Feast of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - click for link

Nativity of the Virgin Mary from XVth century William Caxton's copy of Legenda Aurea or Golden Legend' now deposited in Glasgow University rare book collection unit. To read English translation of the Golden Legend chapter on the birth of Our Lady click HERE. Prayers and devotions for the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary's Nativity

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Saturday - Day of Our Lady

Thoughts about Our Lady from St Teresa:

[Souls easily conquered] must take His Blessed Mother and His Saints as intercessors so that these intercessors may fight for them. (Collected Works v.2)

It is important to know that Our Lord is pleased with any service rendered to His Mother, and great is His mercy. (Collected Works v.3)

It is her custom to favour those who want to be protected by her. (Collected Works v.3)

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Immaculate Heart of Mary - click to read more

Spiritual Bouquet: Father, I will that where I am, they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me; in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me. (St John 17:24)

In 1917 the Mother of God appeared six times at Fatima in Portugal. After showing the three children a vision of hell, She informed Lucy of Fatima, the oldest of the visionaries: “You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners will go. To save them, the Lord desires to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world.” The Saviour Himself, when He appeared to Lucy again on December 10, 1925 with His Mother, indicating with His hand the Heart of His Mother, said: “Have pity on this gentle Heart, continually martyred by the ingratitude of men.”
Christians have long known that at the very origin of the world God threatened the ancient enemy, disguised under the form of a serpent, that the Woman he had seen in vision with Her Son, the Son of God, would eventually crush his head. “I Myself,” God told him, “will place an irreducible enmity between Her race and your race.” Thus Satan was informed at that moment, after he had just seduced the first human couple, that in the end, it would be this other Woman and Her Son, who would vanquish him. He had refused to honor the incarnate Son of God in His future human nature, inferior to his own angelic nature; his pride would not permit him to abase himself to serve God in that form. Christian hope has been nourished ever since by the prospect of this victory; nonetheless, the Mother of God wanted the twentieth century from its early years to understand that the time was drawing near when Her Immaculate Heart would triumph, as She explicitly said at Fatima, but that it was only through Her, uniquely by Her maternal aid, that this victory could be attained.
Mary is indispensable to the sanctification of each soul. This is the great truth which in the Latter Times must be better understood. For that purpose, consecration to Her Immaculate Heart was given us at Fatima, as the means She Herself desired, with the daily Rosary. Devotion to Her Heart is not new in the Church; Saint John Eudes, Saint Louis Mary de Montfort, how many others, in truth all the Saints have loved the Heart of their Mother in Heaven. But to know Her well, each one must individually establish the relationship of a child with its loving Mother. For this purpose She asks for our personal and effective consecration to Her Immaculate Heart. The child of Mary turns to Her constantly for counsel, force and courage, gentleness and humility in the affairs of daily life. Many prayers of consecration to Mary exist, in particular that of Montfort; but one may use any simple formula such as the following: “Blessed and beloved Mother, I am Your child and I wish to belong to You; I give and consecrate myself forever to Your Immaculate Heart, renewing in Your hands my baptismal promises, and I ask You to ratify my filial homage to Your Immaculate Heart — that of my person and my activities, my temporal and spiritual goods, my resolution to have frequent recourse to Your maternal and merciful intercession. And, insofar as it is within my scope to do so, I offer You also my family, my homeland and all of humanity.”

Source: "Pourquoi me consacrer au Coeur Immaculée de Marie?" by H. Desmullier, Montfort Father (Bonne Presse: Paris, 1955).

after www.magnificat.ca

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Meditation for the Octave of Assumption - Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

Pope Pius XII proclaimed in October 1954 the feast of Mary Queen (May 31). As in the case of all great privileges of Mary, her Queenship flows from her divine Motherhood as from its source: because Christ her Son is King, Mary is Queen. St Paul describes very beautifully the Kingship of Christ. "Rendering thanks to the Father, who had made us worthy to share the lot of the saints in light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins. he is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. For in Him all things were created, things visible and things invisible, whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers. All things have been created through and unto him, and he is above all creatures, and in him all things hold together" (Col. 1, 12-17)

Thus it is clear that in the divine plan of creation the God-man is the first and essential member, around whom everything else revolves, to whom everything else is subordinated, and by whom everything else is explained.

Once only in the Gospel narrative does Christ refer expressly to the nature of His Kingdom. Then it is to declare solemnly before the Roman Governor, Pilate, that His Kingship is not of this world. By this Christ meant that His Kingship is not of a transitory political type, but eternal and supra-political. In other words the Kingship of Christ is not concerned with temporal but ultimate values that is, the truths and precepts of the moral law and of religion. It is by accepting these truth and by carrying out these precepts that man attains his final end.

In this Kingship of Christ mary participates as His Mother. In the 12th Chapter of the Apocalypse we read: "And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." The Church applies this verse to the Blessed Virgin. There is no doubt that the Fathers understood this verse as picturing the Church of the Old and New Covenants. The beams of the divine glory clothe her; the moon is beneath her feet; she is crowned with a crown of twelve stars, and she must bring forth Christ to the world. "Who is this Woman? Clearly the Mother of the Messiah, but also of a vast posterity which endures to the end of time. She is, then, as symbolic as the Dragon, and is comparable with the 'Jerusalem on high, the Mother of us all' (Gal 4:26): Jerusalem, whether terrestrial or ideal, especially as representing the whole people of God, was constantly figured as a woman, mother of the Holy People from whom, in Old Testament times, the Messiah was to come" (Cath. Commentary on Holy Scripture). Then St John thinks of the "primeval serpent", he remembers Eve: The Woman becomes the Second Eve, and so we have the series - the Mother of the Messiah: the Universal Eve: Jerusalem and the people: the Church and Mary.
The first chapter of Genesis begins the story of Christ's Kingdom on earth. Satan, having failed in heaven, succeeds in getting newly created man to rebele against God and so gains mastery over the human race. But, by reason of his weaker nature, the malignity of man's sin was far less than that of Satan and his followers, and so, at the very moment of the fall, God promises man ultimate deliverance from the power of Satan at the hands of "the woman and her seed". How this deliverance was effected is recorded in the Gospel story, and enlarged upon in this book. The rightful King appears among His people, and by accepting death freely and in their name at the hands of the powers of darkness, satisfies the divine justice and breaks Satan's power over man: "Now is the judgment of the world; now will the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth (i.e. crucified), will draw all things to myself (John 12: 31-32). By this sacrifice of Himself Christ merited for all His followers the power to triumph over the devil. This Our Lord tells us: "I was watching Satan fall as lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the might of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you" (Luke 10:18-19).
Christ, therefore, is King by double title, by hereditary right and by conquest. And just as Mary participated in Christ's hereditary title of King as His Mother, so also she participates in His title of King by conquest because she took an active part in that victory over Satan by which the world was redeemed.

