Epiphany of Our Lord

From early times Christians have believed, and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God. He "will reign in the house of Jacob forever," "the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords." And when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God.

Hence it is not surprising that the early writers of the Church called Mary "the Mother of the King" and "the Mother of the Lord," basing their stand on the words of St Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that the Son of Mary would reign forever, and on the words of Elizabeth who greeted her with reverence and called her "the Mother of my Lord." Thereby they clearly signified that she derived a certain eminence and exalted station from the royal dignity of her Son.

So it is that St Ephrem, burning with poetic inspiration, represents her as speaking in this way: "Let Heaven sustain me in its embrace, because I am honored above it. For heaven was not Thy mother, but Thou hast made it Thy throne. How much more honorable and venerable than the throne of a king is her mother." (Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam)

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Farewell message

It is almost five years since I have started this blog and originally it was supposed to be for one year only. One year became two, two became three and I found myself pretty much attached to writing posts and sharing my Carmelite journey into Tradition. At the beginning the blogs committed to Traditional Catholicism were sparse and treated with suspicion - is that blog sede or not? Since His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI published Summorum Pontificum motu proprio, interest in the subject grew substantially and Traditionalism is no longer taboo, thanks God for this. A lot of good, traditional blogs are available on the net and I am thinking of finishing my blogging journey - my health and energy are not any longer the same as they were five years ago. I will be still posting occasionally, but not on the regular basis. All visitors are invited to use search facility to browse the posts and subjects. God bless you all!

Picture represents 'The scribe' (from 'Scribes and Illuminators', C. de Hamel, British Museum Press).

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St John of the Cross - click to read more

Several spiritual maxims from John of the Cross: 

I did not know Thee, my Lord, because I still desired to know and relish trifling things. My spirit became dry because it forgot to rest in Thee.

If you wish to attain holy recollection, you will do so not by approving but by denying.

The devil fears a soul united to God as he does God Himself.

The purest suffering produces the purest understanding.

Through small things, one reaches the great. The evil that at the beginning appears insignificant, later becomes enormous and without remedy.

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Our Lady of Guadelupe - click for more to read

Nearly a decade after Spain’s conquest of Mexico, the future of Christianity on the American Continent was very much in doubt. Confronted with a hostile colonial government and Native Americans wary of conversion, the newly appointed bishop-elect of Mexico wrote to tell the king of Spain that unless there was a miracle, the continent would be lost. Between December 9 and December 12, 1531, that miracle happened, and it forever changed the future of the continent.

It was then that the Virgin Mary famously appeared to a Native Mexican Christian convert named Juan Diego on a hilltop outside of what is now Mexico City. The image she left imprinted on his cloak, or tilma, has puzzled scientists for centuries, and yet Our Lady of Guadalupe’s place in history is profound. A continent that just months before the apparitions seemed completely lost to Christianity suddenly and inexplicably embraced it by the millions. Our Lady of Guadalupe’s message of love replaced the institutionalized violence of the Aztec culture and built a bridge between two worlds.

Today, Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to inspire the devotion of millions. She is revered as Patroness of the Americas since she appeared in the center of North and South America. Reproductions of the Virgin’s miraculous image can especially be seen throughout North and South America, and in the Philippines. Her shrine in Mexico City, where the miraculous image is housed to this day in an enormous basilica, surrounded by several smaller churches from various epochs and a vast esplanade, is one of the most visited Marian Shrines in the world.

Previous post HERE

Our Lady of Guadelupe images HERE

Images of Saints HERE

Text credit to 'A Moment With Mary'

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How to Attend Mass with Devotion and Reverence - hints from St. Leonard of Port Maurice

"Then, holy Mass being ended, make an act of thanksgiving to God in the words, Agimus tibi gratias; and leave the church with a contrite heart, as if you were coming down from Calvary." (St. Leonard of Port Maurice 'The Hidden Treasure: Holy Mass')

Meditation:

To listen to the advice of the Franciscan saint, Leonard of Port Maurice, and to leave the church as though one were coming down from Calvary, is to leave Church with the disposition of Our Lady of Sorrows. In the book The Hidden Treasure, Saint Leonard offers many reflections to encourage reverent attendance at Mass.

