Living The Month of Our Lady As Reparation for Our Sin
Matthew J Bellisario O.P. 2020
I am writing this to inspire us to take the month of May as a time to grow closer to Our Lady and Our Lord by putting into action what she has asked of us. Please forward this to those who you think this may benefit!
The month of Mary is the month of a profound reform of heart: we must leave ourselves and adorn ourselves with every virtue and every spiritual good. In the springtime plants are reborn to a new life; they are adorned with flowers full of perfume and attractive.
Matthew J Bellisario O.P. 2020
I am writing this to inspire us to take the month of May as a time to grow closer to Our Lady and Our Lord by putting into action what she has asked of us. Please forward this to those who you think this may benefit!
The month of Mary is the month of a profound reform of heart: we must leave ourselves and adorn ourselves with every virtue and every spiritual good. In the springtime plants are reborn to a new life; they are adorned with flowers full of perfume and attractive.
My soul also needs to reflower in order to be full of virtue and peace! In your Heart, O Mary, I will reflower as a lily because you are purity. In your love my coldness will be transformed into warmth because you are full of the flames of divine charity. In your hands I will find refuge because you are the Mother of mercy!
O Mary, O Mary, cast the glance of your goodness upon me! Even I am a little flower of heaven’s field ... Cultivate me and speak to me, O Mary, because by your word I will draw life and love. (From 'The Month of Mary' Father Dolindo Ruotolo 1912)
This is the month of May which has been dedicated by the Church to be the month of Mary. There are no words to truly describe how wonderful, holy, beautiful, and graceful Our Lady is. She has many titles and roles in the Church such as Mediatrix of all Graces, Advocate, Co-Redemptrix, Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Church, Seat of Wisdom, Ark of the New Covenant, Star of the Sea as well as some important titles given from our Eastern Tradition such as Panagia (The All-Holy One) and Hodigetria (She Who Shows the Way), among many others. In addition, she is known by the many places she has revealed herself over the ages in apparitions and locutions. These titles are almost endless but among the more popular are, Our Lady of Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, La Salette, Czestochowa, Akita, Knock, Loreto, Pompei, Good Success, Walsingham, and many others.
She has given us much wisdom through the messages of these many appearances over the course of church history. There are several truths she has stressed to us through her messages in more recent times of which I will reduce to seven. They are given along with some of the approved apparitions which stress the particular message:
1. To persevere in daily prayer. (Fatima, Good Success)
2. To pray the Rosary every single day. (Fatima, Lourdes, Akita, Good Success)
3. To do some form of regular penance, sacrifice, especially fasting. (Fatima, Akita)
4. To stop sinning or offending God. (Fatima, Good Success, Kibeho, America, La Salette)
5. To let us know that hell does exist. (Fatima, Good Success)
6. To seek her Son Jesus, (The Trinity) with great effort and devotion. (Good Success, Fatima, Akita)
7. To ask for her help in all of these matters. (All apparitions- special attention to Guadalupe)
Note: These are generalizations, an entire book could be given to these messages and apparitions. There is often more to them than what is seen at first glance.
There are many other things Our Lady has revealed to us in the various approved apparitions, but these, in particular, pertain to us in how we actually live our daily spiritual lives. Many people instead focus on some of the prophetic statements she has made which indicate possible upcoming chastisements, which although are important, should not lead us to curiosity causing us to become apparition chasers looking for the latest prophecy or warning from Our Lady. Why do we worry about things which are largely unknown to us when all of our impending deaths will soon be upon us regardless of when these possible prophetic chastisements will take place?
“I speak to you, but you do not hear Me. I want to lift you, but you remain down. I call you, but you turn a deaf ear. When will you do what I ask of you? You remain indifferent to all My appeals. When will you understand? When will you take interest in what I want to say to you? I give you signs, but you remain incredulous. How long will you turn a dead ear to My appeals?” (Our Lady of Kibeho August 5, 1982 warning before the Rwandan Genocide)
Why are these warnings then given to us by Our Lady? They are given to us because they are extremely important for our own sanctification as well as that of others! If these prophetic statements are examined closely they are not meant to be a sensational subject of curiosity, they are always given in the context of the culture to which Our Lady appears, which always seems to be a sinful culture. In case you are wondering, we ourselves are included in the warning! Look at Rwanda. Three of the visionaries died during the genocide. I am not saying that their sin was the cause, but the point is, they were not spared. When I read many of these apparition authors they always seem to see everyone else as the cause of these possible punishments but they never see themselves as part of it. They see everyone but themselves as deserving of them. However, this is precisely why Our Lady warns us and moreover tells us to recognize and do the things in the list I gave above, so as to not only to avoid a chastisement but our own eternal damnation! It is also that we may make reparation for sin. On that light note, referring to our simple list above, let us consider how we may spiritually enrich ourselves during the month of Mary.
