Tag: luke1:38

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Hail MARY!, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PARTIAL Indulgence, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The ANNUNCIATION, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 7 October – ‘… Speak the word that is transitory and embrace the Word which is everlasting!’

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One Minute Reflection – 7 October – “The Month of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Angels” – Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary – Proverbs 8:22-24, 32-35, Luke 1:26-38 Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

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

REFLECTION – “You have heard, O Virgin, that you are to conceive and bring forth a Son and that this will not be through the power of man but, by the virtue of the Holy Spirit. The Angel awaits your reply, for it is time that he should return to God Who sent him. We, too, are waiting, O Lady, for a word of mercy, we, who are groaning under the sentence of condemnation. See, the price of our salvation is offered to you; if you consent, we shall at once be delivered. By the Eternal Word of God were we all created and behold, we will all die. By your brief answer, we shall be refreshed and recalled to life! …

Hasten, then, O Lady, to give your answer; hasten to speak the word so longed for by all on earth, in limbo and in Heaven. Yes, the King and Lord of all things, Who has “greatly desired your beauty” (Ps 44:12), desires, as eagerly, your word of consent by which He has purposed to save the world. He, Whom you pleased by your silence, will be yet more pleased by your reply. Hark! He calls to you from Heaven – “O most beautiful among women, let me hear your voice” (Sg 1:8; 2:14) … Answer the Angel quickly, then; yes, through the Angel give your consent to your God. Answer one syllable, receive the Word; utter your own word and conceive that which is Divine. Speak the word that is transitory and embrace the Word which is everlasting! …”

“Behold,” she says, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to thy word.” – St Bernard (1091-1153) Father and Doctor of the Church (Homily 4 on the “Missus est” [He was sent] #8-9).

PRAYER – O God, Whose Only-begotten Son, by His life, death and resurrection, has merited for us the grace of eternal salvation, grant, we beseech Thee, that, meditating on these Mysteries in the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The ANNUNCIATION, The INCARNATION, The WORD

Friday of the Third Week of Lent – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘ … By Obeying His Word …’

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Friday of the Third Week of Lent – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – The Annunciation – Isaias 7:10-15, Luke 1:26-38

“Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” – Luke 1:28,42

“And Mary said,
‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be to me according to your word.’”

Luke 1:38

“SO THE LORD NOW manifestly came to His own. Born by His own created order that He Himself bears, He by His obedience on the tree, renewed and reversed what was done by disobedience, in connection with a tree.

THE POWER of that seduction, by which the virgin Eve, already betrothed to a man, had been wickedly seduced, was broken when the Angel in truth brought good tidings to the Virgin Mary, who already, by her betrothal belonged to a man. For as Eve was seduced by the word of an Angel to flee from God, having rebelled against His Word, so Mary by the word of an Angel, received the glad tidings that she would bear God, by obeying His Word.

THE FORMER WAS SEDUCED to disobey God and so fell but the latter, was persuaded to obey God, so that the Virgin Mary might become the advocate of Eve.

AS THE HUMAN RACE was subjected to death through the act of a virgin, so was it saved by a virgin, was precisely balanced by the obedience of Another. Then indeed, the sin of the first formed man was amended by the chastisement of the First Begotten, the wisdom of the serpent was conquered by the simplicity of the dove and the chains were broken, by which we were in bondage to death.” – St Irenaeus (130-202) Bishop of Lyons, Martyr, Father of the Church (Against Heresies, 5)

Posted in ADVENT REFLECTIONS, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN POETRY, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, POETRY, The ANNUNCIATION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 20 December – ‘… Answer quickly, O Virgin. …’

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Quote/s of the Day – 20 December – Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent, Readings: Isaiah 7: 10-14; Psalm 24: 1-6; Luke 1: 26-38

“And Mary said,
‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be to me according to your word.’”

Luke 1:38

“The price of our salvation
is offered to you.
We shall be set free at once, if you consent.
In the eternal Word of God, we all came to be
and behold, we die.
In your brief response,
we are to be remade.
in order to be recalled to life.

… Answer quickly, O Virgin.
Reply in haste to the Angel,
or rather, through the Angel to the Lord.
Answer with a word,
receive the Word of God.
Speak your own word,
conceive the Divine Word.
Breathe a passing word,
embrace the Eternal Word!”

St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
The Last Father and
the Mellifluous Doctor of the Church

The Annunciation
By Fr Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Ashes of paper, ashes of a world
Wandering, when fire is done:
We argue with the drops of rain!

