Which Mary Gazed Upon the Risen Lord First?

Our Lady of Sorrows

Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows

September 15

His Mother stood by the Cross

From a sermon by Saint Bernard, abbot

Prophesy of Simeon

The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual story of our Lord’s passion.  The holy old man said of the infant Jesus: He has been established as a sign which will be contradicted.   He went on to say: And your own heart will be pierced by a sword.

Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart.  For only by passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your Son.  Indeed, after your Jesus—who belongs to everyone, but is especially yours—gave up His life, the cruel spear, which was not withheld from His lifeless body, tore open His side.  Clearly it did not touch His soul and could not harm Him, but it did pierce your heart.  For surely His soul was no longer there, but yours could not be torn away.  Thus the violence of sorrow has cut through your heart, and we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering.

Christ gives His Mother to John

Or were those words: Woman, behold your Son, not more than a sword to you, truly piercing your heart, cutting through the division between soul and spirit?  What an exchange!  John is given to you in place of Jesus the servant in place of the Lord, the disciple in place of the Master; the son of Zebedee replaces the Son of God, a mere man replaces God Himself.  How could these words not pierce your most loving heart, when the mere remembrance of them breaks ours, hearts of stone and iron though they are!

Do not be surprised, brothers , that Mary is said to be martyr in spirit.  Let him be surprised who does not remember the words of Paul, that one of the greatest crimes of the Gentiles was that they were without love.  That was far from the heart of Mary; let it be far from her servants.

Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that He would not die?”  Undoubtedly.  “Did she not experience Him to rise again at once?”  Surely.  “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely.  Who are you and what source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than the passion of Mary’s Son?  For if He could die in body, could she not died with Him in spirit?  He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known.  She died in spirit through love unlike any other since His.

Father,

As your Son was raised on the cross,

His mother Mary stood by Him, sharing His sufferings.

May Your Church be united with Christ

In His suffering and death

And so come to share in his rising to new life,

Where He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

One God, for ever and ever.

Taken from Liturgy of the Hours,  Our Lady of Sorrows

Queenship of Mary

Queen of the World and of Peace

From a homily by Saint Amadeus of Lausanne, bishop

Observe how fitting it was that even before her assumption the name of Mary shone forth wondrously throughout the world. Her fame spread everywhere even before she was raised above the heavens in her magnificence. Because of the honor due her Son, it was indeed fitting for the Virgin Mother to have first ruled upon earth and then be raised up to heaven in glory. It was fitting that her fame be spread in this world below, so that she might enter the heights of heaven in overwhelming blessedness. Just as she was borne from virtue to virtue by the Spirit of the Lord, she was transported from earthly renown to heavenly brightness.

So it was that she began to taste the fruits of her future reign while still in the flesh. At one moment she withdrew to God in ecstasy; at the next she would bend down to her neighbors with indescribable love. In heaven angels served her, while here on earth she was venerated by the service of men. Gabriel and the angels waited upon her in heaven. The virgin John, rejoicing that the Virgin Mother was entrusted to him at the cross, cared for her with the other apostles here below. The angels rejoiced to see their queen; the apostles rejoiced to see their lady, and both obeyed her with loving devotion.

Dwelling in the loftiest citadel of virtue, like a sea of divine grace or an unfathomable source of love that has everywhere overflowed its banks, she poured forth her bountiful waters on trusting and thirsting souls. Able to preserve both flesh and spirit from death she bestowed health-giving salve on bodies and souls. Has anyone ever come away from her troubled or saddened or ignorant of the heavenly mysteries? Who has not returned to everyday life gladdened and joyful because his request had been granted by the Mother of God?

She is a bride, so gentle and affectionate, and the mother of the only true bridegroom. In her abundant goodness she has channeled the spring of reason’s garden, the well of living and life-giving waters that pour forth in a rushing stream from divine Lebanon and flow down from Mount Zion until they surround the shores of every far-flung nation. With divine assistance she has redirected these waters and made them into streams of peace and pools of grace. Therefore, when the Virgin of virgins was led forth by God and her Son, the King of kings, amid the company of exulting angels and rejoicing archangels, with the heavens ringing with praise, the prophecy of the psalmist was fulfilled, in which he said to the Lord: At your right hand stands the queen, clothed in gold of Ophir.

