The Holy Name school community will be growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ and our devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary through Marian consecration. We invite you to join us on this journey of faith from September to October.
Marian consecration, also called consecration to Jesus through Mary, is the act of entrusting oneself to Jesus through devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary, who points always to her beloved Son and Lord Jesus Christ. God Himself can be understood to have been the first to complete Marian consecration, as He entrusted His only begotten Son, Himself, Jesus, to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ also directed us toward Marian consecration as, while on the cross, He said to His Mother Mary, "Woman, behold, your son" and to the beloved disciple John, "Behold, your mother." (John 19:26-27) This motherly relationship extends to us, as God entrusts us to the care of His beloved mother and encourages us to stay close to her.
Marian consecration involves a prayer of consecration offering ourselves to our Blessed Mother Mary, trusting that she will bring us to God more closely, more quickly, more easily, and more perfectly than we would on our own (reference to St. Louis de Montfort). The consecration prayer is traditionally accompanied by 33 days of prayerful preparation. By pondering the life and virtue of our Blessed Mother Mary, we come to better understand her role in our lives, as she was given by God to guide us into closer relationship with Jesus on the journey to become holy saints.
Our school will be using the book "Consecration to Mary for Little Ones" by Kimberly Fries for our reflections and prayers of preparation. This book lends itself well to use for our school body ranging from 4 years old to 14 years old. The book is available for your family to purchase on Amazon if interested (and if interested, don't forget to support our school by using AmazonSmile and designating Holy Name Church and School as your charitable organization).
The book "33 Days to Morning Glory," by Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, MIC, is another popular guide to Marian consecration and preparation for older children and adults of all ages. It has been used in many parishes.
"True Devotion to Mary" by St. Louis de Montfort is a beautiful book and guide to Marian consecration and preparation for those who want to delve deeper into the foundation and traditional prayers of this great devotion.
Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I accept your mission for me. I will give my life to you and your Son, Jesus. Every day I will choose to offer sacrifices and pray to you. I know that I am little, but I believe that I have been given a great mission by you to bring many people to God. May your Immaculate Heart Triumph!
I, ___________________________ , a repentant sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands,O, Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism. I renounce Satan and resolve to follow Jesus Christ even more closely than before.
Mary, I give you my heart. Please set it on fire with love for Jesus. Make it always attentive to his burning thirst for love and for souls. Keep my heart in your most pure Heart that I may love Jesus and the members of his Body with your own perfect love.
Mary, I entrust myself totally to you: my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions. Please make of me, of all that I am and have, whatever most pleases you. Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for bringing the greatest possible glory to God. If I fall, please lead me back to Jesus. Wash me in the blood and water that flow from his pierced side, and help me never to lose my trust in this fountain of love and mercy.
With you, O Immaculate Mother - you who always do the will of God - I unite myself to the perfect consecration of Jesus as he offers himself in the Spirit to the Father for the life of the world. Amen.
Mary, my Mother, I give myself totally to you as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all that I am and have, whatever most pleases you. Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for bringing the greatest possible glory to God. Amen.
I, __________, a faithless sinner, 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. Amen.
O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to thee. I, ___________, a repentant sinner, cast myself at thy feet humbly imploring thee to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to thyself as thy possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases thee. If it pleases thee, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of thee: “She shall crush your head,” and, “Thou alone hast destroyed all heresies in the whole world.”
Let me be a fit instrument in thine Immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing thy glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed Kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever thou enterest, one obtains the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through thy hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
V. Allow me to praise thee O Sacred Virgin.
R. Give me strength against thy enemies