Daily Prayer
"What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal..." (Second Apparition Fatima)
If we do not already have a regular daily prayer regiment this would be a good time to start. Even if its just 15 minutes in the morning and evening you have to start somewhere. For those who already have a prayer regiment, you like others should consider praying an extra Rosary instead of doing some other form of recreation. Try praying an Ave Maria at various times during the day along with the Angelus Prayer at 6:00AM, Noon, and 6:00PM. Pray for the dead and dying. You may also want to start praying some of the Divine Office in the morning or evening or pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If you are looking for a nice hardcopy of the Little Office, I enjoy the one found at this website printed by Caritas Publishing.
Spiritual Reading
Instead of watching videos or surfing the Internet, try using the gift of your intellect and spend your recreational time reading a good book on Our Lady such as:
The Glories of Mary, Alphonsus Ligouri
The Admirable Life of Mother Mariana Vol 1 and 2, Marian Horvat
Mariology Vol I-III, Rev. Junipor Carroll (Mediatrix Press)
True Devotion to Mary: with Preparation for Total Consecration, Louis de Montfort
The Marian Vow, Fr. Stefano M. Manelli (Academy of the Immaculate 2010)
Marian Apparitions, Donal Anthony Foley (Gracewing Publishing 2002)
The Spiritual Life- In the School of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (Ubi Caritas Press 2020)
Mother of the Saviour: And Our Interior Life, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (TAN Books)
The Rosary
"I am the Lady of the Rosary, I desire here a chapel in my honor to be built, that people continue to recite the Rosary every day." (Sixth Apparition Fatima)
I personally do not think the Rosary is a devotional option among many for Catholics. If it was important enough for Our Lady to give personally to Saint Dominic and then stress over and over again at various apparitions that it must be prayed every day, then we are extremely dense not to comply. This is one of the prayers that no matter what happens I always pray. If the Rosary is not a part of your daily prayer routine I highly recommend that you make it so, and the month of May is a great time to begin. The Rosary is a life-changer, it's like dropping a hammer on the devil every time you pray it. Be persistent! "Those found in the circle of my Rosary will never be lost.” (Our Lady of America)
Penance, Sacrifice, and Fasting
"Pray, pray a lot, and offer sacrifices for the sinners. You know that many souls go the hell because there is none who pray for them." (Fourth Apparition Fatima)
Acts of mortification can be done on many levels from the most extreme to small acts which although may seem insignificant can have a great impact on the spiritual life. These acts of penance and sacrifice are not only done for our own benefit but also for others as we can see in reference to Our Lady's words at Fatima. During the month of May you might consider the following:
1. Do not eat or drink unnecessarily during the day. Forgo your favorite foods, drinks and desserts.
2. Fast on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays during the month.
3. Deprive yourself of some pleasure or hobby that you enjoy such as music, television, or Internet browsing or shopping. Substitute prayer, spiritual reading, or some other pious devotion.
4. Avoid speaking poorly of others. Instead, look for ways to offer encouragement or praise.
5. Try each day, to spread the Gospel by example or words to those who through the virtue of prudence you are inspired to approach.
6. Do some sort of specific penance for the conversion of sinners. “Penance, penance, penance, pray for sinners”. (Our Lady at Lourdes)
Avoid Hell, Stop Sinning!
During the month of May approach Our Lady each day to overcome a specific fault or sin that you struggle with. It is good to ask Our Lady of Sorrows to help you find the root of your spiritual problem. You might start with a novena to Our Lady of Sorrows and then proceed each day to ask Our Lady to help you in your endeavors.
