consecrating your heart to Our Lady?

[photosynthesis]

I have wanted to consecrate my heart to the Blessed Virgin Mary for a long time... but I'm not sure what it involves, or how to do it.

Have any of you done this?

I've read about it, and I know that there are 2 ways of doing it: the way of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, and the way of St. Maximillian Kolbe. The Church has taught that both are very good, but I'm wondering which way is for me.

I was talking about this with my friend Geraldine, and she said she wanted to consecrate her heart to Mary too. We are thinking about doing it together on the same feast day in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Is that appropriate, or should this be something you do all by yourself without talking about it with anyone?

I've been looking at a lot of websites about it, a HUGE amount of them are coming from ultra-traditionalist / sedevacantist websites, and that creeps me out a little. I don't want to be allying myself with those groups that are not in communion with the Magesterium. A lot of them are talking about the "worship" of Mary, known as "hyperdulia." I was always taught that we DON'T worship Mary, so this is confusing me.

Do you need a priest to witness your consecration or is it a private thing?

I've heard that if you consecrate yourself totally to Mary, you can't ask her for special favors for yourself. Whenever I'm in a bind I always say a Hail Mary and ask her to help me...would I not be allowed to do this after I consecrate my heart to her?

I've also heard that consecration is a kind of a vow, and that once you make it, you are under the pain of sin to keep it...

Any information about Marian consecration would be appreciated.

[jezic]

i think you still can do pretty much everything.

Right now, I am near the end of the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary by St. Louis de Montfort. I would recommend that anyone who has not done a consecration do this one or the others that exist.

I don't know where you would find info about it though.

[theculturewarrior]

Where's Corban when you need him? :

[CatholicAndFanatical]

I went to a Padre Pio website and found the consecration he did on the first Saturdays of every month.

the link to that site is here:
[url="http://www.padrepiodevotions.org/index.asp?pagename=prayers"]http://www.padrepiodevotions.org/index.asp?pagename=prayers[/url]

I did that one this morning, hoping I can continue next month too.

The other prayers that are on there are awesome. I am trying to start a habit of saying them daily.

Good luck on your search.

God Bless

[Totus Tuus]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Oct 1 2005, 02:08 AM']I have wanted to consecrate my heart to the Blessed Virgin Mary for a long time...  but I'm not sure what it involves, or how to do it.

Have any of you done this?

I've read about it, and I know that there are 2 ways of doing it:  the way of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, and the way of St. Maximillian Kolbe.  The Church has taught that both are very good, but I'm wondering which way is for me.

I was talking about this with my friend Geraldine, and she said she wanted to consecrate her heart to Mary too.  We are thinking about doing it together on the same feast day in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  Is that appropriate, or should this be something you do all by yourself without talking about it with anyone?[/quote]

No, the Consecration can be made privately or together. Your plan sounds awesome. I kind of wish there had been someone to help me and be my partner during the consecration, personally. I did it by myself

[quote]
I've been looking at a lot of websites about it, a HUGE amount of them are coming from ultra-traditionalist / sedevacantist websites, and that creeps me out a little.  I don't want to be allying myself with those groups that are not in communion with the Magesterium.  A lot of them are talking about the "worship" of Mary, known as "hyperdulia."  I was always taught that we DON'T worship Mary, so this is confusing me.
[/quote]

I wouldn't worry about being associated with the sedevecantists or schismatics by making this consecration. The Order I'm joining (The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, Mother ANgelica's Order, are a very faithful Order and they renew their Consecration together every year.)

[quote]Do you need a priest to witness your consecration or is it a private thing?
[/quote]

As far as I know you can do it by yourself. I did...

[quote]I've heard that if you consecrate yourself totally to Mary, you can't ask her for special favors for yourself.  Whenever I'm in a bind I always say a Hail Mary and ask her to help me...would I not be allowed to do this after I consecrate my heart to her?
[/quote]
No! This is exactly what you are [i]supposed[/i] to do when you are consecrated to her. It wouldn't make sense to set up this beautiful alliance with the Mother of God and then be barred from asking for her intercession. No, you can ask for favors and pray for them. I do exactly what you do, and I have learned to do it [i]more[/i] since I made my consecration.

[quote]I've also heard that consecration is a kind of a vow, and that once you make it, you are under the pain of sin to keep it...
[/quote]

Nope. You're not under pain of sin. I'm not sure exactly what the theological reasons for this are, but if you read "True Devotion" by St. Louis De Montfort, he explains this in one of the chapters I think.
[quote]Any information about Marian consecration would be appreciated.
[right][snapback]742926[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]


Well if you go here you can basically get all of St. Louis De Montfort's "True Devotion" and "Total Consecration", which will teach you all you need to know: [url="http://www.ewtn.com/vlibrary/search2.asp"]http://www.ewtn.com/vlibrary/search2.asp[/url]

[corban711]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Oct 1 2005, 02:08 AM']I have wanted to consecrate my heart to the Blessed Virgin Mary for a long time...  but I'm not sure what it involves, or how to do it.