I. First part of the Mass from the beginning to the Gospel

1. "Humble yourself with Jesus, and plunge yourself down in thought into the depth of your nothingness; confess sincerely how wretched and how merely nothing you are before so immense a majesty;

2. "Pursue the exercise of forming many such internal acts of joy, that God should thus be infinitely honored. Repeat, over and over again: ‘Yes, my God, I delight in the infinite honor which results to Thy Majesty from this Holy Sacrifice."

II. From the Gospel to the Elevation

1. Contrition for past sins

2. "O dearest Jesus, give me the tears of Peter, the contrition of Magdalene, and the grief of those saints who, once sinners, were afterward true penitents, in order that in this Mass I may obtain a general pardon of my sins."

III. From the Elevation to Communion

1. "Stir your soul to wonder at the overflowing torrent of great and good gifts either bestowed on you or designed for you by God, and then offer to Him in return a gift of infinite value, that is, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Then invite all the angels also, and all the saints, to thank God in your behalf…"

IV. From Communion to the end

1. Make a spiritual communion

2. "Look upon God Who is within you, and then summon up holy courage to ask of Him many graces, … do not ask things of small importance, but ask great graces…"

3. "Offer petitions also again and again for yourself, your children, your friends, relations, and acquaintance; ask help for all your needs, both spiritual and temporal; ask also the fullness of all good, and relief from all evils for holy Church: and do not ask any of these things with lukewarmness, but rather with a great confidence, making sure that your prayers, united with those of Jesus, shall indeed be heard. Then, holy Mass being ended, make an act of thanksgiving to God in the words, Agimus tibi gratias, etc.; and leave the church with a contrite heart, as if you were coming down from Calvary." St. Leonard of Port Maurice, The Hidden Treasure: Holy Mass, (Tan Books: 1952), 57-61.

Following St Leonard, pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

"O Most Holy Virgin, already I am at hand and about to receive thine and my Jesus. From thy hands, I propose to receive Him. Hold Him forth to me as thou didst to the shepherds, and the holy kings, and to St. Simeon prepare me to receive Him with love. Give Him to me quickly and pray to Him to fill me with His dearest benediction; and do thou accompany it with thine." (St. Leonard of Port Maurice)

And give her your holy resolution:

The next opportunity I have to attend Mass, I will bring these suggestions along with me and I will try to leave Church remembering Our Lady of Sorrows. For today, I will make a spiritual Communion and read through the prayers of this great saint.

Be thankful to God for graces received.

The picture represents the Mass at the RC Church in Oxford St in Manchester. Several times in the past I have attended FSSP celebrated Traditional Mass at this Church while visiting relatives and it brings me a lot of good memories.

Adopted from Mary's Vitamin 

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St Therese and her remedy for dark night of the soul

I will hear what the Lord will speak to me (Ps 84)

Happy is that soul which heareth the Lord speaking within her, and from His mouth receiveth the word of comfort! Happy ears, which receive the accents of the divine whisper, and take no notice of the whisperings of the world. Happy ears, indeed, which hearken to Truth itself teaching within, and not to the voice which soundeth without. (Imitation of Christ, Book 3)

When I was seventeen and eighteen I found much light in the writings of St John of the Cross, and he was my principal guide, but later on all spiritual writers left me in great dryness of spirit, and do so still. However beautiful and moving a book may be, as soon as I begin to read I am incapable of taking it in, and my heart is troubled; or if I do understand, my mind is unable to meditate further. In this state of helplessness the Scriptures and the Imitation come to my assistance, and in them I find a hidden manna, pure and sustaining.

The Gospel is my chief support in prayer, and I find in it all that my poor little soul needs. I am always finding new light there, and hidden, mysterious meanings; I learn by experience that the kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17: 21). The divine Master has no needs of books or rather teachers to do His work; He instructs the soul silently, without words. I have never heard Him, but i know that He is within me, inspiring and prompting me at the moment I need it most. it is not usually at my prayer that I see this new light, but when doing my ordinary work during the day. (St Therese 'Histoire d'une Ame')

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I do not serve Thee, Lord, for gain,

That were a hireling's way!

