Eve was unbelieving and disobedient; you were believing and obedient. 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. Mary, My Mother, you showed your humility by striving to conceal from others the gifts you received from God. Our Lady is not looking at Jesus, but rather to us, to express compassion for us in our fears and sorrows. Whatever of sanctity, of dignity, of merit, of grace and of glory, that we can imagine, all is in you. The Holy Spirit would work in you the greatest work of His omnipotence, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." You are our spiritual Mother in the order of grace. Such a stain would have reflected upon your Son, who is Holiness itself. But I can never be your true child if I am not humble. You are indeed all-powerful in Heaven, but your omnipotence is not one of authority and command, but of intercession. Mary, My Mother, I rejoice with you that you are so privileged, so exalted as to become the worthy Mother of God. We join you, Queen of the Holy Rosary, in praying for peace in the world. Your divine maternity is great also because this privilege is the reason for your other privilegesyour Immaculate Conception, miraculous virginity, fullness of grace, Assumption and the spiritual maternity of all mankind. Like you let me realize my own nothingness. Attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, you diligently gathered up all His lessons, preserving them in your soul with zealous care. Dear St. Joseph, all the saints and angels, and especially you, my guardian angel and my chosen patron, watch over me. Jesus could give meafter the gift of Himselfnothing more precious than you. This doctrine was received in the early Church and handed down by the Fathers who praised you with extraordinary titles and most important writings. It was possible for God to confer it, and He did confer it! You were the first to offer to the Eternal Father His Divine Son as the Victim for the world's Redemption. As our immaculate Mediatrix before your Son you have appeared at Lourdes to encourage us to amend our lives and to make sacrifices and offer prayers for sinners. Mary, My Mother, what a truly marvelous privilege is mine! When you learned from the angel that your cousin Elizabeth was with child and needed your help, you set out to care for her. He was preparing you for your final separation from Him at the foot of the cross. This apostolic mission is a consequence of your office as Mother, as Co-Redemptrix and as Dispenser of all graces. For as often as I offended God by mortal sin, so often have I crucified the Son of God and made a mockery of Him. I did it not once or twice but numberless times. It was fitting that you, a Virgin Mother, should conceive the Man Who was also the Son of God. How God rewarded your humble and deep faith! What a divine impression Jesus left upon you, His Mother! You formed His Body in order that it might be given us in death and in the Blessed Sacrament. Mary, My Mother, may the example of your sinlessness urge us to that innocence and purity of life which flees from and abhors even the slightest stain of sin. 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. Mary, Mother of God, the joyful mysteries of your Holy Rosary remind me of the mysteries in which the Word was made flesh and you, the inviolate Virgin and Mother, performed your maternal duties with holy joy. Our Lady of Guadalupe - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online In that moment the mystery of love and mercy, promised to mankind thousands of years earlier foretold by so many prophets, desired by so many saints, was accomplished upon earth. The dignity of the divine maternity raised you above all the rest of creation. You were dressed in your finest clothes and surrounded by your friends as you joined the procession by the light of lamps and the sound of music. You are the Mother of the Uncreated Wisdom, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God freed His future messenger from original sin and enriched him with grace. Help me to love Jesus with all my heart and to show my love for Him by loving you whom He has loved so dearly. The cross is the measure of God's love for us and the sum total of our love for God. With my whole heart I thank God for all He has done for you and for all mankind through you! Mary, My Mother, God raised you so high in Himself that He never has created and never will create a holier person more worthy of Himself, of His greatness, of His love, than you, O Virgin most pure. A man and a woman had both taken part in the degradation of our race; they must both have part in its restoration. September 15 | Recurring Event . The victim had to belong to the person who offered it. Before you were crowned Queen of Heaven you became the Mother of Sorrows. For your generosity the Eternal Father made you, through Christ, the dispenser of the riches of God. 2. This was a declaration that all Christians are your spiritual children. Your blessedness was due to your unexcelled sanctity. From your own flesh and blood you formed the body of your Son. Though the designs of God were unknown to you, you, nevertheless, detached your heart from the world in order to give all your love to God. Because of your dignity, you reach to the borders of the divine. But who can describe the matchless purity and beauty of your soul? Bless our prayers and labors for the conversion of the world and support them by your powerful intercession with your Son, Jesus, that His Kingdom of Truth and Life, Holiness and Grace Justice. Feast of Our Lady Mother of Sorrows - 15th Sept Mary, My Mother, I could go directly to God and ask Him for His grace without your help and that of the Saints, but God has not willed it so. 1. Everything which Jesus may claim in justice is yours by friendship's title. 