Whoever abides in this Church will bring forth much salutary fruit; whereas they who willingly separate themselves from it must wither away spiritually. Mary, Mother of God, by your offering you sacrificed your own heart. Feast: Our Lady of the Rosary - Living Faith - Catholic Online Your charity for the souls redeemed by the precious blood of your divine Son is so great that you ask mercy for those who flee to you for refuge, with all the earnest tenderness of a mother pleading for her only child. Our Lady of Perpetual Help - Catholic News Agency If I have been blessed with suffering, let me remember that this is the only way I can follow Jesus and you, for He said, "If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matt. Though you prophesied that all generations would call you blessed, you attributed all holiness to God. Give me a deep sorrow for my sins which have hurt God so very much. 500 days. You were in the judgment-hall and heard it ring with lies. You received from the Adorable Trinity the crown and sceptre, which made you Queen of all the angels and saints and the all-powerful Mediatrix between God and men. If you receive me under your care, I shall fear nothing because devotion to you is an unfailing sign of salvation. Mary, Mother of God, how sacred was the life of Jesus in your womb while you awaited His coming! By this title I understand: (1) upon your mediation and intercession depends the distribution of the riches of the treasury which Jesus acquired for the salvation of men; (2) consequently, no grace comes to all of us as a body or to any of us in particular which you have not asked for in our behalf; (3) according to the order of things established by God, you have become, under Jesus Christ, after Jesus Christ, and through Jesus Christfrom whom you can never be separatedthe source and principle for us of all supernatural life. Mary, My Mother, I wish to recall this triumph and to share in your greatness and glory. Mary, My Mother, as Mother of Divine Providence, remember your children in need of God's mercy and help. You had a share in that work; it was part of your life-work. Mary, Mother of God, the instant that you gave your consent to the archangel, the Holy Spirit overshadowed you and wrought in your most chaste womb the Incarnation of the Son of God. Jesus is the Head of the Church, and you are its neck. As Christ was pleased to be comforted by an angel, so was it necessary that you should be encouraged by one. Feast, October 7 (Novena, Sept. 28-Oct. 6). Collected by the web master from various calendars; if you have a Feast that I missed, please let me know, so I can include it. In the . How often I do not know where to turn. Mary, My Mother, I turn to you rather for health of soul than of body. Even if I have committed all possible sins, let me never lose confidence in you, for I know I shall always find your Heart filled with mercy The Son of God has His justice, but you, the Mother, have only your mercy. As the God-man, Jesus is the perfect Mediator between God and man, because He alone could in all justice merit our reconciliation with God as well as the graces which God would impart after the reconciliation. I am deeply conscious that I am unable to do good. except through you. Of course, you never thought of yourself as a sinner for humility is truth, and you knew that you had never offended God. At every moment you interest yourself in our behalf in heaven, and obtain for us by your prayers all the graces we need to reach salvation. 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." He was obedient and immediately arranged with you the celebration of your chaste nuptials. You offered Him on the altar of the Crossthe future Eucharistic Christin perfect adoration to the insulted majesty of God, in thanksgiving for all the blessings showered on mankind; in reparation for our sins and in petition for sinners. The Expectation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Feast, December 18 (Triduum, December 15-17 or until Christmas). It is from you alone that Christ took His human nature. You have such a desire to save sinners that you look for them in order to help them. Through your prayers, may Jesus make me live of His life through sanctifying and actual grace. 3. I have every reason to rejoice, for as the Mother of Jesus and my Mother you are my hope of salvation. You are the spouse of the Holy Spirit because according to the gospel and the teaching of the Apostles' Creed, you conceived of the Holy Spirit the Son of God, made man. It is your Son who abides with me in the tabernacle as the best Friend I have in this world, who offers Himself to the Father for me as the Victim of Calvary at Holy Mass, who gives Himself to me as Food in Holy Communion. He was with you not only by a special protection guiding you in His ways and leading you securely to salvation. 1. I earnestly wish to make atonement for all of them. Virgin of virgins, remember me in my needs, and show yourself my Mother. God is the source of every good and the absolute Master of all graces. Those dangers are to be found in the principles and activities of Communism, the present day Anti-Christ, which tries to penetrate every walk of life, every class of society. In you I behold the charm of the purest of virgins, the majesty of the noblest of mothers. Clothe me with your own humility. 