A great sign appeared 

in the heavens: 

a woman clothed 

with the sun, 

with the moon under her feet,

and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

From the Liturgy of the Hours, August 22^nd Memorial for the Queenship of Mary

I love you Holy Mother, pray for us.

Saint Amadeus (1110-1159) was born of the royal family of Franconia, in France in 1110. He was the son of Blessed Amadeus of Clermont, France and was educated at the monasteries at Bonnevaux and Cluny. Amadeus entered the monastery at Clairvaux in 1124, becoming a Cistercian under the spiritual direction of St. Bernard. Fifteen years later he was appointed abbot of Ilautecombe abbey in Savoy in 1139. Five years later he was made bishop of Lausanne in 1144. There he worked for renewal and reform in a troubled region racked with violence and disturbances. In one of his letters he tells how his vestments once ran red with the blood of a man murdered while the bishop tried unsuccessfully to protect him. Amid these difficulties and administrative duties, Amadeus wrote and preached eight homilies in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, reflecting the devotion learned in the Cistercian monastery under St. Bernard. These homilies evidence a distinctive piety expressed with all the eloquence of a trained orator. The above is one of those homilies.

Our Lady of Good Counsel April 26th

Our Lady of Good Counsel

Our Lady of Good Counsel: 

She inspired the Albanians 

to resist the Turks

January of 1467 saw the death of the last great Albanian leader, George Castriota, better known as Scanderbeg. Raised by an Albanian chief, he placed himself at the head of his own people.

Subsequently, Scanderbeg inflicted stunning defeats on the Turkish army and occupied fortresses all over Albania.

With Scanderbeg’s death, the Turkish army, finally free from the Fulminating Lion of War, poured into Albania, occupying all its fortresses, cities and provinces with the exception of Scutari, in the north of the country.

Apparition of Our Lady of Good Counsel

However, the city’s capacity to resist was limited, and its capture was expected at any moment. With its fall, Christian Albania would be defeated. Faced with this prospect, those who wished to practice their faith in Christian lands began a sad exodus. Giorgio and De Sclavis also studied the possibility of fleeing, but something kept them in Scutari, where there was a small church, considered the shrine of the whole Albanian kingdom. In this church the faithful venerated a picture of Our Lady which had mysteriously descended from the heavens two hundred years before.

According to tradition, it had come from the east. Having poured out innumerable graces over the whole population, its church became the principal center of pilgrimage in Albania. Scanderbeg himself had visited this shrine more than once to ardently ask for victory in battle. Now the shrine was threatened with imminent destruction and profanation.

The two Albanians were torn by the idea of leaving the great treasure of Albania in the hands of the enemy in order to flee the Turkish terror. In their perplexity, they went to the old church to ask their Blessed Mother for the good counsel they needed.

That night, the Counsoler of the Afflicted inspired both of them in their sleep. She commanded them to prepare to leave their country, which they would never see again. She added that the miraculous fresco was also going to leave Scutari for another country to escape profanation at the hands of the Turks. Finally, she ordered them to follow the painting wherever it went.

The next morning, the two friends went to the shrine. At a certain moment they saw the picture detach itself from the wall on which it had hung for two centuries. Leaving its niche, it hovered for a moment and was then suddenly wrapped in a white cloud through which the image continued to be visible.

The pilgrim painting left the church and the environs of Scutari. It traveled slowly through the air at a considerable altitude and advanced in the direction of the Adriatic Sea at a speed that allowed the two walkers to follow; after covering some twenty-four miles, they reached the coast.

With unbounded confidence, Giorgio and De Sclavis walk on the waves of the Adriatic Sea.

Giorgio & De Sclavis following Our Lady of Good Counsel

Without stopping, the picture left the land and advanced over the waters while the faithful Giorgio and De Sclavis continued to follow, walking on the waves much like their Divine Master had done on Lake Genesareth. 

