Greetings in Jesus and Mary...
Monday starts a new week in the Total Consecration - We are half way through! As we read the passages for the next seven days, it is recommended at this time to increase our awareness of Mary’s presence. This can be increased by frequent visits to the church and praying before her image in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. We can say little prayers throughout our day to increase our awareness of her presence and that of the Holy Spirit’s. Since we are in the Novena to the Holy Spirit, we can pray: " Immaculate Heart of Mary, please send forth the graces of your flame of Love to all of mankind." or "Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your beloved Spouse." If possible, we can make a pilgrimage to a nearby shrine to show our eagerness for our closeness to her. 20th Day - St. Luke Chap. 2, Nativity, Finding of Jesus in the Temple 21st Day - Secret of Mary Nos. 23-24, True devotion to Mary 22nd Day - True Devotion N. 105-110, Characteristics of true devotion 23rd Day - True Devotion N. 120-121, Nature of perfect devotion 24th Day - True Devotion N. 152-164, Easy, short, perfect, secure way 25th Day - True Devotion N. 213-225, Wonderful effects of this devotion 26th Day - True Devotion N. 12-38, Relation of Jesus with Mary Notice that most of our readings are taken from the writings of St. Louis de Montfort. It would be really great if more than what was required could be read as well. If you do not have the book, Secret of Mary written by St. Louis de Montfort, this too could be purchased – if not now, maybe at a later date. May the Heart of Jesus give us a spark of His love for His Mother as we begin to draw closer to her during this next week. UNION WITH MARY Since God is love, let us ask Our Blessed Mother to teach us to love. We will be judged by how much we lived our lives with this love for God and neighbor. Let us begin our search of Mary by asking Her to show us Her Heart-full of love. Let us contemplate the Heart of Jesus’ Mother, the Heart with its pure immaculate blood, the Heart from which was taken the first drops of the Precious Blood, the Heart that was pierced and broken with sorrow for us Her children. May we love Mary with some of that fire that Jesus desires should be enkindled upon the earth towards Her. Let our prayer be: Mary teach me to love with Your love – let me love with Your Heart! Her passions, her thoughts, her actions will be placed into the hearts of her children. We should endeavor to have no thoughts and desires but the thoughts and desires of Mary. This desire is not wrong since Mary’s desires are always the desires of God – Her will is perfectly united to God’s. It should be the desire of every child of Mary to look forward to when their soul is really and truly united to God so strongly that He will be able to make use of it as He wills, knowing that there will be no obstacle put in the way of the working of His Holy Spirit. We must strive to constantly keep watch over our hearts to keep them pure and our souls empty of everything that is not of God. We must be vigilant in asking Mary to keep us humble. She will teach us that every grace given to us by God through Her should be faithfully attributed to God alone and not take any credit for ourselves. God will then be able to use us for His greater glory knowing that He can trust that the work will be done in union with the Heart of Mary- one that has been molded by Her. How happy we will be once we are founded in Truth -- seeing the things of God by the light given to us by the Holy Spirit through the prayers and intercession of Our Mother Mary! This is the grand effect of this devotion. St. Louis de Montfort states that Mary’s faithful servant who advances not to the first, second or third step alone, but who makes this devotion their habitual state are souls given graces so great that these graces may be in some sense compared even to those enjoyed by our first parents in their state of innocence. This happy state is not gained without conflict, without struggle, without great molestations from the evil one. However, those who place themselves into the hands of Mary are placed securely therein and are protected so strongly from any assaults as long as we have recourse to Her. (Use of the sacramentals of Her Rosary and Brown Scapular will give us this protection and grace in a more sure way) Before this happy time can be experienced, the child of Mary must ask for the grace of profound humility, trust and deep love. We must pray: “Mary, please take from me everything which displeases God and replace it with that which is pleasing to God.” Depending on the state of our souls, this may mean “minor surgery” or “major surgery”. We must be patient and trusting in this prayer and believe that the Holy Spirit will work in us through Our Mother Mary. We must leave ourselves in Her hands to do with as She wishes. If we persist in having our own way, secretly if not openly, we will spoil Mary’s work – or delay it. We must remain detached, without self-seeking or self-will so that the Holy Spirit can work through Mary in us. It is the delight of God to pour forth His Holy Spirit upon souls rooted in Mary. Once this work has begun to take place in our souls, we must regard any charge which we are given in life as a charge given by God Himself. We may wish to do something else, but God wishes this particular thing. Therefore, we should do it gladly and with great love for God. It is not the greatness of what we do, but THE WAY in which we perform it that will render us pleasing to God. His Way – not our way. “I must decrease, and He must increase.” Through this devotion of consecrating ourselves “To Jesus through Mary,” we are beginning a work in time that is to influence eternity. We are sowing a grain of mustard seed that will spring up and become a great tree. It will gradually sprout and bring forth leaves, blossoms, and finally fruit – fruit which God Himself will delight in. God, through Mary, will give us great graces, graces given us for the sake of others as much as for ourselves. (and always for His glory) Let us resolve to perform all we do in union with Jesus and Mary. What delight His Sacred Heart will experience as His children come before Him, humble, simple, dead to themselves, but with Mary living and dwelling in them. Let us resolve to live this Consecration well until we are called home by Our Lady and presented to the Blessed Trinity. * * * * * * * So that more souls may be called to consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary let us pray: “Immaculate Heart of Mary, please send forth the graces of Your Flame of Love to all of mankind.” I have included an extra talk to this. They are the words of Jesus and Mary. They express Their great desire for souls – it should be our desire if we are to strive to be one with Their Hearts. At the bottom is the Fatima prayer of reparation. God bless you and may we keep each other in prayer during these next 7 days. In the 4th Chapter of the City of God – The Incarnation by Mother Mary Agreda, Our Lady has stated in the instructions these following words: “When I turned from the consideration of this most liberal condescension of the Most High, to the perception and understanding of the foolish hard-heartedness of the sinners, My soul was pierced with an arrow of mortal anguish – which remained for life. Many times the Most High in order to heal the affliction and consternation of My heart in this sorrow, sought to console Me by saying, “Accept Thou, my Spouse, the gifts which the blind and ignorant world in its unworthiness despises and is incapable of receiving and understanding.” “Be now My companion in the sorrow which I suffered and which is so little noticed by the living. In order to imitate Me, you must deny yourself, forget yourself entirely and crown your heart with the thorns of sorrow at the behavior of mortals.” “Weep in seeing them laugh at their eternal damnation, for such weeping is the most legitimate occupation of the true sorrow of My Most Holy Son.” Words from Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary: “And He showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin into which Satan hurls such crowds of them, that made Him form the design of manifesting His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure for Him all the honor and love possible, might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which this Heart is the source. He should be honored under the figure of this Heart of flesh, and its image should be exposed…He promised me that wherever this image should be exposed with a view to showing It special honor, He would pour forth His blessings and graces. This devotion was the last effort of His love that He would grant to men in these latter ages, in order to withdraw them from the empire of Satan which He desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion.” ***** “O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we adore You profoundly. We offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles throughout the world, in reparation for the offenses, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. And through the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we beg the conversion of poor sinners.” (To be said often in reparation)
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Monday, May 10th starts the second week of our 33 Day Preparation. Below is the Preparation for this:
