One of the many benefits we enjoy as Catholics in our spiritual lives is the accompaniment and support of the communion of saints. In particular, with his last words dying on the cross, Jesus gave us His mother, Mary, as our advocate and intercessor. Megan and I were both devoted to our Blessed Mother prior to dating, but our devotion to her together has become an instrumental part of our marriage.

As a child, I had heard of Marian devotions and had known about miracles through the intercession of Mary, even within my own family. However, I didn’t develop my own practice of turning to her until I was an adult. Even as an adult, I faced challenges with various aspects of the Catholic faith when it came to Mary. I struggled at times with grasping the distinction between the precise language of theology and the poetic language of prayers and devotions, especially those with romanticized sentiments about Mary. I would go through plenty of dry times in my Marian prayers, even finding myself bored or simply going through motions with the Rosary. But I knew that a devotion to Mary can have transforming effects and has led many to holiness, especially the canonized saints. Before meeting my wife, I had often prayed Marian devotions, trusting they would be effective and beneficial, even if I didn’t experience direct consolation from them.

As Megan and I started dating, we were inspired to turn to Mary. At some point very early on, we decided to pray a daily Memorare, whether we were physically together or not. Over the course of our relationship, we incorporated other devotionals as well, including Rosaries, novenas, and even a Marian consecration as we moved closer to marriage. During marriage preparation, our pastor suggested that we write a consecration prayer that we could pray privately as we presented flowers to Mary and then keep with us throughout our marriage. Below is the prayer we continue to pray regularly together. Obviously, Megan and I are still very early in our journey, but we believe that our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph have played important roles in our relationship. We are convinced that whatever success or blessings we have in marriage will be attributed to the many graces we receive from God through the intercession of Mother Mary and the rest of our heavenly family in Christ.

Our Prayer of Consecration:

Mother Mary, you are the spouse and sanctuary of the Holy Spirit and the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We entrust everything of our lives and our relationship to your motherly care and ask your intercession to help sanctify our love and supply the grace to magnify the glory of God through our marriage. You have supported us since the beginning and together with St. Joseph have been guiding our hearts to one another and to our Lord. Please pray that we may have the grace to model our family after your Holy Family. Please keep us safe from all evil and lead us always to God’s will and to your Son, Jesus. Amen.