Make me a fervent apostle of the Eucharist. For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 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. If unfortunately I should lose this life by sin, you can bring me back to supernatural life. What a beautiful example for parents to imitate! All that God could give, He bestowed on you. You were in the judgment-hall and heard it ring with lies. You showed singular prudence during your life. But you needed the redeeming Savior to obtain this exemption, and deliverance from the universal debt of being subject to original sin. Mary, My Mother, from your early years you adored the one true God in the Temple at Jerusalem. From that time forward until His Ascension into Heaven, you were the constant adorer of the Word-made-Flesh in all the mysteries of His earthly life. 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. Following their example and striving to attain to their faith, joining in their admiration, in their intense pleading, I, a poor sinner, who am so in need of help and pity, in need of your mercy, cry out to you: Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us . Your Son will deny you nothing. The effects of the presence of Jesus and you are still the same. 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. Your Divine Son was destined to crush the serpent's head by releasing mankind from the slavery of Satan, thus putting an end to the empire of sin. We encourage you to bring a flower to offer Our Blessed Mary. Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, make intercession for holy Church, protect the Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity and the precious gift of final perseverance. Your power and motherly care not only embrace spiritual miseries but also extend to the ills of the body. May the instructions I receive increase the love of God in me and strengthen my determination to serve Him with greater zeal. 2. 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. In all humility you attributed this holiness to God alone, working wondrously within 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!". It is true that we could go directly to God and ask Him for His grace without your help, but God has not willed it so. Teach me to utter your name with deep respect because, after the name of Jesus, it is most sacred and revered above all others. I have but to ask for them for the salvation of my soul. How truly can the words of Holy Scripture be applied to you: "In me is all grace of the way and of the truth: in me is all hope of life and of virtue" (Ecclus 24, 25). I consecrate to you my very being and my whole life: all that I have, all that I love, all that I am. When the hands and feet of Jesus were pierced with nails, the sound of each blow of the hammer inflicted a wound in your Heart. God has made you Queen and Protectress of the Church. Let not my sinfulness and human weakness stand in the way of my receiving the graces I need for the sanctification and salvation of my soul. Apart from your cooperation no grace descends to earth. This feast will take place this year under very special circumstances for us all. May it be given me to understand your own love for me, and your dignity and beauty, that I may love you with a love more like the love that God Himself has for you. After the birth of your Divine Son, this grace grew in splendor within you as it daily united you more closely with your God. He wanted the strengthening of the faith of His disciples and the manifestation of His Divinity to depend upon your prayers. Mary, Mother of God, at Pentecost you were with the Apostles, preparing for the Holy Spirit the promised Gift of your Son. You are the holiest of God's creatures because you are the Mother of God. I rejoice with you in the happiness which filled your heart because of such love. 1. Mary, My Mother, I wish to offer myself as a sacrifice to God in union with Jesus and through your hands. Copyright by FATHERS RUMBLE AND CARTY Radio Replies Press Society St. Paul 1, Minn., U.S.A. EWTN | 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Let me never esteem worldly wisdom so highly as to pay but little attention to the principles of that wisdom which is from heaven and which alone can make me truly wise and happy. You bore unspeakable sufferings and offered the life of Him who was dearer to you than your own life. 1. The Church regards you as the rising dawn. Save me, a poor sinner who confidently invokes your intercession, through the graces merited for me on the cross by the precious Blood of your Son. 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. There you stood bravely, your eyes fastened on your Divine Son. Through your prayers be always my powerful helper. Had the angel said you were the most wicked sinner in the world, your wonder would not have been so great, as it was at the sound of his praises. Help me to imitate your zeal in assisting my neighbor in his needs. In the fulfillment of the law you gave an example of the most perfect obedience and zeal for the edification of others; for since the real nature of your motherhood was not known to your Jewish neighbors, you might have been the cause of scandal to them if you had failed to comply with the law. Mary, Mother of God, you are Our Lady of Good Counsel because of the divine wisdom and prudence which you received from the Holy Spirit. Your action is above all one of intercession. 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. I implore the help of your protection and choose you as my advocate. I am filled with miseries both spiritual and temporal. Manila Archdiocese Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula will preside over the grand fiesta mass at 12 noon Sunday, Dec. 12, at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City, in solemn commemoration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the principal patroness of the Philippines, Mexico, and the Americas, and the protector of the unborn. Crush the evil which strives to destroy all that is Catholic, all that is Christian, all that is civilized. