My Jesus, come do with me something that will be most pleasing to You, since it is for your Holy Mother, and You Yourself have said She merits it.  I want to enter into your Divine Will to give our dear Mother Mary an exchange of love and gratitude in the name of everyone for all the marvelous acts of her life which have done priceless and immeasurable good for all generations.

My sweet Mother Mary, Jesus tells me that You, his Mother, merit an exchange of love for all the love You had for all generations.  Therefore, I enter into the Divine Will and disperse myself completely in It, where alone I find sufficient love to love You for everyone and reciprocate You for everything You have done for all of us your children.

I begin dear Mother with that marvelous act of yours that made all the other wonders of your glorious life possible, namely:  That scarcely conceived, You made the complete sacrifice of your life to God by swearing never to do your own will, going so far as to tie your will forever to the foot of God's Throne (Vol. 15: Dec. 8, 1922).  This is the greatest sacrifice of all from which all generations have received countless goods, especially since this made it possible for Jesus to come into the world.  With the Love of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; with the love of Luisa and all the Communion of Saints; with the love of all the Choirs of Angels; and in the name of everyone here below; I love, thank and praise You for this most heroic act.

Then, I love, thank and extol You for going before the Supreme Majesty (and this You did even before being born) to weep over the offense of God because man decided to do his own will, and to weep for me and every soul over the slavery our rebellious human wills placed us in.  These holy tears smothered the fires of Divine Justice and shortened the seventy weeks of Daniel (Dan. 9:24), thus hastening the day of our salvation.

I put my "I love You, I thank You" on your first act when born:  Giving thanks to God in the name of everyone for everything in Creation; on all your infantile acts in which You called all human acts together with yours to give them the value and power of the Divine Will; and on your heroic sacrifice at the age of three, that of saying goodbye forever to your dear parents, Saints Joachim and Anne, so that You could live in the service of God as a Temple Virgin.  I love and thank You for your holy life in the Temple; for your exact obedience to the rules and to your superiors; and for redoing in the Divine Will the lives of all Temple Virgins and of all consecrated souls of the future Church.  I place my love and gratitude in your trust in God when He called You from the Temple to espouse St. Joseph (since You had vowed Yourself to God as a virgin and were unaware that St. Joseph was predisposed by God to respect this vow); I place it in your obedience, attentiveness and veneration towards him in the married state; in being a perfect model for all women entering married life; and in redoing in the Divine Will the usual duties of married women, including cooking, cleaning and mending garments.

In the name of everyone, I repeat the Archangel Gabriel's greeting on the great day of the Annunciation:  "Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee!" (Lk. 1:28).  And I praise your humility shown by your holy fear at being extolled by him.  With the Infinite and Eternal Love of the Holy Trinity, the love of all the Angels and Saints, and in the name of every creature under Heaven, I love, thank and praise You in the greatest possible way for pronouncing that "Fiat" which brought God to earth in the grand prodigy of the Incarnation!

Then I place my "I love You, I thank You," dear Mother, in every act of your journey "into the hill country with haste" (Lk. 1:38) to visit your Cousin Elizabeth; in your act of greeting her at which St. John the Baptist was sanctified in his mother's Womb; in every word of your beautiful Canticle: The Magnificat, uttered in response to Elizabeth's praises; and in every repetition of that Canticle by Christians throughout the ages.  With Elizabeth and in the name of all I exclaim:  "Whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?!" (Lk. 1:43); and with this I wish to thank You for your countless maternal visits to the souls of your children, bringing us graces, helps and comfort.  I love and praise You for the humble tasks that You, O Queen of Heaven, performed in Elizabeth's home during this visit, to assist her while she was pregnant at an advanced age.  Then, while Jesus is still in your holy Womb, I love and thank You for participating in those things Jesus did and suffered while abiding there for nine months (as his Passion had already begun); and I compassionate You in the pain You suffered because of St. Joseph's anxiety over your unexplained pregnancy.

