Ever since I went on my first Ignatian Spiritual Exercises Retreat this past summer in San Diego with Miles Christi, I have been praying each morning different prayers as a Morning Prayer/Morning Offering. The prayers I pray in the morning are the same prayers we did on the retreat. They have been a great consolation to me and I enjoy the moments I have in prayer each morning.

One of the prayers that’s part of my morning offering is titled, Consecration to the Blessed Virgin. Although it has the word consecration in it, it’s much shorter than actual Prayer of Consecration that many of you probably know either through St. Louis DeMontfort’s Total Consecration or Fr. Michael Gaitley’s, 33 Days to Morning Glory. If you are interested in learning more about both of these consecrations, I would encourage you to read my blog post titled, “Mondays with Mary” – Marian Consecration: Knowing Jesus through Mary.

The morning prayer that I pray each morning has a similar theme to both of the aforementioned prayers, but where it differs is that it’s a consecration to the Blessed Virgin for the day. It fits perfectly between the Anima Christi and the Prayer to St. Joseph, two other prayers that are part of the morning offering.

I enjoy this prayer because it focuses on points that I am very fond of when it comes to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It speaks of her as Queen and Mother. Here we have two very important titles for Mary that are connected to the Marian Doctrines of Theotokos (God-Bearer) and Maternal Mediator (she is our Advocate and Queen Mother).

I also like the phrase, “in proof of my filial affection.” Here we see that through our sonship (filial) that Christ regained for us through his merits on the Cross – that we are not only “sons” of God, but also “sons” (and daughters) of Mary as well. She is our Mother, just as Jesus states when he gives her to St. John at the foot of the cross.

The other part of this prayer that I like is the phrase “keep me and defend me as thy property and possession.” If you are familiar with the Marian Consecration Prayers, which speak of us as giving ourselves completely to Jesus through Mary, then you understand what this phrase means. I think in our modern culture we have a bad notion of slavery because in recent centuries man has distorted slavery into a very cruel practice, but in the early centuries slaves weren’t necessarily treated so poorly and were often freed after a certain number of years in service. For Jesus and Mary, we are not slaves to be beaten, but we should strive to be faithful slaves of love. If we are their possessions, then it’s their mission to keep us and defend us, as a Master would protect his slaves from another trying to hurt them.

So now that I have explained parts of this prayer to you briefly, let me share the actual prayer with you. It’s my hope that you will pray this prayer as I pray this prayer.

O, my Queen and my Mother! I offer myself entirely to thee; and, in proof of my filial affection, I consecrate this day to thee my eyes, my ears, my lips, my heart, my whole being without reserve. Since I am wholly thine, O bountiful Mother, keep me and defend me as thy property and possession. Amen.

I hope that you found today’s “Mondays with Mary” beneficial and that you will share this post with your family and friends. So many Christians lack to see the importance that the Blessed Mother plays in Salvation History, which is on-going today.

Let us pray for those Christians that believe Mary is an obstacle to Jesus and let us pray that they will come to know Jesus better through his Mother. If you want to get to someone in your life, the best thing to do is spend time with their mother. When we spend time with Mary, we come to know Jesus in a more deep and profound way.