Day 4 or 5 of the 33 Day Consecration to Mary - Peace the World Cannot Give

Today is day 4 of 5 of the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, ending Christmas of Christmas Day, depending on the day you started. I started on Thanksgiving, but I think more people saw the post on Friday, starting them a day later. If you started after that, there’s no need to be scrupulous; just jump in! We are ending at Christmas, when the Prince of Peace was born into humanity. The angels sang at His birth, “Peace on earth to people of good will.” Jesus says many times, “Peace be with you.” But I was thinking today about how so many of us are filled with anxiety. Thoughts race and nothing seems to get done. The path is unclear. Worries mount, and we seek relief in so many wrong places. This morning, I was praying the first mystery of the rosary in amazement of how Mary said yes to the angel with no significant worry about her being found pregnant at a time when unwed mothers were stoned, or how she could care for “the Son of the Most High,” or how she could handle the scriptural prophecy that the Messiah would suffer. She didn’t worry. The saving peace of Christ had already been applied to her at her conception for the sake of her role as mother. She trusted. I pray for our worries and anxieties. From under Mary’s mantle, may we learn how to trust and leave the details to Jesus, the Peace the world cannot give. Today we consecrate ourselves, our families, our nation and our Church. A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of Your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to You, all the people of our country and all the world. Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as You wish to accomplish Your designs in the world. O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully. We come with confidence to You, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes Your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumph in every heart and home. Amen. --Venerable Pope Pius XII