Totus Tuus

What is Totus Tuus?

The team serves for a week in each parish, which includes the evening program for high school and junior high youth Sunday-Thursday (usually from 7:30 – 9:40 p.m., but can be customized to fit your parish needs). Our goal is to put the youth in contact with the Lord so that they can develop a deep personal relationship with Him. To this end, we have a night of Adoration and the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, catechetical instruction on topics important to young people, and a night of fellowship with the team members.

The team also presentd a grade school program (grades 1-6) that runs Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Time is spent on catechetical instruction, songs, games, daily Mass, the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, lunch, recess and more! The week ends with a large water fight with the children or a human (team member) ice cream sundae in celebration for the week. The focus is on imparting an understanding and love of the Eucharist, devotion to Mary, catechetical instruction, vocational discernment, and providing an enjoyable experience.

The Five Marks of Totus Tuus

1. Proclamation of the Gospel: To arouse faith
2. Explanation: Examination of the reasons for our beliefs
3. Christian Witness: An experience of Christian living
4. Celebration of the Sacraments: Especially Holy Eucharist and Confession
5. Active Witness: Participating in the Missionary Spirit of the Catholic Church

Totus Tuus joins the Church in her proclamation of the Gospel to arouse faith in the youth of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Ready with “an explanation…for the reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:15), Totus Tuus catechists expound upon the reasons for our beliefs and share their personal testimonies with the young people.

Pope Paul VI wrote, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41). With this in mind, Totus Tuus team members are immersed in a life of prayer and give witness to the fruits of that experience of Christian living to the youth.

The Five Pillars of Totus Tuus

1. The Eucharist
2. Marian Devotion
3. Catechetical Instruction
4. Vocational Discernment
5. Fun

The Eucharist has pride of place in the Totus Tuus schedule, for both team members and participants. Prayer—the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, the Angelus, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament—provide the structure, but the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the “source and summit” of the daily schedule. Totus Tuus catechists will lead the young people to Jesus for a week; however, Mary will lead them to Jesus for a lifetime. Therefore, Totus Tuus promotes Marian devotion. Meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, we come to see how Mary always leads us to her Son. Praying with her and to her, we hear her say to us, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).

The team also enjoys getting to know the parish and its members. In order to do this, they stay with families of the parish, eat with different families throughout the week and invite the entire parish to a “potluck” dinner on Wednesday night.