Mary, Mother of God, you are so filled with compassion that you deserve to be called not only merciful but even mercy itself. Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady - Catholic Education Resource Center Mary, Mother of God, when I consider your compassion for mankind and your influence with God, I am urged to give my whole-hearted and unlimited confidence to you, Help of Christians. The early writers of the Church already speak of you as a second Eve, who fulfilled in the restoration of mankind a role closely corresponding to that of Eve in the ruin of our race. Mary, Mother of God, you are called Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament because you are associated in a special way with the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I promise to devote myself wholeheartedly to the spreading of devotion to your Immaculate Heart so that the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart may come and He may reign with you in my heart and in the hearts of all men. You were declared to be the spiritual "Mother of all the living." 3. You were united with Him as closely as a Mother is united with her child, and your thoughts and desires were those of your Divine Son. You brought me forth spiritually to a new life of grace. He also willed that (2) everywhere the offering of Himself should be presented to the Father through your hands. Since this is the mission of your life, to bring souls to God through Jesus, lead me to your loving Son. Jesus continues ceaselessly to pray for us, offering for us to His heavenly Father His infinite merits and atonement, and causing the floods of grace to descend upon us to save us. Jesus is the only Mediator of justice, and by His merits He obtains for us all graces and salvation; but you are the Mediatrix of grace. Since God was born of you, you are the Mother of God. Advise me what to do. Our Lady of Sichem, Belgium (474) 4. I have carried my cross patiently which He gave me to carry. But God turned the scheme of the evil one back upon its inventor. Mary, Mother of God, the results of your visit to Elizabeth were wonderful. Such love set your Heart on fire with love for your Divine Son, not only as your Son, but also as your God and Savior since you had shared in advance in the merits of His Passion and death. But in you they saw a soul whose sanctity surpassed that of angels and of men, a soul which would glorify God more perfectly than any other creature ever had glorified Him, or ever would glorify Him. Hell is forced to bear the weight of your lasting hatred. When Jesus said, "Woman, behold thy sonBehold thy Mother," He gave you to me to be my Mother for all Christians form one body with Christ, and Saint John represented them all beneath the cross. But by the greater light you possessed for recognizing the infinite greatness and goodness of God, you recognized also your own littleness, and, therefore, you humbled yourself more than all others: you ever had before your eyes the majesty of God against your nothingness as His creature. But you merited the title Co-Redemptrix above all by your union with Christ in His redemptive sacrifice. The Calendar section will present a particular feast for Our Lady for each day of the year. Feast, January 23 (Triduum, January 20-22). I beg you to pray for me that by the light of the Holy Spirit and your direction, I may see my duty, and by God's grace and your help I may fulfill it. I can picture you alone with your God, following with devotion the life led in common by the virgins of God's house. If I put my trust in you, I shall be saved. 1. All the saints suffered during their lifetime, but you are the Queen of them all as Queen of Martyrs. You, who were yourself the Queen of Prophets, saw that from that moment "the sword of sorrow" would enter your soul and remain there during the rest of your days. Fill their hearts with the virtues of joyous zeal for God and for souls and a warm love for divine learning. Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows Then for His sake, be our Help! Your Immaculate Conception is a triumph over Satan the author of evil, who under your heel, suffered his first complete defeat. 8, 35). For thirty-three years you enjoyed the company of the only-begotten Son of God in the intimate relation of Mother and Son, and under your care, according to the Evangelist, He "advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace, before God and man" (Luke 2, 52). May the merits of my crucified Savior never be lost on my soul, but rather may they enable me to reach true holiness and the possession of God in His eternal kingdom. Augustine.). From that time forward until His Ascension into Heaven, you were the constant adorer of the Word-made-Flesh in all the mysteries of His earthly life. Excerpted from Our Lady of Sorrows by Fr. Mary is the mother of mankind - she watches . I am in need of forgiveness of sin, of strength in temptation. Wherefore the Church applies to you the words Jesus spoke of that other Mary who sat at His sacred feet, drinking in the words of divine wisdom flowing from His blessed lips: "Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10, 42). Liturgical feast Our Lady of Compassion. John took my place on Calvary and you became, in his person, my Mother. May my soul always find comfort in your holy name! Your Heart was also a pure Heart, pure