Loving and Serving the King and the Queen: Monday, February 29, 2016

J.M.J. An extra day every four years offers to us another opportunity to love the Son and His Mother.

Let us seize this chance to serve the King and the Queen.

This Lenten backdrop encourages us to pray more, practice self-denial and abound in works of charity.

We wait no longer tho show Jesus and Mary our receptive hearts to the Grace of the Holy Spirit!

Our Lady's Mission: Sunday, February 28, 2016

J.M.J. What does Mary do? What is her role?

To glorify God and to lead us to Him.

Our Lady's mission is very straightforward. In all that she does, she magnifies the Lord and she points out to us the way to Jesus Christ. 

Simple. Clear.

Let us thank God for giving Our Blessed Mother to us.

Coming to Grips with Marian Veneration: Saturday, February 27, 2016

J.M.J. Why would anyone object to the veneration paid by Catholics to the Blessed Virgin Mary? 

She is the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, conceived without Original Sin, assumed into Heaven and crowned as the Queen of Heaven and earth.

Of course, not everyone believes this.

Some say that Catholics have manufactured these beliefs about Mary. The truths behinds these beliefs do not really exist because they are not in the Holy Bible.

The only Church founded by the Son of God and Son of Mary disagrees and teaches otherwise. These truths may not be explicitly in Sacred Scripture, yet they are implicitly so. 

And these truths also reside in another place. Catholics hold to what was held for approximately 1,500 years after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ: the Apostolic Tradition, referred to in the Holy Gospel according to Saint John (see 21:25).

Sadly, the Apostolic Tradition was one of many casualties of the Reformation and today also not accepted by many.

Where does this leave us?

Christianity has been rendered asunder by strife and discord.

Those of us who honor Our Lady pray for a new era where all the time-honored truths of Christendom will once again be cherished.

O Lady, make it so.

Our Lady and Friday Abstinence: Friday, February 26, 2016

J.M.J. Our Friday abstinence is a great gift to Jesus through Mary. Our Lady knows about self-denial. She had plenty of opportunities to practice it--all for love of God and in reparation for the sins of men.

To Love Jesus As Mary Did and Does: Thursday, February 25, 2016

J.M.J. Is it possible that we will ever love Jesus as Mary did and does in Heaven?

We are not the Ever-Virgin, sinless Mother of God who has been assumed into Paradise and crowned as the Queen of Heaven and earth. So, the answer is no.

But before we become saddened by this reality, we can love Jesus as much as the Father wants us to love Him if we accept all the Grace that God to give to us.

We will love Jesus as Mary did and does when we surrender ourselves to Him and place no obstacles to His love for us.

True Star of the Sea: Wednesday, February 24, 2016

J.M.J. "Mary, Mother of our Redeemer . . . through you, God’s holy people, His Church on earth, appeals for light and strength in this pilgrimage of faith. You have gone before us on the same journey and are now glorified in Heaven. Be for us who are still on that journey of faith a true Star of the Sea, leading us to the presence of your Son where He sits at the right hand of the Father, enthroned in glory." 

--Saint John Paul ll (1978-2005)

Look to Mary this Lent!: Tuesday, February 23, 2016

J.M.J. When these Lenten days seem long and tiring (and perhaps even boring), look to Mary!

When you really would like that candy bar that you gave up for Lent, look to Mary!

When you think that you've already prayed enough today but know down deep that you should pray again, look to Mary!

When you know that you should go to Confession but are embarrassed to tell your sins to the priest, look to Mary!

When you don't want to give anything else to someone who needs it because you think that you may need it, look to Mary!

Two Friends of Mary: Saturday, February 20, 2016

J.M.J. Today is the Feast of Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco, two of the three seers of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.

Blessed Jacinta died on this day in 1920.

These children were physically small but veritable spiritual giants. They loved God, venerated Our Lady, asked pardon for their sins and gave good example to others.

In Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco we see the path to Heaven as being so straightforward, even if, at times, very challenging.

May we love Mary as this duo does in Paradise!

Our Lady's Virtues according to Saint Louis Marie--A Great Lenten Reflection: Friday, February 19, 2016

J.M.J. Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), in his Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin (#108), wrote that Our Lady's 

ten principal virtues are: 

deep humility, lively faith, 

blind obedience, unceasing prayer, 

constant self-denial, surpassing purity, 

ardent love, heroic patience, 

angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. 

