May 26 - Saint Philip Neri, priest, founder of the Oratory (d. 1595 in Rome) Mary, Mother of the Unexpected Mary, when my father was killed by terrorists, your trust lifted me up. I said "YES" to life [...] Virgin of the Annunciation, you announced our Salvation. In my work, I hear a thousand other "annunciations" from women who are filled with anguish. I deposit all of them at your feet, Mother Mary, and entrust [...] the trust in the promise of life that springs up in an unexpected way. Trust transforms our outlook and the disposition of our heart, and helps us to let go of planned and arranged choices, especially those
25 – Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ The Virgin Mary tells the story of the Nativity (II) In The Gospel as Revealed to Me , by Maria Valtorta, the Virgin Mary returned to the grotto of Bethlehem many [...] sleeping, Mary? But it was so distant ... An echo, a memory of the earth, so weak that it didn’t reach the soul. I do not know what answer I made while I kept rising in this abyss of fire, of infinite beatitude [...] love can lead, and to shed the kind of tears that Heaven certainly pours from the inexhaustible joy of seeing God." From The 20 mysteries of the Rosary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta - Centro Editoriale
Christmas Eve The Virgin Mary tells the story of the Nativity (I) In The Gospel as Revealed to Me by Maria Valtorta, the Virgin Mary returned many years later to the grotto of Bethlehem with Jesus and [...] before the glory of God who was coming down from heaven, you, my Jesus ... and I stayed on the hay, in the warmth of the two animals, wrapped in my coat and in the woolen blanket. In this hour of anxiety when [...] the mystery of my first maternity, always filled with the unknown for a woman and, for me, in my only motherhood, also filled with the mystery that was going to be the vision of the Son of God—God emerging
December 9 – Second Sunday of Advent – First apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico, 1531) – Saint Juan Diego So that the Virgin Mary might help the Church in these times of crisis Famille Missionnaire [...] everyone to pray the Rosary during the month of October for the protection of the Church, in this time of upheaval, so that she may be defended from the attacks of demons. According to Vatican News, Pope Francis [...] Virgin Mary might help the Church in these times of crisis, and also to pray to Saint Michael the Archangel that he too might defend her from the attacks of the devil... Have we reached the climax of the
December 12 – Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas (1531) The Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is with child! December 12th marks the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to Saint Juan Diego in [...] number of pilgrims flocking to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe each year, from all over the world, is tremendous—over 14 million! What is the story of Guadalupe? On December 9, 1531, on the hill of Tepeyac [...] l could see the miraculous imprint on the tilma of an image representing "the ever Virgin Mary of Guadalupe," as she called herself. During this time of Advent, let us not forget this important detail—the
- Consecration of Haiti to Our Lady of Perpetual Help (1942) When Satan was forced to confess the Immaculate Conception of Mary December 8, 1854: Pope Pius IX promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate [...] Conception of Mary. March 25, 1858: On the Feast of the Incarnation of the Word, the Blessed Virgin appeared in Lourdes to St Bernadette and confirmed the dogma, saying, “I am the Immaculate Conception [...] Conception of the Virgin Mother of God. And the one who declared it was someone we never would have expected to do so. The event is related by Father Gabriele Amorth, a late exorcist of the Diocese of Rome.
December 7 – Vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mary and Joseph’s first great trial was during the time of Advent During the period before the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had to undergo [...] the first of the great trials that the newlyweds would experience together. Between the moment of the Annunciation and the Incarnation of the Word of God in Mary’s womb, by the operation of the Holy Spirit [...] moment of Christ’s birth, Mary, engaged to Joseph, was given to him as a wife. When she came to live in his home, at the end of the engagement period, she was already pregnant. Joseph noticed Mary’s condition
remains a child of Calvary and of the Redeeming Blood, but in such an exceptional and sublime order of redemption that her immaculate soul remains the masterpiece of God, the edifice of grace, the great [...] shadows of sin have not approached you, O pure and unblemished virgin, lily bursting with light and beauty. Certainly, Mary belongs to the race of the redeemed and everything in her is the fruit of the Redemption [...] December 6 – Our Lady of the Vow (Siena, Italy) Mary belongs to the race of the redeemed As Ahasuerus said to Esther, "this law made for all was not made for you," so the Holy Spirit reveals to us that
November 23 – Our Lady of the Assumption (Italy, 1624) Mary and the intellectualization of faith On September 14, 2017, Pope Francis received 114 bishops who were appointed during the past year. We spoke [...] Malle, the new bishop of the diocese of Gap and Embrun, France, on April 8th, who attended that special gathering. He remembers a particular thing that the pope said on the subject of "culture and religious [...] too much, and treated gestures such as touching the wall of the grotto in Lourdes, or making the sign of the cross with holy oil from the Shrine of Le Laus with a little contempt. Being close to the people
Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Bologna, Italy) Mary, Mother of the Church, dominates the eternal city The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, located on the top of the Esquiline Hill, is one of the four [...] be covered with snow in the middle of summer. And indeed, on the morning of August 5, 356, the Esquiline Hill was covered with snow! The Pope traced the perimeter of the new church and the nobleman John [...] partially visible Roman walls. The bell tower of today's Santa Maria Maggiore is the highest in Rome. May Mary, the all-humble and all-faithful Mother of the Church, guard the eternal city and watch over