The doctrine underlying the Queenship of Mary is not a new one. Nor id the title "Qoeen" given to Mary a new one. For centuries Mary has been invoked as Queen in the Litany of Loreto. Why then has the Church seen it fit to proclaim solemnity the Queenship of Mary in our day? The Pope gave the answer to this on the occasion of the proclamation of the new feast . The institution of the new liturgical feats of the Queenship of Mary is intended to throw into special relief that particular aspect of Christian truth that is best adapted to remedy the peculiar evils that afflict the present generation, and to direct this generation in the way of the salvation it so eagerly seeks.

This has always been the custom of the Church. The Church defined the doctrine of the Assumption of Our Lady - a doctrine that has always been held by the Universal Church, but whose solemn definition was intended not merely to gibe glory to the Mother of God, but also to recall to a generation steeped in materialism one of the most fundamental truths of Christianity, namely, the immortal destiny of man, soul and body. So also the Feast of the Queenship of Mary intended to remind man of the existence of an authority which penetrates to the very interior of man's nature as man, which touches him in his profound essence in that part of man that is spiritual and immortal. Further it proposes to the world one to whom all may go confidently for guidance and help in these perilous times when the unity and peace of mankind as a whole, and the very sources of life itself, are in danger. If only she be asked, Mary will confound the evil work of the enemy of mankind, who envies in man the peace he himself has lost. She will give light to the world's rulers to guide their people in the way of justice and peace, for she is the Seat of Wisdom to whom the Church applies the inspired words: "By me Kings reign and lawgivers decree just things. By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice" (Prov. 8:15-16).

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Meditation for the Octave of Assumption - The Coronation of Mary in Heaven

"Who could form an adequate idea of the resplendent spectacle enacted on this day, as the Queen of Universe enters Heaven? Who can describe the veneration and enthusiasm with which the heavenly hosts come forth to receive her and the anthems of praise with which she was escorted to her glorious heavenly throne? What love glowed in the eyes of her Divine Son, what benevolence lighted up His Face, what Divine tenderness was apparent in His embraces as he welcomed His mother and elevates her above all the other creatures of His Land? He received her with such honour as alone was worthy of the dignity of such a mother. He adorns her with glory, as only a Divine Son could grant her" (St Bernard, First Sermon on Assumption.)

Our Lady, in order of nature, is lower than the Angels; in the order of grace she is higher. Man has been made a little lower than the angels: yet the Son of Man, who is God, had a human mother, and her the Angels venerate. The eternal Son places upon His Mother's brow the crown of Heavenly Queenship. The real glowy and greatness of Mary is revealed: "A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head."

Mary is Queen of Angels, because she is more glorious than they: Queen of Patriarchs and Prophets, because they were sent in remote expectation of her: Queen of Apostles, as having not merely announced the glad tidings of Salvation, but as having brought us the Saviour: Queen of Confessors, having given greater proof of fortitude: Queen of Virgins while surpassing them in the splendour of her purity: Mary is Queen of all Saints.

Text after "Marian Shrines in the Holy Land" by Fr Hoade, OFM, 1958 edition

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Meditation fot the Octave of Assumption - Triumphs of Mary, Dormition, Assumption and Coronation of Our Blessed Mother

Mary had various triumphs - triumphs of faith, of love and mercy, endurance, and glory. And in God's providence they led up one to the other, one a preparation for the next, to the culmination - the glorius Assumption into Heaven.
Her first triumph was in Bethlehem. She had believed the word of the Lord, the word Gabriel had brought to her at Nazareth. Faith had triumphed, the Saviour of the world was born. Mary's heart that night was making melody with the angels of God on High: Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Her second triumph was of faith too. Her glory was that the Divinity of her Son was made evident in His public life. The crowds thronged to hear Him: they followed Him, forgetting rest and food. He healed the sick; He cast out devils and they proclaimed Him Christ, the Son fo God. He raised the dead to life; He forgave sin.
All these wonderful things Mary saw, and this triumph of hers lasted for three years, andd it strengthened her for the next triumph - the triumph over a mother's heart, the triumph of love and mercy over sinners.
Calvary is the next scene of Mary's triumph. She offered Him up a Sacrifice for sin, through pity for us poor sinners. She stands there the Queen of Martyrs. As the soul transcends the body, so the sword-thrust, that pierced her soul, was more agonizing than any suffering of the martyrs. The shadow of the cross had been hovering over her since the child was born. At last the hour has come, foreseen for three and thirty years. She gave up her Divine Son and took us for her children in His place. What a bad bargain, says one of the Fathers of the Church.
It is over. As Mary had partaken of the suffering of the Cross, justly did she participate in the triumph of the redeemer in His Resurrection and Ascension.
The Gospel is silent. No mention of Mary, the Immaculate, on easter morning. That was Mary's humility. But we reverently congratulate her on the joy of Easter, for surely she was the first to behold her Son, risen, glorious, immortal. What a triumph! That one moment of ecstatic joy more than compensated the Mother of Sorrows for all she had gone through during the terrible days of the Passion.
All too quickly pass the forty days, and from Mount of Olives Jesus ascended into heaven. During these wonderful days Mary heard from Jesus Himself many of the pains of the passion and these in time, she passed on to the Evangelists. Would it not have not been a beautiful ending, if Mary had been taken up to heaven with her Son? There was another triumph she had to pass through first - the triumph of patience. The infant Church needed a mother. It needed her to tell them all these words that she had kept in her heart. The Evangelists needed her for the Gospel records. Her example, influence, guidance, presence, was needed, and she gave for over twenty years without a word. And yet what a bleak, dreary world to her it must have been when Jesus had gone: She had exchanged God for man.

