Living With the Holy Spirit

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Today we reflect on three things the Church and the Saints teach us so that the Holy Spirit and Mary may open our soul to receive the life of Jesus and be more perfectly conformed to Him

one

Consecrate yourself to Mary

a.  Only Jesus has the power to save and to transform us.

b.  It is the mission of the Holy Spirit and Mary to reveal Jesus to us and dispose us to welcome him in faith.

c.   The Holy Spirit carries out this mission through Mary.

d.  St. Louis de Montfort writes that Mary is the Mold of God who enables the soul to receive the Son of the Father in us.

e.  Mary is the Tree of Life

                                         i.    The Holy Spirit plants Mary, the true and eternal Tree of Life, in a soul that she may bear her fruit which is always Jesus.

f.    Invite Mary to into the home of your soul – so that She may form Jesus in you and form you in the likeness of Jesus.

two

Second, live the consecration – this is the Secret of Mary as explained by St. Louis de Montfort

a.  The Secret of Mary is to

                                         i.    Live in complete dependence, an interior dependence on Mary, which is in complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit

                                       ii.    Perform all our actions with Mary

                                      iii.    Make the habit of turning to Mary and seeking her guidance and help

                                     iv.    Become permanently aware of the Presence of Mary through the habit of recollection

1.  A good resolution would be that every time you see an image of Mary, let it remind you she is present, and then talk with her. You will be amazed how she leads you.

three

Montfort prays to the Holy Spirit to receive Jesus from Mary:

Holy Spirit…Implant in my soul the tree of life which is Mary. Foster it and cultivate it so that it grows and blossoms and brings forth the fruit of life in abundance. Holy Spirit, give me a great love and a longing for Mary…Give me a great trust in her maternal heart and a continuous access to her compassion, so that with her you may truly form Jesus, great and powerful in me until I attain the fullness of his perfect age. Amen.[1]

four

St. Louis de Montfort perceived a profound union between the Holy Spirit and Mary.

Though two separate persons, the Holy Spirit a divine person and Mary a human person, their union is so close that they act as one. In True Devotion (258) he writes:

“We must do everything through Mary, that is, we must obey her always and be led in all things by her spirit, which is the Holy Spirit of God…I have said that the spirit of Mary is the Spirit of God because she was never led by her own spirit, but always by the Spirit of God, who made himself master of her to such an extent that he became her very spirit. That is why St. Ambrose says, ‘May the soul of Mary be in each one of us to glorify the Lord. Mary the spirit of Mary be in each one of us to rejoice in God.’”[2]

five

The third thing the Church and the saints teach us to do is Meditate on the Word of God each day at the School of Mary in the Rosary

St. John Paul II wrote: The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us (cf. Gal 4:19). Rosarium 15

When we pray the Rosary, the Holy Spirit brings us to the Home of the Holy Family in Nazareth, where Mary is caring for, teaching and forming Jesus, so that she can do the same for us.

That is why the Rosary is the School of Mary

[1] St. Louis de Montfort, Secret of Mary, 67.

[2] St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, 258.