The Virgin Mary As A Model of Consecration for The Carmelite Missionaries in Kenya
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Date
2018
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
Consecrated life cannot be lived fully in the Church except in the light of Mary’s virtues, as Mary is regarded as the best model of following Jesus, which is the essence of religious life. Christians have gazed on the Virgin Mary over the centuries as an important icon in the Catholic Tradition and in a call to holiness. Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, she has been venerated as the glorious Mother of God. She has also played a vital role in our own redemption by her great ‘fiat’ to God’s message (Lk.1:38). Thus, we entrust ourselves to her maternal protection, for her to introduce us into the mystery of ecclesial communion and in the divine plan of salvation .
The presence of our Lady pervades the whole history of Carmel. In Carmel she is mother and lady, protector and confidante, model and ideal of the consecrated and contemplative life. Carmelite missionaries are born out of this Marian tradition. The founder, Fr. Francisco Palau saw Mary as the perfect type of the Church; he called her, “Mary the Mother of God is the most lovely, perfect type of the Church.” We see her reflected in the reality of the mystical body, as a communion of love and continuous presence of the Holy Spirit that brings together all the members in prayer and drives them, with God’s grace, to apostolic service.
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Virgin Mary, Model of Consecration