The early writers of the Church already speak of you as a second Eve, who fulfilled in the restoration of mankind a role closely corresponding to that of Eve in the ruin of our race. Having carried within you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, you share, as no one else does, in your divine Son's holiness and purity. Seeing your own nothingness as compared with the infinite majesty of God, who chose you for His Mother, you acknowledged how unworthy you were of so great honor, but you did not oppose His will in the least thing. He also found joy in His Divine Sonship and glorious human nature, joy in His intellect, with its immeasurable knowledge and the contemplation of God; joy in His will, with its freedom, sinlessness, holiness and unbounded power joy in His destiny as our Redeemer; joy in the future kingdom of His Church, which was to arise from His life and death. With no tendency to evil, but with a deep yearning for the highest virtue, you glorified God more than all His other creatures. You, who were yourself the Queen of Prophets, saw that from that moment "the sword of sorrow" would enter your soul and remain there during the rest of your days. From the first instant of your existence your mind was filled by the supernatural light of faith and your soul with love of God. In this time of crisis there is need that we hasten to you for aid, strength and direction. Mary, My Mother, you associated yourself with the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus in order that you might share in His glorification. Look with pity on me for in You is my hope. You were longing to see the Face of God and to be happy in the vision. Whoever abides in this Church will bring forth much salutary fruit; whereas they who willingly separate themselves from it must wither away spiritually. Protect me from the snares of the world, the flesh and the devil. For the first time in the public life of Jesus you appeared in the exalted character of our Advocate, a character which would be yours as long as time would last. He was endowed by God with all a father's tenderness and love for Him who was confided to him as his Child. You treasured up all the words spoken by the holy angels concerning your divine Son, as well as those pronounced by the prophetess Anna and by holy Simeon when you presented your Son in the temple, and you prudently pondered them in your heart. 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. The Supreme God rested and worked in you. All your trials and sufferings are now transformed into jewels that decorate your triumphal throne in Heaven. I give you my whole being by copying as far as possible all your virtues by performing each of my actions through you, with you and in you This is the most pleasing homage I can render you. How much more precious you were than any chalice of richest gold. Mary, My Mother, I wish to recall this triumph and to share in your greatness and glory. 2. You are the immaculate Virgin whom the Holy Spirit willed to make His bride and in whom He would work the tremendous miracle of the Incarnation. In the same way you, who freely delivered your son to a cruel death, parted with your Son. When you lived in this valley of tears, you were ever loving and merciful toward the afflicted. As our immaculate Mediatrix before your Son you have appeared at Lourdes to encourage us to amend our lives and to make sacrifices and offer prayers for sinners. And yet, in the whole work of the redemption, your Son wanted to associate you with Himself. You were fully enlightened as to the greatness of the dignity of a Mother of God. SEE AS WELL: Since with Christ you had helped to merit all graces, it is fitting that you also should help to distribute all graces with Him. At your prayer Jesus changed the water into wine in Cana. And now as Mother of God and Mother of men, and as Queen of Heaven and Earth, you serve as a bond between God and men. Jesus is the only Mediator of justice, and by His merits He obtains for us all graces and salvation; but you are the Mediatrix of grace. Having deigned to come down to you, He wished to raise you up to Himself in order that you might enter into glory. Mary, My Mother, through your prayers may I be blessed with a keen understanding of the ways of God. On the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, 28 First Holy Communion students received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Mother of mankind and therefore the Help of Christians, the all-powerful suppliant. The Calendar section will present a particular feast for Our Lady for each day of the year. To all of us your Immaculate Heart after that of Jesus is most loving and most merciful. From eternity, before anything was, you were united to your Son in the mind of God as His most pure Mother. 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. No other has a like understanding of our miseries, or is in a position to render us on all occasions timely and powerful help. Forgetting yourself completely, you were most intimately united with God. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Feast day: June 27 Patroness of the Republic of Haiti and Almoradi, Spain Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and Our Mother of Perpetual Help is the title given to a 15th-century icon that originated in the Keras Kardiotissas Monastery and has been in Rome since 1499. But your love for God was even greater. The whole human race rejoices in you as Queen and Mother. Mary, My Mother, I turn to you rather for health of soul than of body. 1. Whereas pride and ingratitude repel grace from our souls, gratitude and humility, like golden keys, unlock the treasury of heaven. 11, 29). You had a share in that work; it was part of your life-work. September 14, 2022 Team ICM Faith / Spirituality. 2. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me! Enlightened by God, you knew that He would grant your request. How can I ever understand the great love that bound your hearts together! May I remember always your sorrows on Calvary, through which you begot us to God and became the co-redemptrix of our race. 2. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Virgin most pure because you are full of grace. Mary, Mother of God, I believe what Holy Mother Church teaches about your Immaculate Conception: that from the first moment of your conception you possessed justice and holinessthat is sanctifying grace, even the fullness of grace, with the infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and with integrity of nature; yet you remained subject to death and other pains and miseries of life that your Son Himself willed to undergo. 