Love does not wait with outstretched hand

For payment day by day.

My heart's love is my only wealth,

And this I bring to Thee;

I only ask that to the end

Thy handmaid I may be.

St Therese 'Poems'

Picture represents painting displayed in the choir of the Discalced Carmelite Church of Our Lady of the Brown Scapular and St Elijah in Czerna Friary where St Raphael Kalinowski was a prior. To visit photogalery of the Church and the cloister click here

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'Saints For Sinners' - click to read online great classic by Archb Alban Goodier, SJ

For a long time I wondered why God has His preferences, and why souls did not all receive the same measure of grace. I was astonished that great sinners like St Paul, St Augustine and St Mary Magdalen should be granted such extraordinary favours, and almost forced to accept them. When reading the Lives of the Saints I could not understand why our Lord treated some as privileged souls even in their cradles, removing any obstacles that might keep the from Him, and preserving unspotted their baptismal innocence, whilst on the other hand innumerable savages died without ever hearing the name of God.

Jesus Himself taught me this mystery. He laid open before me the book of Nature, and I understood that all the flowers He has created are beautiful; that the loveliness of the rose and the purity of the lily in no way lessen the sweet scent of the hidden violet of the appealing simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the little flowers wanted to be roses, Nature would lose her garb of Spring, and the fields would no longer be starred with little blossoms. It is the same in the domain of souls, the living garden of the Lord. (St Therese 'Story of the Sols')

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Feast of Christ the King - click to read Quas Primas,On the Feast of Christ the King

You, my God, are an eternal King, and Yours is no borrowed Kingdom....When the Credo says: 'of Your Kingdom there shall be no end' this phrase nearly always makes me feel particularly happy. Yes, I praise you, Lord, and bless You, for Your Kingdom will endure forever" (Teresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection, 22)

....Do we not read throughout the Scriptures that Christ is the King? He it is that shall come out of Jacob to rule, who has been set by the Father as king over Sion, his holy mount, and shall have the Gentiles for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession. In the nuptial hymn, where the future King of Israel is hailed as a most rich and powerful monarch, we read: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the scepter of thy kingdom is a scepter of righteousness." (Ps 44) There are many similar passages, but there is one in which Christ is even more clearly indicated. Here it is foretold that his kingdom will have no limits, and will be enriched with justice and peace: "in his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace...And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.... (From the encyclical of Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas)

 

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Three great Feasts of Christ the King, the Holy Souls and All Saints coming! Queen of All Saints, pray for us!

"O saints of heaven, I am the least of all creatures. I know my worthlessness, but I also know how noble and generous hearts love to do good. Therefore, O blessed inhabitants of the heavenly City, I entreat you to adopt me as your child. All the glory you may help me to acquire will be yours; deign, then, to hear my prayer and obtain for me...your love...(St Therese "Story of a Soul")

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Ireland and the Rosary

With the victory of Cromwell’s armies, Ireland entered a period of harsh persecutions during which it became more and more difficult for Catholic priests to meet the spiritual needs of the faithful. From that time dates the very special importance the Irish attribute to the Rosary, among the devotions in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

When a priest couldn’t be there to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice for the faithful, the assembly would pray the Rosary as a form of public prayer. It is not an exaggeration to affirm that, for more than three hundred years, the Rosary has been the most characteristic form of devotion of the Irish people. In each Catholic home, the recitation of the Rosary has become a daily, scrupulously observed ritual.

