Mary, My Mother, all the saints have prayed to you for help: the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, the heroic virgins and chaste widows. Jesus did this in union with you. Your Heart is pure and spotless because sanctified beyond all other hearts by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, making it worthy to be the dwelling-place of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As the seed of the serpent includes all those descendants of the first man and woman who by their sinful lives bear within them the traits of the devil, so, too, the seed of the Woman includes all who in the course of ages will take their stand with your Son, Jesus Christ, in His ceaseless conflict with the enemy of God. Not all the affection you pour out upon countless other souls lessens your love for me. You love them still, in spite of their sins, and you follow them with your motherly gaze and your prayers. 2. But we do find you standing beneath the cross on Calvary, when your Son was derided and mocked. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that it is a divinely revealed dogma that you, Immaculate Mother of God, having completed the course of your earthly life, were assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Bestow on me gifts from the riches of that fullness. Feast, Saturday after the Feast of St. Augustine (Aug. 28) (Triduum, Wednesday nearest the feast of St. 2. 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. On this occasion you bore your share of the penalty allotted to woman: "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.". Mary, Mother of God, your name means Lady and Queen. For days before the feast, people crowd around the basilica for blessings of the religious images they have brought, and . But I can never be your true child if I am not humble. I believe that all graces, all heavenly blessings descend from Jesusas from the Headby means of youas the neckto the body of the Church. Never were you guilty of the least fault; never did you offer the least resistance to grace. 2. Our Lady of Sorrows The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows flourished in the Middle Ages, and the hymn Stabat Mater was composed for it. 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. Your protection never ceases, your intercession brings hope and life. As the heart of a mother triumphs over the just anger of a father in an earthly family so your Heart will triumph by averting the force of God's justice upon this sinful world. 2. 2. Mary, My Mother, I rejoice with you that you are so privileged, so exalted as to become the worthy Mother of God. Your dying Son declared this in His words to you from the cross, "Woman, behold thy Son." Though you prophesied that all generations would call you blessed, you attributed all holiness to God. 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. Pray to Him for us, your children, that in our exile we may resemble you, His most devoted follower, and at last may glorify Him in union with you forever. Mary, My Mother, you stand in the presence of your Son, interceding for sinners. You bore unspeakable sufferings and offered the life of Him who was dearer to you than your own life. On November 27, 1830, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Catherine Labour in her Daughters of Charity convent in Paris, asking that a medal be cast according to the pattern which Our Lady displayed, and promising that all who wear this medal will receive great . Only after many years of fervent prayers did God reward them. Mary, Mother of God, your greatness began at the first instant of your existence with the privilege of your Immaculate Conception. Jesus was a Son to you and a sword to you: a Son on your breast, a sword in your heart. I need you desperately. God has made you so kind even to sinners that your goodness restores us to hope. Mother Teresa once laid out a simple path for everyone, leading from silence to peace. Fully acknowledging your unworthiness to be the Mother of Christ, you accepted the exalted privilege only in obedience to the divine will. The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12th is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mary, My Mother, your mediation is in reality one with that of Jesus, who had seen fit to give Himself to us only through you. Mater Dolorosa. At the same time your name brings before me your virtues, your merits, your beauty. 2. You are the Mother of the Son of God. You are truly my model in offering Holy Mass. The Communion was your life of union with Jesus in the Eucharist after His Ascension. How many and how great then, were the graces you received in order to reach the eminent virtue that was yours when, on Calvary, you became the Queen of Martyrs. Hence, it is through you that we must go to Christ, almost in the same way as through Christ we approach our Heavenly Father. It died that we might never die, that It might nourish us unto eternal life. Feast, January 23 (Triduum, January 20-22). All rights reserved. May your glorious example be imitated by countless youths and maidens who will give themselves to the Lord to carry on His work throughout the world. The Son, the Eternal Wisdom of God, in choosing you for His Mother, bestowed on you a certain fullness of grace, so that as you gave Christ His human nature, Christ, in a certain sense, raised you as close to God as a mere creature can come. Mary, Mother of God, your Immaculate Heart is the Hope of the world. 