Mary's Life after The Death of Christ
After the Scene on Calvary Mary is mentioned only once: "All these were persevering with one mind in prayer, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" (Acts 1, 14).
After that we must fall back on the apocryphal writings, the value of which we have already discussed. We have also many traditions attached to sites in Jerusalem. Such traditions are not negligible: traditions are not the product of legends, but give rise to them.
It was in the tradition of Jerusalem that Mary after the Ascension did what became known as "the Holy Circuit", a pilgrimage in Jerusalem to the holy places connected with the life of Christ. This traditional pilgrimages was adopted by the Franciscans when they took up residence in the city in 1335. Once, as Mary was coming down the Mount of Olives, she was met by the Archangel Gabriel, who gave her a palm in token of her triumphal entry into heaven. This was three days before her death. The place is still known as et Tamir, the Palm Tree, and the ruins of a church were still visible there until 1882.

Age of Mary
We know from tradition that Mary lived with St John beside the place of the Last Supper and died there in the place known as the Dormition.

We have no means of determining the afe of Mary. The Franciscans have for centuries recited the Franciscan Crown, which consists of seventy-two Hail Marys in honour of the seventy-two years of her life. This was revealed to a novice of the order. On the other hand St John undoubtedly remained in Jerusalem as long as Mary lived: "From that hour, the disciple took her to his own [house]" (John 19:27). After Pentecost, John appears with Peter in Jerusalem (Acts 3) and then in Samaria (Acts 8:14). When Paul goes to Jerusalem in 49 AD to attend the council of the Apostles he finds John there (Gal. 2:9; Acts 15). After this, we do not find him any longer in Palestine; probably he left by the year 57; for when Paul returns to Jerusalem he makes no mention of him (Acts 21). Many famous authors accept this as the date of John's departure from Jerusalem. If Mary, as commonly believed was sixteen at the birth of Christ, she was seventy-two in the year 56AD.

Death of Mary
On the third day after meeting with the Archangel Gabriel, when Apostles forewarned, have arrived, a Sunday, Mary dies: Jesus receives her soul which He consigns to Michael. Jesus ordered the burial of Mary in Gethsemane. Having placed the body in the Gethsemane, it was transported to paradise by angels, where it was reunited with the soul. It would take many pages to defend the tradition of Jerusalem over Ephesus as the place of Mary inhabitation and death, and it is not the point of this meditation. However, it may be appropriate to mention the revelations of Bl Catherine Emmerich regarding the house of Mary located in Ephesus are the main source of this supposition, not apocryphal writings. The date of Mary's death is 21 Tobi (January). Yet the fact remains that we must wait until the 7th century, before the Patriarch Modestus explicitly locates the death of Mary on Mount Sion, although it was undoubtedly the firm belief of the Church of Jerusalem that Mary after the Ascension of Jesus lived and died in the vicinity of the Cenacle. When this holy place, fortunately saved in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70AD and by Hadrian in 135, was included in the great Basilica, Hagia Sion, built by the Patriarch John (388-417) together with the sacred memories of the Last Supper and the Descend of the Holy Ghost, was included also the memory of the Death of the Blessed Virgin, which little by little was localized in a certain part of the Basilica. The Patriarch Sophronius (634-638) successor to Modestus, in a hymn written in 603-604 records "the Stone on which the Mother of God lay in her last moments," and the site is marked on the plan of Arculf (670). This sacred edifice so eulogized by St John of Damascus (748) fell into ruins in 966 and remained so until the arrival of Crusaders. Their devotions to the Mother of Christ explains why in their reconstruction of the Basilica the remembrance of the Dormition prevailed over all the other memories and the official title of the church was "St Mary on the Mt Sion" . The Chapel which was believed to be the room of Mary, was in the northern nave, and on the dome was the inscription "Exaltata est sancta Dei Genitrix super Choros Angelorum." The Church was served by the Canons Regulars of St Augustine, but the Chapter came under the Patriarch, who with his clergy went there in procession from the Holy Sepulchre ro celebrate the feast on August 15.

In 1187, Saladin took Jerusalem from the Crusaders and the Basilica was handed over to the native clergy. Damaged in 1219, it was completely destroyed in 1244.
When in 1335 the Franciscans took up residence beside the Cenacle, which they repaired, they also hoped to rebuilt the Church of St Mary. They never succeeded in building anything except a small Chapel, which the authorities ordered to be destroyed on May 23, 1490. And when the Franciscans were finally expelled from the Cenacle, in 1553, the site remained a ruin.
The place was generally called by the local inhabitants Nijaha, i.e. lamentations or bewailing of the dead, whereas Europeans called it "Dormitio or Koimesis" (Sleeping).
In the year 1898, during his visit to Jerusalem, Emperor William II was given the site as a present by Sultan Abdul Hamid, and he handed it over to the German Catholics under the administration of the Archbishops of Cologne. the foundation stone of the present Church of the Dormition was laid on October 7 1900, and on the March 21, 1906 the Shrine was given into the charge of the Benedictine Monks of Beuron. The Church was consecrated on April 10, 1910, and on August 15, 1926, the Benedictine Priory was raised to the dignity of an Abbey. The Church was badly damaged during the fighting in 1948, and years after that the Israeli soldiers were still occupying the part of the church. The whole building, church, monastery, and belfry, is very massive and presents an appearance of a medieval fortress. the upper church, in the apse, floor and side chapels, is beautifully decorated with mosaics and bronzes. The crypt, of two concentric circles is both beautiful and devout. In the centre is the altar of the Dormition and before the altar lies the statue of the Virgin in the sweet sleep of death.


