St. Louis De Montfort who we have mentioned before in the blog, is very well known for his 33 Day Consecration to Mary. In his book True Devotion to Mary which is the source of the consecration he includes an beautiful devotion that he encourages those consecrated to Mary to pray daily. The Little Crown of Our Lady has, in my opinion, gone to the back burner as most of us (hopefully all of us) pray the rosary daily. However, there is no reason why not to take on this beautiful devotion once in a while of praying 12 Hail Marys in honour of Her 12 stars. St. de Montfort embellished this devotion with a distinctive invocation in praise of the Blessed Virgin's excellence, power, and goodness, ending with the joyful strain, "Rejoice, O Virgin Mary! A thousand times Rejoice!”
To learn how to pray it visit this link.
Prayer written by St Louis Marie de Montfort for the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin:
Hail, Mary, Daughter of God the Father; Hail, Mary, Mother of God the Son; Hail, Mary, Spouse of the Holy Ghost; Hail, Mary, Temple of the most Holy Trinity; Hail, Mary, my Mistress, my treasure, my joy, Queen of my heart; my Mother, my life, my sweetness, my dearest hope ---- yea, my heart and my soul! I am all thine and all that I have is Thine, O Virgin blessed above all things! Let thy soul be in me to magnify the Lord; let thy spirit be in me to rejoice in God. Set thyself, O faithful Virgin, as a seal upon my heart, that in thee and through thee I may be found faithful to God. Receive me, O gracious Virgin, among those whom thou lovest and teachest, whom thou leadest, nourishest and protectest as thy children. Grant that for love of thee I may despise all earthly consolations and ever cling to those of Heaven until, through thee, His faithful spouse, Jesus Christ thy Son be formed in me for the glory of the Father. Amen.
Paraphrasing the prayer of St Louis Marie de Montfort:
What a charming prayer is the Little Crown in honour of the privileges and virtues of Mary! In his True Devotion, St. de Montfort recommends it to be said everyday. Its origin is as follows:
One day, St. John, the beloved disciple of Jesus and Mary, saw a great wonder in the heavens, as he relates in chapter XII of the Apocalypse. “A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The interpreters of Holy Scripture tell us that this vision typifies Mary together with her virtues and privileges, and more in particular, her divine maternity. From that explanation has originated Mary's Little Crown of twelve stars. It has been favoured with many wonders of heavenly grace, and it has made the delights of the saints, such as St. Joseph Calasanctius, St. John Berchmans and others.
In the eighteenth century, St. de Montfort, with a desire to render this prayer more attractive, added to each of the twelve Hail Marys that compose the Little Crown, some of his beautiful praises in honour of our Lady, with the gracious invitation : “Rejoice, O Virgin Mary. A thousand times rejoice.” Oh! who will give to our souls the feelings with which he was animated, when he presented this Little Crown to her whom he so affectionately called his good Mother! He would fain have given a tongue to every living creature to repeat those beautiful praises with him. He has made it a rule for the members of the two religious Congregations founded by him that this Little Crown shall be their form of morning prayer and, so to say, their first greeting and first mark of affection for their dear Mother.
Child of Mary, love to strew the roses of this beautiful crown at the feet of your heavenly Queen every day, or at least as often as possible. Your heart shall be filled with sweet consolation and your soul with heavenly grace, every time you say this prayer with attention. Love to meditate in particular upon the concluding prayer:
“Hail, Mary, Daughter of God the Father,” which is a short summary of the teaching of BI. de Montfort on true devotion to Mary. A few considerations will help you to realise the beauty of this prayer.
Consider at the beginning of this prayer our Lady seated upon a throne of splendour and glory in heaven, receiving the homage of all creatures, of angels and men. With feelings of humility greet her as “the Daughter of God the Father, the Mother of God the Son, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost as the temple of the most Holy Trinity.” Greet her as that "World of God'' (as St. de Montfort calls Mary), in which Jesus is still hidden, infinitely holy and exalted, infinitely condescending and in proportion to our weakness. Then, full of peace, pour forth the feelings of your soul at the feet of this exalted Queen. Is not she whom you are honouring, inflamed with the most tender love for you?
Now say to her: “Hail, Mary, my Mistress, my Treasure, my Mother.” What an honor for you to serve the mistress and mother of Jesus, the heavenly Queen, who holds the specter of mercy and gently wields it over her most guilty children. Who is so wretched and desperate as not to obtain divine mercy through Mary's powerful intercession? Realize her tender love for you and the honor of serving such a good Mistress, and exclaim with St. Bonaventure: “Oh gentle Queen, I will henceforth live under thy banner, I will submit entirely to thy power, I will be led and ruled by thee. Yet as my wretchedness is great and as my numerous sins are so many sore and fetid wounds in thy sight, how can I expect thee, the most pure of all creatures to be my guide and ruler? But, my heavenly Mistress, thou art the Queen of Mercy. Thy subjects are principally those who, like me, are miserable sinners and stand in need of thy compassion. Yes, thou art the Queen of Mercy and I am the most wretched of thy children. Shall I not obtain thy compassion? No one has ever made himself die subject without presently obtaining their mercy, however retched Ann hopeless he may have been. Henceforth then I will not fear; now, my heavenly Mistress, rulest me; I shall not want for anything.
