You express your wishes to God, those wishes which have to do with our needsneeds of body and needs of soul. As the dawn precedes and announces the coming of the sun, makes the darkness of the night disappear, consoles the sick and rejoices all nature, so you went before and announced Jesus, "The Sun of Justice," who made the darkness of the world disappear by the light of His Gospel, consoled and cured the sick in soul and body and brought an abundance of graces and blessings to the whole world. Blessed Mother, teach me humility. Mary, My Mother, you showed your humility by striving to conceal from others the gifts you received from God. Aid me through your influence with your Divine Son, to be a true child of yours and to grow daily into your likeness. Mary, My Mother, all the saints have prayed to you for help: the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, the heroic virgins and chaste widows. Mary, Mother of God, God had a purpose in wanting you and Joseph to become man and wife. Help me to sacrifice myself generously for the love of Godto abstain from those many hurtful things that prevent the union of my soul with God. In all your deeds you showed the fruits of the Divine Wisdom which had made you the dwelling-place of God. Unceasingly praying for sinners, you stand before your Son. Your eyes ever watch over us; your ears ever listen to our cries; your hands are ever extended over us to help us and impart heavenly gifts to us; above all, your Heart is full of tenderest care for us. Mary, Mother of God, though marriage and motherhood were the cherished ideals of every Jewish maiden, you vowed your virginity to God, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. May the merits of my crucified Savior never be lost on my soul, but rather may they enable me to reach true holiness and the possession of God in His eternal kingdom. Mary, Mother of God, you are Mother of Grace, because you are begotten of you to the life of grace, and are indebted to you after Jesus, for our supernatural life. Mary, Mother of God, as Mediatrix of All Graces you have entered into the highest state of power and glory in heaven in order that you may help us on our difficult journey to the heavenly City of God. Mary, Mother of God, because of your influence in obtaining helpful remedies against spiritual and bodily maladies, the Church calls you the "Health of the Sick." But Gabriel comforted you, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God." Your heart watches over them tenderly. You passed amid the different choirs of the blessed, above all the heavenly spirits, and approached the throne of light prepared for you. I want to love you with all my heart that I may in some way merit that you love me in return. Once more He renewed His offering at the Presentation in the Temple. Like you, let me learn divine wisdom and see God in all things, so that I may rise from the creature to the great Creator. They had seen Adam created in grace, and John the Baptist, spotless from his birth, because he had been cleansed from original sin before birth. Thus was fulfilled the prophesy that Christ would be born of the family of David. This is the very heart of your apostolate. The whole human race rejoices in you as Queen and Mother. He wished to adapt Himself to our nature by giving us life and aid through the heart of a mother, having placed in your heart some of His own love for mankind to make you the spiritual Mother of the redeemed. 2. . The seven sorrows are: The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35) Immaculate Mother, you are the hope of a sinful race. It was indeed a divine life that Jesus led in Your womb, a life most active, and yet one of unbroken calm. Only after many years of fervent prayers did God reward them. Copyright by FATHERS RUMBLE AND CARTY Radio Replies Press Society St. Paul 1, Minn., U.S.A. EWTN | 5817 Old Leeds Rd. He wanted the strengthening of the faith of His disciples and the manifestation of His Divinity to depend upon your prayers. Never before did angel greet man with the word "Hail, full of grace." Mary, My Mother, what joy for you never to have been, even for a single instant, in the state of enmity toward God! Look with pity on me for in You is my hope. Like the injured man in the parable of the good Samaritan, the lady lacked proper clothing, "looked beaten" and abandoned, and came across as "half-dead.". 2. Coming from the Latin words cum and patior, compassion means to suffer. This was the earliest promise of a Redeemer to come, and you were to be His immaculate Mother. God said to the serpent: "Because thou hast done this, I will place enmities between thee and the Woman, between thy seed and her Seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel" (Gen. 3.14). We can certainly call you "Suppliant Omnipotence.". These mysteries remind me also of your own glory, the Assumption of your soul and body into heaven and your crowning there as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Who can understand the joy you feel to be able to give happiness to the whole world? From the very first, He offered Himself as our ransom and the victim for our sins. Jesus could give