Excerpts from "Marian Shrines of the Holy Land" by Fr Hoade, OFM

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Feast of St John Vianney -click to read Catechism and Exhortation

Today is the feast of St John Vianney and day of Our Lady. St John had a great devotion and love for the Blessed Virgin. Let us read his Catechism on the Blessed Virgin.

The Father takes pleasure in looking upon the heart of the most Holy Virgin Mary, as the masterpiece of His hands; for we always like our own work, especially when it is well done. The Son takes pleasure in it as the heart of His Mother, the source from which He drew the Blood that has ransomed us; the Holy Ghost as His Temple. The Prophets published the glory of Mary before her birth; they compared her to the sun. Indeed, the apparition of the Holy Virgin may well be compared to a beautiful gleam of sun on a foggy day.
Before her coming, the anger of God was hanging over our heads like a sword ready to strike us. As soon as the Holy Virgin appeared upon the earth, His anger was appeased....She did not know that she was to be the Mother of God, and when she was a little child she used to say, "When shall I then see that beautiful creature who is to be the Mother of God?" The Holy Virgin has brought us forth twice, in the Incarnation and at the foot of the Cross; he is then doubly our Mother. The Holy Virgin is often compared to a mother, but she is much better still than the best of mothers; for the best of mothers sometimes punishes her child when it displeases her, and even beats it: she thinks she is doing right. But the Holy Virgin does not so; she is good that she treats us with love, and never punishes us. The heart of this good Mother is all love and mercy; she desires only to see us happy. We have only to turn to her to be heard. The Son has His justice, the Mother has nothing but her love. God has loved us so much as to die for us; but in the heart of Our Lord there is justice, which is an attribute of God, in that of the most Holy Virgin there is nothing but mercy. Her Son being ready to punish a sinner, Mary interposes, checks the sword, implores pardon for the poor criminal. "Mother", Our Lord says to her, "I can refuse you nothing. if Hell could repent, you would obtain its pardon".
The most Holy Virgin places herself between her Son and us. The greater sinners we are, the more tenderness and compassion does she feel for us. The child that has cost its mother most tears is the dearest to her heart. Does not a mother always run to the help of the weakest and the most exposed to danger? Is not a physician in the hospital most attentive to those who are most seriously ill? The Heart of Mary is so tender towards us, that those of all the mothers in the world put together are like a piece of ice in comparison to hers. See how good the Holy Virgin is! her great servant St Bernard used often to say to her, "I salute thee Mary." One day this good Mother answered him, "I salute thee, my son Bernard."
The Ave Maria is a prayer that is never wearisome. The devotion to the Holy Virgin is delicious, sweet, nourishing. When we talk on earthly subjects or politics, we grow weary; but when we talk of the Holy Virgin, it is always new. All the saints have a great devotion to our lady; no grace comes from Heaven without passing through her hands. We cannot fo into a house without speaking to the porter; well, the Holy Virgin is the portress of Heaven. When we have to offer anything to a great personage, we get it presented by the person he likes best, in order that the homage may be agreeable to him. So our prayers have quite a different sort of merit when they are presented by the Blessed Virgin, because she is the only creature who has never offended God. The Blessed Virgin alone has fulfilled the first Commandment - to adore God only, and love Him perfectly. She fulfilled it completely.
All that the Son asks of the Father is granted Him. All that the Mother asks of the Son is in like manner granted to her. When we have handled something fragrant our hands perfume whatever they touch; let our prayers pass through the hands of the Holy Virgin; she will perfume them. I think that at the end of the world the Blessed Virgin will be very tranquil: but while the world lasts, we drag her in all directions....The Holy Virgin is like a mother who has a great many children - she is continually occupied in going from one to the other.

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Saturday, Day of Our Lady

Thoughts for this day - St Teresa of Avila tells us about her devotion to Our Blessed Lady.

Behold, thy Mother (John 19:27)

"I understand that I had a great obligation to serve our Lady and St Joseph; for often when I went off the path completely, God gave me salvation again through their prayers "(I:399)

"On another day the Lord told me this: "Do you think, daughter, that merits lies in enjoyment? No rather it lies in working and suffering and loving....When you see My Mother holding Me in her arms, don't think she enjoyed those consolations without heavy torment. From the time Simeon spoke those words to her, My Father gave her clear light to see what I was to suffer."(I:403)

"I saw the Mother of God descend with a great multitude of angels and sit in the prioress's choir stall where there was a statue of our Lady...She told me: "You were indeed right in placing me here; I shall be present in the praises they give my Son, and I shall offer these praises to Him." (I:395)

"You have such a good Mother. Imitate her and reflect that the grandeur of our Lady and the good of having her for your patroness must indeed be great" (2:305-306)

"She is our Lady and our Patroness. And this for me was one of the great joys and satisfactions of my life". (3:279)

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Saturday, Day of Our Lady

Inspiring thoughts of St Teresa about Queen of Heaven, Flower and Beauty of Carmel. Devotion to Our Lady is our legacy given to us by Christ from the Cross: "Behold, Thy mother" (John 19:27).

I saw our Lady in the greatest glory clothed in a white mantle; it seemed she was sheltering us all under it. I understood how high degree of glory the Lord would give to those living in this house (1:320)

He showed me [His Mother's] ascent to heaven, the happiness and solemnity with which she was received, and the place where she is...The glory my spirit experienced in seeing so much glory was magnificent. The effects of this favour were great (I:353)

I saw Christ who seemed to be receiving me with great love and placing a crown on my head and thanking me for what I did for His Mother (I:320)

[Jesus] told me that immediately after His resurrection he went to see our Lady because she then had great need and that the pain she experienced so absorbed and transpierced her soul that she did not return immediately to herself to rejoice in that joy...What must have been that transpiercing of the Blessed Virgin's soul (I:390-391).