To Jesus Through Mary: Consecrate Yourself to Our Lady
“Let us give ourselves to the Immaculata [Mary]. Let her prepare us, let her receive Him [Jesus] in Holy Communion. This is the manner most perfect and pleasing to the Lord Jesus and brings great fruit to us." Because "the Immaculata knows the secret, how to unite ourselves totally with the heart of the Lord Jesus... We do not limit ourselves in love. We want to love the Lord Jesus with her heart, or rather that she would love the Lord with our heart.” (Saint Maximilian Kolbe)
Everything we do in life is ordered towards our final end which is union with God. We must make every effort inspired by God's grace to obtain this end. For those who want the "easiest, shortest, most perfect, and secure path" should make it a specific goal to consecrate themselves to Our Lady during the month of May or at least begin your preparation during the month. I believe that among the most special events of the Christian life, nothing other than the receiving of the Church’s Sacraments are more important than the day we consecrate ourselves to our Blessed Mother. We place ourselves under her protection and we dedicate all the actions in our life to direct as she sees fit. We can entrust this to her because she always knows and does the will of God, and she wants to help us do the same.
There are a few options in making this consecration. One is making it through the formula of Saint Louis De Montfort, a lay Dominican. This is the most popular method. The other is through the formula of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, which is becoming more popular in our time. It makes no difference which one chooses, the outcome is the same. I recommend purchasing two books on the subject, ‘True Devotion to Mary: with Preparation for Total Consecration’ By TAN publishing, and ‘The Marian Vow’ published by The Academy of the Immaculate. These two books will give you all the knowledge you need in making your consecration. There are many who choose to do them both at the same time, or at various times in their lives. It is even helpful to renew your consecration every so often. I have personally done both formulas.
For those who have already done both of these consecrations, you may want to take a look at another 46-day consecration devotion derived from an ancient Catholic practice to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. Its called Mary's Mantle Consecration. This particular consecration offers an examination and practice of the virtues for each of the 46 days in addition to daily Rosary prayer, reflection, and fasting. This finally ends with another form of a consecration prayer that John Paul II prayed. This consecration devotion is endorsed by Archbishop Cordileone. I am personally going to go through this consecration beginning this May 13th. Please note that I do not necessarily endorse everything that the related websites or links endorse. You can find more on this consecration on this website. I do however recommend that before you embark on this one that you first go through one or both of the first two traditional consecrations I mentioned. (De Montfort, Kolbe)
(Click Here and Here for my two-part series on Marian Consecration)
Saint Louis De Montfort sums up the importance of consecrating ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“All our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that which the most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, that which most consecrates and conforms the soul to our Lord is devotion to His holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more is it consecrated to Jesus.”
Conclusion
This is but a small analysis of the practices we may put into action to make reparation for sin and grow closer in union with God through Our Lady in the month of May. She has done great things for me and without her, I would certainly be lost! In closing, I would like to link you to an Akathist prayer which is ascribed to St Ephraim the Syrian. I have a lovely prayer book, 'Mother of the Light: Prayers to the Theotokos' with several Akathist prayers in it. I like to pray them in the evenings since they are so rich and can be somewhat lengthy. When going through the prayer pay attention to the many roles Our Lady plays in the Church and in our spiritual lives. There are truly no words...
This is the month of May which has been dedicated by the Church to be the month of Mary. There are no words to truly describe how wonderful, holy, beautiful, and graceful Our Lady is. She has many titles and roles in the Church such as Mediatrix of all Graces, Advocate, Co-Redemptrix, Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Church, Seat of Wisdom, Ark of the New Covenant, Star of the Sea as well as some important titles given from our Eastern Tradition such as Panagia (The All-Holy One) and Hodigetria (She Who Shows the Way), among many others. In addition, she is known by the many places she has revealed herself over the ages in apparitions and locutions. These titles are almost endless but among the more popular are, Our Lady of Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, La Salette, Czestochowa, Akita, Knock, Loreto, Pompei, Good Success, Walsingham, and many others.
She has given us much wisdom through the messages of these many appearances over the course of church history. There are several truths she has stressed to us through her messages in more recent times of which I will reduce to seven. They are given along with some of the approved apparitions which stress the particular message:
1. To persevere in daily prayer. (Fatima, Good Success)
2. To pray the Rosary every single day. (Fatima, Lourdes, Akita, Good Success)
3. To do some form of regular penance, sacrifice, especially fasting. (Fatima, Akita)
4. To stop sinning or offending God. (Fatima, Good Success, Kibeho, America, La Salette)
5. To let us know that hell does exist. (Fatima, Good Success)
6. To seek her Son Jesus, (The Trinity) with great effort and devotion. (Good Success, Fatima, Akita)
7. To ask for her help in all of these matters. (All apparitions- special attention to Guadalupe)
Note: These are generalizations, an entire book could be given to these messages and apparitions. There is often more to them than what is seen at first glance.