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. nothing could be happier than the choice of the day on which this Feast was to be kept.On the 24 th of May, in the year 1814, there was . Mary, My Mother, may the faithful recitation of my Rosary be a sign of my gratitude to Jesus and to you for all you have done for me in bringing about my Redemption. Francis Possenti was born in Assisi. I shall realize that God, in His infinite wisdom will make all things work together unto my good. 1. You brought Him into the world that He might be King, according to the words of the archangel: "And of His kingdom there shall be no end." How God has loved you by making you His Mother! On Calvary our redemption was accomplished, by His death, Jesus merited for us the grace to live His life. We all rejoice because all the graces and spiritual benefits we have received and shall receive, all our future glory comes from this exalted mystery of the Incarnation. Mary, My Mother, as often as your sweet name comes to my lips, you appear to me as a masterpiece of God's power, so perfect and so sublime that even the hand of Almighty God could not produce anything more perfect in the form of a pure creature. The Scriptures refer to you and Joseph as "the parents of Jesus." Above all, I beg of you to secure for me in the our of death the grace of final perseverance: that triumphant grace which crowns the measure of God's rifts here below and which is followed by the possession of God in heaven. Mary, Mother of God, your charity is strikingly shown forth in the Visitation. By His almighty power He would form the body of the Savior of the world, and the Divine Son would unite it to Himself forever. Seeing your own nothingness as compared with the infinite majesty of God, who chose you for His Mother, you acknowledged how unworthy you were of so great honor, but you did not oppose His will in the least thing. You know that you are the well-beloved Daughter of the Father, you embrace the Son; you are united to the Holy Spirit with a simplicity, a confidence, and a delicacy of love which belong to you alone, for in you alone there cannot be the remembrance of a moment in which you were opposed to God. It was your duty to represent the whole of mankind and to offer those acts of adoration faith, hatred of sin, love and prayer, which were due from those who shared in this sacrifice. How generously you offered Jesus, your dearest treasure, as a Victim to the justice of His offended Father! Your soul is the creation and the masterpiece of almighty workmanship. This was a declaration that all Christians are your spiritual children. How much I worry about my physical health! Joseph could rest assured and marry you, his betrothed bride. Refuge of sinners, do not turn us away when we entreat you. He was with you in a manner more intimate, more perfect, and more divine than He ever was or will be with any other creature. It impels my mind to self-exaltation, because I am proud. May the instructions I receive increase the love of God in me and strengthen my determination to serve Him with greater zeal. Then Satan could boast that he had overcome Jesus in you, His Mother. Jesus purchased me at the cost of His own life, and you offered that life to God for me. You are the first apostle of your children not only because you are the most perfect of mothers, but especially because you are our spiritual Mother. He promised Our Lady that if he were cured, he would become a priest. In your motherhood you would need protection and so would the Child in His infancy. Yet these three have become for us a principle of life. Mary, My Mother, yours is a queenship of conquest. This event has passed. August 9: OUR LADY OF THE BURNING CLOUD (ATOM BOMB) On Thursday, August 9, 1945, a blinding flash split the sky above Nagasaki. Having loved your sinful children so much as to sacrifice for them your only Son in His Passion, you loved them to the end by giving them the Holy Eucharist. Balaam referred to you as a star: "The star which shall arise from Jacob." Aided by God's wondrous graces you surrendered yourself entirely to God in the smallest details of your life. This is a great time for us to reflect on the sorrows and the sufferings that Our Blessed Mother went through. God has created nature and all the wondrous functions of the human body. You appeared as the Woman of the Apocalypse, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon. Since God was born of you, you are the Mother of God. The Consecration took place on Calvary where you shared in the offering of the bloody sacrifice of the New Testament. You were one of us, and yet you stood above us! Recipes for September ~ Month Dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows - Blogger Your fullness of grace brought you to a most intimate union with the Author of grace. Saints Mary, My Mother, I firmly believe that the saints and blessed in Heaven can aid us by interceding for us with God. Mary, Mother of God, help me to understand as clearly as God wishes to let me do so, the value of suffering and sickness. 2. I can best thank Jesus for His dying bequest by striving daily to become like John in his love and imitation of you. Apart from your cooperation no grace descends to earth. Teach me to understand that personal consecration to you does not mean only to place myself under your special protection, but rather to live for God in union with you by avoiding every sin and practising virtue. The holy couple offered you to God by the ministry of the priest in charge, who invoked the blessing of God upon you and your parents. May your name be the last sound that escapes my lips upon this earth and the first I breathe in heaven. Let this be my consolation to know that I am doing God's Will. (1) The seven founders of the Servite Order, in 1239, five years after they established themselves on Monte Senario, took up the sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross, as the principal devotion of their order. I wish to make reparation by offering sacrifices to atone for sin by fulfilling my daily duties well, by accepting the crosses of life with resignation and love, by obeying the commandments, by going to Mass, confession and Communion frequently, above all on the first Saturday of each month, and by praying much, especially your holy Rosary. Bless the work of those who spend themselves to bring souls to your loving Son. Make me ever attentive to His inspirations that I may grow in holiness and may merit to see this Divine Guest of my soul in the glory of His heavenly kingdom. Your motherly interest in my needs and the salvation of my soul encourage me to make a prompt appeal to you in all my needs and dangers. We will list that feast and give as much information as is available about that feastday. Make me strong in the midst of the temptations and bitterness which so often trouble my soul. In this mystery Jesus is plainly a Victim, and not so plainly