Greetings in Jesus and Mary: Today starts the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows. This is a critical Novena to pray and meditate on as we enter into some of the most darkest days of history. I pray we will see the Reign of the Immaculate Heart and an era of peace but at the moment it looks pretty dark in the world. She told us in Quito Ecuador as Our Lady of Good Success that when it looks totally hopeless in the world... know that this is when I step forward. I would say we are getting close! The devil is having a hayday with his cohorts. I know sin was always with us and to a great degree most of it hidden; but today, it is flowing in the streets and is very much being done right before our eyes with no justice in sight. There is so much to pray for in this Novena, for Church leaders, for the strength of our priests, for the holiness in our families, for justice in our countries with crimes against all of humanity. What we are seeing unfolding is so much worse that WWII. They are planning (and already have) concentration camps. Are we ready? Are we ready to be separated from family members not knowing where they are going or what is being done to them? (link below from the CDC - the same CDC that is issuing all of these draconian mandates that are causing more death than life) Let us meditate on the Sorrows of Our Lady and beg Her for the graces we need to endure what is to come our way very soon. It will only be by God's grace that we get through this. I will post daily a meditation on each of Her dolors for each day of this Novena. We will try to come to understand, know and love God through His Will of allowing these dolors to be for Our Blessed Mother. We find that the more we know, the more we love, and therefore we inquire into many things. Why did God permit the dolors of His Mother, whom He loved so unspeakably, who was sinless and had nothing in herself to expiate by penance, and whose tears were in no way needful to the Precious Blood which was of its sole self the redemption of the world? We find that it was because of His love for Her. What can love give which is better than self? The same law which lies round Jesus must also lie round her (and us). The law is a law of suffering, of sacrifice, of expiation, of abjection almost touching on annihilation, Was Mary to be uncrowned? This is a reality of our Catholic Faith that we have run away from...we want Jesus without a cross. We must get back to the fact that the mystery of suffering brings life, love and redemption. BUT IT MUST BE DONE IN UNION WITH THE LOVE THAT JESUS HAS FOR SOULS. Suffering on its own is nothing. This is why it is critical that we study her dolors these nine days to discover the mystery of suffering and how when it is given to us by the Father (as it will be very soon) we must embrace it and help others to see that this is fruitful to repair for the endless crimes and bring people back to God. The augmentation of Mary's merits is another reason of her dolors; suffering mingled with the love for God... gains merit. They were permitted by God so that He might receive from Her more glory than from any other creature whatsoever----also excepting the created nature of our Blessed Lord! Through of Her Immaculate Conception, She supplied for all that the saints owed Him for His Passion but could never pay! Now we think of Her as OUR OWN MOTHER! What suffering is She suffering now with each and every child that God has given to Her as their spiritual Mother. It is beyond our understanding all that Our Good Mother and Queen endures for the love of God and the love of souls! It was His Will that Her Compassion should lie close by His Passion and without it - would be different. One of the greatest sorrows of our Mother expressed by the saints and written in the City of God by Mother Mary Agreda is this: IT IS THE FORESEEN INGRATITUTE OF THE FAITHFUL FOR THE PASSION OF OUR DEAREST LORD! There was St. John, St. Mary Magdalen and Herself at the Foot of the Cross....where were the rest? Are we at the Foot of the Cross? May we place ourselves in the Immaculate Heart of Mary for safety knowing that whatever we are to endure....we can offer in reparation and in expiation ...with the hope of a life eternal in Heaven with Jesus and Mary.
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Greetings in Jesus and Mary... Today starts the Novena for the Nativity of Our Lady. May we honor Her and thank the Eternal Father for the gift of our great Mother and Queen. Below is a link to follow for each of the nine days of this Novena. May we honor Her and beg Her to lead us far from the evil that is so present in our day. May we pray that She crush the head of the serpent who is seeking to devour so many souls today. Take care and God bless!! Greetings in Jesus and Mary... August 7th starts the first day of the Novena to Our Lady before Her Glorious Feast day of the Assumption. May we find time during this busy summer to pray these prayers before this great feast. God bless all of you through the prayers and intercession of our good Queen and Mother! Greetings in Jesus and Mary: Today is the Feast day of St. Elijah and I am reposting an old article today which I wrote last year for this feast day because it addresses the current day. This image is the crest of the Carmelite Order. It has the quote of St. Elijah and the image of Mount Carmel with the three stars representing Elijah on the Mount and the two others representing Jesus and Mary . This post is about the relationship of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Her Scapular and the times of St. Elijah.... Since we focus on the message of Fatima on this website, we will remember that on October 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared during the Miracle of the Sun to Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, holding forth a Brown Scapular. Whenever Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three shepherd children, She always had a star on the hem of Her gown. We have already talked about Our Lady as the ‘Star of the Sea’ who helps Christians who wear Her Scapular from drowning in sin. Our Lady of Mount Carmel can be seen as representing the Star of the Sea that first appeared to Saint Elijah the Prophet as a “small foot shaped cloud” (3 Kings 18: 44). She appeared to symbolize not only the end of the drought which afflicted the Israelites, but also to signify the end of their doctrinal confusion. Fatima is a great message of traditional Catholic Church teaching and a reaffirmation of the Gospel. The star of Our Lady of Fatima is our special Star of the Sea in this age of darkness for the Church polluted by the murky doctrinal waters of Modernism. We are in perhaps the greatest period of doctrinal uncertainty among the people and clergy that the Church has ever known. This is an indication that we need the Star of Our Lady of Fatima - the Star of the Sea - Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to guide us through these troubled waters. (Wear a Scapular!) At the time of the Prophet Elijah, Israel was plagued by false prophets leading the chosen people