June 9 - Mary Mother of Grace (France) - St Ephrem the Syrian, deacon and doctor of the Church (d. 373) The Favored Woman: Mary The woman is not an afterthought, as many would infer from the creation account [...] can be activated by human actions. Favor is an unmerited/underserved act of kindness. It is akin to grace. To be favored simply means to be preferred over others. It also means to be cherished, counted worthy [...] His angel to reveal His verdict about the woman and it is: “Hail, thou art highly favored (full of grace), the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women.” The favored woman in this context is Mary

May 22 - Saint Rita of Cascia, Augustinian nun - Our Lady of Graces (Brescia, Italy, 1526) A great victory is reserved for Mary in our day All the ages of the Church have been marked by the battles and

May 20 - Our Lady of Graces (Cuneo, Italy, 1537) The scapular gives protection from spiritual and bodily dangers (II) The Scapular must be worn continuously (therefore also during the night); you can of

March 6 - Our Lady of Graces (Padua, Italy, 1630) Mary stops the plague at Monte Berico (I) A rare manuscript, preserved in the Bertoliana Library in Vicenza, Veneto, recounts in great detail the events [...] of my feasts and on the first Sunday of each month will receive as a gift the abundance of God's graces and mercy as well as the blessing of my maternal hand." When she went to the city, Vincenza shared

March 8 - Our Lady of Graces (Italy, 1487) - St. John of God Mary saved Saint John of God from death when he was a soldier In 1638 the Spanish army besieged Fontarrabia, occupied at that time by the French

December 1 - Holy Mary of Graces (Italy, 1923) - Blessed Charles de Foucauld Like Mary at the Visitation "What I would like for myself, I must do for others: "Do what you want to be done unto you", and

September 21 – Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist – Our Lady of Graces (Trieste, Italy, 1486) Where does the First Saturdays Reparatory Communion come from? In Fatima, Portugal, Father Gonçalvès, who [...] confession with the same intention. Confession can be made on another day, provided one is in a state of grace while receiving Holy Communion. 3. The benefits or promises? "To the souls who will seek to make [...] reparation to me in this way (Our Lady says), I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for their salvation". 4. Why five Saturdays and not nine, or seven in honor of the sorrows

September 26 - Our Lady of Graces (Ancona, Italy 1836) - St. Therese Couderc, foundress of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Cenacle (d. 1885) Mary is the secret of God Because Mary remained hidden during

August 10 – Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr (d. 258 in Rome) – Our Lady of Graces (Cotignac, France, 1519) "Tell the people to come here in procession to receive the gifts I want to bestow!" On August [...] the clergy and the consuls of Cotignac to build me a church here, under the name of 'Our Lady of Graces', and tell them to come in procession to receive the gifts that I want to bestow in this place." [...] a small chapel on the site of the apparitions. Since then, the shrine has been the source of many graces and miracles, and is credited for the birth of King Louis XIV of France. The Mary of Nazareth team

June 25 – Our Lady of Graces (Italy, 1548) Mary has slowly become part of my life When I was growing up in Alsace, I had Protestant friends. They sometimes argued with me by using the false clichés about