Nov. 5 begins 33 Day Preparation for Total Consecration

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

For all familiar with the 33 Day Preparation which St. Louis de Montfort preached and wrote for Total Consecration of oneself to Jesus through Mary, it begins on Nov. 5 to end with Consecration or renewal of Consecration on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8.

For those unfamiliar, you may find more information HERE

I’ll be happy to answer any questions, and also be happy for comments from those who are planning to renew their Consecration. Thanks. 🙂
 
I have thought of doing this for years. How much time each day is necessary to complete the requirements of the consecration? I wear a miraculous medal every day already.

Thank you for posting this just in time for the Dec. 8 consecration date! The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is the day before my birthday, and it’s the day I’ve always wanted for consecration. The Immaculate Conception is also my confirmation saint, so again, thank you!

Please let me know how much time you need each day to complete the requirements. I’m a single mom of two boys aged 6 & 3, and time is very difficult to manage right now.
 
Thank you. I had the wrong start date. Is it always 11/5, or does it change from year to year?
This is my second year, I am confident that the fruits will be different this year. Looking forward to growing closer to Jesus through Mary.
Thank you again.
 
ermcma said:
Thank you. I had the wrong start date. Is it always 11/5, or does it change from year to year?
This is my second year, I am confident that the fruits will be different this year. Looking forward to growing closer to Jesus through Mary.
Thank you again.
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Dear ermcma,

Thanks for your reply.

My small chart indicates Nov. 5 as the start date, ending the preparation on Dec. 7 and praying the Act of Consecration on Dec. 8. I think there was a change in the start date when we had a leap year and had to count an extra day in February, to end on Mar. 25; but otherwise it is usually the same start dates to include 33 days before praying the Act of Consecration on any Feast Day of Mary which is chosen.

It has been my experience after many years of renewing my Consecration that there are always new graces from the Lord each day! 🙂
 
I have been wanting to do this, but I have yet to read my copy of True Devotion to Mary, which I know I must before doing the 33 days. Does the link the OP posted above contain all the necessary reading materials or do I need to also get 33 Days to Morning Glory? Also, is there another start date I can set my sights on to adequately prepare for this consecration and all it entails?

Thanks for your help!
 
I am very interested in doing this, this year. Would you please message me. I would love someone to help me along with it. 🙂
 
sanchopanza said:
I have been wanting to do this, but I have yet to read my copy of True Devotion to Mary, which I know I must before doing the 33 days. Does the link the OP posted above contain all the necessary reading materials or do I need to also get 33 Days to Morning Glory? Also, is there another start date I can set my sights on to adequately prepare for this consecration and all it entails?

Thanks for your help!
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Dear sanchopanza,

Thanks for your reply. I’m so happy that you are desiring to consecrate yourself to Jesus through Mary. While reading the book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a wonderful way to understand the Consecration more completely, and I have read and re-read the book many times, I had not read it before I made my own Consecration as a teenager. As an adult, I began to read and appreciate it more and more.

So if I were you, I would start the preparation today and make the act of Consecration on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8. I try to renew my Consecration (using the 33 Day Preparation) on major feasts of Our Lady. The next one for me will probably be for the Feast of the Annunciation on Mar. 25. The start date for that would be Feb. 20.

The book 33 Days to Morning Glory is another variation on the Preparation, You do not need to buy it. The basic text remains “True Devotion” as St. Louis wrote it. The website I have posted uses “suggested readings” while the 33 Days to Glory uses different readings. The important thing is to follow the pattern St. Louis recommends.

I began today, using the website HERE. I will try to use the readings and prayers, but I am well aware that if I forget or cannot do all that the preparation may suggest for a given day, the important thing is the purity of intention. God looks at each heart and knows our deepest desires to love Him through Mary. Hope that helps. 🙂
 
Brant said:
I am very interested in doing this, this year. Would you please message me. I would love someone to help me along with it. 🙂
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Dear Brant,

I sent you a message this morning, but please also feel free to post on any of the threads I’ve begun on the open forum as well. So often, one question can help may persons understand better.