astray with false doctrine and the worship of false gods. This is familiar to us, as false prophets and teachers are shamelessly leading Christ’s flock to spiritual ruin. King Achab , “did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him” (3 Kings 16: 30). We too are in a time of unprecedented evil brought on by wolves in shepherd’s clothing - to say the least! King Achab led Israel, away from the true God because it was the politically correct thing to do for peace and for economic reasons. In our age, it seems that politically correct leaders of the Church, in an effort to get along with non-Catholic Christians and non-Christian sects, have modified Church teaching and worship to conform to the ways of the world in a very big way! Like the time of Ahab, we too have seen new ‘altars/tables’ and configurations set up in our Catholic sanctuaries; many of which seem to be offering worship to the ‘cult of man,’ as opposed to the worship of Almighty God. Elijah the Prophet was sent to Israel by God and declared to Achab that because of their sinful ways there would be a drought for years of neither dew nor rain (3 Kings 17:1). The Catholic Church has been experiencing a drought of vocations for the past sixty years of priests and religious as well as numerous church and school closings. Do we too need rain? On Mount Carmel, Elijah against the false prophets, had two altars set up: one for the Prophet Elijah and one for the four hundred and fifty false prophets of Baal. Offerings would be prepared by each side on their respective altars. The offering that was accepted by Almighty God, would be the one which was consumed by fire from Heaven. The sacrifice of Elijah, prefiguring the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, was acceptable to Almighty God, Who sent fire down from Heaven to consume it. The people who had been led into apostasy at the time of Elijah by their evil leaders, repented as the light of truth came upon them, as they cried out: “The Lord He is God, the Lord He is God!” (3 Kings 18: 39). After this victory, Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel and directed his servants to look toward the sea. They saw nothing. He told them to return seven times. At the seventh time, a small foot shaped cloud arose out of the sea and torrents of rain came ending the great drought caused by the peoples’ apostasy from the faith. The small foot-shaped cloud, representing the Immaculate Virgin Mary, conceived without the stain of Original Sin, arose from what can be described as ‘the sea of sinful humanity.’ Tradition says that after this encounter with the “type” of Our Blessed Mother, Elijah made his abode on Mount Carmel awaiting the birth of the Mother of the Messiah (Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ). Devotion then began to Our Lady of Mount Carmel before the time of Christ. The Prophet Elijah is thus considered to be the Founder of the Carmelite Order devoted to the Mother of God. We as Carmelites must pray to God through Our Lady of Fatima/Our Lady of Mount Carmel that the time of accounting soon comes for the false priests and prophets of our time leading souls astray. May they repent of their scandalous sins and return to the One True Faith founded by Christ before Divine judgment is visited upon them. When Our Lady of Mount Carmel gave the Brown Scapular to the Carmelite, Saint Simon Stock, on July 16, 1251, She said: “Whoever dies in this garment will not suffer everlasting fire. It is a token of salvation. It safeguards in danger." Pope Pius XII said that the Brown Scapular was a “Sign of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Sister Lucia of Fatima said that the Rosary and the Brown Scapular are inseparable therefore let us wear our Brown Scapular as a sign of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart and get others to do the same during this time of great apostasy! Wearing the Brown Scapular with devotion every day, frequenting the Sacraments of the Church, living the Fatima Message, and praying the Reparation prayers will help usher in this time of peace. Our Lady's Scapular will bring us comfort, protection and great joy! Let us walk with great joy and with the words of Elijah from the First Book of Kings, 19:10 in our hearts: “With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts.” These words perfectly express the life of the Prophet Elijah, yet for those of us who wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, this motto also perfectly conveys the mission to which we are each called. Our Lady of Mt Carmel - pray for us! St. Elijah - pray for us! Greetings in Jesus and Mary! The novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel started yesterday. We can start it today - July 9th. We have so much to ask our Good Mother for during this Novena. I bring to you the ailing Church and the suffering priests for our intentions to pray for. May we pray for strength to fight the good fight. Persecutions are coming! The mandated vaxx is now on its way FOR EVERY MAN WOMAN AND CHILD as promised by Bill Gates whether you had COVID or not. My daughter is an RN - her hospital and many others are MANDATING the experimental gene therapy as a "vaccine" on ALL of its staff. If one does not comply - one is terminated by September. We see that Fr. Altman is now taken out. We see cancel culture everywhere and no leaders or justice system to be seen. Amerika is here and I am afraid that if America loses its freedoms - the world is to follow. MUCH TO PRAY FOR!! The enemy is seeking to cause scandal and destruction in the Church as well as the world. Communist Canada has been pushing the propaganda that their schools which existed at a time of great war, famine and pestilence were guilty of present day crimes of murder and abuse - with no proof other than mass graves - of course there are mass graves with young children who were cared for at these schools and who happened to die from these calamities. Even apart from private revelations on the subject, there are numerous signs in government and society that Catholic/Christian persecution is coming. Now is our final opportunity to resist this trend as fervent Catholics and concerned citizens. It’s time we started pushing back, in a peaceful and loving but unyielding way. Do not be afraid to speak out or to act lawfully in defense of God’s divine law when the opportunity presents itself. (I will be writing today to the leaders of the "Catholic" hospital where my daughter works!) Please pray and make sacrifices for the Church. Please pray for Fr. Altman and all priests who are suffering. (Write to his bishop and state your Catholic mind!) Pray, fast, make sacrifices and frequent the Sacraments of Confession and the Holy Eucharist. Make holy hours, or at least visit the Blessed Sacrament whenever possible. This is our armor that will protect us in the coming battles. Prayers offered in reparation for the sins of the world, and our fasting and other acts of penance, can unleash great spiritual power, not only benefiting ourselves and our loved ones, but also resulting in the conversion of many sinners and the