To mark the month of May, traditionally dedicated to Our Lady, and as a transition from the school year to the summer months, united as a community of faith on campus, we make and renew our Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary (a.ka. Consecration to Mary). We invite you to learn more about the spiritual practice and join us (everything you need is below)!
April 28th is an almost ideal day to begin the 33 Day process of preparation for consecration, for our preparation will take us through the whole of Our Lady’s month to be consecrated on the Feast of the Visitation (May 31) AND today is the memorial of one who ardently promoted such consecration, the priest St Louis Grignion de Montfort.
What is Consecration to Mary?
“Marian consecration basically means giving Mary our full permission (or as much permission as we can) to complete her motherly task in us, which is to form us into other Christs. Thus, by consecrating ourselves to Mary, each of us is saying to her:
‘Mary, I want to be a saint. I know that you also want me to be a saint and that it’s your God-given mission to form me into one. So, Mary, at this moment, on this day, I freely choose to give you my full permission to do your work in me, with your Spouse, the Holy Spirit.‘” —Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, 33 Days to Morning Glory
“Through this 33-day program you are giving Mary all of yourself – heart, mind, and soul – in order to bring you to her Son, Jesus Christ. Also that she may use you as a holy instrument in her battle with Satan – i.e. this consecration allows her the free reign in your life to make you holy (as she assists you, through the Holy Spirit, to conform to her virtues) and to use your prayers, sacrifices, and sufferings for the greater glory of God. Keep in mind that this is a formal consecration to Our Lady, not unlike a vow, that is to be done in a solemn manner.” —Catholic Company
“This devotion consists, then, in giving ourselves entirely to Our Lady, in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her. We must give her (1) our body, with all its senses and its members; (2) our soul, with all its powers; (3) our exterior goods of fortune, whether present or to come; (4) our interior and spiritual goods, which are our merits and our virtues, and our good works, past, present, and future.” —St Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary
Why would I make such a consecration?
Because it’s in imitation our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, himself. When Jesus took on a human nature, he did so by being born of she who is blessed among women, Mary. She is the mother of God and he humbled himself to be perfectly obedient to her (and St. Joseph, which should suggest our devotion to that greatest of saints, as well). He handed his life over to Mary, so to speak, and if we are to “deny ourselves take up our Cross and follow him” as he commanded, then we should do so adhering as closely to the path that he himself trod, that is by placing ourselves completely in the hands of Mary.
Need a more practical reason? According to de Montfort, Total Consecration to Mary is “the surest, easiest, shortest, and the most perfect means” to becoming a saint. Well then …
That sounds intense and awesome! How do I do it?
Well, there are a number of ways. Students (and the minister) pursue this devotion typically one of two ways
- Louis de Montfort’s Method, which consists of 12 days of preparation followed by 3 weeks that thematically focused on aspects of consecration, concluding with the consecration itself. This full course can be found on the Catholic Company website here.
- Fr. Michael Gaitley’s 33 Days to Morning Glory, takes de Montford’s method as its basis but with less emphasis on a series of verbal prayers and more on texts to meditate on the nature of consecration each day with a short prayer over 4 weeks, with each week dedicated to a particularly Marian saint (1. de Montfort, himself 2. St Maximillian Kolbe 3. St Mother Teresa 4. Pope St John Paul II), followed by 5 days of review, concluding with the consecration. You can find the daily reflections for that method here (starting with Day 1).
If you decide to do the consecration with Campus Ministry, feel free to use one of the above methods, or any any method that’s meaningful to you and join us on Saturdays following our praying of the Angelus/Regina Caeli (12:15 pm) in our Google Meet “Angelus Chapel” for about 30 minutes as we discuss how the Preparation has been going so far.
Asheville Catholic Campus Ministry 