Quotations after "Collected Works of St Teresa " Vol.I, 1976 ed and "Sermon in a Sentence"

If you are a Catholic lady who loves Blessed Mother of Our Lord, please read Requirement of modesty in dress" and make the pledge of modesty for your sake and those close to your heart, in reparation for the sins of immodesty and pride and remain under the protective wings of Our Lady: "Our Sorrowful and Immaculate Mother, who in all her apparitions is fully covered, is presented by her divine Son to us as the perfect model of modesty and purity. She is terribly saddened by the immodest and impure conduct so prevalent in our society. Our Lord speaks to us through His Blessed Mother in condemning the modern trends of uncovering the body. In fact, Our Lady came down from heaven to warn against this disrobing trend. Listen to what she revealed to little ten-year-old Jacinta of Fatima while she was dying in a hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1920: "Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Divine Lord very much. Those who serve God ought not to follow these fashions. Our Lord is always the same." And she also revealed to Jacinta that "the sins that lead most souls to hell are the sins of the flesh." Today's fashion is extremely immodest and very much of bad taste, not far from mere vulgarity. By keeping carefully modesty in apparel and conduct, Christian women give good example, are pleasing to God, and shine in the world like precious gems. Do not be discourage by dissapproving looks or ironical, sneering smiles - by resisting you practice your virtue. "St. John Chrysostom (347-407), the illustrious Bishop of Constantinople and one of the 32 doctors of the Church, had this to say about women who dress immodestly: "You carry your snare everywhere and spread your net in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. "

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Carmelite Saints and Devotion to Mary, Queen, Flower and Beauty of Carmel

St Teresa Margaret Redi
short biography

I venerate you a thousand times, O true Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ - Hail Mary.

I venerate you, O sovereign Queen of the Angels, Empress of the Universe - Hail Mary.

I venerate you, most kindly Virgin Mary, most worthy mother of my one Saviour Jesus - Hail Mary.

***





















The Martyrs of Compiegne.
story of the Martyrs

Fragment of the Prayer composed by Sister Julie Louise

...Holy Virgin, our Example
Of martyrs all the august Queen,
Do thou deign to sustain our great ardor
Cleanse our desires, make us all pure and clean!
Still protect sweet France, our dear country
From heaven's heights lend us all now thine aid
Let us all feel here in these places
The effects of all thy graces.
We, thine own, await thy power;
Submit, obey thee in this hour.
We'll die as did Jesus our God.
And our believing King.

Behold O divine Mary
The holy zeal of us, thine own.
Since it's God who us life had given
We accept this death as our own.
Reveal thyself as our tender mother,
And present us all to Jesus Christ
That, given life by His Spirit
We may, in taking leave of life;
With the fire of His great love
Join with all the saints above,
And sing, and sing, on heaven's shore,
All His goodness evermore!





















Bl Francis Palau y Quer
short biography

Model of the Church

Mary, Mother of God all pure,
Mary, Mother of Jesus
I am a perfect complete model
Of your loved
Holy Church
The communion of all the saints
the Virgin of Carmel

***

Mary

Mary, you are the standard, the model
The mirror, support, and firm strength
Of all virtues.















St Raphael Kalinowski
short biography

We entrust our task o our Most Holy Mother, theVirgin Mary, under her maternal care.
If there is anything to correct, let it be corrected once and for all; may the good that is done continue to increase. Toward this purpose, may God's love flood your souls along this earthly love, that is, to God Himself in eternity.

Bl Mary of Jesus Crucified
short biography

At the feet of Mary, my mother dear
I came back to life.
Of all you who suffer, come to Mary,
At the feet of Mary I came back to life.
O you who work in this monastery,
Mary counts your steps and your labours.
Tell yourselves:
At the feet of Mary, I came back to life
You who dwell in this monastery,
Detach yourself from things of earth.
Your salvation and your life are at the feet of Mary
I dwell in the heart of my mother,
There I find my Beloved.
Am I then an orphan? In the bosom of Mary
I have found life.
Do not say I am an orphan:
I have Mary for Mother and God for Father.
The serpent, the dragon wished to catch me
And take my life;
But at the feet of Mary, I recovered my life.
Mary called me, and, in this monastery,
Will I remain forever.
At the feet of Mary
I came to life again.

***

In a vision Blessed Mary saw Jesus holding a three-year-old girl dressed as a Carmelite. She said to Our Lord: "This little one is fortunate, You loved her so much!"And Jesus replied: "Yes, I love her, see how I hold her in my arms; but she does not know it! Ah, if I were like that, I promise You that I would feel it and I would be happy! O little one, pray me who am so sinful. You are pure and I am dung. (This little one did not see me; she was looking at Jesus, and Jesus was looking only at her all the time.)

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NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL STARTS TODAY! (7.07-15.07)

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL - short version

Most powerful NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL - longer version

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St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
short biography

O Mary, anyone who looks at you is comforted in any anxiety or tribulation, or pain, and is victorious over any temptation. Anyone who does not know something about God, let him have recourse to you, O Mary. Anyone who does not find mercy in God, let him have recourse to you, O Mary. Anyone whose will is not in conformity, let him have recourse to you, O Mary. Anyone who falters on account of weakness let him have recourse to you who are all strong and powerful. Anyone in constant struggle, let him have recourse to you who are a tranquil sea....Whoever is tempted,...let him have recourse to you, who are the mother of humility, and nothing drives away the devil more than humility. Let them, one and all, have recourse to you, O Mary!

***

Oh Mary, you have gone too high in telling me to love him as my Bridegroom loved him! And how did He love him? For them He left, so to speak in a certain way, the bosom of the Eternal Father, with His power, His wisdom and, in a way of speaking, His purity, in order to be able to dwell with the impurity of creatures. He left His substance and His faculties, and finally gave Himself and His own blood. And I too ought to leave myself and the love of all created things, and be prepared, should it be necessary for their salvation, to give my own blood.

***

O most pure Mary, I offer and give myself to you, not only with that purity and innocence that I received when I consecrated myself to you, but adorned beyond that, and then repurified, and then adorned you again. Receive me, therefore, O Mary, and keep me within yourself.

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Saturday - Day of Our Lady

The Nativity
When I was at the crib of Bethlehem, I beheld a most beautiful Virgin with child, in a white mantle and tunic, evidently soon about to be delivered. With her was a most venerable old man, and they had an ox and an ass. When they entered the cave, the old man tied the ox and the ass to the crib; going out he brought the Virgin a lighted torch, and set it in the wall. Then he again withdrew so as not to be personally present at the birth. Then the Virgin loosed her shoes from off her feet, and laid aside her white mantle, and took off her veil from her head, and laid it beside her, remaining in her tunic, her long hair, as beautiful as gold, falling down over her shoulders. Then she drew out two fine, clean linen cloths, and two of wool, which she had brought to wrap the new-born Child in, and two smaller linen ones to cover and tie His head. These she laid beside her to use in due time. When all these things were ready, then the Virgin, kneeling with great reverence, placed herself in prayer, with her back to the crib, her face eastward, raised to Heaven. She stood with uplifted hands, and eyes fixed on Heaven, rapt as it were, in an ecstasy of contemplation, inebriated with the divine sweetness. And while she thus stood in prayer, I beheld her Child move in her womb, and at once in a moment, and in the twinkling of an eye, she brought forth her Son, from whom such ineffable light and splendor radiated, that the sun could not be compared to it; nor did the torch, and so sudden and momentary was the mode of bearing, that I could not perceive or discern how, or in what part she brought forth. Nevertheless, I immediately beheld that glorious Babe lying naked from all filth or impurity...I then also heard angelic chants of wonderful suavity and great sweetness....When the Virgin perceived that she had been delivered, she immediately bowed her head, and joining her hands, adored her Son with great respect and reverence, saying: "Welcome, my God, and my Lord, and my Son." Then the Child crying, and, as it were, shivering with cold and the hard floor where He lay, turned a little, and stretched out His limbs, seeking to find a mother's favour and caress. Then His mother took Him in her hands and clasped Him to her heart, and with her cheek and breast warmed Him with great joy, and a mother's tender compassion. Then, and drawing them tight on sitting on the ground, she laid her Son in her lap....and began diligently to wrap Him up, at first in linen and then in woolen cloths, and drawing them tight on His little body, bound His legs and arms with fillets tied to the four corners of the outer woolen cloth. And then she wrapped on her Son's head the two small linen cloths, which she had ready for the purpose. When this was done, the old man entered, and prostrating himself on his knees on the ground, he adored Him, weeping for joy. Nor did the Virgin on this occasion lose colour or strength, as befalls other woman who are delivered, except that her size was diminished. Then she arose with the Child in her arms, and both together, that is, she and Joseph, laid Him in the manger, and kneeling, adored Him with immense joy and gladness. (Lib. vii, c.21).
While the Blessed Virgin and Joseph were adoring the Infant in the crib, I beheld the shepherds, and those that tended the flocks, come to see and adore the Child. When they saw Him, they immediately adored Him with great reverence and joy; and afterwards returned, praising and glorifying God for all that they had heard and seen (Lib. vii, c.23).

Picture shows Nossa Senhora da Alva, Church in Aljezur, Portugal.

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Saturday - Our Lady's Day

Devotion to Mary - Behold, your mother (John 19:27)

St Therese:
"The Blessed Virgin is the Queen of heaven and earth, quite true, but she is more mother than queen"

The Blessed Virgin never fails to protect me as soon as I invoke her. In my troubles and anxieties I very quickly turn towards her and, like the most tender of mothers, she always takes care of my interests.

To ask something of the Blessed Virgin is not the same thing as asking it of the good Lord. She knows very well what to do with my little wishes, whether to transmit them [to God] or not....If after that , we obtain nothing, it is because what we asked for is not in accordance with God's designs."

All quotes from 'Complete Spiritual Doctrine of St Therese of Lisieux' by Francois Jamart

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Devotion to the Three Hail Mary's - click to read

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Gate of Heaven, pray for us! - click to read

St Mary Magdalen De Pazzi:
"O most pure Mary, I offer and give myself to you, not only with that purity and innocence that I received when I consecrated myself to you, but adorned beyond that, and then re-purified, and then adorned again. Receive me, therefore, O Mary, and keep me within yourself. " (from "Complete Works of St Mary Magdalen De Pazzi")

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St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi about Our Lady - click to read

Our Lady of Mt Carmel statue from the Carmelite Church of Buen Suceso, Seville, Spain.

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Mary's Prayer - click to read

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THE DEVOTION OF THE 'THREE HAIL MARYS' - history and Novena prayers

Our Lady of Mt Carmel with the Child - beautiful statue in the series of Spanish style sacral art.

Practiced and Recommended
Many great saints have practiced and recommended the devotion of the "Three Hail Mary". Here are the names of but a few of them: St. Leonard of Port Maurice, St. Bruno, St. Bonaventure, St. John Berchmans, St. John Baptist Mary Vianney (Cure of Ars), St. Anthony of Lisbon and of Padua, St. Stanislaus Kostka, St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, St. John Joseph of the Cross, St. John Baptist de Rossi, St. Gerard Majella, St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, Blessed Marcellinus Champagnat, and, above all, the great Marian doctor St. Alphonsus Liguori who, in his writings recommended this devotion about twenty times. As a result, this devotion has been spreading, and we are reminded of it in many ways: at shrines, in churches and chapels, through association and sodalities, through novenas, pictures, statues and medals, and especially by the innumerable graces and favors received through the practice of this devotion. No doubt, one day in the near future, it will be numbered among the universally-known important Marian devotions. Moreover, various Popes have indicated that they favor this devotion and Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X have granted special indulgences for the practice of this devotion. Since 1095, Urban II at the Council of Clermont have proposed it as a means for obtaining the triumph of the Church; while Leo XIII and St. Pius X have ordered its recitation after the Mass for the same intention, that is why the "Three Hail Marys" were recited after the Low Masses before the Liturgical Reform. St. Pius X was convinced that this devotion will save Mexico, and so he recommended all the faithful to practice it.