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." As the body of your Divine Son was preserved from the corruption of the grave, so you, from whom He took flesh, were also free from the power of earthly decay. Since 1958 and the merging of the two saint days into one celebration (known as the Cooperative Feast), the Giglio Feast has been celebrated in July, with all activities leading up to its culmination on July 16th, the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. You invite none to come to you but the lowly of spirit. You thought only of praising Him as your greatest Benefactor when you exclaimed, "My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my SaviorFor He who is mighty has done great things for me." Keep me humble that I may be able to receive your counsel. Those words include us all. I, too, am a sinner. In becoming my Mother, you became the Queen of Martyrs! Mary, Mother of God, tradition tells us that when you were three years of age, your parents, Joachim and Anne, took you to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill their vow. Jesus ascended to Heaven before you not only that He might prepare a throne for you in that Kingdom, but also that He might Himself accompany you with all the blessed spirits and thus render your entry into Heaven more glorious and worthy of His Mother. 3. How wondrous you are in your humility. You suffered with Jesus and experienced in your soul what He underwent in His body. On the appointed day, at nightfall, accompanied by friends, he went in procession to your parents' house, to conduct you to his own home. Then, through your compassion be pleased to send down to us, your poor servants, a rich abundance of your graces and blessing. August 9: OUR LADY OF THE BURNING CLOUD (ATOM BOMB) On Thursday, August 9, 1945, a blinding flash split the sky above Nagasaki. Amen. What marvels of grace possessed your soul! This humility was richly rewarded. As I gaze upon youthe ideal of perfection and sanctity, may a similar longing for God and complete dedication of myself to Him awaken in my soul. Mary, Mother of God, you are our spiritual Mother. Mary, My Mother, in the mystery of the Visitation, you began your high office of bringing Jesus into the souls of men. Through thirty-three years of Jesus' life on earth you suffered in silence. In all your deeds you showed the fruits of the Divine Wisdom which had made you the dwelling-place of God. Everything inside and outside of me should reflect His divine perfections. pray for me! This was your spiritual Motherhood. He is all mineand all because you gave your consent to become His Mother. The Gospel speaks of you as standing beneath the cross. With your foot you crushed the head of the serpent and conquered evil with goodness. Mary, Mother of God, make my interior life of union with Jesus more like your own. 1. I should learn from your conduct never to oppose the divine will, even though conformity to it may mean a severe test of my faith. I know that He wants you ever to be my Mother of Perpetual Help so that the graces He has merited for me may effect the salvation of my soul. DEC. 12 OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE. In Jesus there was wrapped up the double love of a mother for her only Child and of the holiest creature for her God. He was with you not only by His essence, His presence, and His power, as He is with all His creatures. Your union with Joseph was ordained in the designs of God for the education of Jesus. I realize that it is the command of God that I take ordinary care to insure bodily health. You appeared as the Woman of the Apocalypse, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon. 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. He promised Our Lady that if he were cured, he would become a priest. Mary, My Mother, as Mother of Divine Providence, remember your children in need of God's mercy and help. There is no sinner so spoiled and so mired in vice that you would deny him aid. 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. Feast, August 22Octave of the Assumption (Novena, August 13-21) 1. 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. 12, 1). 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! Your life, like that of your Divine Son, was a daily crucifixion and martyrdom, but on Good Friday that crucifixion reached its climax. You abandoned yourself to God's will with deep faith and confidence. 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. In the temple, you returned to Him His gift by consecrating your Child to His honor and glory. 3. You are the Mediatrix of our peace with God and the Giver of heavenly graces. 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." Your own extraordinary grace and merit, your own wondrous privileges give to your prayer an irresistible force and power. 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. You were borne aloft to the palace of your Beloved. Surely the Son cannot refuse her who gave Him birth, the one who never denied Him anything. God is the source of every good and the absolute Master of all graces. He paid the debt that original sin might not be incurred. Not for this reason alone did He love you. At one time when you wanted to speak with Jesus, your humility forbade you to enter the house where He was preaching until you were asked to do so. 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. At the same time you had to offer the most intense human suffering, in union with the Passion of your Son. 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. The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12th is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mary, you are Our Lady of Good Counsel because you are the Seat of Wisdom. I beg you to pray for me that by the light of the Holy Spirit and your direction, I may see my duty, and by God's grace and your help I may fulfill it. As you are powerful to obtain and provide, you are merciful to pardon. The Annunciation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. 