Consecration to Mary

I try to renew my consecration to Mary on 22 August each year, the feast of Our Lady, Queen and Mother. This is convenient for me because it usually falls during my "holiday" in August when I take five days off to go to Lourdes or somewhere.

This year, I will be spending those five days at Parkminster by the kind permission of the novice master. He is keen that I should experience the Carthusian way of life to help out when lecturing to the novices. That's great as far as I am concerned!

So today I begin the preparation, using the very helpful guide Preparation for Total Consecration according to Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, published by Montfort publications. I don't claim to be a great practitioner of this devotion but what I do know is that it is a great help in my spiritual life and in my priesthood.

In the TAN books edition of Montfort's True Devotion to Mary, there is a page of quotes from the Popes. This is greatly enhanced by the explicit recommendation of Pope John Paul who described reading the book as a "decisive turning point" in his life. He affirmed that is was from Montfort that he took his motto Totus Tuus.

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