The following 9 Days of reflections are my own personal summary Fr. Hicks’ book, The Fruit of Her Womb: 33-Day Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary. The main image Fr. Hicks uses is that of the “womb of Mary” (rather than St. Louis de Montfort’s slavery image, which can easily bring up negative connotations) to speak of what true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary looks like. This is not so much a summary as my own reflection. As such, I might turn this into an actual 9 Days to Marian Consecration book (this blog post will be continually updated as I reflect more on my own journey of Marian Consecration).
Day 1: Entering into the Womb of Mary
The choice to consecrate yourself to Mary is a choice, like Jesus, to enter into the womb of Mary
The choice to enter the womb of Mary is a choice to become fully dependent on her and fully surrendered to her will.
As such, this choice can be scary. We place a high value today on having control and unlimited freedom. We also have FOMO: a fear of missing out. We want to resist piously and say like Nicodemus, “Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4).
But entering the womb of Mary is also a choice, like Jesus, to receive everything you need from Mary as the most perfect of all mothers. For us, it is a place to find healing for where we were not taken care of, perfect nourishment for our particular needs, an “enclosed garden… where he can draw water and drink deep draughts of the living waters of grace” (cf. St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary, 20).
“Admirably throw themselves, hide themselves, and lose themselves in her loving and virginal womb so that they may be set aflame with pure love. They do this so as to be purified of the slightest stain and fully discover Jesus” (St. Louis de Montfort, Traitè 199).
“Put aside your intentions and work, no matter how good and how well you know them, so as to lose yourself, so to speak, in those of the Blessed Virgin Mary, although they are yet unknown to you” (St. Louis de Montfort, Traitè 222).
The womb of Mary is our hiding place when we feel embarrassed, our refuge when we feel lonely, our shelter when our lives are stormy, our home when we are lost, our healing when we are hurt, our hospital when we are sick,…
The choice is yours. Jesus already said “Yes.” Will you?
Prayer for the day: “Mary, I choose your womb…”
Day 2: Being with Jesus in the Womb of Mary
When we choose to enter Mary’s womb, we quickly realize that we are not alone. To enter into Mary’s womb is to enter into the deepest intimacy with Christ. Like twins together in the womb, we are now being formed into another Christ.
Being with Jesus in the womb of Mary is a choice to become little, to accept our weakness, to live a hidden life and be overlooked like a tiny baby, hidden away in the womb of Mary?
It’s also a choice of intimacy. We will be pressed up against Christ like twins in the womb. To allow Jesus to be close to us in our weakness and vulnerability.
Will we embrace our inner poverty and powerlessness to be united with Jesus in the womb of Mary?
St. Louis de Montfort said: “Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ”.
Prayer for the day: “Mary, I choose your womb with Jesus…”
Day 3: Living in the Womb of Mary
The choice to live in the womb of Mary is a choice to share everything with Mary. All of your time, talent, treasure. Your whole life.
This new life involves total surrender and obedience: “Mary, lead me… Mary, where do you want to go today? Mary, what do you want to do today?” These are the questions we must ask when we spiritually live in Mary’s womb.
When we ask these questions, life becomes an adventure. Think of how adventurous it was for Jesus when Mary carried Him in her womb to her cousin Elizabeth, whose infant, John the Baptist, “leaped in her womb” at the sound of Mary’s greeting (Luke 1:41).
“When we are willing to live in such a constant, dependent relationship with Mary by being in her womb, life will only become more exciting, full, and rich” (24).
Are you willing to let Mary lead you? Will you take a risk with Mary and Jesus?
Or do you want to settle for a secure life under your own control?
Prayer for the day: “Mary, lead me…”
Day 4: Staying in the Womb of Mary
Spiritually, we have a choice to stay in the spiritual womb of Mary or leave her womb.
Staying in the womb of Mary is a choice of Marian-reliance, dependence, and humility. It leads to receiving all we need for a life of holiness and true happiness here on earth, and being born into the true life of eternal happiness in Heaven.
Staying in the womb is where we find our identity: “This relationship is our foundation, our starting point, and our identity. It does not depend on our accomplishments; we have done nothing to earn it, and no one can take it away from us. Like a baby in the womb, our share in Christ’s Sonship is pure gift. We can only receive it and choose to keep growing as the little children of Mary God has called us to be” (67).
Staying in the womb of Mary demands that we stay spiritually small, hidden, vulnerable.
Leaving the womb of Mary is a choice of self-reliance, independence, and pride. It leads to grasping at all we need in a selfish, egoistic manner.
Prayer for the day: “Stay in the womb of Mary.”
Day 5: Sinning in the Womb of Mary
Having reflected on the importance of staying in the womb of Mary, it is helpful to consider the reality of sin.
To commit a sin is like introducing a disease into the womb of Mary. It makes the environment toxic. It hurts Mary and it hurts ourselves and others.
“These diseases damage our own growth as well as the growth of others, and if they become serious enough, they can cause a kind of spiritual miscarriage. Boasting about our importance can be quickly corrected by remembering that we are infants in the womb. We are not that impressive, we are completely dependent on Mary, and we are certainly no more important than all our twins who share the womb with us” (86).
“Likewise, we can understand how very ridiculous the idolatry of the “Martha Complex” is when we realize how limited we are in the womb of Mary. Consider, too, how the toxicity of gossip raises the pH in the womb to dangerous levels and stunts our growth. We can feel the poison of negativity in the amniotic fluid in which we are swimming.”
