Immaculate Conception with the virgin birth of Jesus. Some parishes precede the feast with a preparatory novena. Since December 8th is a date included in the Advent season, when it falls on a Sunday the solemnity [...] Deus : "We declare and define the doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary was, in the first moment of her conception, by a grace and a singular favor of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ [...] sin, is a doctrine revealed by God, and that therefore it must be firmly believed by all the faithful." From the first centuries, the eastern churches celebrated the original purity of Mary, in a celebration
feasts in her honor, which he celebrated with fervor, it was chiefly centered on the Rosary. He prayed it continually, evoking, meditating and praying with Mary - which is what the Rosary is all about - [...] altar this morning with such loving care! I wish that I had a stronger voice, to invite sinners all over the world to go to Our Lady." He goes on to write: "I feel myself burning without a fire. I feel clasped [...] friars would also see him in the sacristy, meditating and praying at the foot of a picture of Our Lady of Sorrows. In a letter from 1912, he wrote: "How many times have I confided to this mother the tormented
sitting down (Akathistos, a Greek word meaning not sitting), since she herself had not stopped watching over them for one moment and she had won the victory over their enemies with a supernatural power. Since [...] king Chosroes II, with the help of Persia's Avar allies, raided Constantinople from the west, crying out blasphemies against God. The sea was covered with ships, the countryside filled with infantry and horsemen [...] procession, on the ramparts of the city, to ask for the strength to resist, along with the icon of Christ not-painted-by-a-human-hand, the precious, vivifying Cross, and the tunic of the Mother of God. Boats
was standing with her feet on a crescent moon. She said to John: "I am the Virgin Mary. Go and tell the clergy and the consuls of Cotignac to build me a church here, under the name of 'Our Lady of Graces' [...] August 10, 1519, a lumberman called John de la Baume hiked up Mount Verdaille, above the village of Cotignac in the Var region of southern France. He was alone. As usual, he began his day with a prayer. As soon [...] soon as he got up, a cloud appeared, revealing the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus, surrounded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Catherine the Martyr, and the Archangel Saint Michael. Our Lady was
take her. All the children of God should take Mary into themselves and all that she has taught you through her life. You have a great support which is Mary, use it more. Pray to her, pray to her more, make [...] the words Jesus on the cross addressed to Mary, "Woman, behold your Son," and to John, "Behold your Mother," the devil spoke and said: "In that single moment, She loved all her sons for all generations [...] the Angel, she said 'yes' to her Son on the cross so that you would become her sons." The exorcist, with a mixture of amazement and joy for he understood that the devil was obviously forced to say, against
cut off his tirades and said, "And now let's talk a little about the Virgin Mary!" This long hour of conversation about Mary brought back for a moment the peace he felt at his first communion, but his [...] Louis Francis Budenz, a prominent Communist activist in the United States, was born into a devout Christian home in the state of Indiana. At the age of 20, he left home for the love of a divorced woman. He [...] One day in 1936, Budenz found himself face to face with Bishop Fulton Sheen (1) in a New York bar. Thinking that friendliness was the surest way to make a convert, Budenz confidently began using his great
soul was silent" "How could Mary not be silent? A creature who had lived so long with the Creator could not speak much; her heart was full; her soul was silent. She had been with Jesus for twelve long years [...] All the similarities with God passed through Mary’s soul. We know how silent God is." Frederic William Faber In Belle et douce Marie, la Vierge des peintres (“Sweet and Beautiful Mary: The Virgin of Painters”) [...] years, important years for the formation of habits, though Mary lived them as if in a holy ecstasy, full of painful love. She had carried Jesus in her arms. She had watched over him while he slept. She had
the village of Maillane. Faced with the inability to contain the scourge, the people of Maillane saw their only hope in Our Lady of Grace, whose statue had been relegated to a classroom of the nuns' school [...] August, the inhabitants and priests of the parish went to fetch the statue and brought the statue out in a procession of penance, stopping in front of each house that had an affected person. Of the 110 people [...] intoned: "Sub tuum praesidium ..." ("We fly to thy protection, O holy Mother of God…"). At that same moment, the sick and dying were all healed! Since then, Maillane has always been preserved from the plague
was Saint Philip Neri, who had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Philip prayed for the life of his dear disciple. Baronius immediately fell into a pleasant sleep. In a dream, he saw his superior at [...] it!" Since Jesus refused, he turned to his Mother. Mary interceded for him, so he knew at once that his prayer had been answered. At the same moment, Baronius awoke, knowing that he would not die of this
In Bra, a small town in the province of Cuneo which has always belonged to the Diocese of Turin (Italy), on the evening of December 29, 1336, a young wife about to become a mother passed by a devotional [...] woman, with the intention of raping her despite her advanced pregnancy. Egidia desperately reached for and grasped the image of the Madonna painted on the column, invoking her help. Unexpectedly, a flash [...] comforted Egidia for a few minutes, assuring her that she was safe. The apparition left, but, because of the shock of the attack, Egidia gave birth at the foot of the column. With her newborn baby wrapped