If sailors were setting sail to cross the seas and expose their lives, a pubic Rosary was offered before the ship hoisted the anchor. Fishermen used to recite it before lifting their nets. It is the traditional prayer at Catholic funerals; the one also that families recite when they gather at the bedside of one of their beloved who is dying. During the 19th century, when emigration dispersed Irish Catholics throughout the world in faraway countries often deprived of Catholic priests, the Rosary was the most efficient support for the poor exiles. (A. Gwynn, SJ 'Our Lady of Ireland')

credit: after 'A Moment with Mary'
picture represents colonial style painting of 'Our Lady of the Rosary and Saints', Brooklyn Museum, NJ 

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Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary - click to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii

Today we remember and reflect on the conversion and works of charity of
Bl Bartolo Longo and his devotion to the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Above is the miraculous image of Our Lady of the Rosary that was given to Bl Bartolo by the nuns who were in custody of the image for some time. He restored the image and placed it in the Church built in the valley of Pompeii, the place where he built the shrine of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Pompeii.

The story of Bl Bartolo may tell us a lot about grace of God and good work of one faithful friend. Bartolo was born into a wealthy middle class family and was trained to become a lawyer. He fall under the influence of bad companion, entered the satanic sect, became a satanic priest and staunch enemy of the Catholicism who would publicly ridicule Catholic religion. However, he had a good and devout friend who had not abandoned him in this misery but prayed for him and managed to help Bartolo to convert and return to Catholicism. He put Bartolo in touch with devout Dominican priest who was instrumental in helping Bartolo to develop deep devotion to Our Lady and the Holy Rosary. Bartolo entirely abandoned his past and decided to do all he could in reparation the sins he committed through good works with the poor living in the Valley of Pomepii, which was the place of utter desolation, crime and poverty. After many attempts he managed to convert people living there back to Catholicism, built the shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii and established Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. No need to say how much the lives of the Valley of Pompeii inhabitants was changed through the work of Bl Bartolo and his wife. 
There is a Petition Prayer composed by Bl Bartolo and I encourage all who have devotion to the Holy Rosary to pray this prayer.

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The Holy Rosary, click to read more on this devotion

The Holy Rosary, the Carmelite Devotion - read more Here

Why pray the Rosary today? Certainly, to grow in holiness and in one's prayer life. The following are a few others reasons why the Rosary should be prayed often, even daily:

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary" (Pope Pius IX).

"Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world" (Our Lady of Fatima).

"There is no surer means of calling down God's blessings upon the family . . . than the daily recitation of the Rosary" (Pope Pius XII).

"We do not hesitate to affirm again publicly that we put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils of our times" (Pope Pius XII).

"No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the Rosary" (Bishop Hugh Doyle).

"The Rosary is a magnificent and universal prayer for the needs of the Church, the nations and the entire world" (Pope John XXIII).

"The Rosary is the compendium of the entire Gospel" (Pope Paul VI quoting Pope Pius XII).

"Meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary . . . can be an excellent preparation for the celebration of those same mysteries in the liturgical actions [i.e. the Mass] and can also become a continuing echo thereof" (Pope Paul VI).

"My impression is that the Rosary is of the greatest value not only according to the words of Our Lady at Fátima, but according to the effects of the Rosary one sees throughout history. My impression is that Our Lady wanted to give ordinary people, who might not know how to pray, this simple method of getting closer to God" (Sister Lucia, one of the seers of Fátima).

"How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening" (Pope John Paul II).

Pope John Paul II has called the Rosary his "favorite prayer," after the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.

St. Louis de Montfort warns us against both the ignorant and scholars who regard the Rosary as something of little importance..."the Rosary is a priceless treasure inspired by God."

and more quotes:

"What actually is the Rosary? A compedium of the Gospel. It brings us back again and again to the most important scenes of Christ's life, almost as if to let us''breathe' his mystery. The Rosary is the privileged path to contemplation. It is, so to speak, Mary's way. Is there anyone who knows and

loves Christ better?" John Paul II, Pastoral Visit to the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii

"It is a solemn custom of the faithful during the month of October to weave the prayers of the Rosary into mystical garlands for the Mother of Christ." Pope Paul VI Christi Matri

