Day: May 13, 2017

Posted in CONSECRATION Prayers, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Prayer of Pope Francis on the Centenary of Our Lady of Fatima – 13 May 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Prayer of Pope Francis on the Centenary of Our Lady of Fatima – 13 May 2017

HAIL HOLY QUEEN - POPE FRANCIS

Hail Holy Queen,
Blessed Virgin of Fatima,
Lady of Immaculate Heart,
our refuge and our way to God!

As a pilgrim of the Light that comes to us from your hands,
I give thanks to God the Father, who in every time and place is at work in human history;
As a pilgrim of the Peace that, in this place, you proclaim,
I give praise to Christ, our peace, and I implore for the world concord among all peoples;

As a pilgrim of the Hope that the Spirit awakens,
I come as a prophet and messenger to wash the feet of all, at the same table that unites us.

Refrain (sung by the assembly):

Ave O Clemens, Ave O pia!
Salve Regina Rosarii Fatimae.
Ave O clemens, Ave O pia!
Ave O dulcis Virgo Maria!

The Holy Father:

Hail, Mother of Mercy,
Lady robed in white!
In this place where, a hundred years ago
you made known to all the purposes of God’s mercy,
I gaze at your robe of light
and, as a bishop robed in white,
I call to mind all those who,
robed in the splendour of their baptism,
desire to live in God
and tell the mysteries of Christ in order to obtain peace.

Refrain…

The Holy Father:

Hail, life and sweetness,
Hail, our hope,
O Pilgrim Virgin, O Universal Queen!
In the depths of your being,
in your Immaculate Heart,
you keep the joys of men and women
as they journey to the Heavenly Homeland.
In the depths of your being,
in your Immaculate Heart,
you keep the sorrows of the human family,
as they mourn and weep in this valley of tears.
In the depths of your being,
in your Immaculate Heart,
adorn us with the radiance of the jewels of your crown
and make us pilgrims, even as you were a pilgrim.
With your virginal smile,
enliven the joy of Christ’s Church.
With your gaze of sweetness,
strengthen the hope of God’s children.
With your hands lifted in prayer to the Lord,
draw all people together into one human family.

Refrain:

The Holy Father:

O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary,
Queen of the Rosary of Fatima!
Grant that we may follow the example of Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta,
and of all who devote themselves to proclaiming the Gospel.
Thus we will follow all paths
and everywhere make our pilgrim way;
we will tear down all walls
and cross every frontier,
as we go out to every periphery,
to make known God’s justice and peace.
In the joy of the Gospel, we will be the Church robed in white,
the whiteness washed in the blood of the Lamb,
blood that today too is shed in the wars tearing our world apart.
And so we will be, like you, an image of the column of light
that illumines the ways of the world,
making God known to all,
making known to all that God exists,
that God dwells in the midst of his people,
yesterday, today and for all eternity.

Refrain…

The Holy Father, with all the faithful:

Hail, Mother of the Lord,
Virgin Mary, Queen of the Rosary of Fatima!
Blessed among all women,
you are the image of the Church robed in paschal light,
you are the honour of our people,
you are the victory over every assault of evil.
Prophecy of the merciful love of the Father,
Teacher of the Message of Good News of the Son,
Sign of the burning Fire of the Holy Spirit,
teach us, in this valley of joys and sorrows,
the eternal truths that the Father reveals to the little ones.
Show us the strength of your protective mantle.
In your Immaculate Heart,
be the refuge of sinners
and the way that leads to God.
In union with my brothers and sisters,
in faith, in hope and in love,
I entrust myself to you.
In union with my brothers and sisters, through you, I consecrate myself to God,
O Virgin of the Rosary of Fatima.
And at last, enveloped in the Light that comes from your hands,
I will give glory to the Lord for ever and ever. Amen.

Refrain…

[Original text: Portuguese] [Vatican-provided text]

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Thought for the Day – 13 May 2017 – The Centenary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima and the Canonisation of the Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto

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“Yes, Jacinta and Francisco I will take soon but you will stay some time longer.    Jesus wants to use you to let others know and love me.    He wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world.   To whoever embraces it I promise salvation and that their souls will be dear to God like flowers placed by me to adorn his Throne.” – Our Lady to Lucia dos Santos, Fatima Portugal 1917
Saint Pope John Paul II beatified them on 13th May 2000.
PRAYER
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly and I thank Thee for the Apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin in Fatima.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I implore Thee if it should be for Thy greater glory and the good of our souls – to glorify in the sight of thy Holy Church Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto, granting us through their intercession the grace which we now implore. Amen.
*Francisco Marto (June 11, 1908 – April 4, 1919), his sister Jacinta Marto (March 11, 1910 – February 20, 1920), also known as Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto, and their cousin Lúcia Santos (1907–2005) were children from Aljustrel near Fátima, Portugal who said they witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917.   Mary was given the title Our Lady of Fátima as a result, and Fátima became a major centre of world Christian pilgrimage.
The youngest children of Manuel and Olimpia Marto, Francisco and Jacinta were typical of Portuguese village children of that time. They were illiterate but had a rich oral tradition.
According to Lúcia’s memoirs, Francisco had a placid disposition, was somewhat musically inclined, and liked to be by himself to think.    Jacinta was affectionate if a bit spoiled.    She had a sweet singing voice and a gift for dancing.    Following their experiences, their fundamental personalities remained the same.    Francisco preferred to pray alone, saying that this would “console Jesus for the sins of the world”.    Jacinta said she was deeply affected by a terrifying vision of Hell shown to the children at the third apparition and deeply convinced of the need to save sinners through penance and sacrifice as the Virgin had told the children to do.    All three children, but particularly Francisco and Jacinta, practised stringent self-mortifications to this end.
The brother and sister, who tended to their families’ sheep with their cousin Lucia in the fields of Fatima, Portugal, are said to have witnessed, on May 13, 1917, the first apparition of Mary. At the time of the apparition, Francisco was 9 years old, and Jacinta was 7.
During the first apparition, Mary is said to have asked the three children to say the Rosary and to make sacrifices, offering them for the conversion of sinners.    She also asked them to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months
The siblings were victims of the great 1918 influenza epidemic that swept through Europe that year.   In October 1918, Mary supposedly appeared to them and said she would to take them to heaven soon.   Both lingered for many months, insisting on walking to church to make Eucharistic devotions and prostrating themselves to pray for hours, kneeling with their heads on the ground as they said the angel had instructed them to do.
Francisco declined hospital treatment on April 3, 1919, and died at home the next day. Jacinta was moved from one hospital to another in an attempt to save her life, which she insisted was futile.    She developed purulent pleurisy and endured an operation in which two of her ribs were removed.    Because of the condition of her heart, she could not be anesthetized and suffered terrible pain, which she said would help to convert many sinners.    On February 19, 1920, Jacinta asked the hospital chaplain who heard her confession to bring her Holy Communion and give her the Anointing of the Sick because she was going to die “the next night”.    He told her that her condition was not that serious and that he would return the next day.   The next day Jacinta was dead; she had died, as she had often said she would, alone.
In 1920, shortly before her death at age nine, Jacinta Marto reportedly discussed the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary with a then 12-year-old Lúcia Santos and said:
“When you are to say this, don’t go and hide. Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary;  that people are to ask her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at his side. Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God entrusted it to her.”
The cause for the siblings’ canonization began in 1946. Exhumed in 1935 and again in 1951, Jacinta’s face was found incorrupt;  Francisco’s had decomposed.
On May 13, 2000, they were declared “blessed” in a decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.   Jacinta is the youngest non-martyred child ever to be beatified.
In her biography of Jacinta, Lúcia said that Jacinta had told her of having had many personal visions outside of the Marian visitations; one involved a pope who prayed alone in a room while people outside shouted ugly things and threw rocks through the window.   At another time, Jacinta said she saw a pope who had gathered a huge number of people together to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Jacinta and Francisco are both buried at the Our Lady of Fátima Basilica.
And so we learn from little children – we learn how to be Saints!
Saints Francisco and Jacina, Pray for us!
FRANCISCO & JACINTA - PRAY FOR US
Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Quote of the Day – 13 May

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 13 May

‘Pilgrims With Mary… But Which Mary?’ Pope Francis Asks in Fatima

At Vigil Before Reciting Rosary Reminds, ‘To Be Christian, We Must Be Marian’

CENTNARY-POPE FRANCIS GIFT

“Dear Pilgrims to Mary and with Mary!

Thank you for your welcome and for joining me on this pilgrimage of hope and peace.  Even now, I want to assure all of you who are united with me, here or elsewhere, that you have a special place in my heart.    I feel that Jesus has entrusted you to me (cf. Jn 21:15-17) and I embrace all of you and commend you to Jesus,  “especially those most in need” – as Our Lady taught us to pray (Apparition of July, 1917).   May she, the loving and solicitous Mother of the needy, obtain for them the Lord’s blessing!   On each of the destitute and outcast robbed of the present, on each of the excluded and abandoned denied a future, on each of the orphans and victims of injustice refused a past, may there descend the blessing of God, incarnate in Jesus Christ.   “The Lord bless you and keep you.  The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.  The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26).