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. The icon is now displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and the Russian calendar commemorates the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir on May 21. The corresponding feast, however, did not . Your Heart, Blessed Mother, is always conformable to Our Lord's will. Help me to strive to imitate your wonderful charity by aiding those who are in need, by sympathizing with those who are afflicted, by opening my heart and applying my hands to relieve every form of distress. You suffered with your Divine Son. Here I will demonstrate, I will exhibit, I will give all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. He preserved you from original sin and the sway of the devil; He filled you with grace. I give you my will by an absolute confidence in you, a confidence founded on your power and your goodness. 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. 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. Inflame me with that heavenly love with which you loved your dear Son, Jesus Christ . 1, 20). Your Immaculate Conception permitted you to love God from the first instant of your existence; your virginity led you to vow an undivided love to Him, your fullness of grace made you capable of loving Him with the most intense love possible. You are called the Mother of Mercy because God has given you power to deal with every sort of misery to which mankind is subjected. But we do find you standing beneath the cross on Calvary, when your Son was derided and mocked. It was possible for God to confer it, and He did confer it! Pilgrims approach the grounds of the basilica, in distant view, on the day before the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. All other apostles and workers for the salvation of souls depend upon you for blessing upon their missionary work. Mary, My Mother, may the faithful recitation of the Rosary help me to remember God's love for me in becoming man for my salvation. Your aid at the hour of my death will be for me a guarantee of salvation if through life I have sought to imitate the beautiful example of your life. Mary, Mother of God, your apparition at Guadalupe teaches me that devotion to you is a source of great graces. Your birth was represented beforehand by many figures, announced by prophets, desired for many ages by the human race. Mary, Mother of God, your divine maternity is most cherished by you, because it is a token of God's special love for you. Jesus is the new Adam and you are the new Eve. You saw His virginal flesh torn open again when the soldiers pitilessly stripped Him of His garments. You are the channel of all good things after the Trinity, Mediatrix of the world after the Mediator. Mary, My Mother, your Heart is the masterpiece of the Holy Trinity. Let me never be influenced by temporal considerationswealth, honors and pleasuresthat I may always follow the counsel of Jesus: "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides" (Luke 12, 31). The Church has always taught that God has entrusted to your hands all heavenly treasures, and many of the saints assure me that you give to your clients as much of these treasures as you wish and when you wish to do so. 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. These chains are chains of salvation for me, and they will make me enjoy in death that blessed peace which will be-the beginning of my eternal peace and rest. You would have shown your grief as mothers do by sobs and tears. When the Holy Spirit descended, you received the richest outpouring of His graces. You hid your miraculous virginity under the mantle of humility. 500 days. 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. But Gabriel comforted you, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God." Immaculate Virgin, you are that human being. You died as you had lived, entirely detached from the things of the world, you died in the most perfect peace and in the certainty of eternal glory. 11, 29). Note: This prayer was approved and enriched with an indulgence of five hundred days by Pope Pius X at all audience held on August 18, 1908, and was included in the official edition of approved indulgenced prayers (1950). This is but a reminder that you are equally interested in providing for all your children in all their needs of soul and body. 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. I ask this with special earnestness from you who are the Health of the Sick. JANUARY (click on the month to view in full detail) 2. He did so through your hands when you presented Him in the Temple, and in union with Him you offered yourself to the Father on Calvary. Protect me from the snares of the world, the flesh and the devil. The Son will listen to you, His Mother, and the Father will listen to His Son. 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. The feast was placed in the Roman Missal under the title of Our Lady of Compassion in 1482, highlighting the love of Blessed Mother in suffering with her Son, Jesus. 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. From all eternity God chose you to be His Mother, and in time He adorned you with every spiritual charm. 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. Each time Jesus becomes present in the hands of the priest, the Life given to us by the words of consecration comes originally from. You are all-merciful that you may obtain for me pardon and mercy. Like you, he was of the tribe of Juda and the family of David. But in you they saw a soul whose sanctity surpassed that of angels and of men, a soul which would glorify God more perfectly than any other creature ever had glorified Him, or ever would glorify Him. 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. 7, 24). It commemorates the profound union of heart that existed between the Mother of the Redeemer and the Savior, through which she experienced many interior sorrows as a consequence of His Mission, but particularly during His Passion and Death. You share so entirely in His Passion that, if it had been possible, you would gladly have borne all the torments your Son bore. May I have more of their love for you so that I may experience more of their joy in being devoted to you. You have commanded that your precepts. Mary, My Mother, I firmly believe that the saints and blessed in Heaven can aid us by interceding for us with God. It is true, you are a creature, and, therefore, far beneath the Supreme Being. Fr. God sent Gabriel, one of His glorious archangels, to deliver the most important message in the history of mankind, announcing the coming of the Savior of the world and the selection of you to be His Mother. I declare that I undertake them only that I may better promote the honor of God and devotion to you. Joachim was of the royal house of David, and Anne of the priestly family of Aaron. Mary, My Mother, as Dispenser of all graces, you make the world share in the infinite merits of the redemption. 