The Feasts of Our Lady Note: Only Universal Feasts have the Month cited with each Feast; Local Feasts, etc., are cited by date within each month, unless the particular Local Feast begins a month. Fill their hearts with the virtues of joyous zeal for God and for souls and a warm love for divine learning. I want to be devoted to you by giving myself entirely to you and through you to God. Wednesday, devoted to our Lady, is a day of reflection and spiritual orientation; Friday emphasizes conversion and penance; Saturday, a preview of Easter, marked the renewal of our baptismal covenant. The holier a person is and the greater the intimacy of his union with God, the greater also is the power of his prayers. 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. I believe the teaching of the Church concerning the union of the human and divine natures in Christ: that Jesus Christ is God and man, perfect God and perfect man and that this divinity and humanity are united in only one person so that the actions of the divine nature or the human nature are the actions of one person, the divine Person. Through the mystery of your Visitation enlighten my mind with divine truth, warm my heart with heavenly love; strengthen me to win the victory over my evil inclinations and the power of evil. He was preparing you for your final separation from Him at the foot of the cross. At your request He worked the first miracle of His public life. What a difference between the woeful prediction of Simeon and the joyous tidings of the archangel Gabriel announcing the greatness of the Redeemer of mankind! In this I see God's plan that in the Kingdom of Jesus all graces should go through your hands and Heart. Mary, Mother of God, you are the mother of the Judge: you are also the Mother of the sinners. When the Holy Spirit descended, you received the richest outpouring of His graces. Your extreme hatred of sin was the measure of your supreme love of virtue. The Eternal Father unfolded His Omnipotence in order to form in you a heart full of sweetness and obedience to your Creator. How wondrous you are in your humility. All-powerful though He is, God could not bestow upon a creature a degree of honor higher than that conferred on you as the Mother of His Son. God is infinite good; sin, horrible evil. We know that you are ever ready to be our help in trouble, our solace in affliction, our hope in despair. You beheld Him suspended by iron nails. The Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12The Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dec. 18The Espousals of the Virgin Mary, Jan. 23Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Feb. 2Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate (Our Lady of Lourdes), Feb. 11The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, March 25The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sept. 15Our Lady of Good Counsel, April 26Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles, Saturday after AscensionOur Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, May 13Mary, Help of Christians, May 24Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, May 31The Queenship of Mary, May 31Mary, Virgin Mother of Grace, June 9Our Lady of Perpetual Help, June 27Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, July 2Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary, July 17Our Lady of the Snows, Aug. 5Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners, Aug. 13The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aug. 15The Immaculate Heart of Mary, Aug. 22Our Lady, Health of the Sick, Saturday before the last Sunday in Aug.Our Lady of Consolation, Saturday after the Feast of St. Augustine (Aug. 28)Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sept. 8The Most Holy Name of Mary, Sept. 12Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sept. 15Our Lady of Mercy (Our Lady of Ransom), Sept. 24Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Oct. 7Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Oct. 11Purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Oct. 16Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Nov. 21Mary, Mother of Divine Providence, Saturday before 3rd Sunday of Nov. Feast, December 8 (Novena, Nov. 29-Dec. 7). This was your spiritual Motherhood. Such love set your Heart on fire with love for your Divine Son, not only as your Son, but also as your God and Savior since you had shared in advance in the merits of His Passion and death. Mary, My Mother, you are Queen also because your are Co-Redemptrix. The first characteristic of humility of heart is a humble opinion of oneself. You did not try to square both predictions. With the Father you, too, can say: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.". . Help me to sacrifice myself generously for the love of Godto abstain from those many hurtful things that prevent the union of my soul with God. Francis Possenti was born in Assisi. 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. Everything about Mary was fashioned by . Shrine Pilgrimage. May I derive all the beneficial results the holy sacraments are to produce in my soul. Mary, I beg you to lead me to my Sacramental Jesus! It is true, you are a creature, and, therefore, far beneath the Supreme Being. It was, therefore, befitting that you, His Immaculate Mother, destined to cooperate with Him in the work of Redemption, should teach the world, by your submission to the law of purification, this great truth, that humility is the beginning of our salvation, as pride has been the root of our ruin. Before you were crowned Queen of Heaven you became the Mother of Sorrows. To all of us your Immaculate Heart after that of Jesus is most loving and most merciful. You love them still, in spite of their sins, and you follow them with your motherly gaze and your prayers. 