33 Days to Morning Glory
A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration
Michael E. Gaitley, MIC
HOW THE RETREAT WORKS
Every week of this four-week retreat (plus five days for review), we’ll read about how one of our four
giants of Marian consecration lived out his or her consecration to Jesus through Mary. The goal will
be not just to read about them and their teaching but, like Mary, to ponder their
message in our hearts. So, for 33 days, we won’t be going through a long list of prayers. Rather,
we’ll do our best to spend all day, each day, pondering the day’s teaching. (Or, if we do our reading in
the evenings, we can spend the day pondering the previous days teaching). As we know from Sacred Scripture,
this heart-pondering attitude is specifically Marian (see Luke 2:19, 51), and it’s something we can do no
matter how busy we are. Moreover, I’ve included a short prayer to go with each day’s reading to help us
ponder the day’s lesson. And because our goal during these 33 days is to remain in an atmosphere of
heart-pondering prayer, I’ve called this time not just a preparation but a retreat.
Of course, 33 days is a long time to be on retreat, and it just might happen that, despite our good
intentions and best efforts, we’ll miss a day (or days) of the readings and prayers. If this happens,
we need not get discouraged, and we surely shouldn’t quit! Instead, I suggest that we simply read the
text for the days we missed as soon as we can and keep going with the retreat. The Lord knows what’s
in our hearts, and if our desire truly is to make the consecration, we shouldn’t let any temptations
stop us. Believe me, it’s very likely that we’ll face temptations to cancel our preparation. But let’s
not give in. Let’s do our best to be faithful to the readings and the prayerful pondering for each day.
If we falter because of negligence, let’s tell the Lord we’re sorry, trust in His mercy, make up the
missed readings, and keep going.
The reason I suggest that we make up any missed readings has to do with the structure of the retreat:
Each day’s teaching builds on the next, and all the parts converge at the end to give a complete
picture of Marian consecration. So, we surely wouldn’t want to skip an essential part. Moreover,
because this retreat is so structured, it may be helpful at the outset to briefly consider a breakdown
of the four full weeks of the retreat, keeping in mind that the last five days are reserved for review:
Again, five days remain after the fourth week. The first four of these days (29-32) are dedicated,
in turn, to a review of each one of the weeks. The fifth day (day 33 of the preparation) is reserved
for reviewing the prayer of consecration that will be recited the following day, the Marian Feast,
the “34th” day.
Now, before we begin the retreat itself, I thought I’d include an introduction to Marian consecration.
This introduction is not part of the 33 days of preparation. Instead, it’s a kind of preparation for the
preparation. And this is a good thing, because while the introduction can be read at any time, I recommend
doing the retreat itself during one of several specific times. In other words, I suggest that we follow
St. Louis’s advice to schedule the 33 days of preparation so they will end on the vigil of a Marian
feast day. To help us figure out when we might want to begin, here’s a chart that breaks down the starting
dates and feasts:
| Start of the 33 Days |
Marian Feast
(Consecration Day) |
| January 9 |
Our Lady of Lourdes
February 11 |
| February 20 (*21 LY) |
The Annunciation
March 25 |
| April 10 |
Our Lady of Fatima
May 13 |
| April 28 |
The Visitation
May 31 |
| Varies |
Immaculate Heart
Saturday after Corpus Christi |
| June 13 |
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
July 16 |
| July 13 |
The Assumption
August 15 |
| July 20 |
Queenship of Mary
August 22 |
| August 6 |
Nativity of Mary
September 8 |
| August 10 |
Holy Name of Mary
September 12 |
| August 13 |
Our Lady of Sorrows
September 15 |
| September 4 |
Our Lady of the Rosary
October 7 |
| October 19 |
Presentation of Mary
November 21 |
| November 5 |
Immaculate Conception
December 8 |
| November 9 |
Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 12 |
| November 29 |
Mother of God
January 1 |
| December 31 |
Presentation of the Lord
February 2 |
So, with St. Louis, I highly recommend that you wait to begin the retreat on one of the above starting dates. Having said this, I should add that there’s never a bad time or a wrong time to prepare for consecration. This is just the ideal. If you do decide to wait for one of the starting dates, you don’t have to wait to read the following introduction. In fact, you can start reading it right now.
Actually, before you begin the introduction, here’s one more thing you might want to consider: making a group retreat. While it’s customary to make retreats on one’s own, many people find small-group formats to be particularly effective. If you’re interested in this option, see the information pages at the end of this book.
