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. 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. You are far more than an instrument of God's mercy towards us. You were united with Him as closely as a Mother is united with her child, and your thoughts and desires were those of your Divine Son. OUR LADY OF SORROWS Feast day- September 15, 2022. How much I worry about my physical health! You lovingly served her till you saw her happily delivered of the child of promise with which God had blessed her. Teach me to understand something of your love for the Holy Spirit and His love for you in keeping your soul beautiful and holy. The Son, the Eternal Wisdom of God, in choosing you for His Mother, bestowed on you a certain fullness of grace, so that as you gave Christ His human nature, Christ, in a certain sense, raised you as close to God as a mere creature can come. 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. Saint Elizabeth received the Holy Spirit through your intervention, in order to teach us that we must make use of you as our Mediatrix with your Divine Son, if we wish to obtain the Holy Spirit. All that God could give, He bestowed on you. A mother, as she hears her child lisping her name, is thrilled beyond all telling, at all times; and better than she, you will understand me when I say, "Hail Mary!". 2. As Mother, it is your mission to preserve your children from sin and to make them live the supernatural life. Satan is more humiliated at seeing himself under the heel of the lowliest of creatures than at feeling himself crushed by God's almighty arm. But the same spirit of humility which had induced Jesus to obey the law of circumcision, made you also submit to the law of purification. You were borne aloft to the palace of your Beloved. Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! He sanctified your marriage with St. Joseph so that it might be an example for all Christian marriages. Christ is universal King because He rules all creatures by His personal union with the divinity. He took to Himself our human flesh and became man in order that He might give Himself up for us to the death of the cross. You were declared to be the spiritual "Mother of all the living." Your name is the name of the one I love. Wicked lust, the source and occasion of sin, flowing directly from original Sill and inclining to evil, drags me along in spite of myselfalthough always voluntarilyto personal sins, sins that I know only too well are my own. 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. Because I am arrogant, it makes me rebel against God's law, the law forbidding me that abuse of liberty which insults Him. The Father crowned you by making you a sharer in His power, the Son by making you partaker of His wisdom; the Holy Spirit, by making you partaker of His love. All that I am or have. Your fear arose entirely from your humility, which was disturbed at the sound of praises so far exceeding your own lowly estimate of yourself. This humility was richly rewarded. I have but to ask for them for the salvation of my soul. Simeon prophesied it when you offered the little Victim-Savior to the Heavenly Father for the first time in the temple: "And thy own soul a sword shall pierce" (Luke 2, 35). Hundreds of dancers, many in feathered headdresses and indigenous-style costume, dance vigorously for hours during the days leading up to the feast, and on the December 12 feast itself, in the vast plaza in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They are God's servants, but you are His Mother. except through you. 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. We encourage you to bring a flower to offer Our Blessed Mary. You obtain graces for us even without our asking you for them. 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. Because of your dignity, you reach to the borders of the divine. But you are not the adoptive Mother of the Son of God; you are His real Mother. For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. The angels saw a soul which had never been touched by original sin. On October 12, 1945, Pope Pius XII, decreed Our Lady of Guadalupe to be "Patroness of all the Americas." . God looks for gratitude and humility which draw down upon us His favor and His gifts. 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. It is but a symbol of the endless victories which you are to win over him to the last day. Thanks to you, the grace and the sanctifying gifts of the Holy Spirit are scattered abroad over the Church and its members. 1. I consecrate myself entirely to your Immaculate Heart. Mary, My Mother, the day of your Assumption was the great day of your triumph. You have commanded that your precepts. Don Luis de VelascoII, when he was Viceroy of New Spain, had as his confessor a Dominican, Fray Cristobal de Ortega, who also acted as his financial adviser. Mary, My Mother, who crushed the head of the serpent, I pray for my country. Pray to Him for us, your children, that in our exile we may resemble you, His most devoted follower, and at last may glorify Him in union with you forever. The saints tell me that it is the foundation and guard of all virtues, since without humility a soul can possess no other virtue. Mary, Mother of God, God had a purpose in wanting you and Joseph to become man and wife. Teach me to utter your most holy name that it may fill my heart with hope and burning love for you and that loving you I might reach the Light of the World. 