33 Days to Morning Glory
A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration
Michael E. Gaitley, MIC
INTRODUCTION TO MARIAN CONSECRATION
Why Morning Glory?
When you first saw this book, you may have wondered, “Why is it called 33 Days to Morning Glory?”
The “33 days” part should now be clear - it refers to the day of preparation - but maybe the
“morning glory” part isn’t so clear. I chose this part of the title because I think it best
captures what Marian consecration is all about: A new way of life in Christ. The act of consecrating
oneself to Jesus through Mary marks the beginning of gloriously new day, a new dawn, a brand new
morning in one’s spiritual journey. It’s a fresh start, and it changes everything.
I had the experience of a gloriously new morning in my own spiritual journey when I consecrated myself
to Mary*** for the first time on December 8, 1995. It was the end of
the first semester of my freshman year in college. Earlier that semester, a friend had give me a copy
of St. Louis de Montfort’s book, True Devotion to Mary. When I saw the words on the back cover,
declaring that it presents a “short, easy, secure, and perfect” way to become a saint, I was sold.
I thought to myself, “Hey, this is the kind of way I need!” So, despite, having a pile of homework,
I started reading. Before I was even halfway through the book, I stopped, set it down, and resolutely
decided, “I will do this consecration.” Afterward, I picked the next available Marian feast, ran
the 33-day prayer marathon, and made the consecration with great fervour. That day totally changed
my life. I look back on it now, and I can truly say that everything changed. Everything opened up.
It was a gloriously new morning in my walk with Christ, now with Mary.
***
Something I will refer in this book to Marian consecration as a consecration “to Jesus through
Mary;” at other times, I will refer to it simply as a consecration “to Mary”. The two expressions have
the same meaning. After all, Mary’s whole purpose and mission is to bring souls into union with her
diving Son, Jesus. She’s not in competition with Him. So, if I say “consecration to Mary,” its full
meaning is “to Jesus through Mary.” In fact, any “to Mary” expression used in this book should be
taken as “to Mary…for the sake of Christ, for the sake of God, for the sake of the Trinity.” Here
on out, I’m going to presuppose this because it would be too repetitive to explain in every time.
Saint John Paul II describes consecration to Mary as having had a similar effect on him. He even says that his reading of the de Montfort’s book was a “turning point” in his life. In fact, his consecration to Jesus through Mary was so important to him that he adopted as his papal motto de Montfort’s own words that summarise total consecration to Jesus through Mary, “Totus Tuus,” (“Totally Yours”). Also, it’s reported that the Pope recited the long version of de Montfort’s consecration prayer every day.
I’ve met many people who have consecrated themselves to Mary, and they completely relate to the Pope’s words about how it’s a turning point in one’s life - or, as I put it, “a gloriously new morning” in one’s spiritual journey. It truly does make a difference. It truly is “the surest, easiest, shortest, and the most perfect means” to becoming a saint, which brings me to another reason why I chose to include “Morning Glory” in the title.
THE DAWN OF GLORIOUSLY NEW SAINTS.
As I mentioned in the introduction to
Consoling the Heart of Jesus,
St. Louis de Montfort predicted a couple of interesting things about his book,
True Devotion to Mary. First, he said that after his death, angry demons
would come to hide the unpublished manuscript so no one could ever read it - and in fact, the
manuscript was lost for more than a century after his death. The saint wrote:
“I clearly see that raging beasts shall come in fury to tear with their diabolical teeth this
little writing… or at least to smother it in the darkness and silence of a coffer, that it may not appear.”
De Montfort went on to say that his manuscript would eventually be discovered and published and that its Marian spirituality would help form some of the greatest saints in the history of the Church. Moreover, his prediction about these saints wasn’t that they would be just a few people. Rather, he hoped there’d be a whole army of these greatest of saints:
“This very foresight [about the beasts coming for the manuscript] encourages me, and makes me hope for great success, that is to say, for a great squadron of brave and valiant soldiers of Jesus and Mary, of both sexes, to combat the world, the devil, and corrupted nature, in those more than ever perilous times which are about to come.”
In this passage, de Montfort describes the times that would come as “more than ever perilous.” I don’t think anyone would argue with me that we live in perilous times. In fact, in many ways, our time truly is marked by unprecedented evil. But don’t worry, because here’s some good news: In times of unprecedented evil, God wants to give unprecedented grace. For, as St. Paul wrote, “Where sin abounds all the more” (Rom 5:20). And one of the ways God gives his superabundant grace in our time is by raising up some of the greatest saints ever. Saint Louis describes these saints as follows:
“The Most High with His holy Mother has to form for Himself great saints who shall surpass most of the other saints in sanctity as much as the cedars of Lebanon outgrow little shrubs.”
How can this be? The saints who have come before us surely are impressive. Moreover, the virtue and holiness of people in our day - present company included - isn’t exactly stellar. Yet, that’s the amazing point. God wants to form saints from the little souls. He wants to form saints according to the pattern of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Look at it this way: The Immaculate Conception of Mary, the grace whereby she was conceived without the stain of original sin, is an incredible gift of mercy. What’s particularly remarkable is that Mary did nothing to deserve or merit this grace. It was a total gift - won by the merits of her Son. Mary wasn’t an embryo in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, praying the Rosary to merit this gift. Rather, she received it at the very moment of her conception, the very moment she came into being. So, she did absolutely nothing to deserve it. It was God’s own initiative to give this totally free and wonderful gift.
So with us. God is offering the people of our time a powerful and effective way to become great saints, and it’s not because we’re so good. Rather, it’s because our times are so perilous, and God wants his mercy to triumph through Mary. So, he gives us poor, sinful souls an amazing gift - what St. Louis calls a little known “secret”:
“Poor children of Mary, your weakness is extreme, your inconstancy is great, your inward nature is very much corrupted. You are drawn (I grant it) from the same corrupt mass as all children of Adam and Eve. Yet do not be discouraged because of that. Console yourselves and exult in having the secret which I will teach you - a secret unknown to almost all Christians, even the most devout.”
What is this blessed “secret?” It’s the spirituality of a true devotion to Mary, a spirituality of total consecration to Jesus through Mary. It’s what this retreat is all about. Before we begin, I should give a summary explanation of Marian consecration, the understanding of which will deepen over the course of our retreat.