2. Since suffering is the measure and the very law of love, I cannot imagine the greatness of your love for us, your children. The Prophet tells us that God is "wonderful in His saints" (Ps. Refuge of sinners, do not turn us away when we entreat you. 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. The holy old man Simeon took your Son in his arms. Mary, My Mother, you were not obliged by the Law of Moses to present and ransom your firstborn Son. In this I see God's plan that in the Kingdom of Jesus all graces should go through your hands and Heart. Make me your faithful child. Mary, My Mother, your mediation is in reality one with that of Jesus, who had seen fit to give Himself to us only through you. May He who makes little ones to speak divine wisdom, direct my tongue and pour out upon my soul the grace I need ever to follow His and your example in my state of life. The power of your intercession has no such limits, for the saints teach me that our Savior can refuse nothing to His Mother. It affords Jesus the joy of rewarding you who, with Him, suffered so much for men. You were soon really to see the Face of God the created image of divine perfection, the sight of which rejoices heaven and earth, from which all beings derive life and joy; the Face whose features enraptured God from all eternity, the Face for which all ages had expectantly yearned. You willingly became the Mother of Jesus when you answered the message of the Archangel Gabriel with the words "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word" (Luke 36, 38). How many afflicted hearts are consoled in you! We can certainly call you "Suppliant Omnipotence.". All-powerful though He is, God could not bestow upon a creature a degree of honor higher than that conferred on you as the Mother of His Son. You are the model of all virtues. We have the sublime dignity of being children of God by adoption; Jesus alone is His Son by nature. Mary, My Mother, I rejoice with the Blessed Trinity on your birthday because you were to take part in the Incarnation and Redemption of the world, I rejoice with all mankind because you became the Mother of our Redeemer. You suffered in your soul what Jesus suffered in His body, and in union with Him you offered yourself as a victim for our sins. Increase the number of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life and awaken in many young hearts a zeal for the salvation of pagans and sinners. He alone has paid the full price of our ransom, and to this price no one else has contributed. If I confide my salvation to your loving care and faithfully imitate your virtues, I know you will keep me in your immaculate Heart both now and at the hour of my death. Help me to bear in mind that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and that the secrets of divine wisdom are imparted only to the humble of heart, while they are hidden from the worldly-wise. You had to become the Mother of Sorrows before you were raised above the angels as Heaven's Queen. Finally, they remind me of the everlasting glory of all the saints in Heaven united with your own glory and that of your Son. With joy you must have foreseen the millions of souls who by your presence in their lives would cast off the bonds of sin. You are to be our guide toward the haven of salvation. Mary, My Mother, the Heart of Jesus was a generous Heart, symbolized by the wound in His side from which came forth the last drops of His Heart's Blood shed for us, and by which w e can reach the treasures of that Divine Heart. What merits did not your perfect immolation gain! I need virtues, especially charity and humility and purity. In you I behold the charm of the purest of virgins, the majesty of the noblest of mothers. Overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit, you were to conceive and bear the Messias, and at the same time remain a Virgin in every respect. I know that much will be required from those to whom much is given. I fix my gaze on that star and wish never to turn from it. As Co-Redemptrix, you must finish your work by applying the grace of redemption to each individual soul, for only then the redemption is achieved. Your Heart was also a suffering Heart. I earnestly want to be filled with the dispositions in which you expected the coming of the Savior and thus prepare myself for His coming into my soul by faith and divine charity, as well as for His coming at the hour of my death and judgment. He forms Himself in me by supernatural principles, which He implants in my mind; by supernatural intentions and meritorious actions. Coming from the Latin words cum and patior, compassion means to suffer. When you heard Jesus utter these words and saw Him bow His head and die, you died a spiritual death. 