Mary Teaches Us to Kneel

	The Immaculate Conception of Mary, the luminous origin of her being, is revealed in the virginal conception of Jesus by the power of the Spirit. Mary is totally expressed in this mystery: she doesn't exist for herself, but to give herself to God's work. Similarly, humankind recreated through forgiveness cannot just aim towards earthly and temporal development, since it was made for otherworldly happiness, for God's happiness. Humanity was made to welcome and share God's life, listen to the Word and put it into practice, and make it bear divine fruit. By agreeing to be recreated as an immaculate being, the believer lives only through God and for God. Mary's privilege doesn't make her an exception within humanity, but she becomes the one in whom humanity’s grace and fecundity is restored. Mary remains in the heart of God, in the hollow of the rock from which the spring flows. She remains there, as the first tabernacle in history, as God-bearer. She teaches us to kneel and reach, within the reality of our sinful lives, the fidelity of a God who can only give and gives Himself. Going down on our knees in the mud to become reconciled with ourselves and with our life marked by refusal but that can still open up to the permanent gift of life. Kneeling to meet a God who humbled Himself to the point of bending over with us in the mud and simply begging us to accept his recreating forgiveness. Peter had to let himself be cleansed, before his tears can gush forth: tears of repentance and the confession of poor love simply grafted on the fidelity of his Master. Then he could truly exist, not relying on his self-confidence and his own projects anymore, but by letting himself be led where he would not go alone, to the limits of Love. Father Andre Cabes The Immaculate Conception, Good News for Our Times Basilica of Verdelais, December 5, 2009

The Great Promise of the Heart of Mary

On December 10, 1925, the most holy Virgin
appeared to Lucia, and by her side, elevated on a
luminous cloud, was a Child.  The most holy
Virgin rested her hand on her shoulder, and as
she did so, she showed her a heart encircled by
thorns, which she was holding in her other
hand.  At the same time, the Child said:

"Have compassion on the Heart of your most

holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which

ungrateful men pierce it at ever moment, and

there is no one to make and act of reparation to

remove them."

Then the most holy Virgin said:

"Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded

with thorns with which ungrateful men

pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies

and ingratitude.  You at least try to console

me and say that I promise to assist at the

hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation,

all those who, on the first Saturday of

five consecutive month, shall confess, receive

Holy Communion, recite five decades of the

Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes

while meditating on the fifteen mysteries

of the Rosary, with the intention of making

reparation to me."

The Message of Fatima

Lucia Speaks

The Essential Practice of the Devotion to Mary

	The Essential Practice of the Devotion to Mary It is not enough to give ourselves just once as a slave to Jesus through Mary; nor is it enough to renew that consecration once a month or once a week. That alone would make this just a passing devotion. It would not raise the soul to the level of holiness which it is capable of reaching. It is easy to enroll in a confraternity; it is easy to make an act of consecration, or to say every day the few vocal prayers prescribed. The chief difficulty is to enter into the spirit of this devotion, which requires adopting an interior trustful dependence on Mary, total confidence in her, and the ardent desire to act, and to behave in such a way that we really do honor her as a slave of love. To this end, we strive to honor and obey Christ as King. Thus, we actually do keep his commandments as slaves of love through Mary. I have met many people who, with admirable zeal, have set about exteriorly practicing this holy devotion to Jesus through Mary, but I have met only a few who have actu ally understood the secret of its interior spirit of total dependence, and fewer still who have persevered in it.  The essential practice of this devotion is to perform all our actions with Mary. We adopt her as the model for all we do. Before undertaking anything, we must forget self and abandon our own views. We must consider ourselves as a mere nothing before God, as being personally incapable of doing anything supernaturally worthwhile or anything conducive to our salvation.  We then have recourse to our Lady, intentionally adopting her intentions as our own to the best of our ability. Certainly we do not always know exactly what her specific intention is, but that does not matter for we are serving her unconditionally as slaves of love. By adopting Mary's spirit, we supernaturally adopt the intentions of Jesus in a far more perfect manner than if we acted without her. We have consecrated ourselves to be an instrument in Mary's hands, for her to act in us and do with us what she pleases, for the greater glory of her Son; and through Jesus for the greater glory of the Father. This is the way we pursue our interior life. We make our spiritual progress precisely by cultivating total confidence in her, and d ependence on her... Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort The Secret of Mary 44-46

