Marian Consecration in a nutshell is to make a gift of oneself to Jesus in the same way in which He made a gift of Himself to us. That is by entrusting ourselves entirely, as the little children who alone may enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3), to the loving care of His Blessed Mother.
There is much more that can be said, much more that has been said, but the best way to go further, rather than my writing reams of things here, is to get started on a consecration preparation programme. There are many of these out there, and they will all lead you into better understanding, helping you to be ready to make a consecration to Our Lady. It isn’t necessary to understand everything before beginning preparation, because in preparing we are lead to a deeper understanding!
There are several consecration methods provided on this page. This is not only to give options as to how one undertakes an initial consecration, but because Marian Consecration is something that people quite often like to renew periodically. The options mean that different teachings and ideas can be explored at renewals, helping one to ever go deeper! So let’s take a look at some of them…
33 Days to Morning Glory
This book is very popular and gives a good preliminary introduction to the Marian teaching and devotion of four saints, by way of helping one to come to understand it more deeply. These four are:
- St. Louis Marie de Montfort (there is more on him below)
- St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe (again – more details below)
- Pope St. John Paul II (his Papal Motto was Totus Tuus Maria – learn why!)
- St. Teresa of Calcutta (the book explores her concept of covenant in consecration)
If you haven’t done a consecration to Mary before it may be a good place to start.
Introduction – you can read this online to have an idea about how the book works.
If you decide you would like to go ahead with this consecration, you are going to need to get a copy of the book. It is worth asking around Catholic friends who might lend you a copy for this one – but if that doesn’t work you can buy it here (USA), here (Ireland) and here (free worldwide delivery). If you don’t want to have to buy a book, check out some of the other consecration methods listed below.
If continuing with this one, it is worth checking out this consecration chart to pick a feast day you might want to aim to make your consecration on – this will give you your starting date. If this start is before you get a copy, days 1-7 are available online to get started!
Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7
Companion book PDF (optional)
St. Louis Marie de Montfort
St. Louis Marie de Montfort is probably the most well known saint when it comes to consecration to Our Lady. His little book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin has inspired countless Catholics over the years – counting amongst them popes and saints and saintly popes!
To read that book, which may serve as a good exploration of the concept of Marian Consecration, you can find the PDF here. However if you would like a more explicit programme of consecration preparation, you could try using this PDF – which is very clearly laid out on a day by day basis. Alternatively, variations of both books in print can be found and bought.
As an alternative way to explore the teachings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, or a means of taking another perspective once it has been read, there is a twelve part audio retreat on the site of the Traditional MI, with each conference lasting about half an hour. Another resource that can be very helpful for providing deeper reflection is the handbook of the Legion of Mary – especially the first nine chapters or so… Other writings of Frank Duff may be just as good, but not always as easy to find – however presently Deus et Patria are making a selection of essays available free on their website.
St. Maximilian Kolbe
After St. Louis, St. Maximilian Kolbe is probably the saint most associated with consecration to Mary being central to his life and mission. His method of consecration, however, is quite distinct in that certain areas of Mariology tend to be explored further in Kolbe’s writings (he was, after all, familiar with and building upon St. Louis Marie de Montfort) and there is a greater emphasis on evangelisation and seeking the salvation of souls.
Thanks in large part to the devotional following of the Militia Immaculata and his own Franciscan brethren, there is a wealth of free preparatory materials for consecration according to St. Maximilian Kolbe’s teachings online. These programmes also tend to be shorter than the approximately month long format of other consecrations. Let’s take a look at some:
The Marian Friars Minor provide a 9 Day Audio Retreat in preparation for consecration on their website. This consists of a talk for each of the nine days, which is generally 30-40 minutes long.
The traditional observance Militia Immaculata have a wealth of materials worth looking into available on their site. Here is their page of St. Maximilian Kolbe resources – free downloads including materials for a thirteen day consecration preparation and a bunch of supplementary reading. N.B. The mobi/ePub downloads might not work if you’re not on a very modern PC, but PDFs should be fine indiscriminately!
Here is a 9 Day written retreat – not too long yet including prayer, scripture, Kolbe’s writings and commentary…
Finally, there are some options you can have a look through on the American MIlitia Immaculata website.
Alternative Options
The above options do not exhaust the ways in which one can make or renew a consecration to Jesus through Mary, but they will serve as a good introduction. As time goes on, you may desire to look at other ways of deepening this devotion. From time to time, we may also provide other versions of consecrations or undertake group consecrations according to specific programmes. These will be listed below:
- Consecration according to the Message of Fatima and Franciscan thought – Originally undertaken as group consecration for 13th May 2021
- Consecration according to the method of St. Louis Marie de Montfort – Originally undertaken as a group consecration for 13th May 2022
If you have suggestions for materials not listed here, do email to let us know!
Golden Rose 