as the light, purer than the snow, free from the stain of original sin, from the least taint of actual sin, from the least evil tendency of our fallen naturea heart full of light and beauty reflecting to the full the radiance of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son. Since you had your place beside Jesus when there was question of ransoming us and meriting for us all the graces necessary for our salvation, you must in like manner have your place beside Him now, when there is question of securing for us by your prayers in heaven the graces prepared for us in view of the merits of Christ. Mary, My Mother, through your prayers may I be blessed with a keen understanding of the ways of God. You knew nothing but God and His love you wished for nothing but Him and His holy will; you sought nothing but His greater honor. Mary, My Mother, yours is a queenship of conquest. First of all, because of your humility you merited to be exalted above all creatures. No creature in the world has been more exalted than you, because no creature in the world has ever humbled himself more. There is no more intimate bodily union than that of mother and child, for they are one life, one heart-beat sustaining the life of both. Make me your faithful child. Your loving Son came to teach this virtue to mankind by His example, and He desired that we should especially strive to imitate Him, for He said, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. Through your powerful intercession promote the propagation of the faith. May it be given me to understand your own love for me, and your dignity and beauty, that I may love you with a love more like the love that God Himself has for you. The Divine Son gave you a mother's heart, in which, as in a sanctuary, He wished to dwell. You would not be completely happy in heaven if you did not know the interests of those souls redeemed at the cost of so much pain to Jesus and you. From the first instant of your existence your mind was filled by the supernatural light of faith and your soul with love of God. 1. How consistent with the infinite tenderness of God that His Christ, the Immortal Child, should be conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the body of a young virgin and that a virgin should bear a Child to redeem the world. Make me ever attentive to His inspirations that I may grow in holiness and may merit to see this Divine Guest of my soul in the glory of His heavenly kingdom. I find faith in its light, hope in its help. I believe with the Church that from the great treasury of graces that Jesus has merited for us, nothing comes to us, by the will of God. Jesus is the new Adam and you are the new Eve. The presentation of the Child Jesus in the temple was like the Offertory, for you offered to the Heavenly Father this "material" for the sacrificethe body and blood of your little Son. Proclaim the Good News I see you offering Him to the heavenly Father in the temple for our salvation. At your request He worked the first miracle of His public life. The Apostles, who had abandoned their Master informed you of your Son's betrayal by Judas and of His brutal capture after His agony. Dec. 12: OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE MASS PRAYERS AND PROPER READINGS. Mary, Mother of God, how beautifully you expressed your gratitude and humility! The word compassion derives from the Latin roots cum and patior which means "to suffer with." Your Child, becoming the King of Martyrs, would make you their Queen. Your Heart is also a generous Heart, full of love, abounding in mercy. In your greater sorrow may my own be lost, and in calm resignation may my anguished soul find peace and strength. Your name is the name of the one I love. Your Heart was also a suffering Heart. Mary, My Mother, help me to perform all my actions through youto ask through your intercession the graces I need in order to imitate you, and to go through you to Jesus. I shall realize that God, in His infinite wisdom will make all things work together unto my good. After your Divine Son, you are God's most precious gift to man. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Comforter of the Afflicted because in your lifetime you bore every sort of affliction and you can now sympathize with me in my sufferings. Mary, Mother of God, your life, like that of your Divine Son, was a daily crucifixion and martyrdom. In the past you have expressed your willingness to help and made your requests in your personal apparitions. As Mother of God you surpass, in an immeasurable degree, all other creatures, angels and men. Jesus purchased me at the cost of His own life, and you offered that life to God for me. Prophets foretold the coming of the Savior and the manner in which the Redemption would take place. Teach me to utter your name with deep respect because, after the name of Jesus, it is most sacred and revered above all others. Mary, My Mother, as I cannot grasp the depth of your sanctity, I cannot understand the measure of your grace. You nourished Him, clothed Him, educated Him. Mary, Mother of God, I believe what Holy Mother Church teaches about your Immaculate Conception: that from the first moment of your conception you possessed justice and holinessthat is sanctifying grace, even the fullness of grace, with the infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and with integrity