KNOWLEDGE OF SELF The next 7 days will be to examine the knowledge of self. The days break down as follows: 13th day - St. Luke – Need for Prayer 14th day - Imitation of Christ – Obedience of a humble heart 15th day - St. Luke – Need for Penance True Devotion to Mary – Need of Mary in order to die to self 16th day - True Devotion to Mary – Prayer 17th day - Imitation of Christ – Judgment & Punishment of sinners St. Luke – Account of Stewardship 18th day - St. Luke – Unprofitable Servants Imitation of Christ – Suffering 19th day - St. Luke – Spirit of Children KNOWLEDGE OF SELF We live very busy lives. Our minds are divided with so many thoughts that often times good things that we learn are forgotten or rarely considered once we have learned them. We are so wrapped up in the business of everyday life that we do not take the time to think of things that are important such as what we are, where we are, why we are, where we come from, where we are going, why we are going there, etc. What are we? We are creatures of God. Where are we? We are living in God’s world of mercy. Why are we? We are because of the infinite goodness, mercy and love of God; we are created to love Him. Where do we come from? We come from nothing. Are we going to be saved or damned? Some will be saved because they will have done the Will of God on earth; some are going to be damned because they will refuse to do the Will of God and thus do their own will. We are creatures of a good and loving Creator. We are made by this good God for Himself. We are placed in a world where God has an enemy; but in a world where Jesus dwells, though in a hidden manner. We are placed here with every means of defeating our enemy; but some people care not to use these means and are easily seduced by him; others fight for a while and then grow tired and give way; some fight one day and not the next, others basely desert God and go over to His enemy. Some however, fight bravely and perseveringly and defend not only themselves, but others from the snares of Satan. We are in a world where we may be very happy, but where many of us, through our own fault, are not happy. We have grand heavenly riches at our disposal. We have means daily and hourly of increasing our happiness in heaven and earth. We have only to acknowledge that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from our Good Heavenly Father. There is literally no end to these graces, the precious gifts God bestows upon us are given to us so long as we give glory to Him. We must remember that when they are given to us, it is to better ourselves and others for His Kingdom. They are never given to us because of any good found already in us – we are merely empty vessels or should try to be empty for Him. There is absolutely nothing God will not give to us since He has already given Himself to us through His Only Begotten Son Jesus. Yet how is it that we still find ourselves discontented and unhappy in this world? It is because we have not yet given up ourselves. We have not made ourselves empty vessels. We have not cast away self-love. We are called to turn our whole selves to God but we are so engrossed with ourselves. We are so bent upon keeping our mind upon ourselves and those around us. We busy ourselves with matters that do not concern us, without the intention of doing good This makes us of the earth or earthly. Our lives might be beautiful under the most commonplace circumstances. When we think of religious cloisters, we think of dedicated souls to God. Many times we might have the temptation-“If only I could go live as a monk away from the world”. This is stated not to demean the religious life for it is a calling above the world but we have not been called to that life. God’s Will for us is to live in the world as His laity. We must find holiness in our daily lives but we sigh over our lives, and return to our accustomed work in the same earthly spirit as before, when we might return to it with a determination of making our lives heavenly, of living to give glory to God, of living upright in His presence, of walking before Him, striving for perfection, of imitating our holy God by being holy in thought and word. Let us think of the angels and how they fell away during their trial and soon were in Hell. They had fallen from a holy place – Heaven. Our place of probation on this earth is not so very different from theirs. Now that Jesus has come into this world taking our human nature as well as His Divine Nature, we can no longer say that the angels in the heavens, during their time of probation, were nearer to God, more closely united to Him than we are. No, and let us carefully consider this truth. Jesus is found here in our tabernacles – the source of all grace. Also, Mary, the Dispenser of His Graces, is extremely eager to make all of us saints if we just seek her help. We just have to will to make our lives holy and they will be holy and pleasing to God. The life of a Religious is holy because their sanctity consists in fulfilling the Will of God. We too can attain that holiness in the state to which God has called us. We simply need to endeavor to be determined to make every effort to allow God to unite Himself with our soul by the means He has afforded us. God has given us wonderful examples of many saints living in the world, having the most ordinary duties and yet were favored by Him with His love and were united to Him in a remarkable way. Of course, there is not a better example than Mary. She is such a means of grace for