Until one comes Who walks unseen
Even in elements we have destroyed.
Deeper than any nerve
He enters flesh and bone.
Planting His truth, He puts our substance on.
Air, earth and rain
Rework the frame that fire has ruined.
What was dead is waiting for His Flame.
Sparks of His Spirit spend their seeds, and hide
To grow like irises, born before summertime.
These blue thinas bud in Israel.

The girl prays by the bare wall
Between the lamp and the chair.
(Framed with an angel in our galleries
She has a richer painted room, sometimes a crown.
Yet seven pillars of obscurity
Build her to Wisdom’s house, and Ark and Tower.
She is the Secret of another Testament
She owns their manna in her jar.)

Fifteen years old –
The flowers printed on her dress
Cease moving in the middle of her prayer
When God, Who sends the messenger,
Meets His messenger in her Heart.
Her answer, between breath and breath,
Wrings from her innocence our Sacrament!
In her white body God becomes our Bread.

It is her tenderness
Heats the dead world like David on his bed.
Times that were too soon criminal
And never wanted to be normal
Evade the beast that has pursued
You, me and Adam out of Eden’s wood.
Suddenly we find ourselves assembled
Cured and recollected under several green trees.

Her prudence wrestled with the Dove
To hide us in His cloud of steel and silver:
These are the mysteries of her Son.
And here my heart, a purchased outlaw,
Prays in her possession
Until her Jesus, makes my heart
Smile like a flower in her blameless hand.

Fr Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Trappist Monk and Priest. Thomas Merton expressed his vision in his poetry, novels, essays, devotionals and autobiographical writings.

Posted in DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 8 December – ‘ … Mary is the new Tree of Life …’

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One Minute Reflection – 8 December on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, 20, Psalm 98:1-4, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, Luke 1:26-38

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.

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

REFLECTION – “Son of God, grant me Your own admirable Gift, that I may celebrate the wondrous beauty of Your beloved Mother! The Virgin gave birth to a Son while preserving her virginity, she suckled Him who gives nourishment to the peoples, in her Immaculate breast she bore Him who carries the whole world in His Hands. She is Virgin and Mother, what will she not be hereafter? Holy in body, all beautiful in soul, pure of mind, upright in intelligence, perfect in feeling, chaste and faithful, pure of heart and filled with virtue.

May the hearts of virgins rejoice in Mary, since of her was born the One Who set humankind free from dreadful slavery. May the old Adam, wounded by the serpent, rejoice in Mary; it is Mary who gives Adam a posterity that allows him to crush the accursed serpent and who cures him of his mortal wound (Gen 3:15). Let Priests rejoice in the blessed Virgin; she has brought the High Priest into the world, Who gave Himself as a victim, putting an end to the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. … Let the Prophets rejoice in Mary, since in her, were fulfilled their visions, in her were realised their prophecies, in her were confirmed their oracles. Let all the Patriarchs rejoice in Mary since she received the blessing promised to them, she, who, in her Son, has brought them to completion. …

Mary is the new Tree of Life, who, instead of the bitter fruit picked by Eve, gives to mankind that Sweet Fruit on which the whole world is fed.” – St Ephrem (306-373) Deacon in Syria, Father and Doctor of the Church (Marian hymn).

PRAYER –O Mary, My Hope! By St John Damascene (675-749) Father and Doctor of the Church
I salute you, O Mary!
you are the hope of Christians.
Receive the prayer of a sinner,
who loves you tenderly,
honours you in a special manner
and places in you the whole hope
of his salvation.
From you I have my life.
You reinstate me in the grace of your Son:
you are the sure pledge of my salvation.
I beseech of you, therefore, to deliver me
from the burden of my sins,
dispel the darkness of my mind,
banish from my heart the love of the world,
repress the temptations of my enemies
and so rule my whole life, that by your means
and under your guidance,
I may obtain everlasting happiness in heaven.
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, The ANNUNCIATION, The INCARNATION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 25 March – The Annunciation of the Lord

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Quote/s of the Day – 25 March – The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8: 10, Psalms 40:7-8,8-9, 10, 11, Hebrews 10:4-10, Luke 1:26-38

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord;
let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:38

“And so, when God’s birth is proclaimed to you, keep silent.
Let Gabriel’s word be held in your mind
for nothing is impossible to this glorious Majesty,
who humbled Himself for us
and was born of our humanity.”

“In her, God spun a garment
with which to save us.”

