Help Needed! Montfort Consecration Day Question

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Right now, I am on my 25th day of my total consecration to Mary according to Montfort. And that is the problem! If I keep doing my consecration, the 33rd day will turn out to be Tuesday, October 26, which is not a Marian Feast day. Going to the morning Mass would certainly be possible, but could my confession be done on the Saturday before Tuesday, or does it have to be on the same day?

You might be wondering by now how I planned so poorly my consecration. Here is some background info that I would love to disclose to see if I am on the right track.

I have been fighting an addiction for pretty much all of my life. It has been a complete struggle, with me being unable to break a never ending two-three cycle. Finally, I confessed to my girlfriend how much I was struggling, and she was devastated. Although I had told her about this from the beginning, I believe that it finally sunk in, and I was able to see all of the pain that I was causing to those I loved the most. Having been abused as a child, I hated this addiction also, because it had made my life so miserable. So on that day, I decided that I needed some structured spiritual program to help me with my struggle, along with the other things I was doing. As a result, I picked up the Total Consecration book she had given me some time before, and immediately put it into practice the following day.

Now fast forward four weeks later, and not only have I not relapsed (THANKS BE TO GOD AND MARY!), but I have been growing more in love with the Virgin Mary, someone I had always had a hard time having any sort of spiritual relationship with. In fact, I find myself thinking more about her as a mother and she is increasingly taking a bigger place in my heart. Not only this, but because I have been going to the Adoration Chapel one to one hour and a half a day to do my consecration, I can see the Monstrance any time I close my eyes, and I look forward to my hour with Jesus every day! So, obviously, this devotion has begun to bear fruits in my life already.

But because of my urgency, I did not begin on a day that would have ended on a Feast. That would have meant beginning in November, and I felt that I needed something drastic now. As I went through the process, I also realized that perhaps this wasn’t the best intention for beginning the consecration since we are told that we shouldn’t do it for the benefits that we will get but because of the devotion that we believe is naturally due to Mary and God. In addition, I have come to realized what it truly means to be consecrated to her. I love it though, strange as it may appear to me at times (remember, this is someone who never felt any devotion to her. “Why not go straight to Jesus?” was my philosophy. I know, sort of Protestant :P).

So after this longer than needed post, could someone advise me if I should wait for a Marian Feast day (DECEMBER!) to do my consecration or if I should go ahead on do it on the 26th?

PS: I was recently Confirmed in the Church this past Easter after eleven years of searching for Home. I left the Church as an 11 year old only to return to it in the end, and I am LOVING it. But a lot of this IS fairly new to me in some aspects, so any help will be GREATLY appreciated. 👍
 
Hmm, I not sure about when you should/can make the consecration. I would discuss this with a Priest who is familiar with it. Ask him to help you in the signing of the consecration as well. I did it last Dec.8th with the 33 day preparation done prior, signing it with my Priest on the alter. That in itself is not an easy thing to do and it seems everyone who tries it finds an obstacle of some kind. This may be your obstacle to test your resolve and humility since you have overcome other things. Yes, I would talk to a Priest about this in the spirit of humility and do as he suggest, even if it means to redo the prayers in preparation. I’m glad to hear the victories you are having and like I said this may just be an unexpected test. Aren’t they all though? I hope someone else can answer you better. Keep it up and God Bless, Tim
 
Personally, I would probably choose just to keep praying the prayers and do the Act of Consecration on a Marian Feast day. The Feast of the Presentation of Mary is on Nov 21 for which you would normally start the preparation on October 19. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is Dec 8 and you would normally start your prayers on Nov 5th. So, you could wrap up your 33 days on this Tuesday and then maybe just pray a daily Rosary or pray week 3 prayers until the 19th (for example) and then start day one again. Redundant? Well, maybe not as much as you think. With each prayer you are opening yourself up more and more to the Lord and to allowing Mary to help you. So the prayers that you say on Oct 19th may have a deeper meaning to you than they did the first time around.

My thinking is this: St. Louis de Montfort designed a system to prepare for consecration. However, it is not set in stone. By praying the same prayers daily for a longer period of time is only going to prepare you more. However, you will never run the risk of being overprepared. I just think it is kind of neat to do your consecration on a Feast day. Again, nothing is written in stone here and if you choose to do your Act of Consecration on a non-feast day, I believe it will still count in the eyes of God. I would recommend that you pray on this. I’m sure Our Lady will offer some guidance for you

P.S.This site is kind of helpful too. The advice to discuss with your priest is also good, although some priests are not as good as others about offering advice on private devotions. So, if he is not receptive or helpful, don’t get frustrated, that’s just how some priests are.

