Your Son won a treasure of grace for us by the life and death He offered up to the heavenly Father. Free from all attachment to earthly things, you were most capable of being filled with Divine love. 3. Mary, Mother of God, by your offering you sacrificed your own heart. But all graces come through you. Humility is not belittling myself, but taking the place which rightly belongs to me, not a higher place, nor a lower, but the true and just place where God wants me. Mary, My Mother, from your early years you adored the one true God in the Temple at Jerusalem. Help them to become worthy of this blessing through their own prayers and good example. He sanctified your marriage with St. Joseph so that it might be an example for all Christian marriages. Here I will demonstrate, I will exhibit, I will give all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. The feast is like an octave for the birthday of Our Lady on September 8th. For the first time after four thousand years God in His Wisdom and power and love, created again a human being in that state in which He had created our first parents. In our Franciscan tradition we return time and time again to the San Damiano cross - the Byzantine cross that draws its inspiration from John's . His mother named him after the great St. Francis of Assisi. To you I give my body, my heart and my soul. Mary, Mother of God, you are also the Mother of men. In the spirit of loving confidence we have recourse to you. I shall be blessed if I imitate you in bearing my cross till death. GLADE PARK, Colorado (Catholic Online) - The feast dedicated to "Our Lady of the Rosary" was instituted by Pope Pius V. It was to commemorate the anniversary of the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the battle of Lepanto on the first Sunday in October 1571. Fully acknowledging your unworthiness to be the Mother of Christ, you accepted the exalted privilege only in obedience to the divine will. Mary, Mother of God, since the United States was dedicated to your Immaculate Conception, be pleased to take our country under your special protection and grant that, guided by justice and nurtured by charity, it may serve God faithfully and be blessed with peace and prosperity. You bore unspeakable sufferings and offered the life of Him who was dearer to you than your own life. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Virgin most pure because you are full of grace. 2. Feast, September 12 (Triduum, September 9-11). You were not bound by the Law, because you were a virgin as well as a mother. 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. Jesus is the only Mediator of justice, and by His merits He obtains for us all graces and salvation but you are the Mediatrix of grace. From you all missionaries have received the salvation which they bring to the nations. Help me to make good use of the graces given me by God. Take my cold heart; put it into your own and inflame it with a fire of love like your own. Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found, not taken, grace, as Lucifer tried to take it. 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 . (2) You took part in this offering also by the consent which you gave to the whole plan of the Redemption, and by your union of will with that of your divine Son even to the point of His sacrifice on the cross. She humbly exclaimed, "How have I deserved this happiness that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" Mary, My Mother, I rejoice with you that you are so privileged, so exalted as to become the worthy Mother of God. Your apostolic workto snatch souls from Satan and from sin to make them live the supernatural lifeis the very reason for your motherhood. Even before His coming your Heart was filled with love for those whom later He was to love with a tremendous love. You abound in divine life for yourself; for us you abound in grace. What was true of the effusion of the Holy Spirit on that day, is equally true of every outpouring of grace: God gives nothing to earth without causing the gift to pass through your hands. You may have remained in the Temple till the age of twelve. 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." As the seed of the serpent includes all those descendants of the first man and woman who by their sinful lives bear within them the traits of the devil, so, too, the seed of the Woman includes all who in the course of ages will take their stand with your Son, Jesus Christ, in His ceaseless conflict with the enemy of God. May I be found worthy of your frequent visits with Jesus to my heart in this life and of the invitation to come and live with You both for all eternity in heaven. In that instant the Word of God became forever united to humanity; the human soul of Jesus Christ, produced from nothing, began to enjoy God and to know all things past, present, and to come. Jesus is the Son of God by His marvelous and eternal birth "in the bosom of His Father." 2. With Christ you have contributed to our redemption; hence you may be called Co-Redemptrix. Faith tells me that the fall of man was the effect of the malice and envy of the devil, who sought in this way to be revenged upon the Creator for having cast him out of paradise in punishment for his rebellion. You are the morning star,the morning star that announces the arrival of the sun of justice. May looking upon your Immaculate Heart inspire confidence in me which will make me more eager to grow in holiness. 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 every struggle l am sure to find in you both help and consolation because you are the Mediatrix between sinners and your Divine Son. I look to you, Mother of Mercy. This is what took place at His entrance into the world; and again when He took upon Himself the office of Savior in the mystery of the Circumcision, and received from you the Holy Name of Jesus. 