Saturday, September 5, 2009

September 5
First Saturday
Feast of Our Lady of the Woods (Galloro, Italy, 1621)

Statue of Our Lady in a Garden

"The hour grows late. My Son's patience will not last forever. Help me hold back His anger, which is about to descend on sinful and ungrateful men. Suffering and anguish, such as never before experienced, is about to overtake mankind. It is the darkest hour. But if men will come to me, my Immaculate Heart will make it bright again with the mercy which my Son will rain down through my hands. Help me save those who will not save themselves. Help me bring men again the sunshine of God's peace upon the world." --Our Lady of America

Flower of the Day

White Madonna

Saintpaulia hybr.

Symbolizes Mary's Immaculate Heart

***

Please try to take part in the first Saturday devotion if you can today. The observance of the first Saturday in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is intended to make reparation to it for the sins of mankind. This devotion was revealed by the Blessed Virgin to three children, Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia to whom she appeared at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. On June 13, 1917, Our Lady specifically stated in speaking to Lucia:

"Jesus wants to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart."

Our Lady repeated this in the July 13th apparition when, after the vision of Hell that was granted to the three children, she said:

"You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace."

Our Lady asks for reparation.

"There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condemns for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation."

"O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (Sacrifice Prayer)

The following First Saturday devotions are efficacious in honoring the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

1. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

2. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

3. Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

4. Act of Reparation

5. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary

6. The Sacrament of Reconciliation

"I promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall: 1. Confess and Receive Holy Communion. 2. Recite five decades of the Holy Rosary. 3. Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

Ave Maria!

Friday, September 4, 2009

September 4
Our Lady of Haut (Belgium, 1419)
Our Lady restores lives to a young woman in Belgium, 1419
The Seven Sorrows Devotion
The Blessed Virgin Mary gave St. Bridget a devotion to her seven sorrows. She grants seven graces to the souls who honor her daily by saying seven Hail Mary's and meditating on her tears and dolors [sorrows]. The seven graces are:
  1. I will grant peace to their families.
  2. They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.
  3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their worries
  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 their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of 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 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.

Flower of the Day

Isotoma

Isotoma longiflora

Symbolizes Mary's Tears

"What a favor, my Jesus, and how You must love me to send me suffering! Eternity itself will not be long enough to bless You for it. Why this predilection? It is a secret which You will reveal to me in our heavenly home on the day when You will wipe away all our tears."
---St. Therese of the Child Jesus, L. 58

Ave Maria!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

September 3

Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd (France) Consecration of Germany to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (1954)

..."O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully.

"We come with confidence to You, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart.

"Make our hearts and homes Your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumph in every heart and home. Amen." Pope Pius XII proclaimed a Solemn Act of Consecration to be made by the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

***

Flower (Shrub) of the Day

Orange

Citrus sinensus

Symbolizes Mary's Purity

Our Mother's most precious gift to her children is the Cross.

--Edel Quinn on Suffering

Ave Maria!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

September 1
September is the month of the Sorrows of Our Lady
Collection of all the Feasts of Our Lady Louvain, France

Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows

by Adriaen Isenbrandt.

In the Church of our Lady, Bruges.
We celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15th.
The Prophecy of Simeon:
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother:

'Behold this child is set for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed' (Lk 2: 34-35).

Flower of the Day

Lantana

Lantana Involucrata

Represents the Sorrowful Face of Mary

***

"I am happy not to be free from suffering here; suffering united with love is the only thing that seems desirable to me in this vale of tears" --St. Therese of the Child Jesus

"Life passes so quickly that it is obviously better to have a most splendid crown and a little suffering, than an ordinary crown and no suffering. When I think of that, for a sorrow borne with joy, I shall be able to love You more for all eternity, I understand clearly that if You give me the entire universe, with all it's treasures, it would be nothing in comparison to the slightest suffering."

Ave Maria!

Monday, August 31, 2009

August 31
Our Lady of the Founders. Constantinople
Deposition of Our Lady's Girdle in Our Lady of Founders Church.

The Virgin of the Assumption with St Thomas Receiving the Girdle

1360s Tempera on panel, 205 x 112 cm

Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena

During the reign of Emperor Arkadios, this relic was found in a household in Jerusalem, and brought to Constantinople, where it was placed in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in place called the Chalkepratois. The Zone is associated with several miracles, including curing an incurable fatal disease from which Empress Zoe, the wife of Emperor Leo, was dying in 486. Later, Empress Pulcheria had gold threads sewn into the Zone. In 1101, the Zone was moved for safe-keeping to to the Monastery of Vatepedi on Mount Athos. (Source: George Poulos, Orthodox Saints, vol. 3).

Flower of the Day

Meadowsweet

Filipendula ulmaria

Symbolizes Our Lady's Girdle (sash)

Meadowsweet is referred to as Queen of the Meadow

It is known by many other names, and in Chauser's The Knight's Tale it is known as Meadwort and was one of the ingredients in a drink called "save." It was also known as Bridewort, because it was strewn in churches for festivals and weddings, and often made into bridal garlands. In Europe, it took its name "queen of the meadow" for the way it can dominate a low-lying, damp meadow. In the 16th century, when it was customary to strew floors with rushes and herbs (both to give warmth underfoot and to overcome smells and infections), it was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. She desired it above all other herbs in her chambers. (wiki)

The Virgin Mary’s Girdle was venerated as an aid to childbirth. Anne of Austria favored the shrine at La Puy, France where one of the virgin's girdles were preserved. This sash which she let fall to the earth at her Assumption was believed to quicken the womb. Anne’s devotions were fruitful. In 1638, after twenty-two years of barren marriage, she gave birth to the future Louis XIV. To show his gratitude at this long awaited miracle, Louis XIII dedicated the whole of France to the Virgin Mary.

http://www.tuscanypass.com/events_tuscany/event-details.html?eId=22445

http://www.comune.prato.it/civico/galleria/eng/cintola.htm

Ave Maria!

Search This Blog