Consecration to Mary

Curated and reviewed by Pastor Lyvers

Oil-painting-style illustration of a young man kneeling at a side altar of the Virgin Mary after Mass, signing a handwritten act of consecration

Consecration to Mary is the act of giving ourselves entirely to Jesus through the hands of His Mother. Its best-known form is St. Louis de Montfort's total consecration: 33 days of preparation (twelve days, then three weeks), followed by confession, Holy Communion and a written act of consecration, renewed every year.

Consecration to Mary means giving ourselves completely to Jesus by placing ourselves in the hands of His Mother. It is not a new idea; the Church has many acts of consecration, from families placing their children under Our Lady's protection to popes entrusting the whole world to her Immaculate Heart. But when Catholics speak of "total consecration," they almost always mean the way taught by St. Louis de Montfort (1673–1716) in his True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. This page explains what that consecration is, how to prepare for it over 33 days, and gives his act of consecration in full.

What is consecration to Mary?

Montfort's own definition is plain. In Frederick William Faber's 19th-century English translation, the devotion "consists, then, in giving ourselves entirely and altogether to our Lady, in order to belong entirely and altogether to Jesus by her." He spells out what we give her:

We must give her (1) our body, with all its senses and its members; (2) our soul, with all its powers; (3) the exterior goods of fortune, whether present or to come; (4) our interior and spiritual goods, which are our merits and our virtues, and our good works, past, present, and future.

Why go to Jesus through Mary? Because that is the road He took to come to us. "All our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ," Montfort writes, and since Mary is the creature most conformed to Christ, "the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more is it consecrated to Jesus." For him the consecration is nothing other than "a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy Baptism." We renew our baptismal promises and hand them to Our Lady to keep.

A white marble statue in a shell-topped niche showing Montfort raising one hand and holding a crucifix and rosary in the other, above a crouching winged demon that clutches a book inscribed Traité de la vraie dévotion — St. Louis de Montfort's founder statue in St. Peter's Basilica. The demon at his feet clutches a copy of his book on true devotion. ⓘ

What the Church says about it

The Vatican's Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2001) calls Montfort "one of the great masters of the spirituality underlying the act of 'consecration to Mary.'" It roots the practice in the words of Christ from the Cross, "Woman, behold thy son... Behold thy mother" (John 19:26–27), and describes the act as "a conscious recognition of the singular role of Mary in the Mystery of Christ and of the Church," and of "trust in her intercession."

The Directory also makes a careful point: here "consecration" is used "in a broad and non-technical sense." In the strict liturgical sense we consecrate ourselves to God alone. To Mary we entrust ourselves, so that she may give us wholly to her Son. Some prefer the words "entrustment" or "gift." Montfort's own title for the act makes the same point: it is a "Consecration of ourselves to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, by the hands of Mary."

Two-panel painting against red hangings and a gray wall; on the left St. John holds up the swooning Virgin Mary, on the right Christ hangs on the cross — Rogier van der Weyden's Crucifixion (about 1460): St. John holds the Virgin at the foot of the Cross, where Christ gave her to him as his mother. ⓘThe Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist Mourning

How to make the 33-day consecration

Montfort lays out the preparation himself, in the chapter of True Devotion on exterior practices. His plan has two stages, which together make the familiar 33 days.

The first twelve days: emptying ourselves of the world

He asks those who want to make the consecration to spend "twelve days at least in emptying themselves of the spirit of the world, which is contrary to the spirit of Jesus Christ." Most preparation books fill these days with readings from the Gospels and The Imitation of Christ on detachment and conversion.

Week one: knowledge of ourselves

During the first of the three weeks, we should "employ all their prayers and pious actions in asking for a knowledge of themselves, and for contrition of their sins," in a spirit of humility. Montfort suggests short prayers such as Domine, ut videam ("Lord, that I may see"), Noverim me ("May I know myself") and Veni Sancte Spiritus ("Come, Holy Spirit"), and asks for the Litany of the Holy Ghost and the hymn Ave Maris Stella every day.

Week two: knowledge of the Blessed Virgin

In the second week we apply ourselves "to know the Blessed Virgin," asking this knowledge of the Holy Ghost. The litany and the Ave Maris Stella continue, "and in addition a Rosary daily, or, if not a whole Rosary, at least a chaplet," for more knowledge of Mary. Our Lady's rosary and the Litany of Loreto are natural companions here.