Innumerable Fruits
"Astonishing conversions, increase in virtues, cure of the sick, temptations conquered, business difficulties solved, holy death.and salvation." - the promise made by the Blessed Virgin to St. Mathilda.
The "Three Hail Marys", are in the words of St Alphonsus Maria Liquori: "the best safeguard for chastity" This statement was recorded and attributed to St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori by St. Pius X; "that it is true, has been confirmed by our experiences as well as those of many missionaries" (according to Frassinetti). Even the number of graces and favors obtained through the practice of this devotion show us just how pleasing it is to the Blessed Virgin Mary.



Devotion for Everyone
This devotion is suitable for everyone: For sinners, it is a classic example of a devotion approved especially for them by the Church. Even if the complete renewal in our way of life does not occur immediately, at least a great change for the better will be noted. Our faithful perseverance in this practice will succeed in obtaining the complete change, sooner or later, through Our lady's intercession - this is what St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori wrote about this devotion. Of course, it is understood that the person who is praying for the favor -- even if he/she be a great sinner -- must have pure intentions and good will, and pray with great attention, fervor and constancy. For those who progress in spiritual life, the "Three Hail Marys" are powerful arms against temptations, especially those against purity. "From my wide experience, I know that boys and girls who faithfully honor Mary, do not usually commit serious sins" (Frassinetti). And this devotion is really very easily practiced, for its very brevity makes it suitable for everyone, however busy they may be, since it does not even take one minute to pray the "Three Hail Marys". To say the prayer takes around 40 seconds, therefore, of the 1,440 minutes in each day, are we unable to devote about one minute and half per day to reciting the "Three Hail Marys" in the morning and at night in order that we may obtain our eternal salvation?!

How to Pray the "Three Hail Marys"
Although the devotion of the "Three Hail Marys" is very easy, there are certain conditions which we should observe:
1. Our intentions must be pure, and we must have good will.
2. We must pray with attention, fervor and constancy.
3. With each "Hail Mary", we must have the intention of honoring one of the three privileges granted by the Blessed Trinity to the Blessed Virgin Mary: POWER, WISDOM and MERCY.
4. Since the main aim of these "Three Hail Marys" is our sanctification and salvation, we should add one of the ejaculations which recall this aim. Some of them had been recommended and indulgenced by Leo XIII or by St. Pius X.

Here are some examples:
a) "Mary, my Mother, keep me free from mortal sin during this day" or "during this night" (as the case may be).
b) "O Mary, by your Immaculate Conception, keep my body pure and my soul holy."
c) "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee and also for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially for the enemies of the Church."

Its Effectiveness
Here is the personal testimony of a sinner who used the devotion with good results: "For the last three years, I have been the slave of a bad habit against the virtue of purity. How could I get rid of this terrible passion? I tried every means available, but all proved useless. I used to give in to very serious sins and even to sacrileges. This was most disheartening. "Then, one day, someone recommended to me the devotion of the "Three Hail Marys". And now, it is not yet quite one month since I started to pray the "Three Hail Marys" every morning and every night without fail. I cannot explain what has happened within me, but I do know and can assure you that, since the very first moment, it has produced wonderful results within me: I have not succumbed to the impure temptations since then. When I have been weak and just about ready to succumb, something or another has happened which has stopped me from giving in; and, indeed, I do know that it was something stronger than my desire of sinning."

Fatal Delay in Explaining
Although the recitation of the "Three Hail Marys" was recommended after Low Masses, at the beginning of each Rosary, etc., the importance of this devotion was not explained to the faithful on a wide scale. Therefore, most Catholics did not know its meaning or its importance, and so, they did not pray them with the proper dispositions. As a result, anti-Christian forces -- like Atheism, Communism, etc. -- have been able to organize secret societies to attack the Church. Let us hasten to start practicing this devotion of the "Three Hail Marys" every morning and every night! Let us not put it off till tomorrow! Moreover, let us introduce this devotion to our friends and relations and urge them to recite the "Three Hail Marys" daily, every morning and every night! Through the practice of this simple devotion we may be led to study the Message of Fatima in greater detail, and so we may lead a life of greater prayer, sacrifice and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The suppression of the anti-Christian doctrines, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, and, above all, peace in the world depends on our obtaining the necessary graces from God through our prayers and sacrifices!

Efficient novena of the Three Hail Mary

I – Oh Mary, Powerful Virgin, Virgo Potens, You to whom nothing is impossible... * ,by this same power that gratified You the Powerful Father, I conjures you, attend me in the necessity where I find me. Therefore that You, you only can help me, you do not abandon me, oh You who you are the lawyer of the most desperate causes! It seems - me that the Glory of God, Your Honour and the good of my soul are on to the concession of this favour. If, therefore, as I think, it is in agreement to most nice and most holly will of God, I conjure You, oh Most Powerfull Petitioner, Omnipotentia Suplex, intercede for me next to Your Son who nothing can refuse You. I ask you, on behalf of the Power without limits that the Celestial Father communicated You, and in honour of which I say You, in union with saint Matilde, to whom You disclosed the practical very salutary of the Three Hail Mary. – Hail Mary…

II - Divine Wisdom, that you are called the Throne the Wisdom, Sede Sapientiae, because the non created Wisdom, the Verb of God, inhabited in You... You to whom this adorable Son communicated all the extension of Its Divine Science, in the measure where the most perfect creature could receive it... You know the largeness of my misery and how much necessity I have of Your assistance. Trusted in Your Divine Wisdom, I abandon me entirely between Your hands, so that You do everything, with force and tenderness, for the biggest Glory of God and greater well of my soul. Please therefore, to come in my aid, for the ways that You know to be most proper to reach this end. Oh Mary, Mother of the Divine Wisdom, I request You, to get - me the precious favour that I request; I ask for in the same name of this incomparable Wisdom of that the Verb, Your Son, illuminated You, and in honour of which I say to You, in union with Saint Anthony of Lisbon and Saint Leonard of Porto Maurício, the most zealous preachers of Yours Three Hail Mary. – Hail Mary...

