I had just been laid off and the days at home were endless. After working steadily for 25 years the time lay heavy on my hands. It was mid-November so the days were getting shorter and darker. My employed friends were at work all day and my retired friends had their own things to do. I was lonely and depressed.
Thankfully I had a friend who had a day off during the week so we decided to meet for breakfast. As I approached our table I saw she was reading a book. The cover seemed familiar. It turns out I had seen it displayed at the religious goods counter at church. It was 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley. I was intrigued.
I had thought about making a Marian consecration before. I had tried to read St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary but the florid language put me off. I couldn’t make it past the first chapter. I was also wary of entering into a promise to the Mother of God that I might not be able to keep. I didn't know how much Mary was going to require of me.
I asked my friend some questions about the process and she was very encouraging. She gave me the book to flip through and I saw that the daily readings weren’t more than 2 or 3 pages long and they were written in Fr. Gaitley’s engaging and conversational style. As we talked about the preparation and subsequent consecration, I began to feel a sense of hope and excitement that I had not felt in a long time.
The book suggested following St. Louis’s advice to schedule the 33 days of preparation so they would end on the vigil (the evening before) of a Marian feast day. There was a handy chart to consult; the earliest I could start was Nov. 29 and I would be consecrated on January 1, Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. It sounded like a very good way to start 2016.
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