Contact
Diocesan Offices
St Eugene’s Cathedral
Francis Street, Derry
BT48 9AP
Tel: 028 7126 2302
11 minutes reading time
(2146 words)
Featured
33 days of Family Prayer led by Bishop McKeown
Child Consecration to Jesus through Mary
Times and dates of prayer
Time: 7:00pm each evening live on YouTube and Facebook/derrydiocese
Dates: Starts Thursday, 9th January at 7:00pm and every evening until Tuesday, 11th February
Prayers for days 1-8 (9th - 16th January)
Come, Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created;
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
LET US PRAY.
O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people by sending them the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us
by the same Spirit to have right judgement in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen
O Holy Spirit, sweet Guest of my soul, abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in Thee.
Our Father
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory Be to the Father
Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Ave Maris Stella
Hail, bright star of the ocean, God's own Mother blest, Ever sinless Virgin,
Gate of heavenly rest.
Taking that sweet Ave Which from Gabriel came, Peace confirm within us, Changing Eve's name.
Break the captives' fetters, Make our blindness day, Chase all evils from us, For all blessings pray.
Show thyself a Mother, May the Word Divine Born for us thine Infant
Hear our prayers through thine.
Virgin all excelling, Mildest of the mild,
Free from guilt, preserve us, Meek and undefiled.
Keep our life all spotless, Make our way secure, Till we find in Jesus,
Joy for evermore.
Praise to God the Father, Honor to the Son,
In the Holy Spirit,
Be the glory one. Amen.
Prayers for days 9-18 (17th - 23rd January)
Come, Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created;
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
LET US PRAY.
O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people by sending them the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us
by the same Spirit to have right judgement in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen
O Holy Spirit, sweet Guest of my soul, abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in Thee.
Our Father
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
10 Hail Mary‘s
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory Be to the Father
Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Buy the book
Child Consecration: To Jesus through Mary — Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower.
Each parish in the Diocese of Derry has a limited number of copies available for free to parishioners while stock last.
The book is available to buy at: https://childconsecration.com/order/
Steps to follow each day of family prayer
Click the images to download
Child Consecration to Jesus through Mary following in the Spirit of St Thérèse, the Little Flower
“From the week preceding the Baptism of the Lord (Thursday, 9th January) until the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (Tuesday, 11th February 2025), I plan to make a 33-day journey of prayer towards Consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary. It is a journey I set out to make to entrust myself and my priesthood to Christ through the Mother of God. I extend an invitation to you and your families from the parishes of the diocese to join me. It is my hope to call this journey a "Consecration to Jesus through Mary led by the Shepherds of the diocese."
The Consecration journey I plan to use is a book called Child Consecration to Jesus through Mary: Following in the Spirit of Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower. In reviewing this book, I found it encouraged simplicity, confidence, and trust. All these virtues have the ability to encourage spiritual growth as was seen by St. Thérèse, the Little Flower – and other moder saints.
I invite you and your family to join me each evening at 7:00pm on-line, live on the Diocese of Derry Facebook and YouTube channels during the 33 Days. We will be concluding the final day of the Consecration on Tuesday, 11th February in Saint Eugene's Cathedral, Derry. (Full details to be announced).
Copies of the book Child Consecration to Jesus through Mary: Following in the Spirit of Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower will be available in each parish from early January.
I look forward to you joining me on this journey
+ Donal
Bishop of Derry
Bishop McKeown's invitation to prayer
What is Consecration to Jesus through Mary?
In this new calendar year 2025 where we embark on a Year of Jubilee, led by Pope Francis, called to be Pilgrims of Hope.
As a diocesan family, we are celebrating this Year of Jubilee by taking up in our homes Bishop Donal's invitation to be Pilgrims of Hope through a time of shared prayer together called "Consecration to Jesus through Mary". This journey of shared prayer happens over thirty-three days, from Thursday, 9 January 2025 culminating on 11 February, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, when every day we will take a short time of prayer in our day to pray together as a family of faith, led by the Bishop.
