Mother, from my earliest days — at my very birth you were there

To receive me and to shield me — through the consecration

Of that devout nurse who lifted me into her arms

And offered you my life — not knowing the trials that lay

On my bewildered horizon of setbacks and hardships

You carried me in your arms and held my life up

When I was hurt, you tended to me

Always hidden, securing the protection and the relief

Granting what was needed to keep me

From the spirit of death that circled me and wanted to devour me

From the countless situations where danger had the better of me

Where darkness filled my days and held me captive

But there too you were — in the stunned dark of ignorance

Of sin, of recklessness, of impurity and of malice

When I wept you dried my tears and presented them to God

In my hidden and macabre desires to end the most precious gift I had received

The precious life that God had granted me

You obtained for me the grace of deliverance

Which let me live the most sublime experience with your Holy Son

Jesus entered the world through your most holy womb

And He entered my life through your intercession — in a way all its own

So many privileges I did not deserve — and you obtained them for me

So many graces I could never have received — and they reached me

It was through your hands that I received divine providence, love and tenderness

It was beneath your mantle that I passed through dark hours

It was hand in hand with you that I crossed crooked roads

And in the middle of the evil illusion of what kills my soul

In the parties, the drunkenness, the orgies and the sleepless nights

I was lifted up by you a thousand times — after falling into accursed sins

Yet nothing I did ever drove you from me — I thank you from my heart

The mystery of your presence, which revealed itself then

At the most opportune moment — at the hour the Father chose

To receive my freedom as well — which I had held as something inviolable

But which I used to chain myself to the darkness that led me — with my animal instincts

Your mother’s love consecrated me, with graces, care, tenderness and protection

Legally and juridically — in the spiritual world and in the human

I handed you my goods, everything I might ever gather — in every dimension

I handed you the fruits of my prayers and of my good works

I handed you my past, my present and my future

I handed you all that is in me, all that I am and all that I have

May everything around me feel the presence of the Virgin

May Mary be in every place my name reaches

May my actions be steeped in your fragrance

May my prayers be made with your amen

May my life and my family know the power of your presence

I am all yours, my Mother, and everything I own — literally, down to my soul

Belongs to you — it is yours and at your disposal

I thank you and I honour you — in a way that is wretched and small

Weak and unworthy — but I do it with my whole heart

I love you, my Mother, and I want to be, each day, more enveloped by you

For all that you have done in my history and all that you have yet to do

For all that you have held in reserve for my descendants

For all that you have provided before the throne of Christ

For all that you have prepared, still to come to pass

Be it done unto me according to your will

Be it done unto me as you would have it done

Be it done unto me now and in eternity

I want only to learn never to dishonour the promises of that twenty-seventh day!