Day 1 - Feb. 21 - We begin!

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today is Day 1 in our 33 Day Preparation for Consecration (or Re-Consecration) of ourselves to Jesus through Mary. St. Louis de Montfort wrote in his treatise [True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary:](http://www.ewtn.com/library/montfort/truedevo.htm)

1. Those who desire to take up this special devotion, … should spend at least twelve days in emptying themselves of the spirit of the world, which is opposed to the spirit of Jesus, as I have recommended in the first part of this preparation for the reign of Jesus Christ…(underlining is mine)

We may ponder further the purpose of the 12 days:

Day 1
Purpose: Emptying Yourself of the Spirit of the World

Examine your conscience, pray, practice renouncement of your own will; mortification, purity of heart. This purity is the indispensable condition for contemplating God in heaven, to see Him on earth and to know Him by the light of faith. The first part of the preparation should be employed in casting off the spirit of the world which is contrary to that of Jesus Christ. The spirit of the world consists essentially in the denial of the supreme dominion of God; a denial which is manifested in practice by sin and disobedience; thus it is principally opposed to the spirit of Christ, which is also that of Mary.

It manifests itself by the concupiscence of the flesh, by the concupiscence of the eyes and by the pride of life. By disobedience to God's laws and the abuse of created things. Its works are: sin in all forms, then all else by which the devil leads to sin; works which bring error and darkness to the mind, and seduction and corruption to the will. Its pomps are the splendor and the charms employed by the devil to render sin alluring in persons, places and things.

This link from which I copied the above reflection, further suggests reading from the Gospel of Matthew, see [HERE](http://totalconsecration.ageofmary.com/preparation-01.html) as well as the suggested prayers: "Veni, Creator Spiritus" and "Ave Maris Stella".

Please, let us pray with, and for, all who are making this journey of 33 days. If anyone has comments or questions, please feel free to reply to each day's thread.   God willing, I hope to post a new thread on each of the 33 Days, so that we might be able to journey together.  Thanks.