Fifteen years ago, I made a promise. And today, I renew it.

Knee-deep in a golden ocean of luscious thick wheat.

I ran my fingers gently on the soft kernals as we walked through it, taking in the beauty and simplicity of the scene.

Thin wispy clouds swayed in the pale blue sky, a soft pink sun hovered over the horizon.

The air was clear, it had been a warm day but a chilly breeze trickled in, not quite ready to fully embrace summer’s warmth.

My mind wandered, my soul filled up with gratitude for the amazing day I’d spent with two of my closest friends, pondering the unknown future.

Soon many of my friends would breathe a long sigh of relief and say their goodbyes, celebrating the end of their formal education and step into the world of lessons that could never be taught in a classroom.

Though I had one more year, I too would soon say my own goodbyes as my family and I packed up our belongings and moved 1,000 miles away.

My heart was heavy with a bittersweet Grace.

We reached a good spot and just stood there, in the wheat field. Taking it all in. Thinking. Praying.

Jackie had picked up some pamphlets she’d found at church – something about Mary, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and a militia he started in another time, another place. It sounded exciting enough.

We looked at it and read it over quickly and decided we’d do it. We’d read this Prayer of Consecration and give ourselves over to Jesus through His Mother. Together, we would CONSECRATE and ENTRUST our lives – and our very souls – over to the same woman whom Jesus entrusted the apostle John to while giving his life for us the Cross.

As we read through the consecration prayer together, I had a small feeling this wasn’t some small thing. By this act, I gave myself over to my Mother, and I also took her “into my home [soul] as my own.”

I looked over the wheat field and saw – in my mind’s imagination – a hand, reaching over an empty field, scattering seeds, the seeds grew into the hardy wheat I now stood in. All that was needed now were the harvesters.

Mary was calling me – calling us – to be the harvesters for the Master of the land. And I knew, without knowing then exactly how, that she would use us to bring about many great fruits by our prayers of consecration that day. And she would gather all these fruits and present them, with us, to her Son, on our behalf.

And with these fruits, He would feed us, His people.

These excerpts from 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration by Michael E. Gaitley explain Marian Consecration well – though I’d suggest reading the whole book for an even deeper understanding.

Mary knows the power of the Redemption, the power of merciful Love, better than anyone…Therefore, she calls us not only to conversion but “to accept her motherly help to return to the source of Redemption.” For again, Mary’s task is to bring us to the Fountain of Mercy, to the pierced side of Christ to his Merciful Heart.

Essentially, then, consecrating ourselves to Mary “means accepting her help to offer ourselves and the whole of mankind to the infinitely Holy God. It means entrusting ourselves to she who was most united to Christ’s own consecration…Consecrating ourselves to Mary means relying on her motherly intercession to help us offer ourselves more fully to Christ in his own consecration for our redemption.” (pgs 103 -104)

Like it? Share it!