of nature; yet you remained subject to death and other pains and miseries of life that your Son Himself willed to undergo. It also means unlimited confidence in your motherly intercession if I should have the misfortune of straying from Jesus by sin. Your Immaculate Conception permitted you to love God from the first instant of your existence; your virginity led you to vow an undivided love to Him, your fullness of grace made you capable of loving Him with the most intense love possible. He died out of love for us; this was His final proof of love. For the first time after four thousand years God in His Wisdom and power and love, created again a human being in that state in which He had created our first parents. More than 130 years ago, Mercy Home was first established as the Mission of Our Lady of Mercy. Evening Prayer to Our Blessed Mother 1. Because of your dignity, you reach to the borders of the divine. He willed that (1) you should be present at each stage of His mortal careerrenewing, continuing, completing what you had done at the Incarnation. Your protection never ceases, your intercession brings hope and life. A Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows on her feast day, September 15: O most holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ: by the overwhelming grief you experienced when you witnessed the martyrdom, the crucifixion, and death of your divine Son, look upon me with eyes of compassion, and awaken in my heart a tender . The divine maternity permits you to love God with a very singular kind of love and to be loved by Him with an equally singular love. What a divine impression Jesus left upon you, His Mother! What joy He must have felt at the thought that His Sacramental Presence brought you such consolation! Jesus was a Son to you and a sword to you: a Son on your breast, a sword in your heart. You love me with a Heart human like my owna Heart that can understand my sorrows and problems since you experienced all that I must bear; a Heart that can sympathize with me and befriend me in my hour of need. The victim had to belong to the person who offered it. I will not be discouraged, but rather go with confidence to you, the throne of grace. We join you, Queen of the Holy Rosary, in praying for peace in the world. Mary, Mother of God, how pleasing to God was your humility! You saw the heavy cross placed on His bent shoulders. In becoming my Mother, you became the Queen of Martyrs! You formed His eyes, to look upon us with mild and pitying glance and to weep over us. Having deigned to come down to you, He wished to raise you up to Himself in order that you might enter into glory. Infirmities of the body are nature's warning voice concerning the approach of death, which I cannot finally escape. The repetition of the "Hail Marys" keep before my mind the importance of the Incarnation and your share in it. . I fix my gaze on that star and wish never to turn from it. Mary, Mother of God, your dear parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, rejoiced at your birth. Mary, My Mother, teach me ever to seek the glory of God and to render to Him what is His divine rights. When still a child you consecrated yourself entirely to God, the Love of chaste souls; and afterwards you would rather be deprived of the great dignity of Divine Motherhood than to lose your virginity. Mary, Mother of God, I firmly believe in the doctrine of Holy Mother Church concerning your Immaculate Conception, namely, that you were, in the first instant of your conception, by the singular grace and privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. Though worn with sorrow, you at once took your place at the foot of the cross. HAPPY FEAST DAY! But the same spirit of humility which had induced Jesus to obey the law of circumcision, made you also submit to the law of purification. 3. You are Queen because you are the Mother of the Word Incarnate. Mary, My Mother, I wish to offer myself as a sacrifice to God in union with Jesus and through your hands. Feast Days of Mary January 1Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God *January 8Our Lady of Prompt SuccorFebruary 2Presentation of the LordFebruary 11Our Lady of LourdesMarch 25AnnunciationMay 13Our Lady of FatimaMay 31VisitationJune 27Our Mother of Perpetual HelpJuly 16Our Lady of Mount CarmelAugust 15Assumption *August 22Queenship of MarySeptember 8Birth of . 2. 1. You were troubled not at the appearance of the angel, but at what he said. I wish to do penance by giving up sin and amending my life, by asking pardon and making reparation to the Heart of Jesus and to your Immaculate Heart, so grievously offended by our sins. After Almighty God and the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, there is no being so great as you. Your apostolic workto snatch souls from Satan and from sin to make them live the supernatural lifeis the very reason for your motherhood. Mary, My Mother, you are all beautifulbeautiful in mind, in body, in soul! 7, 24). In that moment the mystery of love and mercy, promised to mankind thousands of years earlier foretold by so many prophets, desired by so many saints, was accomplished upon earth. King Solomon described your beauty: "Thou art all fair my beloved, beautiful as the moon, brilliant as the sun.". Mary, Mother of God, you are the Virgin most pure because you are the Immaculate Conception.