MARIAN REFLECTIONS – Page 16

Thought for the Day – 1 May – The Month of Mary

Posted on May 1, 2020April 29, 2022 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 1 May – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Month of Mary

“It is often said, that May is the most beautiful month of the year.
The flowers are in full bloom, the weather is mild and the first fruits of the soil are beginning to reward man’s labour.
It is fitting that we should dedicate to Mary, the most beautiful month of the year, for she is the most beautiful of God’s creatures.

We should offer this month to Mary, by increasing our love for her.
We should love her with a filial love, for she loves us with the heart of a mother.
If we contemplate her beauty and goodness, we shall be inflamed with love for her.
It will be a tender love, such as we have for our earthly mother and, at the same time, a respectful and worshipful love, such as we ought to have for the Mother of God.
Our offering of the month of May to Mary, should result in a twofold resolution:
the resolution to make good our failings and to advance in holiness.
This, is the only way, in which we can prove the sincerity of our affection, by deeds rather than by words.
It is certain that we have many faults of character.
Let us examine ourselves in front of Our Lady’s Altar, by comparing our weakness with her magnificence of soul.
When we have discovered our failings, let us be courageous in eradicating them.
We can offer this sacrifice to Mary, with love and generosity, no matter how hard it may be.

We can spend everyday of this month, digging out those weeds in the garden of our soul, which, our passions and the influence of the devil have helped to flourish.
Let us plant and bring to perfection in their place, the flowers of Christian virtue.
In this way, we shall make the month of May, very pleasing to Mary.“

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

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Rejoice! It’s 1 May and the Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Posted on May 1, 2020 by AnaStpaul

Rejoice! It’s 1 May and the Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“God wills that all his gifts should come to us through Mary”

St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor

“This is the month in which, in the churches and individual homes,
the most affectionate and fervent homage of prayers and devotions
from the hearts of Christians are raised to Mary.
It is also the month in which from His throne, descend upon us,
the most generous and abundant gifts of the Divine Mercy.”

Saint Pope Paul VI, The Month of Mary,1967

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Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday, The “Second Sabbath”- 11 April

Posted on April 11, 2020April 11, 2020 by AnaStpaul

Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday, The “Second Sabbath” – 11 April

Holy Saturday (from Sabbatum Sanctum, its official liturgical name) is sacred as the day of the Lord’s rest. It has been called the “Second Sabbath” after creation.
The day is and should be, the most calm and quiet day of the entire Church year, a day broken by no liturgical function. Descent-from-the-Cross-Pieter-van-Mol-838x1102 deposition

Christ lies in the grave, the Church sits near and mourns.
After the great battle He is resting in peace but upon Him we see the scars of intense suffering…
The mortal wounds on His Body remain visible…Jesus’ enemies are still furious, attempting to obliterate the very memory of the Lord by lies and slander. jesus-burial-tomb-1083559-wallpaper-copy-1024x769

Mary and the disciples are grief-stricken, while the Church must mournfully admit that too many of her children return home from Calvary cold and hard of heart.
When Mother Church reflects upon all of this, it seems as if the wounds of her dearly Beloved were again beginning to bleed.

We are tempted to rush from Good Friday to Easter. Mother Church with wisdom, separates the two with Holy Saturday – a day of peace and rest – a day to quietly ponder and pray – a day to sit in silence at the tomb of Jesus. “What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence and stillness, a great silence, because the King sleeps, the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages.” We do not need words to express our misery. We need silence to ponder the mystery. Silence is the best expression of what is deepest in us, for silence alone, can express what words cannot.

Christ-Descending-from-the-Cross-Nicolas-Tournier

According to tradition, the entire body of the Church is represented in Mary – she is the “credentium collectio universa” (the gathering of the universal Church) (Congregation for Divine Worship, Lettera circolare sulla preparazione e celebrazione delle feste pasquali, 73).
Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as she waits near the Lord’s tomb, as she is represented in Christian tradition, is an icon of the Virgin Church keeping vigil at the tomb of her Spouse while awaiting the celebration of His Resurrection. james tissot - 2 marys watch at the tomb
The pious exercise of the Ora di Maria is inspired by this intuition of the relationship between the Virgin Mary and the Church – while the body of her Son lies in the tomb and His soul has descended to the dead to announce liberation, from the shadow of darkness to His ancestors, the Blessed Virgin Mary, foreshadowing and representing the Church, awaits, in faith, the victorious triumph of her Son over death. — Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy

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Quote of the Day – 25 March – Mary’s Titles

Posted on March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 25 March – The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

“Mary’s titles are numberless…
she is the palace in which the mighty King of kings abode,
yet He did not cast her out when He came,
because it was from her that He took flesh and was born.
She is the new heaven in which dwelt the King of kings,
in her, Christ arose and from her, rose up to enlighten creation,
formed and fashioned in His image.
She is the stock of the vine that bore the grape,
she yielded a fruit greater than nature
and He, although other than her in His nature,
ripened in colour on being born of her.
She is the spring from which living waters
sprang up for the thirsty
and all those who drank them,
yielded fruit a hundredfold.”

Saint Ephrem (306-373)

Father and Doctor of the Church

Sermons on the Mother of God, 2, 93-145

More here:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/25/quote-s-of-the-day-25-march-in-her-god-spun-a-garment-with-which-to-save-us/

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Lenten Reflection – 25 March – Mary’s Fiat must be our fiat!

Posted on March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 25 March – The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord –- Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10, Psalm 40:7-11, Hebrews 10:4-10, Luke 1:26-38

“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.” … Luke 1:38

Daily Meditation:
Today we step out of Lent, in one way.
We are nine months away from Christmas.
This is the feast of the Incarnation – the enfleshment of our God for us.
In Jesus, God entered this world, our world.

“God, who is Mighty has done great things for me, holy is his name” … Luke 1:49 luke-1-49.GOD WHO IS MIGHTY HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME - 21 DEC 2017, 2018 2019jpg

“Contemplate Mary, my beloved, see how Gabriel went into her house and her questioning: “How can this be?” The Holy Spirit’s servant gave her this answer: “Nothing is impossible for God, for him, all is easy.” Consider how she believed the word she had heard and said: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord.” From that moment the Lord descended in a way known to Him alone, He bestirred Himself and came according to His good pleasure, He entered her without her feeling it and she opened herself to Him without experiencing any suffering. She bore within herself, as a child, Him by whom the world was filled. He descended to become the model that would renew Adam’s ancient image.” … Saint Ephrem (306-373) – Father and Doctor of the Church – Sermons on the Mother of God, 2, 93-145 mary's fiat - luke 1 38 behold i am the handmaid of the lord - 11 may 2019

Intercessions:
Let us give thanks to God, our Father:
through the power of the Spirit He purifies our heart and strengthens us in love.
Let us humbly ask Him:
Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit.

