Holy Mary, Mother of God, Virgin Immaculate,
you appeared 18 times to Bernadette at the grotto in Lourdes
to remind Christians of what the truths in the Gospel require of them.
You call them to prayer, penance, the Eucharist and the life of the church.
To answer your call more fully,
I dedicate myself, through you, to your Son Jesus Christ.
Make me willing to accept what He said.
By the fervour of my faith,
by the conduct of my life in all its aspects,
by my devotion to the sick,
let me work with you in the comforting of those who suffer
and in the reconciliation of people
that the church may be one
and there be peace in the world.
All this I ask, confident that you, Our Lady,
will fully answer my prayer.
Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!
St. Bernadette, pray for us!
PRAYER OF POPE FRANCIS FOR THE TWENTY FIFTH WORLD DAY OF THE SICK 2017
Mary, our Mother,
in Christ you welcome each of us
as a son or daughter.
Sustain the trusting expectation of our hearts,
succour us in our infirmities and sufferings,
and guide us to Christ, your Son and our brother.
Help us to entrust ourselves to the Father
who accomplishes great things. Amen
Blessed Memorial of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes/Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception – 11 February 1858 – Patron of the ill and infirm, protection from disease, France, 6 cities and a Diocese.
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Bernadette was a sickly child of poor parents. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. Bernadette could pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. She also knew the prayer of the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin.”
During interrogations Bernadette gave an account of what she saw. It was “something white in the shape of a girl.” She used the word aquero, a dialect term meaning “this thing.” It was “a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm.” Her white robe was encircled by a blue girdle. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand. Bernadette was also impressed by the fact that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu), but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to a humble girl and treated her with dignity.
Through that humble girl, Mary revitalized and continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. In 1862 Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions and authorized the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes for the diocese. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became worldwide in 1907.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY NINE– 10 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY NINE
O glorious Mother of God,
to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death.
O Mother of our Divine Lord, as we conclude this novena for the special favoUr we seek at this time.
(make your request)
Mary and Bernadette
We feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf
will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His Name,
hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY EIGHT– 9 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY EIGHT
O Immaculate Mother of God,
from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette
in the rough Grotto of Lourdes!
And as Bernadette knelt at your feet
and the miraculous spring burst forth
and as multitudes have knelt ever since before your shrine, O Mother of God,
we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy
you plead with your Divine Son to grant the special favour we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY SEVEN– 8 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY SEVEN
O Almighty God,
who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son,
we humbly beseech You,
that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes,
we may be blessed with health of mind and body.
O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer,
look with favour upon us as you did that day on Bernadette
and intercede with Him for us
that the favour we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY SIX– 7 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY SIX
O glorious Mother of God,
so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes,
to you we raise our hearts and hands
to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining
from the gracious Heart of Jesus
all the helps and graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare
and for the special favour we so earnestly seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Lady of Bernadette,
with the stars of heaven in your hair and the roses of earth at your feet,
look with compassion upon us today as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Perhaps we wonder how we could possibly endure the sufferings that the martyrs suffered, such terrible and prolonged sufferings and where would we find the strength and endurance to suffer to death, for our faith? The martyrs do not endure by their own strength and they are well aware of this. If that time should ever come to us, the strength would be given us by God. Believe it!
Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs and all Martyrs of the Faith, Pray for us!
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FIVE– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FIVE
O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother,
from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we,
full of confidence in your unbounded goodness
and confident that your Divine Son
will look favourably upon any request you make of Him on our behalf,
we beseech you to come to our aid
and secure for us the favour we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FOUR– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FOUR
O Immaculate Queen of Heaven,
we your wayward, erring children,
join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving
to those of the angels and saints and of your own-
that the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified
in heaven and on earth.
Our Lady of Lourdes,
as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette
as she prayed her rosary in the grotto,
look down now, we beseech you,
with love and mercy upon us.
From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son,
sweet Mother of God,
give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need
and at this moment look with special favour
on the grace we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen.
NOVENA to OUR LADY of LOURDES – DAY ONE – 2 FEBRUARY (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
O Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
virgin and mother, queen of heaven,
chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word
and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin,
we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes
and pray with childlike trust in you
that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes,
you will look with mercy on our present petition
and secure for us a favorable answer to the request
for which we are making this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
“O Blessed Mother, the sword is already in your heart.
You foreknow the future of the Fruit of your womb.
May our fidelity in following Him through the coming mysteries
of His public life bring some alleviations
to the sorrows of your maternal heart. ”
Presentation of the Lord (Feast)
Our Lady of Candelaria
World Day for Consecrated Life
—
St Adalbald of Ostrevant
St Adeloga of Kitzingen
St Agathodoros of Tyana
St Andrea Carlo Ferrari
St Apronian the Executioner
St Bruno of Ebsdorf
St Burchard of Wurzburg
St St Candidus the Martyr
Catherine del Ricci
St Columbanus of Ghent
St Cornelius the Centurion
St Felician the Martyr
St Feock
St Firmus of Rome
St Flosculus of Orléans
St Fortunatus the Martyr
St Giovanni Battista Clemente Saggio
St Hilarus the Martyr
St Jean Theophane Venard
St Jeanne de Lestonnac
St Lawrence of Canterbury
Bl Louis Alexander Alphonse Brisson
Bl Maria Domenica Mantovani
St Marquard of Hildesheim
St Mun
Bl Peter Cambiano
St Rogatus the Martyr
St Saturninus the Martyr
St Sicharia of Orleans
St Simon of Cassia Fidati
Bl Stephen Bellesini
St Theodoric of Ninden
St Victoria the Martyr
—
Martyrs of Ebsdorf
The 11th of February is World Day of the Sick. It is also the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes! Join me in praying a novena through Our Lady’s intercession for the sick and suffering here.
The novena begins tomorrow (February 2). If you sign up the prayers will come to your e-mail inbox each day for the next nine days. The prayers are brief but powerful. Please lift up in prayer all of your family members, friends and those unknown throughout the world who have no-one to pray for them. God is with us and Mary our Mother stands at His side to intervene for all our needs!
A Christian, who seriously considers that he is to live here but a moment and will live eternally in the world to come, must confess that it is a part of wisdom to refer all his actions and views to prepare himself for that everlasting dwelling, which is his true country. Our only and necessary affair is to live for God. to do His will and to sanctify and save our souls. If we are employed in a multiplicity of exterior business, we must imitate St Bathilde, when she bore the whole weight of the state. In all we do, God and His holy will must be always before our eyes and to please Him must be our only aim and desire.
Shunning the anxiety of Martha and reducing all our desires to this one of doing what God requires of us, we must with her call in Mary to our assistance. In the midst of action, while our hands are at work, our mind and heart ought to be interiorly employed on God, at least virtually, that all our employments may be animated with the spirit of piety: and hours of repose must always be contrived to pass at the feet of Jesus, where in the silence of all creatures we may listen to His sweet voice, refresh in Him our wearied souls and renew our fervour.
While we converse with the world, we must tremble at the sight of its snares, and be upon our guard that we never be seduced so far as to be in love with it, or to learn its spirit. o love the world, is to follow its passions; to be proud, covetous and sensual, as the world is. The height of its miseries and dangers, is that blindness by which none who are infected with its spirit, see their misfortune, or are sensible of their disease. Happy are they who can imitate this holy queen in entirely separating themselves from it! Not only a slave but a queen – St Bathilde was both and yes, BOTH MAY BE SAINTS!
St Bathilde PRAY FOR US!
(Partially taken from Vol. I of “The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints” by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by D. & J. Sadlier, & Company)
O children, listen to me, instruction and wisdom do not reject!…………Prv 8:32-33
REFLECTION – “Let Mary never be far from your lips and from our heart.
Following her, you will never lose your way. Praying to her, you will never sink into despair. Contemplating her, you will never go wrong.”………………St Bernardine of Siena
PRAYER – Lord Jesus, help me to have continual recourse to Your holy Mother. Grant that she may watch over me as she lovingly watched over You in Your home in Nazareth. Amen
Prayer to Spend the Day Well by Blessed James Alberione
Dear and sweet Mother Mary,
keep your holy hand upon me;
guard my mind,
my heart and my senses,
that I may never commit sin.
Sanctify my thoughts,
affections,
words and actions,
so that I may please you and your Jesus, my God,
and reach heaven with you.
Jesus and Mary,
give me your holy blessing;
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St Agnes of Rome (Memorial)
Our Lady of Altagracia – Also known as: Our Lady of Grace – Our Lady of High Grace – Protector and Queen of the hearts of the Dominicans – Tatica from Higuey – Virgen de la Altagracia – Virgin of Altagracia
—
St Agnes of Aislinger
St Alban Bartholomew Roe
St Anastasius of Constantinople
St Aquila of Trebizond
St Brigid of Kilbride
St Candidus of Trebizond
Bl Edward Stransham
St Epiphanius of Pavia
St Eugenius of Trebizond
Bl Franciscus Bang
St Gunthildis of Biblisheim
Bl Ines de Beniganim
St John Yi Yun-on
St Lawdog
St Maccallin of Waulsort
St Meinrad of Einsiedeln
St Nicholas Woodfen
St Patroclus of Troyes
St Publius of Malta
Bl Thomas Reynolds
St Valerian of Trebizond
St Vimin of Holywood
St Zacharias the Angelic
—
Blessed Martyrs of Laval – 19 beati
Martyrs of Rome – 30 saints
Martyrs of Tarragona: Augurius, Eulogius, Fructuosus
There are many ways of “being poor” and in today’s world, the more we have, the poorer we can be. Our Lady of Banneux is a most worthy intercessor to pray on our behalf to our God of such loving mercy, for all the needs of the poor of the world, for so many who are rich in goods but poor in spirit.
