TOTUS TUUS is Latin for “Totally Yours”. By these words, John Paul II reminds us of Mary’s total gift of herself to God the Father. It represents our desire to give ourselves entirely to Jesus Christ through the hands of His Immaculate Mother. Mary’s “Yes” at the Annunciation, and her total sacrifice and service to the Body of Christ exemplify this total commitment. TOTUS TUUS, then, reminds us of the tremendous and sometimes difficult call to spend ourselves for Christ while relying on the intercession of His Mother, and to preach the gospel to all those that we meet.

TOTUS TUUS is a Catholic catechetical program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic faith through catechesis, evangelization, Christian witness, and Eucharistic worship. The goal of TOTUS TUUS is to help young people develop their relationship with Jesus Christ so that there is an intimate friendship whereby he may lead them to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. To accomplish this, we emphasize a devotion and love for our Lord in the Eucharist and for Mary our Mother. We strive to help young people understand their faith through catechesis so that they may live it in today’s world. We do this in such a way that it is fun for both teachers and youth alike. A TOTUS TUUS teacher helps to make the faith real to the youth as a way of life and love and not simply a set of rules and obligations.

The program calls upon college students and seminarians from across the United States to carry out this mission. Those hired are trained and put onto teams of four (two men and two women) to go out into a parish for a week, putting on a "parish mission" in order to teach and inspire the young. They do this for seven weeks. In addition to trying to communicate our faith and translate that into daily life, we strive to foster Christian vocations. It is our firm belief that vocations, callings from God, can only be heard and responded to if one is living a Christian life. We strive to foster this, first and foremost, in our teachers by providing them with an understanding of the faith, a strong prayer life, and an opportunity to witness to their faith. The teachers sign a “covenant” in which they promise to be open to God’s will for them and to actively discern God’s call in their life. Because the teachers are striving to live an authentic Christian life and are actively discerning their vocation, they can better help the youth to do the same.