Help us to receive good things from Your bounty with a deep sense of gratitude;
-and to accept with patience the evil that comes to us.
Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments,
-but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.
May we abstain from what we do not really need,
-and help our brothers and sisters in distress.
May we bear the wounds of Your Son,
-for through His body He gave us life.

Closing Prayer:
God of infinite love,
I thank You for this feast of our salvation,
right here in the middle of Lent.
I turn to You to beg for Your help.
I need the inspiration and help of Mary on this journey.
Please grant me the grace to be humbly faithful
to what You are calling me to do.
Please give me what I need to be free and to be Your servant.
Please let Mary guide us in the path to peace in our world.
I ask You this, through Jesus our Lord.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen mary's fiat must be our fiat 25 march 2019 annunciation

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One Minute Reflection – 25 March – ‘And Mary’s body enfolds Him, whom the heaven of heavens does not contain.’

Posted on March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 25 March – The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord –- Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10, Psalm 40:7-11, Hebrews 10:4-10, Luke 1:26-38

“The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.”...Luke 1:35, 38

luke 1 35 the holy spirit shall come upon you - 25 march 2020 annunciation

REFLECTION – “The Word came from Himself and came down beneath Himself and dwelt among us (cf. Jn 1:14), when He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:7). That emptying was a decent. Yet He descended in such a way that He did not lose Himself. He was made flesh in such a way that He did not cease to be the Word, nor did the taking of humanity lessen the glory of His majesty. (…)
Indeed, just as the sun’s brightness penetrates glass without breaking it and as a glance of the eyes plunges into calm clear water without parting or dividing it, while it opens up all things to their very depth, so the Word of God drew near the Virgin’s dwelling and went forth from it, her virgin womb still closed. (…) Therefore, the invisible God was made visible man, the impassible and immortal showed Himself passible and mortal. He who was not confined within the garments of our substance, willed to be so confined. There is enclosed within the womb of a mother one whose immensity encloses the whole range of heaven and earth. And Mary’s body enfolds Him, whom the heaven of heavens does not contain.
If you ask how it was done, hear the Archangel setting forth the plan to Mary and saying to her: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you.” (cf. Lk 1:35) (…) For He chose you before and above all others, that you may surpass all those who have been before or after you or shall be in the fullness of grace.” … Saint Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159) Cistercian Monk, then Bishop – In praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Homily III there is enclosed within the womb of a mother - 25 march 2020 annunciation

PRAYER – Shape us in the likeness of the Divine nature of our Redeemer, whom we believe to be true God and true man, since it was Your will, Lord God, that He, Your Word, should take to Himself, our human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.

the nicest word - servant of god guy pierre de fontgalland - 24 feb 2018-no 2

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Thought for the Day – 2 February – The Purification of Our Lady

Posted on February 2, 2020February 1, 2022 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 2 February – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Purification of Our Lady

“When we meditate on the subject of this Feast, we find two outstanding examples to be imitated.
The first is given by Mary.
She was perfectly pure and holy, conceived without original sin and full of grace.
She knew well that she had conceived her Divine Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, she was not obliged to observe this humiliating law of purification.
Nevertheless, she fulfilled it and gave God the offering of the poor as a lesson for us, in humility and poverty.
It is so easy for us to excuse ourselves from obeying the law and to make a display of our special privileges before others.
Let us learn from Mary, to love silent submission and detachment from worldly wealth and honours.

The other example is given us by Jesus.
Being God, there was no need for Him to be bought back, in the same way as the first-born sons of the Israelites.
He was the Saviour who had come to redeem the human race from sin and make them heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.
But He said of Himself, “I have not come to destroy but to fulfil” (Mt 5:17).
A few days earlier He had submitted to the painful and humiliating rite of circumcision.
Now He allows Himself to be offered in the temple as a victim of expiation for all mankind.
These are glorious examples, before which, our pride should bow in shame.
We should be moved to offer ourselves to God, lovingly and without reserve”!

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

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One Minute Reflection – 28 January – “Grace is thicker than blood…”

Posted on January 28, 2020January 28, 2020 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 28 January – Tuesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19, Psalm 24:7-10, Mark 3:31-35 and the Memorial of Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest-

“Here are my mother and my brethren! Whoever does the will of God, is my brother, and sister and mother.”…Mark 34-35 mark-3-34-35-whoever-does-the-will-of-god-29-jan-2019 and 28 jan 2020

REFLECTION – “Grace is thicker than blood – As mother, Mary made significant appearances in the life of Jesus. She followed Him in His ministry.
In today’s short Gospel text, she is outside with the relatives of Jesus asking for Him.
Notice the delicacy of Mary. She neither interrupts the ministry of Jesus nor enters the room where Jesus is ministering. She waits outside.
The response of Jesus to the one who brought the message seems like a rebuff.
In fact, it is a tribute to Mary.
She was His mother, not merely because she gave Him birth but even more, because she did the will of God.
Blood is thicker than water no doubt – but Grace is thicker than blood.
She conceived Jesus in faith, even before she conceived him in her womb.” … Msgr Alex Rebello – Diocese of Wrexham, Wales – Daily Reflections, Year A

PRAYER – Loving Father, You gave us Your only-begotten Son to teach us, to make us Your adopted children by His adoption of ourselves as His siblings. What grace, what mercy, what love, is this! We give You our gratitude and our love. Mary, holy and blessed Virgin, Mother of God, pray for us. St Joseph Freinademetz, you survived solely on faith in a strange land and brought Christ to those who spoke another language by the language of Grace, please pray for us. Through Jesus, our brother and our Saviour, who gave us His mother to guide and protect us, we pray, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen. mary-mater-creatoris-mother-of-the-creator-pray-for-us-14-may-2018, 29 jan 209 and 28 jan 2020

st joseph freinademetz pray for us 28 jan 2020

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Thought for the Day – 1 January – Take heart, dear children, here I am, your Mother!

Posted on January 1, 2020January 1, 2020 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 1 January – The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord take heart dear children here i am your mother - pope francis 1 jan 2019.jpg

Excerpt
Pope Francis’ Homily on
The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
1 January 2019

“All who heard were amazed at what the shepherds told them” (Lk 2:18). To be amazed -this is what is asked of us today, at the conclusion of the Octave of Christmas, as we continue to contemplate the Child born for us, lacking everything, yet abounding in love. Amazement is what we should feel at the beginning of each year, for life is a gift that constantly gives us a chance to make a new start, even from the most lowly of circumstances.