us in so many ways by not only being the Dispenser of those graces but also by being a model of God’s grace. She did not hurry and scramble through life and miss its dignity and beauty. She let God’s grace penetrate every aspect of her life and make it beautiful. Think of how the sun in the sky, when it shines upon even little places, how it makes everything beautiful. We are called to let the sun of God’s Presence be ever before us, and we will walk through life with His light surrounding us. We are not called to do extraordinary things but to lead simple, humble lives. Not that the extraordinary lives of some saints are not to be admired; they are to be admired; they give great glory to God. We are not all called to do extraordinary things yet we can find that same love and peace they found in accomplishing God’s Will and accepting what it is God is calling us to. Everything around us seems commonplace and ordinary but we are ourselves – extraordinary. We are called to be temples of the Living God. We tend to miss the extraordinary that is around us. God lives within us! Let us sit quietly in the Presence of God and with our good angel at our side, and with Mary Our Mother, and ask God to show us His Goodness. Let us think over what we are and where we are and why we are living as far as God will reveal to us the reason of our creation. If we knew true happiness; if we understood the gifts of God; if we realized the goodness of God in creating us; in placing us in this world of mercy; in destining for us a glorious eternity with Him, in our happiness in being members of His Church, in living in the midst of priceless treasures of which the Church is the custodian and which she gives to her children through the hands of Mary – how different we would be! If we realized more especially the Real Presence of Jesus with us! Yes, He is ever with us, Our Lord and Master, God made Man. The Dear Lord who walked the streets of Jerusalem and whose tender Heart throbbed with love – is with us still! His Heart beats with the same undying love for men, and sadly the fact is that so little love Him in return. We have all we can desire since all that is desirable may be obtained from God by prayer. He desires to show us mercy – He desires we should be saved and live with Him for all eternity. May we ask Our Holy Mother Mary to intercede for us in showing us who we are and where we are going. May she give us the graces to be faithful to Jesus for all eternity. Below is a list of questions for our reflection during these 7 days of trying to acquire “Knowledge of Self”. This is just a little help aid – taken from the book, “According to the Effects of Holy Communion and the Eight Beatitudes” by Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik, SVD Continue to read out of the Preparation Book and/or "True Devotion to Mary". Also try to fit a rosary in along with the prayers given. May we keep each other in prayer. Hello Everyone: Here is an opportunity to prepare or renew for the Consecration to Jesus Through Mary during the month of Mary! With all that is going on in the world with the Globalist takeover of individual nations and forcing an experimental injection into all of us... we need to cling to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary for the graces needed for the days to come. What a better way than to place all of this in the hands of Mary to be presented to Her Son - Jesus Christ! May 31st will be the Consecration date. It is the Feast of Mary - the traditional feast day of the Queenship of Mary. This will be a beautiful way to truly make the month of May belong to Mary in a special way with our prayers, penances and meditations. I am sure it will bring peace to our troubled hearts during this time of tyranny. You will need the book "True Devotion to Mary" by St. Louis deMontfort and the Preparation book. I will post the links below in order for you to find them. You can also find PDF available to make it easy on the computer without a book. During this entire 33 days we are asked to spend some time reading, meditating on a certain passage and praying. This is broken down into four sections: 12 days – Withdrawing from the World 7 days - Knowledge of Self 7 days – Knowledge of Mary 7 days – Knowledge of Jesus The book “Preparation for Total Consecration” is our guide as to what each day proposes. The guide can be found at the back of some "True Devotion to Mary" books as well but I have posted a PDF link below. We can add readings from “True Devotion to Mary” as we are allowed in our daily lives. It is proposed that we not only say the prayers in the book but try to add a Rosary and if possible – Daily Mass (for extra graces). It is also recommended that making a good Confession before we begin the 33 days and just before the Consecration date would afford us a deeper commitment and more grace. There are other methods but I encourage the use of St. Louis deMontfort (and so does the Old Rule of Carmel). It is in the Old Rule that