in the faithful fulfillment of my mission within the Church, serving humbly after the example of Mary, my heavenly Mother, your Queen.Īnd you, my good guardian angel, who continually behold the face of our Father in heaven, God entrusted me to you from the very beginning of my life. I thank you with all my heart for your loving care. I commit myself to you and promise you my love and fidelity. I beg you: protect me against my own weakness and against the attacks of the wicked spirits enlighten my mind and my heart so that I may always know and accomplish the will of God and lead me to union with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. © 2000 Congregazione dei Canonici Regolari della Santa Croce – Roma Divine Worship & Communion The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith approved this Consecration prayer on for use in Opus Angelorum. In the last circular we explained that a Consecration to the holy angels is a special statement of devotion which is founded on the baptismal grace. The communion of the faithful in Christ comes through Baptism. This communion of grace in Christ is the foundation for the devotion and Consecration to the holy angels. The Second Vatican Council teaches: “In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members…has honored with great respect the memory of the dead… The Church has always believed that the apostles and Christ’s martyrs…are closely united with us in Christ she has always venerated them, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the holy angels, with a special love, and has asked piously for the help of their intercession” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium 50). This communion finds its perfect statement in the celebration of the liturgy, for “in her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 335 cf. “With all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium 8), and “it is especially in the sacred liturgy that our union with the heavenly Church is best realized” (Lumen Gentium 50). This communion evidently also embraces the angels, for they, too, have Christ as their Head and are members of his Mystical Body (cf. The Consecration to the angels aims at consolidating and cultivating this communion. In the Consecration prayer, we turn to the holy angels in order to make a covenant with them. In this covenant-relationship, we primarily wish to venerate God in union with the holy angels. Additionally, we also wish to honor the angels, giving them thanks and imploring their help for us and for the Church. Given that angels and men are both ‘fellow servants’ of the Lord (cf. Rev 19:10 22:9), we, too, in the measure of our modest forces, wish to contribute in collaboration with them to the coming of the Kingdom of God. Since this mission is common both to angels and men, devotion to the holy angels, by its very nature, gives impetus to the common praise of God and to a joint effort for the salvation of souls. Hence, in the history of the Church, there have been numerous confraternities in honor of the angels. Even though the members may be physically separated from one another, they live in the awareness of being united in spirit, for the Consecration is a covenant, and a covenant builds community. Consequently, we, too, wish to live this covenant in the community of the Work of the Holy Angels, giving one another support, help, and encouragement. The Consecration to the holy angels involves a serious obligation. Therefore, it should only be made after an adequate preparation, and normally, it is combined with the admission into an ecclesiastically recognized association of the Opus Angelorum, as for example, into the Confraternity of the Guardian Angels. The Consecration to the holy angels has a twofold structure. In the first part, the spirituality of the OA is laid down as the governing principle for the covenant with the angels and our strivings. Only those who are determined to pursue this lofty goal should consider making this Consecration.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |