What wisdom Holy Mother Church has in dedicating the first day of the year to Mary, Mother of God!

 Mary is the Mother of God and she is our mother, too. Her fiat is the genesis of every fiat given to God. And every fiat given to God is enriched by hers. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council state it simply, succinctly, and profoundly: she is our Mother in the order of grace.

This poem, written by Giovanni Domini (1356-142), expresses the maternal beatitude we find so dear. May it elevate our hearts in gratitude to God for the gift of the Blessed Virgin. And may it elevate our hearts to the reality of our salvation which comes through the gift of her Son, Jesus Christ Savior of the World. Read the rest…

Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This prayer, though simple in form, is really a way to take us to the depths of union with God.     The following is from The Women of Grace Foundational Study Guide.

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The Rosary is an ancient prayer form that incorporates all three categories of prayer — vocal, meditative, and contemplative. Its name is derived from the word rosarius,  meaning a garland or bouquet of roses. This popular devotion has been practiced in teh Chruch for more than a thousand years.

Read the rest…

Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows has its roots back to apostolic times. St. John the Evangelist stood with Mary at the foot of the cross. He witnessed first hand her holy grief and affliction, but witnessed as well her steadfast devotion to her Son and her maternal entrance into his sufferings.

So profound was Mary’s witness that St. John records the event in his Gospel account. It was the fulfillment of Simeon’s prophesy of the Infant Jesus in the temple: “And a sword will pierce you own heart so that the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed.” You can read about that moment in the second chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel.

Theologians tell us that Mary’s fiat to God, her yes, at the moment of her annunciation was also her yes to the all of the contradictions and sorrows that would accompany her motherhood. And it was the grace-filled strength of that yes that held her under that tree for three long hours as she watched her Son’s agonizing death.

Read the rest…

Yesterday the Church celebrated the Feast of the Birth of Mary and encouraged us to turn our hearts and our minds to her in a special way. She is, after all, the woman whose “yes” birthed Salvation to the world.

Sadly, however, far too many Catholics are leary of Mary. Some fear that a relationship with her will potentially diminish their relationship with Jesus Christ. They fear that to embrace Mary means to let go of Jesus.

Still other Catholics have fallen sway to the Marian misconceptions propagated by Protestantism and proclaimed by its members. They see devotion to her as unbiblical and in some way a sin against the First Commandment. 

And finally, some Catholics believe Mary’s intercession isn’t important– why bother if they can go straight to Jesus. After all, wasn’t devotion to her simply the invention of misguided (or worse yet, corrupt) clerics from the Middle Ages?  Who needs her anyway?

The plain fact is — we all need Mary!  Devotion to Mary is not capricious, it is abundantly beneficial. Devotion to her wasn’t started by clerics in the Middle Ages, but by her Son, Jesus Christ.  The Bible does not prove Marian devotion is non-essential but actually proves just the opposite . Read the rest…

On May 13, 1917 ”a Lady all white, more brilliant than the sun” appeared to three young children tending sheep in the Cova da lria in Portugal. It was just eighteen months before the end of World War I which had been the bloodiest and most violent war to date.

This was not the first time a supernatural visitor had appeared to the children. Some time earlier an angel called the “Angel of Peace” had come three times. He had given them Holy Communion and had exhorted them to pray and make sacrifices.

Tenderly, the beautiful woman told the children not to be afraid; she would not hurt them. Lucia, the oldest of the three children, asked the woman where she had come from and what was it she wanted. The lovely Lady told her that she had come from Heaven and that she wanted the children to return to this same spot on the 13th of the month for the next six months. At the last visit, she would tell them what she wanted.

And so began the famous and incredible apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Read the rest…