This blessing was fulfilled in the Virgin Mary.    No other creature ever basked in the light of God’s face as did Mary;  she in turn gave a human face to the Son of the eternal Father.   Now we can contemplate her in the succession of joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious moments of her life, which we revisit in our recitation of the rosary.    With Christ and Mary, we abide in God.    Indeed, “if we want to be Christian, we must be Marian; in a word, we have to acknowledge the essential, vital and providential relationship uniting Our Lady to Jesus, a relationship that opens before us the way leading to him”  (PAUL VI, Address at the Shine of Our Lady of Bonaria, Cagliari, 24 April 1970).    Each time we recite the rosary, in this holy place or anywhere else, the Gospel enters anew into the life of individuals, families, peoples and the entire world.

Pilgrims with Mary…  But which Mary?   A teacher of the spiritual life, the first to follow Jesus on the “narrow way” of the cross by giving us an example, or a Lady “unapproachable” and impossible to imitate?    A woman “blessed because she believed” always and everywhere in God’s words (cf. Lk 1:42.45), or a “plaster statue” from whom we beg favours at little cost?    The Virgin Mary of the Gospel, venerated by the Church at prayer, or a Mary of our own making: one who restrains the arm of a vengeful God; one sweeter than Jesus the ruthless judge; one more merciful than the Lamb slain for us?

Great injustice is done to God’s grace whenever we say that sins are punished by his judgment, without first saying – as the Gospel clearly does – that they are forgiven by his mercy!   Mercy has to be put before judgment and, in any case, God’s judgment will always be rendered in the light of his mercy.    Obviously, God’s mercy does not deny justice, for Jesus took upon himself the consequences of our sin, together with its due punishment.  He did not deny sin, but redeemed it on the cross.    Hence, in the faith that unites us to the cross of Christ, we are freed of our sins; we put aside all fear and dread, as unbefitting those who are loved (cf. 1 Jn 4:18).   “Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness.   In her, we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong, who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves…  This interplay of justice and tenderness, of contemplation and concern for others, is what makes the ecclesial community look to Mary as a model of evangelization” (Ap. Exhort. Evangelii Gaudium, 288).   With Mary, may each of us become a sign and sacrament of the mercy of God, who pardons always and pardons everything.

“Hand in hand with the Virgin Mother and under her watchful gaze, may we come to sing with joy the mercies of the Lord, and cry out:  “My soul sings to you, Lord!”    The mercy you have shown to all your saints and all your faithful people, you have also shown to me.    Out of the pride of my heart, I went astray, following my own ambitions and interests, without gaining any crown of glory!   My one hope of glory, Lord, is this: that your Mother will take me in her arms, shelter me beneath her mantle and set me close to your heart.  Amen.”

Franciscus – Fatima 12 May 2017

[Vatican-provided text]

Posted in MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

One Minute Reflection – 13 May

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One Minute Reflection – 13 May

Mine are counsel and advice;  mine is strength;  I am understanding…….Proverbs 8:14

Proverbs 8-14

REFLECTION – “When we dedicate ourselves to Mary, we become instruments in her hands just as she is an instrument in God’s hands.
Let us then be guided by her for she will provide for the needs of body and soul and overcome all difficulties and anxieties.”……………..St Maximillian Kolbe

WHEN WE DEDICATE-WST MAXIMILLIAN

PRAYER – “Hail, Mother of the Lord,
Virgin Mary, Queen of the Rosary of Fatima!
Blessed among all women,
you are the image of the Church robed in paschal light,
you are the honour of our people,
you are the victory over every assault of evil.”……………..Excerpt from the Prayer of Pope Francis at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, yesterday after his arrival in Fatima – 12 May 2017 Pray for us Holy Mother of God and our Mother, Our Lady of Fatima Hail!

excerpt pope francis 12 may 2017

pray-for-us-mother-of-god - 14 may 2017

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 13 May

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Our Morning Offering – 13 May

Mary, our Queen and Mother of Mercy
By St ANTHONY OF PADUA (1195-1231)
Doctor evangelicus (Evangelical Doctor)

Mary, our Queen,
Holy Mother of God,
we beg you to hear our prayer.
Make our hearts overflow with Divine grace
and resplendent with heavenly wisdom.
Render them strong with your might
and rich in virtue.
Pour down upon us the gift of mercy
so that we may obtain the pardon of our sins.
Help us to live in such a way
as to merit the glory and bliss of heaven.
May this be granted us by your Son Jesus
Who has exalted you above the angels,
has crowned you as Queen,
and has seated you with Him
forever on His refulgent throne.
Amen