I love and thank You in the difficulties of your journey when called to Bethlehem by the Census; in the prayer of the heart that marked your slow advance there; in the sufferings endured in seeking shelter after your arrival; and in your acceptance of the poor stable that God finally supplied for You in his Providence and Wisdom.  Then, as an act of love and gratitude offered in the name of everyone, I offer You anew, the joys You experienced during the Holy Birth of your Son, Our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  I put my "I love You, I thank You" in the acts of love, adoration and thanksgiving You offered the New-born Jesus for us all; in your placing Him in the Manger, sacrificing your desire to hold Him so He could return to his work of weeping for us; and in the kindness and words of truth You gave to your visitors the shepherds and the magi.  I love and compassionate You in the sorrow You suffered on the day of Jesus' circumcision, and to comfort You, I offer You every reverent use of the Holy Name of Jesus throughout the ages, the Name that was given Him on that day.

I love and thank You in submitting Yourself, though Virgin and Immaculate, to the Rite of Purification forty days after Jesus' Birth; in offering Jesus in the Temple at that time, in your arms, to the Will of the Father; and in both receiving the sorrowful prophecy of Simeon and bearing this sorrow for thirty-three years until the prophecy was completely fulfilled.  I put my "I love You, I compassionate You" in your suffering the difficult flight into Egypt when Herod sought the Divine Child's Life; in your grieving over the murder of the Holy Innocents; in enduring the difficult years of exile in that foreign land; and in the hardships of the return trip to Nazareth when the exile was over.  Then I mustn't forget to love and thank You for redoing in the Divine Will all the normal human activity in your simple but priceless role as Mother and Spouse in the Holy Family during the thirty years of Jesus' hidden Life.

I place my love and compassion in the final words Jesus spoke to You as He left You to begin his Public Ministry and I thank You for making this heroic separation, giving Jesus the obedience to leave.  I thank You in this, for making reparation for our attachments to creatures — which often keep us from fulfilling the Holy Will of God — and for obtaining for us the graces needed to break these harmful attachments. 

I love and thank You for initiating Jesus' work of performing miracles, when, seeing the wine run out at the marriage feast of Cana, You said to Jesus:  "They have no more wine" (Jn. 2:4), and then to the servants:  "Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye" (Jn. 2:5).  At this, Jesus performed his first public miracle by changing water into wine.  Here, I thank You too, for constantly using your power of Suppliant Omnipotence on our behalf, which always obtains whatever is asked.

I love and thank You for the sorrows You endured as the Light of the Divine Will made You see how badly and with what ingratitude Jesus was treated throughout his three years of Public Life; and for the prayers and acts You offered to support Him in the bitterness He endured.

Then as his Public Life came to a close, I love and compassionate You in your final encounter with Jesus as He asked You for your blessing and the obedience to die; and I love and thank You for bravely giving that obedience.  As He then entered his agonizing Passion, I thank You and compassionate You for sharing his countless and unheard of agonies which were all reflected in your Sorrowful Heart.  I love and thank You for going out to meet Him on the Sorrowful Way; in heroically remaining present as He was nailed to the Cross; in offering your Divine Son in Sacrifice for us during his agonizing death of three interminable hours; and in accepting those words of Jesus from the Cross "Woman, behold thy son" (Jn. 19:26), thereby receiving all of us as your children, born of your incomprehensible pains.  I place my "I love You, I thank You" in your work of performing the last offices for Jesus after He died, that of cleaning his wounds while at the same time loving and adoring, in the name of everyone, those pledges of our Salvation.  Finally, I love and thank You for making the difficult separation of leaving Jesus' Sacred Body in the tomb and awaiting sorrowfully but with complete Faith, the promised Resurrection.  To complete my thanksgiving for enduring all this bitter sorrow, I offer again to You, in the name of everyone, the Joy You experienced in Jesus' Resurrection when He appeared to You early Easter morning.

