St. Louis de Montfort

Giving everything to Christ through the hands of His Mother.

St. Louis de Montfort taught that the surest, shortest road to Jesus runs through Mary. His act of consecration hands over everything — body, soul, goods, and the value of every good work, past and future — to Christ through her. It is preceded by thirty-three days of preparation and renewed each year.

The Act of Consecration

I, a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands
the vows of my Baptism.
I renounce forever 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 you this day for my Mother and Mistress.
I deliver and consecrate to you 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 your good pleasure,
for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity. Amen.

The Daily Renewal

I am all yours, and all that I have is yours,
O most loving Jesus, through Mary, your most holy Mother.

The Thirty-Three Days

De Montfort’s preparation runs for thirty-three days before a Marian feast: twelve days of emptying oneself of the spirit of the world, then three weeks of coming to know Mary, Jesus, and oneself. Common consecration dates are 25 March (the Annunciation), 15 August (the Assumption), 8 December (the Immaculate Conception), and 1 January (Mary, Mother of God). Count back thirty-three days from your chosen feast to find the start date.

About This Prayer

The language of belonging entirely to another startles modern ears. De Montfort meant the strongest word available for holding nothing back — the opposite of a contract, which always reserves something. St. John Paul II made this consecration as a young man in occupied Poland and took his motto, Totus Tuus, "totally yours," straight from it.