TOTAL CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY

Pray one of the most magnificent and profound devotions of all time, adorned with inspiring sacred art!

A closer view of the cupola in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City

HOW TO PRAY WITH THE BOOK

If possible, I highly recommend that you pray the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary with the book entitled Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary. It is according to the method of St. Louis de Montfort, and it is published by Montfort Publications. This book is an excellent resource on the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. One way to pray is to have the sacred art on the computer screen while praying with the book.

HOW TO PRAY WITHOUT THE BOOK

However, in a worst-case scenario, I know that sometimes it’s possible that we forget our book, or just don’t have it handy, or maybe we are traveling on that particular day. If that’s the case, then I have provided everything you need on this i-Book, for your convenience, so that you can still access the devotion through your smartphone.

SACRED ART

I cannot even begin to describe just how helpful sacred art has been to my prayer life. What you may notice gradually, perhaps even imperceptibly, over time is that the sacred art will help you develop a stronger relationship with Our Lord, with Our Lady, and even with the saints. Just as we like to have pictures of our loved ones at our office desk when we cannot see them in person, similarly having sacred art in front of us when we pray can be very consoling and comforting.

TOTAL CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY

If you have never done this devotion before, then prepare yourself for a very unique spiritual journey. First of all, you need to make sure that you can commit to approximately 10-20 minutes of prayer each day for 33 days (actually 34 days, if you include Consecration Day). Then, you need to choose a major Marian feast day for your Consecration Day. Here are a few possibilities:

December 8: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

December 25: Christmas

January 1: The Feast of Mary, The Mother of God

February 11: The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

March 25: The Feast of the Annunciation

April 28: The Feast of St. Louis de Montfort

May 13: The Feast of Our Lady of Fátima

July 16: The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

August 15: The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

August 22: The Feast of the Queenship of Mary

October 7: The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Once you have selected your Consecration Day, you will need to count back 33 days, so that you will have 33 days of preparatory prayer that will lead up to it. So, for instance, my original consecration was on January 1; therefore, I began my 33 days of preparatory prayer on November 29. This allowed for precisely 33 days of prayer, and then on the 34th day, my Consecration Day, I prayed the “Act of Total Consecration.” Please be patient with yourself, and be patient with the process. When I prayed it the first time, I felt nothing special at all -- until Consecration Day, and then that day was an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. But, the truth is that Our Lord of Love will give each of us what we most need. It’s possible that, like me, you will have a very dramatic experience on your Consecration Day, but it’s just as possible that you will feel nothing special at all. This doesn’t mean that you didn’t benefit from it. You may feel nothing on the outside, but the Holy Spirit may be working wonders for you on the inside. Also, keep in mind that St. Louis de Montfort wishes us to truly live this devotion, so it is customary to make a reconsecration at least once per year on your original anniversary date -- though he recommends doing it more than that, and, from my own experience, I heartily concur with him. Our good God is never outdone in generosity! May your life be richly blessed by this beautiful devotion (scroll down this page to find the daily prayers).

RECONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY

If you have already made this 33-day consecration and would like to renew it, then here is one simple way to do it. For a long time, I didn’t know that the reconsecration doesn’t need to be 33 days, like the original. And so, for maybe the first 15 years or so after making my initial consecration, when I reconsecrated my life to Jesus through Our Lady, I always did the full 33 days, every time. It was certainly worthwhile, but, in retrospect, it was also somewhat wearying. Then, I learned something very helpful from Fr. Hugh Gillespie, who is the Montfortian Missionary who edited the most recent edition of St. Louis de Montfort’s Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary: the reconsecration can be as short as five days, though there is no single “right way” to do it. So now, when I reconsecrate my life to Jesus through Our Lady, it looks something like this:

First Day -- I pray the daily prayers for Day 1 of the section entitled “The Spirit of the World”

Second Day -- I pray the daily prayers for Day 1 of the section entitled “Knowledge of Self”

Third Day -- I pray the daily prayers for Day 1 of the section entitled “Knowledge of Mary”

Fourth Day -- I pray the daily prayers for Day 1 of the section entitled “Knowledge of Jesus Christ”

Fifth Day -- I pray the “Act of Total Consecration”

Then, for my next reconsecration, I use the prayers for Day 2 for each of the four sections of the book. And for my next reconsecration after that, I use the prayers for Day 3, etc. Eventually, I go through the entire 33 days, but I do so gradually, over time. As St. Augustine of Hippo so wisely said, “Patience is the companion of wisdom.” By significantly shortening the duration of the reconsecration, it has incentivized me to make my reconsecration more frequently. So, instead of doing it only once per year, which is the minimum that St. Louis de Montfort recommends, I now do it perhaps 10 or 20 times per year. And it makes it easier for me to really live this devotion. By the way, I always time the days in such a way that I make my reconsecration on a major Marian feast day. So, for example, if I plan to reconsecrate on the feast day of the Annunciation, and this falls on a Friday, then I begin my four days of preparatory prayer on Monday. I hope for two things: (1) that you will experience many blessings from this beautiful devotion and (2) that you will not do this as a “one-and-done” devotion, but will continue to practice it for the rest of your life. May the good God be with you (scroll down this page to find the daily prayers).