delaying, lessening, or even averting of many predicted chastisements. Prayer is extremely powerful, especially the two greatest prayers of all: the Mass and the Rosary. God bless and may Our Lady of Mt. Carmel pray for us and all priests! Greetings in Jesus and Mary; Below is an article taken from the site "Tradition in Action" written by Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Her feast day was yesterday, but since it fell on a Sunday, today would be proper to celebrate it! "Devotion to Our Lady of the Perpetual Help was born on the Island of Crete. This explains the Byzantine influence one notices in the picture. The persons represented in this picture may shock the modern sensibility accustomed to saints depicted with the faces of dolls. This picture was made in different times and is very expressive. The devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help was spread in the Church by the Redemptorist priests. It is a very beautiful invocation since it expresses Our Lady’s unflagging mercy toward us. Perpetual help means an assistance, an act of mercy, an act of uninterrupted piety that never ceases toward us. The word never means that this assistance will not cease anywhere, any time or for any reason. That is, even if a person is in the worst possible situation, Our Lady always will help one who prays to her. The picture, as you see, has a gold background. These unadorned gold backgrounds were characteristically used in paintings of the old Eastern Roman Empire and during part of the Middle Ages. The Angel Musicians of Fra Angelico, for example, have golden backgrounds. The gold background was used when very important personages were painted. Western art normally places a great dignitary on an ornate chair in an elegant room, standing next to a gracefully draped window or in a beautiful outdoor scene. The Eastern mentality prefers to set them out of the time, immersed in full glory, that is, with a golden background. The gold, therefore, represents the glory of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven. She has a halo around her head, which is also gold, as does the Divine Infant. Over the halo is a gold crown inlaid with precious stones. The crowns of Our Lady and the Christ Child have a similar shape. The base of each sits close to the head, has a thin rim, and is topped with fabulous ornate designs. On the rim are inlaid rubies, on ornate arches in the middle layer are sapphires, and on the highest level is a row of emeralds or diamonds - I can't distinguish precisely which it is on this particular reproduction. The crown of the Child follows the exact same pattern. Our Lady is wearing a deep blue mantle that covers her shoulders and head. Below the crown and over her forehead is a refulgent star made of precious stones; to its left is a golden design that looks like either a star or a cross. If you note carefully, you see that Our Lady is wearing a red tunic under her blue mantle. The red appears at her neck and the ends of her sleeves. This red tunic closes at her neck with an exquisite band of diamonds. The Child Jesus is seated on Our Lady's left arm. He rests easily in her arms, like a child who is very used to being near his mother and enjoys being there. He is, however, distracted by something else to which he turns his gaze. In my opinion the artist made a mistake in his representation of the Child. He appears more like a seven- or eight-year-old boy rather than a baby who should be carried in the arms of his mother. By the way, this picture is not considered a work of art. It is regarded as an excellent work of piety with some very good artistic points and some defects. The Child has a rose belt with a greenish tunic. He also has a mantle that falls naturally near the left hand of Our Lady making numerous beautifully folded pleats. Almost all the pleats in the picture seem to me very well placed and natural. There are two Angels presenting the Infant with the instruments of the Passion; at left an Angel with a red tunic and a green mantle shows Him the lance and the gall-sop, at right an Angel wearing a red tunic shows him a three-armed cross and the nails. What can be said about all this? The features of Our Lady are very expressive. The picture shows her in a very maternal attitude. She is a mother who holds her Son with an extraordinary intimacy and a remarkable affection. It shows the familiarity of Our Lady with the God-Man. At the same time, she has a profoundly recollected gaze that transmits the respect and veneration she has for Him. She is praying to Him while she holds Him. She is certain that she is holding God Incarnate Himself in her arms. Parts of the face of Our Lady are not well painted. Her neck appears somewhat too rigid. The mouth is delicate but the nose is perhaps a bit too long. These are several points that do not allow the picture to be considered a perfect work of art. But they are secondary defects, because an authentic art is present in the recollected expression of her physiognomy, in her noble pose, and in the affection the pose reveals. The picture is rich in symbolism. The dark blue mantle represents mothernood, while the red tunic symbolizes virginity. Therefore, depicting her wearing both red and blue shows that she is both Mother and Virgin. It is a delicate way to insinuate the miracle of her virginity before, during and after the parturition. For me, the most touching symbolism is the gesture of the Child holding Our Lady's hand. His right hand is behind her thumb and his left hand inside her hand in a way that gives Our Lady's hand control over the hands of the Divine Infant. Symbolically, one who holds the hands of another holds him entirely. So, this way of presenting the Infant's hands expresses that she can do everything she wants with Him; everything she asks He agrees to; it expresses the power of her prayer. With great facility the artist represents the dependence of the Child-God upon Our Lady. One characteristic of this Byzantine icon is that while the symbolism is very rich, it does not say the same to everyone. The symbols are there to be discovered by those who spend time analyzing them and contemplating them. The two Angels represent the Passion that the Child will have to face. They are prophesizing the Passion to Him. That is, we are invited to see in Him the Redeemer of mankind, the One who was awaited by the Prophets to save mankind. There is also a very picturesque detail: It is the sandal hanging from the Child's right foot by only one string. It symbolizes the sinner who is still linked to Our Lord by one last string: devotion to Our Lady. The Greek initials at the top on either side of the crown stand for “Mother of God.” The initials over the angel at top left reads “St. Michael the Archangel,” at right, “St. Gabriel the Archangel.” Under the angel at right are the Greek initials for “Jesus Christ.” The star on the veil of Our Lady indicates that she is the Star of the Sea, the guide in this life to lead all who desire to the port of Heaven. Let us always ask Our Lady to protect us with her perpetual help and mercy." Greetings in Jesus and Mary!