Have any of you done this?

I've read about it, and I know that there are 2 ways of doing it:  the way of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, and the way of St. Maximillian Kolbe.  The Church has taught that both are very good, but I'm wondering which way is for me.

I was talking about this with my friend Geraldine, and she said she wanted to consecrate her heart to Mary too.  We are thinking about doing it together on the same feast day in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  Is that appropriate, or should this be something you do all by yourself without talking about it with anyone?

I've been looking at a lot of websites about it, a HUGE amount of them are coming from ultra-traditionalist / sedevacantist websites, and that creeps me out a little.  I don't want to be allying myself with those groups that are not in communion with the Magesterium.  A lot of them are talking about the "worship" of Mary, known as "hyperdulia."  I was always taught that we DON'T worship Mary, so this is confusing me.

Do you need a priest to witness your consecration or is it a private thing?

I've heard that if you consecrate yourself totally to Mary, you can't ask her for special favors for yourself.  Whenever I'm in a bind I always say a Hail Mary and ask her to help me...would I not be allowed to do this after I consecrate my heart to her?

I've also heard that consecration is a kind of a vow, and that once you make it, you are under the pain of sin to keep it...

Any information about Marian consecration would be appreciated.
[right][snapback]742926[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]


well, hopefully i can answer your questions after being mentioned as the guy to answer them!!! now i am nervous!!! St. Therese, in honor of your feast...help me out here!!! first let me say, whichever way you choose to do it...make sure you do it! don't hesitate...pick a date to do it and then do it! marian consecration is seriously one of the greatest gifts given to us....and has done more for my growth in sanctity than any other spiritual gift by far and i could list a number of saints who will say the same. i think Our Lady very much desires your consecration...so be not afraid!!! you are in good hands!!!

the first time i consecrated myself to Mary, it was with a close group of friends of mine. we all wanted to be consecrated and so we prayed it together in front of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima at my parish. it was beautiful. you can do it with your friend, and that might even be good to do together as Our Lady will guide you two together and you two can help eachother out. She will give you different graces and insights into the Consecration...and doing it together might help you both to grow from eachother's help.

a lot of traditionalists/sedavacantists are huge supporters of Marian Consecration precisely because it is a beautiful tradition in the Church and a tremendous aid to sanctity. but Marian Consecration is very much supported by other people like the saints, JPII, Benedict XVI and tons of others. just because they talk about it, does not mean you will be associated with them. i certainly am not associated with any of them, but Marian Consecration lies at the heart of the spirituality God has given me. they talk a lot about the Mass, Confession and the Eucharist too...and those are things that we all should be talking about because of their greatness. i would recommend however, that you don't learn the majority of your Marian Consecration teachings from them, because their websites might have other things which go against our faith. Stick with the saints...Louis de Montfort, Max Kolbe and other people you can trust. but i'm sure you know all that...

oh yeah...almost forgot...Catholics do not worship Mary. worship is for God alone. however, that is because how we use the word worship. in older days, it did not have the same precise meaning and "worship" was also used in reference to reverence for kings, queens, etc. so there are older Marian writings that say we worship Mary, but be at peace...different meaning for the word

you do not need a priest to witness it. you can make it a private thing if you wish. if you so desire, you could ask your priest to be a witness if that is something you would like to do..but it is not necessary.

alright...about special favors. okay, when you consecrate your heart to Mary, you give her everything...absolutely everything...including your prayers. here is what i do if i want to pray for a special intention..."Mary, i give you this person (or whatever the intention is) and I ask you to do this...but you know what is needed much more than i do. If this prayer is needed for something else then i give it to you freely trusting that you will not be outdone in generosity." here's the thing...if you give her your prayers to be used for whatever she wants to use them for...do you honestly believe she won't answer the prayers of your heart???? no way!!! she will always take care of them and you have no need to worry about that. i struggled with that a lot in the beginning because i love praying for others....but now i just give all of them to Mary knowing that her prayer will do much more than mine anyway. by all means...continue to pray those hail mary's!!!

if you consecrate your heart to Mary, you are consecrated to her forever, unless you renounce it. but you are not under pain of sin like a religious is with his vows. those are public vows before God and the Church and they are bound. a Marian Cosecration is a simple giving of your heart to Mary...it is not a vow although you should take is seriously. but you are not bound under pain of sin to "do" anything. hope that helps!

