Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Our Lady of Pellevoisin

With Great Confidence and a Child's Simplicity

In 1875, Estelle Faguette, a 32-year-old woman suffering from an incurable disease, wrote a letter to the Virgin Mary, with great confidence and a child’s simplicity. She asked Our Lady to intercede with her Divine Son for her recovery, so she would be able to care for her elderly parents.

The Virgin Mary answered her letter by a series of fifteen apparitions, between February and December 1876, during which she gave Estelle a message of mercy and taught her what holiness was all about.

On February 19, 1876, Estelle completely recovered. In 1877, the Archbishop of Bourges authorized the public devotion to Our Lady of Pellevoisin, and Estelle's bedroom was transformed into a chapel.

In April 1900, Pope Leo XIII officially approved the Sacred Heart Scapular that Estelle had seen worn around the Virgin Mary’s neck, encouraging the faithful who chose to wear it. Estelle's recovery was officially declared miraculous in 1983 by Archbishop Vignancour, then Archbishop of Bourges.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

In Honor of Sister Lucia

Even in old age, she remained
One of the little ones Jesus calls blessed.
She was a gift; a crystal fountain
That sang cheerfully in the midst of tears!
 
She suffered throughout her life the secret pain of
Exile from the Heaven
That she had once glimpsed!
She first had to become a child again,
As she was when she saw
Our Lady!
 
She was Heaven's faithful confidante, and
When at last she surrendered her weary body,
Her Mother came to take her home!
 
She will not forget us n Paradise.
She watches us with her smile,
She walks at our side!

Sister Maria Celina of Jesus Crucified
The Last Secret of Fatima

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

What the Virgin Mary taught Saint Joan of Valois


 

Saint Joan of Valois (1464-1505) was the second daughter of King Louis XI, King of France, and Charlotte of Savoy. At the age of 12, she was married to Louis, the Duke of Orleans, who never accepted this forced union. When he acceded to the throne in 1498, he asked Rome to annul his marriage.

Free from her conjugal obligations, Joan founded the Order of the Virgin Mary in Bourges. The Virgin Mary taught Joan three things to help her advance on the road of pleasing God and achieving union with Christ: listening to God's Word, meditating on the Passion of Christ, and loving the Eucharist.

Joan's confessor reported that the Virgin also asked Joan to be a peacemaker where she lived; to be her advocate through her words and conversations; to seek to establish peace among the people who lived close to her; to not say anything else than words of peace; to be concerned for the salvation of souls; not to listen to gossip or slander; to forgive always; and to always excuse others. Doing all this would lead her on the road to Life.
 
 
Sister Marie Emmanuel
Monastery of the Annonciade

Monday, February 3, 2014

When the Holy Father and the President of Russia Venerate Mary Together


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At the end of November, Vladimir Putin met Pope Francis at the Vatican. He gave him an icon of the Virgin Mary that they venerated together.
“Who can measure the significance of that encounter between the Holy Father and the president of Russia? Vladimir Putin, giving an icon of the Blessed Mother of God to Pope Francis, and venerating her with respect and affection!”

The requests and promises of Our Lady of Fatima come to mind: "A few days ago, " said Sister Lucia, "the Lord told me: ‘I ardently desire the propagation of the cult and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, because her Heart is the magnet that attracts souls to me, (…) the inexhaustible source which cause the living water of my mercy to gush forth on earth. (…) Pray very much for the Holy Father! He will perform it (the consecration), but it will be late. However, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will save Russia; it is entrusted to this Heart. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and it will be converted, and the world will know a period of peace.’"
 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Mary is a remedy like a healing herb


 

The rule of Divine Providence is that it provides for everything according to what is best suited. This is why, for man, because he is human, it provides remedies derived from the ground. Thus in Ben Sira: “The Lord has brought forth medicinal herbs from the ground” (Si 38:4).
Two remedies extracted from the earth are offered: green herbs and fruit-bearing trees. The healing herb is the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose nativity the Church is presently celebrating. She is called herb, on account of her humility; green, on account of her virginity; and fruit-bearing, on account of (her) fertility.
Saint Thomas Aquinas
In Sermon 16, Germinet terra (Birth of the Virgin)
 
 
 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Divine Mother of Jesus


 

 
The souls who live in the company of the
divine Mother of Jesus....
I love the Virgin Mary so much! And, to show her how much I love her, I must of course try to please her in everything and consult with her in all my needs and necessities.
Mary is such a delightful and moving model! I will go to Jesus by her, in her and with her, and be his alone.
If people only knew the sweet and intimate union that souls experience who live in the company of the divine Mother of Jesus—our Mother—and how it fills them with bliss!
 
 
Marthe Robin
In Journal, December 1929- November 1932, Editions (Les Cahiers de Marthe Robin)

Pray the Rosary Every Day


 

Pray the rosary every day, even if it is bit by bit

 
Pray the rosary every day, even if it is bit by bit
 
Rose Lyon, a young nun, had begged God to take her to heaven, but the Prioress of the Community of the Little Sisters Disciples of the Lamb (Petites Sœurs Disciples de l’Agneau) that Sister Rose had entered in May 2006, had refused her permission to do so.

Although her health was delicate, Rose was diligent, discreet, and charitable—she was a real cornerstone of this unique community—made up of both sisters with and without Down’s Syndrome. (…)

The Little Disciple of the Lamb died on May 4, 2013, at the age of 27. She was trained at the school of Therese of Lisieux whom she liked to call her “big sister.” Rose often prayed to the children of Fatima, saying: “O blessed Francisco and Jacinta, help me give myself completely to God and recite many rosaries as soon as I have a moment to—even if it is bit by bit—to console the loving hearts of Jesus and Mary.”
 
 
 
petites-sœurs-disciples-agneau