this consecration draws us closer to Jesus through Mary and so is encouraged. You can find this Old Rule on this website. I will post a link below to help you navigate. The first week starts April 28th, which is this Weds. The first 12 Days is to divest ourselves of the World. This is to understand the conflict that the world gives us. We need to understand the enemies of the Church which are: the devil, the world and the flesh. Contrary to modern ideas - the world is an enemy! This is a new idea for some and it may even be neglected in some forms of Consecration because we have integrated the ways of the world with our religious beliefs causing us to be mediocre which is repulsive to Our Lord. Therefore, St. Louis deMontfort gives us perennial Truth! Times change but the Truth NEVER CHANGES! God's ways yesterday are God's ways today - contrary to popular belief. THE FIRST TWELVE DAYS WITHDRAWING FROM THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD The meditations should be made in the presence of Our Lady. We should start these 33 days off by asking her to show us each day what it is we are trying to discover on this journey. The spirit of the world is opposed to the Spirit of God. It is critical to be serious about this section because the more room we clear in our souls, the more room the Holy Spirit has to fill it. Begin the daily meditation not only in the company of Mary but with the desire to start a new life with Jesus through her. We must wish to give ourselves entirely to her as He did. Mary is longing to make another Jesus of us. It is by the operation of the Holy Spirit that we will have this new life in Christ. We must draw the resolution from each meditation to desire earnestly to be emptied of the evil spirit, the spirit of the world, and our own selfish spirit, that there may be in us no obstruction to God’s Spirit and to being transformed in Christ. Repeating little prayers throughout the day and keeping the presence of God always before us will be helpful. Throughout the first week, we are to ask Mary to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us about what it exactly is that keeps us from her Son. She will expose these things to our mind so that we can renounce them. It is critical that we trust ourselves entirely to God and His grace to accomplish removing the obstacles from our souls. He is more anxious to assist us in overcoming these defects that we are in overcoming them. It is important to understand that everything is God’s grace. We must understand grace and its value if we are to not be of the spirit of the world. Grace is the life of God in our souls – the more grace – the more God dwells within that soul. We should eagerly seek to acquire and preserve this grace. We can acquire it through practicing His presence, prayers, Mass, spiritual reading, acts of love, etc. We can preserve this grace by staying far from sin and going to Confession often. “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it.” We must have constant recourse to God and not neglect the seemingly smallest grace because the smallest grace is great. We must use all the natural means God has given us in His service but we must remember that it is by God’s grace that we can ever succeed. An example of the spirit of the world would be for one to always look to self or man for the answer or solution instead of God. And even when the answer or solution is given – the world gives the credit NOT to God who is always the giver of all good things. So our goal during these 12 first days is to come to understand the difference of the world vs. God. The spirit of the world is so a part of our lives that sometimes we do not see where the difference lies. The passages in the “Preparation Book” will help us to come to understand this. Praying the Litany of the Holy Spirit will give us enlightenment to see these differences. POINTS FOR THE FIRST WEEK
God bless you in this endeavor. - I will post Knowledge of Self just before this time period begins. PS - I do not recommend using the "33 Days to Morning Glory". It is an excellent book to help encourage one to make this Consecration as it gives the lives of four that have made it. It is missing some critical steps that St. Louis wants in order for this Consecration to be fruitful. Again, one can read it for inspiration but the Traditional means of Consecration should be pursued with St. Louis de Montfort's way. God bless you through the prayers and intercession of Our Holy Mother Mary! Hello Everyone: Below is a beautiful story... found on the TFP site but it is taken from City of God written by Mother Mary Agreda. We can read this and gain strength and confidence in our good Queen and Mother.... "In her City of God, Venerable Maria of Agreda, a XVII Century Conceptionist nun and mystic, to whom the Blessed Mother dictated her life, writes of a marvelous event in the early Christian Church. After the first Pentecost, one of the five thousand first converts was a girl called Lillian. One