In 2017/18, the most recent full school year, 4.8% of half-day . From all eternity God chose you to be His Mother that those who could not be saved according to the rigor of divine justice, might be saved with the help of your sweet mercy and powerful intercession. From you all missionaries have received the salvation which they bring to the nations. A mother, as she hears her child lisping her name, is thrilled beyond all telling, at all times; and better than she, you will understand me when I say, "Hail Mary!". Scarcely had you greeted your aged cousin, when mother and son felt at once the sanctifying effects of your loving presence. Let me know nothing else except this entire surrender of myself to God, this simple childlike act of the heart, as I cast myself into the Arms of Jesus and promise Him my fidelity. It commemorates the profound union of heart that existed between the Mother of the Redeemer and the Savior, through which she experienced many interior sorrows as a consequence of His Mission, but particularly during His Passion and Death. Mary, My Mother, How perfectly you have followed the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and acted on divine wisdom! Even your earthly sufferings were to deepen your sanctity. Mary, My Mother, who crushed the head of the serpent, I pray for my country. 16, 24). You rule in heaven and on earth. The icon is now displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and the Russian calendar commemorates the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir on May 21. And the Holy Spirit, who descended upon you in the Incarnation with all His fullness, must have conferred upon you such treasures of sanctity as would prepare you to receive the Son of God in your most pure womb. You thought only of the good you could do in Elizabeth's home. "The altar was designed by Mr. W. J. Devlin and executed by the well-known firm of Boulton of Cheltenham. Coming from the Latin words cum and patior, compassion means to suffer. Mary, Mother of God, you are our spiritual Mother. What must have been your anguish when you looked at the sacred body of Jesus as the long nails were being driven into His hands and feet! Your Heart remained spotless as a lily, and you are, therefore, justly called the "Queen of Virgins. The moment of your exaltation, the highest to which God could raise a creature, finds you sunk in the abyss of your own nothingness. Mary, My Mother, from your early years you adored the one true God in the Temple at Jerusalem. Today we celebrate our Lady of Sorrows. Preserve their faith, assailed at every hour by the forces opposed to Christ. 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. Teach me to bear my cross patiently in imitation of Jesus and you so that in this way I may prove how much I really love you. She humbly exclaimed, "How have I deserved this happiness that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" The glory of the great things that had been done in you, you attributed to God's mercy and power and love. Also, watch over all those who suffer in body or soul. Queen of the Holy Rosary, in times past, when the enemies of the Church sought to break its unity, you came to the aid of your suffering children. 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. He is all mineand all because you gave your consent to become His Mother. The Father crowned you by making you a sharer in His power, the Son by making you partaker of His wisdom; the Holy Spirit, by making you partaker of His love. Our founder, so moved by her image, vowed to live by her exampleand that's a promise our Mercy Home family still upholds today. Mary, My Mother, your Heart is the masterpiece of the Holy Trinity. This is but a reminder that you are equally interested in providing for all your children in all their needs of soul and body. He was pleased to help others for your sake. In your humility, you looked upon yourself as His lowly handmaid. You took part in this offering of the life and death of Jesus. You were declared to be the spiritual "Mother of all the living." No one could have had a closer approach to God than you, for it is impossible for any creature to be closer to God's Son than His own Mother. Feast, Saturday before the 3rd Sunday of November (Triduum, Wednesday the 3rd Sunday of before November). Since you are the Mother of men, God gave you a special knowledge of the needs of every Christian that you might help us to save our souls. It is to you, after God, that we are indebted for our spiritual life, the life of the children of God. God said to the serpent: "Because thou hast done this, I will place enmities between thee and the Woman, between thy seed and her Seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel" (Gen. 3.14). Fully acknowledging your unworthiness to be the Mother of Christ, you accepted the exalted privilege only in obedience to the divine will. Mary, Mother of God, your death was entirely free from whatever might make death bitter: attachment to the world, remorse for sins and the uncertainty of salvation. Holy Cards will continue to be added as our collections align with Feast Days of the Saints in our collection. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. May these graces become most fruitful in my soul till I become like you, another Christ. At the very beginning of His public ministry, you observed the hatred and jealousy of His enemies and the false accusations which would bring about His death. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. Mary, My Mother, your little life held a mystery immeasurably deeper than that of any other human life, since no mind could measure the distance that lay between the chosen Maiden who was not only the servant of the Lord but also His true Mother, and the rest of mankind who were His servants and no more. We encourage you to bring a flower to offer Our Blessed Mary. I need virtues, especially charity and humility and purity. As you were the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus in all the virtues, you were the first and most perfect disciple also in humility. Mary, My Mother, the saints have taught me that the best veneration of you is always imitation. I wish to make reparation by offering sacrifices to atone for sin by fulfilling my daily duties well, by accepting the crosses of life with resignation and love, by obeying the commandments, by going to Mass, confession and Communion frequently, above all on the first Saturday of each month, and by praying much, especially your holy Rosary. 