a Priest; He could not better communicate His spirit of priesthood than by allowing you, His Mother, to present His outward offering He could find no worthier altar on which to offer Himself than your immaculate hands. Mary, My Mother, your Son Jesus came to enlighten the world with His teaching and example. Since you have had such an intimate share in my redemption, I entrust my soul to your loving care. You alone know how to triumph over the old serpentand to crush his head under your heel. Let me never separate my sufferings from the sufferings of Your divine Son. Whatever of sanctity, of dignity, of merit, of grace and of glory, that we can imagine, all is in you. Teach me to imitate your humility by acknowledging my nothingness and seeking the glory of God in everything. Mary, My Mother, the Church puts these words of the Canticle on your lips: "I love those who love me." Your Assumption was for you not only the crowning of a holy life, but also a cause of joy and triumph for the human race. Because I am arrogant, it makes me rebel against God's law, the law forbidding me that abuse of liberty which insults Him. You confidently accepted whatever God willed. His Heart is a loving Heart, and that love is symbolized by the flames which St. Margaret Mary saw coming forth from it. May your title of Mother of Divine Providence ever give us confidence that you will never fail us, but will provide for all we need in this present life that we may attain eternal life. You are Queen of the universe, not by force, but by the power of love. But you are the Mother of the living, for by your fidelity to your Maker you deserved to give to mankind a Redeemer who by His death has destroyed the reign of death and has thrown open to us the gates of everlasting life. The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated in parishes and neighborhoods throughout the country with Masses and dancing and celebration, . You were willing to offer Him at this tender age, for the salvation of the world. As formerly the shepherds and the magi found Jesus close to you, so now may all sinners, unbelievers and pagans find Jesus through you, His Mother. The degree of childlike humility I have attained in life will be the degree of my greatness in heaven. Mary, Mother of God, you are our true Mother because you have given us supernatural life. Make me Eucharist-minded to the extent that my very life may be the Eucharistin union with you, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. His triumph over death His Ascension into Heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit. But it has been the will of God, that from first to last, Jesus, as the Victim of atonement for our sins, should be presented to Him by you. When He changed the water to wine, He did your bidding as God, since as man He could not perform miracles. Mary, Mother of God, as Refuge of sinners, you will never turn away those who have recourse to your compassion. Therefore, no one could ever love me more, after Christ, than you do. But though your soul was filled with grief, you bravely stood beneath the cross. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," says the psalmist (110, 10). IMPRIMI POTEST Raymond Weisenberger, Provincial, Girard, Pa. NIHIL OBSTAT A. H. Wiersbinski, LL.D. The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on September 15 and is dedicated to honoring the spiritual martyrdom of Mary. Teach me to love Him with some of the love that glowed in your own heart so that my heart may always be His pleasing temple. Mary, Mother of God, you are also the Mother of men. Your own extraordinary grace and merit, your own wondrous privileges give to your prayer an irresistible force and power. All the saints suffered during their lifetime, but you are the Queen of them all as Queen of Martyrs. In union with Him you also did the will of God perfectly as He exclaimed "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.". I cannot have Jesus for my Brother if I do not have you for my Mother. Jesus could give meafter the gift of Himselfnothing more precious than you. Here there was a sacrifice, and Jesus was the Victim. How consistent with the infinite tenderness of God that His Christ, the Immortal Child, should be conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the body of a young virgin and that a virgin should bear a Child to redeem the world. While you bore the Author of all things in your womb, and your heart was beating quickly with love, adoration and longing, still your face told nothing of this, and no one knew that such marvellous things were taking place in you. 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. Our Lady's Compassion in Passiontide - NCR Through love you consecrated yourself with all your powers to God as the highest form of beauty and goodness. Why Is Our Lady Full of Sorrow? - catholicfaithstore.com Your dignity as Mother of God is so lofty that nothing created can rank above it. After the name of Jesus, neither heaven nor earth can utter a name by which my faith and love receive more abundant grace, and reassuring hope, and lasting sweetness. Mary, My Mother, your love for Jesus made this sacrifice very great in the eyes of God. 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. 1. I, too, am a sinner. 3. How well your name gives expression to your position and your mission in lifeyour divine Motherhood In virtue of this privilege, you reflect as a spotless mirror the eternal Light of the Word, which is first poured into you and illuminates you. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that as Mediatrix with Jesus you share also in His sovereign dominion over the universe. With your heart breaking with sorrow, you had to die a spiritual death in order to become my spiritual Mother. St. Brigid of Kildare Feast Day February 1st. Having once given us Jesus Christ by you, God does not change His way of helping us. You are the Mother of mercy and kindness not only to the just, but also to the despairing sinners so that no sooner do you see them coming to you and seeking your help, than you aid them; you welcome them and obtain their pardon from your Son.