Preparation Week - Day 5

By: Laura Worhacz

Preparation week theme: Empty thyself
 
St. Peter Julian Eymard's words:
 
 
"Let us be in short, but Mary's shadow...A sacrifice anticipated makes us reason, and reasoning diminishes its merit; but those that we accept generously without premeditation or deliberation are of more value. God wants to surprise us...Hold thyself in readiness!... Let us never lose the opportunity to sacrifice; all that is necessary is to be generous...Let us offer all her actions, all her merits, all her virtues to our Lord. We have only to have recourse to Mary and to say to Jesus: "I offer Thee the riches that my good Mother has acquired for me" -and our Lord will be very much pleased with us."   St. Peter Julian Eymard Library Vol. 7 pg. 8
 
MEDITATION
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To be in Mary's shadow, we must emulate her ways. To be ready to sacrifice, we must do what she does. Mary's ways are God's ways. Throughout Her whole life, she was ready to sacrifice. "My ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9).
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As Children of Mary we enter into the consecration days, let us remember that just as the Holy Spirit overshadowed our Blessed Mother, we must empty ourselves to let the Holy Spirit overshadow us. In this relationship with the Holy Spirit of God's Love, we prepare for prayer. The Consecration is a prayer, given by our Father, to be born of our Mother- to grab hold of Her hand and walk through our lives. There are many ways of prayer. Let the Holy Spirit guide you through this method of preparation to consecrate your life to Jesus Christ- ultimately finding our Lord truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. We do this with a conscious effort not only to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread, but also to enter into His Divine Love. This is the life Mary lived; it permeated throughout her life. She was ready for any sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice being, standing in the shadow of the Cross of her Son. Mary would never have had this readiness of spirit if she was not beheld in The Promise of the Father.

Please recite the Veni Creator:
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (make the sign of the Cross.)
We offer this prayer to you O Lord with the specific intention to empty thyself. 

Veni Creator

COME, O Creator Spirit blest, 
And in our souls take up Thy rest,
Come with Thy grace and Heavenly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

Great Paraclete! To Thee we cry, 
O highest gift of God most high!
O fount of life! O fire of love!
And sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts art known, 
The finger of God's hand we own;
The promise of the Father, Thou!
Who dost the tongue with power endow.

Kindle our senses from above, 
And make our hearts over flow with love;
With patience firm and virtues high,
The weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread, 
And grant us Thy true peace instead;
So shall we not, with Thee for guide,
Turn from the path of life aside.

And, may Thy grace on us bestow 
The Father and the Son to know,
And Thee through endless times confessed
Of both the Eternal Spirit blest.

All glory while the ages run
Be to the Father and the Son
Who rose from death; the same to Thee, 
O Holy Spirit, eternally. Amen.
 

Preparation Week Day 6