My Prayer for the 33-day Consecration to Mary

25 June 2019 (Mark Anthony Beale - St. Mark the Evangelist) - I have recently come to the decision to consecrate myself to Jesus through Mary, as St. Louis de Montfort encouraged. However, I know that - at the moment at least - the form of the consecration that he offers will be too much of a burden for me, so I have elected to do my own form, namely, of reading a portion of St. Louis' True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin each day, going over these readings prayerfully and meditatively, learning from the Apostle of Mary how to devote myself truly and properly to the Blessed Virgin. 

Together with the readings, I will be praying at least the Holy Rosary and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These will be enough for me at the moment. Simple though they may be, I know that simple prayers offered lovingly are more pleasing to God and Our Lady than hundreds of prayers prayed badly. 

In preparation for my 33 day consecration, beginning on the 20th of July and ending on the 22nd of August, which in the Ordinary Form is the Memoria of the Queenship of Mary (and the octave day of the Assumption), I have composed an introductory prayer that I am planning on reciting at the start of each day's prayers, and which I wish to share with my readers. 

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe! O Thou King of hearts! O Thou King of souls! With profound humility I acknowledge Thy Presence, and in so doing, I prostrate and adore Thy Divine Majesty, residing not only in Heaven, but most mystically and adorably within the most Noble, most Excellent and most Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thy Mother and my Queen!

I give Thee thanks for having condescended to become Man, to having robed Thy Divinity with Thy Sacred Humanity, and having submitted Thyself to the most bitter suffering of Thy glorious Passion and Death, by which Thou willed to save me, a poor sinner and unworthy of any good, from slavery to the Prince of this world, who is called the Devil and Satan, and who prowleth about seeking whom he may devour. All this Thou didst for my salvation; I who am the most worthless and poorest of all the sons of Adam! All this for one who, alas!, is ungrateful and unfaithful, and who hast not kept pure his vows of Baptism, by which I solemnly promised to recounce the pomps and works of the Evil One. All this for one who, alas!, dost not fulfil his obligations to Thee, and by such failure dost not deservest to be called Thy son, nor by the holy names of Catholic and Christian, nor by the names of the holy Saints by which I am called in this world, namely, Mark, Anthony and Robert.

Likewise, O my Sovereign Lord, I acknowledge that there is nothing in me that dost not merit Thy most just anger, repulse and judgment; I am only worthy to merit Thy Divine Retribution for all my sins. Therefore, how canst such an one as I enter Thy Presence, without protection from Thy just and burning anger? Thus, I draw nigh unto Thee, O August Majesty, under the protection of my patron Saints, of my good Angel, but most of all under the most mighty intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, my Mistress and Queen, to whom Thou hast given the right to mediate with Thee in my behalf. It is through Her maternal mediation that I hope to obtain of Thee true contrition for my manifold sins, the remission of the same, and the acquisition of true, pure and perfect love of Thee, O obedient Son of Mary! But, alas!, how canst I solicit all these holy things from Thee, O Soul of my soul, if I dost not imitate Thee in all things, especially in Thy perfect submission to Thy Holy and Happy Mother? Or how canst I approach Thy Awful Majesty without that most Pure Veil to shield me from Thy Burning Glory, lest gazing upon It I perish for holy fear? Or how canst my poor prayers, offered from a divided heart and a lying tongue, ever ascend to Thee, if not that they be first purified by the Immaculate hands and Heart of Our Lady?

Hail, then, Mary Most Holy! Hail, Tabernacle of the Godhead! Hail, Ark of the New Covenant! Hail, Refuge of sinners, who mercy faileth no man! Hail, O Queen of Heaven and earth, whose empire encompasseth all things; yea, to whom even the very devils of Hell are subject! Grant the desire with which my heart is excited, namely, to be a true and perfect servant of Jesus Christ, consecrated to Him in and through Thee, and for this end deign, I beseech Thee, to accept these 33 days in which I desire to learn about Thee, about true devotion to Thee, and thus to consecrate myself to Jesus through Thee. Deign also to inflame my desire and my resolutions, and to inspire me to those external devotions which most please Thee. By such, I hope to place myself entirely at Thy service and at the service of Thy Son.

Regard not, gracious Virgin, the littleness of my offering, for I knowest that nothing of mine canst ever equal what the Adorable Trinity willed to endow Thee with; nor canst any praise of mine ever equal the praise afforded Thee by all the Saints. Yet, I will not let this discourage me from humbly approaching Thee and reverencing those holy Feet which have crushed down Satan, for I knowest and rejoicest in the fact that Thou art the Mother of Mercy and hast supreme care of my soul. I ask Thee to guide and teach me during these 33 days, and by its end to justify and fulfil my desire to serve Jesus through and in Thee, so that I may truly offer all things ad Jesum per Mariam!

In conjunction with this desire, I humbly ask Thee, my good Mother, that I may honour Thee by two principal devotions, viz, the faithful wearing of Thy Scapular of Carmel and the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary. I also ask that, when Thou deem it right and meet, I may console Thee by the recitation of the Chaplet of Thy Seven Sorrows which pierced Thy Holy Heart. Amen

Accompany me in this holy journey, O my Angel and my Patrons, so that I may arrive at my destination, viz, true devotion to Our Lady and consecration to Jesus through Mary. Amen