Today is also a day to be amazed by the Mother of God. God appears as a little child, held in the arms of a woman who feeds her Creator. The statue before our eyes depicts the Mother and Child so close as to appear as one. That is the mystery we celebrate today, which gives rise to boundless amazement – God has become one with humanity forever. God and man, always together, that is the good news of this new year. God is no distant lord, dwelling in splendid isolation above the heavens but love incarnate, born like us of a mother, in order to be a brother to each of us, to be close to us – the God of closeness. He rests on the lap of His mother, who is also our mother and from there he pours out upon humanity a new tenderness. Thus we come to understand more fully God’s love, which is both paternal and maternal, like that of a mother who never stops believing in her children and never abandons them. God-with-us, Emmanuel, loves us despite our mistakes, our sins and the way we treat our world. God believes in mankind, because its first and pre-eminent member is His own Mother.

At the beginning of the year, let us implore from Mary the grace to be amazed at the God of surprises. Let us renew the amazement we felt when faith was first born in us. The Mother of God helps us – the Mother who gave birth to the Lord, now presents us, reborn, to the Lord. She is a mother who generates in her children the amazement of faith, because faith is an encounter, not a religion. Without amazement, life becomes dull and routine and so it is with faith. The Church too needs to renew her amazement at being the dwelling place of the living God, the Bride of the Lord, a Mother who gives birth to her children. Otherwise, she risks turning into a beautiful museum of the past. A “Church museum”. Our Lady, instead, gives the Church the feel of a home, a home in which the God of newness dwells. Let us receive with amazement the mystery of the Mother of God, as the inhabitants of Ephesus did at the time of the Council. Like them, let us acclaim her “Holy Mother of God”. From her, let us allow ourselves to be gazed upon, to be embraced, to be taken by the hand.

Let us allow ourselves to be gazed upon. Especially in times of need, when we are entangled in life’s knots, we rightly lift our eyes to Our Lady, to Our Mother. Yet first, we should let ourselves be gazed upon by Our Lady. When she gazes upon us, she does not see sinners but children. It is said that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, the eyes of Mary, full of grace, reflect the beauty of God, they show us a reflection of heaven. Jesus Himself said that the eye is “the lamp of the body” (Mt 6:22) – the eyes of Our Lady are able to bring light to every dark corner, everywhere they rekindle hope. As she gazes upon us, she says: “Take heart, dear children, here I am, your Mother!”

Holy Mother of God, OUR mother, Pray for Us!

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One Minute Reflection – 1 January – ‘..For the sake of His love take me…’

Posted on January 1, 2020January 1, 2020 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 1 January – The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, Readings: Numbers 6:22-27, Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8, Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:16-21

But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. … Luke 2:19 luke 2 19 but mary kept all these things pondering 1 jan 2019.jpg

REFLECTION – “You will pray to the Virgin Mother that she obtain for you a perfect renewal of life and that, by this grace, she herself, the venerable rose, become your mother and godmother in such a way, that you may be her true daughter in conduct. And pray that this very gem of decency, may envelop your soul, in the mantle of her cleanliness, preserving you without any spot, under her most dulcet tutelage, for her Son, the Lord King. And pray that your name may be numbered among Israel, the choicest lot, so that you have share with those who walk in innocence of heart, always seeing the Lord before them in all of their ways. (cf. Ps 15:8)

Greetings, Mary, queen of clemency, olive tree of mercy, through whom life’s remedy has come to us. Queen of clemency, Virgin Mother of the divine offspring, through whom the Child of supernal light came to us, the scented offspring of Israel. Ah! Just as you became the true mother of us all, through your Son, who Himself, your one and only Son, did not scorn to become our Brother, now then, for the sake of His love take me, an unworthy woman, into your motherly care. Aid my faith, keep and instruct it and become so much the godmother of my renewal and faith now, that you may be my only mother and closest to my heart for eternity, always caring for me with loving-kindness in this life and taking me, into your full motherliness, at the hour of death. Amen.” … St Gertrude the Great of Helfta (1256-1301)

PRAYER – God, our Father, since You gave mankind a Saviour through the blessed Mary, virgin and mother, grant that we may feel the power of her intercession, when she pleads for us with Jesus Christ, Your Son, the author of life, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever, amen.

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Thought for the Day – 30 December – Her Amazement at her Only Child – Karol Wojtyla

Posted on December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 30 December – The Sixth Day in the Christmas Octave

Her Amazement at her Only Child
Karol Wojtyla
Saint Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Light piercing, gradually, everyday events,
a woman’s eyes, hands
used to them since childhood.
Then brightness flared, too huge for simple days,
and hands clasped when the words lost their space.

In that little town, my Son, where they knew us together,
You called me mother but no-one had eyes to see,
the astounding events as they took place day by day.
Your life became the life of the poor
in Your wish to be with them, through the work of Your hands.

I knew – the light that lingered in ordinary things,
like a spark sheltered under the skin of our days —
the light was You,
it did not come from me.

And I had more of You in that luminous silence,
than I had of You as the fruit of my body, my blood.

ST JOHN PAUL II’S CHRISTMAS POETRY
Poem from his 1950 Collection, “The Mother”

her amazement at her only child - st john paul karol wojtyla 30 dec 2019.jpg

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Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Fifth Day of the Christmas Octave

Posted on December 29, 2019December 28, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Fifth Day of the Christmas Octave

The devotion to the Holy Family was born in Bethlehem, together with the Baby Jesus. The shepherds went to adore the Child and, at the same time, they gave honour to His family. Later, in a similar way, the three wise men came from the East to adore and give honour to the newborn King with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, that would be safeguarded by His family. the holy family.jpg

We can go further to affirm that in a certain sense Christ, Himself, was the first devotee of His family. He showed His devotion to His mother and foster father by submitting Himself, with infinite humility, to the duty of filial obedience towards them. This is what St Bernard of Clairvaux said in this regard, ‘God, to whom angels submit themselves and who principalities and powers obey, was subject to Mary and not only to Mary but Joseph also, for Mary’s sake [….]. God obeyed a human creature, this is humility without precedent. A human creature commands God, it is sublime beyond measure.’ (First Homily on the ‘Missus Est’). Polidoro_da_Lanciano_Holy_Family_with_Angel just amazing