When our Blessed Mother appeared in Fatima on June 13, 1917, the first direction she gave was to continue to pray the Rosary daily. She added to the Rosary a prayer to be said. In 1208, Our Lady appeared to St. Dominic and gave him the Rosary — the weapon to achieve victory over a raging heresy. Here she was at Fatima a little over seven centuries later to enhance another part to the Rosary. “I want you to continue saying the Rosary every day,” she told the children on June 13. Then she gave them this new addition. “And after each one of the mysteries, my children, I want you to pray in this way: ‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell. Take all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need." Our Lady spoke about her Immaculate Heart to Lucia who she said had to stay on earth longer “since Jesus wishes you to make me known and loved on earth. He wishes also for you to establish devotion in the world to my Immaculate Heart.” Because Lucia asked if she was to remain in the world alone, Our Blessed Mother told her she must not be sad. “I will be with you always, and my Immaculate Heart will be your comfort and the way which will lead you to God.” The Immaculate Heart will not only be our comfort, but the way that will lead us to God. Wow! You can’t have it clearer than that — reason enough why we should be devoted to the Immaculate Heart. On July 13, Our Lady gave the children this short prayer — “Make sacrifices for sinners, and say often, especially while making a sacrifice: O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Then Our Lady tells the children after she’s shown them hell where poor sinners go — “It is to save them that God wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.” During the same apparition, Our Lady refers twice more to her Immaculate Heart. First, she says the war (WWI) will end, but if people don’t stop offending God, a more terrible one will break out (WWII). “To prevent this, I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart. Our Blessed Mother didn’t give the details of the Five First Saturdays yet. That was to come later. But she makes it unmistakable what will happen concerning the devotion to her Immaculate Heart. “If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, then Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, bringing new wars and persecution of the Church; the good will be martyred and the Holy Father will have much to suffer; certain nations will be annihilated. But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” The triumph will come through her Immaculate Heart. No way or no one will prevent this. For Sister Lucia, apparitions continued on this same theme. On December 10, 1925 Our Lady appeared in the convent in Pontevedra, Spain to Lucia who described the visit: she was holding Her Immaculate Heart in her hand, and by her side stood the Child Jesus on a luminous cloud. Jesus said: “Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.” Then the Blessed Virgin Mary said to Lucia: “Look, my daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to Me.” Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy upon us! Greetings in Jesus and Mary! This is written in response to the article posted in Talks today. This message of Our Lady of Fatima is needed today and the below video is a very good presentation of the last interview of Lucia with Fr. Fuentes. "OUR LADY HAS GIVEN A GREATER EFFICACY TO THE PRAYERS OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY !" Either we are for God or we are for the devil....there is no middle ground. Listen to Our Mother -- pray the Rosary -- Consecrate yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by wearing your Brown Scapular -- offer Prayers of Reparation!! Take care and God bless! Hello Everyone:
The Consecration Date is fast approaching which is Monday, May 31st. Here is an overview of what was covered in this 33 Day Preparation. Reminder that we have this weekend to hopefully go to Confession to prepare our soul. Why make this Consecration? If we knew how much God loves us and wants our love in return, we would strive to make ourselves more pleasing to Him. We would be willing to cast away all that is displeasing to God. It is not that simple. In the beginning of our 33 Day of Preparation, we try to see that the ways of the world are not the ways of God. We try to examine also ourselves – our shortcomings, faults and weaknesses that keep us from God. We need to understand what our shortcomings are and work on them little by little with prayer and mortifications. We have learned that the Sacraments are the greatest means of grace to strengthen us in this battle between good and evil within ourselves. The Divine Life in our souls is God’s grace. This Divine Life is Divine Love for the Bible tells us that God is Love. The soul needs to properly prepare itself to receive this fire of Divine Love. If it is damp with self-love it cannot receive the Divine Fire. It is suggested that we make a good Confession before we begin this 33 days and at the end just before we make the Consecration. One of the proper dispositions for us is to have a real contrition. We must strive – all Catholics - to be real temples of the Living God. We must endeavor to use all the means we know of to bring the Kingdom of God within us and consequently into the world. We pray “Thy Kingdom come” each day in the Our Father but we must truly strive for this end. We have learned that we must attribute all our graces and gifts to God for this is Truth – all good comes from Him and Him alone. On our own, we are nothing. When we have come to know this, it is good in overcoming our disappointments and our vanity. We can give God the glory for all the good that may come through us and we cannot become disappointed in our shortcomings because it is a reminder to us of who we really are and helps us to become more dependent upon God each time we fall. We must be faithful and pick ourselves up and ask Our Lady to lead us once again to Her Son. Let us not go to sleep at night without thinking about how great God is and how much He has loved us this day, that He is everywhere, that He is present to us, all around us and that He has given us a dear Mother to lead us to Him. Let us then return this love as far as we can. We will receive Heaven in exchange for the little of earth we give up. When we give up our own will, our own spirit, to walk according to