"Yet another excellent fruit follows from the Rosary, exceedingly opportune to the character of our times. This we have referred to elsewhere. It is that, whilst the virtue of Divine Faith is daily exposed to so many dangers and attacks, the Christian may here derive nourishment and strength for his faith. Now Christ stands forth clearly in the Rosary. We behold in meditation His life, whether His hidden life in joy, or His public life in excessive toil and sufferings unto death, or His glorious life from His triumphant resurrection to His eternal enthronement at the right hand of the Father." Pope Leo XIII, Fidentem Piumque Animum

"We exhort them, citing Our own example, not to let even one day pass without saying the Rosary, no matter how burdened they may be with many cares and labors." Pope Pius XI Ingravescentibus Malis (On the Rosary)

"We would like to repeat one admonition from [Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Ingruentium Malorum] Turn in spirit with ever greater confidence to the Virgin Mother of God, the constant refuge of Christians in adversity, since she 'has been made a source of salvation for the human race.'" Bl. Pope John XXIII Grata Recordatio (On Pope Leo XIII's encyclicals Ingruentium Malorum)

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Dedication of St Michael, Michaelmas Day - click to read more

Their angels in heaven always look on the face of my heavenly Father (Mt 18:10)
 

The angels are our shepherds, because they carry not only our messages to God but also those of God to our souls, feeding them with sweet inspirations and divine communications. As good shepherds they protect us and defend us from wolves, which are the evil spirits. Through the secret inspirations which the angels convey to the soul, they effect a deeper knowledge of God and make it love him the more, till they leave it wounded with love...The light of God, which illumines angels, enlightening and setting them on fire with love as pure spirits disposed for that inflowing, ordinarily illumines people in darkness, pain and distress because of their impurity and weakness...
 

When a person has become spiritualized and refined in the fire of divine, purifying love, he is then within the union and inflowing of that loving illumination with the same sweetness as angels receive them...Consider what utter vanity it is to rejoice in anything but in the service of God, how dangerous and how fatal. How ruinous it proved to those angels who rejoiced and were complacent in their own beauty and natural endowments; for this they fell, deformed, into the abyss. (St John of the Cross, Spiritual Maxims)

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Bl John Henry Newman - click to read the story of his life written by William Henry Barry

Bl John Henry Newman's spiritual autobiography Apologia pro vita sua

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Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virign Mary

Drink of the chalice of thy Lord lovingly, if thou desirest to be His friend, and to have part with Him. (Imitation, Bk2) 

Upon the accidental death of his holy wife, Jacopone da Todi experienced a profound conversion. He realized the hair shirt worn under his dear wife’s garments was worn as penance for him. He completely renounced his former way and lived a life of "foolish poverty." He became a Third Order Franciscan. In his last years he composed the Stabat Mater and would cry out to all:

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above;
Make my heart with thine accord.

Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ our Lord.

Holy Mother! pierce me through;
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.

After 'Mary's Vitamin'

During her long agony which lasted twelve hours, she cried out: "O my God, O sweet Virgin Mary, come to my help! My chalice is overflowing; I could not have thought it possible to suffer so much....I can only explain it by my great longing to save souls, O my God, Thy will be done, only have pity on me!" (St Therese, Story of the Soul)

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His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI visit to the UK - click to see the itinerary

Excerpts from the Message from the Holy Father for his Visit to the United Kingdom.

I am very much looking forward to my visit to the United Kingdom in a week's time and I sent heartful greetings to all people of GB. I am aware that a vast amount of work has gone into the preparations for the visit, not only by the Catholic community but by the Government, the local authorities in Scotland, London and Birmingham, the communications media and the security services, and I want to say how much I appreciate the efforts that have been made to ensure that the various events planned will be truly joyful celebrations. Above all I thank the countless people who have been praying for the success of the visit and for a great outpouring of God's grace upon the Church and the people of your nation.

It will be a particular joy for me to beatify the Venerable John Henry Newman in Birmingham on Sunday 19th September. This truly great Englishman lived an exemplary priestly life and through his extensive writings made a lasting contribution to Church and society both in his native land and in many other parts of the world. It is my hope and prayer that more and more people will benefit from his gentle wisdom and be inspired by his example of integrity and holiness of life.

...While I regret that there are many places and people I shall not have the opportunity to visit, I want you to know that you are all remembered in my prayers. God bless the people of the United Kingdom!

