Why Should we Consecrate Ourselves to Mary?
Mary is Our Mother
When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
John 19: 26-27
“Behold, your mother!” Jesus addresses these words to each of you, dear friends. He also asks you to take Mary as your mother “into your home”, to welcome her “as one of yours”, because “she will discharge her ministry as a mother and train you and mould you until Christ is fully formed in you”
Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord
Homily of the Holy Father John Paul II
13 April, 2003
What is Consecration to Mary?
The devotion called Total Consecration to Mary was presented by Saint Louis de Montfort in the early part of the 18th century. The focus of this consecration is knowing that, through Mary, we may be consecrated to Jesus.
The word consecration, in reference to sanctity, has several meanings. In relationship to Our Lady, its meanings are often misunderstood or confused. The word which more clearly defines total devotion to Mary, is “entrustment.” When we consecrate ourselves to Mary, we are entrusting our lives to her. We are giving ourselves to her motherly love, knowing that she will protect and care for us and, most importantly, she will lead us to her Son. We offer to her all that we are, and she in turn, takes us as her children, wraps her mantle around us, teaches and protects us. And she does this while always reminding us of her words at the Wedding at Cana, “Do whatever He tells you.”
We have known the love of our earthly mothers. As children, they wiped our tears, cleansed our bruises, taught us respect and loved us without condition. We looked to them always knowing that we could not know a love greater than the love of our earthly mother. But Mary is our heavenly mother and her love for her children is so great that we cannot truly realize it.
“In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.”
~Saint Bernard of Clairvaux ~ Father and Doctor of the Church ~
Why Should We Entrust Our Lives to Mary?
Saint de Montfort believed and taught that the objective of consecration is sanctity. It is, in a sense, the renewal of our baptism and keeps us on a path where our search is, ultimately, union with God. He believed that we do not realize the damaging result our self-focus has upon our souls and that consecration begins a journey of holiness where we turn our center away from our self-love and toward God, through Mary. Based upon the proclamation that “Mary is full of grace”, he maintained that, for us to find grace with God, we must first discover Mary. Saint John Paul II held this same feeling when he said that as a young seminarian he had many times, gone to Saint de Montfort’s writings and he “understood that I could not exclude the Lord’s Mother from my life without neglecting the will of God-Trinity”.
‘Mary having co-operated in our redemption with so much glory to God and so much love for us, Our Lord ordained that no one shall obtain salvation except through her intercession.’
~ Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori ~
How Does Mary Help Us to Find Grace With God?
We Begin our journey to oneness with God by following Our Lady and working to reflect her virtues.
A thirteen year old child was told by an angel that she would bear a son: (“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God…… And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Gospel of Luke 1: 31-38)
She was a child, frightened and confused but her faith was sound and she wanted to please God. She responded, “May it be done to me according to your word”. Mary not only had deep faith, she trusted and without question, obeyed. Through her faith, we can deepen our own and through her, we learn trust and obedience.
Mary, alone and pregnant, went on the journey to the hill country to be with her cousin Elizabeth. “And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.” (Luke 1:56) We are not told why she stayed with Elizabeth for three months but it is most probable that she stayed to help Elizabeth who was aged and soon to give birth to her son. Here we learn the virtue of charity. We also see the virtue of Mary’s charity in the Wedding of Cana (John 2: 1-12) when she realized the wine was gone and became concerned that the host would be embarrassed.
The Wedding at Cana offers other examples of Mary’s virtues. Saint John narrates the event. (John 2: 3-5) When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Mary knew that Jesus could easily produce more wine. She also knew that if He did this, it would be His first “sign” and that would mean that some of the wedding guests would begin to wonder who He was. In other words, His life, as it had been, would be over, His new life would begin and He would, in a sense, be away from her. She also knew there would be great suffering for her Son and she would suffer with Him, but she called him to change the water to wine. I, personally, have such great appreciation for Mary here, because I cannot wrap my head around the strength, obedience and courage of a mother who loves her Son on a deeper level than we can comprehend with our human minds, yet sends Him out to begin the journey that will lead Him to become the Sacrificial Lamb. From these three lines in John’s Gospel, Mary teaches us unselfish love, courage, strength and charity. And she does this without saying that she is His mother. She teaches humility.
“When Mary has struck her roots in a soul, she produces there marvels of grace, which she alone can produce, because she alone is the fruitful Virgin who never has had, and never will have, her equal in purity and in fruitfulness.”
~Saint Louis De Montfort ~True Devotion to Mary ~
To Jesus Through Mary ~ Totus Tuus
“If, then, we establish solid devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ. If devotion to Our Lady removed us from Jesus Christ, we should have to reject it as an illusion of the devil; but so far from this being the case, devotion to Our Lady is, on the contrary, necessary for us—as I have already shown, and will show still further hereafter—as a means of finding Jesus Christ perfectly, of loving Him tenderly, of serving Him faithfully.”
~Saint Louis de Montfort ~ True Devotion to Mary ~
“If, then, we establish solid devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ.” Why should we consecrate ourselves to Mary? The answer is simple; to bring about a clearer, more loving and deeper devotion to Jesus. To unite ourselves to Him. And who, but His mother, who carried Him in her womb, nourished Him with her milk, cared for Him from an infant to an adult, suffered a mother’s heartache as He was humiliated, beaten and crucified, could bring us closer to Him? It is always and in all ways about uniting ourselves with Jesus.
Other Ways of Consecration
“The Immaculate alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. She seeks souls that will consecrate themselves entirely to her, that will become in her hands forceful instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spread of God’s kingdom.”
~Saint Maximilian Kolbe ~
There, of course, are saints other than Saint de Montfort, who have offered us ways to consecrate ourselves to Mary. I, particularly, like Saint Maximilian Kolbe. There are many books worth reading. I suggest looking into books on the subject until you find one that resonates with your spirituality and your devotion to Our Lady. Saint de Montfort’s method may be difficult but there are others. Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s method is different. Another lovely read with a joyful method is 33 Days to Morning Glory by Father Michael Gaitley. It doesn’t matter whose method you choose. It matters only that you choose one and consecrate yourself to Mary. You have the reasons. You have the devotion. You have the love. Put them together and remember Totus Tuus – To Jesus through Mary!
“We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek – Jesus, her Son.”
~Saint Louis Marie de Montfort~
Marilyn Nash
(Totus Tuus was Saint John Paul II’s apostolic motto. It is a Latin phrase meaning “totally thine” and expressed his personal Consecration to Mary based on the spiritual approach of Saint Louis de Montfort.)
~Philippe de Champaigne ~ The Virgin in Sorrow at the Foot of the Cross~
“We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek – Jesus, her Son.”
~Saint Louis Marie de Montfort~
‘Mary having co-operated in our redemption with so much glory to God and so much love for us, Our Lord ordained that no one shall obtain salvation except through her intercession.’
~ Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori ~
“In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.”
~Saint Bernard of Clairvaux ~ Father and Doctor of the Church ~
“The Immaculate alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. She seeks souls that will consecrate themselves entirely to her, that will become in her hands forceful instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spread of God’s kingdom.”
~Saint Maximilian Kolbe ~