The Begetting of the Only One

The Begetting of the Only One In Mary, the human race is brought back to the time of its origin in God's desire. The forever pardoned Mary is introduced into the movement of divine life that consists eternally in a burst of life from the Father’s heart giving life to the Son in the loving embrace of the Holy Spirit. God wants to share this outpouring out of life with His creature. From all eternity, He is but this Gift, and He wants His creature to enter into this exchange of love, so they may endlessly exchange this love. “I want those you have given me to be with me where I am” (Jn 17:24). Besides, Jesus dwells only in the will of the Father—the Giver of Life. The creature is drawn out of nothingness so that she may also remain in this love and participate in this springing forth of life. Therefore, what takes place in Mary is what eternally takes place in God: the begetting of the Only One. She is immaculate and she does not hinder God. She allows love to give itself to her completely. Without this open door, the world would never arise out of the shadows of the night. Without Mary, the Spirit would never be able to come and bring his fertile power over the chaos of nothingness. But God's eternal “yes” hears from the depths of the night the “yes” of a little creature who trustingly accepts to be only an echo of God's heart. Distrust is overcome and the human race stops struggling in the hell of suspicion and fear. If it allows itself to plunge in again – for each person and generation in history conserves its freedom – it will understand that a new beginning is always possible, in the reconciling act of the Cross. Father Andre Cabes The Immaculate Conception, Good News for Our Time Basilica of Verdelais, December 5, 2009

The Chaste Womb of Mary Becomes Heaven

The Chaste Womb of Mary Becomes Heaven All things on earth exult with joy, praise echoes from the stars, and songs follow one after the other before the nuptial chamber of the Virgin. This Virgin, who carries the Word in her womb, has become the Gate of Heaven. She who gave God to the world, has opened Heaven for us. Such a happy girl, completely free from Eve's law is she; conceiving without a man and delivering her Child without a cry. The noble womb of Mary carried within it the Redemption of the world. We glory in having been redeemed by the One who lifted the yoke of sin from us. The Son of the Father fills her with Himself; the Holy Spirit covers her with His shadow. In this way the chaste womb of the Holy Virgin is transformed into Heaven. St. Peter Damian Hymm 44 for the Annunciation, PL 145,933 CD

Providence and the scandal of evil II

Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love.  They can therefore go astray.  Indeed, they have sinned.  Thus has moral evil, incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world.  God is in no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil.  He permits it, however because he respects the freedom of his creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it:

For almighty God..., becuase he is supremely good, would

never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if he

were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to

emerge from evil itself.

Catechism 311

Providence and the scandal of evil

If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and
good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist?  To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice.  Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin, and the patient love of God who comes to meet man by his covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, his gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the sacraments, and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible mystery, they can also turn away in advance.  There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.
But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it?  With infinite power God could always create something better.  But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world "in a state of journeying" toward its ultimate perfection.  In God's plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature.  With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection.
Catechism 309-310

Fill Up My Soul



	Fill Up My Soul The Holy One, our God who dwells in the saints, when finding in you the holy temple, O most holy Mother of God, dwelled in your sanctified, God-bearing womb. You possess an infinite measure of compassion, having given birth to the infinite ocean of mercy: this is why, O blessed and most holy lady, you dispel my iniquities. O vine, you produced without being cultivated the grapes of life that cause joy-giving wine to gush forth for the faithful, fills up my soul with the liquor of tears and the sweet wine of penance. O never-wed virgin, from you are flowing infinite torrents of sweetness and compassion; make me worthy of drawing and partaking from them. Hail, O universal joy; hail, nobility of our human race. Hail, all-venerable Mary, who has exalted, by your child-bearing without a seed, the fallen nature of all mortals. O dazzling Mother of God, who shine with the spiritual light of divine motherhood and who enlighten my soul darkened by sin, dispel the fog and darkness that fill it by means of penance, and bring me back to the light. O holy and chosen soil on which evil feet and doubting thoughts have never treaded, free my spirit from earthly concerns and make me worthy of the land of the meek.
	Jean Mauropode in: G. Gharib e E. Toniolo (ed) Testi mariani del secondo Millennio. 1. Autori orientali, Città nuova Roma 2008

THIS IS MY SON



Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit

O Holy Spirit of God, take me as

Thy disciple; guide me, illuminate

me, sanctify me.  Bind my hands,

that they may do no evil; cover my

eyes, that they may see it no more;

sanctify my heart, that evil may not

dwell within me.  Be thou my God;

be Thou my guide.  Withersoever

Thou leadest me I will go;p

whatsoever Thou forbiddest me I

will renounce; and whatsoever

Thou commandest me in Thy

strength I will do.  Lead me, then,

unto the fullness of Thy Truth.

Amen.

Fruits of the Spirit

Come, O Divine Spirit, fill my

heart with Thy heavenly fruits,

Thy charity, joy, peace, patience,

benignity, goodness, faith, mildness,

and temperance, that I may

never weary in the service of God,

but by continued faithful

sumbission to Thy inspiration may

merit to be united eternally with

Thee in the love of the Father and

the Son.  Amen.