1. This miraculous defeat broke the back . 2. 3. Pilgrims approach the grounds of the basilica, in distant view, on the day before the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Your Child, becoming the King of Martyrs, would make you their Queen. When the hands and feet of Jesus were pierced with nails, the sound of each blow of the hammer inflicted a wound in your Heart. You would have shown your grief as mothers do by sobs and tears. Even when I forget you and begin to complain in my sufferings and crosses, you try to console me. Jesus was a Son to you and a sword to you: a Son on your breast, a sword in your heart. Jesus rewarded your confidence and resignation by working His first miracle at your request. You commanded Him and He obeyed. When the Triune God destined and elevated you, a mortal Virgin, to the dignity of Mother of the Redeemer, the Father had to endow you with a fullness of perfection suitable for such a dignity. 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. Finally, they remind me of the everlasting glory of all the saints in Heaven united with your own glory and that of your Son. 67, 36). 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. Your holiness was due to this Spirit of Love, to Whose guidance you abandoned yourself. What greater wonder could the world behold, than a woman become the Mother of God, and a God clothed in human flesh? You formed His whole Self, to die for us as a sacrificial Lamb. Fr. I need not see you appear, as you did to so many others. Your humility was rewarded with the greatest privilege ever given to a creature. You resigned yourself to the care of God, in the fullest confidence that He would guard your innocence and reputation. 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. Mary, My Mother, your name means Star of the Sea. Shed upon me more and more the living light of that faith which made you blessed. You come nearest to the holiness of God. I give you my will by an absolute confidence in you, a confidence founded on your power and your goodness. You are the loving daughter of the Father, because, before all creatures, you were predestined to be His daughter at the same moment that He decreed the Incarnation of His Son. This introduction into the new home in which you were to live was your official marriage ceremony. You were trained there with other girls, under the care of holy women, and with deepest reverence you assisted at the sacred functions. At your prayer Jesus changed the water into wine in Cana. He was with you not only by His essence, His presence, and His power, as He is with all His creatures. Mary, Mother of God, your greatness began at the first instant of your existence with the privilege of your Immaculate Conception. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.". What untold merit you must have laid up for eternity during the nine months that preceded your Nativity. You stand alone on a throne of greatness and perfection far above the rest of 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. He was obedient and immediately arranged with you the celebration of your chaste nuptials. Each Communion is a mystery of your love for us and a grace which you obtain and bestow on us. Eve listened to the voice of the serpent and brought death to the human race, you became a source of salvation to all mankind by receiving with humility the word of God brought to you by the angel Gabriel. Mary, My Mother, as I cannot grasp the depth of your sanctity, I cannot understand the measure of your grace. Mary, My Mother, the beloved disciple, St. John, tells us that "a great sign appeared in heaven: "a Woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Apoc. Your sorrow would be as deep as the sea. Petition God that their hope may never fail amid the troubles and the cares of this life. Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found, not taken, grace, as Lucifer tried to take it. Feast Days of Mary January 1Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God *January 8Our Lady of Prompt SuccorFebruary 2Presentation of the LordFebruary 11Our Lady of LourdesMarch 25AnnunciationMay 13Our Lady of FatimaMay 31VisitationJune 27Our Mother of Perpetual HelpJuly 16Our Lady of Mount CarmelAugust 15Assumption *August 22Queenship of MarySeptember 8Birth of . His triumph over death His Ascension into Heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit. Let me never be influenced by temporal considerationswealth, honors and pleasuresthat I may always follow the counsel of Jesus: "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides" (Luke 12, 31). This is what took place at His entrance into the world; and again when He took upon Himself the office of Savior in the mystery of the Circumcision, and received from you the Holy Name of Jesus. The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. How happy Jesus must have been to receive the homage that you paid Him! SEE AS WELL: Mary, Mother of God, you are the Queen of the Apostles because you were the source of their inspiration and zeal. When His lips were tortured with gall and vinegar, a sea of bitterness was poured into your Heart. Our Lady of Lourdes, We pray to you especially for our own conversion and that of all sinners. In all humility you attributed this holiness to God alone, working wondrously within you. I can easily picture Saint John, the Apostle of love, saying Mass each day in his own home and daily giving you the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist. She heard the voices of Archangel Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret - they are on the banner over her left shoulder! Unmindful of your dignity and greatness, you thought only of returning thanks to God, to whom you attributed all your greatness and privileges. You were borne