meafter the gift of Himselfnothing more precious than you. Being the new Eve who was to be the Mother of the new Adam you were, by the eternal decree of God and by the merits of Christ, withdrawn from the general law of original sin. 3. Mary, Mother of God, your apparition at Guadalupe teaches me that devotion to you is a source of great graces. Jesus, not satisfied with having given Himself to all mankind in the Incarnation, wished to become united with each of us in a most intimate manner by means of the Holy Eucharist, for by an unceasing act of love He gives Himself to us in each Consecration and in each Communion. . Everyday, somewhere in the world, local, regional or universal feast of Our Lady is celebrated. You appeared as the Woman of the Apocalypse, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon. When His side was opened with a lance, a sword of anguish also pierced your Heart. You became the Mother of God without ceasing to be a virgin, and your happy fruitfulness only consecrated and increased your purity. But I want to be loved by you even more; hence, give me an ever growing love for you. In 1668 the feast in honor of the Seven Dolors was set for the Sunday after September 14, the Feast of the Holy Cross. Your loving submission to the Divine Will could not dry your tears, but it quieted the agony of your mother-heart. Since Jesus has given you charge of the dispensing of His graces, I know that you are most eager to use this power to help me. Holiness is union with God through love. And so it is even now in heaven. You were trained there with other girls, under the care of holy women, and with deepest reverence you assisted at the sacred functions. I cannot for a moment suspect, all good and all powerful as you are, that you are unwilling to implore for me the graces which I need so much and above all. Through your prayers and dignity the power and the fruits of the Passion of Jesus are applied to men No intercession, neither yours nor that of any saint, is of value except through Him, through His blessed wounds. Only when I have understood your martyrdom, will I understand the greatness of the love of Jesus for you and the intensity of your love for your Son. You could not of yourself provide the protection and training the Child needed. 3. Your Heart was also a pure Heart, pure as the light, purer than the snow, free from the stain of original sin, from the least taint of actual sin, from the least evil tendency of our fallen naturea heart full of light and beauty reflecting to the full the radiance of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son. No one ever carried out the teaching of your Son with greater exactness than you; hence His words refer to you perfectly: "Everyone therefore who hears these my words and acts upon them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house on rock" (Matt. Even when I disappoint you by doing my best to shake off the cross God has placed upon my shoulders, you pray for me. For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Joseph, so humble, so pure, so loving respected your consecration to God, and he was willing to live with you a life of spotless virginity. At the mention of it, the angels rejoice and the devils tremble; through the invocation of your name, sinners obtain grace and pardon. Mary, Mother of God, as the Mother of Divine Providence, you provide for us in our varied needs through your prayers in the presence of God. I entrust my cause to you who are the Mother of Mercy, and I wish to offer you day by day my most reverent love. It is but a symbol of the endless victories which you are to win over him to the last day. Moreover, I am confident that you will obtain for me. Help me to love God with my whole strengthso that I may consecrate undividedly, unreservedly and continually to His service, my life, my health and all I am and have. Make me a fervent apostle of the Eucharist. What a striking lesson you give me by this unlimited confidence in the power and goodness-of your Divine Son! Your birth was represented beforehand by many figures, announced by prophets, desired for many ages by the human race. You were to see this Face unveiled, in all the beauty and grace of childhood as the face of your own child. He made His taking of the role of Mediator dependent on your consent, and it was your motherly care, shown toward Him through life, which made Him ready for the sacrifice that reconciled the world to God. In the same way you, who freely delivered your son to a cruel death, parted with your Son. Today I am filled with joy at the thought that we are united with those first clients of yours, and in union with them we greet you, saying: O beauty of Carmel, glory of Libanus, purest of lilies, mystical rose in the flowering garden of the Church. 