There are many other things Our Lady has revealed to us in the various approved apparitions, but these, in particular, pertain to us in how we actually live our daily spiritual lives. Many people instead focus on some of the prophetic statements she has made which indicate possible upcoming chastisements, which although are important, should not lead us to curiosity causing us to become apparition chasers looking for the latest prophecy or warning from Our Lady. Why do we worry about things which are largely unknown to us when all of our impending deaths will soon be upon us regardless of when these possible prophetic chastisements will take place?
“I speak to you, but you do not hear Me. I want to lift you, but you remain down. I call you, but you turn a deaf ear. When will you do what I ask of you? You remain indifferent to all My appeals. When will you understand? When will you take interest in what I want to say to you? I give you signs, but you remain incredulous. How long will you turn a dead ear to My appeals?” (Our Lady of Kibeho August 5, 1982 warning before the Rwandan Genocide)
Why are these warnings then given to us by Our Lady? They are given to us because they are extremely important for our own sanctification as well as that of others! If these prophetic statements are examined closely they are not meant to be a sensational subject of curiosity, they are always given in the context of the culture to which Our Lady appears, which always seems to be a sinful culture. In case you are wondering, we ourselves are included in the warning! Look at Rwanda. Three of the visionaries died during the genocide. I am not saying that their sin was the cause, but the point is, they were not spared. When I read many of these apparition authors they always seem to see everyone else as the cause of these possible punishments but they never see themselves as part of it. They see everyone but themselves as deserving of them. However, this is precisely why Our Lady warns us and moreover tells us to recognize and do the things in the list I gave above, so as to not only to avoid a chastisement but our own eternal damnation! It is also that we may make reparation for sin. On that light note, referring to our simple list above, let us consider how we may spiritually enrich ourselves during the month of Mary.
Daily Prayer
"What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal..." (Second Apparition Fatima)
If we do not already have a regular daily prayer regiment this would be a good time to start. Even if its just 15 minutes in the morning and evening you have to start somewhere. For those who already have a prayer regiment, you like others should consider praying an extra Rosary instead of doing some other form of recreation. Try praying an Ave Maria at various times during the day along with the Angelus Prayer at 6:00AM, Noon, and 6:00PM. Pray for the dead and dying. You may also want to start praying some of the Divine Office in the morning or evening or pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If you are looking for a nice hardcopy of the Little Office, I enjoy the one found at this website printed by Caritas Publishing.
Spiritual Reading
Instead of watching videos or surfing the Internet, try using the gift of your intellect and spend your recreational time reading a good book on Our Lady such as:
The Glories of Mary, Alphonsus Ligouri
The Admirable Life of Mother Mariana Vol 1 and 2, Marian Horvat
Mariology Vol I-III, Rev. Junipor Carroll (Mediatrix Press)
True Devotion to Mary: with Preparation for Total Consecration, Louis de Montfort
The Marian Vow, Fr. Stefano M. Manelli (Academy of the Immaculate 2010)
Marian Apparitions, Donal Anthony Foley (Gracewing Publishing 2002)
The Spiritual Life- In the School of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (Ubi Caritas Press 2020)
Mother of the Saviour: And Our Interior Life, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (TAN Books)
The Rosary
"I am the Lady of the Rosary, I desire here a chapel in my honor to be built, that people continue to recite the Rosary every day." (Sixth Apparition Fatima)
I personally do not think the Rosary is a devotional option among many for Catholics. If it was important enough for Our Lady to give personally to Saint Dominic and then stress over and over again at various apparitions that it must be prayed every day, then we are extremely dense not to comply. This is one of the prayers that no matter what happens I always pray. If the Rosary is not a part of your daily prayer routine I highly recommend that you make it so, and the month of May is a great time to begin. The Rosary is a life-changer, it's like dropping a hammer on the devil every time you pray it. Be persistent! "Those found in the circle of my Rosary will never be lost.” (Our Lady of America)
Penance, Sacrifice, and Fasting
"Pray, pray a lot, and offer sacrifices for the sinners. You know that many souls go the hell because there is none who pray for them." (Fourth Apparition Fatima)
Acts of mortification can be done on many levels from the most extreme to small acts which although may seem insignificant can have a great impact on the spiritual life. These acts of penance and sacrifice are not only done for our own benefit but also for others as we can see in reference to Our Lady's words at Fatima. During the month of May you might consider the following:
1. Do not eat or drink unnecessarily during the day. Forgo your favorite foods, drinks and desserts.
2. Fast on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays during the month.
3. Deprive yourself of some pleasure or hobby that you enjoy such as music, television, or Internet browsing or shopping. Substitute prayer, spiritual reading, or some other pious devotion.
