How to Get Started on Your Family Consecration?

  1. Pick a date to start your preparation for Consecration.  For a list of proposed dates, see our Consecration Calendar.
  2. Talk with your family about the Consecration a few days before you begin.
    • Give them the big picture, the reasons why you are going to consecrate your family to Jesus through Mary.
      • The reasons will vary, but here are some suggestions:
        1. Mary is our Mother, and we love her and her Son; this is a way to show Jesus and Mary that we love them.
        2. Scripture tells us to pray without ceasing, and we will practice this as a family over the next 33 days.
        3. We need to pray more as a family and this is a great way to start.
        4. Our prayers are even stronger when we pray together as a family.
        5. It will make your mother happy.
        6. We are uniting our prayer for (insert your favorite family member or friend who needs your prayers).
    • Let them know what to expect each day and what time and how long the daily prayers will take.
  3. What to expect each day:
    • Make the sign of the Cross.
    • Open with the daily prayer for the given week. (You may wish to make copies of the daily prayer for each week, and have each child in your family who is old enough to read have a copy so you can recite it together.)
    • Review the daily practice for the week; see how everyone is doing with it.
    • Read the daily scripture and explain any parts of the passage which the younger children might not understand.  You may stop reading the scripture to explain or ask questions of the children if you think they may be losing interest.  It is OK to take breaks for explanations or help make the scripture come alive to younger listeners.
    • Some families have one of the children read the scripture aloud.  It may help both the young listeners and the child picked to read if he or she practices any difficult words in the passage with a parent beforehand, lest the other members of the family become distracted and perhaps not even listen to the scripture.  (Letting the children read sometimes makes it more difficult for a parent to pause the reading and answer questions or provide additional insight into the passage.)
    • Discuss the daily reflection.  Depending on your level of comfort, you may read the daily reflection privately and then share a summary with your younger children during this time, or use the reflections in this book to help you share the main points with your family. DO NOT just give your reading-age children the reflections in this book.  These reflections are an aid for you to make the Consecration more accessible to your children so you as a family can prepare together.
    • Pray the closing prayer
  4. Other Considerations:
    • Daily Consecration prayer duration:
      • You should allow for about 20 minutes each day for the consecration.  (On the first day of each week, you will read both the introduction to each week and the first day’s meditations, so this day will be a little bit longer than the rest of the week.  Budget about 30 minutes for the first day of the week.)
    • What time of the day works best for the consecration?
      • Pick a time that works for your family, a time when you are not rushed, that will not be cancelled due to other commitments.  Pick a time when you don’t have to work too hard to keep your commitment.
      • Many families find that right after the family dinner or just before bedtime works well for the consecration; for some families, mornings will work better.  The main thing is that the time you select works with your family’s schedule.