Ave Maria Meditations
O beloved Mother of God, most amiable child Mary! Just as you presented yourself in the Temple and with promptitude and without reserve consecrated yourself to the glory and love of God. I wish I could offer you this day the first years of my life, to devote myself without reserve to your service, most holy and most sweet Mary! But it is too late for this because I have lost so many years serving the world and my personal whims , I seem to have forgotten God and you altogether: “Woe to that time in which I did not love You!”
But it is better to begin late than never. And so, Mary, I offer myself to you today, I devote myself to you entirely during the long or short time that still remains to me on earth. In union with you, I renounce all created things and dedicate myself entirely to the love of my Creator.
I consecrate my mind to you, O Queen, and vow always to think of the love you deserve. I consecrate my tongue to praise you, and my heart to love you. O most Holy Virgin, accept the offering which I, a miserable sinner, now present to you. Accept it, I beg you, by the consolation that your heart felt when you gave yourself to God in the Temple. Since I am a latecomer
to your service, it is only reasonable that I should redouble my acts of homage and love in order to make up for lost time.
Help my weakness, O Mother of Mercy, with your powerful intercession. Obtain for me from Jesus the strength and perseverance to remain faithful to you until death, so that, having served you in life, I may praise you in Paradise for all eternity.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