However, if you or anyone else, feel a question is too personal then a private message may be the best method. I’m happy to help either way. 🙂 Thanks for your reply and your interest in this beautiful way to love Jesus and Mary more.
 
Dear Sanchopanza,

How wonderful that you are beginning your preparation for consecration to Jesus through Mary today! It is such a life-changer, there is no doubt. I originally consecrated using True Devotions 7 years ago and my heart and prayer life continue to be beautifully transformed with each renewal of my consecration.

In response to your question about 33 Days to Morning Glory, it too is a 33 day preparation for consecration to Jesus through Mary. It is inspired by the St. Louis de Montfort’s consecration and draws deeply from it; however, Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC, the author of 33 Days to Morning Glory, recognizing that since the time of St. Louis de Montfort God has blessed us with other Marian greats, draws on those Marian greats to offer an “up-to-date” consecration preparation. In doing this, the reader walks each week with one of these pillars of Marian devotion: St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Mother Teresa, and Blessed John Paul II.

The style of Fr. Mike’s writing is inviting and easy to follow. He has the gift to take what is complex, make it graspable to the average Catholic, and at the same time leave it profound. Since the release of 33 Days to Morning Glory last December 8, over 120,000 of the book have been sold and hundreds have participated in the *Hearts Afire Parish-based Programs for the New Evangelization *which begins by doing this consecration together in community. Many then want to get even deeper into St. Louis de Montfort, as they now have a greater understanding of his life and his great influence! It is a beautiful thing to see Our Lady and her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, spreading this devotion so swiftly!

I encourage you and others to look into 33 Days to Morning Glory and to pray about introducing your family, friends, and parish to Marian Consecration. I will keep you in prayer as you prepare to give everything to Our Lady!

All God’s love and blessings, In Christ and His Blessed Mother,

Kelly

www.AllHeartsAfire.org

"Let us entrust this time of grace to the Mother of God, proclaimed “blessed because she believed” (Lk 1:45). ~Pope Benedict, Oct. 11, 2011
 
Dear Kelly,
Your reply and information on both the original 33day consecration and the morning glory version was enlightening and comprehensive.
I have made my consecration many times, and I can truly say my life has taken off!
It is as though our Mother through her prayer transforms our poor water into wine. I have much to say on this topic, and am a member of a prayer group that makes its consecration all together, helping those who are first timers. As well as answering other prayer requests. Marvellous support! Please please consider making your consecration if you have not done so! It does not matter which formula you use. As has already been said, God knows our hearts … The Maximillian Kolbe preparation is only 9 days for instance …
It was Jesus’ dying wish that we belong to His Mother, that we take her into our hearys and our home.
Blessings
Jo Mary 🙂
 
It is most amazing to find this post, thanks to God! I started my preparation on Nov 5th, looking forward with hope to Dec 8th 2012, for my first total consecration. The first time I came across and read Montfort’s books (Secret of Mary, and True Devotion to Mary), I was not in spiritual disposition to act on it - I was feeling too busy and absent minded, and I did not understand with my heart much of what was instructed. But I remember with joy that I closed the books with some sort of prayer that if this is something God wants me to do, may he give me the graces to do it someday.
For some reason I have been very attracted to it few months ago again, and so I started preparation yesterday. Before that, I found the time to read again the True devotion to Mary and finished that just on Nov 4th.
The prayers yesterday were a bit difficult for me. What are some of the ways one can renounce the spirit of the world? I am afraid lets I do too lightly what I could have done better. I was not able to go to confession before starting the Novenna, I hope to be able to do that on Thursday or Saturday. I will apreciate some advice on how to do the spiritual exercises for the first twelve days properly. What if you feel very sinful and not belonging?What if you do not have as much time and concentration in prayer as you should?
I thank Our Queen and Mother for you whohave been there and are ready to encourage us through.
 
