SPECIAL FUNCTION OF THE HOLY SLAVERY IN THE LATTER TIMES
Through Mary, Jesus Will Reign
58. As it is through Mary that God came into the world the
first time, in a state of humiliation and annihilation, may we not say that it
is through Mary also that He will come the second time, as the whole Church
expects Him to come, to rule everywhere and to judge the living and the dead?
Who knows how and when that will be accomplished? I do know that God, Whose
thoughts are as far removed from ours as Heaven is distant from the earth [Is
55:8-9], will come in a time and a manner that men expect the least, even those
who are most learned and most versed in Holy Scripture, which is very obscure
on this subject.
59. We ought also to believe that toward the End of Time, and
perhaps sooner than we think, God will raise up great men full of the Holy
Spirit and imbued with the spirit of Mary, through whom this powerful Sovereign
will work great wonders in the world, so as to destroy sin and to establish the
Kingdom of Jesus Christ, her Son, upon the ruins of the kingdom of this corrupt
world; and these holy men will succeed by means of this devotion, of which I do
but give here the outline and which my deficiency only impairs.
Exterior Practices of the Holy Slavery of Love
60. Besides the interior practice of this devotion, of which
we have just spoken, there are also certain exterior practices, which we must
neither omit nor neglect.
Consecration and Renewal
61. The first one is to choose a special feast-day on which to
consecrate ourselves to Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose slaves we
make ourselves. On the same day we should receive Holy Communion for that
intention, and spend the day in prayer. At least once a year, on the same day,
we should renew our act of consecration.
A Token of Our Servitude
62. The second one is to pay to Our Lady, every year on that
same day, some little tribute, as a token of our servitude and dependence; such
has always been the homage paid by slaves to their masters. That tribute may
consist of an act of mortification, an alms, a pilgrimage or some prayers. BI.
Marino, we are told by his brother, St. Peter Damian, was wont to take the
discipline in public every year on the same day before the altar of Our Lady.
Such zeal is not required, nor do we counsel it; but if we give but little to
Mary, let us at least offer it with a humble and grateful heart.
Celebration of the Annunciation
63. The third practice is to celebrate every year, with special
devotion, the feast of the Annunciation, which is the patronal feast of this
devotion and was established to honor and imitate the dependence in which the
Eternal Word placed Himself on that day out of love for us.
Recitation of the Little Crown and the Magnificat.
64. The fourth external practice is to say every day [not,
however, under pain of sin, in case of omission] the Little Crown of the
Blessed Virgin, which is composed of
three Our Fathers and twelve Hail Marys; also, often to recite the Magnificat, which is the only hymn of Mary that we possess,
to thank God for His graces in the past and to beg of Him fresh blessings for
the present. Above all, we ought not to fail to say this hymn in thanksgiving
after Holy Communion. The learned Gerson tells us that Our Lady herself was
accustomed to recite it after Communion.
The wearing of a little chain
65. The fifth is the wearing of a small blessed chain either
around the neck, on the arm, on the foot, or about the body. Strictly speaking,
this practice can be omitted without affecting the essential nature of the
devotion , but just the same it would be wrong to despise or condemn it, and
foolhardy to neglect it. Here are the reasons for wearing this external sign:
(1) It signifies that we are free from the baneful chains of original and actual sin which held us in bondage.
(2) By it we show our esteem for the cords and bonds of love with which our Lord let himself be bound that we might be truly free.
(3) As these bonds are bonds of love, they remind us that we should do nothing except under the influence of love.
(4) Finally, wearing this chain recalls to us once more that we are dependent on Jesus and Mary as their slaves. Eminent people who had become slaves of Jesus and Mary valued these little chains so much that they were unhappy at not being allowed to trail them publicly like the slaves of the Muslims. These chains of love are more valuable and more glorious than the necklaces of gold and precious stones worn by emperors, because they are the illustrious insignia of Jesus and Mary, and signify the bonds uniting us to them. It should be noted that if the chains are not of silver, they should for convenience' sake at least be made of iron. They should never be laid aside at any time, so that they may be with us even to the day of judgment. Great will be the joy , glory and triumph of the faithful slave on that day when, at the sound of the trumpet, his bones rise from the earth still bound by the chain of holy bondage, which to all appearance has not decayed. This thought alone should convince a devout slave never to take off his chain, however inconvenient it may be.