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. You stood close to Jesus, your head raised to drink the bitter chalice offered your arms stretched out and reaching upward, like a priest at the altar. They spoke of you as His Virgin Mother and of the part you would play in the Redemption of mankind. By your Divine Motherhood you formed the closest bond of union with the adorable Trinity, the privileged Daughter of the Father, the loving Mother of the Son and the immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit. You used most perfectly every actual grace given you by God in acts and virtue. 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. 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. This thought wonderfully strengthens my confidence in you, Help of Christians. You have become all things to all men; you have opened your Heart to all that all may receive of your generosity: the imprisoned, freedom, the sick, health, the afflicted, consolation; the sinner, pardon; and God, glory. I can easily picture Saint John, the Apostle of love, saying Mass each day in his own home and daily giving you the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist. 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. How often do we see you restoring health to the sick who have recourse to you with childlike confidence? Feast of Our Lady of Compassion - Friday, 3 April, 2020. Your name is the name of the one I love. With the Father you, too, can say: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.". This wisdom and prudence showed itself at a very early age, when you willed to devote yourself entirely to God and were presented by your saintly parents, at your own request, for the temple service. Jesus caused the wonderful effects of grace in the soul of John the Baptist, but at the sound of your voice his sanctification was effected, and both he and his mother Elizabeth were filled with the Holy Spirit. 1. 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. In Bethlehem you first adored Him in His visible presence as He lay in all His helplessness before your joyful eyes. It was, therefore, befitting that you, His Immaculate Mother, destined to cooperate with Him in the work of Redemption, should teach the world, by your submission to the law of purification, this great truth, that humility is the beginning of our salvation, as pride has been the root of our ruin. You were in the judgment-hall and heard it ring with lies. The victim had to belong to the person who offered it. 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. Give strength and courage to those who work for the salvation of souls as apostles of our own time so that following the example of the divine Missionary, Jesus Christ, they may labor zealously for the spread of God's Kingdom. Mary, Mother of God, your name means "full of light" and "light-giving." 67, 36). No one ever belonged to Jesus as completely as you, for you are His Mother. 2. Intense love for the Infinite God withdrew your soul from this earthly life, and caused you death. 3. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Mother of mankind and therefore the Help of Christians, the all-powerful suppliant. read more. I became a child of God. pray for me! Mary, Mother of God, I thank you for being my companion in suffering. You were willing to offer Him at this tender age, for the salvation of the world. 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. But we, too, by our union with Jesus, and by the power of His grace, will also be united with Him in His victory over the devil. The Sanctuary in 1906. After Holy Communion Jesus is with me as God and Man, with His Body and Blood, soul and divinity. After the triumph of your Divine Son on the day of His Ascension, there never was, and there never will be, a triumph like that which you enjoyed on this day. Mary, Mother of God, the glorious mysteries of the Holy Rosary remind me of the glory of your Son, Jesus Christ. Mary, My Mother, may the faithful recitation of my Rosary show my gratitude to Jesus for having redeemed me on the cross and for having given you to me as my spiritual Mother. 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. Mary, Mother of God, in the Kingdom of Heaven you are continually employed in deeds of kindness and mercy, therefore you are truly the Mother of Divine Providence. Mary, My Mother, to conceal the miraculous conception and birth of His Divine Son, the Eternal Father inspired Joseph to marry you before the annunciation by the archangel Gabriel. In your apparitions at Fatima you revealed that it is in the designs of the Divine Mercy to cure the world through your Heart. You abandoned yourself to God's will with deep faith and confidence. It is the ideal and providential moment to entrust . Mary, Mother of God, make my interior life of union with Jesus more like your own. Only childlike humility entitles me to the first place in God's estimation and consequently, in heaven also. 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. I give you my heart by the gift of a tender and childlike love, because you are my Mother and you love me more than my own mother could ever think of loving me. It was so when you gave your consent to the divine plan of the Redemption. You could not accompany the Apostles while they fulfilled the duties of their ministry, but in silence and solitude, by the power of your prayers and the fervor of your charity, you were the master-missionary of them all. Since I sincerely love you, I want to follow your example; this is the greatest honor I can pay you. 1. Plead for us in the presence of God and provide for us those graces and blessings especially which will enable us to serve God better and save our souls. 