ImmaBV said:
It is most amazing to find this post, thanks to God! I started my preparation on Nov 5th, looking forward with hope to Dec 8th 2012, for my first total consecration. The first time I came across and read Montfort’s books (Secret of Mary, and True Devotion to Mary), I was not in spiritual disposition to act on it - I was feeling too busy and absent minded, and I did not understand with my heart much of what was instructed. But I remember with joy that I closed the books with some sort of prayer that if this is something God wants me to do, may he give me the graces to do it someday.
For some reason I have been very attracted to it few months ago again, and so I started preparation yesterday. Before that, I found the time to read again the True devotion to Mary and finished that just on Nov 4th.
The prayers yesterday were a bit difficult for me. What are some of the ways one can renounce the spirit of the world? I am afraid lets I do too lightly what I could have done better. I was not able to go to confession before starting the Novenna, I hope to be able to do that on Thursday or Saturday. I will apreciate some advice on how to do the spiritual exercises for the first twelve days properly. What if you feel very sinful and not belonging?What if you do not have as much time and concentration in prayer as you should?
I thank Our Queen and Mother for you whohave been there and are ready to encourage us through.
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Dear Imma,

Thanks so much for your post, and your desire to grow in your love for Jesus and Mary. True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is really the work of a lifetime. We begin anew each time, and God’s Grace is new every morning. St. Louis De Montfort’s preparation is intended to help us grow in grace.

These first 12 Days are difficult for all of us who live in the present culture. There is a great deal of “worldliness” around us and it seeps into our daily lives often without our even recognizing it. The purpose of the first 12 days as stated on the website:
Purpose: Emptying Yourself of the Spirit of the World
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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.
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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.
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I underlined the examination of conscience because by God’s Grace, each of us needs to know how we can come closer to God and avoid anything that would prevent our obedience to Him. The suggested reading for today, Nov. 6 - Day 2 is again from the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus encourages us:
Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect…Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven.
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The perfection we are called to is the perfection of Charity. Love for God and neighbor. The purity of heart we seek is that we love Him and all others because of our love for Him. This is what Mary did. Let us pray the prayer to the Holy Spirit, with great faith in God who loves us and desires our holiness more than we do. Let us offer ourselves to Him as His children. I’m mindful of the words so often repeated by Bl. John Paul II: “Be not afraid. Open wide the doors of your heart to Christ”. Again this is what Mary did. 🙂
Hope that helps a bit.
 
This is all wonderful and so very helpful. Thank you so much, Mariachristi! 👍
Hugs
Jo Mary
 
Jo_Mary said:
This is all wonderful and so very helpful. Thank you so much, Mariachristi! 👍
Hugs
Jo Mary
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Dear Jo Mary,

And thank you for your desire to love Jesus and Mary more. 🙂 God’s work in Mary and in us grows more wonderful, the closer we come to Him through Mary. Today is Day 2 in our preparation, and like yourself, I have been blessed by my Consecration each time I’ve prepared during the 33 days before renewing my Consecration.

I am particularly blessed by the words of Jesus, in the suggested reading for today to “Be Perfect” given to us in Matthew’s Gospel. See HERE. Jesus would not ask us to do anything that He does not enable us to do by His Grace. He calls us to the perfection of Charity in union with God Who is Love. Mary is the perfect human example of holiness. She is the Model for every member of the Church, seeking to honor the Head Who is Jesus, the Son of God, the Word made Incarnate in her womb.

Let us continue to trust Him, as Mary trusted Him in her life on earth, to make us each the unique saint He created each of us to be.
 
MariaChristie,

What are the daily requirements of fulfilling your obligation once you have completed the consecration?

Is it necessary to have read True Devotion in its entirety prior to beginning the 33 day preparation? I have read most of the book, but recently lost it to an accidental milk spill by my 6 year old! 😊 Would it be sufficient if I finished the book during the 33 day preparation?

Thank you so much for helping!
 
I will make a renewal of total consecration on the feast day of the presentation of Mary,Nov. 21. Started in Oct. I am using 33 Days to Morning Glory this time.

Some of you mentioned/suggested the impact this has had on your life. Please elaborate.
 
Thanks MariaChristi for encouragement and elaboration. Day 2 was not as difficult as Day 1, at least. I thank God that there is a yearly opportunity to renew this consecration, and therefore grow into it more effectively. God bless.
 
