The Fruit of Her Womb:
33-Day Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary
Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB
ISBN 9781644138403
eISBN 9781644138410
ASIN B0C87KFFZR
This volume was part of the reading for
Father Mark Goring’s,
Saint Mark’s School of Reading in the spring of 2026.It was read mostly over the month of May. A book on Mary over May is always a great idea.
The Description of the volume states:
“St. Louis de Montfort inspired a spiritual revolution in teaching us about Marian consecration and giving us a thirty-three-day plan to prepare our souls for that big step in our relationship with Jesus. In these pages, Fr. Boniface Hicks guides you through this "retreat" to help you gain a deeper trust in and childlike dependence on our loving God.
"What this consecration teaches us is that we have a sweet, loving, perfect Mother who actually wants to live in this intense relationship with us," Fr. Boniface reflects. "And so, if we accept Mary's invitation to this relationship, we will find all the healing and happiness we have always longed for."
You'll spend the first twelve days emptying yourself of the spirit of the world, followed by a week focused on self-knowledge. You'll then spend a week dedicated to knowledge of Mary before concluding the final week, centered on knowledge of Jesus.
Only ten minutes per day will produce spiritual renewal and wholehearted trust in Jesus through Mary. These short, personal chapters will show you how to:
• Allow the Blessed Mother to cherish you as a baby in her womb and rejoice in your dignity as a child of God
• Grow in patience, humility, and love (Our Lady makes it simple!)
• Deepen your faith and live out your baptismal call to holiness
• Close "escape routes" in your relationship with God and live in the freedom of total surrender
• Take refuge and receive consolation in Mary's protective care
• Realize that sufferings and difficulty point to the hope and final victory that await you
Fr. Boniface provides practical tips on opening your heart to God's grace and profoundly beautiful reflections that will lead your soul to intimate union with our Lord through our Lady. Each daily meditation includes a Scripture passage, related quotes from popes and saints, questions to guide you on your journey, and traditional prayers to prepare for Marian consecration.
This book affirms what St. Louis teaches us: that Mary's womb is the best place to be formed perfectly into saints and into Christ Himself. By contemplating Jesus through Mary, the first tabernacle of the Lord, your love of the Holy Eucharist will become more fervent, and your heart will be inflamed as you pray the Rosary and reflect on the mysteries of her Son.”
About the author we are informed:
“Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B., became a Benedictine monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in 1998. Since his ordination to the priesthood in 2004 he has provided spiritual direction and retreats for many men and women, including married couples, seminarians, consecrated religious and priests. Fr. Boniface became the programming manager and an on-air contributor for We Are One Body(R) Catholic radio in 2010 and has recorded thousands of radio programs on theology and the spiritual life. He became the director for spiritual formation for Saint Vincent Seminary in 2016 and director of the Institute for Ministry Formation at Saint Vincent Seminary in 2019 and has offered many courses on spiritual direction and the spiritual life. He earned a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome in 2023. He is author of The Fruit of Her Womb and Through the Heart of St. Joseph.”
I highlighted several sections while working through this volume, some of them are:
“What is this consecration? St. Louis de Montfort described it as being a form of “slavery” to Mary. This slavery means that we do nothing without her.”
“Fundamentally, he said that we choose to become totally dependent on Mary: we receive everything through her and share everything with her.”
“The principal consequences of Original Sin are a fearful grasping after independence and a repeated search for a security that is in our own control.”
“Original Sin is behind all our efforts to earn love through our accomplishments or to control our lives through our own power. It is the source of all our unhappiness, emptiness, and fear. It is fundamentally a denial of our being—we did not create ourselves, and we do not have sole power over our destiny. We simply cannot exist without God; trying to do so is a contradiction that splits us in two.”
“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.”
“Now we are in a better position to understand Marian consecration. Most fundamentally, it is a choice to be a child like Jesus. In other words, we are choosing to be a child of Mary and Joseph. But a child can still be willful and wander away, so our dependence must be more radical: we are invited to be the infant of Mary and Joseph.”
“This is the radical quality of our trust, our abandonment to the one who always perfectly lives in accord with the will of God.”
“Marian consecration is first and foremost about love and trust, and it carries none of the harmful or ambiguous connotations of the term “slavery.” We have therefore reframed the Total Consecration to Mary, without losing anything, to be no longer described as slavery but as the perfect embrace and safe protection a mother provides for an infant in her womb.”
“Whether you are making this journey for the first time or are renewing your consecration, we hope that you will open your heart to the possibility of profound conversion.”
“One of the consequences of Original Sin is that we have been tainted by a spirit of independence, self-sufficiency, and grasping at control.”
“Love is not dependence but a gift that makes us live. The freedom of a human being is the freedom of a limited being, and therefore is itself limited. We can possess it only as a shared freedom, in the communion of freedom: only if we live in the right way, with one another and for one another, can freedom develop.”
