How can we live our consecration to Our Lady in the world?
To live our consecration to Our Lady is to give ourselves to Her completely.
Since we can somehow acquire Her virtues, to give oneself to the Mother of God is also to seek to imitate and serve Her.
Knowing and admiring, imitating and serving Our Lady are core elements of this complete consecration.
But then: How does life in the world today shape the way we live our consecration?
Life in the world must be built on principles of universal beauty and universal morality and sanctity. These principles are reflected not only in souls, but in all aspects of society.
Through a mysterious affinity in things, forms, sounds, colors and scents can express our state of mind.
So, we must build a society that reflects the virtuous state of mind. We must form ambiences where we may find the resources needed for sanctification.
We need images of God that speak to our senses. That draw us to virtue. We need to be encouraged to know and seek the uncreated beauty of God which we will see face to face only in heavenly glory.
Here is a mission for the laity in the world: to organize a society that forms souls and invites them to Heaven.
Naturally, that society must have a deep consonance with Revelation and the teachings of the Church, as well as with the dictates of true science.
It would be, therefore, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Reign of Mary, on earth.
So, we ask: what does service of Our Lady mean today?
It consists in saving souls by all licit means. How?
By taking and ordering everything with this mentality.
By building a Christian culture and civilization that is the disposition of things to reflect God in this life and direct souls to eternal life.[1]
By Plinio Correa de Oliveira
[1] Lecture delivered in November 1958 and published in the magazine, O Mensageiro Carmelitano, May 15, 1959.
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