Jo_Mary said:
Dear Kelly,
Your reply and information on both the original 33day consecration and the morning glory version was enlightening and comprehensive.
I have made my consecration many times, and I can truly say my life has taken off!
It is as though our Mother through her prayer transforms our poor water into wine. I have much to say on this topic, and am a member of a prayer group that makes its consecration all together, helping those who are first timers. As well as answering other prayer requests. Marvellous support! Please please consider making your consecration if you have not done so! It does not matter which formula you use. As has already been said, God knows our hearts … The Maximillian Kolbe preparation is only 9 days for instance …
It was Jesus’ dying wish that we belong to His Mother, that we take her into our hearys and our home.
Blessings
Jo Mary 🙂
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Dear Jo Mary,
Thanks much for the encouragement. Thanks for the information about your prayer group, I was not able to pm you because you have a full inbox, and it bumped back. I like the idea that “it was Jesus dying wish that we belong to His Mother”. It makes it feel so special for me, to do something that pleases the Lord. I am aware that a lot of much of the time most of us do things that makes the Lord very sad… And, we need all the support out there, because it is so special an undertaking, we normally want to do the best on our part, therefore, I feel very blessed to be in touch with the faithful who have past experience on this. Blessings.
 
BeeSweet said:
MariaChristie,

What are the daily requirements of fulfilling your obligation once you have completed the consecration?

Is it necessary to have read True Devotion in its entirety prior to beginning the 33 day preparation? I have read most of the book, but recently lost it to an accidental milk spill by my 6 year old! 😊 Would it be sufficient if I finished the book during the 33 day preparation?

Thank you so much for helping!
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Dear BeeSweet,

Living the Consecration is a life long task. It is a matter of persevering in love. All our growth in holiness is a matter of asking, seeking and knocking on the Door of God’s Heart. (cf Mt. 7:7-11) He is our Father who knows how to give good gifts to his children 🙂

It is not necessary to have read True Devotion in its entirety prior to the 33 Day Preparation or even prior to praying the Act of Consecration written by St. Louis de Montfort. It is a book that helps to better understand what True Devotion to Mary means and how to live it, however, so I continue to read and re-read it. Like Scripture it gives more to us each time we prayerfully read it. I consecrated myself as a teenager, but it was much later, as an adult that I read the entire book and continue to learn from it.

Trust the Lord and Our Lady to teach you, one day at a time. St. Louis in Chapter 7 of True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary wrote:
  1. Special interior practices for those who wish to be perfect
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  1. The exterior practices of this devotion which I have just dealt with should be observed as far as one’s circumstances and state of life permit. They should not be omitted through negligence or deliberate disregard. In addition to them, here are some very sanctifying interior practices for those souls who feel called by the Holy Spirit to a high degree of perfection. They may be expressed in four words, doing everything through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary, in order to do it more perfectly through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, and for Jesus.
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Hope that helps a bit. If you would like to read True Devotion online, you can read it HERE
 
MariaChristi said:
Dear BeeSweet,

Living the Consecration is a life long task. It is a matter of persevering in love. All our growth in holiness is a matter of asking, seeking and knocking on the Door of God’s Heart. (cf Mt. 7:7-11) He is our Father who knows how to give good gifts to his children 🙂

It is not necessary to have read True Devotion in its entirety prior to the 33 Day Preparation or even prior to praying the Act of Consecration written by St. Louis de Montfort. It is a book that helps to better understand what True Devotion to Mary means and how to live it, however, so I continue to read and re-read it. Like Scripture it gives more to us each time we prayerfully read it. I consecrated myself as a teenager, but it was much later, as an adult that I read the entire book and continue to learn from it.

Trust the Lord and Our Lady to teach you, one day at a time. St. Louis in Chapter 7 of True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary wrote:

Hope that helps a bit. If you would like to read True Devotion online, you can read it HERE
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Thak you!. You have been so blessedly helpful! I can continue on with the current preparation without any scruples, and God willing, I will consecrate myself on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Coception. Feeling joyful now, thanks! :flowers:
 
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