Blessings, Prayer_Warrior
 
Personally, I would probably choose just to keep praying the prayers and do the Act of Consecration on a Marian Feast day. The Feast of the Presentation of Mary is on Nov 21 for which you would normally start the preparation on October 19. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is Dec 8 and you would normally start your prayers on Nov 5th. So, you could wrap up your 33 days on this Tuesday and then maybe just pray a daily Rosary or pray week 3 prayers until the 19th (for example) and then start day one again. Redundant? Well, maybe not as much as you think. With each prayer you are opening yourself up more and more to the Lord and to allowing Mary to help you. So the prayers that you say on Oct 19th may have a deeper meaning to you than they did the first time around.

My thinking is this: St. Louis de Montfort designed a system to prepare for consecration. However, it is not set in stone. By praying the same prayers daily for a longer period of time is only going to prepare you more. However, you will never run the risk of being overprepared. I just think it is kind of neat to do your consecration on a Feast day. Again, nothing is written in stone here and if you choose to do your Act of Consecration on a non-feast day, I believe it will still count in the eyes of God. I would recommend that you pray on this. I’m sure Our Lady will offer some guidance for you

P.S.This site is kind of helpful too. The advice to discuss with your priest is also good, although some priests are not as good as others about offering advice on private devotions. So, if he is not receptive or helpful, don’t get frustrated, that’s just how some priests are.

Blessings, Prayer_Warrior
Sounds wise to me. The little extra prep is always good. Tim
 
Thank you two for your answers. I will take it up into prayer and ask my priest whenever I get the chance, although I have gotten the impression that he might not know what it is too well.

Is anyone of the opinion that I should do my consecration next tuesday? Thanks again.
 
I also agree that I would continue on with your prep for the total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, however use this as prep only.

Plan to make the real consecration on a Marian feast day.
 
you are supposed to be doing this preparation as a group under reliable guidance, precisely so you can get this kind of help as you go along. please get in touch with those directing you in this devotion, but do not expect them to solve all your other problems, because that is not what this is about. please visit the other current thread on this topic.
 
you are supposed to be doing this preparation as a group under reliable guidance, precisely so you can get this kind of help as you go along. please get in touch with those directing you in this devotion, but do not expect them to solve all your other problems, because that is not what this is about. please visit the other current thread on this topic.
Puzzleannie,

So we HAVE to do this as a group? I was under the impression that we could do this individually, but perhaps I am wrong. And which other thread would that be? Thanks!
 
Thank you all for the help so far.

After some thinking and praying, I have decided to redo my consecration in January. Not only will I actually get to consecrate myself totally on a feast day, I will also be able to begin with the right intention–to do it for the sake of Jesus and Mary, not mine–and with a greater understanding of what I am actually doing. To gain a better understanding I am going to read *True Devotion to Mary *during December, something I am quite excited about.

Once again, thanks to all of you! Please keep me in your prayers as I go through this exciting and life changing journey!
 
Don’t forget the Dec.8th feast day of the immaculate conception. Prep should start Nov. 5th. That is when our parish did ours last year. You could be the one to start it up at your parish, with your Priest’s permission or even with him. We had the leagion of Mary come from another parish to speak to us about it then watched dvd’s from Fr. Fredrick Miller about the consecration for a couple of weeks before the prep time. God Bless your efforts, Tim
 
Puzzleannie,

So we HAVE to do this as a group? I was under the impression that we could do this individually, but perhaps I am wrong. And which other thread would that be? Thanks!
I did it 20 yrs ago in a group, but it is not a requirement of the consecration.
 
You are very worried about specifics, but i just want to congratulate you on your decision to do the consecration. I hope that you are well otherwise in your life, as you say you suffer an addiction. God bless you! Please just do your consecration on the day that you planned—the important thing is that you are consecrating yourself to a lifelong process of conversion----don’t stress out on the specifics. Go to confession and communion as Divine Providence allows----you do realize that the events in your life *right now *are within His plan? I know it is easy to know something in your brain, but it needs to sink all the way down into your heart----work your consecration out the way it is now.
 
Lisa,

Thank you for your suggestion. I will take it up to prayer. 🙂
 
Hello everyone! I have kept this thread in my favourites as I was so interested in consecrating myself to Mary. The Lord knew this desire for the past couple of months and i was planning on going it alone and having my spiritual director consecrate me. But guess what? The Lord had other plans. In our parish bulletin there is one starting in one of our traditionalist parishes in our diocese on November the 5th with meeting every week with prayer, etc. We will be consecrated on Dec the 8 at a High Mass on Saturday.

Thank you Jesus and Mary!!!:signofcross:
 
I’m so glad this thread was posted. I was just thinking about doing this the other day and was beginning to look into finding information about it. This thread answered many of my questions and pointed me to a website that answered the rest of them. I wonder if that’s a sign? 😉

Scout :tiphat:
 
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