III – Oh good, oh tender Mother, true Mother of Mercy, Mater Misericordiae, that in these last times you called Yourself "Mother All Merciful one", I come to request - that you use with me of Your compassionate Goodness. Greater is my misery, but it must excite Your compassion. I know, I by no means do not deserve the precious favour that desire, I who I have You as many times saddened offending Your Son. But if I have been guilty, very guilty, I sincerely repent myself having wounded the so tender Heart of Jesus and Yours. Moreover, you are not You, as you said to Saint Brigit, "the Mother of the sorry sinful people"? You pardon - me, therefore, my passed ingratitude, and considering only Your Merciful Goodness and the Glory that of this will result for God and You, you get - me from the Divine Mercy the favour that I beg for Your intercession. Oh You to whom nobody ever invoked vainly, "oh Clement, oh Merciful, oh sweet Virgin Mary; the Clemens, the Pia, the Dulcis Virgo Maria "! oh come, come to help me, I conjure You, for this Merciful Goodness that the Holly Spirit filled You for us, and in honour of which I say with Saint Alfonso of Ligory , apostle of Your Mercy and I give it apostle of Your Mercy and the doctor of the Three Hail Mary. – Hail Mary...

In Honor of the Power, Wisdom, and Loving Mercy of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This novena was originally prayed by Franciscans and later developed into Angelus Prayer. Reciting three Hail Marys This as a petition for purity and other virtues is a traditional Roman Catholic devotional practice. It is not to be confused with the Three Hail Marys devotion, invoking the Immaculate Conception, although they are similar and have the same origin. One of the first to practice this and to recommend it was St. Anthony of Padua (1195–1231). His purpose was "to honor the spotless Virginity of Mary and to preserve a perfect purity of mind, heart and body in the midst of the dangers of the world."

According to St. Gertrude (1256–1301), the Blessed Virgin Mary promised the following: "To any soul who faithfully prays the Three Hail Marys I will appear at the hour of death in a splendor of beauty so extraordinary that it will fill the soul with Heavenly consolation."

Later on, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, "had the three Ave Marias recited morning and evening in honor of Mary Immaculate, to obtain the grace of avoiding all mortal sins during the day or and night; moreover, he promised in a special manner eternal salvation to all those who proved constantly faithful to this practice."

St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787) adopted this pious practice and highly recommended it. He told parents to train their children to acquire the habit of saying three Hail Marys in the morning and evening. After each Hail Mary, he advice that the following prayer be said: "By thy Immaculate Conception, O Mary, make my body pure and my soul holy."

St. Mechtilde received a private revelation from the Virgin Mary on how the Three Hail Marys honor the three persons of the Blessed Trinity: "The first Hail Mary will be in honor of God the Father, Whose omnipotence raised my soul so high above every other creature that, after God, I have the greatest power in Heaven and on earth. In the hour of your death I will use that power of God the Father to keep any hostile power from you.

"The second Hail Mary will be in honor of God the Son, Who communicated His inscrutable wisdom to me . . . In the hour of your death I will fill your soul with the light of that wisdom so that all the darkness of ignorance and error will be dispelled.

"The third Hail Mary will be in honor of God the Holy Ghost, Who filled my soul with the sweetness of His love and tenderness and mercy . . . In your last hour I will then change the bitterness of death into Divine sweetness and delight."

According to the St. Martha Catholic Church of the Pallottine Fathers, after Night Prayers, "Many Saints have had the practice of adding three "Hail Mary's" here in honor of Mary's purity for the grace of a chaste and holy life." Thus, it has been recommended as a daily practice for people who have received confirmation that they pray the Three Hail Marys for "purity of mind, heart and body" after examination of conscience.

I. Oh, Immaculate Mary, Virgin most Powerful, I beseech thee, through that immense Power which thou hast received from the eternal Father, obtain for me Purity of heart,---Strength to overcome all the enemies of my soul; ---and the special favor I implore in my present necessity.

[Name it.]

Mother most pure! Forsake me not, despise not my prayer, graciously hear me for God's glory, thy honor, and the welfare of my soul.

To obtain this favor I honor thy Power by reciting:

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death.
Amen.

II

Oh Virgin Mary, My Mother, through that ineffable Wisdom bestowed upon thee by the Incarnate Word of God, I humbly beseech thee, obtain for me Meekness and humility of heart;---a perfect knowledge of the Divine Will and strength to accomplish it always.

Oh Mary, Seat of Wisdom; as a tender Mother lead me in the path of Christian Virtue and perfection; enlighten and enable me to do what is most pleasing to thy beloved Son, and obtain my petition.

[Name it.]

To obtain this grace I honor thy Wisdom by reciting:

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death.
Amen.

III

Oh, Mother of Mercy, Mother of penitent sinners, I stand before thee sinful and sorrowful, beseeching thee through the immense Love given to thee by the Holy Spirit for us poor sinners, obtain for me true and perfect contrition for my sins, which I hate and detest with all my heart, because I love God.

Mother most Merciful, help me in my present necessity.

[Name it.]

Turn, then those eyes of Mercy toward us, Oh Clement, Oh Loving oh Sweet Virgin Mary!
To obtain this precious gift, I honor thy Loving Mercy by reciting:

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death.
Amen.

Credit: "Fatima Findings" in 'Cavaleiro da Imaculada' by Fr Nazario SJ

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Feast of Our Lady of Fatima - click to read

"My Immaculate Heart will triumph”. What does this mean? The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Saviour into the world—because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise.

Credit: Joseph Card. Ratzinger "Theological Commentary on the Message of Fatima"

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