Our Offering to the Ever-Virgin Mary: Wednesday, July 29, 2015

J.M.J. "Marian consecration can be defined as a complete donation of one's life to Our Lady. It corresponds to the demand of true love: he who loves, senses the need to give himself to the person he loves, to belong competely and irrevocably to the other.

(. . . . )

"Our self-donation to the Immaculate must be continuous and unlimited. (. . . . ) In order to live out this consecration, it is necessary to be intimately and habitually united to Mary in thought, affection and action." 

--The Reverend Stefano Maria Miotto, F.I., "Marian Consecration: Our 'Offering' to the Immaculate" in Missio Immaculatae International (January/February 2015), 3.

 

Let Us Venerate Our Lady!: Tuesday, July 28, 2015

J.M.J. "O Mary,conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee."

Please come to join us:

The recitation of the Most Holy Rosary on the First Saturday, August 1st--the Feast of Saint Alphonsus Mary Liguori--at 9:40 a.m. in the Mothers' Garden near the Cathedral of Saint Joseph. 

The recitation of the Most Holy Rosary on Wednesday, August 5--the Feast of Saint Mary Major--at 6:00 p.m. in the Mothers' Garden near the Cathedral of Saint Joseph. 

The recitation of the Most Holy Rosary on the First Friday, August 7th--the Feast of Saints Sixtus and Companions and the Feast of Saint Cajetan--at 10:00 a.m. in Saint Michael's Cemetery. 

The Solemnity of the 

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saturday, August 15th

8:00 a.m.--The Marian Procession will begin at the front entrance of the Premier Center. The Most Holy Rosary will be recited and Marian Hymns will be sung.

9:00 a.m.--The Holy Mass with Bishop Swain in the Sioux Falls Arena.

Immediately after the Holy Mass--For those who have been participating in the Preparation of thirty-three days since Monday, July 13th, The Act of Consecration/Re-Consecration will be recited in the Adoration Chapel that will be in the Convention Center.

Saint Louis Marie Explains the Most Perfect of All Devotions to Our Blessed Lady: Monday, July 27, 2015

J.M.J. "120. As all perfection consists in our being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus it naturally follows that the most perfect of all devotions is that which conforms, unites, and consecrates us most completely to Jesus. Now of all God's creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. It therefore follows that, of all devotions, devotion to her makes for the most effective consecration and conformity to him. The more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus.

"That is why perfect consecration to Jesus is but a perfect and complete consecration of oneself to the Blessed Virgin, which is the devotion I teach; or in other words, it is the perfect renewal of the vows and promises of Holy Baptism.

"121. This devotion consists in giving oneself entirely to Mary in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her. It requires us to give:

  (1) Our body with its senses and members;

  (2) Our soul with its faculties;

 (3) Our present material possessions and all we shall acquire in the future;

  (4) Our interior and spiritual possessions, that is, our merits, virtues and good actions of the past, the present and the future.

In other words, we give her all that we possess both in our natural life and in our spiritual life as well as everything we shall acquire in the future in the order of nature, of grace, and of glory in Heaven. This we do without any reservation, not even of a penny, a hair, or the smallest good deed. And we give for all eternity without claiming or expecting, in return for our offering and our service, any other reward than the honor of belonging to our Lord through Mary and in Mary, even though our Mother were not--as in fact she always is--the most generous and appreciative of all God's creatures." 

--Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 120-121.

Sincere Devotion to Our Lady: Sunday, July 26, 2015

J.M.J. "118. Having read nearly every book on devotion to the Blessed Virgin and talked to the most saintly and learned people of the day, I can now state with conviction that I have never known or heard of any devotion to our Lady which is comparable to the one I am going to speak of. No other devotion calls for more sacrifices for God, none empties us more completely of self and self-love, none keeps us more firmly in the grace of God and the grace of God in us. No other devotion unites us more perfectly and more easily to Jesus. Finally no devotion gives more glory to God, is more sanctifying for ourselves or more helpful to our neighbor.

"119. As this devotion essentially consists in a state of soul, it will not be understood in the same way by everyone. Some--the great majority--will stop short at the threshold and go no further. Others--not many--will take but one step into its interior. Who will take a second step? Who will take a third? Finally who will remain in it permanently? Only the one to whom the Spirit of Jesus reveals the secret. The Holy Spirit Himself will lead this faithful soul from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from light to light, until at length he attains transformation into Jesus in the fullness of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven."

--Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 118-119.

Could We Ever Tire of Our Lady as Our Lord's Instrument of Mercy?: Saturday, July 25, 2015

J.M.J. Let us wonder in God's power through Our Blessed Lady!

1.

"Three year old Claire was found by her dad lying underneath the dual back wheels, pinned to the ground under a 22 seat bus. She suffered little more than grazes and minor bruising. Claire’s mothers said, 'I had put a Miraculous Medal on her just an hour before.' Medical specialists are astounded."

Clair Hill, Sydney, Australia

2.

"The Servant of God Father John Hardon, S.J. (1914-2000), once shared this story about the efficacy of the Miraculous Medal in the life of a young boy.

"'He had been in a coma for ten days . . . no speech, no voluntary movements of the body. His condition was such that the only question was whether he would live. There was no question of recovering from what was diagnosed as permanent and inoperable brain damage.

"'What I found out was that you don’t just bless the Miraculous Medal, you have to put it around a person’s neck. No sooner did I finish the prayer of enrolling the boy in the Confraternity than he opened his eyes for the first time in two weeks. He saw his mother and said, 'Ma, I want some ice cream.' After three days, when all examinations showed there was complete restoration to health, the boy was released from the hospital.'"

Surprised by Our Lady's Power Granted to Her by God?: Friday, July 24, 2015

J.M.J. An unknown source offers the following convicting-but-unsurprising occurrence:

"One day during an exorcism, a colleague of Father Gabriele Amorth, S.S.P. (the Chief Exorcist of the Diocese of Rome), heard Satan or one of the demons say, 'Every 'Hail Mary' is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary (is), it would be my end.'"

Offering Ourselves to Our Queen: Thursday, July 23, 2015

J.M.J. "The devotee of Mary senses the necessity to turn in thought to her often, offering to her, from time to time, his actions and the affections of his heart with fervor and confidence."

--The Reverend Stefano Maria Miotto, F.I., "Life of Union with Mary," in Missio Immaculatae International (July/August 2015), 3.