The Gift of Counsel

The gift of Counsel endows the soul with supernatural prudence,

enabling it to judge promptly and rightly what must be done,

especially in difficult circumstances. Counsel applies the

principles furnished by Knowledge and Understanding to the

innumerable concrete cases that confront us in the course of our

daily duty as parents, teachers, public servants, and Christian

citizens.  Counsel is supernatural common sense, a priceless treasurein the quest of salvation. "Above all these things, pray to the Most High, that He may direct thy way in truth."

Prayer

Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide me in all ways, that I

may always do thy will.  Incline my heart to that which is good;

turn it away from all that is evil, and direct me by the straight path of Thy commandments to that goal of eternal life for which I Long.  Amen.

Devotion to Mary

	The Essential Practice of the Devotion to Mary It is not enough to give ourselves just once as a slave to Jesus through Mary; nor is it enough to renew that consecration once a month or once a week. That alone would make this just a passing devotion. It would not raise the soul to the level of holiness which it is capable of reaching. It is easy to enroll in a confraternity; it is easy to make an act of consecration, or to say every day the few vocal prayers prescribed. The chief difficulty is to enter into the spirit of this devotion, which requires adopting an interior trustful dependence on Mary, total confidence in her, and the ardent desire to act, and to behave in such a way that we really do honor her as a slave of love. To this end, we strive to honor and obey Christ as King. Thus, we actually do keep his commandments as slaves of love through Mary. I have met many people who, with admirable zeal, have set about exteriorly practicing this holy devotion to Jesus through Mary, but I have met only a few who have actu ally understood the secret of its interior spirit of total dependence, and fewer still who have persevered in it.  The essential practice of this devotion is to perform all our actions with Mary. We adopt her as the model for all we do. Before undertaking anything, we must forget self and abandon our own views. We must consider ourselves as a mere nothing before God, as being personally incapable of doing anything supernaturally worthwhile or anything conducive to our salvation.  We then have recourse to our Lady, intentionally adopting her intentions as our own to the best of our ability. Certainly we do not always know exactly what her specific intention is, but that does not matter for we are serving her unconditionally as slaves of love. By adopting Mary's spirit, we supernaturally adopt the intentions of Jesus in a far more perfect manner than if we acted without her. We have consecrated ourselves to be an instrument in Mary's hands, for her to act in us and do with us what she pleases, for the greater glory of her Son; and through Jesus for the greater glory of the Father. This is the way we pursue our interior life. We make our spiritual progress precisely by cultivating total confidence in her, and d ependence on her... Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort The Secret of Mary 44-46

The Maternal Role of Mary

The Maternal Role of Mary Fosters the Union of the Faithful with Christ

There is but one mediator as we know from the words of the apostle: “For there is only one God and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus, who offered himself as a ransom for all” (1Tm 2:5-6).

The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power. For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure.

It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ.

Council Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, § 60

Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

O Virgin Mother of God, Mary

Immaculate, we dedicate and consecrate

ourselves to thee under the title of Our Lady of

the Miraculous Medal.  May this Medal be for

 each of us a sure sign of your affection for

us and a constant reminder of our duties toward

thee.  Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed

by your loving protection and preserved in the

grace of your Son.  O most powerful Virgin

Mother of our Savior, keep us close to thee

every moment of our lives.  Obtain for us, your

children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in

union with thee, we may enjoy the bliss of

heaven forever. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin,

Pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times)

Mary's Tenderness and Joy

In Mary's Tenderness and Joy

Therese Cornille (May 13, 1917- December 4, 1989) was the foundress of the Claire Amitié Homes for struggling young woman workers and of the Claire Amitié Homes for single mothers. Her desire was to help young women — especially those who hadn't grown up with affection and tenderness — know that they had an attentive Mother who loved each one of them personally.

“The more time we spend with God of Love and Mary Tender Mother, the more we will be able to spread happiness around us, in our team, in our homes, and in all of our relationships. And young people will be attracted as if by a magnificent fire that burns, lightens and gives warmth.” (Annunciation 1974)

“Let us strive to have infinite tenderness in our heart; the Lord will reign there or, to be more precise, let us put our heart inside his heart and inside Mary's maternal heart, so that we may possess within us the joy of the Trinity and be able to share it with all our daughters, with all who witness the way we live.” (Christmas 1976)

“Young women will understand that Mary is their mother if, on the day that we celebrate December 8th - the feast of the Immaculate Conception - the anniversary day of the opening of their home, we prepare a very beautiful celebration.” (December 8-18, 1973)

This is how a young woman from one of the homes summed up the situation: “The holidays we spent together changed me somehow. In that atmosphere, I asserted myself and came out of my shell. Even if someone hurts me today, I feel strong enough to speak to the person later and forgive her, instead of going off by myself and suffering all alone.”

by Lucienne Salle

Possibilites

Only those who risk going too far

can possibly find out how far one can go.

by T.S. Eliot