When night would fall, the mysterious cloud, which had protected them with its shade from the heat of the sun during the day, guided them by night with light, like the column of fire in the desert that guided the Jews in their exodus from Egypt. They traveled day and night until they reached the Italian coast. There, they continued following the miraculous picture, climbing mountains, fording rivers and passing through valleys. Finally, they reached the vast plain of Lazio from where they could see the towers and domes of Rome. Upon reaching the gates of the city, the cloud suddenly disappeared before their disappointed eyes. Giorgio and De Sclavis began to search the city, going from church to church asking if the painting had descended there. All their attempts to find the painting failed, and the Romans incredulously regarded the two foreigners and their strange tale.Shortly thereafter, amazing news came to Rome: a picture of Our Lady had appeared in the skies of Genazzano to the sound of beautiful music and had come to rest over the wall of a church that was being rebuilt. The two Albanians rushed to find their country’s beloved treasure miraculously suspended in the air next to the wall of the chapel where it remains to this day.Although some inhabitants found the strangers’ story difficult to believe, careful investigation later proved that the two were telling the truth and that the image was indeed the same one that graced the shrine in Scutari.

***

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Genazzano

A few miles from the city of Rome lies Genazzano—a city rich in history and blessed with the presence of a miraculous painting of the Blessed Virgin that has an amazing story.  In 1356, about a century before the appearance of the miraculous painting that would introduce Genazzano into the annals of marvels in the Church, Prince Pietro Giordan Colonna, whose family had acquired lordship of the city, assigned the most ancient church of the city and its parish to the care of the Hermits of St. Augustine. The faithful would thereby have the necessary pastoral assistance, and repairs could be made on the old church.  Although the prayers of the faithful intensified, financial difficulties prevented the necessary and urgent restoration of the ancient temple. But the Mother who gives wise counsel in every circumstance and attentively provides for the necessities of men chose a Third Order Augustinian, Petruccia de Nocera, to carry out a supernatural prodigy that would bring about the much-desired restoration.

The city of Genazzano

Petruccia had been left a modest fortune following the death of her husband in 1436. Living alone, she dedicated most of her time to prayer and services in the church of the Mother of Good Counsel. It grieved her to see the deplorable state of the sacred premises, and she prayed fervently that they would be restored. Finally, she resolved to take the initiative. After obtaining permission from the friars, she donated her goods to initiate the restoration in the hope that others would help complete it once it was commenced. A plan was drawn up for the building of a magnificent church. However, once that arduous undertaking had begun, Petruccia, who was already eighty years old, found that her generous offering was scarcely enough to complete the first phase of the new construction. To make matters worse, no one came forth to help.To her dismay, the building had hardly risen three feet when construction came to a halt due to lack of resources. Her friends and neighbors began to ridicule her, and detractors accused her of imprudence. Others severely reprimanded her in public. To all of them she would say: “My dear children, do not put too much importance on this apparent misfortune. I assure you that before my death the Blessed Virgin and our holy father Augustine will finish the church begun by me.”

