 Greetings in Jesus and Mary...
Happy Feast Day of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary! As everyone knows, Michelangelo painted the frescos in the Sistine Chapel. He finished the painting of “The Last Judgment” around 1541 while preparations were being made for one of the greatest councils of the Church: The Council of Trent in 1545. This Council was to launch the counter-Reformation against Martin Luther and his denial of certain doctrines. Michelangelo was an ardent son of the Church. He incorporated in the painting all those doctrines being challenged by the Protestant “Reformers”. One of these doctrines which the reformers denied was honor and devotion to Mary, the Mother of God so the artist put Mary at the right hand of Her Son. Just beneath Her, he painted a huge rosary hanging down over the ramparts of Heaven on which two souls are climbing up into Heaven. Just 30 years later in 1571, the Muslim Turks under Selim the Sot, invaded Europe. Selim was the son of one of the greatest rulers of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent. Suleiman had built a powerful army and navy, one of the greatest ever in the Empire. His son, Selim had inherited his father’s position in 1566 and he became overconfident with power and decided to invade Europe. This battle is known as “The Battle of Lepanto”. On the throne of Peter at this time happened to be a crusading Pope, St. Pius V. He called for a crusade against the Turks. Only a handful responded: Don Juan of Austria, the Spaniards, the Venetians and the small Papal fleet. They were no match for the vast Turkish fleet which outnumbered them three to one! St. Pius V was a Dominican and Dominicans have a great devotion to the rosary so he called for a rosary crusade in Europe to help the Christian forces. On October 7, 1571, the Christian forces under Don Juan and Andrea Doria met the Turks off the coast of Greece, the Gulf of Lepanto, and miraculously defeated them! Andrea Doria had kept a copy of the "miraculous" image of Our Lady of Guadalupe given to him by King Philip II of Spain in his ship's state room. Don Juan confessed that the victory was won not by fighting arms but by praying arms and especially the praying arms of Our Queen and Mother. This Turkish defeat stopped Ottomans' expansion into the Mediterranean, thus maintaining western dominance, and confidence grew in the west that Turks, previously unstoppable, could be beaten. In thanksgiving for this victory, the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary was established on October 7th. Also, to honor this great Dominican pope, St Pius V, all succeeding Popes wear the white cassock of the Dominicans. This story of Lepanto gives Catholic Christians a true understanding of the word: Crusade. When the enemy is about to crush belief in the existence of the true God from nations, Catholics are called to rally the troops and to pray and sometimes to physically fight. If we must fight for just causes, we must be confident that God is going to give the victory in order to maintain the freedom of being able to place Him first in our lives. May we not be ashamed to fight for the Truth when the enemy launches the first hostile attacks against God and His Church. May we be confident and bold in our fight for God and may we trust that Mary will help Her children in this fight. In the last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, October 13th, 1917, Our Lady appeared as the Queen of the Holy Rosary. In one hand she held the rosary and in the other the brown scapular. Once she told St. Dominic that the rosary and the scapular would one day save the world. Could that day be today? Let us, during these trying times in the Church and in the world, pick up those rosaries and wear our scapulars. Let us too have a rosary crusade and send our many prayers and petitions to Our Lady of the Rosary for Her help for this nation and the world. We need help against our many enemies both physical and spiritual. Satan is seeking to destroy many souls throughout the world. She can help us defeat the enemy. She is the one who will crush the head of the serpent and lead us back to God. Sr. Lucia has stated that Our Lady has given a greater efficacy to the Rosary for these very dark days.....let us pick them up and pray the prayers and meditate on the Holy Mysteries of Our Lady's Rosary! Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
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 Greetings in Jesus and Mary....