2. He was with you not only by a special protection guiding you in His ways and leading you securely to salvation. You knew that thousands even of His faithful followers throughout the world would turn from Him and would make His coming the occasion of their eternal ruin. Your loving submission to the Divine Will could not dry your tears, but it quieted the agony of your mother-heart. To the Son you give His human nature which allows Him to make full reparation to the honor of His Father outraged by our sins. 1. You were beautiful when you stood as the brave Queen of Martyrs beneath the cross of your dying Son; in the supper room beneath the fiery tongues of the Divine Spirit; beautiful, above all, in the glory in which you reign with Jesus. God might have created a more beautiful world, perfect men. May I have more of their love for you so that I may experience more of their joy in being devoted to you. I thank you for consenting to become my spiritual Mother by giving me Jesus. May I derive all the beneficial results the holy sacraments are to produce in my soul. You became the Mother of a Son who is almighty, eternal and infinite in all perfections, equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is Mary's selfless act of letting her son be sacrificed for our salvation that makes her the Queen of martyrs. You hid your miraculous virginity under the mantle of humility. May looking upon your Immaculate Heart inspire confidence in me which will make me more eager to grow in holiness. Mary, Mother of God, I admire Your obedience and humility in submitting to the law of purification by presenting yourself in the temple like every other Jewish Mother, forty days after the birth of Jesus. 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. And the Holy Spirit, who descended upon you in the Incarnation with all His fullness, must have conferred upon you such treasures of sanctity as would prepare you to receive the Son of God in your most pure womb. I believe that all graces and heavenly favors flow to the Mystical Body of Christ as from the Head, but you are the channel, through which, by God's will, all graces come to humanity. You loved God with your whole heart and mind and strength. The Scriptures refer to you and Joseph as "the parents of Jesus." The gift that God conferred upon you when He chose you to be the Mother of His Divine Son, and the grace that was in proportion to that gift, are beyond the understanding of men and even angels. Virgin of Vladimir - Wikipedia I have been especially blessed as a Catholic, for God has given me graces which He has not given to everyone else. 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. He has reconciled us to God. 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. By consenting to His birth, you made Him King. You adored your God incarnate within your chaste womb from the time of the Incarnation to His birth. You have never turned away your eyes from souls in need. As a child runs to its mother in every need and finds comfort in her glance and kind word, I can turn to you for help when I need it, for you are truly my Mother, whose heart is overflowing with kindness and mercy. Liturgical feast Our Lady of Compassion. That date was not chosen by accident, but because it is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The reredos is in gold relief, being copied from work in the chapel of the Duchess of Newcastle. You will obtain for me grace to be faithful to God during the rest of my life. 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. Turin Our Lady of Consolation, Turin This icon was presented to the city of Turin. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Mediatrix of All Graces. 3. The climax of that sorrow came when the innocent Victim for the sins of mankind was given, dead, into your arms. Protect me from losing the Holy Spirit by sin. Be a mother to me and save me. 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. Amen. We know that you are ever ready to be our help in trouble, our solace in affliction, our hope in despair. Mary, My Mother, help me to imitate your sinlessness by keeping my soul free from every willful sin by the faithful observance of God's commandments. The Holy Spirit dwells in you as in a temple. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Mother of mankind and therefore the Help of Christians, the all-powerful suppliant. But it is most reasonable and proper to say that God, who honored and loved You more than all others during your life, and whom He had chosen to be the Mother of His Son and our Redeemer, wills that all graces that are granted to those whom He has redeemed should pass through your hands and be distributed by you in order to exalt you. For if I have any ability, any worth or goodness, the glory is not mine, but God's. It is through your prayers that God inspires me to receive It and grants me the grace to receive It worthily. Yet more powerfully still than even your exalted merits does the Precious Blood render God merciful to the sinner, for all comes to us through the Passion and death of Christ, your Son. You saw Barabbas preferred to Jesus when the Roman governor showed the Man of Sorrows to the angry mob. Decorate your table with colorful flowers . Mary, My Mother, I have every reason to honor you under the title of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, because you have given me the Eucharistic 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. He was pleased to help others for your sake. This humility was richly rewarded. Though worn with sorrow, you at once took your place at the foot of the cross. When His side was opened with a lance, a sword of anguish also pierced your Heart. Your soul contained all the marvels of God's grace, for which reason the Church calls you the Singular Vessel of Devotion. After the fall of our First Parents, earth which was to be paradise, was changed into a valley of tears on which the curse of God fell. Bishop Robert J. McClory. You resigned yourself to the care of God, in the fullest confidence that He would guard your innocence and reputation. You love us as a mother loves her children. Your Son won a treasure of grace for us by the life and death He offered up to the heavenly Father. 