The miraculous image of 

Our Lady of Good Counsel of Genazzano

Our Lady of Good Counsel of Genazzano

On April 25, 1467, the feast day of the city’s patron, Saint Mark, a solemn celebration began with Mass. It was Saturday, and the crowd began to gather in front of the church of the Mother of Good Counsel. The only discrepant note in the celebration was the unfinished work of Petruccia. At about four in the afternoon, everyone heard the chords of a beautiful melody that seemed to come from heaven. The people looked up toward the towers of the churches and saw a white cloud that shone with a thousand luminous rays; it gradually neared the stupefied crowd to the sound of an exceptionally beautiful melody. The cloud descended on the church of the Mother of Good Counsel and poised over the wall of the unfinished chapel of Saint Biagio, which Petruccia had started. Suddenly, the bells of the old tower began to ring by themselves, and the other bells of the town rang miraculously in unison. The rays that emanated from the little cloud faded away, and the cloud itself gradually vanished, revealing a beautiful object to the enchanted gaze of the spectators. It was a painting that represented Our Lady tenderly holding her Divine Son in her arms. Almost immediately, the Virgin Mary began to cure the sick and grant countless consolations, the memory of which was recorded for posterity by the local ecclesiastical authority. The news of the painting and its miracles spread throughout the province and beyond, attracting multitudes. Some cities formed enthusiastic processions to see the picture that the people called the Madonna of Paradise because of its celestial entrance into the city. Numerous alms were donated as an answer to the unwavering confidence that Our Lady had inspired in Petruccia. Amidst the general enthusiasm caused by the painting, Our Lady wished to divulge the true origin of the marvelous fresco to her devotees. Two foreigners named Giorgio and De Sclavis entered the city among a group of pilgrims that had come from Rome. They wore strange clothes and spoke a foreign tongue, saying they had arrived in Rome earlier that year from Albania. While most people had refused to believe their story, it had a special significance for the inhabitants of Genazzano.

Article from TradCatKnight website 

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.ca/2017/04/our-lady-of-good-counsel-she-inspired.html#more

Prayer to the Virgin Most Powerful

Virgin Most Powerful

Virgin most powerful, loving helper of the Christian people, how great is the thanks we owe thee for the assistance thou hast given our fathers who invoked thy maternal help by the devout recitation of thy Rosary when they were threatened by the Turkish infidels. From Heaven thou didst see their deadly peril. Thou didst hear their voices imploring thy compassion. Their humble prayers, enjoined by the great Pope, Saint Pius V, were acceptable to thee, and thou camest quickly to deliver them.

Grant, Dear Mother, that in like manner the prolonged sighs of the Holy Bride of Christ in these our days may reach thy throne and win thy pity. Be moved to compassion and rise once again to deliver her from the many foes who surround her on every side.

Even now from the four quarters of the earth there arises to thy throne the prayer of the Rosary, to beg thy mercy in these troubled times. Unfortunately our sins hinder, or at least retard their effect. Wherefore, Dear Mother, obtain for us true sorrow for our sins and a firm resolution to face death itself rather than return to our former sins. It grieves us that through our own fault, thy help which we need so desperately, should be denied or come too late.

Turn to us, O Mary, and graciously listen to the prayers of the whole Catholic World: conquer the pride of those wicked men, who in their insolence blaspheme Almighty God and would destroy His Church, against which, according to the infallible words of Christ, the gates of Hell shall never prevail. Let it be seen once more that when thou doth arise to protect the Church, her victory is sure. 

Amen.

Glories of the Virgin Mother, Mary Mother of God

Virgin Mary, Mother of God St. Bernard of Clairvaux The Glories of the Virgin Mother From the homilies of St Bernard   She was prepared by the Most High and prefigured by the patriarchs There was only one mode of birth that was worthy of God, and that was to be born of a Virgin. Equally, who could come from a Virgin birth except God himself? The maker of mankind, if he was to be made man and destined to be born of man, would have to choose, to create a mother whom he knew to be worthy of him, who he knew would be pleasing to him.   It was his will that she should be a virgin, so that he could proceed from an unstained body, stainless, to purify mankind of its stains.   It was his will that she should be meek and humble of heart, since he was to become the outstanding example of these virtues, so necessary for the health of humanity. He granted childbirth to her, having first inspired her vow of virginity and filled her with the virtue of humility.   To put it another way, how could the Angel have addressed her as full of grace if any, even a little, of these virtues had been present in her already and not given to her by grace? It was given to her to be made holy. She, who was to conceive and give birth to the Holy of holies, was made holy in body by the gift of virginity and holy in mind by the gift of humility.   Adorned with the jewels of such virtues and radiant in both mind and body, the royal Virgin’s beauty draws the attention of the citizens of heaven itself, and its King is filled with desire for her and sends his messenger to her from on high.   The Angel was sent to the Virgin, it says. A virgin in body and a virgin in mind, a virgin by her own choice, a virgin, as the Apostle describes her, holy in mind and body. Not someone just now found by chance, but chosen from the beginning of time, foreseen and prepared by the Most High, waited upon by the angels, prefigured by the patriarchs, preached by the prophets.

