Like a Refiner's Fire

For some months now, I have been discerning whether or not to do St. Louis de Montfort's Consecration to Mary, and a few weeks ago, I decided I would start it for sure. My parents were visiting me at school with my best friend, and I remember being so upset over the strained state of our relationship that it was a tremendous joy for me to be able to start the Consecration during their visit. Little did I know that, so far, they would be the very least of my problems.

The next weekend, I had two friends in high school visit me, because they'll be coming to my school in the fall. That weekend turned out to be ten times more stressful than my parents' visit, and the aftermath (this past week) has been awful. On Tuesday, a friend of mine contacted me to talk about an issue she had with a boy, and by the end of the conversation, she was threatening suicide. That same night, I found out that another friend is seven weeks pregnant with the child of her abusive marine ex-boyfriend, with whom she has gotten back together after a mighty struggle to finally leave him.

The past sixteen days have been ridiculous for me, and I almost feel as if the days did not exist apart from the stresses they contained. As I was confessing this to one of my friends on Friday night, she told me about a popular Catholic singer who also did St. Louis de Montfort's Consecration, and also suffered tremendously during the thirty-three days during which she did it. She told me to check out her blog post about it, which I did, and I was comforted to find that my friend's words rang true. In her own words, the singer called the month hell. I thought of this over the weekend, and asked my school's chaplain how he found his experience with the Consecration, to which he attributes his becoming a priest. He told me that the first year it really hit him what he was doing (about the second year he did it), he also went through hell.

Something that struck me particularly was when the singer wrote "Since Satan hates Mary and this consecration, my January was HELL. I have never had a worse month in my life. It was spiritually purifying, trying, and painful. However, come February, I had never experienced so much joy, peace, and satisfaction in God alone. My spiritual life and ministry took off to new heights and depths." I realized that she was right about why the Consecration was so difficult, and how good the results could be. Mary is the only human Satan ever feared, and once under her control, those who are devoted wholly to their Consecration are not likely to fall to him because, "Consecration is like jumping in the womb of Mary, where Christ was formed, so we might be formed as “little Christs,” too. Mary’s womb is the only place where Satan cannot penetrate, because Mary’s womb is the Tabernacle where the Bread of Life dwelt–it is the “Holy of Holies.” "

Then, as I was thinking of a title for this post, I thought of the Aria: "But Who May Abide The Day Of His Coming" from Handel's "Messiah", which says that God is "like a refiner's fire". Not only is God like that, but so is this Consecration. It's a test of faith and devotion. This is not an ordinary Act of Consecration, and so it requires the people doing it to display extraordinary faith and steadfastness. I know this singer has been an inspiration to some of my friends, and our chaplain is as strong and true a man in his faith as I have ever seen. I can only hope that God will also give me the grace to follow in the footsteps of these two extraordinary people. Maria, Mater Dei, Regina Coeli, ora pro nobis!