Mirror of Purity

Mirror of purity, O Immaculate Virgin Mary!

I rejoice sovereignly in seeing that, from thy

Conception, the most sublime and most perfect

virtues were infused into thee, and also, all the

gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I thank and praise the

Blessed Trinity for having conferred on thee

so great privileges, and I supplicate thee,

O sweet mother, to obtain for me the grace to

practice virtue, and to render myself worthy

to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Pardon, O Lord, the shortcomings of thy

servants that we, who of ourselves can do

nothing to please Thee, may by the intercession

of the Mother of Thy Son, our Lord, be

brought to eternal life. Amen.

Virginal Body

 

Our Lady's Incomparable Love for Her Virginal Body
In good truth, a Christian is to love his body as a living image of Our Savior incarnate, as having issued from the same stock, and consequently belonging to him in parentage and consanguinity; especially after we have renewed the alliance, by the real reception of the divine body of Our Redeemer, in the most adorable sacrament of the Eucharist, and when by Baptism, Confirmation and other Sacraments we have dedicated and consecrated ourselves to the sovereign goodness.

But as to the Blessed Virgin,—O God, with what devotion must she have loved her virginal body! Not only because it was a sweet, humble, pure body, obedient to divine love, and wholly embalmed with a thousand sweetnesses, but also because it was the living source of Our Savior's, and belonged so strictly to him, by an incomparable appurtenance. For which cause when she placed her angelic body in the repose of sleep: Repose then now, would she say, O Tabernacle of Alliance, Ark of Sanctity, Throne of the Divinity, ease thyself a little of thy weariness, and repair thy forces, by this sweet tranquility.

by St. Francis de Sales

Our Sorrowful Mother

Most blessed and afflicted Virgin Queen of

Martyrs, who didst stand generously beneath

the cross, beholding the agony of thy dying

Son; by the sword of sorrow which then pierced

thy soul by the sufferings of thy sorrowful

life, by the unutterable joy which now more

than repays thee for them; look down with a

mother's pity and tenderness, as I kneel before

thee to compassionate thy sorrows, and to lay

my petition with childlike confidence in thy

wounded heart.  I beg of thee, O my Mother,

to plead continually for me with thy Son, since

He can refuse thee nothing, and through the

merits of His most sacred Passion and Death,

together with thy own sufferings at the foot of

the cross, so to touch His Sacred Heart, that I

may obtain my request.

For to whom shall I fly in my wants and miseries,

if not to thee, O Mother of mercy, who,

having so deeply drunk the chalice of thy Son,

canst most pity us poor exiles, still doomed to

sigh in this vale of tears?  Offer to Jesus but one

drop of His Precious Blood, but one pang of

His adorable Heart; remind Him that thou art

our life, our sweetness, and our hope, and thou

wilt obtain what I ask, through Jesus Christ our

Lord.  Amen

Hail Mary, Virgin Most Sorrowful, Pray for us.

(Seven Times each)

Sacred Heart of Jesus

O God, who in the heart of thy Son, wounded

by our sins, dost deign mercifully to bestow

upon us the infinite treasures of thy love, grant

we beseech thee, that we who now pay Him

the devout homage of our piety may also

perform the duty of worthy satisfaction.

Through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who

livest and reignest with thee in the unity of the

Holy Spirit, God, world without end.  Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes

"The age of miracles is passed."

Thus spoke the cynical voice of a doubting

age.  God had been shouldered out of His

universe.  There was no place for Him in the

exclusive little system that man had developed

to his own complete satisfaction.

Men looked to earth and hoped to make it

their heaven.

Women embraced love that was not love and

wondered why their hearts were hungry.

There were wars and famine, cruelty and

greed, lust and disbelief in God and in man

...and heaven and Mary very far away.

Then one lovely day, upon a bare rock in

southern France a fair lady spoke to a child

... a fountain broke from the barren earth...

miracles piled on miracles... and Lourdes

was born.

It was Mary's challenge of faith to a world

which had lost faith in her Son.

O God, who by the Immaculate conception

of the Virgin didst prepare a worthy dwelling

place for thy Son, we humbly beseech thee

that we, who celebrate the apparition of the

same Blessed Virgin, may obtain health of

soul and body through the same Lord Jesus

Christ, thy Son, who livest and reignest with

thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world

without end.  Amen

Saturday: A Marian day

Saturday: A Marian day

Saturday is the day blessed by God more than any other day. God blessed the seventh day (cf. Gn 2:3) and Mary is "blessed amongst women" (Lk 1:42).

Saturday is the day sanctified by God, and Mary is also "full of grace" (Lk 1:28). It is right therefore to dedicate this holy day to the all-holy woman. Saturday is also the day when God completed the work of nature, and in Mary, God completed the work of grace.

Saturday is the day when God, after creating all things, rested (cf. Gn 2:2); but God's true "rest" is in Mary, of whom the liturgy applied what is said in Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) 24:8: my Creator rested in my tent or my tabernacle, because God rests in a soul who contents him, and that soul is Mary. Humbert wrote:

"Saturday and the Virgin are thus closely associated—Saturday is the day and Mary the place where God rests."
Blessed Humbert de Romans (d. 1277)
Adapted from In Quare b.Virgini sabbatum dicatur: De vita regulari, II

They Have No Wine

 

Jesus' Mother Tells Him: “They Have No Wine”

When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3).

Mary's heart is a vast treasure, and her mouth is the canal of that great treasure, showing us a glimpse of it. This mouth full of honey, gold and precious gems doesn't open very often, this is why we must open our soul to avidly receive each one of her words, and consider them well.

Mary is praying to her Son. She is praying as a mother. We should pay attention to this since Mary once said: Ecce ancilla Domini (Behold the handmaid of the Lord). She isn’t praying like a servant anymore, but like a mother. Let’s try to imagine Mary's eyes as she looks humbly at her beloved Son and makes her request. Just consider her heart and the feelings that fill it.

She desired two things: first of all she wants her Son's glory to be manifested on that occasion and secondly she hopes for the welfare and consolation of the guests. These two desires are worthy of the perfect love dwelling in Mary's heart.

Another point to observe is that Mary's life is one of silence; all the wonders of her incomprehensible love were kept within her heart. When she had to speak, she did so in as few words as possible; she hardly spoke even to her Son.

Mary teaches us in three words an admirable way of praying: she only points to needs, and the Lord recognizes her wish, both in her heart and in her eyes. This is a most perfect way to pray, to open the wounds of our hearts before the very sweet Master, then let our souls rest in him, abandoning ourselves to his great love and mercy. We can remain in loving contemplation to receive the effect of his tenderness upon us.
by François Libermann