Montfort’s direction for this phase
227. First practice. Those men and women who wish to enter into this particular devotion, which is by no means erected into a confraternity, although that were to be wished, after having, as I have said in the first part of this preparation for the Reign of Jesus Christ, spent twelve days at least in emptying themselves of the spirit of the world, contrary to that of Jesus Christ, shall spend three weeks in filling themselves with Jesus Christ through the Most Blessed Virgin. Here is the order they may keep:
St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary §227. Our complete English edition.
Montfort unfolds that order in the three weeks that follow: knowledge of self, of Mary, and of Jesus Christ. These first twelve days prepare for those weeks.
True Devotion to Mary, paragraphs 71–73
This optional reading accompanies the phase; Montfort’s preparation instructions above remain the guide.
71. There is a total difference between a servant and a slave: 1. A servant does not give all that he is, all that he possesses, and all that he can acquire through others or through himself, to his master; but the slave gives himself wholly, all that he possesses and all that he can acquire, to his master, without any exception. 2. The servant demands wages for the services he renders to his master, but the slave can demand nothing, whatever assiduity, whatever industry, whatever strength he may have in his work. 3. The servant can leave his master when he pleases, or at least when the time of his service has expired; but the slave has no right to leave his master when he pleases. 4. The master of the servant has no right of life and death over him, so that if he killed him, like one of his beasts of burden, he would commit an unjust homicide; but the master of the slave has, by the laws, the right of life and death over him, so that he may sell him to whomever he pleases, or kill him, as, saving the comparison, he would his horse. 5. Finally, the servant is only for a time in the service of a master, and the slave forever.
72. There is nothing among men that makes us belong more to another than slavery; likewise there is nothing among Christians that makes us belong more absolutely to Jesus Christ and to his holy Mother than the slavery of the will, after the example of Jesus Christ himself, who took the form of a slave for love of us: Formam servi accipiens [taking the form of a slave], and of the Blessed Virgin, who called herself the servant and the slave of the Lord. The Apostle calls himself, as a title of honor, servus Christi [slave of Christ]. Christians are many times called in Holy Scripture servi Christi [slaves of Christ]; which word servus, according to the true remark made by a great man, formerly signified nothing but a slave, because there were as yet no servants like those of today, masters being served only by slaves or freedmen: which the Catechism of the holy Council of Trent, to leave no doubt whatsoever that we are slaves of Jesus Christ, expresses by a term that is not at all equivocal, calling us mancipia Christi: slaves of Jesus Christ. This being laid down:
73. I say that we must belong to Jesus Christ and serve him, not only as mercenary servants, but as loving slaves who, by the effect of a great love, give themselves and deliver themselves over to serve him as slaves, for the honor alone of belonging to him. Before baptism, we were slaves of the devil; baptism has made us slaves of Jesus Christ: either Christians must be slaves of the devil, or slaves of Jesus Christ.
St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary §§71–73. Our complete English edition.
The prayers for this phase
Turn away from the spirit of the world and ask to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus. The prayers below are this companion’s selection for these first twelve days. Continue your accustomed Rosary.
The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Traditional Catholic prayer.
Act of Contrition
O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.
Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (1885).
Veni Creator Spiritus · Come, Creator Spirit
Come, Creator Spirit, visit the minds of those who are Thine; fill with heavenly grace the hearts which Thou hast made.
Thou who art called the Paraclete, gift of God Most High, living fountain, fire, and charity, and spiritual anointing:
Thou art sevenfold in Thy gifts, the finger of the Father’s right hand; Thou art the Father’s promised gift, enriching our tongues with speech.
Kindle light within our minds; pour love into our hearts; sustain the weakness of our bodies with Thy enduring strength.
Drive the enemy far away, and grant us peace without delay; with Thee going before us as our guide, may we avoid all harm.
Through Thee may we know the Father, and know the Son as well; and may we believe in Thee, the Spirit of them both, for ever.
Glory be to God the Father, and to the Son who rose from the dead, and to the Paraclete, unto ages without end. Amen.
Traditional Latin hymn; English rendering for The Marian Way.
Ave Maris Stella · Hail, Star of the Sea
Hail, Star of the Sea, loving Mother of God, and ever Virgin, blessed gate of heaven.
Receiving that Ave from Gabriel’s mouth, establish us in peace, reversing the name of Eve.
Loosen the bonds of the guilty; bring light to the blind; drive away our evils; ask for us every good.
Show thyself a mother: through thee may He receive our prayers who, born for us, willed to be thy Son.
Virgin without equal, meek above all others, make us, freed from sin, meek and chaste.
Grant us a pure life; prepare a safe journey, that, seeing Jesus, we may rejoice together for ever.
Praise be to God the Father, glory to Christ Most High, and to the Holy Spirit: one honor to the Three. Amen.
Traditional Latin hymn; English rendering for The Marian Way.
Close in prayer.
Behold, O Mary, today I present myself to You, and offer myself wholly to your service, and for the little or much that remains to me to live on this earth; and together with You I renounce all Creatures, and dedicate myself entirely to the Love of my Creator. I consecrate to you then, O Queen, my mind, that it may think always of the Love which You deserve; my tongue, to praise you; my heart, to love you.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori · The Glories of Mary · Presentation of Mary, prayer (excerpt)Prayer sources and translation notes
Days 1–12: turn away from the spirit of the world and ask to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus. Montfort appoints at least twelve days for this purpose in True Devotion 227 but does not supply a fixed daily prayer list there. The Act of Contrition, Veni Creator, and Ave Maris Stella are the traditional prayers chosen for this companion; they are an editorial aid, not an additional rule attributed to Montfort. Continue your accustomed Rosary. Read Montfort’s direction.
The Sign of the Cross
Traditional formula; Holy Spirit matches the site’s prayer register.
Act of Contrition
Complete historical public-domain prayer; no wording borrowed from a modern prayer adaptation.
Veni Creator Spiritus · Come, Creator Spirit
Traditional Latin hymn; fresh English rendering for The Marian Way. All seven stanzas are included.
Ave Maris Stella · Hail, Star of the Sea
Traditional Latin hymn; fresh English rendering for The Marian Way. All seven stanzas are included; Ave and Eva retain the hymn’s contrast between Mary’s welcome and Eve’s disobedience.
An optional memory aid saved on this device. You may read any day at any time.
The preparation follows St. Louis de Montfort’s directions in True Devotion to Mary §§227–233. The readings are his words in our English translation. Their day-by-day selection and the first twelve days’ prayer selection are this companion’s arrangement; Montfort does not assign a separate reading for each day.