[corban711]

btw...totus tuus gave some great answers!!! thanks for those! it took me so long to type out my answer because i was talking with someone online...and i come back to find out that others had answered quite beautifully!!!

[Totus Tuus]

I'd like to bump this and continue the discussion if anyone's up to it...

[zabbazooey]

I am

I lost my book for st louis de montfort

[curtins]

I made my concecration this summer
I highly recomend it. For the third week you say a reosary every day and I really really really by the end of the week felt myself so much closer to Mary and God I can't explain it

[url="http://www.kensmen.com/catholic/totalconsecrationmontfort.html"]http://www.kensmen.com/catholic/totalconse...onmontfort.html[/url]


uh oh

wait ive been using that site for prayers and such for the concecration but I just found this on it

Let's be Catholic! There is no other way to undo the damages wrought by the false "spirit" of the pastoral, mostly fallible, hi-jacked Second Vatican Council except to bring back the Mass of the Ages, celebrate all the Sacraments in the ancient way, encourage popular devotions, restore ancient disciplines, and put the Council into proper perspective. 1,960 years of Tradition -vs- 40 years of modernist "Neo-Catholicism" which has utterly failed and which contradicts former teaching. Decide!


Did I blow it big time?!?!

Edited October 3, 2005 by curtins

[Fides_et_Ratio]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Oct 1 2005, 03:08 AM']  A lot of them are talking about the "worship" of Mary, known as "hyperdulia."  I was always taught that we DON'T worship Mary, so this is confusing me.[right][snapback]742926[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]
"worship" did not always hold the rather exclusive meaning that it does today. "worship" used to be a generic term for what we today mean by "devotion". We worship God (/the Trinity) with our utmost devotion/worship in "latria" (to provide the latin distinction), and we honor and venerate the Saints in Heaven in "dulia". Mary receives "hyper-dulia" (dulia above all other dulias) because she is the Mother of God. St. Joseph (to round out the Holy Family) receives proto-dulia (first-dulia after hyper dulia), and then we may venerate any of the other Saints in Heaven in any other particular order in which our heart inclines, so long as we keep the Holy Family top notch.

Sorry for all the "extra" info, but hopefully the "worship"/"latria"/"dulia" distinctions helped a little.

[scardella]

Kolbe just builds upon de Montfort. They're both very awesome. If in doubt, I don't see why you couldn't do both. De Montfort's has a very structured preparation process, so I'd tend to recommend that. (The preparation is also gathered into a nice little booklet, too.) Read [i]True Devotion to Mary[/i] or [i]The Secret of Mary[/i] by de Montfort. Kolbe didn't put together a masterwork, but [i]Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit[/i] is a good summary of his spirituality. It's mostly stringing together quotes from Kolbe and explaining them. (Thanks, Mr. Carrigee, Dr. Miravalle, KHQ, et al.!)

A teacher of mine first introduced me to Marian consecration. He got a group of about 6-7 guys to do the de Montfort consecration. Ever since, well, I've been a mama's boy. It's certainly brought about a depth to my faith life that wasn't there before.

Consecration is a sort of voluntary slavery to Mary, who always has your greatest good in mind when directing you. You say that you will defer to Jesus' Will through Mary and entrust your temporal goods (your stuff, body) and spiritual goods (graces, merit, intellect, will) to the protection and care of Mary. In effect, you are no longer your own. However, it is not a vow [i]per se[/i]. It does not impede you from marriage, priesthood, nunhood, brotherhood, etc. It is also not a vow of poverty.

That's it for tonight....

[Totus Tuus]

I've been reading about the Kolbean consecration (my brother's name is Maximiliam Kolbe, so my family obviously has a devotion to him...) and I find it in perfect conformity to the de Montfort Consecration. I really like it because it is like de Montfort for our times. de Montfort wrote for the eighteenth century, when most of the common people were illiterate, etc. Though his formula is as pertinent today as then, Kolbe seems to emphasize our spiritual warfare more, which is exactly what we need to emphasize today.

The Immaculata is what Kolbe emphasizes, and she helps us win the spiritual war. So really and truly, I think the two consecrations go hand-in-hand. I think St. Louis De Montfort was undoubtedly very pleased with St. Max

[scardella]

They're probably up in heaven having a beer together. I'm guessing it's Franziskaner.

[img]http://www.ozaru.freeserve.co.uk/weizen/Franziskaner.jpg[/img]

Edited October 4, 2005 by scardella

[Totus Tuus]

No way man. A dark, oatmeal brew is what I'm talkin' about.