Feast of the Visitation

	How did Mary's human nature accept what God asked of her? If Saint Luke the evangelist tells us about this visit of Mary to Elizabeth, it is certainly not for the sake of an anecdote (…) He wants us to understand something that touches upon the economy of Salvation and prepares for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Similarly, it isn't by accident that the Virgin Mary's song of thanksgiving appears at the end of the story of that visit, as the conclusion of the cycle of annunciations. (…) To understand why the Visitation prepares the way for the Magnificat, we must first use our imagination a little. We know the end of the story, for whom everything has been accomplished regarding Salvation, and for whom the Holy Spirit was poured in our hearts. But how did the Virgin Mary understand from the beginning what was happening when she saw an angel appear suddenly in her house of Nazareth and announce to her that she would be the mother of the Savior? (…) And even if the dialogue ended well in the order of grace (“Let it be done to me according to thy word” (Lk 1:38), how did Mary's human nature accept what God was asking of her? (…) Could Mary see clearly all by herself? (…) Elizabeth said a word that confirmed what the Angel Gabriel had said: “But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Lk 1: 43-44). Immediately, Mary knew that she hadn't been the victim of an illusion, a fixed idea or a dream, but that it truly was God's work that was being accomplished. There is more. Through the recognition that she received by someone else, Mary also discovered that the child in Elizabeth's womb already recognized her son. The reader of the Gospel understands that that child, who would be the greatest among the prophets, already gave witness to the fact that the one that Mary is expecting is truly the Son of God. This is why Mary's song of praise could now spring up. (…). Andre Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris Basilica of the Visitation of Annecy-Monday, May 31 2010

Mother Teresa

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Mother Teresa

Blessed Mother



Mother Teresa's Rosary

	That night in 1981, when I boarded a plane in Chicago, Illinois, I felt tired. As more passengers entered the aircraft, the place hummed with conversation. Then, suddenly, people fell silent. (…) I turned back to see what was happening, and gaped. Two nuns were coming down the aisle, dressed in simple white robes edged with blue. I immediately recognized the familiar face of one of them with her wrinkled skin and her intensely warm eyes. I had seen that face on the cover of TIME magazine. The two nuns paused, and I realized that my seat companion was going to be Mother Teresa. As the last few passengers settled in, Mother Teresa and her companion took out their rosaries. I noticed that each decade was made up of grains of a different color. Mother Teresa told me later that each decade represented a different part of the world. She added: "I pray for the poor and dying on each continent." The two women began to pray, their voices a low murmur. Although I consider myself not a very religious Catholic, going to church mostly out of habit, I joined this prayer almost without realizing it. Mother Teresa turned to me and this time her eyes filled me with a great sense of peace. "Young man," she asked, "do you often recite the rosary?" "No, not really," I admitted. She took my hand while scrutinizing my eyes. Then she smiled. "Well, you will now." And she put her rosary into my hand. (...) Since this unexpected encounter on the plane, my life has changed. (...) Now I try to keep in mind what really counts—not money or security or property—but the way we love others. Jim Dennison, USA 1981

Mary, Joseph, and the Trinity

There are two creatures whose holiness belongs to an entirely separate order, since they have a relationship that is completely different than the others with the Holy Trinity: firstly, the Mother of God, and secondly, Saint Joseph. All sanctified creatures are such because of the Incarnation. Mary and Joseph also received the effects of the saving Incarnation. But first, God destined them to be his associates, each one in his or her own manner, to bring about that Incarnation. The Mystery of Saint Joseph's Fatherhood Tequi, Paris 1986

The Seven Seals of the Virgin Mary

	We might consider that the Virgin Mary is like this book, sealed with seven seals, that Saint John the Evangelist saw in the Revelation, and which could only be opened by the Lamb (Rev 5:5). The seven seals are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Virgin Mary fully possesses, more than any other creature. We can also understand them as the seven privileges that she enjoys. In the first, she was chosen by God from all eternity as the first-born of all the creatures. In the second, she conceived in her womb and in her flesh the Word and his humanity, which he received from her most pure blood. In the third, she sanctified Saint John by her words, by virtue of the incarnate Word in her most pure womb. In the fourth, after she had given birth to Jesus, she remained a virgin. In the fifth, the Son of God himself was subjected to her, humble and obedient. In the sixth, after her death her body did not know corruption. In the seventh, she was placed at the right hand of her Son. If, after we die, we want to enter into the blessed Kingdom of Heaven, we must strive right now to perfection, practice humility, patience, charity, and all the other virtues. Let us exert ourselves to do so. Saint Maria Magdalena de Pazzi Mystical Author (1566-1607)

Priestly Advice with Mary

	Tomorrow you will go home. I’d like to ask that all of you do one thing and say one prayer. When you arrive and open the door of your church, stop for a minute. Say to Mary: “O my Mother, enter first. From this day on, I want to pray, preach and hear confessions in this house that is yours and mine: I want to live all my priesthood with you.” Then when you go to the rectory, after opening the door, stop again for a minute, invite Mary to go before you, and tell her: “O my Mother, enter first. I want to live with you in this home, and while I am near you, I want to observe mortification, patience, purity, and charity.” Finally, when you open the door of your bedroom, stop one more time, invite your Mother to go in first, and tell her: “And here most of all, O my Mother, always be with me. In this place I want to pray, study, sleep, and die under your gaze and near your heart.”
	Cardinal Verdier, Memoirs of My Pastoral Retreats In: Maria – études sur la Vierge Marie – Under the direction of Hubert du Manoir, S.J. - Volume III, 1954.