48. Act Of Consecration To The Blessed Virgin (For Infants At Time Of Baptism)
O blessed Virgin Mary our Mother,
when the Son of God decided
to take upon Himself our human life
in order that we might share in His Divine Life,
He did not wish to come to us
without your free cooperation.
He deliberately willed to have need of you.
Look down today from heaven upon little (name of infant).
He (or she) has received from his parents the life of man,
and now by the Holy Sacrament of Baptism,
he has been given a life which is infinitely superior,
the very life of God.
We know that just as God is his Father and our Father,
you are, in regard to his spiritual life,
his Mother and our Mother.
We confide this child to you.
Show yourself his (or her) Mother.
Watch over his (or her) education;
nourish him with the life of grace;
make him progress in his Christian life
just as his human parents aid him to progress
in physical as well as spiritual life.
Protect the precious life
which has just been received.
Be for him a real Mother
to guard him in your arms
when the devil seeks to destroy his spiritual life
in your Son Jesus Christ.
May he love you as Jesus Christ loved you,
for our love for you is nothing else but
a participation in the love of your Son for you.
In the name of this child (name of infant),
we wish to make today
his (or her) first prayer to his heavenly Mother.
Hail Mary,
full of grace,
the Lord is with Thee,
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
(Composed by Fr. Noel le Mire, S.M. and adapted by W. Cole, S.M.)
