painting by St Luke of Our Lady (Rome, 591) Seat of Wisdom (II) When the appearance of the angel bursts into her life and the first Ave Maria resounds, she is disturbed. What is the meaning of this message? [...] Lord's servant, let it happen to me as you have said." (Lk 1: 38). She was now the Mother of God. She knew the prophets well enough to know what awaited her. The first sounds of the Stabat Mater echoed within [...] words must not be in opposition to her purpose of remaining a virgin, a plan which God Himself had inspired in her. "'But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?' The angel answered, ‘The
November 16 - Our Lady of Chieves (Hainault, Belgium, 1130) - Saint Gertrude the Great (d. 1302) Olive Tree of Mercy O Olive tree of mercy? Hail Mary, Mother of God. Hail Mary, Queen of Kindness, and Olive [...] Olive Tree of Mercy, from whom the remedy of life came to us. Since, by your Son, you became the true Mother of all mankind, now for the sake of His love, keep me in your motherly love, despite my unworthiness [...] unworthiness. Help me to believe ? preserve and strengthen my faith. Grant me your care in this life, and receive me with the plenitude of your motherhood at the hour of my death. Amen.
March 13 – Our Lady of Rose (Italy, 1635) Mary and Joseph: a different kind of holiness There are two creatures whose holiness is of a completely separate order, that is to say, who have an incomparable [...] Trinity: first, the Mother of God, and after her, Saint Joseph. All sanctified creatures are sanctified as a result of the Incarnation. Mary and Joseph also received the effects of the Redemptive Incarnation; [...] Incarnation; but first God intended them to be associated with Him, each in a different way, for the very realization of the Incarnation. Canon Lallement Mystère de la paternité de Saint Joseph - Tequi 1986 -
17 – Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (Vilnius, Lithuania) The Rosary and the simplicity of a clear gaze Why is this simple prayer (the Rosary) so dear to us Dominicans? Perhaps because at the heart of our [...] perfectly simple. The real simplicity of the heart is the simplicity of a clear gaze. The Rosary is indeed simple, very simple. But it has the wise and profound simplicity to which we aspire, and in which we
November 16 - Our Lady of Chieves (Hainault, Belgium, 1130) - Saint Gertrude the Great (d. 1302) Olive Tree of Mercy O Olive tree of mercy? Hail Mary, Mother of God. Hail Mary, Queen of Kindness, and Olive [...] Olive Tree of Mercy, from whom the remedy of life came to us. Since, by your Son, you became the true Mother of all mankind, now for the sake of His love, keep me in your motherly love, despite my unworthiness [...] unworthiness. Help me to believe ? preserve and strengthen my faith. Grant me your care in this life, and receive me with the plenitude of your motherhood at the hour of my death. Amen.
12 - Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas (Mexico, 1531) Mary in the Midst of Israel's Waiting (III) "There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse" (Is 11:1) In the midst of Israel's [...] the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." (...) "It shall happen in that day, that the root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the peoples, to him shall the [...] days of old" (Am 9: 11), or Isaiah: "There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom
12 - Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas (Mexico, 1531) Mary in the Midst of Israel's Waiting (III) "There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse" (Is 11:1) In the midst of Israel's [...] the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." (...) "It shall happen in that day, that the root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the peoples, to him shall the [...] days of old" (Am 9: 11), or Isaiah: "There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom
February 25 - Our Lady of Great Power (Canada, 1673) - 9th apparition in Lourdes Marian Apparitions of the Past (I) Marian apparitions cover three prominent phases of Church History: the Patristic age [...] seers at the Cistercian Monastery of Helfta (13th century) and the visions of St Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373). The Renaissance: During the sixteenth century, a new kind of apparitions began. These apparitions [...] Laurentin notes that these were intended to "renew the faith and to surmount the world's crises." The most significant case is Guadalupe (1531) which gave birth to a New Church in the Americas.
May 11 – Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil In their net, a statue of the Immaculate Conception In September 1717, a hundred miles from Sao Paulo, Brazil, three fishermen named Domingos Garcia [...] solemnly crowned. On July 26, 1936, Pius XI declared Our Lady of Aparecida the "principal patroness of Brazil." On September 8, 1954, the foundation stone of the new basilica was laid, in a square that can [...] accommodate 275,000 people. The shrine, a focal point for the Church of Brazil, receives 8 million pilgrims and visitors every year. See: Our Lady of Aparecida
November 15 - Our Lady of Piety (Byzantine Church) - Saint Albert the Great Mary is the Channel of Grace The Blessed Virgin is the hope of forgiveness for those who are sorry for their sins and expiate [...] one will recall the example of the miracle of Theophilus, whom Mary reformed by the grace of forgiveness. But those above, innocent in grace, have in Mary the channel of that grace, by which they are [...] by pity and mercy, she speaks persuasively to her Son, interceding for sinners, and, by the support of her merits, she restores the repentant to the level of grace they had lost.