MARY OUR QUEEN AND MOTHER OF MERCY - ST ANTHONY OF PADUA

Posted in SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

The Centenary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima – Our Lady of the Holy Rosary – 13 May 2017

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The Centenary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima – Our Lady of the Holy Rosary – 13 May 2017

Our Lady of Fátima (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora de Fátima, formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima European Portuguese of the famed Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria, in Fátima, Portugal.    The three children were Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto.fatima-title-pic-text- 13 may 2017

Beginning in the spring of 1917, the children reported apparitions of an Angel and starting in May of 1917, apparitions of the Virgin Mary.    The children reported a prophecy that prayer would lead to an end to the Great War and a prophecy that a miracle would occur on 13 October  of that year.    Many pilgrims began visiting the area in response to the prophecies.    The events of 13 October became known as the Miracle of the Sun.

On 13 May 1946, Pope Pius XII granted a canonical coronation to the venerated image enshrined at the Chapel of the Apparitions of Fátima via his apostolic legate, Cardinal Benedetto Aloisi Masella.    On 11 November 1954, the same Pontiff later raised the Sanctuary of Fátima to the status of Minor Basilica by his Papal brief Luce Superna.

The reported apparitions at Fátima were officially declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church, which commemorates the event on the same date.    The published memoirs of Lúcia Santos’ in the 1930s revealed two secrets that she claimed came from the Virgin while the third secret was to be revealed by the Catholic Church in 1960.    The controversial events at Fátima gained fame due partly to elements of the secrets, prophecy and eschatological revelations allegedly related to the Second World War and possibly more global wars in the future, particularly the Virgin’s alleged request for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.the-message-of-fatima.13 may 2017

Our Lady of Fatima
The famous apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the children of Fatima took place during the First World War, in the summer of 1917.    The inhabitants of this tiny village in the diocese of Leiria (Portugal) were mostly poor people, many of them small farmers who went out by day to tend their fields and animals.    Children traditionally were assigned the task of herding the sheep.children of fatimafrancisco_e_jacinta_83_01

 

The three children who received the apparitions had been brought up in an atmosphere of genuine piety:   Lucia dos Santos (ten years old) and her two younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta.    Together they tended the sheep and, with Lucy in charge, would often pray the Rosary kneeling in the open.    In the summer of 1916 an Angel appeared to them several times and taught them a prayer to the Blessed Trinity.

On Sunday, May 13, 1917, toward noon, a flash of lightning drew the attention of the children and they saw a brilliant figure appearing over the trees of the Cova da Iria.    The “Lady” asked them to pray for the conversion of sinners and an end to the war, and to come back every month, on the 13th.may-13-our-lady-of-fatima

Further apparitions took place on June 13 and July 13.    On August 13 the children were prevented by local authorities from going to the Cova da Iria but they saw the apparition on the 19th.    On September 13 the Lady requested recitation of the Rosary for an end to the war.    Finally, on October 13, the “Lady” identified herself as “Our Lady of the Rosary” and again called for prayer and penitence.

On that day a celestial phenomenon also took place: the sun seemed to tumble from the sky and crash toward earth.    The children had been forewarned of it as early as May 13, the first apparition.   The large crowd (estimated at 70,000 by reporters) that had gathered around the children saw the phenomenon and came away astounded.

Official recognition of the “visions” which the children had at the Cova da Iria came on October 13, 1930, when the bishop of Leiria – after long inquiry – authorized the cult of Our Lady of the Rosary at the site.    The two younger children had died:   Francisco (who saw the apparition but did not hear the words) on April 4, 1919, and his sister Jacinta on February 20, 1920. Sister Lucia died on February 13, 2005, at her Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, after a long illness.

Today 13 May 2017 – the two – Francisco and Jacinta become Saints!

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Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Saints and Feasts – 13 May

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Lady of Fatima (Optional Memorial)
Today Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta will be Canonised!
Our Lady of Help
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Dedication of Saint Mary of the Martyrs

—
Abban of Abingdon
Agnes of Poitiers
Andrew Fournet
Anno of Verona
Argentea of Cordoba
Euthymius the Illuminator
Bl Fortis Gabrielli
Bl Gerard of Villamagna
Glyceria of Trajanopolis
John the Silent
Bl Julian of Norwich
Lucius of Constantinople
Mael of Bardsey
Merewenna of Rumsey
Mucius of Byzantium
Natalis of Milan
Onesimus of Soissons
Servatus of Tongres
Valerian of Auxerre
—
Martyrs of Alexandria: A group of Catholic Christians martyred in the church of Theonas, Alexandria, Egypt by order of the Arian Emperor Valens. Their names have not come down to us. 372 in Alexandria, Egypt