Perfect Love (Mary's Song) with lyrics

Queen of Heaven, Mother of God St. Bridgett Revelations & Prophesies

The Queen Of Heaven,

Mother Of God

Pure

And

Unstained From Sin

 

 

St. Bridgett’s Revelations

And Prophecies

 

CHAPTER 31

 

The bride of God saw

the Queen of Heaven,

the Mother of God,

wearing a priceless

and beautiful crown

on her head

and her wonderfully

shining and indescribably

beautiful hair hanging

down over her shoulders,

with a golden tunic shining with

an indescribable light,

and a blue mantle of the

color azure or a clear sky.

 

When the bride of God, Saint Bridget,

was full of wonder at such a lovely sight, and in her wonderment was standing there totally enraptured and amazed, then blessed John the Baptist appeared to her and said:

 

“Listen closely to what all this signifies.

 

The crown signifies that she is the Queen and Lady and Mother of the King of angels;

 

the hair hanging down signifies that she is an unstained and pure virgin;

the sky colored mantle signifies that all worldly things were as dead in her heart and will;

the golden tunic signifies that she was fervent and burning in the love of God, both inwardly and outwardly.

 

Her Son, Jesus Christ,

placed seven lilies in her crown,

and between the lilies he placed seven gems.

The first lily

is her humility;

 

the second lily

is her fear;

 

the third,

her obedience;

 

 

 

the fourth,

her patience;

 

the fifth,

her steadfastness;

 

 

 

the sixth,

her kindness,

for she is kind and gives to all who beg of her with love and a will to amend;

the seventh,

her mercy in difficulties,

for in whatever difficulty a man may be in, if he calls on her with all his heart, he will receive mercy and help from her because she is full of compassion and mercy.

Between these shining lilies

her Son placed

seven precious gem stones.

 

 

The first gem is her incomparable virtue,

for there is no virtue in any other spirit or in any other body, which she does not have in a higher fashion.

 

The second gem is her perfect purity, for the Queen of the kingdom of Heaven was so pure that from her first entrance into the world up to the final day of her death, not a single stain of sin was ever to be found in her; and none of all the devils could ever find enough impurity in her to fit on the head of a needle-point. She was truly the most pure, for it was not fitting for the King of glory to lie in any vessel but the purest, chosen before all angels and men and more pure than they.

 

The third gem was her beauty, for God is praised constantly by his saints for his Mother’s beauty, and all the holy angels and holy souls are filled with joy over her beauty.

 

The fourth precious gem in the crown is the Virgin Mother’s wisdom, for she is filled with all divine wisdom in God and all wisdom is fulfilled and perfected through her.

 

The fifth gem is her power and might, for she is so powerful and strong with God in her that she can subdue anything that has been created.

 

The sixth gem is her clarity, for she shines so clear that she even illuminates the angels, whose eyes are clearer than light, and the devils do not dare to look upon her clarity.

 

The seventh gem is the fullness of every delight and joy and all spiritual sweetness, for her fullness is such that there is no joy that she does not increase, no delight that is not made fuller and more perfect by her and through the blessed vision of her, for she is filled with grace and mercy above all the holy saints.

 

 

… She is the most pure vessel

in which the Bread of angels laid

and in which all sweetness

and all beauty is found….

Therefore may you,

her Son’s bride,

honor and praise her

with all your heart,

for she is in truth worthy

of all praise

and all honor with her Son!”

 

May it also be said of us

let us honor & praise her forever!!!

Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death!

FREE TEXT

Read St. Bridgett's Revelations & Prophesies @

https://archive.org/details/RevelationsOfSaintBridget

 

 

 

The Hail Mary and St. Louis de Monfort

Brief Explanation of the Hail Mary

by St. Louis de Montofort

Hail Mary, full of grace

The Lord is with thee!

Blessed art thou among women

And Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Pray for us sinners now

And at the hour of our death.