2. They apply these words of Scripture to you: "He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord" (Prov. 500 days. Give strength and courage to those who work for the salvation of souls as apostles of our own time so that following the example of the divine Missionary, Jesus Christ, they may labor zealously for the spread of God's Kingdom. Your heart watches over them tenderly. Help me to love God with my whole soulso that all the faculties of my soul may be consecrated to Him, and that I may make use of them only to make Him known, loved and served. 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. You could not of yourself provide the protection and training the Child needed. They then left a small offering of silver required by the Law of Moses. Jesus is my Savior and I have confidence in His infinite merits. Help me to bear in mind that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and that the secrets of divine wisdom are imparted only to the humble of heart, while they are hidden from the worldly-wise. Everyday you renew your Gift generously, because to each Sacrifice of your Son, you give your consent, each Consecration is your gift to us. Everyday, somewhere in the world, local, regional or universal feast of Our Lady is celebrated. Jesus belonged entirely to you, the holiest among women. During my whole life you continue to take care of me until Christ be formed in me. Help me to imitate your fullness of grace by receiving Holy Communion frequently, where I shall obtain the sanctifying grace that will make my soul holy and pleasing to God, more like your own, and where I shall obtain the actual graces I need to practise virtue and to walk in your footsteps. Jesus rewarded your confidence and resignation by working His first miracle at your request. By consenting to His birth, you made Him King. You know that you are the well-beloved Daughter of the Father, you embrace the Son; you are united to the Holy Spirit with a simplicity, a confidence, and a delicacy of love which belong to you alone, for in you alone there cannot be the remembrance of a moment in which you were opposed to God. I trust that through you I shall obtain the help I need to keep the commandments, avoid sin, receive the Sacraments frequently, pray much and save my soul. Only when I have understood your martyrdom, will I understand the greatness of the love of Jesus for you and the intensity of your love for your Son. The moment of your exaltation, the highest to which God could raise a creature, finds you sunk in the abyss of your own nothingness. Little by little the links between your body and soul were dissolved by the resistless force of love. Fill their hearts with the virtues of joyous zeal for God and for souls and a warm love for divine learning. R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! Mary, Mother of God, you are the new Eve. Even when I forget you and begin to complain in my sufferings and crosses, you try to console me. Our Lady of Sorrows: Compassion Unlimited. I cannot secure my salvation without these graces, for it is the grace of God which gives me light and strength to do good deeds. Mary, Mother of God, as Refuge of sinners, you will never turn away those who have recourse to your compassion. From the moment you said, "Be it done to me according to thy word," the Father in heaven made Jesus and you, as it were, a redemptive pair; you, of course, have always been dependent on Him. We all rejoice because all the graces and spiritual benefits we have received and shall receive, all our future glory comes from this exalted mystery of the Incarnation. I can picture you alone with your God, following with devotion the life led in common by the virgins of God's house. You are Queen of the universe, not by force, but by the power of love. I cannot even imagine the heavenly beauty that adorned your innocent soul as you were being prepared by the Eternal Father to be the Mother of His Divine Son and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Because of sanctifying grace infused into your soul, you were from the first moment of your existence most intimately united with God and endowed with the most precious gifts of heaven. The supernatural life is the life of Jesus in us through grace. you. Our Lady of Consolation, Saturday after the Feast of St. Augustine (Aug. 28) Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sept. 8 The Most Holy Name of Mary, Sept. 12 Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sept. 15 Our Lady of Mercy (Our Lady of Ransom), Sept. 24 Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Oct. 7 Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Oct. 11 In short, the first reason we can rightfully call Mary our "Mother of Mercy" is that by God's special, prevenient grace, He created her soul to be the masterpiece of His Mercy in the world, and this special gift of grace within her was the foundation of His whole work of mercy in the world through Christ. You are the loving daughter of the Father, because, before all creatures, you were predestined to be His daughter at the same moment that He decreed the Incarnation of His Son. Mary, My Mother, you were not obliged by the Law of Moses to present and ransom your firstborn Son. Reign over my mind and heart and will and body, so that I may belong completely to Jesus through you. You express your wishes to God, those wishes which have to do with our needsneeds of body and needs of soul. In the past you have expressed your willingness to help and made your requests in your personal apparitions. 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. You are our Mother, the Mother of all the living. You are truly the "Queen of Peace.". How can I ever imagine the emotions of longing and most eager expectation of the Birth of the Divine Child! Grant that we all may heed your warning, for only through penance and reparation can we blot out sin and the insult it afflicts on God. Mary, Mother of God, you are the Mother of Perpetual Help because of the graces you have at your disposal. 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. People became the poor banished children of Eve. The Virgin of Vladimir, also known as Vladimir Mother of God, Our Lady of Vladimir (Russian: , Ukrainian: ), and the Theotokos of Vladimir (Greek: ), is a 12th-century Byzantine icon depicting the Virgin and Child and an early . read more. 1. Teach me to desire ardently all that is pleasing to God, to seek after it prudently, to accept it truthfully and to do it perfectly, for the praise and glory of God. Just as in my tenderest years I learned to love God at my mother's knee, so now I desire to learn to love my Eucharistic God, as it were, at your knee, for I firmly believe that you are the shortest and surest way to the Heart of the Eucharistic Christ. He sanctified your marriage with St. Joseph so that it might be an example for all Christian marriages. I shall realize that God, in His infinite wisdom will make all things work together unto my good. Mary, My Mother, I beg you for this humility which is so necessary for me that without it I cannot enter God's kingdom, as Jesus reminded His disciples, "Unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. It is through you that I am able to eat the Bread of Heaven even every day. 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. 1. You became the Mother of God without ceasing to be a virgin, and your happy fruitfulness only consecrated and increased your purity. He was obedient and immediately arranged with you the celebration of your chaste nuptials. You were the first to offer to the Eternal Father His Divine Son as the Victim for the world's Redemption. In your humility, you looked upon yourself as His lowly handmaid. God might have created a more beautiful world, perfect men. 1. Mary, Mother of God, you are Mother of Grace, because you are begotten of you to the life of grace, and are indebted to you after Jesus, for our supernatural life. You have found uncreated grace, that is, God Himself became your Son; and with that grace you have found and obtained every created good. After the Sacred Heart of Jesus, never was there a heart more pure and more holy. 3. The divine maternity explains everything in you; without this maternity nothing in you can be explained. This humility was richly rewarded. 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 . 1. Mary, Mother of God, at the very beginning of your existence, you received grace exceeding in greatness that of all the saints together, because you were destined to be the Mother of the Redeemer and the mediatrix of the world. Having once given us Jesus Christ by you, God does not change His way of helping us. Your own extraordinary grace and merit, your own wondrous privileges give to your prayer an irresistible force and power. Since you are my Mother, I share in the love you have for your Divine Son. I give you my whole being by copying as far as possible all your virtues by performing each of my actions through you, with you and in you This is the most pleasing homage I can render you. Coming from the Latin words cum and patior, compassion means to suffer. 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. Seeing your own nothingness as compared with the infinite majesty of God, who chose you for His Mother, you acknowledged how unworthy you were of so great honor, but you did not oppose His will in the least thing. The Sanctuary in 1906. Let us thank the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for giving us the best mother in the world, so beautiful, pure and spotless in body and soul, who loves each one of us with so great maternal concern and compassion. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that divine grace is absolutely necessary for the performing of any act that is meritorious for eternal life. In your heart and life the Eucharist took the place of His former presence in the flesh. Though you are raised to the high dignity of Queen of Heaven, you have not forgotten man's wretched condition. The Feast of Our Lady of Palestine was established in 1927 by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, . How great must have been that longing! Mary, Mother of God, sincere devotion to you is a sign of perseverance in doing good till death. Mary, Mother of God, I turn to you in all my pressing needs and difficulties as to a most sure refuge. The closer a soul is to God, the farther it is from sin. I already know of your great love for me for the sake of your Son who entrusted the care of my soul to you. I am most grateful for such devoted love and sympathy. Mary, My Mother, may the faithful recitation of my Rosary show my gratitude to Jesus for having redeemed me on the cross and for having given you to me as my spiritual Mother. Mary, Mother of God, since you are the Mother of Jesus Christ, you are the Mother of Grace as well. If we could not say that you are the Mother of God for having given a body to the Son of God, then we could neither adore this Body; nor would we have been redeemed by the sacrifice of this Body on the cross, nor would we be united to the divinity in receiving this Body in the Eucharist. The Church teaches that final perseverance in good and a happy death are graces so great that no one can obtain them by his own merits or without special help from God. Teach me to imitate your humility by acknowledging my nothingness and seeking the glory of God in everything. His triumph over death His Ascension into Heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit. 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. This is your role of universal Dispenser of all graces. You bore your sorrows bravely because you received them from God's hands. Feast, August 22Octave of the Assumption (Novena, August 13-21) 1. Never did you yield to the least imperfection, let alone sin. We know that you are ever ready to be our help in trouble, our solace in affliction, our hope in despair. Mary, Mother of God, the miracle of the Marriage feast of Cana shows that you are the Mother of Divine Providence. Paul Haffner ( Inside the Vatican, September 2004) This feast is. May I be found worthy of your frequent visits with Jesus to my heart in this life and of the invitation to come and live with You both for all eternity in heaven. Let me never be influenced by temporal considerationswealth, honors and pleasuresthat I may always follow the counsel of Jesus: "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides" (Luke 12, 31). Jesus had delivered Himself in His Passion to the will of His Father, and before His sacrifice for sinners could be perfect, He had to be forsaken by that Father. Shed upon me more and more the living light of that faith which made you blessed. As I gaze upon youthe ideal of perfection and sanctity, may a similar longing for God and complete dedication of myself to Him awaken in my soul. I look to you for the grace of final perseverance and a happy death. Mary, Mother of God, no stain of original sin ever defiled your pure soul. Teach me to love Him with some of the love that glowed in your own heart so that my heart may always be His pleasing temple. For as often as I offended God by mortal sin, so often have I crucified the Son of God and made a mockery of Him. 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. That date was not chosen by accident, but because it is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Mary, Mother of God, you are more truly our Mother than any other mother by the way in which you have given us life. It was indeed a divine life that Jesus led in Your womb, a life most active, and yet one of unbroken calm. Having heard the prophecy of your Son's suffering, you almost rejoiced to hear that you would share His suffering. 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. To you I entrust my soul for which Jesus died and I beg you to help me to save it. Mary, Mother of God, I pour out to you the sorrows of my own troubled heart. Once more He renewed His offering at the Presentation in the Temple. He did so through your hands when you presented Him in the Temple, and in union with Him you offered yourself to the Father on Calvary. He took to Himself our human flesh and became man in order that He might give Himself up for us to the death of the cross. But your holiness is so great, that the power of your intercession is greater than that of all the other saints. The Prophet tells us that God is "wonderful in His saints" (Ps. I have every reason to rejoice, for as the Mother of Jesus and my Mother you are my hope of salvation. Give me the same virtues in my state of lifea will inflamed with the desire that God's Will be done and a mind steeped in the knowledge of what that Will is. There are some who are far from their Father's house, who even refuse to turn to you. And I did this, not under the sudden influence of passion, but deliberately with full knowledge of the act, of its horrible malice in the sight of God and of the terrible consequences in which it involved me. 