day she fell gravely ill, and the devil, capitalizing on her bodily weakness, and the fact that she had given in to a few sins, took the form of a woman, and paid her sick-calls. Little by little, by slandering the disciples of Jesus and the Christian community, the fiend introduced doubts in Lillian’s mind about her new-found Faith. At first the sick girl resisted, speaking of the peace and kindness of the beautiful lady who was Jesus’ Mother. But the devil assured Lillian that she was the worst of all. In the end, Lillian gave up her Faith. One of the disciples of Jesus on visiting and finding Lillian’s attitude changed, tried to win the girl back to Christ, but to no avail. Deeply concerned, he informed the Apostle John. St. John immediately visited the young woman and was able to see legions of devils surrounding her sick bed. Though the devils recoiled at his sight, so deceived was the girl, that he could not make a difference. He then had recourse to the Blessed Mother, who, at the time was living in Jerusalem. On hearing of the case, Mary Most Holy implored her divine Son for the welfare and salvation of this young strayed lamb. She then made ready to visit the girl with St. John. Just then, several angels appeared, and gallantly ushering Holy Mary onto a throne of clouds, carried her to Lillian’s side. As soon as the great lady set foot on the threshold of the sufferer’s door, the demons infesting the room took chaotic flight, tripping over each other in their haste, and seeking refuge in the depths of Hell. With the air cleared, Holy Mary sat by the dying girl, and with gentle words sweetly brought her back into her Son’s fold. Lillian wept tears of repentance and asked for the last Sacraments, which St. John administered. Thus, with her Mother holding her hand, Lillian expired. As if not enough, Our Lady, with her prayers, made up for the girl’s time in Purgatory, and summoning one of her angels, bid him deliver the purified soul to heaven. So, when saying the Hail Mary, may we stress: “…pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.” By A.F. Phillips Hello Everyone: May we honor Our Blessed Mother in a very beautiful way today. May we decide to be faithful to wearing Her Scapular and help others to see the graces in wearing it. Please pray the Rosary during this 54 day novena before elections. Archbishop Vigano is heading this plea for all Catholics to join in. Link below. May we increase our Rosaries each and every day as we see ourselves creeping closer to Communism as time ticks forward. May we thank the Eternal Father for the great gift of His Son Jesus and our Good Queen and Mother... Mary. He knew we needed Her!! He is to be thanked for these great gifts for our salvation. God loves us so much! May we love Him in return. Take care and God bless all of you. Holy Mother Mary, please pray for us! Eternal Father, bless and protect us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Hello Everyone: Today is the Feast day of St. Elijah. 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 webite, 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. 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 after the battle with the Antichrist. 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! Hello Everyone: To demonstrate the importance of Mary’s Scapular, here are some quotes and writings of previous Popes over the centuries. Pope Leo XI At the Papal Investiture , when his Scapular was removed accidentally from his shoulders, he said: “Leave me Mary, lest Mary leave me.” Pope Pius IX On Dec. 8, 1854, he defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He is noted to say: “This most extraordinary gift of the Scapular – from the Mother of God to Saint Simon Stock – rings its great usefulness not only to the Carmelite Family of Mary but also to all the rest of the faithful who wish, affiliated to that Family, to follow Mary with a special devotion.” Pope Leo XIII He stated regarding Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and Her Scapular, “Its nobility of origin,” he said, “its venerable antiquity, its extraordinary spread I the Church, the spiritualizing effects produced by it and the outstanding miracles worked in virtue of it, render the Scapular of Carmel commendable to a wondrous degree.” At he was getting close to his death, he said, “Let us make a novena to Our Lady of the Scapular and I shall be ready to die.” Pope Benedict XV He declared, “Let all of you have a common language and a common armor; the language the sayings of the Gospel; the common armor, the Scapular of the Virgin of Carmel, which you all ought to wear and which enjoys the singular privilege of protection even after death.” Pope Pius XI He was heard to say: “I learned to love the Scapular Virgin in the arms of my mother.” On the Feast of St. Simon Stock, May 16th 1892, Pope Leo XIII gave Scapular wearers a great gift. His Holiness gave to the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel the privilege of a plenary