1. At that moment God began to have an Adorer who was infinite, and the world a Mediator who was all-powerful. Not only the Mother of Mexico, but of all the Americas. You became the Mother of a Son who is almighty, eternal and infinite in all perfections, equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit. You beheld His arms and feet roughly extended on the hard wood of the cross. You are truly the pledge of Divine mercy. Though a creature, you gave birth to the Creator. Mary, My Mother, you were never without grace. You have merited by a merit of fitness all that Jesus has merited by a merit of justice. This miraculous defeat broke the back . Help me to see that humility is nothing more nor less than a just and equal judgment of myself, my talents, my opportunities and the use I make of them. Bishop Robert J. McClory. Mary, Mother of God, your humility was expressed especially in the Annunciation. His mother named him after the great St. Francis of Assisi. Mary, Mother of God, humility is the virtue you especially practised from childhood. Jesus purchased me at the cost of His own life, and you offered that life to God for me. You have become all things to all men; you have opened your Heart to all that all may receive of your generosity: the imprisoned, freedom, the sick, health, the afflicted, consolation; the sinner, pardon; and God, glory. 1. Mary, Mother of God, how pleasing to God was your humility! But you are Mother only of penitent sinners who have left their evil ways before death. "And thy own soul a sword shall pierce." The Church regards you as the rising dawn. God reserves to Himself the dispensing of justice to all creatures. Mary, Mother of God, sincere devotion to you is a sign of perseverance in doing good till death. This was your spiritual Motherhood. 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 understand that personal consecration to you does not mean only to place myself under your special protection, but rather to live for God in union with you by avoiding every sin and practising virtue. On the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, 28 First Holy Communion students received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. Mary, My Mother, the divine Motherhood meant for you deepest suffering. You are the Mother of the Uncreated Wisdom, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Simeon prophesied it when you offered the little Victim-Savior to the Heavenly Father for the first time in the temple: "And thy own soul a sword shall pierce" (Luke 2, 35). Jesus did this in union with you. 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. 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. Each Communion is a mystery of your love for us and a grace which you obtain and bestow on us. His Holiness St. John Paul II visited her Sanctuary four times: on his first apostolic trip outside Rome as Pope in 1979, and. Since Jesus has given you charge of the dispensing of His graces, I know that you are most eager to use this power to help me. 8, 35). God is the source of every good and the absolute Master of all graces. I find faith in its light, hope in its help. Immaculate Virgin, you are that human being. You know all our needsneeds of body and needs of soulinfinitely better than a mother. It was not enough for the Infinite Lover of souls to free us from the slavery of hell by His Passion and death and to bestow upon us His body and blood, soul and divinity. The supernatural life is the life of Jesus in us through grace. At the marriage feast of Cana He worked His first miracle because you asked Him for this favor. Mary, Mother of God, the joyful mysteries of your Holy Rosary remind me of the mysteries in which the Word was made flesh and you, the inviolate Virgin and Mother, performed your maternal duties with holy joy. Amen. 3. Mary, My Mother, your whole life was like a Mass. Help them to become worthy of this blessing through their own prayers and good example. The God of holiness, having come upon the earth to take away the sins of the world, chose to appear among us as a sinner. Your dignity as Mother of God is so lofty that nothing created can rank above it. You could also hold your own celebration of Our Lady by inviting friends and family to your home for a traditional Mexican meal. Like you, let me learn divine wisdom and see God in all things, so that I may rise from the creature to the great Creator. Enlightened by God, you knew that He would grant your request. 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. As Christ was pleased to be comforted by an angel, so was it necessary that you should be encouraged by one. The privilege of the Immaculate Conception was suitable to your dignity. He was with you not only with His actual grace, touching your heart and enlightening your understanding. Let me never separate my sufferings from the sufferings of Your divine Son. You are Queen of the universe, not by force, but by the power of love. All your privileges increased your power to love God. That date was not chosen by accident, but because it is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Mother you are and that doubly in the terms of our Catholic belief: human Mother of Jesus, supernatural Mother of every Christian. Mary, My Mother, you and good St. Joseph were married to become the models of family life. Mary, My Mother, during all eternity it will be one of our greatest joys to admire the infinite love of God for you whose Son He willed to be, just as He is in all truth the Son of the Father. The seven sorrows are: The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35) He wished to adapt Himself to our nature by giving us life and aid through the heart of a mother, having placed in your heart some of His own love for mankind to make you the spiritual Mother of the redeemed. If you had no husband, the unbelieving Jews would have stoned you as a sinner. In consecrating your virginity to God, you had given up all hope of becoming the Mother of the Messias because you considered yourself unworthy of the highest honor of the divine maternity. I know that much will be required from those to whom much is given. She told Juan to have a church built in her honor. 2. This is the very heart of your apostolate. 67, 36). As Co-Redemptrix, you must finish your work by applying the grace of redemption to each individual soul, for only then the redemption is achieved. 3. In 1913, Pope Pius X, in view of his reform giving precedence to Sundays over ordinary feasts, moved this feast to September 15, the day after the Feast of the Cross. you. The Church has always taught that God has entrusted to your hands all heavenly treasures, and many of the saints assure me that you give to your clients as much of these treasures as you wish and when you wish to do so. Mary, Blessed Virgin, full of grace, Queen of all Saints, how consoling it is for me to venerate you under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel!