Last summer, after graduating college and transitioning into the "real world", I met a new group of young adults through the Lancaster Young Adult Catholics. The leader of this group, Lisa, was a vibrant young women who had a faith that blew me away and filled me with joy. One day, while I was with her, she asked me if I had ever heard of the Total Consecration. I said that I had no idea what it was, and then she proceeded to tell me all about it. All I heard was a month-long preparation period which included certain prayers, recitation of the rosary, and a consecration prayer at the end of the of the preparation in which you handed over your entire life to Mary, who would give it over to her Son, Jesus. I found it interesting, but I was terrified at the word "consecration". I felt like I was binding myself to something that I wouldn't be able to "get out of" if I wanted to. At the time, my devotion to the Sacred Heart was still flourishing, and I was reciting a similar consecration prayer in which I handed my heart over to Jesus' Heart. For some reason, though, this total consecration was instilling a certain fear in me that made me want nothing to do with it.
Mary was persistent, though.
I talked to some of my other, new Catholic friends about it, and they knew of it also, giving it high praise and talking about it with humble reverence. Again, I still debated within myself whether or not to tack on another devotion to my prayer life and have it interfere with my devotion to the Sacred Heart. A few months went by and it was getting close to the end of summer. Over those months, I convinced myself that I should do the consecration. I asked Lisa for her copy of the book, Preparation for Total Consecration according to St. Louis Marie de Montfort, and she happily let me borrow it. Yet, more months passed by, and I put it off and put it off, until I had to give the book back to her because other people were waiting to use it also. Again, I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Then, something finally changed. Into winter, around the time of the Advent or Christmas season, I volunteered to be the lector for a special anointing Mass that was held at my church for the sick and infirm. At my parish, the lector has the privilege of staying in the sanctuary throughout the entire Mass, so we are closely involved in witnessing the bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ. After receiving communion at that Mass, I returned to my chair and knelt on a cushion on the marble floor. While I was kneeling there in prayer, I decided to give myself over to Mary and proceed with the total consecration.
I never looked back after that Mass. I went online and bought a copy of the book and selected the Feast of the Annunciation to recite the consecration prayer.
Now, what is the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary? It is a 33-day preparation where a person spends time in prayer and reading through exercises and meditations, discovering oneself and discerning the roles of Mary and Jesus in his or her life. The 33 days are broken down into four parts: Spirit of the World (12 days), Knowledge of Self (seven days), Knowledge of Our Lady (seven days), and Knowledge of Christ (seven days). It is suggested that the person picks a major Marian feast day (which would be the 34th day) on which to go to confession, attend Mass and receive the Eucharist, and then recite the consecration prayer at the end of the book. The book gives suggestions of feast days and the day in which to start the preparation before that feast day. Also, after the prayer, there is a line where the person signs his or her name and dates it, so that he or she remembers his or her commitment and the day of consecration. Then, each year after that, the person goes back through the exercises to renew his or her consecration.
This devotion truly graced my life. To be quite honest, I knew the fear I was trying to overcome in doing this consecration. I was afraid of the grace that might flow from the prayers and from handing my life, my actions, my thoughts, and all my possessions over to Mary; which is described as a kind of "holy slavery" by some of the saints (we'll talk about that more later). I was struggling with so many things at the time, but there were also many things that I was content with, and I was afraid that grace was going to turn my life upside down. Finally, through the Eucharist, I trusted in Jesus to have His mother lead me to Him ever more closely. She wants to give me and you over to His care and place us within His Heart.
This is a totally voluntary act, but I promise you, your life will change for the better. Mary does not seek us for her own, but she turns us all to her Son. I also found that it has helped my devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Sacrament, so my first devotion has benefited from it.
I recited my consecration prayer on March 25th, 2011, the Feast of the Annunciation. As a final act and reminder of my "holy slavery", I took a steel link chain and put it on my wrist. It does not come off by itself and the only way to take it off is to use a pair of pliers to bend one of the links or have it rust off.
This is common among those who do the consecration to have a reminder that they are working towards a higher goal, and that the things God has blessed them with are no longer theirs.
I pray that you may consider this devotion and see how Mary can lead you to her Son!
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