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. May the infirmities of my soul be my chief concern. The repetition of the "Hail Marys" keep before my mind the importance of the Incarnation and your share in it. Place your gentle motherly hands on those wounds of my soul and grant that through the grace of the Sacraments and prayer they may be healed. Because you were full of God's grace and a Virgin most pure, Gabriel could exclaim, "You have found grace with God." You are so tender and compassionate, so watchful to relieve the needy, that it would seem you had no other desire, no other concern except this. 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. Latest news Portuguese bishops announce steps to end sexual abuse in the Church Mary, My Mother, the angel said to you, "Blessed art thou among women." With your heart breaking with sorrow, you had to die a spiritual death in order to become my spiritual Mother. Feast, October 16 (Triduum, October 13-15). Not only did the Holy Spirit pour into your soul a fullness of grace, but He entrusted to you, the Mother of the human family, the distribution of all grace. R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! 1. Through love you consecrated yourself with all your powers to God as the highest form of beauty and goodness. 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. As Mother of the Son of God, you are associated with the Father in the generation of His Son. When God pronounced doom against the evil one, He also announced His merciful plan of saving mankind from the effects of the guilt of our first parents. Only after many years of fervent prayers did God reward them. 67, 36). 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. Your fullness of grace brought you to a most intimate union with the Author of grace. 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. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Virgin who was promised as the Mother of the Savior. You add a degree of motherly sweetness to the joy of the angels and saints and to the blessed of the Church triumphant. 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." Our Lady of Treves, Italy (746). You are the Queen of your Son's kingdom. You also conceived His members who have been born again and are called to incorporation with Him. As Mother of God, you became a cooperator in the Redemption of mankind. I want to turn to you in all my pressing needs and difficulties as to a most sure refuge, imploring the help of your protection, choosing you as my advocate, whole-heartedly entrusting my cause to you who are the Consoler of the Afflicted. 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. Teach me to admire your virtues that I maybe constantly reminded to imitate them and become like you. I need you desperately. 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. You would not be completely happy in heaven if you did not know the interests of those souls redeemed at the cost of so much pain to Jesus and you. Implore the grace of conversion for many pagans that they may come to the knowledge of the true faith and one day be united with the saints in heaven, there to love you and praise your mercy for all eternity. In His infinite mercy God chose Abraham who was to be the Father of a Chosen Nation. All rights reserved. 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. . How wonderful, then, He must be in the Mother of the Saint of saints! The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows grew in popularity in the 12th century, although under various titles. 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. We ask you to procure for us, by your prayers the great grace of final perseverance so that those who are joined to honor you in the kingdom of your Son on earth may be together always in heaven. Dear St. Joseph, all the saints and angels, and especially you, my guardian angel and my chosen patron, watch over me. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Virgin most pure because you are full of grace. In order to live, not to myself, but to God, I must bear the cross in union with Jesus. 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. You were the first Chalice of the Blood of Jesus for Our Lord dwelt in you during the nine months of expectation as in a kind of ciborium. You brought me forth spiritually to a new life of grace. I ask this with special earnestness from you who are the Health of the Sick. 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 took part in this offering of the life and death of Jesus. Let my consecration of myself to God be made under your patronage and assisted by your intercession and in union with your merits. How often am I confused in the problems of life. 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. 10/7/2009 (1 decade ago) Published in Living Faith. 1. You love me with a love that is greater than the love of my own mother; you love me with the very love with which you love Jesus, since all your children form but one body with Him. Within your humble home in the little town of Nazareth, the Holy Spirit willed to perform a miracle that was the masterpiece of infinite powerthe Incarnation of the Son of God. Through the sorrow which you felt during your whole life, but especially when you saw Jesus led to His death and then crucified, obtain for me the grace that I may patiently bear the sufferings which God has seen fit to send me, even as you bore your sufferings. Mary, Mother of God, the results of your visit to Elizabeth were wonderful. They spoke of you as His Virgin Mother and of the part you would play in the Redemption of mankind. God prepared you for this exalted dignity by an extraordinary abundance of His graces, when He chose you to be the instrument of His mercy by making you the Mother of His divine Son. You show your compassion toward all so that there is no one in this world who does not, if he seeks it, share in the kindness and mercy of your motherly Heart. It takes me back to the days of the prophet Elias when you were prefigured on Mount Carmel under the form of the little cloud from which, as it grew larger, there fell a kindly rain, a symbol of the sanctifying graces that come to us from you. The Sanctuary in 1906. But you are a creature so holy and so perfect that you are superior to all other creatures. It is through your prayers that God inspires me to receive It and grants me the grace to receive It worthily. 