“God does not answer prayers that cause us to need Him less. He is trying to save us from being alone and from needing no one. Generally, when we go to an earthly physician, we hope that our issue will be resolved well enough that we never need to see him again. This is not the approach of the Divine Physician: He seeks to treat us so that we never try to go without Him again, because He Himself is the cure.”
“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.”
“Let us now pray that the Lord will give us true humility. May He give us the grace of being little in order to be truly wise; may He illumine us, enable us to see His mystery in the joy of the Holy Spirit.”
“Learning the patience of the little Lamb of God is so hard, but it is possible when we trust Mary and Joseph to take care of us as they took care of Jesus. Make an act of trust in God, who is taking care of everything and working out His plan of salvation.”
“Let us say it once again: the capacity to suffer for the sake of the truth is the measure of humanity. Yet this capacity to suffer depends on the type and extent of the hope that we bear within us and build upon. The saints were able to make the great journey of human existence in the way that Christ had done before them, because they were brimming with great hope.”
“Love now becomes concern and care for the other. No longer is it self-seeking, a sinking in the intoxication of happiness; instead it seeks the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation and it is ready, and even willing, for sacrifice.”
“Let us reflect on any distortions in our view of love and then make an act of love to God: O my God, I love You above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because You are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of You. I forgive all who have injured me, and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured.”
“The Lamb then opens the first four seals of the scroll, and the Church sees the world in which it is inserted, a world in which there are various negative elements. There are the wicked deeds of men and women, such as acts of violence that stem from the desire to possess, to dominate each other, even to the point of self-destruction (the second seal); or injustice, because people fail to respect the laws that they have given themselves (the third seal). To these are added the evils that human beings must suffer, such as death, hunger, and pestilence (the fourth seal).”
“Remember today that you were already loved before you ever accomplished anything. God loved you into existence and knowing that you would always need help, He gave you a Mother to take care of you.”
“Let us, therefore, strive to gain this love for ourselves, let us acquire this tenderness towards our neighbor so that we may guard ourselves from wickedly speaking evil of our neighbor and from judging and despising him. Let us help one another, as we are members one of another.”
“The important thing is that each of us feel that fruitful tension born of the Lord’s mercy: we are at one and the same time sinners pardoned and sinners restored to dignity. The Lord not only cleanses us but crowns us, giving us dignity.”
“The time has come to repropose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in this direction. It is also clear, however, that the paths to holiness are personal and call for a genuine “training in holiness,” adapted to people’s needs. . . . This training in holiness calls for a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer.”
“Let us take the risk of dependence on Mary, and have the courage to risk with faith, the courage to risk with goodness, the courage to risk with a pure heart! Let us commit ourselves to God!”
“In dangers, in hardships, in every doubt, think of Mary, call out to Mary. Keep her in your mouth, keep her in your heart. Follow the example of her life, and you will obtain the favor of her prayer. Following her, you will never go astray. Asking her help, you will never despair. Keeping her in your thoughts, you will never wander away. With your hand in hers, you will never stumble. With her protecting you, you will not be afraid. With her leading you, you will never tire. Her kindness will see you through to the end.”
“We seek refuge. Our fathers in faith taught that in turbulent moments we should gather under the mantle of the Holy Mother of God. At one time those who were persecuted and in need sought refuge with high-ranking noble women: when their cloak, regarded as inviolable, was held out as a sign of welcoming, protection had been granted. So it is for us with regard to Our Lady, the highest woman of the human race. Her mantle is always open to receive us and gather us. The Christian East reminds us of this, where many celebrate the Protection of the Mother of God, who in a beautiful icon is depicted with her mantle sheltering her sons and daughters and covering the whole world.”
“Let us ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds as we begin this week of knowledge of Jesus Christ.”
“That is what we, too, in the Church, are constantly called to do: to listen, to get involved and be neighbors, sharing in people’s joys and struggles, so that the Gospel can spread ever more consistently and fruitfully: radiating goodness through the transparency of our lives.”
“God’s becoming man is a great mystery! But the reason for all this is His love, a love which is grace, generosity, a desire to draw near, a love which does not hesitate to offer itself in sacrifice for the beloved.”
“It has been said that the only real regret lies in not being a saint (L. Bloy); we could also say that there is only one real kind of poverty: not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.”
“Why does God seek man out? Because man has turned away from Him, hiding himself as Adam did among the trees of the Garden of Eden (cf. Gen. 3: 8–10). Man allowed himself to be led astray by the enemy of God (cf. Gen. 3: 13). Satan deceived man, persuading him that he too was a god, that he, like God, was capable of knowing good and evil, ruling the world according to his own will without having to take into account the divine will (cf. Gen. 3: 5). Going in search of man through His Son, God wishes to persuade man to abandon the paths of evil which lead him farther and farther afield.”
“Will you let Him find you? When God called out to Adam, Adam responded to the call. Will you respond when God calls your name, looking for you in your hiding places? Will you let God into your hiding places?”
“After thirty-three days of preparation, we are ready to make, or renew, our consecration to Jesus through Mary.”
