3. You were the only one who was exempt from the universal curse that had fallen on the whole human race. You were born into the world in the humble city of Nazareth. You are, indeed, the ladder by which Christians may ascend to heaven; you are their greatest hope, and the whole ground of their hope. Be a mother to me and save me. Help me to bear in mind that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and that the secrets of divine wisdom are imparted only to the humble of heart, while they are hidden from the worldly-wise. Holiness is union with God through love. They roamed about in the darkness of sin and despair. 2. For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Though you did not know the meaning of the archangel's inspired words, you serenely submitted to the will of God. How unimportant are the infirmities of the body compared to the infirmities of the soul! You love Jesus because you are His Mother, and you love me because you are my Mother. Mary, Mother of God, the miracle of the Marriage feast of Cana shows that you are the Mother of Divine Providence. He was endowed by God with all a father's tenderness and love for Him who was confided to him as his Child. You were not to raise up children unto Godnot ordinary offspring, but a Child, the Son of God! 2. I see you offering Him to the heavenly Father in the temple for our salvation. Give me enthusiasm and joy in the knowledge, the love and the service of the Lord. Behold I come to you to show you the wounds sin has inflicted on me. You did not have to wait until the end of time for the resurrection of your body. You lighten our sufferings, you obtain for us bodily health when it is conducive to our salvation and you help the soul to conquer its spiritual enemies; Teach me to be more earnest about seeking health of soul: to overcome my ruling passion, to free myself from the occasions of sin. Mary, My Mother, the Church puts these words of the Canticle on your lips: "I love those who love me." It is true that we could go directly to God and ask Him for His grace without your help, but God has not willed it so. Mary, My Mother, I rejoice with the Blessed Trinity on your birthday because you were to take part in the Incarnation and Redemption of the world, I rejoice with all mankind because you became the Mother of our Redeemer. Mary, Mother of God, I choose you as my model of Eucharistic devotion. Thanks to you, the grace and the sanctifying gifts of the Holy Spirit are scattered abroad over the Church and its members. 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. Inflame me with that heavenly love with which you loved your dear Son, Jesus Christ . You are ever imploring favors for the just, as well as for sinners. If a single soul in the state of grace by far excels in beauty all other earthly beauty, what beauty must you possess, Virgin most pure, who surpassed in holiness all other souls in the state of grace! Thus was fulfilled the prophesy that Christ would be born of the family of David. In your humility, you looked upon yourself as His lowly handmaid. Our Lady of Fatima Prayer O Mary Immaculate, who at Fatima predicted to Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta that unless men converted and thy requests were fulfilled, worse calamities would befall, show thyself a mother to us in these perilous times. 3. I entrust to you all my anxieties and needs so that through the merits of your sorrows I may bear the trials and sufferings of life with the same love and resignation to God's Will with which you bore yours. Though they had both vowed to consecrate their first-born child to the service of the Lord, they remained childless, a condition considered a disgrace among the Jews and a mark of heavenly disfavor. You knew nothing but God and His love you wished for nothing but Him and His holy will; you sought nothing but His greater honor. Mary, My Mother, as the Immaculate Conception, you are the Woman who appeared as the mortal enemy of the serpent. I, too, am a sinner. I thank you for consenting to become my spiritual Mother by giving me Jesus. You brought me forth spiritually to a new life of grace. Copyright by FATHERS RUMBLE AND CARTY Radio Replies Press Society St. Paul 1, Minn., U.S.A. EWTN | 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that it is a divinely revealed dogma that you, Immaculate Mother of God, having completed the course of your earthly life, were assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Mary, Mother of God, your name means "full of light" and "light-giving." I beg you for this humility which is loved both by God and men for in it lies something sublimea living resemblance to Jesus and to you. You have never turned away your eyes from souls in need. You had a share in that work; it was part of your life-work. 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. From the knowledge of the Will of God you gathered the strength that was to uphold you at the foot of the Cross on which your Son hung, dying. Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady of Good Counsel, I appeal to you for advice and guidance. You have found uncreated grace, that is, God Himself became your Son; and with that grace you have found and obtained every created good. Wherefore the Church applies to you the words Jesus spoke of that other Mary who sat at His sacred feet, drinking in the words of divine wisdom flowing from His blessed lips: "Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10, 42). I give you my will by an absolute confidence in you, a confidence founded on your power and your goodness. At the Annunciation you received Jesus on earth; it was proper that He should receive you in Heaven. Mary, My Mother, to conceal the miraculous conception and birth of His Divine Son, the Eternal Father inspired Joseph to marry you before the annunciation by the archangel Gabriel. Being filled with light from Heaven, you have shed brightness upon the whole world, by giving birth to the Eternal Light, Our Lord Jesus Christ, although still remaining in the glory of your virginity. 