Mary, My Mother, I wish to offer myself as a sacrifice to God in union with Jesus and through your hands. You were the instrument used by your Son. You humbled yourself so deeply because you knew that of and by yourself you were nothing and had nothing. The Church venerates many holy virgins, martyrs and other saints, but no one of them has merited or obtained your title of Holy Virgin, Virgin most pure. As formerly the shepherds and the magi found Jesus close to you, so now may all sinners, unbelievers and pagans find Jesus through you, His Mother. According to God's eternal standards, the sanctity proclaimed by Gabriel when he called you "full of grace," was but the beginning of your wonderful growth in holiness. They had seen Adam created in grace, and John the Baptist, spotless from his birth, because he had been cleansed from original sin before birth. First of all, because of your humility you merited to be exalted above all creatures. Why Is Our Lady Full of Sorrow? - catholicfaithstore.com Here on earth kings and rulers lay at your feet their crowns, their very selves. You did not try to square both predictions. And yet, in the whole work of the redemption, your Son wanted to associate you with Himself. Your life with Jesus was one of deepest recollection, which gathered all the powers of your soul around the God-Man. The seven sorrows are: The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35) As the dawn precedes and announces the coming of the sun, makes the darkness of the night disappear, consoles the sick and rejoices all nature, so you went before and announced Jesus, "The Sun of Justice," who made the darkness of the world disappear by the light of His Gospel, consoled and cured the sick in soul and body and brought an abundance of graces and blessings to the whole world. The more holy you are, the greater is your sweetness and compassion toward sinners who have recourse to you with the desire to amend their lives. May I weigh well at what price you became the Mother of the human race, so that I may remember how much you love me and how eager you are to help me and all Christians. 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. You are only a pure creature, who receives whatever you obtain as a pure favor from God. Wicked lust, the source and occasion of sin, flowing directly from original Sill and inclining to evil, drags me along in spite of myselfalthough always voluntarilyto personal sins, sins that I know only too well are my own. No other saint exerts such universal influence in the affair of our salvation as you do. You died of no infirmity. 1. You are the Mother of mercy and kindness not only to the just, but also to the despairing sinners so that no sooner do you see them coming to you and seeking your help, than you aid them; you welcome them and obtain their pardon from your Son. I want to take devotion to you seriously. The feast is like an octave for the birthday of Our Lady on September 8th. . Teach parents to care for their children as God's sacred trust, to guard them from sin and to lead them in the way of virtue. He preserved you from original sin and the sway of the devil; He filled you with grace. Altogether 24 popes have officially honored Our Lady of Guadalupe. because you have been, according to the Divine Plan, associated with Jesus in the work of Redemption, you have merited by a merit of fitness all that Christ has merited by a merit of justice, and God has made you the Giver of His Graces. The dignity of the divine maternity raised you above all the rest of creation. The divine maternity itself, more than any particular privilege, is a mark of God's unequalled love for you. The Sanctuary in 1906. At one time when you wanted to speak with Jesus, your humility forbade you to enter the house where He was preaching until you were asked to do so. Our Lady of Lourdes, We pray to you especially for our own conversion and that of all sinners. 1. Rather, your death was accompanied by three graces that made it precious and full of joy. In order to free yourself from legal uncleanness and to give us an example of obedience to God's law, you submitted to the ceremony of the purification and made the offering demanded of the poortwo pigeons or turtledoves. O powerful answer which rejoiced Heaven and brought an immense sea of graces and blessings into the world! Help me to sacrifice myself generously for the love of Godto abstain from those many hurtful things that prevent the union of my soul with God. 3. The Seven Sorrows Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Feasts, Friday of Passion Week and September 15 (Novena, Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday of Lent; also September 6-14). Our Lady's Compassion in Passiontide - NCR Mary, by your humility, you became the Mother of your Creator. Mother Mary - Our Lady of Compassion - Feast Day. except through you. How much I worry about my physical health! Mary, Mother of God, you are called Mother of Mercy because of the fullness with which mercy is given to those who seek it at your hands. 3. His triumph over death His Ascension into Heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit. Increase the number of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life and awaken in many young hearts a zeal for the salvation of pagans and sinners. 