consecration, including St. John Paul II, St. Maximillian Kolbe, and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. St. John Paul II was so enamored with St. Louis’ book on Marian Consecration, True Devotion to Mary, that he considered it as a turning point in his life, and even chose his papal motto, Totus Tuus, meaning totally yours, from St. Louis de Montfort’s Marian Consecration Prayer. St. Maximillian Kolbe not only wanted to totally give himself to Jesus through Mary, but created a worldwide organization, the Militia Immaculatae, to bring as many souls to this consecration as possible. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta was fond of saying, “Be only all for Jesus through Mary.” Mother also had a simple concrete way of keeping her devotion in mind. At the top left hand corner of her letters, she would put a small cross with the letters ‘LDM.’ This writing (+LDM) was short for the Latin phrase Laudetur Deo Mariaeque, meaning “Praise to God and to Mary.” Now the Missionaries of Charity put it on just about every note they write. The secret of these great saints is that they believed that Mary is the best way to Jesus, and taking this belief, they lived it in ways that have touched millions of lives around the world.
Scott Foley ‘18 (Davenport) and Tom Gramc ‘17 (Pittsburgh) signing their Prayer of Consecration while Deacon Adam Potter ‘16 (Pittsburgh) looks on.
Deacon Adam Potter ’16 (Pittsburgh) leading the seminarians in prayer during the consecration service on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
Seminarians participating in the consecration meet for 33 evenings after dinner to offer their prayers for the day.
This year marks the 172nd anniversary of the first publishing of St. Louis de Montfort’s book on Marian consecration. Since that time, the great saints already mentioned have brought even greater insight into this great devotion. In order to incorporate these new insights, the book chosen for our consecration is 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC. In the book, Fr. Gaitley spends one week each on the particular insights into Marian Consecration of St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximillian Kolbe, Blessed Mother Teresa, and St. John
Paul II, followed by five days to recap the material. There are also companion DVDs created by Fr. Gaitley that can be incorporated with the book. Since it is a traditional practice that a personal Marian consecration take place on a special Marian feast day, it seems as good a choice as any that the patronal Feast Day of the United States of America, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, be our consecration day this year. Please pray with us, that like Mother Teresa, we all may be, “Only all for Jesus through Mary.” n
ROMAN ECHOES 2016 • VOLUME 20: ISSUE 2
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