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. May God dwell in me and may I live to Him alone through frequent Holy Communion and still more frequent prayer so that God may direct my whole lifemy thoughts, words and actionsto His greater honor and glory. Amen. Mary, Mother of God, make my interior life of union with Jesus more like your own. How God has loved you by making you His Mother! I desire to place under your protection all my efforts in my striving for holiness and all the works of my daily life. The icon is now displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and the Russian calendar commemorates the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir on May 21. we celebrated the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. Mary, Mother of God, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is your Gift to us. Your intimate union with your Divine Son is the reason for your power with Him. Joachim was of the royal house of David, and Anne of the priestly family of Aaron. our lady of sorrows feast day. You suffered in your soul what Jesus suffered in His body, and in union with Him you offered yourself as a victim for our sins. Thus an angel appeared to Joseph and said, "Do not be afraid, Joseph, son of David, to take to thee Mary thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. He was with you not only by His essence, His presence, and His power, as He is with all His creatures. All those whose Queen you are have learnt of Jesus that they must call you Mother and ask your help. Bless the people of the Americas, citizens of those lands to which uncounted thousands have come to seek refuge and livelihood. The Prophet tells us that God is "wonderful in His saints" (Ps. About Our Lady of Sorrows This is one of many Marian feast days which occurs throughout the liturgical year. A woman, the tree, and death symbolize our defeat. It was fitting that the God of all purity should spring from the greatest purity. You are truly the pledge of Divine mercy. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. It urges my senses to lower desires, because I seek sensible pleasure in its every degree. The Holy Spirit gave you the heart of a bride, all burning with a love pure and ardent. While no gift is bestowed on us by God except in virtue of the Passion and death of your divine Son, the Precious Blood and the sacred wounds of Jesus are presented to God by you. May He who makes little ones to speak divine wisdom, direct my tongue and pour out upon my soul the grace I need ever to follow His and your example in my state of life. He promised Our Lady that if he were cured, he would become a priest. Turin Our Lady of Consolation, Turin This icon was presented to the city of Turin. I implore the help of your protection and choose you as my advocate. But I see the relation between you and the Blessed Sacrament above all in your life after Good Friday when you began your new motherhood at the feet of Jesus in the Eucharist. The crucifixion was not only the sacrifice for sin, it was also the new birth of mankind to the spiritual life, lost by the sin of Adam. Penance and reparation is the one sure way of winning God's love and blessing for a misguided and sinful world. Jesus had delivered Himself in His Passion to the will of His Father, and before His sacrifice for sinners could be perfect, He had to be forsaken by that Father. Hell is forced to bear the weight of your lasting hatred. Though it was out of sheer goodness that God decreed to give us His very Son in the Blessed Sacrament, I believe that your prayers had much to do with the carrying out of that plan; for you, too, must have prayed, "Give us this day our daily bread." May the merits of my crucified Savior never be lost on my soul, but rather may they enable me to reach true holiness and the possession of God in His eternal kingdom. It has been reproduced many times in copies and in book illustrations. Even when I disappoint you by doing my best to shake off the cross God has placed upon my shoulders, you pray for me. Teach me to love Him with some of the love that glowed in your own heart so that my heart may always be His pleasing temple. Infirmities of the body are nature's warning voice concerning the approach of death, which I cannot finally escape. Unlike martyrs who endured physical torments, Mary suffered torment in her soul. But you are the Mother of the living, for by your fidelity to your Maker you deserved to give to mankind a Redeemer who by His death has destroyed the reign of death and has thrown open to us the gates of everlasting life. As the devil goes about seeking whom he may devour, you go about seeking whom you may save. From your pure blood the Holy Spirit formed the pure Body of Jesus. No one could have had a closer approach to God than you, for it is impossible for any creature to be closer to God's Son than His own Mother. You are our Mother, the Mother of all the living. You stood close to Jesus, your head raised to drink the bitter chalice offered your arms stretched out and reaching upward, like a priest at the altar. Hasten the reign of Christ by ruling over all of us, your children. In the past you have expressed your willingness to help and made your requests in your personal apparitions. Jesus is the new Adam and you are the new Eve. Fr. 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. Mother Teresa once laid out a simple path for everyone, leading from silence to peace. Joseph was chosen by God the Father to take His own place, in regard to His Divine Son, during the early years of that Son's life on earth. read more. By Francesca Merlo The Virgin of Guadalupe, like the shroud of Turin, appears on a piece of fabric. 1. You visited the house of Zachary to serve your cousin Elizabeth for three months. But we, too, by our union with Jesus, and by the power of His grace, will also be united with Him in His victory over the devil. To you I entrust the preparation of my soul for the coming of my Savior on Christmas Day. Your example teaches me that Jesus will work miracles for persevering prayer that springs from confidence and humility. Mary, My Mother, as Mother of Divine Providence, remember your children in need of God's mercy and help. 