July 22 – Our Lady of Kaloja (Russia) – Birth of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque Without a doctor or medicine, death seemed inevitable In 1944, Solzhenitsyn's fellow prisoner in an archipelago camp, called

July 26 – Saints Joachim and Anne, Mary’s parents Grandparents are under the protection of Jesus’ grandparents Today is the liturgical commemoration of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of Our Lady, and [...] St Joachim all the grandparents of the world and bestow on them a special blessing. May the Virgin Mary who according to a beautiful iconography—learned to read the Sacred Scriptures at her mother Anne's

Maronites and Syriacs: Feast of Mary Mediatrix - Saint Bonaventure Unique occurrences in the history of the Church Mother Yvonne-Aimée's(1) great friendship with the Virgin Mary was founded on the Bible, the [...] the Vow of King Louis XIII to entrust his kingdom to the Virgin Mary, Mother Yvonne-Aimée received a secret visit and apparition of Mary during the night, which had to do with the situation of France and

July 5 – Feast of the Seven Joys of Mary (Annunciation / Visitation / Christmas / Adoration of the Magi / Finding of Jesus in the Temple / Resurrection / Ascension) "Keep these beads carefully" At the [...] student who managed to pick it up discretely. He broke its string and gave a bead to each Legionary of Mary in his group, saying: "Keep these grains very carefully, for if we pray faithfully, the Blessed Virgin [...] for that intention. Then one day the young apostate appeared before all the members of the Legion of Mary, asking for their forgiveness. Then everyone brought back the beads that they had kept ... The profaned

July 17 – Feast of Mary’s humility God looked at the humility of his maidservant I dare say that without her humility, Mary’s virginity alone would not have been sufficient to please God. This is the one [...] virgin: if Mary had not been humble, the Holy Spirit would not have rested on her. And if the Holy Spirit had not rested upon her, he would not have made her fruitful. How, indeed, would Mary have conceived

December 31 – Holy Mary Odigitria – Saint Catherine Labouré (d. 1876) Mary visits the Americas In Betania, Venezuela, from 1976 to 1988, Mary, the Mother of God appeared to Maria Esperanza Medano, under [...] visionary, now officially recognized as Servant of God Maria Esperanza. In the United States, the Virgin Mary appeared to a young immigrant woman named Adele Brise, in Champion, Wisconsin in 1859. Our Lady called

December 27 – Mary Mother of Saint John – First apparition at Paray-le-Monial (France) So did he kick you out? In 1951, a missionary from South America told this story: "During a visit to our convent located [...] our efforts we could not do anything!" - "You must have forgotten that the way to Jesus is through Mary. You have, so to speak, worked alone. As for myself, I let the Mother of all grace do her work." Adapted

December 26 – Mary mourns the death of St Stephen (Jerusalem) – Synaxis of the Mother of God (Byzantine Church) Labor pains start during papal Mass Beata was nine months pregnant, but she still had some

December 30 – Virgin Mary of San Celso (Milan, Italy,1485) A family without problems? The Holy Family was not a family without problems. Mary and Joseph shared the condition of that disconcerting son, [...] leading an ordinary life with no exceptional events up to his 30th birthday. In Nazareth, Joseph, Mary and Jesus lived day to day in a heroic way, so that the heroic becomes day to day and we too might [...] daily lives. Joseph participated with his whole person in the work of the Redemption of the Son of Mary: he has given to God the substance of his tenderness and his heart, sacrificing his love. If we are

December 17 – The first church dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Rome, Italy) - Saint John of Matha (d. 1213) Only seen once every 794 years Some Babylonian astrologers had calculated with astonishing precision [...] They were awaiting the birth of the "ruler of the world" from the year 7 BC, which is when the Virgin Mary was living in Nazareth! In December 1603, Kepler, one of the fathers of modern astronomy, observed