“Thou art also my loving mother… Who can tell the extent and the depth of love thou bearest me? Who can understand what thou hast done for me? For the salvation of my soul thou hast sacrificed thy son, a son whom thou hast loved so much and for many reasons. My loving Mother! How those words enrapture my heart! If there is so much tenderness, so much zeal and devotedness in the heart of every mother on earth, what then must be thy love, O most perfect, most tender and most compassionate of all creatures!
“‘A mother never forgets her child’ I will ever remember those words, Oh holy Virgin, and nothing will shake the hope I place in thee. If the love of all mothers were united upon one child, even that would not be sufficient to give me a true idea of the love thou hast for me. I will repeat then, in all my anxieties and fears, the words of one of thy devoted children: “She is my Mother’ and that saying will comfort me when I am troubled: it will fill my heart with joy and with an ardent return of love.”
Queen of my heart, my life, my sweetness, my dearest hope. “Our gentle Queen, reign in my heart by their charms and a beauty; reign in me, thou who art true life, my whom we have recovered what we had lost, thou who every day obtainest for us the life of grace and givest to those who love thee the assurance of a glorious and eternal life… But if thou art my life, why shouldst thou not always be in me and pervade my soul with thy spirit? O my sweetness and my hope after Jesus, I will not cease to hope in thee, for thou art the hope even of the hopeless. No! My hope in thee shall not be in vain, for he who trusts in thee, however wretched he be, shall not be confounded.
“Thou art the Queen of my heart! O gracious Queen, thy beauty is a charm to my eyes, thy gracefulness a delight to my heart, the mere thought of thee is a balm to my soul. Thou who captivates the hearts of men, what hast thou done with my heart? Where hast thou placed it, that I may find it again? Hast thou united it so closely to thy heart that I may now exclaim with St. de Montfort, thou art my heart and my soul?
“But what do I say ? Sweet Jesus, can it be that in giving me Mary as my Mother, thou hast willed that she should be united to me as my heart and my soul? Yes, so it is. In giving me thy Mother as my own, thou hast given me her heart to be my supplement and my all with thee.
“O Lord Jesus, what a great gift thou hast bestowed upon me! How can I thank thee worthily for it? Make me understand the value of this great gift that I may use it rightly and ever be grateful for it.
“Mary, my heart and my soul!” O heart most pure and most holy, thou art the sanctuary of Jesus, the temple of God. O Heart most meek and full of compassion for my innumerable wants! O admirable heart! The delight of all heaven, too little have I known thee! But for the future I am determined to love God and to fulfil all my duties towards my neighbour, by thee and in thee… I will draw from this heart of mine all treasures of grace for those who are dear unto me… I will disappear in Mary like a drop of water in the ocean; and if I should become frightened on realizing my spiritual want or find myself sinking into despair, I will cheerfully contemplate the treasures of this heart of mine, and offer them to God; its humility to hide my pride, its immaculate purity to cover my numberless sins… and full of joy I will repeat: “Mary, my heart and my soul.”
But as our Lady has given herself to you to be your surety, to supply what is wanting in you, to be, in short your all before God, is it not meet and just that you should be all hers, without any reserve? Therefore you now say: I am all thine and all that I have is thine.
Child of Mary, have you earnestly considered the extent of your glorious consecration to Our Lady and the sublime vocation to which you are called by it? In virtue of the total offering of yourself you can no longer claim as yours the value of a good work you do, of a suffering you undergo. But see what merit and glory will be yours, if you are faithful to your consecration. All your thoughts, words and actions of every day are as so many precious stones to be set in Mary's crown. You follow the example of Jesus, the eternal Wisdom, who in all things has been dependent on Mary and by his total submission to her has given perfect glory to his Father. By placing the value of all your actions in the hands of Mary your Mother, you share her sublime intentions, and you can say with assurance that the value of your thoughts, words and actions goes to the greater glory of God. Is there anything more consoling? Can you give a better proof of your love for Mary? Can there be a more abundant source of joy for your soul? Recall to mind what you have read in The Secret of Mary on the advantages and the fruits of your consecration.
But alas, you do not yet belong entirely to Mary. How many thoughts, affections and actions in the practice of your life do not yet belong to her!
