Everything you need to know to make the Preparation & Total Consecration, in 5 steps

[June Ely]

Everything you need to know to make
the Preparation & Consecration, in 5 steps:

Step 1 ~ Make a decision:
First, you may want to read "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin,"
written by St. Louis de Montfort himself, and decide for certain
whether to consecrate yourself to Jesus through Mary. Decide
carefully, and don't take this lightly; consecrating oneself has the
character of a vow. If your decision is yes, then obtain a copy of
'Preparation for Total Consecration According to St. Louis Marie de
Montfort' for the prayers and exercises you will need - contact us if
you need a free copy.

Step 2 ~ Choose a day for the Consecration:
Now choose the date of a Marian Feast on which to make the
consecration. Whichever Feast you choose will determine the date to
begin a 33-day period of spiritual preparation, i.e., you follow
spiritual exercises for 33 days, and the next day will be the Marian
Feast on which you consecrate yourself.

Step 3 ~ Begin the 33-Day Preparation:
Now begins the 33-day period of exercises. St. Louis-Marie breaks
these days into sections of days, each section having its own prayers,
and each particular day having its own brief readings with which to
fill the mind for that day (the readings come from Sacred Scripture,
"The Imitation of Christ," and "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin
Mary").
It is best to internalize the readings for each day, to truly pray
them.

First comes a 12-day preparation period that consists of emptying
oneself of the spirit of the world in penance and mortification. For
those 12 days, we pray the Veni Creator, the Ave Maris Stella, the
Magnificat, and the Glory Be. Then follow 3 weeks, each week having a
specific focus.

The first week focuses on offering up our prayers and devotions for
the purpose of coming to understand ourselves and our sins; humility
is the key, and the prayers the Litany of the Holy Ghost, the Litany
of Loreto, and the Ave Maris Stella help us.

During the second week, we ask the Holy Ghost to help us better
understand the Blessed Virgin; we pray the Litany of the Holy Ghost,
the Litany of Loreto, the Ave Maris Stellis, the prayer to Mary by St.
Louis-Marie, and 5 decades of the Holy Rosary each day for assistance.

During the third week, we seek to better understand Christ through
meditation and the Litany of the Holy Ghost, the Ave Maris Stella, and
the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, St. Montfort's prayer to Jesus,
and the prayer O Jesus Living in Mary.

The 34th day will be your day of consecration.

Step 4 ~ Day 34, the Day of Consecration:
On the day of Consecration, either fast, give alms, or offer a votive
candle for the good of another (or all of the above); do some
spiritual penance and approach consecration in the spirit of
mortification.

Now go to Confession (or, if that is not possible, go during the 8
days prior or after) and then receive Communion with the intention of
giving yourself to Jesus, as a slave of love, by the hands of Mary.
Try to receive Communion per the method described in the Supplement of
the book, "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary" above.

Now pray the words of the consecration. Copy them and have them with
you at church, read them after the Mass (in front of the tabernacle
would be best), and sign your copy of the Act of Consecration (in the
book, or see below).

The words of Consecration are:

O Eternal and incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most adorable Jesus!
True God and true man, only Son of the Eternal Father, and of Mary,
always virgin! I adore Thee profoundly in the bosom and splendors of
Thy Father during eternity; and I adore Thee also in the virginal
bosom of Mary, Thy most worthy Mother, in the time of Thine
incarnation.

I give Thee thanks for that Thou hast annihilated Thyself, taking
the form of a slave in order to rescue me from the cruel slavery of
the devil. I praise and glorify Thee for that Thou hast been pleased
to submit Thyself to Mary, Thy holy Mother, in all things, in order to
make me Thy faithful slave through her. But, alas! Ungrateful and
faithless as I have been, I have not kept the promises which I made so
solemnly to Thee in my Baptism; I have not fulfilled my obligations; I
do not deserve to be called Thy child, nor yet Thy slave; I dare not
come by myself before Thy most holy and august Majesty. It is on this
account that I have recourse to the intercession of Thy most holy
Mother, whom Thou hast given me for a mediatrix with Thee. It is
through her that I hope to obtain of Thee contrition, the pardon of my
sins, and the acquisition and preservation of wisdom.

Hail, then, O immaculate Mary, living tabernacle of the Divinity,
where the Eternal Wisdom willed to be hidden and to be adored by
angels and by men! Hail, O Queen of Heaven and earth, to whose empire
everything is subject which is under God. Hail, O sure refuge of
sinners, whose mercy fails no one. Hear the desires which I have of
the Divine Wisdom; and for that end receive the vows and offerings
which in my lowliness I present to thee.

I, N__________________________________, renew and ratify today in
thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps
and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate
Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be
more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of
all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and
Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and
soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all
my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire
and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without
exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of
God in time and in eternity.

Receive, O benignant Virgin, this little offering of my slavery,
in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal
Wisdom deigned to have to thy maternity; in homage to the power which
both of you have over this poor sinner, and in thanksgiving for the
privileges with which the Holy Trinity has favored thee. I declare
that I wish henceforth, as thy true slave, to seek thy honor and to
obey thee in all things.

O admirable Mother, present me to thy dear Son as His eternal
slave, so that as He has redeemed me by thee, by thee He may receive
me! O Mother of mercy, grant me the grace to obtain the true Wisdom of
God; and for that end receive me among those whom thou lovest and
teachest, whom thou leadest, nourishest and protectest as thy children
and thy slaves.

O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple,
imitator and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ thy Son, that
I may attain, by thine intercession and by thine example, to the
fullness of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven. Amen.



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Sign your name here.

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Date

Step 5 ~ After Consecration:
Once you have consecrated yourself to Jesus through Mary, live that
consecration.
St. Louis-Marie de Montfort recommended the following:

* Keep praying to develop a "great contempt" for the spirit of
this world.
* Maintain a special devotion to the Mystery of the Incarnation
(e.g., through meditation; spiritual reading; focusing on Feasts
centering around the Incarnation, such as the Annunciation and the
Nativity, etc.)
* Frequently recite the Ave, Rosary, and the Magnificat.
* Recite, every day if it is not inconvenient, the "Little Crown
of the Blessed Virgin" -- a series of Paters, Aves, and Glorias -- one
Ave for each star in the Virgin's Crown. St. Louis has a special way
of praying the Little Crown, which is recommended.
* Do everything through, with, in and for Mary for the sake of
Jesus, with the prayer, "I am all thine Immaculate One, with all that
I have: in time and in eternity" in your heart and on your lips.
* Associate yourself with Mary in a special way before, during,
and after Communion (see Supplement of the book, "True Devotion to the
Blessed Virgin Mary")
* Wear a Scapular or Miraculous Medal as a sign and reminder of
holy slavery.
* Renew the consecration once a year on the same date chosen
above, and by following the same 33-day period of exercises. If
desired, also renew the consecration monthly with the prayer, "I am
all thine and all I have is thine, O dear Jesus, through Mary, Thy
holy Mother."

Optional: Join the Confraternity of Mary, Queen of All Hearts. Their
address:

Director, Confraternity of Mary Queen of All Hearts
26 South Saxon Avenue
Bay Shore, NY 11706