was routinely used to sign off letters written in Latin, meaning "all yours", often abbreviated as "t.t." (a variation was ). In recent history was used by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

as his personal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

to express his personal

Consecration to Mary The consecration and entrustment to the Virgin Mary is a personal or collective act of Marian devotion among Catholics, with the Latin terms ''oblatio'', ''servitus'', ''commendatio'' and ''dedicatio'' being used in this context. Consecration is ...

based on the spiritual approach of

Louis de Montfort Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI. As well as preaching, Montfort ...

and the

Mariology Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology seeks to relate doctrine or dogma about Mary to other doctrines of the faith, such as those concerning Jesus and notions about redemption, intercession and grace. Chri ...

in his works. The

pontiff A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was late ...

explained the meaning further in his 1994 book ''

Crossing the Threshold of Hope ''Crossing the Threshold of Hope'' was written in 1994 by Pope John Paul II. It was published originally in Italian by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore and in English by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. It is distributed by Random House, Inc., New York City. By ...

'' where he defines it as not only an expression of

piety Piety is a virtue which may include religious devotion or spirituality. A common element in most conceptions of piety is a duty of respect. In a religious context piety may be expressed through pious activities or devotions, which may vary among ...

but also of devotion that is deeply rooted in the Mystery of the

Blessed Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

Description

According to his

Apostolic Letter Ecclesiastical letters are publications or announcements of the organs of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority, e.g. the synods, but more particularly of pope and bishops, addressed to the faithful in the form of letters. Letters of the pop ...

Rosarium Virginis Mariae ''Rosarium Virginis Mariae'' (''Rosary of the Virgin Mary'') is an Apostolic Letter by Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 A ...

'' he borrowed the motto from the Marian consecrating prayer found in the 1712 book ''

True Devotion to Mary ''True Devotion to Mary'' is a book by Saint Louis de Montfort on the Roman Catholic theme of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. History Written in 1712, the manuscript remained practically unknown for more than a century, when it was discov ...

'' by Louis de Montfort. The complete text of the prayer in Latin is: : ("I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart")

once recalled how as a young

seminarian A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

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."

Musical settings

Dana's song "Totus Tuus", commemorating John Paul II's 1979 visit to Ireland, topped the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

the following year; she sang it at papal masses in 1987 and at

World Youth Day 1993 The 1993 World Youth Day was held on August 10–15, 1993 in Denver, Colorado. It was the first World Youth Day held in either North America or an English-speaking nation. The World Youth Day is an event for young people organized by the Roma ...

. In 1987,

Henryk Górecki Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( , ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. According to critic Alex Ross, no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a l ...

composed a choral piece ''(

Totus Tuus was routinely used to sign off letters written in Latin, meaning "all yours", often abbreviated as "t.t." (a variation was ). In recent history was used by Pope John Paul II as his personal motto to express his personal Consecration to Mar ...

Op. 60)'' to celebrate the Pope's third pilgrimage to his native Poland that summer. While the motet opens with the same words as the apostolic motto, the piece actually uses a poem by Maria Boguslawska for its text.

References

{{John Paul II Catholic spirituality Latin mottos Catholic Mariology

Description

Musical settings

See also

References