Consecration

What it is

Consecration means setting apart for God. In the MassGlossaryThe Church's central act of worship—the Sacrifice of Calvary made present, and the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood., the consecration is the heart of the EucharisticGlossaryPrayer and rites centered on the Blessed Sacrament—adoration, Benediction, processions, and hymns of the Real Presence. Prayer: by Christ's words and the Spirit's power, bread and wine become His Body and Blood. Beyond the liturgy, Catholics speak of consecrating themselves to the Sacred Heart, to Our Lady (as in the total consecration taught by St. Louis de Montfort), or of consecrated virgins and religious whose lives are formally given to God.

What it is not

Personal consecration is not a SacramentGlossaryOne of seven efficacious signs of grace instituted by Christ: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing, Orders, Matrimony. alongside the seven. MarianGlossaryOf or directed to the Blessed Virgin Mary—her feasts, antiphons, hymns, and the Church's filial devotion to the Mother of God. consecration is not worship of Mary—it is a gift of oneself to Jesus through Mary. Consecration is not a feeling of intensity; it is a real handing-over that must be lived in obedience, chastity according to one's state, and fidelity to the Church.

How a Catholic encounters it

You encounter consecration at every valid Mass—kneel for it. You may also prepare a personal consecration with a serious program of prayer (often thirty-three days), Confession, and a formal act on a Marian feast. Do not consecrate your life in words you will not back with habits. The altar teaches what consecration costs: everything.