Consecration Manual

Below, we give you some suggestions on how to better enter the path of consecration to Mary by 33 days of retreat ending with the solemn act of consecration to Jesus through Mary. Not all of them are necessary, but they may be the inspiration for individual preparation and in the parish community as well.

  1. Choose a particular day when you want to make the consecration act. It may be a Marian feast or a special day in your parish, your life, or any day you choose.
  2. Start your preparation 33 days before this day so that the last day of retreat would be the day before.
  3. For 33 days, follow the retreat plan for a particular day.
  4. During these 33 days, we encourage you to have a penance day, e.g. pray the Way of the Cross individually or in church, especially if this is a parish retreat.
  5. In the last week of retreat, go to confession and receive Communion with the intention of consecration to Jesus Christ as a slave of Love through the hands of Mary. Prepare yourself well. We encourage you to the whole-life confession so your heart is cleansed and well-prepared for this beautiful day.
  6. In parishes, we encourage organising the Eucharist, the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and a gathering of the participants once a week during the retreat.
  7. After a 33-day retreat or during it, read the information about the day of consecration so that you can prepare well for it.
  8. You can use the act of consecration we prepared or, if it’s possible, rewrite it by hand.
  9. Get ready festively for this great ceremony that is once in a lifetime. May it be reflected in your outfit, but especially in your heart.
  10. Prepare some special gift for Mary and Jesus. It may be a fast, a rosary prayer or a pretty rose.
  11. Reading the act may take place after Communion, Holy Mass, or during the adoration, before the image of Our Lady, or at your house.
  12. Kneel. Start with a short prayer of heart and ask God so that He grants you the grace of being the slave of Love and for Love, the gift of getting to know His Mother and total consecration to her.
  13.  Read the act slowly, sentence by sentence, word by word. May it be your prayer of heart that you utter before God itself, in the presence of Mother of God, all the saints and the entire heavens.
  14. After reading the act, at the end, say your heartfelt “Amen!” which means “Let it be done!”. This is your spiritual signature on this act. Since that moment, you are totally hers for Jesus!
  15. That day, you may also wear some chain as St. Louis described: “It is a most glorious and praiseworthy thing, and very useful to those who have thus made themselves slaves of Jesus and Mary, that they should wear, as a badge of their loving slavery, little iron chains, blessed with the proper benediction.”[i]
  16. Write the date on your act of consecration. Sign it in person. Go to your parish priest and ask him to sign this act in the name of the Church.
  17. You may frame the act and place it on the wall at home or in any place meaningful to you.
  18. May the rest of that day be full of joy, joint discussions and celebration!
  19. A big step is behind us. It’s the great joy for heaven and Our Lady. You can read more about how to live daily this act and true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the section “Guidelines on the Mary’s way.”