Ave Maria!
On Saturday, September 8th, 2012, on the birthday of Our Blessed Mother, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel in Griswold, CT, two novices: Friar John Paul Marie and Friar Alphonsus Mary, make their first profession of vows. Giving their lives with the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they profess a fourth public vow: the Marian vow of unlimited consecration to the Immaculate – a first in the history of the Church – a gift for God and for the Church – a gift from Mary, a gift for Mary.
“You have called me Lord, here I am.”
“In your desire to follow Christ perfectly, are you resolved to love the Immaculate unlimitedly, to live in chastity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, to embrace voluntary poverty, and to offer the sacrifice of obedience?”
“I am.“
“In the presence of my brothers, I, Friar John Paul Marie of Our Lady of Grace, desiring to give praise to God, with the firm will to observe more perfectly the Gospel of Christ, and perceiving that the Lord has given me this grace, vow in your hands, Father Ignatius Mary of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, for one year, to observe the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi confirmed by Pope Honorius, the Traccia, A Marian Plan of Franciscan Life, and the Constitutions of the Institute of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, living in total consecration to the Immaculate, in obedience, without anything of my own, and in chastity…
Therefore, I entrust myself with all my heart to this fraternity, to put into effect my total consecration to the service of God and neighbor, through the enabling action of the Holy Spirit, the intercession of the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, our Father St. Francis, St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, and all the saints, and with your fraternal help.”
“And I, in the name of the Church and our brotherhood, receive your vows, and on the part of almighty God, if you observe them, I promise you life everlasting.”
(Signing the formula of profession at the altar.)
“Lord God, † bless these capuches as a sign of the protection of the Immaculate. May it enable these your servants to serve you in ardent love, holy purity, and modesty, in imitation of Her who is pure and ever Virgin, through Christ Our Lord.”
“May the Lord place on your head the capuche of salvation to fight and conquer the snares of the devil, with the maternal protection of the Immaculate which you bear in your heart and over your heart.”
“Receive, brother, the Rule of our Order, the book of Life, the marrow of the Gospel, the way of perfection, that by observing it you may attain to perfect charity.”
“Amen.”
(Friar Camillo Mary of the Passion makes his first renewal of vows.)
Friar John Paul Marie of Our Lady of Grace and Friar Alphonsus Mary of Our Lady of Sorrows
Congratulations to our newly professed and renewed brothers! Through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, we pray that you daily “fulfill your vows to the LORD before all His people” (Ps.116:14) until your very last breath! Ave Maria!
“O Friars and Sons forever blest,
hear the voice of your father:
Great things we have promised,
greater have been promised us;
let us observe the former,
let us aspire to the latter;
pleasure is short,
punishment, everlasting;
suffering is slight, glory, infinite;
many are called, few are chosen;
retribution to all.
Brethren, while we have time,
let us do good.”
-Holy Father St. Francis
Wasn’t St Louis de Montfort one of the first to make the act of total consecration to the Immaculate?
“I. N., a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity. Amen.
St Louis de Montfort, pray for us.
Ave Maria!
Marie,
As far as I know, there have been forms of consecrations to Our Lady for centuries, and vows which were considered private, but the Franciscans of the Immaculate are the first in the history of the Church to officially profess public vows of consecration to Our Mother and Queen.
In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
fra John Paul Marie
The Company of Mary ~ founded by St Louis de Montfort
Mission and charismThe mission of the Company of Mary is expressed in the Congregation’s Constitutions as follows:
“Our Mission in the Church consists in revealing the mystery of salvation to those who do not yet know it, and in helping those who have already heard the Good News to rediscover and deepen this mystery by a renewed consciousness of the meaning of their baptismal commitment.” “The Marian character of the Company is an essential possession of our Congregation. Mary is not present in the life of the missionaries in some accidental fashion: devotion toward her is an integral part of their spiritual life and apostolate. The ‘total consecration’ to Jesus through Mary is the most outstanding mark of the Marian character of our inspiration.”[5]
Vows as members of a religious congregation Montfortians embrace the evangelical counsels, taking the three traditional religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Poverty means that all possessions are held in common and that no member may accumulate wealth. Chastity means more than abstaining from sexual activity and its purpose is to make the religious totally available for service; it is also a sign that only God can completely fill the human heart. For a member of a religious congregation, obedience is not slavishly doing what one is told by the superior but being attentive to God’s will by prayerfully listening to the voice of the person in charge. Ultimately, these vows are lived out within a community and bolstered by a relationship with God.
My mistake. I failed to see the word ‘public’.
~for love of the Two Hearts!
Ave Maria!
Where’s your Miraculous Medals? Last photo.
Praise to the LORD!!! Laus Deo!
Thanks for sharing theses pictures!
The texts mentioned by Marie are in the TREATISE ON TRUE DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/montfort/truedevo.htm
http://www.montfort.org/content/uploads/pdf/PDF_EN_26_1.pdf
I have already read this treatise in portuguese:
TRATADO DA VERDADEIRA DEVOÇÃO À SANTÍSSIMA VIRGEM.
http://santissima-virgem.blogspot.com.br/2009/04/capitulo-i.html