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). In you He reposed for nine months, with His whole divinity and humanity. Penance and reparation is the one sure way of winning God's love and blessing for a misguided and sinful world. Eve was the mother of the dead, for all of us, her children, were doomed to enter this world under sentence of death, the slaves and children of Satan. Mary, Mother of God, how beautifully you expressed your gratitude and humility! He forms Himself in me by supernatural principles, which He implants in my mind; by supernatural intentions and meritorious actions. For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. You exercise your queenly dominion over the minds, the hearts, the wills and even over the bodies of your subjects. Like other men, I bear in my heart the original wound; that wound has opened other wounds which are hard to close and heal. The words of Simeon were then fulfilled. Bless the people of the Americas, citizens of those lands to which uncounted thousands have come to seek refuge and livelihood. Mary, My Mother, you showed your humility by striving to conceal from others the gifts you received from God. Mary, Mother of God, your death was entirely free from whatever might make death bitter: attachment to the world, remorse for sins and the uncertainty of salvation. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Mary, Mother of God, you are my Mother of Perpetual Help because of your love for me. They apply these words of Scripture to you: "He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord" (Prov. Mary, My Mother, help me to take your requests at Fatima to heart. She heard the voices of Archangel Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret - they are on the banner over her left shoulder! Mary, My Mother, during all eternity it will be one of our greatest joys to admire the infinite love of God for you whose Son He willed to be, just as He is in all truth the Son of the Father. Make me a fervent apostle of the Eucharist. I am sure that you, who are all-powerful as my advocate, will not desert me but will bring to my poor afflicted soul grace and sanctification. You desire more to do good to me than I can desire to receive favors from you, for your Heart is all love and mercy. And I did this, not under the sudden influence of passion, but deliberately with full knowledge of the act, of its horrible malice in the sight of God and of the terrible consequences in which it involved me. Immaculate Virgin, you are that human being. You stand alone on a throne of greatness and perfection far above the rest of creatures. So, as daughter of Adam you submitted to the sentence passed in the garden of Eden. Ask Him to favor me with a ray of His brightness to enlighten the darkness of sin and ignorance in which I was born. As wax melts before fire, so do the devils lose their power against those souls who remember to speak your name and devoutly invoke it. Of course, you never thought of yourself as a sinner for humility is truth, and you knew that you had never offended God. I can best thank Jesus for His dying bequest by striving daily to become like John in his love and imitation of you. As you entered the house of Zachary and greeted your aged cousin, you offered kind words of comfort and congratulation. May the Rosary also be a means of obtaining all the graces I need for the sanctification and salvation of my soul. From the moment you said, "Be it done to me according to thy word," the Father in heaven made Jesus and you, as it were, a redemptive pair; you, of course, have always been dependent on Him. He also found joy in His Divine Sonship and glorious human nature, joy in His intellect, with its immeasurable knowledge and the contemplation of God; joy in His will, with its freedom, sinlessness, holiness and unbounded power joy in His destiny as our Redeemer; joy in the future kingdom of His Church, which was to arise from His life and death. They observed the Law of God most diligently and spent their days in prayer and in works of mercy. May each pain and disappointment of my life become a perfect act of love of God because I offer all to God through your immaculate hands. Copyright 2023 Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. Irondale, Alabama. Your blessedness was due to your unexcelled sanctity. If you receive me under your care, I shall fear nothing because devotion to you is an unfailing sign of salvation. | Irondale, AL 35210 |. You fulfill the duties and enjoy the rights of a true mother. On the calendar, the feast day is after that of the Exaltation of the Cross. Crowds reach the entry gate to the basilica grounds for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. 8, 35). Your soul filled with love and sorrow, you embraced your Son now pale in death, a victim for the sins of mankind. I realize that it is the command of God that I take ordinary care to insure bodily health. Your kingdom, like His, is a kingdom of imperishable glory, because yours is a throne of clemency, mercy and pardon. I cannot secure my salvation without these graces, for it is the grace of God which gives me light and strength to do good deeds. Mary, Mother of God, your apparition at Guadalupe teaches me that devotion to you is a source of great graces. This is the very heart of your apostolate. How unimportant are the infirmities of the body compared to the infirmities of the soul! There the poor find aid; the sick and needy, remedy, the afflicted, consolation; the doubting, counsel; the distressed, help. Mary, My Mother, yours is a queenship of conquest. Through you we have received Jesus Christ, the Universal Source of Grace, so through your intercession, we still continue to receive the various actual graces suited to our state of life. You are the channel of all good things after the Trinity, Mediatrix of the world after the Mediator. Holy Cards will continue to be added as our collections align with Feast Days of the Saints in our collection.