Tag: luke1:41-50

Posted in MARIAN REFLECTIONS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUEENSHIP of MARY, THE ASSUMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 August – ‘ … Mother of life, Source of mercy … ‘

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 18 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Within the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin – Judith 13:22-25; 13:15; 13:10, Luke 1:41-50 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Most blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” – Luke 1:42

REFLECTION – “Let us honour the Queen of Heaven, Mother of life, Source of mercy, overflowing delights, leaning on her Beloved. Let us praise her, knowing full well that our praise will be insufficient.

Risen above the tallest trees of paradise and exalted above the highest peaks of mountains, she will penetrate Heaven with incredible majesty accompanied by the singing of the choirs of celestial Angels and surrounded by the dancing of Angels. Happy are those who dwell in Thy house, O Lord, they will praise Thee without end! In you we praise not Eve who introduced the poison but Mary who gave life, who is the Mother and nursemaid of all, the life of all the living. In you we praise even our own mother.

May all hear and rejoice, the humble Virgin rises, crowned, to the throne of glory, may the humble rejoice.May those who exalt themselves in their presumption fall. Mary, who gives herself as a holocaust to the fullness of grace. May the Blessed Virgin, unique in her merits, stand in the presence of her Creator interceding always in our favour. She will be radiant in the fullness of glory, she who brought forth from her virginal womb, the King of glory.” – St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159) Bishop, Cistercian Monk (Marian Homily VIII).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, forgive the transgressions of Thy servants and, forasmuch as by our own deeds, we cannot please Thee, may we find safety through the prayers of the Mother of Thy Son and our Lord. 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 DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, THE ASSUMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 15 August – ‘ … On this day,we turn our souls towards the hope you represent for us …

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 15 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven – Judith 13:22-25; 15:10, Luke 1:41-50 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord … … my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” – Luke 1:46-47

REFLECTION – “O Mother of God, ever Virgin, your holy departure from this world, is in truth, a way and an entry into the dwelling place of God. Leaving this material world, you enter into “a better country” (Heb 11:16) where the heavenly powers greet you with sacred canticles and joyous praise, saying: “Who is this most pure creature who rises up, shining like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, radiant as the sun?” (Sg 8:5; 6:10)… “The King has brought you into His chambers” (Sg 1:4) and Angels magnify her who, according to God’s design, is their true Mother, by nature and grace, of their very Lord…

The Apostles bore your stainless body, the true Ark of the Covenant,and laid it in its holy tomb. And there, as though across another Jordan, you came to the real Land of promise, I might even say, to the “Jerusalem above,” mother of believers, (Gal 4:26) of which God is the architect and builder. Your soul most certainly “did not go down into the netherworld, nor has your flesh itself experienced corruption” (Ps 15:10; Acts 2:31). Your pure and spotless body was not left within the earth but you, Queen, Sovereign, Lady, Mother of God, true Godbearer, have been lifted to the dwellings of the heavenly Kingdom…

We approach you, O our Queen, Mother of God and Virgin, on this day, we turn our souls towards the hope you represent for us … We wish to honour you with “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19). In thus honouring the servant, we express our dedication to our common Lord … Cast your eyes upon us, O Queen, Mother of our kind Sovereign; guide our way into the calm harbour of God’s good will.” – St John Damascene (675-749) Monk, Theologian, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon I on the Dormition 11-14).

PRAYER – Almighty, everlasting God, Who took up, body and soul, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Thy Son, into heavenly glory, grant, we beseech Thee, that, always devoting ourselves to heavenly things, we may be found worthy to share in her glory. Through 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 DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Hail MARY!, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, MOTHER of GOD, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The ANNUNCIATION, THE ASSUMPTION, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The INCARNATION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 August – ‘… Masterpiece in whom the Creator rejoices… ‘

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 18 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Within the Octave of the Assumption – Judith 13:22-25; 13:15; 13:10, Luke 1:41-50

“Most blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” – Luke 1:42

REFLECTION – “This woman will be the Mother of God, the door to light, source of life. She will reduce to oblivion the judgement that weighed on Eve. “The rich among the people seek the face” of this woman, “the kings of the nations shall pay her homage”, they shall “offer gifts”…, yet the glory of the Mother of God is an interior glory: the fruit of her womb.