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. No one is saved, except through you, no one comes to life, except through you. If Jesus is Our Lord, so you are Our Lady. We will list that feast and give as much information as is available about that feastday. Evening Prayer to Our Blessed Mother 1. In the hope that Life will triumph over death, from this moment and for ever more, we want to sing with you the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Through your all powerful prayers, obtain for me not only God's forgiveness, but also the grace to amend my life and to save my soul. If you had no husband, the unbelieving Jews would have stoned you as a sinner. 3. In becoming His Mother, you became ours. Teach me to utter your most holy name that it may fill my heart with hope and burning love for you and that loving you I might reach the Light of the World. The words of the prophet are applied to you: "O all you that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be sorrow like unto my sorrow.". Mary, Mother of God, though marriage and motherhood were the cherished ideals of every Jewish maiden, you vowed your virginity to God, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Refuge of sinners, do not turn us away when we entreat you. Behold I come to you to show you the wounds sin has inflicted on me. Like you let me realize my own nothingness. Help me to strive to imitate your wonderful charity by aiding those who are in need, by sympathizing with those who are afflicted, by opening my heart and applying my hands to relieve every form of distress. To single nations, to private families, to individual persons, you have always provided help, given solace and rekindled hope, especially when they turned to you with Rosary in hand. I, too, am a sinner. You are the woman, the new Eve; the wood of the Cross is the new tree of life, the death of Jesus, the new Adam, takes away the sting of the death of Adam. And when the days of my earthly pilgrimage are over, according to God's holy will, grant that my soul may obtain the glory of heaven, through the merits of Christ and through your intercession. 3. Mary, Mother of God, the apostolic mission confided to you as Queen by your Son is to help Him to the end of time in the sanctification and the salvation of all the souls that come into the world. How many sinners after losing hope have found refuge in you, and, under your protection, returned to God's grace! Mary, My Mother, when my heart is oppressed with guilt and fear, let me look to you. Through your powerful intercession promote the propagation of the faith. 3. You saw Barabbas preferred to Jesus when the Roman governor showed the Man of Sorrows to the angry mob. Your loving submission to the Divine Will could not dry your tears, but it quieted the agony of your mother-heart. Be pleased to intercede with Jesus, your Son, for Christian families. Unceasingly praying for sinners, you stand before your Son. You died as you had lived, entirely detached from the things of the world, you died in the most perfect peace and in the certainty of eternal glory. 2. It is true that we could go directly to God and ask Him for His grace without your help, but God has not willed it so. This Body, given to us at Christmas and immolated on Good Friday, was flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone. We recommend to you our hopes and our fears. Pray to Jesus, the Divine Word and Eternal Wisdom, who is "the life that is the light of men" (John 1, 4), that through you He may teach me His divine wisdom. Mary, Mother of God, you are the mother of the Judge: you are also the Mother of the sinners. This truth was confirmed on Calvary, when at the very moment our redemption was to be completed by the death of Jesus, He said to you: "Behold thy son," then to St. John, who took our place beneath the cross: "Behold thy mother." The Archangel Gabriel expressed this very clearly: "Hail, full of grace"there was no room left for sin; "the Lord is with thee"where God dwells, Satan can have no rights; "blessed art thou among women"you were elevated above all other women in the world. Feast, Saturday before the 3rd Sunday of November (Triduum, Wednesday the 3rd Sunday of before November). He could not make you divine by nature, but He has made you inseparable from Jesus in the salvation of souls through the grace which He has so abundantly poured out upon you because of the Divine Motherhood. Your slightest wish carries with it a powerful appeal. They roamed about in the darkness of sin and despair. However, my sick soul is entitled to more vigilant care, for Jesus reminded me, "What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul" (Matt. 2. From all eternity God chose you to be His Mother, and in time He adorned you with every spiritual charm.