4. Avoid speaking poorly of others. Instead, look for ways to offer encouragement or praise.
5. Try each day, to spread the Gospel by example or words to those who through the virtue of prudence you are inspired to approach.
6. Do some sort of specific penance for the conversion of sinners. “Penance, penance, penance, pray for sinners”. (Our Lady at Lourdes)
Avoid Hell, Stop Sinning!
During the month of May approach Our Lady each day to overcome a specific fault or sin that you struggle with. It is good to ask Our Lady of Sorrows to help you find the root of your spiritual problem. You might start with a novena to Our Lady of Sorrows and then proceed each day to ask Our Lady to help you in your endeavors.
To Jesus Through Mary: Consecrate Yourself to Our Lady
“Let us give ourselves to the Immaculata [Mary]. Let her prepare us, let her receive Him [Jesus] in Holy Communion. This is the manner most perfect and pleasing to the Lord Jesus and brings great fruit to us." Because "the Immaculata knows the secret, how to unite ourselves totally with the heart of the Lord Jesus... We do not limit ourselves in love. We want to love the Lord Jesus with her heart, or rather that she would love the Lord with our heart.” (Saint Maximilian Kolbe)
Everything we do in life is ordered towards our final end which is union with God. We must make every effort inspired by God's grace to obtain this end. For those who want the "easiest, shortest, most perfect, and secure path" should make it a specific goal to consecrate themselves to Our Lady during the month of May or at least begin your preparation during the month. I believe that among the most special events of the Christian life, nothing other than the receiving of the Church’s Sacraments are more important than the day we consecrate ourselves to our Blessed Mother. We place ourselves under her protection and we dedicate all the actions in our life to direct as she sees fit. We can entrust this to her because she always knows and does the will of God, and she wants to help us do the same.
There are a few options in making this consecration. One is making it through the formula of Saint Louis De Montfort, a lay Dominican. This is the most popular method. The other is through the formula of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, which is becoming more popular in our time. It makes no difference which one chooses, the outcome is the same. I recommend purchasing two books on the subject, ‘True Devotion to Mary: with Preparation for Total Consecration’ By TAN publishing, and ‘The Marian Vow’ published by The Academy of the Immaculate. These two books will give you all the knowledge you need in making your consecration. There are many who choose to do them both at the same time, or at various times in their lives. It is even helpful to renew your consecration every so often. I have personally done both formulas.
For those who have already done both of these consecrations, you may want to take a look at another 46-day consecration devotion derived from an ancient Catholic practice to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. Its called Mary's Mantle Consecration. This particular consecration offers an examination and practice of the virtues for each of the 46 days in addition to daily Rosary prayer, reflection, and fasting. This finally ends with another form of a consecration prayer that John Paul II prayed. This consecration devotion is endorsed by Archbishop Cordileone. I am personally going to go through this consecration beginning this May 13th. Please note that I do not necessarily endorse everything that the related websites or links endorse. You can find more on this consecration on this website. I do however recommend that before you embark on this one that you first go through one or both of the first two traditional consecrations I mentioned. (De Montfort, Kolbe)
(Click Here and Here for my two-part series on Marian Consecration)
Saint Louis De Montfort sums up the importance of consecrating ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“All our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that which the most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, that which most consecrates and conforms the soul to our Lord is devotion to His holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more is it consecrated to Jesus.”
Conclusion
This is but a small analysis of the practices we may put into action to make reparation for sin and grow closer in union with God through Our Lady in the month of May. She has done great things for me and without her, I would certainly be lost! In closing, I would like to link you to an Akathist prayer which is ascribed to St Ephraim the Syrian. I have a lovely prayer book, 'Mother of the Light: Prayers to the Theotokos' with several Akathist prayers in it. I like to pray them in the evenings since they are so rich and can be somewhat lengthy. When going through the prayer pay attention to the many roles Our Lady plays in the Church and in our spiritual lives. There are truly no words...
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