Confraternity of Mary, Queen of All Hearts (2024)

APPENDIX 5

THECONFRATERNITY OF MARY,
QUEEN OF ALL HEARTS

1. St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, in his treatise on the TrueDevotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, expresses the desire that allthose who practise this devotion should be grouped together into aConfraternity. This wish was realised in the year 1899, when theConfraternity of Mary, Queen of All Hearts, was established at Ottawa,Canada. It is under the care of the Company of Mary or the MontfortMissionaries.
2. The Confraternity is composed of those faithful who wish tolive out their baptismal vows by means of a total consecration toChrist by the hands of Mary, that is, by the perfect practise of truedevotion to Mary as taught by St. Louis de Montfort and summed up byhim in the following words:
   "This devotion consists in giving oneself entirely to Mary in order tobelong entirely to Jesus through her. It requires us to give:
   
   1. our body, with its senses and members;
   2. our soul with its faculties;
   3. our present material possessions and all we shallacquire in the future;
   4. our interior and spiritual possessions, that is, ourmerits, virtues and good actions of the past, the present and thefuture.
   
   In other words we give her all we possess both in our natural life andin our spiritual life as well as everything we shall acquire in thefuture in the order of nature, of grace and of glory in heaven. This wedo without reservation, not even of a penny, a hair, or the smallestgood deed. And we give for all eternity without claiming or expecting,in return for our offering and our service, any other reward than thehonour of belonging to our Lord through Mary and in Mary, even thoughour Mother were not - as in fact she always is - the most generous andappreciative of all God's creatures." (TD 121)
3. The conditions of enrolment are:
   (a) The consecration of oneself to Jesus Christ, Eternal and IncarnateWisdom, by the hands of Mary, according to the formula of St. Louis deMontfort. A suitable preparation should be made and it is fitting thata special day be chosen, such as one of Our Lady's feasts, for theconsecration. It should be renewed each day using some such formula as:"I am all yours, and all that I have I offer to you, O most lovingJesus, through Mary your holy Mother." This form would also satisfy themorning offering of the Apostleship of Prayer. Another form would bethat so dear to the Legion: " I am all yours, my Queen, my Mother, andall that I have is yours."
   (b) The inscription of one's name at any centre. The principle centresare:

   England:	Montfort House, Burbo BankRoad, Liverpool L23 6TH
   USA:	Montfort Fathers, 26 SouthSaxon Ave., Bay Shore, N.Y. 11706
   France:	2 rue des Couvents, 85290Saint-Laurent-Sur-Sevre
   Belgium:	Dietsevest 25 - 3000 Leuven
   Canada:	4000 Bossuet, Montreal,Quebec H1M 2M2
   Italy:	via Romagna 44, 00187 Roma

   
   (c) To live habitually and always (this is the essence of the devotion)in a state of complete dependence on Mary's will, after the examplegiven by the Son of God at Nazareth; doing all our actions through her,with her, in her, and for her, in such manner that we consider her asacting always in union with us, directing all our efforts andadministering all their fruits. See chapter 6 on The Duties ofLegionaries towards Mary.
4. "Membership in this Association brings with it spiritualcommunion with the entire Montfortian family. Members will want tocelebrate those liturgical feasts that are both a symbol and fulfilmentof this communion. They will especially celebrate: the Annunciation ofthe Lord, March 25 which is the principal feast of the Association; theNativity of Our Lord, December 25; the Immaculate Conception, December8; the feast of St. Louis de Montfort, April 28.
   Members likewise share in the spiritual riches with which theMontfortian family has been endowed by Mary who 'gives herselfcompletely in a wondrous manner to him who gives all to her.'" (Queen,May-June, 1992, p.25)
5. For the proper understanding and practise of this devotionit is essential that one read not once but frequently St. Louis-Mariede Montfort's True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin,and his smaller work, The Secret of Mary.

"St. Pius X, especially, has set outvividly the doctrine of the universal mediation of Mary and of herspiritual Maternity in his beautiful Encyclical Ad Diem Illum, which issubstantially but a transposition of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's bookof the True Devotion. The Holy Pontiff was a fervent admirer of thiscelebrated little treatise. He particularly recommended all to read it,and he conferred his Apostolic Benediction on those who would do so.Moreover, in that Encyclical of his on Mary are to be found not onlythe most familiar thoughts of the great servant of Mary, but often hisvery expressions." (Mura: Le Corps Mystique du Christ)
"Loving slaves of Jesus in Mary should hold in high esteem devotion toJesus, the Word of God, in the great mystery of the Incarnation, March25, which is the mystery proper to this devotion, because it isinspired by the Holy Spirit for the following reasons:
(a) That we might honour and imitate the wondrous dependence which Godthe Son chose to have on Mary, for the glory of his Father and for theredemption of man. This dependence is revealed especially in thismystery where Jesus becomes a captive and slave in the womb of hisBlessed Mother, depending on her for everything.
(b) That we might thank God for the incomparable graces he hasconferred upon Mary and especially that of choosing her to be his mostworthy Mother. This choice was made in the mystery of the Incarnation.
These are the two principal ends of the slavery of Jesus in Mary." (St.Louis-Marie de Montfort: Treatise on True Devotion, Par. 243)