As St John Paul said on a visit to Banneux – “The poor today – and there are many ways of being poor! – feel at home in Banneux. They come here to find comfort, courage, hope, union with God in their affliction. I encourage the pilgrims who come here to pray to her, who, always and everywhere in the Church, reflects the face of the Mercy of God.”
On the way of duty I walk, along the paths of justice, granting wealth to those who love me…………Prv 8:20-21
REFLECTION – “Mary’s grace has given glory to heaven: a God to earth: and faith to the nations. She has conferred death on vices, order on life and a rule on morals.”………St Peter Chrysologus
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, grant me the grace to have Mary as my constant intercessor. In all difficulties, let me call on her aid, for she is Your beloved Daughter and our Blessed Mother. Holy Mother of Banneux, Pray for us, amen!
Our Lady of Banneux,
Mother of Our Saviour,
Mother of God,
Virgin of the Poor,
since thou hast promised to believe in us
if we believe in thee,
I put all my trust in thee.
Deign to listen to the prayers
that thou hast asked be addressed to thee;
have pity on all our spiritual and temporal miseries.
Restore to sinners the treasure of Faith,
and give to the poor their daily bread.
Deign to relieve suffering,
to heal the sick and to pray for us,
so that thus through thy intercession,
the reign of Christ the King
may extend over all nations, amen.
Memorial of the Day – 15 January – Our Lady of Banneux, or Our Lady of the Poor, is the sobriquet given to the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Mariette Beco, an adolescent girl living in Banneux, province of Liège (Belgium). Between January 15 and March 2, 1933, Beco told her family and parish priest of seeing a Lady in white who declared herself to be the “Virgin of the Poor”, saying I come to relieve suffering and believe in me and I will believe in you. As Our Lady of Banneux she has two titles: Our Lady of the Poor and Queen of Nations
Mariette Beco was twelve years old when she reported Marian apparitions in 1933 in Banneux, Belgium, a hamlet about 15 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of the city of Liège. In this case, the Lady in White reportedly declared she was the Virgin of the Poor and said: “Believe in me and I will believe in you.”
According to Mariette, she first saw the Blessed Virgin on the evening of Sunday, January 15, 1933, as she was looking out the kitchen window. A woman in white stood in the garden and called to her to come out, but her mother would not let her. She is described as a young lady in the yard smiling at her. The woman was bent slightly forward and wearing a long white gown with a blue sash, and a transparent white veil. Three days later the woman in white reappeared and told Mariette she was “Our Lady of the Poor”. The lady appeared eight times in all, the last on March 2, 1933.
In one of these visions, Mariette said the Lady asked her to plunge (push) her hands into a small spring [poussez vos mains dans l’eau], telling her the spring was for healing and “for all nations”. Over time the site drew pilgrims. Today, the small spring yields about 2,000 gallons of water a day with many reports of miraculous healings.
Mariette, meanwhile, became the object of local derision, with even grandmother and aunt making fun of her. Boys followed her around, calling her “Bernadette”, kneeling and asking for her blessing. Her claims were subject to an official investigation from 1935 to 1937 by an episcopal commission. The evidence collected was submitted to Rome for further analysis. Meanwhile, a hospital was built in 1938.
In May 1942, Bishop Kerkhofs of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège (Belgium) approved the veneration of Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Poor. Then, in 1947, approval for the apparitions came from the Holy See. It was declared definite in 1949.
After the apparitions, Mariette decided to remain a private person, married and led a quiet family life. A small chapel stands where the Virgin of the Poor is said to have requested it to be built.
The Chapel of Banneux
Mariette died on December 2, 2011, at the age of 90. In 2008 she made a final statement about her role in the apparitions: “I was no more than a postman who delivers the mail. Once this has been done, the postman is of no importance any more”.
…….while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of our faith.