Today is the Feast day of St. Therese! This saint is known as the “Little Flower” – – this expression is to explain the whole concept of the Carmelite Order as being a garden of prayer for warriors who pray in imitation of Our Lady. Also, in her name she takes “Child Jesus” – her humility, her littleness and unconditional love as a little child are virtues we can all ask Our Blessed Mother for and imitate. The devotion of the Holy Face is so very powerful and a devotion of Reparation. Little St. Therese was all of these, a humble prayer warrior devoted to reparation! Below is the prayer that she prayed and that we all need to pray in this day where reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is so greatly needed. Our world is growing colder by the second. It is so easy to see and to feel. Praying this Act of Oblation to Merciful Love will not only be pleasing to Jesus but will draw us ever closer to the furnace of His Love! If we remain ignited in His Love....we can help bring this warmth to the world! May we pray this prayer often and beg the Hearts of Jesus and Mary to ignite the world with their flames of Love to each man's heart. St. Therese, of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, pray for us! Act of Oblation to Merciful Love O My God! Most Blessed Trinity, I desire to Love You and make you Loved, to work for the glory of Holy Church by saving souls on earth and liberating those suffering in purgatory. I desire to accomplish Your will perfectly and to reach the degree of glory You have prepared for me in Your Kingdom. I desire, in a word, to be saint, but I feel my helplessness and I beg You, O my God! to be Yourself my Sanctity! Since You loved me so much as to give me Your only Son as my Savior and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. I offer them to You with gladness, begging You to look upon me only in the Face of Jesus and in His heart burning with Love. I offer You, too, all the merits of the saints (in heaven and on earth), their acts of Love, and those of the holy angels. Finally, I offer You, O Blessed Trinity! the Love and merits of the Blessed Virgin, my Dear Mother. It is to her I abandon my offering, begging her to present it to You. Her Divine Son, my Beloved Spouse, told us in the says of His mortal life: "Whatsoever you ask the Father in my name he will give it to you!" I am certain, then, that You will grant my desires; I know, O my God! that the more You want to give, the more You make us desire. I feel in my heart immense desires and it is with confidence I ask You to come and take possession of my soul. Ah! I cannot receive Holy Communion as often as I desire, but, Lord, are You not all-powerful? Remain in me as in a tabernacle and never separate Yourself from Your little victim. I want to console You for the ingratitude of the wicked, and I beg of you to take away my freedom to displease You. If through weakness I sometimes fall, may Your Divine Glance cleanse my soul immediately, consuming all my imperfections like the fire that transforms everything into itself. I thank You, O my God! for all the graces You have granted me, especially the grace of making me pass through the crucible of suffering. It is with joy I shall contemplate You on the Last Day carrying the sceptre of Your Cross. Since You deigned to give me a share in this very precious Cross, I hope in heaven to resemble You and to see shining in my glorified body the sacred stigmata of Your Passion. After earth's Exile, I hope to go and enjoy You in the Fatherland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for Your Love Alone with the one purpose of pleasing You, consoling Your Sacred Heart, and saving souls who will love You eternally. In the evening of this life, I shall appear before You with empty hands, for I do not ask You, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in Your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love the eternal possession of Yourself. I want no other Throne, no other Crown but You, my Beloved! Time is nothing in Your eyes, and a single day is like a thousand years. You can, then, in one instant prepare me to appear before You. In order to live in one single act of perfect Love, I OFFER MYSELF AS A VICTIM OF HOLOCAUST TO YOUR MERCIFUL LOVE, Asking You to consume me incessantly, allowing the waves of infinite tenderness shut up within You to overflow into my soul, and that thus I may become a martyr of Your Love, O my God! May this martyrdom, after having prepared me to appear before You, finally cause me to die and may my soul take its flight without any delay into the eternal embrace of Your Merciful Love. I want, O my Beloved, at each beat of my heart to renew this offering to You an infinite number of times, until the shadows having disappeared I may be able to tell You of my Love in an Eternal Face to Face! Marie, Françoise, Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, unworthy Carmelite religious. |
AuthorBernadette Porter is a Traditional Catholic, a wife of 45 years with 6 adult home-schooled children and 9 grandchildren. A sincere devotion to Mary, the Mother of God leads me to want to share "The Church's best kept secret" - Mary! Archives
August 2026
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