the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Monterrey, confirmed at Our Lady del Roble (“of the oak"), made my First Holy Communion at Our Lady of Consolation, and later was ordained a deacon and a priest in [...] the parish (today basilica) of the Puríssima (Mary Most Pure). The priest for whom I used to serve Mass belonged to the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary, but I attended a Marist [...] Marist primary and secondary school. When our priestly ordination approached, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe was still under construction. I wish we had been ordained there, but it wasn’t finished yet
January 17 – Our Lady of Holy Hope (Pontmain, France, 1871) "Therefore you will be next to my Mother" A poor man was praying, conscious of his poverty. He said to God: "I am not worthy to enter your Kingdom [...] because of your Mercy, I know that you cannot close your door. I only ask you to give me the last place." And Jesus answered him: "I will give you the last place. Therefore you will be next to my Mother
January 14 – Our Lady of the Lamp (Rome, Italy) This simple prayer is very dear to the Dominicans It may seem odd that a prayer as simple as the Rosary is particularly linked to the Dominican Order. Dominicans [...] thought to be simple people. We have the reputation of writing long and complex theological works. Yet, we fought to keep the Rosary. It is our holy inheritance… But why is this simple prayer so dear to the [...] which we must get rid of. It is the simplification of those who always have an easy answer to everything, who know everything in advance. Those who are either too lazy or unable to think. And there is a
December 16 – Our Lady of Good Deliverance (France) Is it hard to pray the Rosary? Before being able to pray the Rosary every day, I went through several different phases. First, l was moved by Saint John [...] and a bishop. It took me a long time to say the Rosary every day. Today, I am happy to say that I pray it every night before going to sleep, walking around the house of the bishopric. It might become quite [...] letter, "The Rosary of the Virgin Mary," written in 2002, in which he explains that the Rosary is about contemplating the face of the Son in his various mysteries, through the eyes of Mary. Then I discovered
December 29 – Our Lady of Flowers (1336) Let us never forget to go through Mary! My brothers, the Church reminds us of our duty to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ without which no one can be saved. "For [...] under heaven given to men, whereby we might be saved," as the Holy Spirit affirmed through the mouth of Saint Peter (Acts 4:12). But to do this, let us never forget to go through Mary! "To preach Jesus alone [...] patron of missionaries, "but to preach Jesus with and through Mary," he continues, "is an occupation as fruitful as it is delicious." Thus "our apostolate will have value only to the extent that our will
July 16 – Our Lady of Mount Carmel From Mount Carmel to Lourdes and Fatima The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was established by the Carmelites around 1380, to commemorate both the end of the opposition [...] Carmelites. In 1726, Benedict XIII added it to the Roman calendar. As for the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes, they ended on July 16, 1858, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On that day, Bernadette [...] Beauty of Carmel, the Virgin of silence and contemplation, crowned her series of 18 apparitions with the reminder of her presence with the Order of Carmelites. Likewise, at her last apparition to the shepherds
say ‘no’ to him, and shut the door of our heart. Mary could have freely said ‘no’ to the Word of God. And yet she answered, "Behold the servant of the Lord; let everything happen to me according to your word [...] December 11 – Our Lady of Consolation (Italy) This Advent season we are invited to contemplate Mary During Advent we are invited to contemplate Mary, a young girl from Nazareth among many others... Mary [...] word "(Lk 1:38). Mary’s answer was a free adhesion to the will of God, to his loving plan. It was not a ‘yes’ of convenience... Mary was aware that with her ‘yes,’ she would take part in the loving plan
13 – Our Lady of the Sainte Chapelle (France) When the Virgin Mary returned to her cathedral On September 29, 1238, after 18 months of siege, the Muslims who occupied Valencia, Spain, capitulated to King [...] (“Glory to God”) in the cathedral. However, for the past three years, city officials haven’t attended or entered the cathedral during the festival, not wanting to offend Muslims or to be seen to endorse [...] James I of Aragon, called the Conqueror. On October 9th, the king ordered the re-dedication of the ancient Visigothic cathedral that had been turned into a mosque. Thus the cathedral was returned to Catholic
27 – Our Lady of Alcazar (Toledo, Spain) - Luxembourg takes Mary as patroness (1666) Two Muslims drove the truck from Lourdes to Irak The group Œuvre d’Orient , a French association dedicated to helping [...] helping persecuted Christians, has sent 15 statues of the Virgin Mary from Lourdes to Ankawa, a suburb of the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, which has a majority Catholic population. Once they arrive, they [...] blessed and sent to their parishes. Œuvre d’Orient say the processions will be a testament to Jeremiah 31:17: "And here is hope for thy last end, saith the Lord: and the children shall return to their own border…"
in the 16th century. The main churches dedicated to Mary are: Our Lady of Lujan in the East, Our Lady of the Valley in the North, and the Virgin of Itati on the coast. But there are many others because [...] September 20 – Our Lady of Itati (Argentina) Argentina, a country devoted to Mary Argentina, like the rest of Latin America, became Marian at the same time that it was converted to the Catholic faith, [...] because Catholic Argentines are particularly devoted to the Virgin, to whom they pray as a Mother. A large number of Argentine cities bear the name of Mary. Among the most famous are Buenos Aires (the largest)