This list makes for a suitable Lenten reflection or, for that matter, for any liturgical season.

The Oldest Known Prayer to Our Lady: Thursday, February 18, 2016

J.M.J. The Sub Tuum Praesidium ("We fly to Thy Patronage") dates to around 300 A.D. This is the oldest Prayer to Mary of which we are aware. Let us memorize it!

We fly to Thy Patronage,

O Holy Mother of God;

Despise not our prayers

in our necessities,

but ever deliver us

from all dangers,

O Glorious and Blessed Virgin. 

Mary Listened to and Heeded Every Inspiration from the Holy Spirit: Wednesday, February 17, 2016

J.M.J. "Because Mary was free from Original Sin, she found no obstacle in obeying God; she was like a wheel, which was easily turned by every inspiration of the Holy Spirit." 

--Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)

Mary's Seven Sorrows: Thursday, February 4, 2016

J.M.J. With the beginning of Lent less than a week away, let us reflect on: 

THE SEVEN SORROWS OF 

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

1. The Prophecy of Simeon (St. Luke 2:34-35)

2. The Flight into Egypt (St. Matthew 2:14)

3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (St. Luke 2:43-45)

4. The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross

5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (St. John 19:16-30)

6. The Descent of the Body of Jesus from the Cross (St. Luke 23:53)

7. The Burial of Jesus (St. Mark 15:46)

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst 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.”

THE SEVEN PROMISES AND GRACES ACCRUING TO THOSE WHO PRACTICE THIS DEVOTION OF

HONORING AND CONSOLING OUR BLESSED LADY

FOR HER TEARS AND SORROWS

BY RECITING DAILY ONE “HAIL MARY”

WHILE MEDITATING ON EACH SORROW,

AS RELATED BY SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN

(CIRCA 1303-1373):

1. “I will grant peace to their families.”

2. “They will be enlightened by the Divine Mysteries.”

3. “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”

4. “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the Adorable Will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their Souls.”

5. “I will defend them in the spiritual battles with the Infernal Enemy and I will protect them at every instant in their lives.”

6. “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death; they will see the Face of their Mother.”

7. “I have obtained (this Grace) from my Divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my Tears and Dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to Eternal Happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their Eternal Consolation and Joy.”


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No further posts are expected until Monday, February 15th.

Our Lady Gives Encouragement to Us: Wednesday, February 3, 2016

J.M.J.

"I greet you, Mother, morning and evening; I pray to you as I go my own way; from you I hope for the inspiration and encouragement that will enable me to fulfill the sacred promises of my earthly vocation, give glory to God, and win eternal salvation."

--Saint John XXlll (1958-1963)

The Joint Feast of Jesus and Mary!: Tuesday, February 2, 2016

J.M.J. From The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) found on "New Advent (www.newadvent.org):

"According to the Mosaic law a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain three and thirty days 'in the blood of her purification'; for a maid-child the time which excluded the mother from sanctuary was even doubled. When the time (forty or eighty days) was over the mother was to 'bring to the temple a lamb for a holocaust and a young pigeon or turtle dove for sin'; if she was not able to offer a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons; the priest prayed for her and so she was cleansed. (Leviticus 12:2-8)

"Forty days after the birth of Christ Mary complied with this precept of the law, she redeemed her first-born from the temple (Numbers 18:15), and was purified by the prayer of Simeon the just, in the presence of Anna theprophetess (Luke 2:22 sqq.). No doubt this event, the first solemn introduction of Christ into the house of God, was in the earliest times celebrated in the Church of Jerusalem. We find it attested for the first half of the fourth century by the pilgrim of Bordeaux, Egeria or Silvia. The day (14 February) was solemnly kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, a homily on Luke 2:22 sqq., and the Holy Sacrifice. But the feastthen had no proper name; it was simply called the fortieth day after Epiphany. This latter circumstance provesthat in Jerusalem Epiphany was then the feast of Christ's birth.

Mary is the Model of Contemplation: Monday, February 1, 2016

J.M.J. From the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Marie (October 16, 2002) of Saint John Paul II:

"10. The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her Heart already turned to Him at the Annunciation, when she conceived Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense His presence and to picture His features. When at last she gave birth to Him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she 'wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger' (Lk2:7).

"Thereafter Mary's gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave Him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: 'Son, why have You treated us so?' (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding Jesus, even to the point of perceiving His hidden feelings and anticipating His decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a gaze radiant with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14)."