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. 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. 1. I promise to devote myself wholeheartedly to the spreading of devotion to your Immaculate Heart so that the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart may come and He may reign with you in my heart and in the hearts of all men. Through you my own goal becomes more real, more attainable, for the lessons of your life are the doors to eternal peace and happiness. 1. In our Franciscan tradition we return time and time again to the San Damiano cross - the Byzantine cross that draws its inspiration from John's . You formed His lips, to teach us. Since you have had such an intimate share in my redemption, I entrust my soul to your loving care. Teach me to answer such love with childlike confidence. I have saved my soul.". Isaias called you a Virgin; "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be Emmanuel." Though you had already been assured by the angel that you were this happy Mother chosen by the Lord, you did not stop to rejoice in your exaltation. He is the Master of His creation. In consecrating your virginity to God, you had given up all hope of becoming the Mother of the Messias because you considered yourself unworthy of the highest honor of the divine maternity. Like the injured man in the parable of the good Samaritan, the lady lacked proper clothing, "looked beaten" and abandoned, and came across as "half-dead.". You are our Mother, because you have begotten us to the life of grace. You were willing to offer Him at this tender age, for the salvation of the world. But, because you surpass all other creatures in holiness and in the closeness of your union with Jesus and. Mary, Mother of God, sincere devotion to you is a sign of perseverance in doing good till death. You thought only of the good you could do in Elizabeth's home. Petition God that their hope may never fail amid the troubles and the cares of this life. He became Sovereign Master of the universe and Supreme Judge of the living and the dead. You are the channel by which all the favors of Jesus descend upon us, even as it was through you and in union with you that during His mortal life He won for us whatever title we have to His gifts and graces. May the instructions I receive increase the love of God in me and strengthen my determination to serve Him with greater zeal. You took your only Son to heart in all men born. Everything which Jesus may claim in justice is yours by friendship's title. 3. This was a declaration that all Christians are your spiritual children. 3. God is infinite good; sin, horrible evil. Mary, Mother of God, may the perfect gift of yourself to God through love in your presentation in the temple be an inspiration to me. You possessed a perfect faith, a firm hope, a burning charity, a deep humility, a purity greater than that of the angels. The beloved disciple told you what he had seen in the houses of Annas and Caiphas: how Jesus had been accused as a blasphemer for stating that He was the Son of God. For He was everything to you, and all else was nothing without Him. It was fitting that you, a Virgin Mother, should conceive the Man Who was also the Son of God. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that the most sublime of your privileges is your divine maternity. The more fully you are Queen in a soul, the more does Jesus reign there as King. 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." Here on earth kings and rulers lay at your feet their crowns, their very selves. Mary, Mother of God, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is your Gift to us. Your sincere love made you hasten to be of service. Just as the patriarchs in Limbo had beheld your birth as the breaking of that dawn which announced to them their near deliverance, so, too, your Assumption, together with the Ascension of Jesus, became for mortal man a sure pledge of resurrection and immortality. As Co-Redemptrix, you must finish your work by applying the grace of redemption to each individual soul, for only then the redemption is achieved. I cannot rise to the heights of your holiness because I cannot grasp the intimacy of your union with Christ when you became His Mother. Your name is the name of the one I love. I want to be devoted to you by giving myself entirely to you and through you to God. Little by little the links between your body and soul were dissolved by the resistless force of love. How many and how great then, were the graces you received in order to reach the eminent virtue that was yours when, on Calvary, you became the Queen of Martyrs. we celebrated the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. In His infinite mercy God chose Abraham who was to be the Father of a Chosen Nation. To love Jesus, to do His will, to accept all from His handslet this be my humility, as it was yours! Mary, Mother of God, you reign in splendor for all eternity with your Divine Son. Francis Possenti was born in Assisi. Mary, My Mother, may the faithful recitation of my Rosary show my gratitude to Jesus for having redeemed me on the cross and for having given you to me as my spiritual Mother. Advise me what to do. 2. Mary, Mother of God, you are called Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament because you are associated in a special way with the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. You were the instrument used by your Son. Today I am filled with joy at the thought that we are united with those first clients of yours, and in union with them we greet you, saying: O beauty of Carmel, glory of Libanus, purest of lilies, mystical rose in the flowering garden of the Church. From the moment you said, "Be it done to me according to thy word," the Father in heaven made Jesus and you, as it were, a redemptive pair; you, of course, have always been dependent on Him. 1. HAPPY FEAST DAY! You embrace the universe in the realm of your love and enrich it through your unfailing intercession. In you, and of your substance, was this day formed His adorable Body. Mary, My Mother, you did acknowledge having received greater graces from God than had any other creature, for