Pope John Paul’s Motto: Totus Tuus

Pope John Paul’s motto, Totus Tuus

Question: It is said that Pope John Paul’s motto, Totus Tuus, is taken from the writings of St Louis de Montfort. Would you kindly give me the reference in the saint’s writings where this expression is found. A QoAH Member from Pittsburgh, PA

Answer: Saint Louis de Montfort three times in the True Devotion uses the expression “Tuus totus”: ##216, 233, 266. They are examples of a short formula of consecration. The Holy Father’s motto is taken from #266, which lists suggestions on living our consecration in receiving Holy Communion. In his third recommendation, the saint writes: “You will renew your consecration, saying: Tuus totus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt (I am all yours and all that I have is yours). Now about 20 lines down, in the last sentence of how to prepare to receive Holy Communion, he says: “You will ask for her heart by these tender words: Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, O Maria. (I take you for my all. Grant me your heart, O Mary.)

The Holy Father then joined together these two phrases found in #266 of the True Devotion, one at the beginning of that paragraph, the other at the end.

John Paul II speaks of the origin of his motto – the beginning words of his daily renewal of the Montfort Consecration – in his book, Gift and Mystery, (Doubleday, 1996, pp.29-30): “The phrase comes from Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort. It is an abbreviation of a more complete form of entrustment to the Mother of God. which runs like this: Tuus Totus ego sum et omnia mea Tua sunt. Accipio Te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor Tuum, Maria.”

As mentioned above, this Latin expression can be translated into English as “I am all yours and all I have is yours. I take you for my all. Grant me your heart, O Mary.”