For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God………..Heb 12:2
REFLECTION – “Look then on Jesus, the author and preserver of faith: in complete sinlessness He suffered, and at the hands of those who were His own, and was numbered among the wicked. As you drink the cup of the Lord Jesus (how glorious it is!), give thanks to the Lord, the iver of all blessings.”………….St Raymond of Peñafort
PRAYER – O Lord, help me always to keep my eyes on You. Teach me too to endure and offer You all the sufferings and hardships of this earthly life, for Your greater Glory. St Raymond, your life is an example to us all of the practise of keeping our eyes on the Lord. Please pray for us, amen!
Celebrating the CHRISTMAS SEASON
OCTAVE DAY – 1 JANUARY
SOLEMNITY of MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
Sunday, 1st January is the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. It is also the World Day of Prayer for Peace.
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Daily Meditation: Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. Isaiah 60
May the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute, the kings of Arabia and Seba offer gifts. May all kings bow before him, all nations serve him. For he rescues the poor when they cry out, the oppressed who have no one to help. He shows pity to the needy and the poor and saves the lives of the poor. Psalm 72
The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Ephesians 3
This great feast – celebrated in the East as the Baptism of the Lord – is a feast of “revelation.”
Jesus is the beloved Son of God,
a light for the whole world,
the very one who comes to us in time, this year,
to be our saviour:
to rescue the poor, to hear our cry,
to save us in our need, in our poverty.
May we bring Him the gifts of our faith and trust and hope.
May we recognize Him as our Saviour
who gave His own life to set us free from the power of sin and death.
Come, let us adore Him.
Closing Prayer:
Light of the world,
You have come into my life; You are here for me in my poverty.
I am dazzled by the gifts You bring to me on this day:
“Your light is strong, your love is near.”
Truly You have drawn me far beyond the limits of the world,
and into the limit-less boundaries of Your dizzying love.
My gifts are small, and often filled with fear.
They are my trust and my hope.
Please accept them and heal me
and let me be free enough to rejoice
that You are the Beloved Son
and that You have come for me
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
The precise title “Mother of God” goes back at least to the third or fourth century. In the Greek form Theotokos (God-bearer), it became the touchstone of the Church’s teaching about the Incarnation. The Council of Ephesus in 431 insisted that the holy Fathers were right in calling the holy virgin Theotokos. At the end of this particular session, crowds of people marched through the street shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!” The tradition reaches to our own day. In its chapter on Mary’s role in the Church, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church calls Mary “Mother of God” 12 times.
We learn the great truth that Mary is the Mother of God from St. Luke’s Gospel, in the message given by the angel to Mary: “You are going to be the mother of a Son and you will call Him Jesus, and He will be called the Son of the Most High.” Once she said yes, the Holy Spirit created in her womb the human nature that God the Son would assume. Since motherhood is of the person and not of the nature alone and since Mary is the mother of Jesus, true God and true Man, then she is rightly called the Mother of God. After the angel had appeared to her and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth. At Mary’s greeting Elizabeth said, “Why should this great thing happen to me, that my Lord’s mother comes to visit me?” [Lk 1:43]. The Holy Scriptures teach us that Jesus was both God and man. John writes: “The Word became flesh and lived among us” [Jn 1:14]. St. Paul refers to this event when he writes to the Galatians, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,” and as, “eternally begotten of the Father.” So Bible teaches that Mary was the mother of the God-Man Jesus, not in the sense that she gave birth to Jesus as God but in the sense that the Baby she bore had the nature of God and the nature of Man.
For centuries, Mary has been praised because she believed. She is Mother of God because of her faith in God. The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, celebrates Mary’s faith and trust in God alone. The Church wants us to imitate her faith.
God who is mighty, has done great things for me, holy is his name…….Lk 1:49
REFLECTION – “While remaining the Mother of our Judge, Mary is a mother to us, full of mercy.
She constitutes our protection. She keeps us close to Christ and she faithfully takes the matter of our salvation into her charge.”……………….St Peter Canisius (Saint of the Day)
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, You have filled Mary with grace and made her a Co-Redeemer with Christ Your Son. Grant that I may have constant recourse to her and attain the salvation she helped win for the world. St Peter Canisius Pray for us! Amen
Mary’s appearance to St Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary and the God who sent her accept all peoples. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for Native Americans. While a number of them had converted before this incident, they now came in droves. According to a contemporary chronicler, nine million Indians became Catholic in a very short time. In these days when we hear so much about God’s preferential option for the poor, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God’s love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself.
Mary’s visit to Guadalupe is a reminder that God will remember his mercy for all people. In Mary’s song of joy, the Magnificat, she praised God because he has put down the mighty, exalted the lowly, filled the hungry and sent the rich away empty.
“Am I not here, I, who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, the crossing of my arms? Am I not the source of all your joy? What more do you need? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.”
– The Virgin Mary, to St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill
AnaStpaul 
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