St Ephrem (306-373) Father & Doctor

“He came from Him,
from whom He did not depart,
going forth from Him,
with whom He stayed,
so that without intermission,
He was wholly in eternity,
wholly in time,
wholly was He found in the Father
when wholly in the Virgin,
wholly in His own majesty
and in His Father’s,
at the time
when He was wholly in our humanity. ”

“Has anyone ever come away from Mary,
troubled or saddened or ignorant
of the heavenly Mysteries?
Who has not returned to everyday life
gladdened and joyful
because a request has been granted
by the Mother of God?”

St Amadeus of Lausanne (1110-1159)

“The Father bending down to this beautiful creature,
who was so unaware of her own beauty,
willed that she be the Mother, in time,
of Him, Whose Father He is, in eternity.
Then the Spirit of love,
Who presides over all of God’s works,
came upon her; the Virgin said her fiat:
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
be it done to me according to thy word”
and the greatest of mysteries, was accomplished!”

St Elizabeth of the Trinity OCD (1880-1906)

Posted in ADVENT PRAYERS, ADVENT REFLECTIONS, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOCTORS of the Church, DOGMA, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, PAPAL ENCYLICALS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The INCARNATION, The REDEMPTION, The WORD

Advent Reflection on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – 8 December – Mary, our Hope!

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Advent Reflection on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – 8 December – Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, 20, Psalm 98:1-4, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, Luke 1:26-38

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.

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

REFLECTION – “If, as the Apostle declares, faith is nothing else than the substance of things to be hoped for” (Heb 11:1) everyone will easily allow, that our faith is confirmed and our hope aroused and strengthened, by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. The Virgin was kept the more free from all stain of original sin because she was to be the Mother of Christ and she, was the Mother of Christ, that the hope of everlasting happiness, might be born again in our souls.

Leaving aside charity towards God, who can contemplate the Immaculate Virgin without feeling moved to fulfill that precept which Christ called peculiarly His own, namely that of loving one another as He loved us? “A great sign,” thus the Apostle St John describes a vision divinely sent him, appears in the heavens: “A woman clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars upon her head” (Rv 12:1). Everyone knows that this woman signified the Virgin Mary, the stainless one who brought forth our Head.

The Apostle continues: “And, being with child, she cried travailing in birth and was in pain to be delivered” (Rv 12:2). John, therefore, saw the Most Holy Mother of God already in eternal happiness, yet travailing in a mysterious childbirth. What birth was it? Surely it was the birth of us who, still in exile, are yet to be generated to the perfect charity of God and to eternal happiness. And the birth pains, show the love and desire, with which the Virgin from heaven above, watches over us and strives with unwearying prayer to bring about the fulfilment of the number of the elect.

This same charity we desire that all should earnestly endeavour to attain, taking special occasion from … feasts in honour of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” … Saint Pius X (1835-1914) Pope from 1903 to 1914 – Encyclical “Ad diem illum laetissimum”

PRAYER – O Mary, My Hope! By St John Damascene (675-749)
I salute you, O Mary!
you are the hope of Christians.
Receive the prayer of a sinner,
who loves you tenderly,
honours you in a special manner
and places in you the whole hope
of his salvation.
From you I have my life.
You reinstate me in the grace of your Son:
you are the sure pledge of my salvation.
I beseech of you, therefore, to deliver me
from the burden of my sins,
dispel the darkness of my mind,
banish from my heart the love of the world,
repress the temptations of my enemies
and so rule my whole life, that by your means
and under your guidance,
I may obtain everlasting happiness in heaven.
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2020, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The ANNUNCIATION, The INCARNATION, The WORD

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

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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 1:49luke-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, 93-145mary'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.
Amenmary's fiat must be our fiat 25 march 2019 annunciation

Posted in 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,

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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 1:38luke 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 1:3-4advent - 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!   Amenimmaculate-mary-pray-for-us - 8 dec 2017 and 9 dec 2019.jpg

Posted in MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, PAPAL ENCYLICALS, QUEENSHIP of MARY, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The WORD, VATICAN Documents

One Minute Reflection – 22 August – ‘She stands high above all created things’

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One Mi  nute Reflection – 22 August – The Memorial of The Queenship of Mary, Holy Mother of God – Today’s Gospel: Luke 1:26–38

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me, according to your word.” And the angel departed from her...Luke 1:38luke-1-38-mary-said-behold-i-am-the-heandmaid-of-the-lord-4-may-2018.jpg