God’s Will and in His way, we receive His Spirit. That exchange is worth meditating upon! In the third week of study, we see that God has given us a Blessed Mother – the same Mother that bore Our Savior Jesus Christ. If we are to be truly united to Jesus – we must seek to receive the gift of His own Mother. Jesus’ Mother is our Mother. Jesus, Who in His sweet compassion, tenderness, and love, has made us, that we may be happy with Him both here and hereafter, wants us to have the same Mother! His Sacred Heart desires our happiness; He has made us that we might be so; He has given us every means. Let us strive to be as pleasing to Him as we can. Let us be simple, loving children of an infinitely loving Father. Let us be loving children of our fair Immaculate Mother Mary. Let us always look up to Her as Our Mother. Let us so entirely give ourselves to Her that She may use Her Mother’s influence over us. Let Her feel that we trust Her. Let us strive to always love Her with a Jesus love. Let it be the one great aim of our lives; then we will truly be living in imitation of Jesus whose Heart was in constant union with the Heart of His Mother -His Mother and our Mother. Our minds are amazed by the thought that God could trust His only Son to Her; that Jesus could submit to be influenced by Her, and that Her thoughts, Her ideas, were all, not only so pure, so beautiful, but in perfect harmony with the Will of the Eternal Father for the sacred humanity of His Eternal Word. Mary has never failed God! Think of it – NEVER! It is well to think of Mary’s greatness but it is better to draw near to Her and as a little child feel secure in Her possession! She is the Mother of Mercy. She will come to our aid and guide us to God. Her maternal Heart wants all of God’s children to choose Heaven. Let us take Mary as our very own and know that the gentle eyes of Jesus will be turned upon us with exceeding love as He sees us love His own Immaculate Mother. And finally let us review what we have discovered about Jesus in the last week of this study. Our final end is Jesus! Mary would not want it any other way. Her goal is to lead all of God’s children to Her Son. May we pray that His Divine Fire of Love blaze in the hidden recesses of our souls to be beacons of love in a world that has grown cold! We have learned that the greatest means of acquiring this love is to receive Him worthily in Holy Communion. It is best to ask our Mother Mary to be in our soul to receive Her Son as we make our Sacramental Communions and to make Spiritual Communions when we cannot receive Jesus sacramentally. The Cure of Ars stated that Spiritual Communions are like putting kindling to the Fire of His Divine Love in our souls! Frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament are encouraged also to tell Jesus that we place Him first in our lives and that we love Him.(This too can be done throughout the day by sending our Guardian Angel or praying the Fatima prayers) We have learned that God Incarnate dwells in the Blessed Sacrament. From Jesus we receive love and strength as members of the Mystical Body of Christ. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we experience the love of Calvary – only in an unbloody way. On earth, we learn that love causes suffering and the greater the love - the greater the suffering. Therefore, as the love of the Heart of Jesus is above our understanding so likewise is Its suffering. This Heart which came upon the earth has loved and made reparation for the whole human race. What caused the intense continual agony of the Sacred Heart of Jesus? It was the sight of the injuries done to His Heavenly Father, the sight of the outrages offered to Him; the sight of His tender love spurned! “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.” There is great value in just one drop of Jesus’ blood. It was offered to satisfy the justice of God. This knowledge leads us to understand the greatness of each and every Mass today and throughout history. This knowledge will lead us to imitate Mary in wanting to offer up daily the Mass and its intentions in reparation for the outrages committed against God. May we be faithful to the reparation prayers taught at Fatima to appease the just anger of God for all the outrages done against Him. In order to make this Consecration, we must understand that to agree to be slaves “to Jesus through Mary”, we are offering up what already belongs to God – our whole being. To make this Consecration we are saying - You have given me All – now I humble myself to the lowest point of declaring myself your slave – and I give you my All! Those who try to comprehend the immense love of God want to “give” – what can we “give”? – to become His slave is the total giving of self – it is ALL – God is not outdone in generosity. We can never give Him anything – it already belongs to Him – we are unprofitable servants! This Consecration is a total giving of self – but given to God through the hands of Mary where the offering will be purified and covered with Her love. It is an act of love to One Who is Love. May Our Queen and Mother take this offering of self and give us in return Her Son! May She watch over us and lead us closer to Him. May She reprimand us when needed and guide us back if She must when we humanly fall into our past weaknesses and faults. Listening to Our Lady of Fatima, may we Consecrate ourselves to Her Immaculate Heart in order for Jesus to be more known, loved and served. May we never be without our Brown Scapular which is a sign of this Consecration! May we be faithful to our Rosary and may She lead us to Her Son truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament on the Altar. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us and protect us – guide us to the Divine Fire of Love – Your Son – Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Hello Everyone:
We are on the final week - how time flies! Below is the information for this last week. Monday starts the week for the Knowledge of Jesus just before making our Consecration to Jesus through Mary on May 31st. You may do this on your own before an image of Our Lady or you may have a witness of a priest if this is your first time. I will provide a document for you to print with the words of the Consecration on it for you to print - later this week. Below is the guideline and talk for this week. May we keep each other in prayer. May St. Therese and Our Lady pray for us to come closer to Jesus - the One Who loves us! 27TH Day - Christ Our Last End – True Devotion to Mary 28th Day - The Gift of Jesus in the Eucharist/Passion- St. Matthew 29th Day - Imitating Jesus/Indifference to World – Imitation of Christ 30th Day - Royal Road of the Cross – St. Matthew & Imitation of Christ 31st Day - Love of God in the Blessed Sacrament – Imitation/True Dev. 32nd Day - Loving Jesus Above All Things – Imitation/True Devotion 33rd Day - Necessity of Communion – Imitation/True Devotion Jesus Christ Our Last End – True Devotion Nos. 61, 62 Jesus Christ our Savior, true God and true Man, ought to be the last end of all our devotions, else they are false and delusive. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things. We labor not, as the Apostle says, except to render every man perfect in Jesus Christ; because it is in Him alone that the whole plentitude of the Divinity dwells together with all the other plenitudes of graces, virtues and perfections. It is in Him alone that we have been blessed with all spiritual benediction; and He is our only Master, Who has to teach us; our only Lord on Whom we ought to depend; our only Head to Whom we must be united; our only Shepherd Who can feed us; our only Way Who can lead us; our only Truth Whom we must believe; our only Life Who can animate us and our only All in all things Who can satisfy us. There has been no other name given under heaven, except the name of Jesus, by which we can be saved. God has laid no other foundation of our salvation, our perfection or our glory than Jesus Christ. Every building which is not built on that firm rock is founded upon the moving sand, and sooner or later infallibly will fall. By Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ, we can do all things; we can render all honor and glory to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit; we can become perfect ourselves, and be to our neighbors a good odor of eternal life. If, then, we establish solid devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ. Devotion to our Lady is necessary for us, as I have already shown, and will show still further hereafter, as a means of finding Jesus Christ perfectly, of loving Him tenderly, of serving Him faithfully. The above text from “True Devotion to Mary” sums up the entire Consecration but we will proceed further in learning how we can obtain a close friendship and knowledge of Jesus. We learn from St John in 8:12 that Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Jesus instructs us that to be truly enlightened and freed of all blindness, we must follow Him. We can get frustrated at ourselves and those around us for not seeing the Truth. If we really analyze the situation, we can see that we are not walking with the Light of Christ – we have strayed from the path of Truth. When we encounter darkness and blindness in the world, we are called upon to pray for ourselves and those who are wandering to search for this Light of the World – Jesus Christ. We might ask ourselves – How can I be fervent? How can I remain faithful to the Light of the World? In our studies this week we will touch on the importance of devotion to the Incarnation of Jesus, the gift of Himself in the Eucharist and the necessity of the cross. These are all essential in understanding Jesus. THE INCARNATION We learn in the True Devotion Nos. 243-254 on the 31st day that we are called to have a special devotion to the Incarnation of the Word. First, to honor the mystery of dependence which God the Son was pleased to have on Mary, for His Father’s glory and our salvation. Secondly, to thank God for the infinite graces He has given Mary and particularly for having chosen Her to be His most holy Mother. St. Louis states that these are the two principal ends of the slavery of Jesus and Mary. The Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ is a profound mystery. One that St. Louis de Montfort says we should meditate on often and have a deep appreciate for. Why? God humbled Himself to become Man in order to be our Redeemer. God Himself chose to be dependent and obedient to Mary as Her Child. St. Louis says that when we think of Mary, we cannot consider Mary without considering the Incarnation. St. Alphonsus says, “In the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, Mary could not have humbled Herself more than She did humble Herself: God on the other hand, could not have exalted Her more than He did exalt Her”. She became the Mother of God. The three Persons of the Holy Trinity freely chose to have need of Mary for the Incarnation, each of them in their own way took her into consideration. The love that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit bore Mary and the riches with which they lavishly endowed her are justified by the role they entrusted to Her. Her role did not consist merely in giving His individual humanity to the Word; She was meant to extend this role to the accomplishment of the whole Christ – Head and members. The Incarnation is the beginning of the act of giving birth to the new humanity in Jesus Christ. St. Louis de Montfort says in the “True Devotion to Mary” that this birthing will only come to an end “at the end of time”. Meaning: “It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through Her that He must reign in the world.” St. Louis continues to says, “God-made-man found freedom in imprisoning Himself in Her womb…He glorified His independence and His majesty in depending upon this loveable Virgin in His Conception, His Birth, His Presentation in the Temple, and in the thirty years of His hidden life. Even at His Death, She had to be present so that He might be united with Her in one Sacrifice.” St. Louis goes further by saying, “Since grace enhances our human nature and glory adds a still greater perfection to grace, it is certain that Our Lord remains in Heaven just as much the Son of Mary as He was on earth. Consequently, He has retained the submissiveness and obedience of the most perfect of all children toward the best of all mothers”. He points out that this dependence is in no way an abasement or imperfection of Jesus. He says, Mary is infinitely inferior to Her Son, Who is God, and that She does not command Him like mothers do on earth. It is different in glory from what it was on earth. Her will is perfectly united to the Will of God – She never acts or desires anything against God’s Will but by Her tender love is interceding for