Consecration

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups.

Quotes

• At the moment of consecration the Host glowed with the most dazzling brightness it became in fact a veritable sun to the eye of the clairvoyant, and as the priest lifted it above the heads of the people I noticed that two distinct varieties of spiritual force poured forth from it, which might perhaps be taken as roughly corresponding to the light of the sun and the streamers of his corona. The first rayed out impartially in all directions upon all the people in the church; indeed, it penetrated the walls of the church as though they were not there... The light which I have just described poured forth impartially upon all, the just and the unjust, the believers and the scoffers. But this second force was called into activity only in response to a strong feeling of devotion on the part of an individual. At the elevation of the Host all members of the congregation duly prostrated themselves— some apparently as a mere matter of habit, but some also with a strong feeling of deep devotional feeling. The effect as seen by clairvoyant sight was most striking and profoundly impressive, for to each of these latter there darted from the uplifted Host a ray of fire, which set the higher part of the astral body of the recipient glowing with the most intense ecstasy. Ch. 8
  • C.W. Leadbeater, in The Hidden Side of things (1913)

• Clearly one of the great objects, perhaps the principal object, of the daily celebration of the Mass is that everyone within reach of it shall receive at least once each day one of these electric shocks which are so well calculated to promote any growth of which he is capable. Such an outpouring of force brings to each person whatever he has made himself capable of receiving; but even the quite undeveloped and ignorant cannot but be somewhat the better for the passing touch of a noble emotion, while for the few more advanced it means a spiritual uplifting the value of which it would be difficult to exaggerate. Ch. 8
  • C.W. Leadbeater, in The Hidden Side of things (1913)

• But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
  • Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address (19 November 1863).

• I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls
  The burial-ground God's-Acre! It is just;
  It consecrates each grave within its walls,
  And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust.
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, God's-Acre, st. 1 (1842).

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).

• Ah, my friends, it is not only from the study walls of pastors, but from the walls of every shop, every counting-room, and every hall of justice and legislation, that the countenance of the all-holy Jesus is looking down, and saying, "Do all for me."
  • Theodore L. Cuyler, p. 159.

• Live, as it were, on trust. All that is in you, all that you are, is only loaned to you; make use of it according to the will of Him who lends it; but never regard it for a moment as your own.
  • François Fénelon, p. 159.

• See that you receive Christ with all your heart. As there is nothing in Christ that may be refused, so there is nothing in you from which He must be excluded.
  • John Flavel, p. 158.

• Living or dying, Lord,
  I ask but to be Thine;
  My life in Thee, Thy life in me,
  Makes heaven forever mine.
  • Henry Harbaugh, p. 160.

• Teach us, Master, how to give
  All we have and are to Thee;
  Grant us, Saviour, while we live,
  Wholly, only Thine to be.
  • Frances Ridley Havergal, p. 159.

• Seek to make life henceforth a consecrated thing; that so, when the sunset is nearing, with its murky vapors and lowering skies, the very clouds of sorrow may be fringed with golden light. Thus will the song in the house of your pilgrimage be always the truest harmony. It will be composed of no jarring, discordant notes; but with all its varied tones will form one sustained, life-long melody; dropped for a moment in death, only to be resumed with the angels, and blended with the everlasting cadences of your Father's house.
  • J. R. MacDuff, p. 159.

• If you want to live in this world, doing the duty of life, knowing the blessings of it, doing your work heartily, and yet not absorbed by it, remember that the one power whereby you can so act is, that all shall be consecrated to Christ, and done for His sake.
  • Alexander Maclaren, p. 158.

• Take me, O my Father, take me!
  Take me, save me, through Thy Son;
  That which Thou wouldst have me, make me,
  Let Thy will in me be done.
  Long from Thee my footsteps straying,
  Thorny proved the way I trod;
  Weary come I now, and praying —
  Take me to Thy love, my God!
  • Ray Palmer, p. 158.

• God consecrates us with His Spirit; whom He adopts, He anoints; whom He makes sons, He makes saints; He doth not only give them a new name, but a new nature. God turns the wolf into a lamb; He makes the heart humble and gracious; He works such a change as if another soul did dwell in the same body.
  • Thomas Watson, p. 159.