“Am I impressed with myself? Do I think I am immortal or irreplaceable? Do I work too much, and does this excess in my work cause me to neglect prayer and proper rest? Do I engage in the terrorism of gossip and make comments that destroy the reputation of others? Let us become little and accept our beloved insignificance in the womb of Mary — our lives may not matter much to the world, but they matter tremendously to our Mother!” (87)
Prayer for the day: “Mary, prevent me from sin…”
Day 6: Healing in the Womb of Mary
Knowing that we can sin every day, whether consciously or unconsciously, it is helpful to now consider what the healing process looks like in Mary’s womb.
Mary’s womb is the perfect place for healing. She always provides the perfect nourishment we need to heal, especially in those places we were received a lack of love for our biological mothers. There is an umbilical cord of grace and healing.
“A baby with a perfect, loving mother cannot find a better place to grow in love and life than in the womb. And so Mary, our perfect Mother, nurtures and protects us until we are ready to be born into eternal life” (27).
“Mary fills in any gaps left in us by our birth-mother’s limitations. She is the first of the redeemed. She is without sin from the moment of her conception. She will never fail us, forget us, abandon us, or forsake us. She will never break our trust. In this way, she teaches us to trust again and helps to heal our wounds” (11).
“We are crying for a home, crying to belong, crying for the things we need to grow, crying to make sense of the pain and find support, crying for others. When we cry out, Mary responds to us and brings us into her arms and then into that tighter, safer, more beautiful embrace in her womb. In coming to share our human condition, Jesus made Mary’s womb the perfect place for all our needs to be met and also the place that we can always find Him, who is always the Son of Mary” (30).
Prayer for the day: “Mary, heal me…”
Day 7: Praying in the Womb of Mary
Praying the Rosary is a beautiful way to enter into the mystery of Mary’s womb. When we pray the Rosary, Mary takes special care to form us into Jesus.
Surrendering our time to praying the Rosary enables Mary to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us (Gal 4:19).
How is your prayer life going? Are you aware of the presence of Mary as you pray?
“The first word many children speak is “Mama”; it is their name for their mother. As St. Bernard teaches us, our Mother’s name is the word we must practice most while we are in the womb of Mary. It is in speaking her name that we will remain her little children, always crying out to our Mama. We need to practice saying her name and calling on her in our best times and in our worst times. When things go well, we know we have done everything in her, from her womb. When things go poorly, we know how much help we need, and we call on her to soothe our guilty conscience. Let us think of those times when we are most tempted to despair, most prone to wander, most in danger of going astray, most lost, fearful, or weary. And let us practice saying her name, the name of Mary” (109-110).
Prayer for the day: “Mama Mary!”
Day 8: Waiting in the Womb of Mary
Mary’s womb is the perfect image for what life on earth is like. We are all waiting to be born into eternal life.
There is no better place to receive all the nourishment and protection we need before our time is ready to enter eternal life than in the womb of Mary.
In the womb of Mary, we can wait patiently amidst the uncertainties of life. Mary will take care of us. We face nothing alone. Christ is with us in the womb. His the firstborn. He will reach down and grab our hand to lead us into eternal life.
- St. Ephraem, in one of his favorite images he contrasts the two wombs that have been changed by Christ. The Virgin brought Him forth in gladness, Sheol the barren brought Him forth in sadness. He means that the joy of His conception in the womb is bound up with the joy of the resurrection from the dead. “The womb and the sepulchre, being sealed, were witnesses to you. The belly and hell cried aloud your birth and your resurrection” (Ephraem, Hymns on the Nativity, 8; in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 13, p. 241).
One day, we will be born into eternal life and see Mary and Jesus face-to-face. Until then, stay in the womb.
Prayer for the day: “Wait with Mary…”
Day 9: Consecration in the Womb of Mary
Tomorrow is the day we consecrate ourselves to Mary. For this final day, I’d like you to summarize three things that you’ve learned from the last 8 days of reflections. Ask Mary: “What are three things you want me to remember going forward? three things that are important for me to stay in your womb and live out my Marian consecration?”
Consecration Prayer to the Womb of Mary
Mary, in Baptism, I was placed in your womb with Jesus. From that precious moment, your Immaculate Heart beat for me with my most precious and tender love. From that sacred time, you have desired to provide for all of my deepest desires and needs.
Although I have so left your womb, choosing the way of self-sufficiency and pride, today is different.
Today, on ___________________________, with the whole court of Heaven as witness, I, ______________________, choose to enter into your womb, Mary, for the rest of my life here on earth. All of my time, talent, and treasure – past, present, and future – now belongs entirely to you.
I entrust myself to your loving, maternal care with the same total abandon as the Baby Jesus, who chose to dwell in your womb.
Mary, you are my sure refuge, my safety, my shelter, my hiding place.
I choose to stay little with Jesus and embrace my weakness in your womb.
I choose to be vulnerable
I give you the full right and permission to lead me on an adventure of holiness, to nourish me with all that I need to become a great saint,
Veiled with her beneath the protective care of Saint Joseph her spouse, may I find in her a refuge against every danger and in her womb a hiding place invisible to the ancient foe. May I know that I am loved perfectly like Jesus by Joseph and Mary, those parents, who, receiving everything from You, will always provide for all of my needs.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prodigal Catholic 
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