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 are all-powerful because your divine Son instantly fulfills all your desires in order to honor you. Help us that our souls may be cleansed from the stains of sin. Their children also belong to God, for they are His gift. That date was not chosen by accident, but because it is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Augustine.). Mother Mary - Our Lady of Compassion September 15th Feast Day Liturgical Color: White The feast day of Our Lady of Compassion is every 15th of September. In heaven all your subjects are crowned by the King of kings, and they pay homage to you. You suffered with your Divine Son. Mary, Mother of God, I thank you for being my companion in suffering. You were soon really to see the Face of God the created image of divine perfection, the sight of which rejoices heaven and earth, from which all beings derive life and joy; the Face whose features enraptured God from all eternity, the Face for which all ages had expectantly yearned. Even in the Son of God I sometimes fear the Divine Majesty because although He became Man, He did not cease to be God. As you led an interior life and centered all your thoughts and life upon the Word Incarnate in your womb, so help me to lead an interior, supernatural life, always guided and directed by supernatural principles, having always supernatural intentions and performing supernatural actions. In 1668 the feast in honor of the Seven Dolors was set for the Sunday after September 14, the Feast of the Holy Cross. 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. I thank God for the great glory He has bestowed upon you for which all generations shall call you blessed. Like you, let me learn divine wisdom and see God in all things, so that I may rise from the creature to the great Creator. Your divine maternity is great also because this privilege is the reason for your other privilegesyour Immaculate Conception, miraculous virginity, fullness of grace, Assumption and the spiritual maternity of all mankind. I have loved and followed Jesus to the end. His Holiness St. John Paul II visited her Sanctuary four times: on his first apostolic trip outside Rome as Pope in 1979, and. I also believe that grace is a free gift of God, and I have no claim to it except as a member of His holy Church, which is the mystical body of Christ. Pray for more lay apostles, who in every walk of life will defend the rights of God, proclaim His Truth and preach His holy Will by word and example. Mary, Mother of God, how great was the honor given to you at the Annunciation! Sanctifying grace made you God's adopted child and the lawful heir to His eternal kingdom, putting you in possession of God's goods and of God Himself forever. 3. The bodies of even the just are corrupted after death, and only on the last day will they be joined, each to its own glorious soul. 1. Those words include us all. In 1727, Pope Benedict XIII placed the Feast of Our Lady of Compassion in the Roman Calendar on Friday before Palm Sunday. 3. Mary, My Mother, you were laying the foundation of that hidden life in which by the practice of the highest virtues, you were to reach that sublime degree of holiness to which you were predestined as Mother of the Son of God and Mother of all the souls for whom He was to die. On the right of the Sanctuary stands the shrine of Our Lady of Compassion, under whose protection the church is placed. You are only a pure creature, who receives whatever you obtain as a pure favor from God. As the body of your Divine Son was preserved from the corruption of the grave, so you, from whom He took flesh, were also free from the power of earthly decay. You were one of us, and yet you stood above us! Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day. John took my place on Calvary and you became, in his person, my Mother. Your Son will deny you nothing. And for our sake, you were ready to devote this Child to a life of suffering, persecution, and scorn, even to a shameful death on the cross. You found the cross very heavy during the three years of His public life, for then He had to leave your side that He might be "about His Father's business,"the sanctification and salvation of souls. As cooperator with your Son in that work of redemption, you also acquired the right to reign with Him. Place your gentle motherly hands on those wounds of my soul and grant that through the grace of the Sacraments and prayer they may be healed. You were to see this Face unveiled, in all the beauty and grace of childhood as the face of your own child. He was with you, and with you alone, in an unspeakable manner by bodily presence. Here on earth kings and rulers lay at your feet their crowns, their very selves. From the first moment of your existence the Holy Spirit made you His temple and blessed you with the fullness of His grace. Mary, My Mother, give me an absolute trust in your help. He has given me. May it be given me to understand your own love for me, and your dignity and beauty, that I may love you with a love more like the love that God Himself has for you. At your prayer Jesus changed the water into wine in Cana. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that the most sublime of your privileges is your divine maternity. May I remember always your sorrows on Calvary, through which you begot us to God and became the co-redemptrix of our race. You were beautiful when you stood as the brave Queen of Martyrs beneath the cross of your dying Son; in the supper room beneath the fiery tongues of the Divine Spirit; beautiful, above all, in the glory in which you reign with Jesus. You are called the Mother of Mercy because God has given you power to deal with every sort of misery to which mankind is subjected. You spoke in behalf of our human nature and by your consent you sealed forever the union between our human nature and the Son of God. You would not be completely happy in heaven if you did not know the interests of those souls redeemed at the cost of so much pain to Jesus and you. I unite myself with your heart so that everything I have to do or suffer may become a pure sacrifice of love in the sight of God. Mary, My Mother, the angel said to you, "Blessed art thou among women." Yet these three have become for us a principle of life. 1. The degree of childlike humility I have attained in life will be the degree of my greatness in heaven. But Gabriel comforted you, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God." The more you beheld yourself enriched, the more humble did you become, remembering that all came to you from the infinite generosity of your Maker. How wonderful, then, He must be in the Mother of the Saint of saints! You consented to be the Mother of the Redeemer at the Annunciation, and thus you were willing to share in the sufferings of the Redeemer.