Today’s celebration demonstrates Christ’s humility and obedience with respect to the fourth commandment, whilst also highlighting the loving care that His parents exercised in His keeping. The servant of God, St Pope John Paul II, in 1989, entitled his Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Redemptoris Custos’ (Guardian of the Redeemer) which was dedicated to the person and the mission of Saint Joseph in the life of Christ and of the Church. After exactly a century, he resumed the teaching of Pope Leo XIII, for who Saint Joseph ‘.. shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men’ (Encyclical Quamquam Pluries [1889] n. 3). Pope Leo XIII continued, ‘.. Joseph became the guardian, the administrator and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he was.[…] It is, then, natural and worthy, that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.’ Not many years before, blessed Pope Pius IX had proclaimed Saint Joseph, ‘Patron of the Catholic Church’ (1870) 415px-The_Holy_Family_-_Rafael

Almost intuitively, one can recognise that the mysterious, exemplary, guardianship enacted by Joseph was conducted firstly, in a yet more intimate way, by Mary. Consequently, the liturgical feast of the Holy Family speaks to us of the fond and loving care that we must render to the Body of Christ. We can understand this in a mystical sense, as guardians of the Church and also in the Eucharistic sense. Mary and Joseph took great care of Jesus’ physical body. Following their example, we can and must take great care of His Mystical Body, the Church, and the Eucharist which He has entrusted to us. If Mary was, in some way, ‘the first tabernacle in history’ (John Paul II Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 55) then we, the Tabernacle in which Our Lord chose to reside in person, in His Real Presence, was also entrusted to us. We can learn from Mary and Joseph! What would they ever have overlooked in the care of Jesus’ physical body? Is there something, therefore, that we can withhold for the right and adoring care of His Eucharistic Body? No amount of attention, no sane act of love and adoring respect, will ever be too much! On the contrary, our adoration and respect will always be inferior to the great gift that comes to us in the Holy Eucharist.

Looking at the Holy Family, we see the love, the protection, and the diligent care that they gave to the Redeemer. We can not fail to feel uneasiness, perhaps a shameful thought, for the times in which we have not rendered the appropriate care and attention to the Blessed Eucharist. We can only ask for forgiveness and do penance for all the sacrilegious acts and the lack of respect that are committed in front of the Blessed Eucharist. We can only ask the Lord, through the intersession of the Holy Family of Nazareth, for a greater love for their Son Incarnate, who has decided to remain here on earth with us every day until the end of time.

From the Congregation for the Clergy

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Thought for the Day – Saturday of Advent 21 December – Mary visits Elizabeth – You also are blessed!

Posted on December 21, 2019December 21, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – Saturday of Advent 21 December

Mary visits Elizabeth

Saint Ambrose of Milan (340-397)
Great Latin Father and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from A Commentary on Luke, Book 2

When the angel revealed his message to the Virgin Mary, he gave her a sign to win her trust. He told her of the motherhood of an old and barren woman, to show that God is able to do all that He wills.

When she hears this, Mary sets out for the hill country. She does not disbelieve God’s word, she feels no uncertainty over the message or doubt about the sign. She goes eager in purpose, dutiful in conscience, hastening for joy.

Filled with God, where would she hasten but to the heights? The Holy Spirit does not proceed by slow, laborious efforts. Quickly, too, the blessings of her coming and the Lord’s presence are made clear, as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the child leapt in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Notice the contrast and the choice of words. Elizabeth is the first to hear Mary’s voice but John, is the first to be aware of grace. She hears with the ears of the body but he leaps for joy at the meaning of the mystery. She is aware of Mary’s presence but he is aware of the Lord’s – a woman aware of a woman’s presence, the forerunner aware of the pledge of our salvation. The women speak of the grace they have received, while the children are active in secret, unfolding the mystery of love with the help of their mothers, who prophesy by the spirit of their sons.

The child leaps in the womb, the mother is filled with the Holy Spirit, he fills his mother with the same Spirit. John leaps for you and the spirit of Mary rejoices in her turn. When John leaps for joy, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit but we know, that though Mary’s spirit rejoices, she does not need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Her Son, who is beyond our understanding, is active in His mother, in a way beyond our understanding. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit after conceiving John, while Mary is filled with the Holy Spirit before conceiving the Lord. Elizabeth says: Blessed are you because you have believed.

You also are blessed, because you have heard and believed. A soul that believes, both conceives and brings forth the Word of God and acknowledges His works.

Let Mary’s soul be in each of you, to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let her spirit be in each, to rejoice in the Lord. Christ has only one mother, in the flesh but we all bring forth Christ, in faith. Every soul receives the Word of God, if only it keeps chaste, remaining pure and free from sin, it’s modesty undefiled. The soul that succeeds in this, proclaims the greatness of the Lord, just as Mary’s soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Saviour. In another place we read – Magnify the Lord with me. The Lord is magnified, not because the human voice can add anything to God but, because He is magnified within us. Christ is the image of God and, if the soul does what is right and holy, it magnifies that image of God, in whose likeness it was created and, in magnifying the image of God, the soul has a share in its greatness and is exalted. you also are blessed becauxe you have believed - st ambrose - 21 dec 2019 the vistation.jpg

ADVENT REFLECTIONS, CARMELITES, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on HAPPINESS, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on PRAYER, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The NATIVITY of JESUS, The O ANTIPHONS, The WORD

Advent Reflection – Saturday of Advent 21 December – ‘Joy is prayer, joy is strength, joy is love.’

Posted on December 21, 2019December 21, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Advent Reflection – Saturday of Advent 21 December, Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14, Psalm 24:1-6, Luke 1:26-38

The Lord is at hand, come let us adore Him.

“Mary set out… in haste” … Luke 1:26

REFLECTION – “Our Lady’s strength was her gaiety and joy. This is what made her God, her son’s attentive servant, because as soon as He came to her she “set out in haste.” Joy alone could have given her the strength to set out in all haste across the hill country of Judah to become the servant of her cousin. It is just the same for us. Like her, we must be true servants of the Lord and after holy communion each day we must hurry over the mountains of the difficulties we encounter, offering our service to the poor with all our heart. Give to Jesus in the poor, as a servant of the Lord. joy alone could have given her - st mother teresa 21 dec 2019.jpg

Joy is prayer, joy is strength, joy is love. It is love’s net with which to catch souls. “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7). Those who give with joy give twice over. If you meet up with difficulties and accept them with joy, with a big smile, in this, as in many other things, people will realise that your works are good and the Father will be glorified in them. The best way, of showing God and others your gratitude, is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart comes from a heart that is burning with love.” … St Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) – Founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity – Jesus, the Word to Be Spoken

MEDITATION – “A soul united to Jesus, is a living smile that radiates Him and, gives Him.” … St Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880-1906) a-sol-united-to-jesus-is-a-living-smile-that-radiates-him-and-gives-him-st-elizabeth-of-the-trinity-8-nov-2019 and 21 dec 2019.jpg

