Statuary on the facade of the Duomo, The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy, 2012, taken by Martha M Wiggins
I have written before about a beautiful prayer I pray daily. Entitled simply, “An Act of Consecration,” it is written on the back side of a holy card. On the front side is an image of Jesus that I have always found to be very moving, very humbling. He stands, Sacred Heart exposed, wounded hands open palmed extended outward toward me, the viewer. Beneath His image are the words, “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You.”
Previously I have written about His Hands. What strikes me today is this line within the prayer: “I place within Your hands all my care and anxieties. I promise to love You and to honor You till the last moment of my life, and to spread, as much as I can, devotion to Your most Sacred Heart.”
As we enter into this season of Advent, we are called to prepare ourselves, to prepare our hearts to receive Him. When our lives our filled with ‘cares and anxieties’, it is often hard to focus on anything but them. The line from the prayer above (and below in its entirety) gives us the tools to change that. It reminds us we are to release all of our cares and anxieties to Him, to release them at the foot of His Cross, then to bar them from our mind by doing acts that honor Him, that show our love for Him. In doing so, we will find the waiting to be less burdensome. We are reminded it is in giving that we receive.
Release your cares and anxieties to Him, the only one who knows what it means to suffer, to hurt, to long, to doubt, to worry, to cry. Then fill your time and your mind with acts of selfless love, with compassion, with service to others in need. Consecrate yourself to all that is Him. You will not be found empty handed when He comes. You will be prepared to receive Him.
Prayer: An Act of Consecration
Lord Jesus Christ, I consecrate myself today anew and without reserve to Your divine Heart. I consecrate to You my body with all its senses, my soul with all its faculties, my entire being. I consecrate to You all my thoughts, words and deeds, all my sufferings and labors, all my hopes, consolations and joys. In particular I consecrate to You this poor heart of mine so that it may love only You and may be consumed as a victim in the fire of Your love.
I place my trust in You without reserve and I hope for the remission of my sins through Your infinite mercy. I place within Your hands all my cares and anxieties. I promise to love You and to honor You till the last moment of my life, and to spread as much as I can, devotion to Your most Sacred Heart.
Do with me what you will, my Jesus. I deserve no other reward except Your greater glory and Your holy love.
Take this offering of myself and give me a place within Your divine Heart forever.
Amen.
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