Benedictus PP XVI

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On the eve of Papal visit to England, the words of Cardinal Newman on the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the second Eve.

She holds, as the Fathers teach us, that office in our restoration which Eve held in our fall: - now, in the first place, what were Eve's endowments to enable her to enter upon her trial? She could not have stood against the wiles of the devil, though she was innocent and sinless, without the grant of a large grace. And this she had; - a heavenly gift, which was over and above and additional to that nature of hers, which she received from Adam, a gift which had been given to Adam also before her, at the very time (as it is commonly held) of his original formation. This is Anglican doctrine, as well as Catholic ;

....If Eve was raised above human nature by that indwelling moral gift which we call grace, is it rash to say that Mary had even a greater grace? And this consideration gives significance to the Angel's salutation of her as "full of grace," - an interpretation of the original word which is undoubtedly the  right one, as soon as we resist the common Protestant assumption that grace is a mere external approbation or acceptance, answering to the word "favour," whereas it is, as the Fathers teach, a real inward condition or superadded quality of soul.
Suppose Eve had stood the trial, and not lost her first grace; and suppose she had eventually had children, those children from the first moment of their existence would, through divine bounty, have received the same privilege that she had ever had; that is, as she was taken from Adam's side, in a garment, so to say, of grace, so they in turn would have received what may be called an immaculate conception. They would have then been conceived in grace, as in fact they are conceived in sin. What is there difficult in this doctrine? What is there unnatural? Mary may be called, as it were, a daughter of Eve unfallen.

And if Eve had this supernatural inward gift given her from the first moment of her personal existence, is it possible to deny that Mary too had this gift from the very first moment of her personal existence? I do not know how to resist this inference: - well, this is simply and literally the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. I say the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is in its substance this, and nothing more or less than this (putting aside the question of degrees of grace); and it really does seem to me bound up in the doctrine of the Fathers, that Mary is the second Eve.
Suppose Eve had stood the trial, and not lost her first grace; and suppose she had eventually had children, those children from the first moment of their existence would, through divine bounty, have received the same privilege that she had ever had; that is, as she was taken from Adam's side, in a garment, so to say, of grace, so they in turn would have received what may be called an immaculate conception. They would have then been conceived in grace, as in fact they are conceived in sin. What is there difficult in this doctrine? What is there unnatural? Mary may be called, as it were, a daughter of Eve unfallen. (Cardinal John Henry Newman, from the letter to Pusey, 1866)

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Little Way of St Therese - virtue of obedience

(Christ) Son, thou hast many things still to learn, which thou hat not yet well learned.
(Disciple) What are these things, O Lord?
(Christ) That thou conform in all things thy desire to My good pleasure; and that thou be not a lover of thyself, but earnestly zealous that My will may be done. Desires often inflame thee, and violently hurry thee on; but consider whether it be for My honour or thy own interest that thou art more moved. (Imitation of Christ Bk 3)

My year of novitiate, which had seemed so long, at last come to an end, but Mother Prioress told me that my Profession was out of question, as our ecclesiastical Superior would not allow it. I was obliged, therefore, to wait for another eight months.

At first I found it hard to make the sacrifice, but soon God enlightened my soul. I was meditating at the time on P. Surin's Foundations of the Spiritual Life. One day during prayer I understood how much self-love there was in my longing to make my vows. If I belonged to Jesus as His little plaything, to rejoice and comfort Him, I ought not to force Him to do my will instead of His own. I also understood that a bride should be adorned with jewels on her wedding day, and i had not thought of this. I therefore said to Our Lord: I will no longer ask to make my Profession; I am content to wait, but I do not want our union to be put off through my fault, so I will prepare a bridal dress resplendent with diamonds and precious stones. When it is rich enough, Thou wilt take me for Thy bride. (St Therese of Child Jesus)

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August - the month of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

In August we celebrate the great Marian feast dedicated to Our Lady, the feast of Assumption. The prayers recommended for August are the prayers to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart, the Novena prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and prayer of Consecration.

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