Amen

Are you in the miserable state of sin?  Then call on Mary and say to her, “Ave,” which means “I greet thee with the most profound respect, thou who art without sin,” and she will deliver you from the evil of your sins.  

Are you groping in the darkness of ignorance and error?  Go to Mary and say to her, “Hail Mary,” which means “Hail, thou who art bathed in the light of the Sun of Justice,”  and she will give you a share in her light.  

Star of the Sea - Ave Stella Maris

Have you strayed from the path leading to heaven? Then call on Mary, for her name means “Star of the Sea, the Polar Star which guides the ships of our souls during the voyage of this life,”  and she will guide you to the harbour of eternal salvation.  

Are you in sorrow?  Turn to Mary, for her name means also “Sea of Bitterness which has been filled with bitterness in this world but which is now turned into a sea of purest joy in heaven,” and she will turn your sorrow into joy and your affliction into consolation.  

Have you lost the state of grace?  Praise and honour the numberless graces with which God has filled the Blessed Virgin and say to her, Thou art full of grace and filled with all the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and she will give you some of these graces.  

Are you alone, having lost God’s protection?  Pray to Mary and say, The Lord is with thee, in a nobler and more intimate way then he is with the saints and the just, because thou art one with him.  He is thy Son and his flesh is thy flesh; thou art united to the Lord because of thy perfect likeness to him and by your mutual love, for thou art his Mother.  And then say to her, “The three persons of the Godhead are with thee because thou art the Temple of the Blessed Trinity,” and she will place you once more under the protection and care of God. 

Have you become an outcast and been accursed by God?  Then say to our Lady, “Blessed art thou above all women and above all nations by thy purity and fertility; thou hast turned God’s maledictions into blessings for us.”  She will bless you.  

Jesus and His Mother, Blessed by the fruit of Thy womb

Do you hunger for the bread of grace and the bread of life?  Draw near to her who bore the living Bread which came down from heaven, and say to her, "Blessed be the fruit of thy womb, whom thou hast conceived without the slightest loss to thy virginity, whom thou didst carry without discomfort and brought forth without pain.  Blessed be Jesus who redeemed our suffering world when we were in the bondage of sin, who has healed the world of its sickness, who has raised the dead to life, brought home the banished, restored sinners to grace, and saved men from damnation.  Without doubt, your soul will be filled with the bread of grace in this life and of eternal glory in the next. Amen.”

Conclude your prayer with the Church and say, “Holy Mary,” holy because of thy incomparable and eternal devotion to the service of God, holy in thy great rank as Mother of God, who has endowed thee with eminent holiness, in keeping with this great dignity.  “Mother of God, and our Mother, our Advocate and Mediatrix, Treasurer and dispenser of God’s graces, obtain for us the prompt forgiveness of our sins and grant that we may be reconciled with the divine majesty.  

Holy Mary, Mother of God

“Pray for us sinners, thou who art always filled with compassion for those in need, who never despise sinners or turn them away, for without them you would never have been Mother of the Redeemer.  

“Pray for us now, during this short life, so fraught with sorrow and uncertainty; now, because we can be sure of nothing except the present moment; now that we are surrounded and attacked night and day by powerful and ruthless enemies.  

“And at the hour of our death, so terrible and full of danger, when our strength is waning and our spirits are sinking, and our souls and bodies are worn out with fear and pain; at the hour of our death when the devil is working with might and main to ensnare us and cast us into perdition; at that hour when our lot will be decided forever and ever, heaven or hell.  

Refuge of Sinners

“Come to the help of your poor children, gentle Mother of pity, Advocate and Refuge of sinners, at the hour of our death drive far from us our bitter enemies, the devils, our accusers, whose frightful presence fills us with dread.  

Light our path through the valley of the shadow of death.  Lead us to thy Son’s judgment-seat and remain at our side.  Intercede for us and ask thy Son to pardon us and receive us into the ranks of thy elect in the realms of everlasting glory.  Amen.” 

Read more in St. Louis de Montfort's book, The Secret of the Rosary
http://catholicfaithwarriors.blogspot.ca/2014/09/the-importance-of-hail-mary.html