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. 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. Feast, September 15 (Novena, September 6-14) (See the Feast of Seven Sorrows, Friday of Passion Week), Feast, September 24 (Triduum, September 21-23). Though you are raised to the high dignity of Queen of Heaven, you have not forgotten man's wretched condition. The beloved disciple told you what he had seen in the houses of Annas and Caiphas: how Jesus had been accused as a blasphemer for stating that He was the Son of God. Holiness is a complete separation from creatures and perfect union with God through love. In the temple, you returned to Him His gift by consecrating your Child to His honor and glory. Mother Mary - Our Lady of Compassion 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. Fr. The supernatural life is the life of Jesus in us through grace. Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrates 491 years Robin Bradshaw , Hearst Dec. 12, 2022 Comments This is an image of a Spanish Baroque altar located inside of the Monastery of Santo. Since you have had such an intimate share in my redemption, I entrust my soul to your loving care. Therefore, no one could ever love me more, after Christ, than you do. 2. You are truly His beloved Daughter, the only one in whom there was never a stain. As the surest refuge for a child is the heart of its mother, so your Immaculate Heart is my refuge. Help me to imitate your virtues that I may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 3. They beheld the dwelling place prepared for the Son of God. You really had the right to offer Jesus to His Heavenly Father in this mystery. As Christ was pleased to be comforted by an angel, so was it necessary that you should be encouraged by one. It was fitting that you receive into your holy womb the One who contained all graces. You obtain graces for us even without our asking you for them. The husband whom God has destined for you was a man of faith of character, of purity, "a just man." You express your wishes to God, those wishes which have to do with our needsneeds of body and needs of soul. Our Lady of Lourdes, We pray to you especially for our own conversion and that of all sinners. Being filled with light from Heaven, you have shed brightness upon the whole world, by giving birth to the Eternal Light, Our Lord Jesus Christ, although still remaining in the glory of your virginity. Because you freely consented to become the Mother of God, you experienced mentally all the bitterness of your Son's Passion and death. But I want to be loved by you even more; hence, give me an ever growing love for you. You saw clearly the agony you would feel at the crucifixion. Mary, Mother of God, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is your Gift to us. No creature in the world has been more exalted than you, because no creature in the world has ever humbled himself more. 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. 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. Jesus gave you to me to be my Mother that you may enable me at my death to say as He did with a sense of humble gratitude to God for His graces: "It is finished""I have done the work God placed me upon this earth to do. Thus you became in some way the source of that grace which Jesus would pour forth over all mankind. You were not to raise up children unto Godnot ordinary offspring, but a Child, the Son of God! You were the only one who was exempt from the universal curse that had fallen on the whole human race. If you showed such compassion for the sufferings of others while on earth, and were so ready to relieve them, how much greater must your compassion be now that you are in heaven and understand so much better the difficulties your children meet with and the sufferings that afflict them? We praise your virginity and admire your humility; but because we are poor sinners, your mercy attracts us more and we embrace it more lovingly. I, too, am a sinner. Jesus gave me your own dear self, His dearest possession, whom He loved so much that He, in a sense, exhausted His power to exalt you above all other creatures. The part that you have played in the spread of the Church and in its struggles and triumphs, clearly shows the Divine Plan in your regard. On Feb. 11, 2020, I was ordained a bishop and installed as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Gary. 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. The moment of your exaltation, the highest to which God could raise a creature, finds you sunk in the abyss of your own nothingness. When the Angel Gabriel came as a messenger from God, it was not only to ask your consent to become the Mother of the Son of God, but also to treat with you of the salvation of the human race, of the birth of the Savior of the world, of the regeneration of mankind and the setting up of an everlasting kingdom. Mary, My Mother, the beloved disciple, St. John, tells us that "a great sign appeared in heaven: "a Woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Apoc. 3. 3. Everyday you renew your Gift generously, because to each Sacrifice of your Son, you give your consent, each Consecration is your gift to us. On the calendar, the feast day is after that of the Exaltation of the Cross.