{"id":27554,"date":"2026-08-29T20:53:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T19:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/?p=27554"},"modified":"2026-08-29T20:53:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T19:53:36","slug":"the-games-of-children-true-devotion-and-merciful-love-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2026\/08\/the-games-of-children-true-devotion-and-merciful-love-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"The Games of Children (True Devotion and Merciful Love, Part 4)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Statue of Our Lady as Abbess of Silverstream that rests above of the Prior’s seat in the Chapter Room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An Objective Order<\/h2>\n

For the month of August — the month of the Immaculate Heart — we’ve been examining Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort’s Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary<\/em>, comparing it to — and drawing lessons from — Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e8se’s self-offering as a victim of holocaust to Merciful Love. In the first post<\/a>, we looked at what both of them were and how similar they seemed. In the second post<\/a>, we drew the lesson from Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e8se that, if someone is to walk a way so generous, he must walk by the way of spiritual childhood. Most recently<\/a>,<\/a> we looked at an aspect of the devotion of Saint Louis de Montfort that seems unnerving to some, the devotion of Holy Slavery.<\/p>\n

Holy slavery is similar to the way Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e8se offered herself to Jesus as His “plaything”, the sort of act of generosity that those who are deeply in love do. Were it not grounded in love, it would make precious little sense. But there is a game of love. In Holy Slavery, both parties — Mary and the Soul — want to make a self-gift to the other, loving the other completely. The one who gives himself to Mary, as if he were a slave of love, gives himself totally and forever, without looking for reward, without mercenary spirit. Yet Mary is gracious\u00a0 and never to be outdone in generosity, and she heaps benefits upon those generous souls who give themselves to her in this way. Thus the game of love is played, for the one wishes to serve without seeking reward, and the other wishes to reward every service amply and beyond all possible merit.<\/p>\n

If Saint Louis calls himself the child and<\/em> the slave of Mary, the meaning is that this slavery of love flows out of confidence that he is a child of Mary<\/em>. Though he speaks of being Mary’s child and slave as if they were joined, there is an order between the two: sonship first, then holy slavery. Being a child of Mary comes first, for then only can one have that love and confidence in his Holy Mother that makes him bold to want to serve her without self-seeking. His love of Mary, recognising her as Mother, gives birth to a disinterested total self-gift, which Saint Louis calls holy slavery, and without this love and this confidence in Mary, his gift of holy slavery would make no sense. Holy slavery cannot be a slavery of fear and compulsion: It must be born of love.<\/p>\n

But Are We Capable of This?<\/h2>\n

But here we must pause to ask ourselves: do we have this love? If it is born of confidence that we are loved by our Holy Mother, what if we struggle with that confidence? Perhaps our own wounds make us hesitant to approach Mary with confidence in her maternal love!<\/p>\n

Or, again, can we really be disinterested? Does it not take someone truly advanced in the spiritual life to set aside self-interest? Besides, are there not many things that we wish from Mary, and is it reasonable let go of our own interests? And are there not many promised benefits of this devotion? Maybe we would really be deceiving ourselves into believing we were serving when all we wanted were the benefits of the devotion!<\/p>\n

In short:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Do we love Mary — and trust her love for us — enough to really want to give ourselves to her totally, forever, and without self-seeking?<\/li>\n
  2. And are we actually capable of this level of disinterestedness, and is it even advisable?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Benefits of Total Consecration<\/h2>\n

    These questions are made more striking when we consider what Saint Louis de Montfort himself says about the benefits of the devotion of holy slavery. The Saint seems almost inconsistent on these points.<\/p>\n

    On the one hand, he says that true devotion to Mary is disinterested, serving the August Queen “not for one’s own good, whether temporal, corporal, or spiritual; but exclusively because she merits to be served, and God alone in her.” He even strengthens this point, adding: “He does not love Mary because she does him good or because he hopes in her: but because she is so worthy of love<\/em>. It is on this account that he loves and serves her as faithfully in his disgusts and drynesses, as in his sweetnesses and sensible fervours. He loves her as much on Calvary, as at the marriage of Cana.”<\/p>\n

    But, on the other hand, he lists the “the charitable duties which our Blessed Lady, as the best of all Mothers, fulfils for the faithful servants who have given themselves to her after the manner I have described” through holy slavery. Mary considers it a loving duty to:<\/p>\n