aloft to the palace of your Beloved. The attitude of the Church toward you, symbolized by the moon under your feet, is that of a suppliant who is forever entreating you to use your power in favor of your children. Grant that following your good counsel, I may avoid sin, practise virtue, save my soul and attain eternal life. You took part in this offering of the life and death of Jesus. Bishop Columns. Your Heart is a shrine adorned with all the skill of the Divine Creator, Who has lavished upon it the riches of His treasure-housesanctifying grace, greater in worth than all the riches of the world. Our founder, so moved by her image, vowed to live by her exampleand that's a promise our Mercy Home family still upholds today. Pray for us Christians who sigh to you in this vale of tears so that we may be comforted, enlightened, strengthened, guided, and finally saved! You are "Suppliant Omnipotence" because your prayer obtains all graces from the infinite treasures of God. It was indeed a divine life that Jesus led in Your womb, a life most active, and yet one of unbroken calm. How can I ever imagine the emotions of longing and most eager expectation of the Birth of the Divine Child! 3. You are our Mother, because you have begotten us to the life of grace. In 1913, Pope Pius X fixed the date on September 15. Enlightened by God, you knew that He would grant your request. And grant that after having suffered with you and your loving Son in this life, I may be glorified with You both in His Kingdom beyond the stars. 3. In God there are no disappointments, no false promises. Help me to imitate your zeal in assisting my neighbor in his needs. You are the spotless tabernacle, the earthly resting-place prepared for the Son of God, hence the Church pays loving respect to your Immaculate Heart. You are not only the Mother of the guilty but also Mother of Jesus, their Judge. The moment of your exaltation, the highest to which God could raise a creature, finds you sunk in the abyss of your own nothingness. Then, through your compassion be pleased to send down to us, your poor servants, a rich abundance of your graces and blessing. Mary, Mother of God, your sorrows are not merely the sorrows of an earthly mother grieving over the death of an only child. It impels my mind to self-exaltation, because I am proud. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Mediatrix of All Graces. During your Son's public ministry you seldom appeared, because this was the prudent thing to do on account of your close relationship to the Redeemer. The Son takes pleasure in it as the Heart of His Mother, the source from which He drew the blood that ransomed us. Your loving Son came to teach this virtue to mankind by His example, and He desired that we should especially strive to imitate Him, for He said, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 3. Through Joseph your descent from David would be known. All souls belong to you and your Son. In your triumph, as the Mother of the same Word Incarnate, having perfectly followed out the great designs of God upon you, having acquired immense merits by the practice of all the virtues, and having reached the highest holiness, you were assumed body and soul, into Heaven. Only then can I really love you as you desirewhen Jesus is formed in me so that I can love you as Jesus does. Mary, Mother of God, the results of your visit to Elizabeth were wonderful. During my whole life you continue to take care of me until Christ be formed in me. Christ is universal King because He rules all creatures by His personal union with the divinity. 11, 29). You bore your sorrows bravely because you received them from God's hands. May I remember always your sorrows on Calvary, through which you begot us to God and became the co-redemptrix of our race. Confidence fills my soul, for you were raised to this glory not for your own advantage only, but for that of your children also, in order to make us feel the effects of your powerful protection and intercession. Mary, My Mother, the Heart of Jesus was a generous Heart, symbolized by the wound in His side from which came forth the last drops of His Heart's Blood shed for us, and by which w e can reach the treasures of that Divine Heart. By consenting to give natural life to Jesus, you consented to give us supernatural life. You willingly became the Mother of Jesus when you answered the message of the Archangel Gabriel with the words "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word" (Luke 36, 38). Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Online Saints & Angels Facts Feastday: December 12 Patron: of the Americas Author and Publisher - Catholic Online Printable Catholic Saints PDFs Shop Our Lady of Guadalupe An elder Mexican man makes his way to Mass in the early morning twilight of December 9, 1531. 3. From your own flesh and blood you formed the body of your Son. Preserve their faith, assailed at every hour by the forces opposed to Christ. You were the instrument used by your Son. Previous; Play Quiz; Lent Day 6 - The Wedding at Cana. 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. You could also hold your own celebration of Our Lady by inviting friends and family to your home for a traditional Mexican meal. The divine maternity explains everything in you; without this maternity nothing in you can be explained. The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated in parishes and neighborhoods throughout the country with Masses and dancing and celebration, . Our Lady of Sorrows: Compassion Unlimited. Here I will demonstrate, I will exhibit, I will give all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. Mary, My Mother, help me to perform all my actions through youto ask through your intercession the graces I need in order to imitate you, and to go through you to Jesus.