us. What does this mean for us? Why did He do this? This “dependence” is not optional for us, if we are to live in imitation of Jesus. By becoming man, God actually involves us in a filial dependence on Mary, as far as our spiritual life is concerned. It is our responsibility to acknowledge and live it at our own level, as Jesus Himself accepted and lived it at His own. Since this is Mary’s whole reason for being – to be the Mother of the Mystical Body of Christ; we can understand why God so generously lavished Her with profound graces. They were meant in turn to be given to us. The Incarnation is a mystery of love. The association of Mary with the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation entails Her permanent cooperation with Him until the mystery (the entire mission of Christ) is accomplished. St. Louis sees the Incarnation as the seat of Divine Mercy because in it we find Jesus “through Mary”. Mary is really the way of mercy by which Jesus came to us and by which we should go to Him. Let us conclude with how this gave amazing glory to the Father. St. Louis says in the “True Devotion to Mary”, “Jesus gave more glory to God than He would have given had He offered all the sacrifices of the Old Law. In Mary He gave His Father infinite glory, such as His Father had never received from man.” Jesus’ dependence on Mary, consequent of the Incarnation, enabled Him to “Give more glory to God His Father by submitting to His Mother for thirty years than He would have given Him had He converted the whole world by working the greatest miracles.” Could this be the reason Mary is so despised today? Satan is unleashed and has deceived even the elect in rejecting their Mother through their pride. The secret to sanctity is humility – The humility of Jesus and Mary. Let us be humble in imitation of Jesus and accept and embrace and depend on Mary-Our Queen and Mother. Let us repeat the words of Our Mother, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy Word.” THE EUCHARIST The mystery of the Incarnation can help us with our love and understanding of the great gift of Jesus to us in the Blessed Sacrament. When we come to ask Our Lady for her profound humility in accepting the gift of Jesus Himself, we can come to experience ourselves the beauty of the soul of Our Lady as we receive Him in Holy Communion. We should always ask for the gift of humility from Our Lady before receiving Her Son at EACH Communion. This would follow the instruction of St. Louis de Montfort in living by Mary, with Mary, in Mary and for Mary. If we prayed to receive Our Lady in our soul before each Communion, how happy Jesus would be to come to that soul where His Holy Mother dwells. To prepare ourselves for a worthy reception of Jesus in Holy Communion we not only call upon Mary but we ask ourselves the following questions: “Who is it that is coming?” “To whom does He come, and why is He coming?” We can answer, “It is my Creator, who has given me everything that I possess, in whom I live, and move and am. It is God all Powerful, all Wise, all Knowing, all Holy, all Beautiful!” Jesus Christ is coming, the Eternal Son of the Father, who moved by love unspeakable, came down from Heaven into the pure womb of the Virgin, was born into this world and lived as man among sinners! The Good Shepherd is coming to seek His lost sheep; My Redeemer is coming who died on the cross for sinners. To whom is He coming? To a miserable sinner who has not fulfilled the end of his creation, to a steward who has wasted his master’s goods, to a servant who has disobeyed his Lord, to a subject who has rebelled against his Prince, to a redeemed captive who has been unthankful to his Deliverer, to a soldier who has deserted his Commander, to a prodigal child who has turned his back upon his Father, to a spouse who has been unfaithful to her Bridegroom. HOW GREAT IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN HIM WHO IS RECEIVED AND THE SINNER WHO RECEIVES! Who can think of this and not feel himself completely unworthy of such a grace! Does this not stir into a repentant soul the desire to receive on one’s knees and (on one’s tongue). The saints with their lives teach us that to possess Love is to love Him; it is to allow oneself to be penetrated by His fire – by the Holy Spirit like our Lady. On our own, we cannot love. This love comes from the Holy Spirit, and where ever the Holy Spirit is – there is His Spouse, Mary. Mary with the Holy Spirit has been the one who has nourished us with the Body and Blood of Her Son in Holy Communion. The Dispenser of Graces has entered into our soul with the Holy Spirit to give us the graces Jesus wants us to have. Love comes from God and is given back to Him. This is why we must humble ourselves at all times knowing that any charity, any love, any grace coming from our souls originated by the Holy Spirit with the cooperative work of Mary. This is exactly what Our Lady was saying during the Magnificat. The Carmelite mystics call this passive love not because the soul does not move but because the soul does not move itself. The Holy Spirit moves it and it works under His Divine impulse. Therefore, it can truly be said that the Holy Spirit loves in the soul and that the soul loves with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is rightly called fire – Divine Fire. The Holy Spirit possesses the soul and that soul burns by a divine fire. Charity or love is the intimate fire that burns the soul, but the Holy Spirit, present in the soul is both the cause of that fire and its glorious end. At first the soul does not burn totally because it needs to be purified in order that the Divine Fire may perfectly penetrate and possess it. Little by little the divine penetration is effected and the soul gradually burns more thoroughly, more profoundly. The divine penetration becomes so perfect, the spiritual combustion so complete that the soul is “deified” – changed into fire – into Love. St. John of the Cross explains this with the burning of a log in a fire. The fire is difficult to get started on the log but once it takes hold of it – it is consumed and becomes ablaze – so much so that the wood is transformed. St. Paul states in 1Cor. 6:17 “he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.” It is the Holy Spirit that gave Christ to the world at the moment of His conception. Likewise, in the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit gives us Jesus through Mary. Every