When people want to get to know people better, they often take time to get to know the family members who helped to form and encourage them to be the persons God created them to be.
The process works similarly when we want to get to know Jesus, the Son of God who became flesh to become one of us. No other person but Mary, His mother, the most perfect human being other than Jesus Himself, would have done better to raise Jesus and form Him to be who God the Father created Him to be.
Hence, if one really wants to know Jesus more fully, he or she must come to know Mary. In fact, Jesus calls all the faithful to come to know Him through His mother and invites them to bring their intentions to Him by way of His mother. After all, who can say no when our own mothers ask of something?
The concept is simple and is the premise behind the “Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary Retreat” at Our Lady of Corpus Christi. The Total Consecration to Jesus, developed by St. Louis de Montfort is an exercise designed to increase spirituality and the ability to truly serve the Lord. The basic idea set forth is simply that Jesus came into the world through Mary and that for the faithful to always be assured of being close to Jesus, to be even closer than ever before, they should go through Mary.
Why consecration through Mary, one might ask? Consecration means “to set aside for a sacred purpose.” Mary’s life was set aside for the sole purpose of serving the Lord. By following her example, the faithful too can completely give themselves to Christ in a fundamental way that consecrates them to Him. They give their lives to Him in service and love.
Consecration to Jesus through Mary is a method used by many, including Blessed Pope John Paul II, St. Maximilian Kolbe and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The objective of this consecration is, through Mary, to cast off the spirit of the world, which is contrary to that of Jesus Christ, in order to acquire fully the spirit of Jesus.
“This retreat has been developed to help people commit themselves entirely to Jesus by availing themselves of the special assistance of Our Lady. It’s based on True Devotion by St. Louis De Montfort, which promotes renewing our baptismal promises by consecrating ourselves to Jesus through Mary,” Father Dan Estes, SOLT, Director of Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center said.
The retreat divides the Total Consecration into five themes: the Spirit of the World, Knowledge of Self, Knowledge of Mary, Knowledge of Jesus and the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary.
There are three steps to consecrating oneself to Jesus through Mary. First, attend the day of prayer to gain an understanding of the consecration process, to deepen one’s relationship with Jesus and Mary and to increase one’s faith, hope and love.
Our Lady of Corpus Christi begins the Total Consecration Retreat process several times a year about a month prior to a Marian feast. The next Total Consecration will lead up to the feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8 and will begin with a day of prayer on Oct. 26 at St. Teresa’s Library on the campus of Our Lady of Corpus Christi. Check in is at 8:30 a.m. and the day ends at 2:30 p.m. A light lunch is provided.
“Each talk, activity and reflection were deep and refreshing at the same time. It does not really matter how long you have known the Lord Jesus or if you do not have a profound relationship with Him yet, the retreat will be used by Him to reach out to you exactly where you are,” Gabriela Pinedo, a former retreat participant, said. “It gave me a greater clarity of how much my dear Jesus wants to be a constant daily companion in my life.”
After the day of prayer, participants are invited to attend four weekly meetings to grow in understanding of prayer, contrition for sins, renouncing their own wills, imitation of Mary’s virtues and love for the person of Jesus. Participants are asked to pray and meditate daily through the 33-day preparation by St. Louis De Montfort and meet occasionally with a spiritual director.
The final step is an overnight day of silence where participants immerse themselves in total quiet to listen to God’s calling.
“I’m more aware of the great need my spirit has of silent, prayerful times to be able to hear the Lord, to let Him order my day with His peace and guidance,” Pinedo said.
The day of silence concludes with the personal consecration to Jesus through Mary where participants commit themselves to cast off the spirit of the world that is counter to Jesus.
“This really is a hallmark of the spirituality of Blessed John Paul II. It can be summed up as a renewal of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” Father Estes said.
Consecration is made at the noon Mass. The next day of silence will be Dec. 7-8. It will be held at Our Lady’s Retreat House on the campus of Our Lady of Corpus Christi and will begin at 4:30 p.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. the next day. For more information or to register, call (361) 289-9095, ext. 321 or visit www.deepprayer.org.