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 74–77
This optional reading accompanies the phase; Montfort’s preparation instructions above remain the guide.
74. What I say absolutely of Jesus Christ, I say relatively of the Blessed Virgin: Jesus Christ, having chosen her for the indissoluble companion of his life, of his death, of his glory, and of his power in heaven and on earth, gave her by grace, relative to his Majesty, all the same rights and privileges that he possesses by nature: Quidquid Deo convenit per naturam, Mariae convenit per gratiam: All that befits God by nature befits Mary by grace, say the saints; so that, according to them, both having but the same will and the same power, they both have the same subjects, servants, and slaves.
75. One may therefore, following the sentiment of the saints and of many great men, call oneself and make oneself the loving slave of the Most Blessed Virgin, in order thereby to be more perfectly the slave of Jesus Christ. The Blessed Virgin is the means Our Lord made use of to come to us; she is also the means we must make use of to go to him; for she is not like other creatures, which, if we attached ourselves to them, could rather draw us away from God than bring us near to him; but the strongest inclination of Mary is to unite us to Jesus Christ, her Son, and the strongest inclination of the Son is that we come to him through his holy Mother; and to do so is to do him honor and pleasure, just as it would be doing honor and pleasure to a king if, in order to become more perfectly his subject and his slave, one made oneself the slave of the queen. That is why the holy Fathers, and Saint Bonaventure after them, say that the Blessed Virgin is the way to go to Our Lord: Via veniendi ad Christum est appropinquare ad illam [The way of coming to Christ is to draw near to her] (In psalt. min.).
76. Moreover, if, as I have said, the Blessed Virgin is the Queen and Sovereign of heaven and earth: Ecce imperio Dei omnia subjiciuntur et Virgo; ecce imperio Virginis omnia subjiciuntur et Deus [Behold, all things, and the Virgin too, are subject to the dominion of God; behold, all things, and God too, are subject to the dominion of the Virgin], say Saint Anselm, Saint Bernard, Saint Bernardine, Saint Bonaventure, does she not have as many subjects and slaves as there are creatures? Is it not reasonable that among so many slaves of constraint there should be slaves of love, who, by a good will, choose, as slaves, Mary for their Sovereign? What! men and demons shall have their voluntary slaves, and Mary should have none? What! a king shall hold it an honor that the queen, his companion, should have slaves over whom she has the right of life and death, because the honor and the power of the one is the honor and the power of the other; and could one believe that Our Lord, who, as the best of all sons, shared all his power with his holy Mother, takes it amiss that she should have slaves? Has he less respect and love for his Mother than Ahasuerus for Esther and Solomon for Bathsheba? Who would dare say it, or even think it?
77. But where is my pen leading me? Why do I stop here to prove a thing so evident? If some do not wish us to call ourselves slaves of the Blessed Virgin, what does it matter! Let them make themselves and call themselves slaves of Jesus Christ! That is to be the slave of the Blessed Virgin, since Jesus is the fruit and the glory of Mary. This is what one does perfectly by the devotion of which we shall speak in what follows.
St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary §§74–77. 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.
I take you for my all. Give me your heart, O Mary!
St. Louis de Montfort · True Devotion to Mary §266Prayer 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.