By Sister Mara, O.C.D.
“Señor mío y Dios mío, yo toda Tuya y Tú todo mío”. As a little girl, these were the words my mother taught me to pray interiorly immediately following the moment of consecration at Mass, at the elevation of the Sacred Host. For non-Spanish speakers, the English translation is: “My Lord and My God, I am all Yours and You are all mine”. As a little girl, I don’t think I understood the importance and weight of these words which I was routinely praying. It wasn’t until I was preparing for my first profession of vows in 2014 that it struck me powerfully how this prayer, which I prayed at every Mass since I was six, was actually now being fulfilled, wholeheartedly. Eucharistically. Amazing.
It was at my final vows in 2020 that I added “para siempre”, “forever” to my “Moment of Consecration” prayer. Again, completely in awe of how Jesus was fulfilling my declaration so totally and faithfully in the gift of Himself in the Eucharist. This truly was a matrimonial exchange, a holy communion. As He gave me His Body, I vowed Him my life. Ineffable.
This past summer, this prayer took a whole new depth of meaning to me when I spent time with St. John of the Cross’ Spiritual Canticle, a poem decked with bridal imagery. Particularly his commentary on Stanza 17, “The Beloved will feed amid the flowers”, shed light on my “Moment of Consecration” prayer. It reads as follows:
The soul applies the word “feed” to the delight the Son of God takes in her at this time. This term provides an appropriate description, since food is something which not only gives pleasure but also sustains. The Son of God finds delight in the soul in these her delights and is sustained in her, that is, He dwells in her as in a place that pleases Him, for the soul is indeed pleasing to Him. This is what He meant through Proverbs 8:31, “My delight is to dwell with the children of men”, that is, when their delight is to be with Me, who Am the Son of God…since the Bridegroom communicates Himself to the soul by means of adornment of these virtues, He feeds on the soul, transforms her into Himself, now that she is prepared and seasoned with flowers of virtues, gifts and perfections. By means of the Holy Spirit, who prepares the dwelling, these virtues delight the Son of God so that through them He may feed more on the love of the soul. This is characteristic of the Bridegroom: to unite Himself with the soul amid the fragrance of these flowers. “I for my Beloved and my Beloved for me, who feeds among the lilies” (Song 6:3), that is who feeds and delights in my soul, which is His garden, amid the lilies of my virtues, perfections, and graces.
Wow! This whole time I had been completely captured with how Jesus was delighting me, nourishing me, sustaining me through the gift of Himself in the Eucharist that this revelation came to me as somewhat of a shock. The tables were turned. He made me aware of how He was delighted by the gift of MY heart at this moment of Consecration! Wait. What? How He is nourished and sustained by MY love in Holy Communion. Surely, Jesus, it is the other way around? He insisted. He longs to feed in the garden of my soul and receive my gift of love, made tasty by the seasoning of virtues- which He himself prepares in me- and that console Him so! Absolutely marvelous! More, Jesus, I want to give You more! Increase in me all that delights You!
As He did with my glorious patroness, Saint Maria Maravillas, Jesus made me understand that this truth is not only true for me, but true for all souls. The Lord truly delights to be with us, children of men! Proverbs 8:31 is what I like to call Maravillas’ “lectio text for life”! Being struck by this very same passage, Mother Maravillas taught that it is our poverty that draws Jesus to us and that our poverty is an access point for God to do more in us. She counseled her sisters that when they felt poor, empty, to just ask for His flow. Simple.