I place my "I love You, I thank You" in bidding your Son farewell again as He Ascended into Heaven after forty days; in gathering the Apostles in Cenacle after his Ascension to pray for and await with them the promised Holy Spirit; in the new joys You received in the fulfillment of this promise on Pentecost; in the prayers You continued to offer (especially your frequent visits to the Via Dolorosa) and in all the words of Wisdom You spoke to help the infant Church during your final years.  I especially love and thank You for enduring the inexpressible "martyrdom of divine abandonment," [1]  your greatest sorrow, which You suffered in those final years to obtain Heaven for your children.  Then, after your Dormition and Assumption, I love and thank You for your continuous intercession in Heaven which has assisted the Church in every age, especially in Her times of greatest need — such as in the Battle of Lepanto where a miraculous Christian victory was won by means of your prayer, the Holy Rosary.  And I set my "I love You, I thank You" in each of your authentic apparitions over the centuries, which serve to warn us when we go astray, prepare us for coming trials and draw us to lives of greater devotion.  Finally I fasten my "I love You, I thank You" upon the promised Triumph of your Immaculate Heart which will usher in the long awaited Era of Peace.

Dear Mother, during your holy life, with the Sanctity and power of the Divine Will, You covered everything and everyone with the seal of love, of blessing, and of adoration.  There was no act done by any creature in any generation which You did not cover, making Yourself the life and supplement of all so that from You, God received in abundance all the glory He should have received from the whole human race.  Because of this, God's mercy and grace flows to all generations.  Therefore in the name of all, I place my "I love You, I thank You" in every act of every creature and in every grace flowing from God.  I love and thank You, too, for "mothering" all of Jesus' acts, without leaving a single act of his Humanity, not a Heartbeat or Breath, without an act of your love (Vol. 36: Dec. 28, 1938).  And to fittingly thank You, I offer You the Maternal Love of your own Immaculate Heart.  In this way I give You — who alone of all creatures do not experience the ineffably sweet and tender love of the Blessed Mother — that very love!  Then since every act of yours throughout your whole life was done in the Divine Will and benefits everyone, I want to be sure to cover all You did for us by putting my "I love You, I thank You" upon each of your thoughts, affections, desires, words, heartbeats, breaths, steps and every last act of your whole life, so that in each and every act of yours, all generations may, indeed, call You Blessed!

Supreme Majesty, prostrating myself before You, I profoundly adore You, then as your little child I come upon Your Paternal Knees to offer You in the name of all the human race each and every act of the life of the Celestial Queen Mother, together with my acts of reciprocated love which, in the name of everyone, embrace all these acts of hers.  Therefore, with this offering, and with this glorious Queen Herself, we beg and plead for the Kingdom of your Divine Will to be established on earth.  May your Holy Will come quickly to establish Its perfect Reign on earth — just as It so perfectly Reigned in Mary throughout Her whole life.  Then the Church on earth will most perfectly resemble Her, becoming Immaculate, without spot or wrinkle.  Amen.

END NOTE

[1]  Jesus revealed to Ven. Concepción Cabrera de Armida "Conchita" of Mexico (d. 1937) that the Blessed Virgin's greatest Sorrow was hidden and unknown.  It lasted the long years from Our Lord's Ascension until Her own Assumption.  During this time She was left in a state of abandonment by God in which She "suffered more than all abandoned souls, since She suffered a reflection of
[Jesus'] own abandonment on the Cross, one the worth of which cannot be estimated and which is wholly inexpressible" (Diary: Jun. 23, 1918).  It was through what Jesus described as the "vivid palpitating martyrdom of her Solitude, the desolating Martyrdom of Divine Abandonment, which She suffered heroically, with loving and sublime surrender to [God's] Will," that She became "an inexhaustible source of Grace and Mercy for the world" and "gained graces for each and every man" (Diary: Jun. 30, 1917).
 
    Philipon, M. M. (O.P.), ed., Conchita: A Mother's Spiritual Diary.  Translated by Aloysius J. Owen, S.J.  Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 2000.
 
    See also Mary's Blossoms & Thorns in Chapter 16 — "Third Fiat Hymns."        back

* Be Faithful and Attentive: A Handbook for Living in the Divine Will
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