1. 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. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. The Eternal Father takes pleasure in looking upon your Heart as the masterpiece of His Divine power. 2. The dangers facing the Church and the world are grave and evil. You are ever imploring favors for the just, as well as for sinners. 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. As Mother of the spiritual and heavenly you are the mediatrix of the light of grace to mankind. Do not forsake me sweet Mother of Sorrows, because you are my spiritual Mother. May these graces become most fruitful in my soul till I become like you, another Christ. It is the will of God that His aid should reach me through your heart, because you are my Mother, and motherliness means willingness to help. The suffering of Jesus in His dereliction was the most difficult test of your faith. The presentation of the Child Jesus in the temple was like the Offertory, for you offered to the Heavenly Father this "material" for the sacrificethe body and blood of your little Son. All your trials and sufferings are now transformed into jewels that decorate your triumphal throne in Heaven. It was His will that you dispense mercy by helping sinners, healing the sick, relieving the distressed and comforting the sorrowful everywhere. And now in Heaven, when the fruits of the Redemption are applied to our souls, and the graces won for us by the Passion of Jesus are distributed to the redeemed, being united to Him by a close and unbreakable bond, you still continue your part as Mediatrix in the work of our salvation, by offering to the Father the merits of Christ, uniting meanwhile your prayers, and, in a secondary sense, your merits, to the intercession of your Divine Son. Help us that our souls may be cleansed from the stains of sin. As Christ was pleased to be comforted by an angel, so was it necessary that you should be encouraged by one. You abandoned yourself to God's will with deep faith and confidence. Jesus continues ceaselessly to pray for us, offering for us to His heavenly Father His infinite merits and atonement, and causing the floods of grace to descend upon us to save us. The Church venerates many holy virgins, martyrs and other saints, but no one of them has merited or obtained your title of Holy Virgin, Virgin most pure. At your prayer Jesus changed the water into wine in Cana. 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. This is the very heart of your apostolate. How earnestly you invite me to come and partake of this Bread of Life. And so it is even now in heaven. Thus in consenting to the Incarnation, you cooperated directly in the redemption of the world, for the Incarnation was the first step in the work of our salvation. Great must have been the childlike reverence and respect with which you watched over your every action and which preserved you from ever displeasing the Divine Wisdom. With the Father you, too, can say: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.". 2. In the hope that Life will triumph over death, from this moment and for ever more, we want to sing with you the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Each Communion is a mystery of your love for us and a grace which you obtain and bestow on us. Your Heart, Blessed Mother, is always conformable to Our Lord's will. Be pleased to intercede with Jesus, your Son, for Christian families. The Expectation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Feast, December 18 (Triduum, December 15-17 or until Christmas). You invite none to come to you but the lowly of spirit. Mary, Mother of God, how wonderful was your own interior life as you carried the Son of God in your womb and awaited His coming! You are a second and more blessed Eve. It was not enough for the Infinite Lover of souls to free us from the slavery of hell by His Passion and death and to bestow upon us His body and blood, soul and divinity. When God decreed the incarnation of the Word, His very own Son, through you alone, you had a place in the same plan as Jesus. Since you bore a much heavier one together with your innocent Son, should not I, a sinner deserving of eternal punishments, carry mine patiently? To bring us forth, you gave much more than our earthly mothers gave. We do not find you in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, when your divine Son was received with so much honor by the people. Mary, Mother of God, in your own lifetime you showed that you are truly our Mother of Perpetual Help. To you I entrust the preparation of my soul for the coming of my Savior on Christmas Day. He already occupied Himself with the salvation of all souls, and as the hidden Ruler of the world He judged all who departed this life. 1, 20). It was possible for God to confer it, and He did confer it! Though a creature, you gave birth to the Creator. It means imitating your humility, your purity, your detachment from the world, and your unselfish resignation to the will of God in every event of life. As the loving Mother of Jesus, the glorious daughter of the Father, the cherished Bride of the Holy Spirit, you can never meet with a refusal.