ADVENT ACTION – “God is interested in even the smallest events in the lives of His creatures – in your affairs and mine — and He calls each of us by name. This certainty that the faith gives, enables us to look at everything in a new light. And everything, while remaining exactly the same, becomes different, because it is an expression of God’s love. god is interested in even the smallest events in the lives of His creatures - st josemaria - 31 may 2018 - the visitation.jpg Our life is turned into a continuous prayer, we find ourselves with good humour and a peace that never ends and everything we do is an act of thanksgiving, running through all our day. ‘My soul magnifies the Lord,’ Mary sang, ‘and my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.’” …St Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975) – “To Jesus through Mary,” Christ is Passing By, 144

PRAYER

O Radiant Dawn,
splendour of eternal light, sun of justice!
Come and shine on those
who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

o-radiant-dawn-21-dec-2017, 2018 and 2019.jpg

ADVENT QUOTES, ADVENT REFLECTIONS, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Thought for the Day – The Weekdays of Advent, 18 December – ‘O Church, true Spouse…’

Posted on December 18, 2019December 18, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – The Weekdays of Advent, 18 December – Readings: Jeremiah 23:5-8, Psalm 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19, Matthew 1:18-24

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph … Matthew 1:18

Saint Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450)
Bishop of Ravenna, Father and Doctor of the Church

Sermon 146, on Mt 1:18

“His mother, Mary, was betrothed.” It should have been enough to say: Mary was betrothed. What can a betrothed mother mean? If she is a mother then she isn’t betrothed, if she is betrothed, then she isn’t yet a mother! “His mother, Mary, was betrothed” – betrothed by virginity, mother by fecundity. This was a mother without experience of a man but who yet experienced motherhood. How could she not be a mother before she had conceived who, after giving birth, remains both virgin and mother? When was she not a mother, she who is about to conceive Him, who set in motion, the time that gives things their beginning?

Why was the mystery of heavenly innocence given to a betrothed girl and not to a virgin who was still free? Why did a fiancé’s jealousy put his betrothed in peril? Why should such great virtue appear to be sin or salvation to be eternal danger?… What mystery exercises us in all this, my brethren? There is not a stroke, a letter, a syllable, a word, a name, a person in all the Gospel that is empty of Divine significance.

A betrothed girl was chosen that the Church, Christ’s betrothed, might also be signified according to the word of the prophet Hosea: “I will betroth you to me in right and justice, in love and mercy; I will betroth you in fidelity” (Hos 2:21-22). That is why John said: “The one who has the bride is the Bridegroom” (Jn 3:29). And Saint Paul: “I betrothed you to one Spouse to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor 11:2).

O Church, true spouse, who through the virginal birth [of baptism] conceives a new infancy from Christ!

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

Quote of the Day – 12 December – ‘But you also are blessed … ‘

Posted on December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 12 December – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

“You see that Mary did not doubt
but believed and, therefore, obtained the fruit of faith.
“Blessed are you who have believed.”
But you also are blessed who have heard and believed.
For a soul that has believed has both conceived and bears the Word of God and declares His works.
Let the soul of Mary be in each of you, so that it magnifies the Lord.
Let the spirit of Mary be in each of you, so that it rejoices in God.
She is the one mother of Christ according to the flesh,
yet Christ is the Fruit of all according to faith.
Every soul receives the Word of God,
provided that, undefiled and unstained by vices,
it guards its purity with inviolate modesty.”

St Ambrose
Bishop of Milan (340-397)
Father & Doctor of the Church

(Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, 2)

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CONSECRATION Prayers, DOCTORS of the Church, DOGMA, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, MARY, MATER ECCLESIAE, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Thought for the Day – 9 December – On the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Posted on December 9, 2019December 7, 2020 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 9 December – The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Infallible Teaching of the Catholic Church

On the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Wherefore, in humility and fasting, we unceasingly offered our private prayers as well as the public prayers of the Church, to God the Father through His Son, that He would deign to direct and strengthen our mind by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In like manner did we implore the help of the entire heavenly host as we ardently invoked the Paraclete.

Accordingly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honour of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and by our own:

We declare, pronounce and define, that the Doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her Conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a Doctrine revealed by God and, therefore, to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.
Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment, that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith, that he has separated from the unity of the Church and that, furthermore, by his own action, he incurs the penalties established by law if he should dare to express in words or writing, or by any other outward means, the errors he think in his heart.”

Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878), Ineffabilis Deus, 8 December 1854

“That one woman is both Mother and Virgin, not in spirit only but even in body. In spirit she is mother, not of our Head, who is our Saviour Himself—of whom all, even she herself, are rightly called children of the bridegroom—but plainly she is the mother of us, who are His members, because by love, she has cooperated, so that the faithful, who are the members of that Head, might be born in the Church. In body, indeed, she is the Mother of that very Head”

Saint Augustine (354-430)

Father and Doctor of the Church

Act of Consecration
By St Maximillian Kolbe (1894-1941)

O Immaculate, Queen of heaven and earth,
Refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother,
God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to You,
I, an unworthy sinner, cast myself at Your feet,
humbly imploring You
to take me with all that I am and have,
wholly to Yourself as Your possession and property.
Please make of me,
of all my powers of soul and body,
of my whole life, death and eternity,
whatever pleases You.
If it pleases You,
use all that I am and have without reserve,
wholly to accomplish what has been said of You:
“She will crush your head”,
and “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world.”
Let me be a fit instrument in Your immaculate
and most merciful hands for introducing and increasing Your glory
to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls
and thus help extend as far as possible,
the blessed Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
For, wherever You enter,
You obtain the grace of conversion and sanctification,
since it is through Your hands,
that all graces come to us.
from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise You, O most holy Virgin.