10/7/2009 (1 decade ago) Published in Living Faith. You will obtain for me grace to be faithful to God during the rest of my life. I desire that all that is in me and around me may belong to you and may share in the benefits of your motherly blessing. Alone of all the children of Adam, you were gifted with the fullness of sanctifying grace which made you the object of a very special love on the part of God. Bless the work of those who spend themselves to bring souls to your loving Son. What a divine impression Jesus left upon you, His Mother! I want to take devotion to you seriously. May your name be the last sound that escapes my lips upon this earth and the first I breathe in heaven. How many sinners after losing hope have found refuge in you, and, under your protection, returned to God's grace! Mercy is your special work in this drama of human life. Mary, Mother of God, your greatness began at the first instant of your existence with the privilege of your Immaculate Conception. Your part in distributing God's grace is a result of the part you played in obtaining it. Your Immaculate Conception is a triumph over Satan the author of evil, who under your heel, suffered his first complete defeat. By your Motherhood you acquired a mother's power over your Divine Son, and you saw yourself raised above all the angels and saints. Your eyes are the eyes of a good Mother, ever watchful to notice the need of your children, just as you looked out for the young couple at the marriage feast of Cana. But you are a creature so holy and so perfect that you are superior to all other creatures. For from the moment when Jesus told you to see Him, in John, you saw Jesus in all Christians. 500 days. Help me to be generous with God by turning to good account the graces that He ever bestows on me, and by rising promptly when I fall, with renewed confidence in His mercy. As you cradled the new-born Savior and nourished and cared for Him, so at Pentecost you cradled the new-born Church, watched over its frail, delicate body and fostered and nourished it with motherly care. Your willingness to suffer and to bear your cross in imitation of His own resignation to the will of God, made you especially dear to Him. At the very instant of your conception your mind was filled with the light of God, and your will was entirely conformed to the divine will. I need not see you appear, as you did to so many others. Because of your dignity, you reach to the borders of the divine. He was pleased to help others for your sake. Mary, My Mother, what a truly marvelous privilege is mine! Protect me from the snares of the world, the flesh and the devil. You are truly the Seat of Wisdom because you were the living Tabernacle of the God of Infinite Wisdom. After Holy Communion Jesus is with me as God and Man, with His Body and Blood, soul and divinity. Our founder, so moved by her image, vowed to live by her exampleand that's a promise our Mercy Home family still upholds today. You are this woman, and you are a virgin. Help me to perform all my actions in youto be entirely dependent upon you, taking your point of view, doing all things as you did them for God's honor and glory. This Feast day is kept by various religious orders in the Church. Led by divine inspiration to His house, you prepared yourself for your sublime dignity of Divine Motherhood in silence and solitude with God. 1. At the Crib, you were the first ostensorium of your Son, showing Him to the shepherds, to the Magi and to the world. Your offering of the bloody sacrifice of Calvary is the perfect model for my offering Holy Mass. Mary, Mother of God, your Heart is a shrine of holiness, into which the demon of sin has never entered; whose sanctuary was never once defiled by the least touch of evil, whose altar was the chosen resting place of the Holy Spirit. You nourished Him, clothed Him, educated Him. May this remembrance fill me with love and gratitude to you, and be the reason for my trust in your powerful protection and in your prayers in Heaven, where you plead with your Divine Son for the salvation of us all. This privilege separated you from all the rest of the children of Adam. Your great lover, Saint Bernard, along with many other saints and writers, reminds me: "Through you, Mary, heaven has been filled; through you hell has beheld itself robbed of an army of souls, in a word, through you eternal life was imparted to multitudes of wretched ones, who had made themselves unworthy of it." You are a Model easy to imitate because you sanctified yourself in the ordinary, everyday life common to most of us by fulfilling those lowly household duties of a young woman a mother and by leading a hidden, retired life both in joy and in sorrow. Since this is the mission of your life, to bring souls to God through Jesus, lead me to your loving Son. The Creator, in His goodness, became the Son of His own creature. May my faith influence my conduct. I thank you for consenting to become my spiritual Mother by giving me Jesus. Though you prophesied that all generations would call you blessed, you attributed all holiness to God. His Heart is a loving Heart, and that love is symbolized by the flames which St. Margaret Mary saw coming forth from it. Though you were the Mother of the Most High, you wanted to become the nurse of Elizabeth and the infant John. 1. Feast, Saturday before the before the last Sunday in August (Triduum, Wednesday last Sunday in August). Provide for our needs of soul and of body. God is the source of every good and the absolute Master of all graces. Since you are my