Consecration to Mary
One
Marian Consecration
In the last few meditations, we have shown that the Holy Spirit acts as our divine Mother to form Jesus in our soul and the Holy Spirit acts as our Mother through Mary. Recognizing this truth presents us with a choice: we can either embrace Mary as our Mother, consecrating our lives to her, living a personal relationship with her, or we can choose to overlook this gift.
This was the gift and choice placed before the beloved disciple at the Cross. In John chapter 19:25 we read, “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’”
Jesus offered the gift of his mother to be our mother. John accepted the gift. Verse 27 tells us, “And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” The phrase “into his home” in the original Greek text is "εἰς τὰ ἴδια" (eis ta idia). It can be translated as "into his home" but if we are faithful to the meaning of the original text, "εἰς τὰ ἴδια" implies something more personal and intimate which goes beyond mere physical accommodation. It would be more accurate to translate it this way, “The disciple brought Mary into every part of his life, he welcomed Mary into his interior life, into his soul, so that she could form Jesus in him.”
St. Louis de Montfort simply follows the logic of this process to its full implication that is Consecration to Mary, “She is within me. Should I not in return be all hers? Like St. John at the foot of the Cross, I have taken her times without number as my total good and as often I have given myself to her.”
Two
Living the Consecration
By consecration to Mary we accept Mary as our Spiritual Mother. Many people consecrate themselves to Mary. Very few live the consecration, very few live a personal relationship with Mary moment to moment, day after day, year after year. That is what Jesus did as He grew up under her care for thirty years. And that is the secret of Mary.
St. Louis de Montfort wrote True Devotion to Mary to give the reasons and motivation to consecrate oneself to Mary, and that he wrote The Secret of Mary to explain how to live the consecration by living a personal relationship with Mary, like a little child always being educated, guided and protected by the best of all mothers.
So, how do we live in relationship with Mary? Imagine how Jesus lived with Mary as a little child. His first words each day would have been “Mama.” At the beginning of each day we renew the relationship, “Mary I am all yours and all that is mine is yours.”
Throughout the day we practice living in her presence. Every time you see a picture, icon, statue or medal of Mary, recall She is with you. Then speak with her. Remember the Holy Spirit does everything through Mary. Whatever you need from the Holy Spirit, ask Mary. Pope John Paul II said, “As the bond with Mary grows deeper, so the action of the Spirit in the Christian grows more fruitful.”
As someone consecrated to Mary, you are a little child learning to live in her presence. Ask Mary to replace your thoughts with her thoughts, your feelings with her feelings, your choices with her choices. And remember that by living in complete dependence on Mary, we live in complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit carries out his mission through her.
Three
The School of Mary
One of the main aspects of the mission of the Holy Spirit is to teach us everything Jesus revealed. The Holy Spirit is the interior teacher, and as we have seen, the Holy Spirit works through Mary to educate and form Christians in the likeness of Christ. Since no one knows Jesus better than the Holy Spirit and Mary, and since the Holy Spirit does everything through Mary, no one could be in a better position to teach us to be like Jesus than Mary.
St. John Paul II wrote a letter to the world on the Rosary. There he says, “The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us.” Rosarium 15
By praying the Rosary, the faithful enter the school of Mary, where they learn to contemplate the beauty of Christ’s face and experience the depths of His love. Through the Rosary, they also receive abundant grace from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer. And finally, John Paul II sums up the Rosary as a training in holiness, “What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer…it is more urgent than ever that our Christian communities should become genuine schools of prayer. The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation.” Rosarium 5
Four
The Second Part of the Secret of Fatima – The Means to Save Souls
In the second part of the secret of Fatima, in response to the vision of souls in hell Our Lady revealed God’s plan to save people from going to hell, “To save them,” She said, “God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.” And then She promised, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
At Fatima Mary revealed that God’s plan to save souls from hell and to save the world from self-destruction and bring world peace is through Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. What does this mean?
Devotion to the Heart of Mary means: Firstly, to consecrate oneself entirely to Mary as Jesus did when we became a little child in her care. Then live this consecration by living a profound personal relationship with Mary your Mother. Secondly, pray the Rosary every day. The Rosary is the School of Mary where she teaches you to be like Jesus. And lastly, First Saturdays of Reparation.
What’s that? On December 10, 1925 Mary appeared to Lucia and said, “Look my daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and announce in My name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making Reparation to Me.”
Five
How to Consecrate Oneself to Mary
The first step to giving yourself entirely to Mary is simply to say it. Simply to say, “Mary, I give myself unconditionally to you to be my Spiritual Mother.” The first step in any spiritual process is to say it.
In his book Trued Devotion to Mary St. Louis De Montfort proposed a 33 day process and a prayer of consecration to give oneself to Jesus through Mary. It is not necessary but nice to end on some feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary like the Annunciation. But, at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you actually say to Mary, “I give myself, and all that I have, fully to you.” You can do that right now if you like.
It is good to renew our Consecration to Mary once a year. You can follow the plan by St. Louis de Montfort for 33 days. Or you could pray this Rosary podcast for 33 days with the intention of preparing to renew your consecration. At the end of which pray the prayer of Consecration. Or you could just renew your consecration any time you wish.
St. Louis De Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe and John Paul II would renew their consecration every day with a simple prayer, “I am all yours and all that is mine in yours dear Jesus through the hands of Mary.”
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Consecrate yourself to Mary by telling her, “I give myself, and all that I have, fully to you.”
Consider reading St. Louis de Montfort’s 33 day preparation for consecration.