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Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 38

38 THE DUTY OF LEGIONARIES TOWARDS MARY CHAPTER 6
movements of the soul, the hidden riches, the inmost self. All
— on to the final breath — is committed to her that she may
expend it all for God. It is a sort of martyrdom, the sacrifice of
self to God, with Mary as the altar of that sacrifice. How
conformed, indeed, to the sacrifice of Christ himself, which
likewise began in Mary’s bosom, was publicly con firmed in
the arms of Mary uplifted in the presentation, embraced every
moment of his life, and was consummated on Calvary on the
cross of Mary’s heart.
The True Devotion is inaugurated by a formal Act of
Consec ration, but it consists principally in the subsequent
living of that Consecration. The True Devotion must
represent not an act but a state. Unless Mary takes possession
of all the life, and not merely of minutes and hours of that
life, the Act of Consecration—even though frequently
repeated—has but the value of a passing prayer. It is like a tree
which has been planted, but which has never taken root.
But this does not mean that the mind has to remain ever
fixed upon the Consecration. Just as one’s physical life is
governed by one’s breathing or by the beating of one’s heart,
even though these operations are not consciously viewed, so it
is with the True Devotion. Even though not adverted to, it
works incessantly on the life of the soul. It suffices if the idea
of Mary’s ownership is now and then made vivid by deliberate
thought, by acts and ejaculations; provided that the fact of
one’s dependence on her remains perman ently acknowledged,
always at least vaguely present to the mind, and put into force
in a general way in all the circumstances of one’s life.
If there is a warmth in all this, it can be a help. But if not, it
does not affect the value of the Devotion. Oftentimes, in fact,
warmth makes things soft and not dependable.
Mark this well: the True Devotion does not depend on
fervour or emotions of any kind. Like every lofty edifice, it
may at times burn in sunshine, while its deep foundations are
cold like the rock they rest on.
Reason is commonly cold. The best resolve may be icy.
Faith itself can be chill as a diamond. Yet these are the
foundations of the True Devotion. Set in them, the latter will
abide; and the frost and the storm, which cause mountains to
crumble, will only leave it the stronger.
The graces which have attended the practice of the True