The month of May is a very special one for our Blessed Mother - the Church has dedicated this month to Her specifically. And it was during this month - 97 years ago - that She chose to appear to three children in Fatima, Portugal. May 13, 1917, was the first of several visits which Mary made to these children - Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta, ages 10, 9 and 7. During Her last apparition at Fatima (on October 13, 1917) She performed an incredible miracle - seen by roughly 100,000 people - which testified to the truth and importance of Her message. This miracle has come to be known as the "Miracle of the Sun" (see my Fun Fact #140 Miracle of the Sun).

What was Mary’s message at Fatima? She actually had several - and they included requests, warnings for the world, and a means for world peace. But what was Her message for the individual person? What was She asking of each one of us?

Primarily, She asks us to pray (especially Her Rosary) and to make sacrifices - all with the intention of making reparation to Her Immaculate Heart. Speaking to the three children, She explained: "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace."

At the Cathedral’s "Devotions that can Save Your Soul", you will find two devotions which offer reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary - the Five First Saturdays and Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You can also wear the Brown Scapular and pray the Holy Rosary to offer reparation to the Immaculate Heart. While these last two devotions are not specifically for reparation, they can still be done to make reparation. For example, regarding the Brown Scapular, Lucy (the eldest of the three child visionaries at Fatima) explained that Mary "wants everyone to wear the Scapular… because it is our sign of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart." And consecrating ourselves (and those whom we love) to Mary’s Immaculate Heart is an important first step in making reparation.

But how do you consecrate yourself to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart? There are several formulas available, as well as different practices that help prepare one to make the consecration. St. Louis de Montfort created the most popular and renowned method of both preparing for, and making, this consecration. If you have the time, a scheduled and prayerful preparation is a wonderful foundation to consecrating yourself to Our Lady. In his "True Devotion to Mary", St. Louis de Montfort spells out the various prayers and meditations that help make the consecration fruitful. Consecration to Mary does not require a priest to participate. (To download the book, right-click here and choose "Save Link As", "Save Target As", or something similar.)

But while a thorough preparation is beneficial, it is not necessary - and the key to consecrating yourself to our Blessed Mother is your sincerity and intention. This can be accomplished with a long and beautiful prayer, or a simple fervent one.

For example, here is a short form of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

I (your name), a faithless sinner - renew and ratify today in Your hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the heavenly court, I choose You this day for my Mother and Queen. I deliver and consecrate to You, as Your servant, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present, and future; leaving to You the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to Your good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity. Amen.

Once you have given yourself to Mary, it is helpful to remind yourself and Her of this dedication, by renewing it with short, sincere and even daily aspirations. Another fruitful reminder of your consecration is if you have a certain special picture or statue of Our Lady that you can display in your home or room once you have made the consecration. Or perhaps if you have a medal of our Blessed Mother to wear around your neck, or a chain to wear on your wrist - anything that can frequently serve as a visual reminder that you have given yourself to our Heavenly Queen, and that you enjoy Her special intercession and protection.

One of the many examples of the success of consecrating even others to Mary’s powerful and maternal Immaculate Heart comes from the life of Hermann Cohen - one of the most illustrious converts from Judaism to the Catholic Faith in the 19th century. As a Carmelite monk - Fr. Augustine Mary of the Blessed Sacrament - he was renowned for his great love and devotion for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Though he converted many in his family to the One True Church, his mother steadfastly refused. In his great love for his mother, he prayed constantly to the Mother of God for her conversion. But when she died on December 13, 1855 she had not, by any appearances, become Catholic.

Later Fr. Augustine confided to St. John Vianney his anxiety about his mother’s death and eternal salvation. "Hope!" said the holy Cure of Ars, "Hope! You will one day, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, receive a letter which will be very consoling to you." These words were nearly forgotten, when on December 8, 1861, six years after his mother’s death, a letter was handed to him by a Jesuit priest. It was recently written to Fr. Augustine by a mystic nun who had since died in the odor of sanctity. She had been shown the details of Fr. Augustine’s mother’s death and judgment.

As Madame Cohen was dying and Jesus about to pass just sentence against her, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared and exclaimed: ‘Grace, mercy, O my Son! For this soul that is about to perish. Another moment and it will be lost, lost for all eternity! ... The soul of his [Hermann’s] mother is what is dearest to him; a thousand times he has consecrated it to me; he has confided it to the tenderness, to the solicitude of My heart. Can I allow it to perish? This soul is Mine; I want it, I claim it as a heritage, as the price of Thy Blood, and of My sorrows at the foot of Thy Cross.’

Instantly a strong and powerful grace burst forth from the Heart of Jesus and penetrated the woman’s soul. Madame Cohen at once repented, embraced the Catholic Faith, desired Its Baptism and thus saved her soul. Our Lord then told the mystic: ‘Make this known to Father Augustine; it is a consolation that I wish to grant to his long sufferings, in order that he may everywhere bless and cause to be blessed the goodness of My Mother’s heart and Her power over Mine.’

So please, with such powerful graces at your disposal, look through the various "Devotions that can Save Your Soul" available at the Cathedral, especially those which you can use to offer reparation to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Let us not forget what our Most Blessed Virgin Mary told St. Bridget of Sweden: "I look around at all who are on earth, to see if by chance there are any who pity Me… and I find that there are very few. Therefore, My daughter, though I am forgotten by many, you, at least do not forget Me."

Let us console Mary, then…. so that, one day, She will say to us… "Though I was forgotten by many… you, at least, my loving children, did not forget me."