July 31 – Ethiopian Church: Feast of the Densata (Mary’s Conception) - Saint Ignatius of Loyola More and more Swiss soldiers go to Lourdes each year In Switzerland, Bishop Alain de Raemy is the head of [...] context of Lourdes? How do soldiers fit in? -Lourdes is a return to the source. This is what the Virgin Mary said to Bernadette. The soldiers must make this pilgrimage as a united corps, walk as one people.

July 27 - Canonization of Catherine Labouré by Pius XII, attended by 10,000 Children of Mary dressed in white (1947) The Marian devotion of Chinese Catholics It is with a solemn mass that the Shrine of [...] Shan, the most famous Chinese Marian Shrine (Diocese of Shanghai, Mainland China) opened the month of Mary. Today, the shrine is world-renowned thanks to Pope Benedict XVI who composed and broadcast his "Prayer

July 19 – First apparition of the Virgin Mary to Saint Catherine Labouré in Paris (France, July 19, 1830) In a single bound, I was at Our Lady's feet! I heard a faint noise, like the rustling of a silk [...] not Saint Anne who was in this chair, it was Our Lady … Still, I wasn’t sure that it was the Virgin Mary. So the child who was present told me: “Here is the Blessed Virgin.” … In a single bound, I was at [...] the sweetest of my entire life. It would be impossible for me to say what I experienced. The Virgin Mary told me how I should behave towards my spiritual director and also several other things that I must

Margaret Mary Alacoque (France, 1647) As a child, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque loved to recite the Rosary As a child, Margaret loved to recite the Rosary. She would kiss the ground at each Hail Mary. At the [...] day of her confirmation, she added the name of Mary to her baptismal name. On May 25, 1671, Margaret Mary entered the monastery of the Visitation of Mary, in Paray-le-Monial (France). Of fragile health [...] receive ingratitude.” From then on, Margaret Mary was given the mission to establish a special devotion to the Sacred Heart. Inspired by Christ, Margaret Mary established the practice of Holy Hour. For her

Saint Joachim, parents of the Virgin Mary The parents of the Virgin Mary The author of the Protoevangelium of James (apocryphal gospel) portrays the parents of Mary, Anne and Joachim, as living in the [...] needed for God’s visit. In an apparently quite different account, according to the Syriac Fathers, Mary is the "Daughter of the poor," a "humble daughter of poor people," "one who was among people of humble [...] In a spiritual perspective, the two traditions actually match each other: the parents of the Virgin Mary paved the way for the "Beatitude of the poor." A. Gila In Il pensiero dei Padri della Chiesa su s

July 17 – Feast of Mary’s humility With Mary’s help, she carried her pregnancy to the end In 2013, Chantal, a Parisian woman, already the mother of several children, was advised to abort her child after [...] had deep trust in Mother Mary and in the power of the Rosary. Chantal’s faith helped her to carry her pregnancy to the end and give birth to a baby girl, whom they named Marie. The baby was born with Down [...] Down syndrome, but she survived! Since Marie’s birth, Chantal has been involved in supporting pregnant women in crisis. This is her testimony: "One day the leader of our group called me to entrust me with

venerate the Virgin Mary’s dress, exhibited every 7 years (Germany) The Via Matris: Mary’s Stations of the Cross According to tradition, after the Ascension of the Lord, the Virgin Mary returned daily to [...] Son carrying the cross. 5. Mary standing at the foot of the cross. 6. Mary receiving the lifeless body of her Son. 7. Mary mourning at the tomb of Jesus. The stations of the Via Matris reconstitute the path [...] prediction to Mary that her Son will be violently opposed. 2. The massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem and the flight to Egypt. 3. The loss of Jesus in the Temple at age twelve. 4. Mary seeing her Son

July 13 – Mary Patroness (Italy, 1837) Mary appears to a Huguenot In response to a letter by the Protestant pastor Michel Leplay published in the French newspaper La Croix of March 22, 2018, which contained [...] as I know, Mary has never appeared to a Protestant," a reader wrote back: Except in a small village called Notre Dame de l'Osier (Our Lady of the Reed), in France! In March 1657 the Virgin Mary appeared [...] to receive the sacraments of the Catholic Church on his deathbed. This is an approved apparition of Mary to a Protestant! Adapted from an article by René Fantin La Croix

July 15 - Maronites and Syriacs: Feast of Mary Mediatrix - Saint Bonaventure Never had she looked so beautiful! On July 16, 1858, Bernadette (the seer of Our Lady of Lourdes) felt mysteriously drawn to [...] closed off. So she stayed on the opposite side of the Gave River, and that is where she saw the Virgin Mary for the last time: “It felt like I was right in front of the cave, just like before. I only saw the [...] could go on and on. And each year on August 15th, the solemn consecration of France to the Virgin Mary, established by King Louis XIII in 1638, is renewed in Lourdes. Infocatho

July 1 – Armenian Church: Transfer of Mary’s veil For Paschner, the c in cancer stands for Christ... A woman hopped from one table to another to embrace friends and exchange pleasantries with guests. She