onsecration means setting yourself aside for the service of God. The Church has always advocated consecrating yourself to Jesus through the Blessed Virgin, our perfect model of faith.

erhaps the best known advocate of Marian consecration is St. Louis de Montfort. Modern day promoters of this consecration includes, Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who recommends an “act of entrustment” to Mary (the Holy Father’s papal motto is an enthusiastic Totus Tuus, “Totally yours.”)

onsecration is saying: Mother all that I am and all that I have is yours. My everythought, word and deed belong totally to you, may you take my little efforts, make them holy by mingling them in your prayers and use all in God’ plan of salvation.

onsecrating yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary through the Sacred of Jesus, will be one of the most important days of your life. You will be placing yourself under the mantle of Mary’s protective care as the Immaculate Conception, Mother of the Church and Mediatrix of All Graces.

hrough total consecration you cooperate with Mary in the work of building up and renewing the Church of the third millennium. She will enlighten your mind, guide your will, empower your efforts and intercede for you in a special way before the throne of your Heavenly Father.



onsecration is a spirit of continual conversion. In the beginning not everyone understands the power of consecration. But when lived in the spirit of willingness and humility, the Immaculate Heart of Our Mother will elevate our natural gifts and inspire us to holiness and fruitful service within the Church. As Jesus said to those who would stand up and follow him: “Even greater things than these will you do.”



n our times of such unrest in our world and in our families, we need to stop and take a deep look at what is wrong. In many ways my family is fragmented. May there is unforgiveness, depression, children who have left the church years ago and it really doesn’t look like they will ever come back. Where else are we going to turn? We must run to the hearts of Jesus and Mary for help. Prayer gives God permission to act in the lives of our families. How much more would he give, if our children are placed before the throne of our Heavenly Father by the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. By consecrating our children we are totally trusting that their will be some action on the part of a loving Father, that he will change the direction of their lives. Give it some prayerful thought.

ou consecrate your family by reciting the following prayer with great love and trust:

Family Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

acred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, I come to you to consecrate myself and my entire family to your two hearts. I desire to renew the vows of my baptism and place each member of my family through an act of faith, hope and love into loving union with the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I dedicate myself and each member of my family to the Guardian Angels God has given each one of us. O Holy Guardian Angels, enlighten, guide and protect each one so as to lead us safely home to heaven.

t Fatima, dear Mother of God, you appeared with St. Joseph and the Child Jesus blessing the world. O Holy Family, bestow blessings upon me and my entire family so that we may live the Christ life. I desire that each member of my family adore always the Most Blessed Trinity and love our God in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

rant peace to each member of my family. Keep each one in the grace of Jesus Christ. Never permit any of my family to stray from the true faith. (For any family member who has strayed, I beseech you to bind up the wounds, lift up the fallen, restore and keep each of our loved ones in grace. Bid them to come back to their Father’s true home.) Amen.

he concept of Consecration, that of setting a person, place or object aside from the material world and dedicating it permanently to the service of God can be traced back to the ancient world. It was known amongst the Egyptians and other pagan peoples. Within our own religious heritage, at the time of Moses we find the concept applying to the whole Jewish people (Exodus, chapter 24) – the act of Consecration involving the erection of an altar and twelve memorial stones, the selection of twelve individuals to perform burnt-offering, the reading of the Covenant and the sprinkling of the people with blood. Within this, we find the same concept applied to Aaron and his sons (Exodus, chapter 29), their investiture by Moses being described in some detail (Leviticus, chapter 8) and including the use of oil for anointing. As with the modern tradition, this ‘setting aside’ was understood to be a permanent act.

enturies later, we find the came concept recurring again in the Roman world, with the permanent ‘setting aside’ from the secular world of whatever was devoted to the worship of their gods. In the early Apostolic church we find the consecration of churches existing as a continuation, in a sense, of the ancient Jewish rite instituted by Solomon. Although some scholars attribute its origin to Pope St. Evaristus (d. 105), it is probable that he only codified in law what was the common practice at the time. It is certain that churches were formally consecrated before the persecution of the Christian Faith had ended can be seen from the life of St. Cecilia who is known to have prayed for a cessation of hostilities in order that her home may be consecrated as a church by Pope St. Urban I (222-230). We find another mention in the life of St. Marcellus (d. 309) who is thought to have consecrated the home of St. Lucina as a church. After the conversion of the Emperor Constantine (312), what had, out of necessity, been an essentially private ceremony, became a solemn public rite. This can be gathered from the writings of Eusebius of Cesarea (c. 264-340), indicating that churches had been consecrated previously: "After these things a spectacle earnestly prayed for and much desired by us all appeared, viz. the solemnization of the festival of the dedication of churches throughout every city, and the consecration of newly-built oratories".

t is uncertain, in these early times, to know exactly what form the rite of consecration took or even if the rite was identical throughout the Christian world. However, what is clear is that the essential element of the service, that of permanently separating the building from secular to sacred use was already established as part of the Christian tradition.