Mother, I share in the love you have for your Divine Son. 2. You are blessed because of the fullness of grace you received; blessed, because of the greatness of the mercy to be bestowed on you; blessed, because of the Majesty of the Person who was to take flesh of you; blessed, because of the glory which would become yours. You took part in this offering of the life and death of Jesus. You offered to the Father in Heaven the Body and Blood of the Lamb you bore and sacrificed Him with the knife of your will on the altar of your heart. You have entered into the highest state of power and glory in Heaven in order that you may help us in our journey through so many dangers to the kingdom of Heaven. There the poor find aid; the sick and needy, remedy, the afflicted, consolation; the doubting, counsel; the distressed, help. Wherefore the Church applies to you the words Jesus spoke of that other Mary who sat at His sacred feet, drinking in the words of divine wisdom flowing from His blessed lips: "Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10, 42). After Almighty God and the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, there is no being so great as you. In union with you may my heart yield itself up to childlike confidence in Jesus so that the graces of His Nativity may be brought to my soul in abundance, and He may be born anew within my heart. Give me the same virtues in my state of lifea will inflamed with the desire that God's Will be done and a mind steeped in the knowledge of what that Will is. In all humility you attributed this holiness to God alone, working wondrously within you. Surely it is through your special influence as Mediatrix of Graces that this Life is shared with me. Isaias called you a Virgin; "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be Emmanuel." You stood by its side never turning your eyes from Him. Mary, My Mother, you were to complete the offering of your Son, which you had begun on the day of His presentation in the temple. I am filled with miseries both spiritual and temporal. Make me strong in the midst of the temptations and bitterness which so often trouble my soul. Your Immaculate Conception, purchased by the Precious Blood of the Son of God Himself and freely bestowed upon you as the highest gift of God, is the most wonderful work of sanctification that the world has ever seen. Since you have had such an intimate share in my redemption, I entrust my soul to your loving care. By Francesca Merlo The Virgin of Guadalupe, like the shroud of Turin, appears on a piece of fabric. Mary, My Mother, at my baptism you gave me life at the moment when sanctifying grace was infused into my soul at the baptismal font. Mother you are and that doubly in the terms of our Catholic belief: human Mother of Jesus, supernatural Mother of every Christian. How much more precious you were than any chalice of richest gold. It was so when you renewed your consent at the birth of the Savior at Bethlehem, at His presentation in the temple at Jerusalem and finally at the foot of the cross on Calvary. Make me your faithful child. But because of my sinfulness, I also have need of an intercessor with Him. But the true sanctuary in which you dwelt with God was not the palace of worship at Jerusalem but the immaculate temple of your heart. The crucifixion was not only the sacrifice for sin, it was also the new birth of mankind to the spiritual life, lost by the sin of Adam. Mary, My Mother, may the thought of your tenderness and charity increase my confidence in you and make me look up to you in all the dangers that surround me in life. To the working of this great mystery you also were chosen to cooperate by your free consent. He saved us by offering to the justice of God perfect atonement for our sins. You have given us Christ that He may make us live of His life. Show the same compassion toward me, for I am in need of grace to fight temptation, to avoid sin and to lead a holy life. He saw sin and its terrible effects in God's kingdom and in souls; He saw the sufferings of His Church and His own and your sufferings. As the heart of a mother triumphs over the just anger of a father in an earthly family so your Heart will triumph by averting the force of God's justice upon this sinful world. You did not try to square both predictions. Pray to Jesus, the Divine Word and Eternal Wisdom, who is "the life that is the light of men" (John 1, 4), that through you He may teach me His divine wisdom. You are ever imploring favors for the just, as well as for sinners. Let me know nothing else except this entire surrender of myself to God, this simple childlike act of the heart, as I cast myself into the Arms of Jesus and promise Him my fidelity. 