time we Communicate, our souls and hearts become the temple of the Most Holy Trinity with the Father, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. Christian holiness must be realized according to the relationship we have with the Eucharist, it must be Eucharistic holiness. We are united in Christ. The offering of ourselves and the Church would be nothing without Christ; it would be neither holy nor acceptable to God as we are only sinful creatures. The offering of the Body of Christ must be accompanied by the offering of one’s own body. On the altar, the priest acts in the place of Christ, the High Priest, but also in the place of Christ the High Victim. Each member of the Church is simultaneously both priest and victim while acknowledging the essential difference between the ministerial priesthood and the universal priesthood of all baptized persons. So when we unite ourselves to Jesus and offer ourselves up with Him through Mary to the Father, we are united in such a way that we too are Eucharistic. Our life’s little actions, words, and deeds become crumbs of the Eucharistic Jesus that feed the world. It is because of the Eucharist that love enters the world. We are in the world for the most sublime of reasons – to be living sacrifices in imitation of Jesus. The secret of happiness lies in a total offering of one’s self just like Mary – “Let it be done unto me according to Thy Word”. We can achieve this same offering through this Consecration. She will allow us to withhold NOTHING back so that by Her to Jesus we may receive the Holy Spirit – THE SPIRIT OF LOVE. The Holy Spirit impels the soul very strongly to offer oneself without ceasing like the log that is transformed into fire. The Eucharistic soul does not desire anything but love for the Father and seeing that HE IS NOT LOVED, that soul soon undergoes the martyrdom of martyrdoms – the sorrow of Jesus in the Host that cries “I thirst”. That soul now hungers for souls to satiate the thirst of Jesus. That soul feels the pain of Christ’s rejection in the world and becomes a victim of love of the Heavenly Father and shares in the Cross of Jesus Christ. THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST Those who truly love Jesus want to share in His sufferings. They want to know His Heart. They want to comfort His Heart. This is who Mary is. Our Consecration will lead us to experience this sharing of the “cross”. One cannot be united to Christ if we are not united to the cross. Jesus cannot be seen in this life without the cross. It gives Jesus consolation to know that He can share this passion of horrible human ingratitude with His Eucharistic souls. It is a means of reparation. If we truly love Him and want to console Him whom we love, how can we deny Him the gift of ourselves in sharing in His Passion. We must ask Him like St. Francis of Assisi to not be allowed to die without sharing in that love for the salvation of souls by uniting ourselves to Jesus for the glory of the Father. The highest love for the Father is the complete accomplishment of His Will in the perfect and personal participation by every soul in the sacrifice of Jesus. Since Mary was the only soul who perfectly accomplished this union with Jesus on the cross, it is only wise to seek to accomplish this ourselves with Her, in Her and by Her. To love the Cross, we must see Jesus on it and understand the personal and indestructible ties that bind Him to it. To love the Cross, we must experience the sweet and strong attraction which Jesus Crucified exercises over souls, as He Himself promised in John 12:32 when He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself.” When man is abandoned to himself, he hates pain but when the fire of the Holy Spirit burns within his soul, there is nothing he loves so intensely. It seems like madness but that madness is the madness of a God in love, who willed to die for us and who left on earth this sublime folly for us to share in. The Holy Spirit, who communicates the science of the cross and infuses love for it in souls; also gives to chosen souls a participation in it according to His loving designs. We must remember that martyrdom itself without love means nothing. Hell is suffering but it is sterile, desolate and full of despair. In order for sacrifice to have value, it must be the fruit of love and to have infinite value, it must be the fruit of infinite love. All the souls who wish to share in the sacrifice of Jesus, all who wish like Him to offer themselves to the Father in their Holy Communions must offer themselves through the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit with His Spouse, Mary who unites our poor sorrows with the infinite sorrows of Jesus, mingles our blood with the Divine Blood, nails us to the Cross with the Divine Victim and fuses our hearts with the Divine Heart of Jesus. It is important to understand that the Eucharist is the sacrifice of Calvary – the sublime mystery of the Cross. Jesus unites with us in the Eucharist and asks us to prolong His Passion, His martyrdom, His immolation to “complete what is lacking to the Passion of Christ” Col 1:24. The crucifixion of Christ, in anyone who is His member, is fruitful, supremely fruitful in obtaining graces of salvation for souls and for glorifying the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom belongs all honor and glory. In conclusion, when Jesus left the earth to go to the Father, He wanted to stay with us until the consummation of the world, so He instituted His Sacrament of Love – the Eucharist. When we partake of this great Sacrament, we are called to be Eucharistic souls, like Mary. We partake in the sufferings of Christ on the cross as He cries “I thirst”. We are called to be Jesus in the world but since Jesus was formed in the Immaculate Womb of Mary, we cannot nor will we be formed by the Holy Spirit other than in this same pure Womb of our Heavenly Mother. In order for Mary to form Jesus within us, we must imitate Her loving abandonment, Her immaculate purity and her hidden life of prayer. We must always say, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Your Word.” |
AuthorBernadette Porter is a Traditional Catholic, a wife of 42 years with 6 adult home-schooled children and 6 grandchildren. A sincere devotion to Mary, the Mother of God leads me to want to share "The Church's best kept secret" - Mary! Archives
March 2023
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