How to start

Below we present suggestions on how to prepare to enter the path of perfect devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary by experiencing a 33-day retreat ending with a solemn act of dedication to the Lord Jesus through Mary in the Captivity of Love. Not all points are necessary, but they can be a good inspiration both for experiencing this path personally and in the parish community.

You can also look at the Editions tab to join one of the dates we propose, where we will guide you step by step through the entire path described below with links to specific materials.

Before the retreat

  1. View the priests' invitations to the retreat.
  2. Choose the day on which you want to make an act of total dedication to the Captivity of Love. It can be a Marian feast, a special day in your parish, in your life, or any day you choose.
  3. Plan to start the retreat 33 days in advance so that the last day of the retreat falls on the day before.
  4. Before the retreat, we encourage you to make a 9-day novena to St. Louis, which will allow us to get to know St. Louis and introduce us to the spirit of this devotion.
  5. We encourage you to read the Treatise of St. Louis. For example, you can spend 10/15 minutes on it every day. Saint John Paul II read the Treatise during breaks at work, when he was still a young man working in a salt mine. His papal motto "Totus Tuus" All Yours, comes directly from the work of Saint Louis.

During the retreat

  1. For 33 days, follow the retreat plan for a given day.
  2. During the 33 days, we encourage you to experience a day of penance by, for example, making the Stations of the Cross in person or in church, especially if it is a parish retreat.
  3. In the last week of the retreat, go to confession and receive Holy Communion with the intention of devoting yourself to Jesus Christ, as a Slave of Love, through the hands of Mary. Prepare well. We encourage you to make a general confession of your entire life, so that your heart is pure and well prepared for this beautiful day.
  4. In parishes during the retreat, we encourage you to organize a joint Eucharist once a week, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and a meeting of participants where you can build community and share your experiences.

Day of dedication

  1. After the 33-day retreat or during it, read the information about the day of dedication so that you can prepare well for it.
  2. You can use the act that we have prepared or, if possible, copy it yourself.
  3. Prepare yourself festively for this great celebration, which is experienced once in a lifetime. Let your outfit also reflect this, and especially your heart.
  4. Prepare a special gift for Mary and the Lord Jesus. It can be an offering of fasting, a recitation of the rosary or, for example, a beautiful rose.
  5. The reading of the act can take place after Holy Communion, after Holy Mass, e.g. during adoration, before a picture of Our Lady or in your home.
  6. Kneel down. Begin with a short prayer of the heart and a request to God to grant you the grace of being a Slave of Love and for Love, the gift of knowing His Mother and of surrendering yourself completely to Her.
  7. Read the act slowly, sentence by sentence, word by word, let this be your prayer of the heart, which you say before God Himself, in the presence of Our Lady, all the saints and all of Heaven.
  8. After reading the act, at the end, from the depth of your heart, say the word: Amen! which means "Let it be so!". This is your spiritual signature under this act. From that moment on, you are all Hers for Jesus!
  9. On this day, you can also put on the chain that St. John Paul II writes about. Ludwik: “It is praiseworthy and very useful that those who in this way have made themselves slaves of Jesus and Mary, as a sign of their loving slavery, wear a blessed chain” (Treatise..., 236).
  10. Write the date of the dedication on the text of the act. Sign it personally. Go to your parish priest to ask him to sign this act on behalf of the Church.
  11. You can frame the act and hang it in your home, in a place that is important to you.
  12. May the rest of the day be a time of great joy, shared conversations and divine celebration!

After the retreat

  1. A great step is behind us. Great joy for heaven and the Mother of God. How to live this act, how to live a perfect devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary? You can read about it in the chapter “Signposts on the path of Mary”. Remember that the implementation of each of the described signposts is VERY IMPORTANT.
  2. Continue reading the Treatise. Let it become, right after the Holy Scripture, your obligatory, preferably daily, position.
  3. Read in the Treatise on external and especially internal practices. They are key to the development of this devotion in your life and its fruits.
  4. You will find the formation materials in the Guide to Perfect Adherence to Mary by Fr. Hubert Maria Gebhard. It contains 32 specific exercises that will help you enter into a deep, tender, loving and internal relationship with the Mother of God. We suggest that you confess