Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

89 (RD, 7), and then develops it, referring mainly to the epistles of Paul. This part of the exhortation is very important for the subject of this study; how- ever, since the full presentation of St. John Paul II’s thought would require quoting very extensive excerpts of this document, we will only recall just a few, important for the Passion dimension of consecration: Upon the sacramental basis of Baptism in which it is rooted, religious profession is a new ‘burial in the death of Christ’: new, because it is made with awareness and by choice; new, because of love and voca- tion; new, by reason of unceasing ‘conversion.’ This ‘burial in death’ causes the person ‘buried together with Christ’ to ‘walk like Christ in newness of life.’ In Christ crucified is to be found the ultimate fo- undation both of baptismal consecration and of the profession of the evangelical counsels, which-in the words of the Second Vatican Co- uncil – ‘constitutes a special consecration.’ It is at one and the same time both death and liberation (7). While it is true that not even the greatest saint can repeat the words of Christ: ‘For their sake I consecrate myself ’(Jn 17:19) in the full force of these words, nevertheless, through self-giving love, thro- ugh the offering of oneself to God as His exclusive possession, each one can through faith stand within the radius of these words. [...]By immersing yourselves in the Paschal Mystery of the Redeemer thro- ugh the consecration of the religious vows, you desire, through the love of total giving, to fill your souls and your bodies with the spirit of sacrifice, even as St. Paul invites you to do in the words of the letter to the Romans, just quoted: ‘to offer your bodies as a sacrifice’ (Rom 12:10) (8). Of this Son St. Paul says that ‘though he was in the form of God... He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men,’ (Phil 2:6-7). The characteristic of self-emptying contained in the practice of the evangelical counsels is therefore a completely Christocentric characteristic. And for this reason also the Teacher from Nazareth explicitly indicates the cross as the con- dition for following in His footsteps. He who once said to each one of you ‘Follow me’ has also said: ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ (Mk 8:34; Mt 16:24) (that is to say, walk in my footsteps). And He said this to all His listeners, not just to the disciples. The law of renunciation belongs