a humble heart always acknowledges the special favors of God that it may humble itself the more. How great must have been that longing! One of your greatest delights is to lavish these treasures upon your faithful children. The Gospel speaks of you as standing beneath the cross. We encourage you to bring a flower to offer Our Blessed Mary. Mary, My Mother, help me to imitate your sinlessness by keeping my soul free from every willful sin by the faithful observance of God's commandments. Our eyes are upraised to you in sorrow and in joy. But this prophecy did not disturb your peace of mind because your will was one with the will of God. Being the new Eve who was to be the Mother of the new Adam you were, by the eternal decree of God and by the merits of Christ, withdrawn from the general law of original sin. After your example, I desire to be known to God and unknown to men, to possess God and to be forgotten by creatures. No apostolic act bears fruit without grace. 3. more marvelous spirits; He could not have made anything more wonderful than a Mother of God. You are, indeed, the ladder by which Christians may ascend to heaven; you are their greatest hope, and the whole ground of their hope. About Our Lady of Sorrows This is one of many Marian feast days which occurs throughout the liturgical year. Mary, My Mother, the angel said to you, "Blessed art thou among women." Mary, Mother of God, help me to understand as clearly as God wishes to let me do so, the value of suffering and sickness. God had exalted you above all creatures. As you were called to cooperate with your Divine Son on Calvary in acquiring the treasure of His infinite merits, so now in Heaven you cooperate with Him in dispensing those merits to His Mystical Body. In the temple, you returned to Him His gift by consecrating your Child to His honor and glory. Holiness is a complete separation from creatures and perfect union with God through love. You loved God with your whole heart and mind and strength. Since this is the mission of your life, to bring souls to God through Jesus, lead me to your loving Son. But you needed the redeeming Savior to obtain this exemption, and deliverance from the universal debt of being subject to original sin. Filled with grief, you saw how the disciples removed the nails from the Redeemer's hands and feet, extracted the thorns from His head, and took Him down from the cross. I want to turn to you in all my pressing needs and difficulties as to a most sure refuge, imploring the help of your protection, choosing you as my advocate, whole-heartedly entrusting my cause to you who are the Consoler of the Afflicted. I am sure that you, who are all-powerful as my advocate, will not desert me but will bring to my poor afflicted soul grace and sanctification. Pray to Him for us, your children, that in our exile we may resemble you, His most devoted follower, and at last may glorify Him in union with you forever. Bishop Robert J. McClory. On the day of Pentecost the Apostles' worldly views about the Kingdom of God on earth were banished by the Spirit of God, and holiness replaced their imperfections, but no-taint of the slightest sin had to be removed from your virginal soul. Truly, you are "light-giving" because you have given us Jesus, the Light of the World. Mary, My Mother, you stand in the presence of your Son, interceding for sinners. 3. After the most holy and adorable Name of Jesus, there is no name more glorious and more powerful than yours. But with the same humility with which you had conceived Him, you consented to the supreme loss of your God. As you were the Mother of Jesus in the Incarnation, when He assumed a physical Body, so also you are the Mother of Jesus in His Mystical Body, and of all those who, as members of that Body, are the brothers and sisters of Christ by Divine adoption. Like you let me realize my own nothingness. Help me to love God with my whole mindso that my mind may be habitually occupied with God and that I may value His good pleasure above everything elseabove my convenience, above all earthly treasures, above all knowledge and friendship, above health and life. 3. You were not to raise up children unto Godnot ordinary offspring, but a Child, the Son of God! By your Divine Motherhood you formed the closest bond of union with the adorable Trinity, the privileged Daughter of the Father, the loving Mother of the Son and the immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Copyright 2023 Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. Irondale, Alabama. Let us thank the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for giving us the best mother in the world, so beautiful, pure and spotless in body and soul, who loves each one of us with so great maternal concern and compassion. As Eve induced Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit which brought death upon us, so you prompt us to eat the Bread which gives us life. You rule in heaven and on earth. How consoling to know that I have Christ, my elder Brother, "always living to make intercession for me," and you, my Mother, ever pleading for me before the throne of God. Although He might have wrought our salvation alone, without inviting you to share in His work, He did not choose to do so. 1. You were one of us, and yet you stood above us! The foundation of this doctrine is to be found in Sacred Scripture where we are taught that God, the Creator of all things, after the sad fall of Adam, addressed the serpent in words which the Church applies to you, "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head" (Gen. 3.15). When you agreed to the proposal made to you by the Angel, you gave Jesus to us by your own free act. (2) You took part in this offering also by the consent which you gave to the whole plan of the Redemption, and by your union of will with that of your divine Son even to the point of His sacrifice on the cross. A Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows on her feast day, September 15: O most holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ: by the overwhelming grief you experienced when you witnessed the martyrdom, the crucifixion, and death of your divine Son, look upon me with eyes of compassion, and awaken in my heart a tender . You were declared to be the spiritual "Mother of all the living." Down through the ages numberless people have recovered health of body and of spirit through your intercession!