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. 2. Forgetting yourself completely, you were most intimately united with God. 1. Like other men, I bear in my heart the original wound; that wound has opened other wounds which are hard to close and heal. With a "fiat" God created light, heaven, earth, but with your "fiat" God became Man. If unfortunately I should lose this life by sin, you can bring me back to supernatural life. It was your exclusive privilege to be Christ's Mother according to the flesh. Mary's Feast Days August - Our Lady's Rosary Makers The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on September 15 and is dedicated to honoring the spiritual martyrdom of Mary. Help me to perform all my actions in youto be entirely dependent upon you, taking your point of view, doing all things as you did them for God's honor and glory. At that moment God began to have an Adorer who was infinite, and the world a Mediator who was all-powerful. In your triumph, as the Mother of the same Word Incarnate, having perfectly followed out the great designs of God upon you, having acquired immense merits by the practice of all the virtues, and having reached the highest holiness, you were assumed body and soul, into Heaven. With your foot you crushed the head of the serpent and conquered evil with goodness. May 24 - Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians ~ Dom Prosper Gueranger Therefore, with childlike confidence I appeal to your motherly Heart for help. By His almighty power He would form the body of the Savior of the world, and the Divine Son would unite it to Himself forever. This universal distribution of grace enables you to exercise your spiritual motherhood, to make your children live the divine life by obtaining for them sanctifying grace and all their actual graces. Your name is the name of the one I love. The Eternal Father unfolded His Omnipotence in order to form in you a heart full of sweetness and obedience to your Creator. Through your prayers may they and their children honor God by a virtuous life so as to be worthy of a heavenly reward. Concheros dance in devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe May the Rosary also be a means of obtaining all the graces I need for the sanctification and salvation of my soul. Make me Eucharist-minded to the extent that my very life may be the Eucharistin union with you, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Your soul filled with love and sorrow, you embraced your Son now pale in death, a victim for the sins of mankind. 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. Take my cold heart; put it into your own and inflame it with a fire of love like your own. What a divine impression Jesus left upon you, His Mother! Protect, guard, and keep them in holy fear, in peace, and in harmony of Christian charity. Amen. These chains are chains of salvation for me, and they will make me enjoy in death that blessed peace which will be-the beginning of my eternal peace and rest. It marks seven particularly sorrowful events in Mary's life, focussing on her experience of them - whereas on the actual days, the focus is on Jesus experience. But I want to be loved by you even more; hence, give me an ever growing love for you. 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). It was fitting that you should be adorned with the greatest purity ever possible to a creature. Mary, Mother of God, as Mediatrix of All Graces you have entered into the highest state of power and glory in heaven in order that you may help us on our difficult journey to the heavenly City of God. Joseph, so humble, so pure, so loving respected your consecration to God, and he was willing to live with you a life of spotless virginity. Rather, your sorrows were ordained by God from all eternity as part of the penalty to be paid for sin and were to mingle with the sufferings of your Son in that great sacrifice which was to redeem the world. This marked the beginning of your life of suffering together with Jesus. This Body, given to us at Christmas and immolated on Good Friday, was flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone. Copyright 2023 Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. Irondale, Alabama. Through you we have received Jesus Christ, the Universal Source of Grace, so through your intercession, we still continue to receive the various actual graces suited to our state of life. You alone know how to triumph over the old serpentand to crush his head under your heel. I feel this threefold inclination to evil. As you cradled the new-born Savior and nourished and cared for Him, so at Pentecost you cradled the new-born Church, watched over its frail, delicate body and fostered and nourished it with motherly care. Help me to make good use of the graces given me by God. I cannot rise to the heights of your holiness because I cannot grasp the intimacy of your union with Christ when you became His Mother. You are the immaculate Virgin whom the Holy Spirit willed to make His bride and in whom He would work the tremendous miracle of the Incarnation. Mary, My Mother, the word which best summarizes your whole career is "Mother."