1. He alone has paid the full price of our ransom, and to this price no one else has contributed. Help them to become worthy of this blessing through their own prayers and good example. Help me to imitate your zeal in assisting my neighbor in his needs. Let me fear such sickness of soul as avarice, lust, luxury, ambition, hatred, angerbecause, unless these are cured, they may bring about the eternal death of my soul. It is through your prayers that God inspires me to receive It and grants me the grace to receive It worthily. Mary, Mother of God, I believe what Holy Mother Church teaches about your Immaculate Conception: that from the first moment of your conception you possessed justice and holinessthat is sanctifying grace, even the fullness of grace, with the infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and with integrity of nature; yet you remained subject to death and other pains and miseries of life that your Son Himself willed to undergo. Though it is impossible for me to form any idea of the thoughts that flooded your mind and heart, I beg you to give me at least a spark of that fervor of divine love that burned in your soul. How courageously you united the oblation of your own suffering and grief with the offering of Jesus, thus proving yourself worthy not only to share but also to be one with Him in the redemption of souls. Mary, My Mother, help me to perform all my actions through youto ask through your intercession the graces I need in order to imitate you, and to go through you to Jesus. Mary, Mother of God, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is your Gift to us. The feast is like an octave for the birthday of Our Lady on September 8th. Mary, Mother of God, you are called Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament because you are associated in a special way with the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. All good things come to us through your hands. People became the poor banished children of Eve. Free from all attachment to earthly things, you were most capable of being filled with Divine love. You were in the judgment-hall and heard it ring with lies. With you all is pure, virginal, immaculate In you there is no inclination to evilno impure thoughts or desires. You hid your miraculous virginity under the mantle of humility. In all of the mysteries of Jesus, in every part of His life, the Father always thought of you two together; together you labored to save men. To you I entrust the preparation of my soul for the coming of my Savior on Christmas Day. Mary, My Mother, you are mother in a higher degree because of the kind of life which you have imparted to me. Help me to share actively in Holy Mass by sharing in your spirit. Though receiving all you obtain through Jesus Christ, because you pray and ask for it in the Name of Jesus, yet whatever graces we receive, come to us through your intercession. God chose you to be His Mother and by that very choice has associated you with Himself in the work of the salvation of men. He promised Our Lady that if he were cured, he would become a priest. Amen! I cannot advance in the path of sanctity without humility, which is the heart and soul of virtue. Her name, feast day, location of her monastery, and attributes are those of the Celtic Goddess Brigit. Jesus is the most beautiful of men; you were His mould, His mirror, and He, yours. On April 3rd, the Priestly Society of St. Pius X will have the joy of celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Compassion for the first time in all our houses. I wish to do penance by giving up sin and amending my life, by asking pardon and making reparation to the Heart of Jesus and to your Immaculate Heart, so grievously offended by our sins. Fill their hearts with the virtues of joyous zeal for God and for souls and a warm love for divine learning. In your apparitions at Fatima you revealed that it is in the designs of the Divine Mercy to cure the world through your Heart. He bestowed marvelous privileges upon you and loved you more than all other creatures together. Mary, Mother of God, the apostolic mission confided to you as Queen by your Son is to help Him to the end of time in the sanctification and the salvation of all the souls that come into the world. Petition God that their hope may never fail amid the troubles and the cares of this life. All your trials and sufferings are now transformed into jewels that decorate your triumphal throne in Heaven. Your Son, though He was Life itself, did not exempt Himself from death. You were indeed two of one heart and one soul. Figures below show what proportion of half-day sessions were missed by pupils and how this compares to local and national averages. King Solomon described your beauty: "Thou art all fair my beloved, beautiful as the moon, brilliant as the sun.". 3. As breathing is not only a sign but even a cause of life, so your name, which is constantly found on the lips of your servants, both proves that they are spiritually alive, and at the same time causes and preserves their life, and gives them every help in their needs. Help me to esteem the light of my reason as a sharing in the divine wisdom, especially when I try to follow the teaching of the Gospel. You may have remained in the Temple till the age of twelve. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High." Mary, Mother of God, since you are the Mother of Jesus Christ, you are the Mother of Grace as well. 2. Yet these three have become for us a principle of life. If the honor of parents descends upon their children, what glory and joy for all of us, your children, to see you raised to such heights of glory!