R. Give me strength against Your enemies.
Amen act-of-consecration-8-dec-2017 and 9 dec 2019.jpg

ADVENT, CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The WORD

Advent Reflection on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – 9 December – The wonderful tabernacle of Your glory,

Posted on December 9, 2019December 9, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Advent Reflection on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – 9 December – Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, 20, Psalm 98:1-4, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, Luke 1:26-38

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it what you have said be done to me.” … Luke 1:38 luke 1 38 - let what you have said be done to me - 18dec2018 ourladyofexpectation.jpg

REFLECTION – “May the holy divinity of Your glory, my God, O my gentleness, with which You deigned to fill and to inhabit for nine months the chaste viscera of the Virgin Mary, bless You. May the highest virtue of Your divinity, which bent to the humbleness of the virginal valley, bless You. May the utmost art of Your almightiness, God most high, with which You imparted onto the Virgin Rose, such virtue, radiance and comeliness as You, Yourself could yearn for, bless You. May Your wondrous wisdom, whose copious grace made all of Mary’s life and body, as well as her soul, comparable with Your worthiness, bless You. May You, strong, wise and most dulcet love which made You, the flower and spouse of virginity, become the Son of a virgin, bless You. (…)

May the worthiest heart and soul of the most glorious Virgin Mother Mary (whom, because of my need for salvation, You chose for Yourself as mother and that her motherly clemency might always be open to me) be jubilant to You, on my behalf. May that most faithful concern which is Yours for me (by which You have provided me with an advocate and patron saint of such capability that through her I may easily be able to find Your grace and in whom, I trustfully believe, Your eternal mercy is preserved for me) be jubilant to You. May that wonderful tabernacle of Your glory, which alone has ministered to You worthily, as a holy dwelling place and through which, You can best make amends for me, to Yourself, for the due measure of praise and glory that I owe You, be jubilant to You.” … Saint Gertrude of Helfta the Great (1256-1301) – Exercises VI, SC 127

MEDITATION – “All things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life and this life was the light of the human race.” … John 1:3-4 advent - solemnity of the imm conception 9 dec 2019.jpg

ADVENT ACTION – Remember the Babe in the Manger, keep Him before your eyes and you will not be able to forget what our sins do. Our actions with God and those, in this life, will determine our union with God and others, in eternal life. That is our great hope.

PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help us to imitate Your Immaculate Daughter Mary in her love for You. Grant us the grace to love You as much as she, all our lives and grant, that through her help and her prayers, we ourselves may come to You , cleansed from our sins. O Mary Immaculate, mother of our Lord, Pray for us! Amen immaculate-mary-pray-for-us - 8 dec 2017 and 9 dec 2019.jpg

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Nine – 9 December

Posted on December 9, 2019December 8, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Nine – 9 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 9: The Immaculata’s Fullness of Love

Reading:
The Immaculata never knew the slightest stain, in other words, her love was always full, without flaw. She loved God with all her being and from the first instant of her existence her love united her with God so perfectly, that on the day of the Annunciation the angel could say to her, “Full of grace! the Lord is with you!” (cf. Lk 1:28). She is, then, God’s creature, God’s image, God’s child and in all these respects, she is all this in the most perfect manner possible, among the ranks of mere creatures (“Sketches for a book,” 1940). Intelligent creatures love God in a conscious manner, through this love, they unite themselves more and more closely with Him and so find their way back to Him. The creature most completely filled with this love, filled with God Himself, was the Immaculata. . . . In the Holy Spirit’s union with Mary, we observe more than the love of two beings, in one, there is all the love of the Blessed Trinity, in the other, all of creation’s love. So it is, that in this union, heaven and earth are joined, all of heaven with all the earth, the totality of eternal love with the totality of created love. It is truly the summit of love (“Sketches for a book,” 17 February 1941).

Meditation:
To channel all our spiritual, physical and psychological energies into their fullest human expression, means simply to love God, as totally as possible. May the Immaculata’s flawless love of God, inspire each of u,s to channel our love, in that same ultimate direction.

Closing prayers

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.

Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Eight – 8 December

Posted on December 8, 2019December 7, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Eight – 8 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 8: The Immaculata’s Fruitfulness

Reading:
God sends to us the one who personifies His love – Mary, the spouse of the Spirit—a spirit of maternal love—immaculate, all beautiful, spotless, even though she is our sister, a true daughter of the human race. God confides to her the communication of His mercy to souls. He makes of her the Mediatrix of the graces merited for us by her divine Son, for she is full of grace, the mother of all souls born of grace, reborn and always being reborn, becoming ever more godlike (Commentary on MI “Act of Consecration,” 1940).

Meditation:
Productivity is one of the chief “virtues” upheld by modern society as a measure of worldly success. May the Immaculata give witness to each of us that her (and our) ongoing spiritual fruitfulness, in bearing Christ to others, is a far greater achievement than material productivity.

Closing prayers

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Seven – 7 December

Posted on December 7, 2019December 7, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Seven – 7 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 7: The Immaculata’s Discipleship

Reading:
The Immaculata is God’s instrument. With full consciousness and total willingness she allows God to govern her, she consents to His will, desires only what He desires and acts according to His will in the most perfect manner, without failing, without ever turning aside from His will. She makes perfect use of the powers and privileges God has given her, so as to fulfil, always and in everything, whatever God wants of her, purely for love of God, One and Three. This love of God reaches such a peak that it bears the divine fruits proper to God’s own love. Her love for God brings her to such a level of union with Him that she becomes the Mother of God. The Father confides to her His Son, the Son descends into her womb and the Holy Spirit fashions out of her perfectly pure body, the very body of Jesus! (“Sketches for a book,” 1940).

Meditation:
The only way to guarantee that we are on the “right track” in our everyday activities is to listen to God’s Word and live it out. That’s discipleship! May the Immaculata’s discipleship of total conformity to God’s Word inspire us to be similar instruments of his will.

Closing prayers

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Six – 6 December

Posted on December 6, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Six – 6 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 6: The Immaculata’s Sinlessness

Reading:
Who then are you, 0 Immaculate Conception? Not God, of course, because He has no beginning. Not an angel, created directly out of nothing. Not Adam, formed out of the dust of the earth (Gn 2:7). Not Eve, moulded from Adam’s rib (Gn 2:21). Not the Incarnate Word, who exists before all ages and of Whom we should use the word “conceived” rather than “conception.” Humans do not exist before their conception, so we might call them created “conceptions.” But you, 0 Mary, are different from all other children of Eve. They are conceptions stained by original sin, whereas you, are the unique, Immaculate Conception (“Sketches for a book,” 17 February 1941).

Meditation:
Confronting the reality of sin is one of the fundamental struggles that we face in daily life. May the Immaculata, the sinless New Eve, confirm our hope in the victorious liberation from sin which Christ, the New Adam, won for each of us.

Closing prayers

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Five – 5 December

Posted on December 5, 2019December 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Five – 5 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 5: The Immaculata’s Dignity as a Human Person

Reading:
The Mother of God is a creature. It follows that all she is, she has from God. But she is God’s most perfect creature. For this reason, the homage paid to her is, by the very nature of the case, paid to God Himself. If we admire a statue, we honour the artist who created this masterpiece. If we honour Mary most holy we honour God. The more we pay homage to the divine perfections found in Mary, the more perfect is our homage to God, this is perfectly in order, since God created her in the highest state of perfection (Conference, 9 April 1938).

