Dear MiserereMe25,
Good Question! Truly, we can consecrate ourselves in a moment by the Grace of God, but God has inspired His Saints to write and to live in such a way as to assure perseverence in the good we attempt to do. How beautiful God’s Plan is for us, that He works in us and through us to build up the Mystical Body of Christ!
St. Louis de Montfort’s little book on
True Devotion to the Virgin Mary is one of those Classic Spiritual books that I treasure and continue to read and re-read with great gratitude to God. I first learned of St. Louis de Montfort’s, “Act of Total Consecration” as a sophomore in a Catholic High School.
I do not remember making the 33 day Preparation however, until I read the book myself, later, It was enough for me and others who heard Sister’s invitation and her explanation to us of what it meant. We already loved Our Lord and Our Lady but hearing this Dominican Sister tell us about giving ourselves totally to Jesus through Mary, stirred even more the ardor in our minds and hearts. I can still remember her taking a small group of us over to Church on our lunch hour and having made copies of the Act of Consecration for us, we each prayed that prayer, on June 10. I will be eternally grateful to Sister Therese Catherine, OP for teaching us and inviting us into this Total Consecration.
I do not remember when I read the entire book on
True Devotion nor when I first made the 33 day preparation which is described in the book, but I have been blessed each time I read the book and especially each time I renew my Consecration in making the 33 day preparation. I hope you will take the time to read the entire book, not once but many times. It is not one to be read quickly, or just once. The link I’ve given is to the online version but it can be purchased through Amazon inexpensively in paperback.
St. John Paul II said his reading of St. Louis de Montfort’s
True Devotion was a “turning point” in his young life. St. Teresa of Calcutta recommended De Montfort’s Total Consecration to her Missionaries of Charity, and I found some of De Montfort’s words in Mother Teresa’s own writing. Many of us recognized St. Louis De Montfort’s words in Pope St. John Paul II’s Papa Motto, “Totus Tuus” (Totally Yours).’
Tomorrow is an “old Feast” of Mary no longer on the current revision of the liturgical calendar but I remember it each year. Oct. 11 was formerly called the Feast of Our Lady’s Maternity. Pope St. John XXIII opened Vatican II on this date. He had great devotion to Our Lady. Now we celebrate the Motherhood of Mary solemnly on Jan 1. At any rate, tomorrow, God willing, I will renew my Total Consecration to Mary, and I encourage you and all who may be reading this thread to prayerfully consider both reading and beginning to practice
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin as described by St. Louis de Montfort.