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. The feast day of Our Lady of Compassion is every 15th of September. 3. Your holiness was not the result of the privilege of your Immaculate Conception and sanctifying grace alone, but it followed from your gift of yourself to God and your constant cooperation with His graces. Mother you are and that doubly in the terms of our Catholic belief: human Mother of Jesus, supernatural Mother of every Christian. 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." It was life of the utmost weakness and helplessness, and yet His is the strength of God Himself. 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. 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. 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. Let my consecration of myself to God be made under your patronage and assisted by your intercession and in union with your merits. You did not-abandon Jesus as the apostles did; you remained with Him until He expired. On Calvary our redemption was accomplished, by His death, Jesus merited for us the grace to live His life. This love for you was the source of great joy in the hearts of the saints. Your heart beat in unison with His Heart. Help me to realize that it is only through the cross that I can attain to its glory and that it is only through suffering that I can possess the kingdom of heaven. You are above not only patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all the saints but even all angels. After your Divine Son, you are God's most precious gift to man. 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. When He changed the water to wine, He did your bidding as God, since as man He could not perform miracles. Just as in my tenderest years I learned to love God at my mother's knee, so now I desire to learn to love my Eucharistic God, as it were, at your knee, for I firmly believe that you are the shortest and surest way to the Heart of the Eucharistic Christ. continue our lady of sorrows feast day. 3. The more you beheld yourself enriched, the more humble did you become, remembering that all came to you from the infinite generosity of your Maker. May my faith influence my conduct. Censor, IMPRIMATUR John Mark Gannon, D.D., Archbishop, Bishop of Erie. 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. But by the greater light you possessed for recognizing the infinite greatness and goodness of God, you recognized also your own littleness, and, therefore, you humbled yourself more than all others: you ever had before your eyes the majesty of God against your nothingness as His creature. Though you did not pay even the smallest part of our debt, you cooperated in His work by the entire union of your will with His. The words of the prophet are applied to you: "O all you that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be sorrow like unto my sorrow.". What a difference between the woeful prediction of Simeon and the joyous tidings of the archangel Gabriel announcing the greatness of the Redeemer of mankind! Be pleased to intercede with Jesus, your Son, for Christian families. Protect, guard, and keep them in holy fear, in peace, and in harmony of Christian charity. I beg you to take care of me for I am a poor sinful child. I can never fully understand the depth of those sorrows that filled your heart as you begot us to the spiritual life, while standing by the cross on Calvary. You were indeed two of one heart and one soul. Mary, My Mother, as the Immaculate Conception, you are the Woman who appeared as the mortal enemy of the serpent. What must have been your anguish when you looked at the sacred body of Jesus as the long nails were being driven into His hands and feet! Only give me the grace to abandon myself completely to your motherly guidance. Her name, feast day, location of her monastery, and attributes are those of the Celtic Goddess Brigit. While no gift is bestowed on us by God except in virtue of the Passion and death of your divine Son, the Precious Blood and the sacred wounds of Jesus are presented to God by you. In this I see God's plan that in the Kingdom of Jesus all graces should go through your hands and Heart. 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. With a "fiat" God created light, heaven, earth, but with your "fiat" God became Man. 1. Your birth was a miracle of the power of God because both of your parents were far advanced in years. You humbled yourself so deeply because you knew that of and by yourself you were nothing and had nothing. Everyday you renew your Gift generously, because to each Sacrifice of your Son, you give your consent, each Consecration is your gift to us. Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found, not taken, grace, as Lucifer tried to take it. 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. There are some who are far from their Father's house, who even refuse to turn to you. Dear St. Joseph, all the saints and angels, and especially you, my guardian angel and my chosen patron, watch over me. (1) You prepared in your virginal womb a fit temple for the union of the Son of Godthe Divine Wordwith our human nature. You were charged with dispensing the supernatural life to men because this was fitting. You are the most beautiful of creatures, the one in whom there is no spot, God's masterpiece. You are truly our immaculate Mother for it is to you, after Jesus, that we are indebted for the supernatural life of grace and the hope of eternal life. Only thus could you become one with Your God in the salvation of souls. There is no closer bond of love among relationships than that which exists between a mother and her son. 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. Though you felt joy in the birth of your first-born Son, you brought us forth in sorrow at the death of that same Son.