Therefore renew your consecration and say: “I am all thine and all I have is thine. But, my loving Queen, this donation of myself is not sufficient to honour thy sovereignty worthily nor to satisfy my own wishes. I beseech thee then, do thou have that dominion over me, which I cannot give thee because I know not how. Make me all thine in the manner thou knowest, but which I, in my darkness, do not know. Yes, I beseech thee to exercise thy rights and privileges over me so that I may be all thine in the closest and truest sense and according to thy wishes; and that thus I may honour thee not only by my works and sufferings, but also by a vocation and a new state of life which thou alone knowest.”
In order that you may thus belong to your good Mother you will need her help, and that is why you now add: Let thy soul be in me to glorify the Lord, let thy spirit be in me to rejoice in God. When we seek Mary diligently (as you have read in the first pages of the Secret) we come to a state in which, so to say, it is no longer the soul that lives, but Mary living in the soul; Mary's life becomes, as it were, our life. God has said to her: “Let thy dwelling be in Jacob; in Israel is thine inheritance; take root in my elect.” Moreover, has she not dominion over all that is subject to God? Is she not the Queen of all hearts? Mary living in us! St. de Montfort was favoured with that unspeakable gift and he rejoiced at it in one of his beautiful hymns:
Who is he that will believe it?
Mary lives within my heart,
Graven there in rays of glory
Though my faith but knows in part.
But, dear child of Mary, how easy it is to lose that sweet presence of your heavenly Mother! Therefore, beware of your want of perseverance; condemn your cowardice in the service of God and pray again to our Lady that she may place herself as a seal upon your heart, which is cold and void of true zeal for the glory of your heavenly Father, and say to her with the most lively confidence:
“O faithful Virgin, set thyself as a seal upon my heart that in thee and by thee I may be found faithful to God. For if thou dost not powerfully assist me, it shall be with me now as it has been in the past. Am I not guilty enough by my abuse of so many graces? How many times, by despising good thoughts and holy inspirations, have I not trodden under foot the precious Blood of my Jesus through which those graces had been obtained for me? How often, by my ingratitude, have I not deserved to be despised by God? Dearest Mother, do not permit that the same misfortune should befall me again; do not allow any longer that I should live in the same blindness. O faithful Virgin, set thyself as a seal upon my heart. Is that not what thou wishest to do? Is it not thy wish to establish thy kingdom in my heart? And now that I implore thee why shouldst thou not hear me? Why dost thou delay? Arise, O my Queen, and come to my help.
“Thou art my Mother, a Mother full of kindness. Is it not the mother who gives life and strength to the child: who guides his steps and keeps him from danger? A mother never forgets her child, however ungrateful and wretched the child may be. What then can cause thee to turn away from me thine eyes so meek and so merciful ? Is it my sins, my numberless infidelities ? But they should rather draw thy compassion upon me and urge thee to succour me. Or is it my enemies? If there were nothing else to move thee, is not the presence of the enemy, who is ready to snatch away thy child, more than sufficient reason to hasten to my assistance ? Yes, 0 my powerful Sovereign, make haste to hear my prayer.
“Receive me, O gracious Virgin, this very day, among those whom thou lovest and teachest, whom thou leadest, nourishest and protectest as thy children; tomorrow it may be too late, for I may die today. How shall I appear before the tribunal of thy Son, if my soul, is stained with sin? What will become of me if he finds me not according to his heart? Ah! Couldst thou suffer to see the child condemned to be eternally separated from the Mother? Tempus faciendi , Domina! Thou seest then, my Mother, it is time for thee to act and to hear me.
“Grant then that for love of thee, I may despise all earthly consolations and ever cling to those of heaven. Grant, O sweet Mother, that I may love thee, for to love thee is to love God perfectly; to love thee is the sure and perfect means of finding Jesus, the eternal Wisdom. But how can I not love thee, O most loving Princess, when all reasonable creatures turn unto thee; the afflicted, to find consolation; sinners, to obtain mercy; the just, to be strengthened; the blessed, to be filled with happiness; who cannot long for thee who restorest all things, who art brighter than the sun, sweeter than honey? Thou art the seat of wisdom, the source of kindness, a ray of the Sun of justice, shining upon all! Finding in thee so much beauty and so many attractions, I long for thee and do not cease to sigh: O how long is my exile! When, O dearest Mother, shall I see thee, no longer in figure but in reality?
“Grant then that I may love thee more and more, O my Sovereign, who fillest with admiration every soul on earth contemplating thee, all the angels of heaven beholding thee and even the heart of God loving thee. As by thy ardent supplications thou hast brought to us, in this vale of tears, Jesus the eternal Wisdom, so by thy kindness, by thy virtues and merits bring me to thee, so that through the Holy Ghost, thy faithful Spouse, Jesus Christ thy Son may be formed in me, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.”
This column is mostly based on the book by Fr Gabriel Denis SMM, The Reign of Jesus Through Mary published in the 20th Century. Pope Pius X gave an approbation to the Dutch translation of the book, approving entirely the spreading of the book amongst the Children of Mary in 1910.