Consecration
The word "consecration" means a number of things in our Catholic tradition. In its broadest sense, it means to dedicate someone or something to God. So, in the celebration of the Mass, consecration refers to the moment when the priest, acting in persona Christi, pronounces the words of institution, the words of Christ at the Last Supper: "This is my body, this is the chalice of my blood." In this moment the bread and the wine become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, known to us as transubstantiation.
Consecration also refers to the dedicating of people or things to God for His service. For example, the vows or promises taken by a person who is living the religious life, whereby promises of chastity, poverty and obedience, they undertake a special service to God. This is known as living the "consecrated life." But also objects can be consecrated, such as altars, churches, sacred vessels – and indeed the holy oil of Chrism is consecrated, usually by the Bishop at the Mass of Chrism on Holy Thursday morning, which is then used throughout the diocese for the celebration of Baptism and Confirmation, sacraments which impose an indelible mark on the person, where they become "of Christ" and journey more deeply into the life of Christ.
There is another kind of consecration known in the Catholic tradition, as consecration in private devotion. Although ancient in its existence, this type of consecration took on a particular place in people's faith life since the seventeenth century. This type of consecration is when a person makes a formal act of dedication, commitment, entrustment.
In our tradition, acts of consecration have been made to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the protection, guidance and aid of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and other saints, with the idea that their example will inspire us and help us desire to live more closely and fully in discerning the will of God. This form of devotion was coined in a special way by Saint John Eudes, a French priest and pastor, founder of the Good Shepherd Sisters, and the other French Saint Louis de Montfort who preached ad Iesum per Mariam – to Jesus through Mary, among other saints and has been encouraged in more recent times, especially by Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and most recently by Pope Francis when he invited the Church throughout the world to pray with him in making an act of consecration in March 2022 when war threatened world peace.
It is this form of consecration that we are invited to enter more deeply into during the month of January as we begin the Year of Jubilee. By undertaking this journey together, we will be pilgrims of hope that, as we meditate on the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary and be inspired by the simplicity of Saint Therese the Little Flower, we will be inspired to live the Word of God every day through our actions, words, prayers and presence with others. This echoes the words of Christ in Saint Matthew's Gospel: 'Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, they are my brother and sister and mother.' So this journey of consecration is a chance for us as brothers and sisters, led by Bishop Donal, to pray with and for one another.
33 Days of prayer towards Consecration
Every evening from 9th January for thirty-three days, at 7:00pm, there will be a live broadcast on Facebook and YouTube led by the Bishop and other priests of the diocese, using the book Child Consecration: To Jesus Through Mary — Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower written by Blythe Kaufman. As homes throughout the diocese and beyond are invited to spend time in this prayer together, a moment of meditation is followed by prayers of our tradition, praying to the Holy Spirit and reciting the Rosary in particular.
And to aid us, there will be resources on the Diocese of Derry Social Media platforms and the NET newspaper.
On this journey, we are inviting Jesus and Mary into our homes – physical homes in the diocese, but also the home of our hearts where by meditating on the mysteries of the rosary, we will be inspired to live well every day, growing in holiness and leading others in their relationship with God. This Act of Consecration is an intention of commitment and prayer that will lead into action.
As we celebrate the birth of Christ who was God walking among the human family, a great way to keep Christ alive is by our participation in the journey of consecration as members of the family of this diocese, of our parishes, of our own families and among our friends, and especially to encourage our young people, children and young adults so that we can imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary and, growing deeper in our consecration to God first given at Baptism and inspired by the Word of God.
Like Mary, we utter "let it be done" so that we may become true pilgrims of hope by entrusting ourselves to the Saviour, Christ our Hope, Christ our Peace, Christ our Life, as we make our way to heaven.
The book Child Consecration: To Jesus Through Mary — Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower written by Blythe Kaufman is available for free while stocks last in all parishes in the Diocese of Derry. Contact your local parish office for a copy.
Stay Informed
When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.