Totus tuus

Totus tuus was routinely used to sign off letters written in Latin, meaning "all yours", often abbreviated as "t.t." (a variation was ex asse tuus). In recent history Totus tuus was used by Pope John Paul II as his personal motto to express his personal Consecration to Mary based on the spiritual approach of Louis de Montfort and the Mariology in his works.[1] The pontiff explained the meaning further in his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope where he defines it as not only an expression of piety but also of devotion that is deeply rooted in the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity.[2]

This article is about John Paul II's motto. For the composition by Henryk Górecki, see Totus Tuus (Górecki).
Part of a series on the
Mariology
of the Catholic Church
Virgo by Josef Moroder-Lusenberg
Overview
Prayers
Antiphons
Hymns to Mary
Devotional practices
Movements and societies
Apparitions
Approved by the Pope
Key Marian feast days
 Catholicism portal

Description
Coat of arms of John Paul II, with the Marian Cross

According to his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae he borrowed the motto from the Marian consecrating prayer found in the book True Devotion to Mary by Louis de Montfort.[3] The complete text of the prayer in Latin is:

"Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria." ("I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart")

Pope John Paul II once recalled how as a young seminarian he "read and reread many times and with great spiritual profit" some writings of Louis de Montfort and that:

"Then I understood that I could not exclude the Lord's Mother from my life without neglecting the will of God-Trinity."[4]

Musical settings

Dana's song "Totus Tuus", commemorating John Paul II's 1979 visit to Ireland, topped the Irish Singles Chart the following year; she sang it at papal masses in 1987 and at World Youth Day 1993.[5]

In 1987, Henryk Górecki composed a choral piece (Totus Tuus Op. 60) to celebrate the Pope's third pilgrimage to his native Poland that summer.[6] While the motet opens with the same words as the apostolic motto, the piece actually uses a poem by Maria Boguslawska for its text.[7]

See also

References
  1. Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae
  2. Holy See Press Office - Totus Tuus
  3. Saint Louis de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266
  4. Pope Reveals Mary's Role In His Life
  5. Dana – The Original Derry Girl. RTÉ. May 2020.; Hegarty, Aron (14 May 2020). "'Faith is a great strength in life', says Dana". The Irish Catholic. Retrieved 1 November 2020.; Harkin, Greg (8 October 2011). "Behind the seemingly serene Dana is a fraught family dispute that threatens to derail her campaign". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. "Totus tuus, Op.60". classicalarchives.com. Retrieved on 21 February 2009.
  7. Górecki, Henryk Mikolaj (1989). Totus Tuus. New York: Boosey & Hawkes. ISMN 979-0060082320.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.