O woman, so worthy of love, thrice happy, “blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” Daughter of David the king and Mother of God, King of the universe, masterpiece in whom the Creator rejoices… thou art to be nature’s full achievement. For thou life is not thine, thou were not born for thyself alone but thou life is to be God’s. thou came into the world for Him, thou will serve for the salvation of all people, fulfilling God’s design, established from the beginning: the Incarnation of the Word and our own divinisation. Thy whole desire is to feed on the words of God, to be strengthened by their sap, like “a green olive tree in the house of God,” “like a tree planted by running water” thou ary the “tree of life” who “yielded its fruit in due season”…

He who is infinite, limitless, came to dwell in thy womb; God, the child Jesus, was nourished by thy milk. Thou art the ever-virginal doorway of God; thou hands hold thy God; thou lap is a throne raised up above the cherubim… Thou art the wedding chamber of the Spirit, the “city of the living God, gladdened by the runlets of the stream” that is to say, the waves of the Spirit’s gifts. Thou art “all fair, the Beloved” of God.” – St John Damascene (675-749) Monk, Theologian, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon on the Nativity of the Virgin 9 ).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, forgive the transgressions of Thy servant, and, forasmuch as by our own deeds we cannot please Thee, may we find safety through the prayers of, the Mother of Thy Son and our Lord.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 "Follow Me", MARIAN REFLECTIONS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, St PAUL!, THE ASSUMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 15 August – ‘ … She “follows the Lamb wherever he goes.”’ – St Aelred

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 15 August – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Judith 13:22-25; 15:10, Luke 1:41-50

“For behold, henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.” – Luke 1:48

REFLECTION – “If Saint Mary Magdalene – who had been a sinner and from whom the Lord had cast out seven demons – merited to be glorified by him to the extent that her praise abides forever among the assembly of the saints, who can measure the extent to which “the upright rejoice and dance for joy in the presence of the Lord” with regard to holy Mary, who knew not man? … If the Apostle Peter, – who was not only unable to watch for one hour with Christ but, who even went so far as to deny him, – afterwards won such favour that the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven were entrusted to him, of what praises is holy Mary not worthy, who bore the King of Angels Himself in her womb, He Whom the Heavens cannot contain? If Saul, who “breathed murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord” … was the object of such mercy … that he was “caught up to the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body,” it is not surprising, that the holy Mother of God – who stayed beside her Son through all the trials He endured, from His cradle onwards – should have been lifted up to Heaven, even in her body and exalted high above the Choirs of Angels.

If there is “joy in heaven before the angels over one sinner who repents”, who can tell what joyful and lovely praises rise up before God, concerning Holy Mary who never sinned? … Indeed, if those who “once were darkness” and have now become “light in the Lord” “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” who is able to tell “the eternal weight of glory” of Holy Mary, who came into the world “like dawn arising, beautiful as the moon, resplendent as the sun” and of whom was born “the true light which enlightens everyone coming into the world?” Moreover, since our Lord said: “Whoever serves me must follow me and where I am, there will my servant also be,” where do we think His Mother must be, who served Him with such eagerness and fidelity? If she followed Him and obeyed Him, even to death, no-one can wonder, that now, more than anyone else, she “follows the Lamb wherever he goes.” – St Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167) – Cistercian Monk – 2nd sermon for the Assumption

PRAYER – Almighty, everlasting God, Who took up, body and soul, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Thy Son, into heavenly glory, grant, we beseech Thee, that, always devoting ourselves to heavenly things, we may be found worthy to share in her glory. Through 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).