The young Virgin Mary in a white robe and dark blue mantle stands on clouds with her hands joined in prayer, looking upward, with small cherubs at her feet — Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's Immaculate Conception (about 1670). In the act of consecration we greet her as "immaculate Mary, living tabernacle of the Divinity." ⓘThe Immaculate Conception

Week three: knowledge of Jesus Christ

The third week is given to knowing Jesus. Montfort suggests repeating, with St. Augustine, Noverim te, "Lord, that I might know Thee!" or Domine, ut videam, "Lord, that I might see who Thou art!" To the litany and hymn we add the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus daily.

The day of consecration

"At the end of the three weeks they shall confess and communicate, with the intention of giving themselves to Jesus Christ, in the quality of slaves of love, by the hands of Mary." After Holy Communion we pray the act of consecration below. Montfort asks that it be written out, or a printed copy used, and signed the same day.

He also suggests a small gift to Jesus and Mary that day, "as a fast, a mortification, an alms, or a candle," adding with great tenderness: "If they had but a pin to give in homage, yet gave it with a good heart, it would be enough for Jesus, who looks only at the good-will." The consecration is renewed "once a year at least, on the same day," after the same three weeks.

Oil-painting-style illustration of a woman at a kitchen table writing out her act of consecration by hand, with a small book, a rosary and a candle beside her — Illustration of a woman copying out her act of consecration by hand on the night before she makes it.

Start dates for the 33 days

Montfort does not tie the consecration to any particular feast. Many people today choose to finish on a Marian feast, beginning 33 days before it and making the consecration on the feast itself. Here are common choices:

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 2026: begin November 5.
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, January 1, 2027: begin November 29, 2026.
The Annunciation, March 25, 2027: begin February 20.
The Visitation, May 31, 2027: begin April 28, Montfort's own feast day.
The Assumption, August 15, 2027: begin July 13.
The Nativity of Mary, September 8, 2027: begin August 6.
Our Lady of the Rosary, October 7, 2027: begin September 4.

Every Marian feast is on the feast-day calendar.

The act of consecration

This is Montfort's act of consecration in full, in Faber's translation, from the 1904 London edition of True Devotion. At "N." we say our own name.

O Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most adorable Jesus! True God and True Man, only Son of the Eternal Father, and of Mary always Virgin! I adore Thee profoundly in the bosom and splendours of Thy Father during eternity; and I adore Thee also in the virginal bosom of Mary, Thy most worthy Mother, in the time of Thine Incarnation.
I give Thee thanks for that Thou hast annihilated Thyself, in taking the form of a slave in order to rescue me from the cruel slavery of the devil. I praise and glorify Thee for that Thou hast been pleased to submit Thyself to Mary, Thy holy Mother, in all things, in order to make me Thy faithful slave through her. But, alas! ungrateful and faithless as I have been, I have not kept the promises which I made so solemnly to Thee in my Baptism; I have not fulfilled my obligations; I do not deserve to be called Thy son, nor yet Thy slave; and as there is nothing in me which does not merit Thine anger and Thy repulse, I dare no more come by myself before Thy Most Holy and August Majesty. It is on this account that I have recourse to the intercession of Thy most holy Mother, whom Thou hast given me for a mediatrix with Thee. It is by her means that I hope to obtain of Thee contrition, and the pardon of my sins, the acquisition and the preservation of wisdom. I salute Thee, then, O immaculate Mary, living tabernacle of the Divinity, where the Eternal Wisdom willed to be hidden, and to be adored by Angels and by men. I hail thee, O Queen of heaven and earth, to whose empire everything is subject which is under God.
I salute Thee, O sure refuge of sinners, whose mercy fails to no one. Hear the desires which I have of the Divine Wisdom; and for that end receive the vows and offerings which my lowness presents to thee. I, N., a faithless sinner—I renew and ratify to-day in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce for ever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present, and future; leaving to you the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, to the greatest glory of God, in time and in eternity.
Receive, O benignant Virgin, this little offering of my slavery, in the honour of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to thy Maternity, in homage to the power which both of you have over this little worm and miserable sinner, and in thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity hath favoured thee. I protest that I wish henceforth, as thy true slave, to seek thy honour, and to obey thee in all things.
O admirable Mother, present me to thy dear Son as His eternal slave, so that as He hath redeemed me by thee, by thee He may receive me! O Mother of mercy, get me the grace to obtain the true Wisdom of God; and for that end put me in the number of those whom thou lovest, whom thou teachest, whom thou conductest, and whom thou nourishest and protectest, as thy children and thy slaves.
O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple, imitator, and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ thy Son, that I may attain, by thy intercession, and by thy example, to the fulness of His age on earth, and of His glory in the heavens. Amen.