REFLECTION – “With the certainty of faith we know that Jesus Christ is king in the full, literal and absolute sense of the word; for He is true God and man.   This does not, however, prevent Mary from sharing His royal prerogatives, though in a limited and analogous manner; for she was the Mother of Christ and Christ is God and she shared in the work of the divine Redeemer, in His struggles against enemies and in the triumph He won over them all.   From this union with Christ the King she assuredly obtains so eminent a status that she stands high above all created things and upon this same union with Christ is based that royal privilege, enabling her to distribute the treasures of the kingdom of the divine Redeemer.   And lastly, this same union with Christ is the fountain of the inexhaustible efficacy of her motherly intercession, in the presence of the Son and of the Father.
Without doubt, then, does our holy Virgin possess a dignity that far transcends all other creatures.   In the eyes of her Son, she takes precedence over everyone else. In order to help us understand the pre-eminence that the Mother of God enjoy,s over all creation, it would help to remember that from the first moment of her conception, the holy Virgin was filled with such a plenitude of grace as to surpass the graces, enhancing all the saints.   Recall what our predecessor Pius IX, of blessed memory, wrote in his Bull Ineflabilis Deus: “More than all the angels and all the saints has God ineffable freely endowed Mary with the fullness of the heavenly gifts that abound in the divine treasury and she, preserving herself ever immaculately clean, from the slightest taint of sin, attained a fullness of innocence and holiness, so great, as to be unthinkable apart from God Himself, a fullness that no one other than God will ever possess.”…Venerable Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) – Excerpted from Ad Caeli Reginamfrom-this-union-with-christ-the-king-ven-pius-xii-22-aug-2018-mem-of-mary-queen.jpg

PRAYER – Almighty God, our Father, You have given us Mary, the Mother of Your Son, to be our Mother and our Queen.   Grant that, supported by her prayers, we may come to the kingdom of heaven and to the glory destined for Your children.   We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.mary queen - pray for us.jpg

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, LENT 2019, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN QUOTES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The INCARNATION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 25 March – Pope Benedict reflects

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One Minute Reflection – 25 March – The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

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

REFLECTION – “The icon of the Annunciation, more than any other, helps us to see clearly how everything in the Church goes back to that mystery of Mary’s acceptance of the divine Word, by which, through the action of the Holy Spirit, the Covenant between God and humanity was perfectly sealed. Everything in the Church, every institution and ministry, including that of Peter and his Successors, is “included” under the Virgin’s mantle, within the grace-filled horizon of her “yes” to God’s will. This link with Mary naturally evokes a strong affective resonance in all of us but first of all it has an objective value….
Everything in this world will pass away.   In eternity only Love will remain.   For this reason, … taking the opportunity offered by this favourable time of Lent, let us commit ourselves to ensure that everything in our personal lives and in the ecclesial activity in which we are engaged is inspired by charity and leads to charity.   In this respect too, we are enlightened by the mystery that we are celebrating today.
Indeed, the first thing that Mary did after receiving the Angel’s message was to go “in haste” to the house of her cousin Elizabeth in order to be of service to her (cf. Lk 1: 39). The Virgin’s initiative was one of genuine charity, it was humble and courageous, motivated by faith in God’s Word and the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit.   Those who love, forget about themselves and place themselves at the service of their neighbour.   Here we have the image and model of the Church!”…Pope Benedict XVI – Excerpt- Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Saint Peter’s Square, Saturday, 25 March 2006everything in this world will pass away - pope benedict XVI - 25 march 2019.jpg

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.jpg

Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN QUOTES, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The WORD

One Minute Marian Reflection – 4 May Mary’s Month! – Friday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide

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One Minute Marian Reflection – 4 May Mary’s Month! – Friday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord…Luke 1:38luke 1 38 - mary said, behold i am the heandmaid of the lord - 4 may 2018

REFLECTION – “MARY ‘S FAMILY:  THE TRINITY ON EARTH   It is only natural that the Church rejoice as one contemplates the modest home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.   We read in the hymn from Matins on the feast of the Holy Family:  ‘It is pleasing to recall the humble house of Nazareth and its slender resources.   It is pleasing to tell again in song Jesus’ hidden life.
Jesus grows up in hidden seclusion, to be trained in Joseph’s unpretentious trade.   The loving mother sits beside her dear Son, the good wife by her husband, content if her loving attention can ease and comfort them in their weariness.’ “…St Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975) – “Marriage: a Christian Vocation,” Christ is Passing By, 22
Let us offer to our Mother today:
A loving review of her life with Jesus,
as we recite the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.the loving mother - st josemaria - 4 may 2018.jpg

PRAYER – Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.   Blessed are thy among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.   Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen.holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners - 4 may 2018