troubles that I have had.  And perhaps these words can help you work through your struggles.  In Mary, through Mary, and with Mary.

So, in what work did Marmion say that? How do i find it?

 

[Seven77]

 I don't get how it could be considered a snare or trap. Is baptism a snare or trap? As with baptism, the consecration is a commitment and way of life… if you think about it, being baptized means being devoted to Christ. Baptism is in a sense being wedded to God… that's why we have to renew promises that were made, etc. I don't know about you, but that sounds like devotion in general… don't spouses speak of being devoted to one another? Are you not devoted to God as a child to his or her Father? Sure, you have to know what you're getting into… but then again, when your parents are devoted––there's the word again––Catholics, you're probably baptized before you can say anything about it.

 Do you struggle to be Catholic? Then maybe you shouldn't have become one. See how absurd that sounds? The point is,  you made the consecration––great. Don't worry about the rest, what you've failed to do so far, etc.… you're still here so take what you know now and keep going… (next time you renew your consecration, I suggest you prepare using 33 Days to Morning Glory by Father Michael Gaitely).

[DominicanHeart]

I'm so confused now. I've never heard anything bad about True Devotion. I've heard mixed opinions on Divine Mercy though. 

[Gabriela]

This is a Lazarus thread. 

36 minutes ago, DominicanHeart said:

I'm so confused now. I've never heard anything bad about True Devotion. I've heard mixed opinions on Divine Mercy though. 

What have you heard about Divine Mercy?

[beatitude]

On 4/17/2015, 1:47:22, Ash Wednesday said:

I made a consecration this year. It's probably also worth noting that St. Louis de Montfort and all the saints concept of "devotion" is not the "devotion" that many Catholics in modern times associate with the word -- just reciting tidy prayers in a pamphlet, like you said, compartmentalizing it, and going on with your day. Devotion in the eyes of the saints is a total giving of self and permeates your entire life.

At the end of the day, despite his frankness and honesty, Blessed Marmion certainly had enough appreciation for the devotion to encourage his correspondent to pursue it. 

Yes. St Francis de Sales writes about devotion as an attitude, something that should permeate your whole life. I think over time we have come to see it as just a word for the prayers we say here and there, but this was not the original meaning of the word.

48 minutes ago, DominicanHeart said:

I'm so confused now. I've never heard anything bad about True Devotion. I've heard mixed opinions on Divine Mercy though. 

Bl. Marmion isn't saying anything bad about St Louis de Montfort's work per se. As a spiritual director, he appreciated it enough to recommend it to someone, but it's plain it wasn't his own cup of tea. It isn't mine either. I don't get on with that flowery ornate style and I dislike the way he frames our relationship to Christ and Mary - I'm uncomfortable with the image of slavery because of Jesus' own statement that he has called us friends. However, at other points in the Gospel, Jesus does use servant imagery, so I'm not saying St Louis was wrong either. The image of the slave is just not something that I relate to at this moment. And that's OK.

I think sometimes Catholics fall into the trap of assuming that if a saint wrote something, that means it must be correct for everyone at all times and all places, and that not getting on with it is the same as thinking there's something wrong with it.

[DominicanHeart]

51 minutes ago, beatitude said:

Yes. St Francis de Sales writes about devotion as an attitude, something that should permeate your whole life. I think over time we have come to see it as just a word for the prayers we say here and there, but this was not the original meaning of the word.

Bl. Marmion isn't saying anything bad about St Louis de Montfort's work per se. As a spiritual director, he appreciated it enough to recommend it to someone, but it's plain it wasn't his own cup of tea. It isn't mine either. I don't get on with that flowery ornate style and I dislike the way he frames our relationship to Christ and Mary - I'm uncomfortable with the image of slavery because of Jesus' own statement that he has called us friends. However, at other points in the Gospel, Jesus does use servant imagery, so I'm not saying St Louis was wrong either. The image of the slave is just not something that I relate to at this moment. And that's OK.

I think sometimes Catholics fall into the trap of assuming that if a saint wrote something, that means it must be correct for everyone at all times and all places, and that not getting on with it is the same as thinking there's something wrong with it.

That makes sense

[Benedictus]

3 hours ago, beatitude said:

Yes. St Francis de Sales writes about devotion as an attitude, something that should permeate your whole life. I think over time we have come to see it as just a word for the prayers we say here and there, but this was not the original meaning of the word.

Bl. Marmion isn't saying anything bad about St Louis de Montfort's work per se. As a spiritual director, he appreciated it enough to recommend it to someone, but it's plain it wasn't his own cup of tea. It isn't mine either. I don't get on with that flowery ornate style and I dislike the way he frames our relationship to Christ and Mary - I'm uncomfortable with the image of slavery because of Jesus' own statement that he has called us friends. However, at other points in the Gospel, Jesus does use servant imagery, so I'm not saying St Louis was wrong either. The image of the slave is just not something that I relate to at this moment. And that's OK.

I think sometimes Catholics fall into the trap of assuming that if a saint wrote something, that means it must be correct for everyone at all times and all places, and that not getting on with it is the same as thinking there's something wrong with it.

It's tough in a modern lens but It's central to the Gospel and Christian story though. Jesus is called our 'master'  - we are his slaves. But we freely choose his authority and give him obedience out of love, not coercion. The best bit is that the bible reminds us that a slave shouldn't boss or control another slave. What right do they have?  It's up to God what he forgives, graces, directs, asks etc

In Roman society if a slave owner was held on charges then their slaves would often be tortured to find out evidence, as slaves were assumed to be obligated to defend their owners and lie unless tortured. If the slave owner was convicted and executed then his slaves were also often killed as well.

Jesus was convicted and killed and so the implications for us are that we will also be called to carry our cross and die, so was the norm. Those in power and control will typically treat those with no power with disregard, especially if they can get away with it. The Christian message is to disregard ourself in submission to Jesus. How could it go wrong if we really did?

This was a big deal for a Roman audience to hear -  firstly they didn't have real ownership over their slaves, God did. The second being that if they became Christians then they were called to reduce themselves to being like slaves.

It's amazingly subversive and was central in attracting and converting people, from the bottom up, and helping to undermine the government. Social action and justice done the more discreet way -  the slow rug pull It always reminds me of the tactics of Saint John Paul ll in subverting Communist Poland!

I'm sure you know this but it's worth pointing out as people sometimes fail to see the significance of the message regarding slavery then and even it's current implications. History often keeps repeating itself despite the calls of progress assuming the worst is far behind us!

[NadaTeTurbe]

On 15/4/2016 20:41:08, Gabriela said:

This is a Lazarus thread. 

What have you heard about Divine Mercy?

The Divine MErcy devotion was on the index because of Card. Ottaviani (I heard it was because of bad translation of St Faustina works). I've read some criticism of the Divine Mercy devotions, and it's the same criticism that you can give to every private revelations. 

[CountrySteve21]

St. John Paul II thought highly of True Devotion.

 

http://www.ewtn.com/library/Montfort/TRUEDEVO.HTM