Publisher's Synopsis
This is a Marian consecration that people don't want to see end. Healing miracles, reunited families, and Catholic conversions are resulting from this self-guided retreat. Mary's Mantle Consecration, endorsed by Archbishop Cordileone and Bishop Cotta, offers an outpouring of grace upon your life and loved ones. St. Pope John Paul II said that his consecration to Mary was "a decisive turning point in my life." It can be the same for you. Mary's Mantle Consecration comes to us in tumultuous times. Today it is important that we consecrate ourselves to the Mother of God-entrusting our lives to her protection, guidance, and care, and inviting her to conform us to the likeness of her Son. There is so much need and brokenness in the world, in the Church, in our families, and in our hearts. By preparing for consecration through the power of the Rosary, a little fasting, and a two-minute reading of a beautiful daily meditation on a virtue or gift of the Holy Spirit (people's favorite part), we can expect heaven's help. This retreat is perfect for individuals, couples, families, groups and parishes. To dive even deeper into God's graces, a companion workbook, Mary's Mantle Consecration Prayer Journal, also offers quotes from saints, passages of Scripture, and insightful questions for reflection. Are you willing to do your part and give God a chance? Sample meditation from the 14th Chapter-The Virtue of Meekness: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves" (Matthew 11:29). Meekness is a virtue that Jesus alone inculcated, and which no ancient philosopher seems to have understood or recommended. Even our modern usage of "meek" can be dominated by a sense of weakness, cowardice, or people-pleasing. In Jesus' mouth, it is not that. To be meek is to be a spiritual rock. In the evangelical sense, meekness is humility, resignation, submission to the Divine Will without murmuring or peevishness. It is mildness of temper, softness in dealing with others, and forbearance under difficulties, setbacks, and injuries. One who is meek is not easily provoked or irritated. By reason of being born into the world, we naturally create an illusion in our minds of who we are, a treasured lie for which we long, fight, and suffer. Depending upon our wounds and whether or not our self-image is praised or rejected, our moods travel from elation to depression and back again; this can be the source of great emotional instability and pain. The meek person has fought to tame the roaring lion of the human ego, the source of his childish reactions and unreasonable attitudes-the beast that seeks to glorify and defend itself at all costs. Our greatest human example of meekness is Our Lady. For her, the artifice of ego was never erected. It never claimed anything for itself, for it was dead. If Mary was praised, she gave all glory to God; if she was calumniated, it meant nothing; if she received food, she thanked God; if she went hungry, she blamed no one, least of all her Lord. What could offend a woman who felt like she had no rights? For her, all was gift and grace. Her ego was like fallen timber. If a log receives a devastating blow from an axe, it does not feel anything. It does not react. It is dead. Detached from the world. Attached to God. The meek person knows how much he is cherished by God; he knows how safe he is in the Lord's love, no matter what happens to the body. The meek one knows that his worth comes solely from God, not from any human opinion-not even his own. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).