Christ and God the Father hold a crown of flowers above the head of the Virgin Mary, seated on clouds with her hand on her heart, with the dove of the Holy Spirit above and cherubs below — Diego Velázquez's Coronation of the Virgin (1635–1636): the Holy Trinity crowns Mary, the "Queen of heaven and earth" of Montfort's prayer. ⓘThe Coronation of the Virgin

A short daily renewal

Montfort suggests renewing the consecration "once a month, or even once a day" with a few words of Latin: Tuus totus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt. Faber translates it: "I am all for Thee, and all I have belongs to Thee, O my sweet Jesus, by Mary Thy holy Mother."

Totus tuus: St. John Paul II and the consecration

Those Latin words gave a pope his motto. As a young man in wartime Kraków, while he worked as a laborer, Karol Wojtyła read True Devotion and found it "a great help." He had feared, he later wrote, that if his devotion to Mary "became too great, it might end up compromising the supremacy of the worship owed to Christ." Montfort settled the question for him: "Under the wise guidance of St Louis Marie, I realized that if one lives the mystery of Mary in Christ this risk does not exist." In his 2004 letter to the Montfort religious families, St. John Paul II explained that his motto Totus tuus "is inspired by the teaching of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort," and that the two words "express total belonging to Jesus through Mary."

Ink-drawing-style illustration of a young laborer in 1940s Kraków reading a small worn book during a work break — Illustration imagining young Karol Wojtyła, then a laborer in wartime Kraków, reading a worn copy of True Devotion during a break.

He also faced the hardest word in the prayer head-on. Montfort's "slavery," he wrote, is "the symbol of the slavery of love to Jesus, after the example and with the motherly help of Mary": a share in the self-emptying of Christ, who took "the form of a slave" for us, as Montfort's act puts it, and in Mary's answer, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." It is the freest thing a person can do.

Other saints have made the same gift in their own words. St. Maximilian Kolbe founded the Militia of the Immaculata in 1917 around a daily consecration to the Immaculate. The first Saturdays asked for at Fátima are another way of living it; see the First Saturday devotion.

Let us ask Our Lady, as Montfort did, to present us to her Son: Tuus totus ego sum. For more on the Mother of God herself, see the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Frequently asked questions

How long does consecration to Mary take?

In St. Louis de Montfort's method, 33 days: at least twelve days of "emptying" ourselves of the spirit of the world, then three weeks asking for knowledge of ourselves, of Mary and of Jesus. On the 34th day we go to confession and Holy Communion and make the act of consecration. Many people time it to end on a Marian feast.

What prayers are said during the 33 days?

Montfort asks for the Litany of the Holy Ghost and the hymn Ave Maris Stella every day of the three weeks; in the second week, a rosary or at least a chaplet as well; in the third week, the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus too. Modern preparation books add daily readings from Scripture, the Imitation of Christ and True Devotion itself.

Is consecration to Mary biblical?

Its foundation is Christ's own gift from the Cross: "Behold thy mother" (John 19:27). The Vatican's Directory on Popular Piety (2001) says that, seen in the light of that passage, the act of consecration is a conscious recognition of Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and of the Church, and of trust in her intercession. Montfort calls it "a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy Baptism."

Does consecration to Mary take away from Jesus?

No. Its whole purpose is Christ. Montfort writes that "the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more is it consecrated to Jesus." St. John Paul II, who feared as a young man that Marian devotion might crowd out Christ, wrote that under Montfort's guidance he "realized that if one lives the mystery of Mary in Christ this risk does not exist."

What does "slave of Mary" mean?

Montfort's phrase is "slaves of love." It describes total, free self-giving after the example of Christ, who took "the form of a slave," and of Mary, the handmaid of the Lord. St. John Paul II called it "the symbol of the slavery of love to Jesus." The Directory on Popular Piety notes that some prefer the gentler words "entrustment" or "gift."

Do I need a priest to make the consecration?

No. It is a personal act. Montfort asks only that we go to confession and Holy Communion, write out the act or have a printed copy, and sign it the same day. Many parishes also hold group consecrations on a Marian feast.