Meditation:
The greatness of every work of art is directly proportionate to the mastery of the artist who forms it. Accordingly, the dignity of every human person derives from God who has created each of us in His image. May the Immaculata teach us always, to mirror, as she did, the dignity and perfection of our God.

Closing prayers

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Four – 4 December

Posted on December 4, 2019December 3, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Four – 4 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 4: The Immaculata’s Self-Understanding

Reading:
When our Blessed Mother was asked by Bernadette to tell her name, she answered, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” this is the Immaculata’s definition of herself (Conference, 26 July 1931). By these luminous words (at Lourdes) she tells us not only that she was immaculate in her conception but beyond this that she is the Immaculate Conception as such. Something white is one thing; the whiteness of a thing is some-thing else. Something perfect is one thing; the perfection of a thing is something else. When God said to Moses, “I am the one who is,” God was telling him: “What is proper to my essence is that I should always be, by my very nature, of myself, with no other principle of being.” The Immaculate Virgin, of course, was created by God; she is a creature; she is a conception; still, she is the Immaculate Conception! What depths of mystery lie hidden in those words! (Miles Immaculatae, I, 1938, p. 294).

Meditation:
In our contemporary world, great emphasis is placed on the importance of getting to “know one-self.” May the Immaculata’s example of authentic self-understanding lead each of us to find our own true meaning as participants in the very being of God.

Closing prayers:

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Three – 3 December

Posted on December 3, 2019December 2, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Three – 3 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 3: The Immaculata’s Place in God’s Plan of Creation and Salvation

Reading:
The Immaculata appears in this world, without the least stain of sin, the masterpiece of God’s hands, full of grace. God, the most Holy Trinity, beholds the lowliness (i.e., the humility, the root of all her other virtues) of His handmaid and “does great things” for her (cf. Lk 1:49). God the Father gives her, His own Son to be her Son, God the Son descends into her womb and God the Holy Spirit forms the Body of Christ in the womb of this most pure virgin. “And the Word was made flesh” (Jn 1:14). The Immaculata becomes the Mother of God.

The fruit of the love of God in His Trinitarian life and of Mary the Immaculata, is Christ, the God-man. Henceforth, all the other sons of God must be modelled after this first Son of God, the God-man, the infinite One. They must reproduce His traits, by imitating Christ, souls reach sanctity. . . . This is the union brought about by the spousal love of the soul for Christ, through its resemblance to Him and by God’s action.

But if anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother. . . . Since the firstborn Son, the God-man was conceived only with the specific consent of the most Blessed Virgin, the same must hold true for all men, who must be conformed to their first model in all things (“Sketches for a book,” 1940).

Meditation:
From all eternity, God has designed a unique plan for each one of us, no two being identical. His ultimate aim, is that we all be fully united to the Lord. May the Immaculata, from her unique position in God’s plan, foster our growing conformity to Christ.

Closing prayers:

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, franciscan OFM, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The HOLY GHOST, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Two – 2 December

Posted on December 2, 2019December 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Two – 2 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 2: The Immaculata as Spouse of the Holy Spirit

Reading:
United to the Holy Spirit as His Spouse, the Immaculata is one with God in an incomparably more perfect way than can be predicated of any other creature. What sort of union is this? It is above all an interior union, a union of her essence with the “essence” of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in her, lives in her. This was true from the first instant of her existence. It was always true, it will always be true.

In what does this life of the Spirit in Mary consist? He himself is uncreated Love in her, the Love of the Father and of the Son, the Love by which God loves Himself, the very love of the most Holy Trinity. He is a fruitful love, a “Conception.” Among creatures made in God’s image the union brought about by married love is the most intimate of all (cf. Mt 19:6). In a much more precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculata, in the depths of her very being. He makes her fruitful, from the very first instant of her existence, all during her life and for all eternity (“Sketches for a book,” 17 February 1941).

Meditation:
To grow in daily awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence within us is a constant challenge that God gives to each and all of us. May the Immaculata’s perfect life in the Holy Spirit, cause a sharpening, of our own attentiveness, to His presence at the core of our inner selves.

Closing prayers:

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask, through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day One – 1 December

Posted on December 1, 2019November 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day One – 1 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 1: The Immaculata’s Relationship to the Trinity

Reading:
From all eternity the Father begets the Son and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son. This life of the most Holy Trinity is re-echoed in numberless and various ways, by the creatures that issue from God’s hands. . . . Every act of love in God comes forth from the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God creates, maintains in existence, gives life and growth in the natural as well as in the supernatural order. In His love, God supports in existence all His innumerable limited created resemblances and the love-reaction that is provoked in the creature, can return to the Father only through the Holy Spirit and the Son.. .
Among creatures, the summit of this love that goes back to God is the Immaculata, the one being totally without any stain of sin, all beautiful, all divine. At no time did her will ever deviate from God’s will. With all its strength, her will was always at one with His. In her there came about the marvellous union of God with creation.
(Kolbe’s “Sketches for a Book,” 1940).

Meditation:
Cultivating a personal relationship with each member of the Holy Trinity is an obligation for every individual. May the Immaculata’s love-response to each of the Three Divine Persons, serve as a model and stimulus for each of us.

Closing prayers:

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practiced so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

ADVENT QUOTES, CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN POETRY, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Devotion for December The Immaculate Conception

Posted on December 1, 2019November 29, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Devotion for December
The Immaculate Conception

During Advent, as we prepare for the birth of Christ at Christmas, we also celebrate one of the great feasts of the Catholic Church. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (8 December-moved to 8 December in 2019) is not only a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary but a foretaste of our own redemption.

In keeping the Blessed Virgin free from the stain of sin from the moment of her conception, God presents us with a glorious example of what mankind was meant to be. Mary is truly the second Eve, because, like Eve, she entered the world without sin. Unlike Eve, she remained sinless throughout her life—a life that she dedicated fully to the will of God. The Eastern Fathers of the Church referred to her as “without stain” (a phrase that appears frequently in the Eastern liturgies and hymns to Mary), in Latin, that phrase is immaculatus: “immaculate.”

The Immaculate Conception was not, as many people mistakenly believe, a precondition for Christ’s act of redemption but the result of it. Standing outside of time, God knew that Mary would humbly submit herself to His will and in His love for this perfect servant, He applied to her at the moment of her conception the redemption, won by Christ, that all Christians receive at their Baptism.

It is appropriate, then, that the Church has long declared the month in which the Blessed Virgin not only was conceived but gave birth to the Saviour of the world, as the Month of the Immaculate Conception.