The sections and chapters in the volume are:
Introduction
Beginning the Consecration: Emptying Ourselves of the Spirit of the World
Introduction
1. Dependence on God
2. Original Sin Poisons Our Thinking
3. Save Us from the Prideful Presumption of Self-Sufficiency
4. God Hears Our Cry
5. God Reveals Himself to the Childlike
6. The Sign of a Child
7. Victory through Love and Patience, Not through Power
8. Light Dispels Darkness
9. Hope in Suffering
10. True Love
11. A Christian Interpretation of Reality
12. The Great Hope: Love Redeems Us
Week of Knowledge of Self
Introduction
13. Sharing Christ’s Sonship
14. Remaining Little
15. Not Judging
16. Beloved Sinners: A Dignified Embarrassment
17. Pastoral Acedia
18. Christian “Diseases”
19. Called to Holiness
Week of Knowledge of Mary
Introduction
20. The Rosary Helps Consecrate Us to Mary
21. Mary, Abandoned to God, Becomes Our Mother
22. The Weak Are Formed into Christ
23. The Holy Name of Mary
24. Mary and the Church
25. Mary, Our Fiercely Compassionate Mother
26. Mary, Our Refuge
Week of Knowledge of Jesus Christ
Introduction
27. Jesus Is Little, Near, and Real
28. Christ Became Poor
29. The Humility of Jesus in the Eucharist
30. Mary, the Eucharist, and the Incarnation
31. God Seeks Man in the Womb of Mary
32. Christ Brings Us Life and Light in Baptism
33. Jesus Dies, the Word Is Silenced
Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary
34. Making Our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary
Act of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary
Appendices
St. Louis de Montfort’s Consecration
Prayers
Ave Maris Stella
Litany of the Holy Spirit
Litany of Jesus Christ Living in the Womb of Mary
Litany of Loreto
Litany of Penance
Litany of the Powerlessness of Jesus
Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary
Radiating Christ
Sub Tuum Praesidium
Thomistic Litany of Humility
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Each section has an introduction to that section and each day has a set of recommended prayers at the end of the day. A sample day is:
“Day 13
Sharing Christ’s Sonship
Reading 1
Galatians 4:4–7
But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.
Reading 2
Pope St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Tertio millennio adveniente (November 10, 1994), no. 8
The religion which originates in the mystery of the Redemptive Incarnation, is the religion of “dwelling in the heart of God,” of sharing in God’s very life. St. Paul speaks of this in the passage already quoted: “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ ” (Gal. 4:6). Man cries out like Christ Himself, who turned to God “with loud cries and tears” (Heb. 5:7), especially in Gethsemane and on the Cross: man cries out to God just as Christ cried out to Him, and thus he bears witness that he shares in Christ’s Sonship through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, whom the Father has sent in the name of the Son, enables man to share in the inmost life of God. He also enables man to be a son, in the likeness of Christ, and an heir of all that belongs to the Son (cf. Gal. 4:7). In this consists the religion of “dwelling in the inmost life of God,” which begins with the Incarnation of the Son of God. The Holy Spirit, who searches the depths of God (cf. 1 Cor. 2:10), leads us, all mankind, into these depths by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ.
Reflection
The great dignity that Christ has given us is that we can share in the inmost life of God by sharing in Christ’s Sonship. As we practice the religion of dwelling in the heart of God, we must remember that the heart of God once dwelled in the womb of Mary: indeed, the Son of God is also the Son of Mary. We are able to understand His Sonship, and thus also ours, by going back to the starting point of the God-Man in the womb of Mary. There we can allow ourselves to be formed by the Holy Spirit, the artisan of the Incarnation. There we can discover that we have an Eternal Father in God and a tender Mother in Mary. 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.
Prayers
Ave Maris Stella or Sub Tuum Praesidium
Thomistic Litany of Humility
Litany of the Holy Spirit
Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary”
Each day also has a photo of a classic piece of artwork before the reflection section. I hope the quotes above and sample day give you a feel for this volume. I have worked through a few 33 Day consecrations over the years, and read a few books by and about Saint Louis de Montfort. I have also read numerous times about saints that had completed the consecration and an appreciation for Saint Louis de Montfort and his works. And this volume is an excellent version of that process.
While researching for this review I found out it is hard to track down all of Father Hick’s books for they are published under a number of variations:
Boniface Hicks
Father Boniface Hicks
Father Boniface Hicks, OSB
Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB
This is an excellent volume and one I can easily recommend. But it was even better reading it as part of Father Mark Goring’s,
Saint Mark’s School of Reading, the weekly videos mostly by Father Mark but with guest videos by Fr. Isaac Longworth, CC and Sr. Elizabeth Marie of the Holy Family, QMC. But even if you just pick it up to read on your own or in a group, I am certain this is a volume any Catholic would benefit from reading!
Books by Father Boniface Hicks:
Big GOD, little devil: A Radical Shift in the Approach to Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance
Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Father’s Love
Saints of the First Monasteries
Spiritual Direction: A Guide for Sharing the Father's Love
The Hidden Power of Silence in the Mass
Through the Heart of St. Joseph
…
