Day 19 or 20 of the 33-day consecration to Mary - Virgin Most Prudent

Today is day 19 or 20 of the 33-day consecration to Mary, depending on whether you were ending on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I was praying the Litany of Loretto and took a pause at the title of Mary, Virgin Most Prudent. Prudence is to act with wisdom. Our Lady is also called the Seat of Wisdom and the Mother of Good Counsel. I was telling Mary today that I need her under all three titles! It’s so easy to fall into procrastination or to be so busy that nothing is really getting done. It’s important to be prudent with time. It’s remarkably easy to stick your foot in your mouth and say the wrong thing, or stuff your mouth in such a way that it’s closed when you should have spoken. We need prudence in speech. We also need prudence with our money, the things we consume and the ways we act. Sometimes we act in ignorance, and sometimes we know what we should have done, but we find with Saint Paul that we do the evil we didn’t want to do (Romans 7:19). The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41)! Mary, full of God’s grace, knows how to be prudent in speaking and action or with money, possessions and time. She knows what God wants done or not done. She knows what God wanted said or not said. The beginning of knowledge is fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). Mary is always pondering the Lord, which makes her wise. I pray for Mary to show us how to be prudent so we can act and speak according to the ways God wanted. And I pray for the Lord to go back and heal the times we and others have acted or spoken without prudence. We hear in today’s first reading that the Lord will repay double for sins (Isaiah 40:2). Yes, Lord, please repair in double what was broken! Virgin Most Prudent, pray for us to increase in virtue. 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