The star of Mary Immaculate shines down on the path of Advent….

What person is more luminous than Mary?

Who can be for us, better than her, the star of hope,

the sunrise that proclaims the day of salvation?

Pope Benedict XVI

Holy light on earth’s horizon,
Star of hope to those who fall,
Light amid a world of shadows,
Dawn of God’s design for all.

Mary, Virgin of Advent, may we always walk with you in the light of the Lord, Jesus, the fruit of your womb! Amen

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, DOGMA, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOTES to Followers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Announcing a Novena in honour of the Immaculate Conception – Begins 1 December

Posted on November 29, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Announcing a Novena in honour of the Immaculate Conception
Begins 1 December

As the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is moved forward by one day this year, from 8 to 9 December, due to the 8th being the 2nd Sunday of Advent, we will start the Novena a day later than usual.

This year we will use Reflections and Meditations from St Maximillian Kolbe.

See you there!

announcing a novena imm conception begins 1 dec by st Maximillian Kolbe 30 Nov 2019.jpg

AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DOCTORS of the Church, DOCTRINE, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, MARY, MATER ECCLESIAE, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Thought for the Day – 21 November – She Who Believed by Faith, Conceived by Faith

Posted on November 21, 2019November 20, 2022 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 21 November – The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

She Who Believed by Faith, Conceived by Faith

Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from Sermon 25

“Stretching out His hand over His disciples, the Lord Christ declared: Here are my mother and my brothers; anyone who does the will of my Father who sent me is my brother and sister and my mother. I would urge you to ponder these words. Did the Virgin Mary, who believed by faith and conceived by faith, who was the chosen one from whom our Saviour was born among men, who was created by Christ before Christ was created in her—did she not do the will of the Father? Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will and so it was for her, a greater thing, to have been Christ’s disciple, than to have been His mother and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb, Him, whom she would obey as her master.

Now listen and see if the words of Scripture do not agree with what I have said . The Lord was passing by and crowds were following Him. His miracles gave proof of divine power and a woman cried out: Happy is the womb that bore you, blessed is that womb! But the Lord, not wishing people to seek happiness in a purely physical relationship, replied: More blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Mary heard God’s word and kept it and so she is blessed. She kept God’s truth in her mind, a nobler thing than carrying His body in her womb. The Truth and the Body were both Christ – He was kept in Mary’s mind, insofar as He is Truth, He was carried in her womb, insofar as He is man but, what is kept in the mind, is of a higher order than what is carried in the womb.

The Virgin Mary is both holy and blessed and yet, the Church is greater than she. Mary is a part of the Church, a member of the Church, a holy, an eminent—the most eminent—member but still only a member of the entire body. The body undoubtedly is greater than she, one of its members. This body has the Lord for its head and head and body together make up the whole Christ. In other words, our head is divine—our head is God.

Now, beloved, give me your whole attention, for you also are members of Christ, you also, are the body of Christ. Consider how you yourselves can be among those, of whom the Lord said: Here are my mother and my brothers. Do you wonder how you can be the mother of Christ? He Himself said: Whoever hears and fulfils the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother. As for our being the brothers and sisters of Christ, we can understand this, because, although there is only one inheritance and Christ is the only Son, His mercy would not allow Him to remain alone. It was His wish, that we too should be heirs of the Father and co-heirs with Himself. the virgin mary is holy and blessed and yet the church - st augustine - 21 nov 2019 presentation of mary.jpg

Now having said that all of you are brothers of Christ, shall I not dare to call you His mother? Much less would I dare to deny His own words. Tell me how Mary became the mother of Christ, if it was not by giving birth to the members of Christ? You, to whom I am speaking, are the members of Christ. Of whom were you born? “Of Mother Church,” I hear the reply of your hearts. You became sons of this mother at your baptism, you came to birth then as members of Christ. Now you, in your turn, must draw to the font of baptism as many as you possibly can. You became sons when you were born there yourselves and now, by bringing others to birth in the same way, you have it in your power, to become the mothers of Christ. Amen!”

Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,

Mother of the Church, Pray for Us!

mary pray for us - preesentation 21 nov 2019

mary mater ecclesiae pray for 10 july 2019

	Santas e Santos do d… on Nuestra Señora de la Palabra /…
	MAIN SAINTS & TH… on Saint of the Day – 23 Fe…
	moinillon on Quote/s of the Day – 29 Decemb…
	Santo Aelredus dari… on Saint of the Day – 12 Ja…
	emmepostma on Saint of the Day – 3 Dec…

The Month of Mary

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

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Rejoice! It’s 1 May and the Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor

Saint Pope Paul VI, The Month of Mary,1967

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Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday, The “Second Sabbath” – 11 April

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Saint Ephrem (306-373)

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“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”

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The Purification of Our Lady

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

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Excerpt Pope Francis’ Homily on The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God 1 January 2019

Holy Mother of God, OUR mother, Pray for Us!

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Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Fifth Day of the Christmas Octave

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Mary visits Elizabeth

Saint Ambrose of Milan (340-397) Great Latin Father and Doctor of the Church

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O Radiant Dawn, splendour of eternal light, sun of justice! Come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

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Saint Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) Bishop of Ravenna, Father and Doctor of the Church

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St Ambrose Bishop of Milan (340-397) Father & Doctor of the Church

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The Infallible Teaching of the Catholic Church

On the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878), Ineffabilis Deus, 8 December 1854

Saint Augustine (354-430)

Father and Doctor of the Church

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 9: The Immaculata’s Fullness of Love

Closing prayers

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 8: The Immaculata’s Fruitfulness

Closing prayers

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 7: The Immaculata’s Discipleship

Closing prayers

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 6: The Immaculata’s Sinlessness

Closing prayers

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 5: The Immaculata’s Dignity as a Human Person

Closing prayers

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 4: The Immaculata’s Self-Understanding

Closing prayers:

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 3: The Immaculata’s Place in God’s Plan of Creation and Salvation

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 2: The Immaculata as Spouse of the Holy Spirit

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Devotion for December The Immaculate Conception

Pope Benedict XVI

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See you there!

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Excerpt
Pope Francis’ Homily on
The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
1 January 2019

Saint Ambrose of Milan (340-397)
Great Latin Father and Doctor of the Church

O Radiant Dawn,
splendour of eternal light, sun of justice!
Come and shine on those
who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

Saint Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450)
Bishop of Ravenna, Father and Doctor of the Church

St Ambrose
Bishop of Milan (340-397)
Father & Doctor of the Church

On the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Devotion for December
The Immaculate Conception

Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church