indulgence, applicable to the souls in Purgatory, to all who visit a Carmelite Church on that day. In 1912, Pope Pius X gave soldiers and sailors the unique privilege of enrolling themselves in the Scapular Confraternity. All the soldier or sailor needs do is put on the Scapular or the Scapular Medal previously blessed by a priest having power to enroll In the Scapular. By the very fact of putting on the cloth Scapular or the Medal (reciting at the same time any prayer to Mary) the serviceman automatically becomes a member of the Scapular Confraternity. Also, During WWII, “The Scapular Militia” sent out millions of blessed Scapulars and Medals, bringing Mary’s protection to our servicemen. WOW – we have come a long way away from such devotions. Our servicemen are committing suicide at an alarming rate and we have a Pope who believes in pagan idols. Holy Mother Mary - bring us back to God! Our Lady of Mt. Carmel – pray for us to be heroes at a time of Great Apostasy! Hello Everyone: The Brown Scapular is a visible garment with great meaning. The spiritual significance of a simple garment is perhaps as old as human society itself. A garment has always signified something more important than itself. From the time of Elijah the Prophet, a garment had tremendous significance in Carmel. Elijah placed his mantle upon Eliseus who took his place. Eliseus immediately understood the significance of the gesture for the sacred text adds, “and rising up he went away, followed Elijah and ministered to him.” (1Kings 19:21) When the time came for the ascent of Elijah in the fiery chariot, his successor asked him to leave him his double spirit. Elijah informed him that he had asked for a very difficult thing but promised it would be his; and as he ascended into the clouds, his mantle fell upon Eliseus, bringing him the double spirit of his master. It was not the garment that was significant to him but what it brought with it – the graces of his master. St. Paul does not hesitate to call the human nature of Christ a Habit. The Redeemer Himself compared grace to a wedding garment, and the Apostle of the Gentiles loved to use the same metaphor of a garment when exhorting us to put on Christ and to clothe ourselves with his virtues. A garment very special is the one Our Blessed Mother made for her Son Jesus. We can imagine our Blessed Mother making the swaddling clothes in preparation for the birth of Her Son; and when she set out for Bethlehem she made sure to bring them with Her, that She might wrap Him up and lay Him in the manger. Later, during the quiet hours of Nazareth, She prepared the seamless garment He wore to Calvary. She was always mindful of her duty to clothe her Child. Our Blessed Mother extends her motherhood to all the redeemed – to the mystical Body of Christ. Before He died on the Cross Christ proclaimed Her our Mother; and one would almost expect Her to have a Garment for us! Long before She appeared to St. Simon Stock, the Habit was a sign of devotion to Her. It was worn by the Brothers of the Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, who were known for their devotion to Her. The Marian character of the Habit was known to all and recognized by several Popes throughout the ages in official documents. Almost eight centuries of Christian devotion have helped reveal the hidden treasure of the Scapular. Saints have meditated upon it and scholars have studied it. The Scapular is a sign of our special adoption by the Mother of God and it is graced by many miracles through the prayers and intercession of our good Queen and Mother. The thought that from the moment She spreads her garment over us, Her special love envelops our whole being should be the greatest force for good in our daily lives. It should inspire us with the profoundest sentiments of love and gratitude and bring us to dedicate ourselves to Her in time and in eternity. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us! Hello Everyone: Our Lady, Herself, has asked us to wear this Brown Scapular. First, knowing that it is a garment given to St. Simon Stock as a means of help should inspire us to wear it. The Order of Carmel was experiencing many difficulties at that time (and today in fact) and She came to give him this gift in order for the Order to seek her protection and help. She came also sharing the promise that anyone who dies wearing this – will not suffer the fires of Hell. Today, we have humanist theologians who want to debunk this promise and throw the whole idea way. First, it cannot be proven scientifically - maybe because it is spiritual. Also these humanists claim that there is not hard evidence that this apparition to St. Simon Stock really took place. We only have 750 years of miracles to show that IT MUST HAVE HAPPENED. Well, humanists do not believe in miracles so that is no good. It is very sad what is happening in the world and in the Church today with all the isms we have right now. When I was in the Novus Order Third Order Carmelites with the “updated” Rule, I was promoting enrollment in the small Brown Scapular and received resistance to this from authority. I was not only shocked but thought I could stand on the proof that Our Lady came to Fatima on the last apparition in October 1917 as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel holding a Scapular in her hand. Sr. Lucia claimed that the Rosary and the Brown Scapular are inseperable – they go together. Our Formation Director responded: “Oh Bernadette, you know that is a private revelation”. What – seriously! Actually, Fatima is a public revelation and should be taken more seriously which is why I have this website. It is public because the miracle of the sun was public and was even recorded as actually happening with the local freemasonic newspaper – “O Seculo”. Not only did she come at Fatima as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel but St. Bernadette felt an irresistible urge which she had not felt for three months prior, to visit the grotto of Massabielle. It was July 16th, 1858 and during this eighteenth and last apparition, Mary did not speak to her but Bernadette declared, “Never did She look so beautiful.” In a letter written on July 10, 1958 for the centennial of the apparitions, Mgr. Theas, Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, stressed Mary’s choice of July 16th saying, “The Blessed Virgin in choosing this date for her last visit to the grotto, revealed her purpose. This was surely to draw to our attention the solemnity of July 16th, to remind us that her title of “Our Lady of Mt. Carmel” is one that is particularly dear to her. She would also seem to have expressed her particular love for the Carmelite Order, its spirituality, its saints, doctors, and all who belong to its three orders.” I will hope to have more tomorrow and until then – spread the word of Our Lady’s Brown Scapular and its protections and prayers from Our Lady during this time of great unrest in the world. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us! St. Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta, pray for us!. St. Bernadette, pray for us! Hello Everyone: Welcome to Day 2 of our Novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Today we are going to focus on the fact that to wear our Brown Scapular is to trust in Our Mother's love for us by dispensing the love and grace of Jesus. Each time we see our Scapular, it should remind us that we are to be the child of Mary that would please the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. We should daily kiss it because it will remind us of our wearing it and it also gives a 500 day indulgence for each time it is kissed. It is Our Lady's garment and it is worn with great joy knowing we are placing ourselves under Her Mantle and begging Her to keep watch over our souls. This by no means is to be understood that we are to make no more effort in growing in virtue. The job is still ours to continue to grow in God's grace. The constant daily practice of wearing the scapular, is therefore an act of faithful homage to Our Lady but, as St. Alphonsus says, the desire to amend one's life is also necessary before we can be morally certain that She will be the cause of our eternal salvation. There are countless souls in Heaven today who owe their imperishable crowns to the special intercession of Our Lady. There is a wealth of theology in a little story that Bishop Sheen loved to tell, "St. Peter approached Christ and complained that he found souls in Heaven who had no right to be there. The Savior looked at him and said: "Peter, I am not blaming you, for no matter how well you guard the gate to Heaven, they get in; when you close the gate, my Mother opens the window." Every mother's love is extravagant simply because it is. How often the mother has more love and affection in her heart for an afflicted child than one that is not afflicted. We could imagine that Our Lady seeing and hearing the good thief on the cross near Her Son was praying for him. The prayers of Our Lady standing at the foot of the Cross won for him not only forgiveness but a place in Heaven that very day. Her Heart beats in unison with Her Son's and they love us together. Many do not understand this concept. Mary on Her own can do nothing. She is only a vessel of God's grace.... but She is full of God's grace and She is appointed to be the dispenser of that grace. Mary has been given the privilege of being the Mother of God and therefore the Mother of us as well. Her Will is always perfectly in union with the Will of God. She can never ask for something that is not the Will of God. Our salvation is the Will of God but justice that a soul deserves can be mitigated with the prayers of the Blessed Mother. Why not wear the Brown Scapular and beg Her to pray for you? Holy Mother Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death! Our Lady of Mt. Carmel - pray for us! |
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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