Growing closer to Mother Mary

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Hello all,

I know that I (and probably other people here) want to grow closer to Mary.

But how?

I know we can say the Rosary and pray the Magnificat and Hail Mary, etc.

But what other ways can we grow closer to the Blessed Mother?

Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance,
coolduude
 
Meditate on her life.

Her selfless “yes” to God, her holding the newborn baby Jesus in her arms, the perfect beauty of her motherhood, her being the first disciple and the fact that she is the only one who was there at his birth, during his entire life, and his Crucifixion and Resurrection.

That should get you started.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

Mark
 
🙂 Hey, here is a similar thread. 😃 👍

I don’t love our Blessed Mother enough
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=293705

In addition to the advice and links on that thread, one might try learning about the Marian apparitions, particularly Fatima, Portugal, Kibeho, Rwanda and Kyoto, Japan.

Here are a few Fatima links. 🙂
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html
ewtn.com/fatima/apparitions/theology.htm

A few other Marian prayers that I like to say that have been in wide use in the Church are:
*Ave Maria Stella preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/BVM/AveMarisStella.html
Angelus ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/Angelus.htm
Memorae ourcatholicprayers.blogspot.com/2008/09/memorae.html *

*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. *

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world! For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world! For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

*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. *
 
coolduude said:
Hello all,

I know that I (and probably other people here) want to grow closer to Mary.

But how?

I know we can say the Rosary and pray the Magnificat and Hail Mary, etc.

But what other ways can we grow closer to the Blessed Mother?

Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance,
coolduude
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I would recommend reading True Devotion To Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort and also The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Bishop Fulton Sheen.
 
I too am growing closer to Mary and I went to see my priest to ask him about her. He lent me a book called What are They Saying About Mary?. It was a great book. It was written by an ecumenical council and published by the Paulist Brothers.

The overall theme in this book was that Mary is the role model for all Christians. She said “yes” to God and never doubted God’s will for her.

Could you imagine an angel appearing to you telling you that God would like you to be the Mother of God??? Would you say “yes”?Can you imagine the responsibility??? She was responsible for caring for Jesus - bathing him, feeding him, protecting him…that’s HUGE!!! Mary also follows her son while he preaches the word of GOD and THEN she has to witness his horrible death. She accepted all of this because it was God’s will. What an incredible woman!

How many women do you know, would accept this fate? How many women do you know would be able to watch her son die a horrible death and accept it as God’s will…no anger, no bitterness…complete submission to the will of God.

That is why I love Mary. She is my role model. I aspire to be like her. She is beautiful in every way. As much as I try, I lack Mary’s complete submission to God. I still question God’s will for me…“handmaid to the Lord” is a lot easier said than done. I have a hard time saying, “God, what can I do for you today.” We always find ourselves praying for our own intentions and forget the intentions of others. Mary never did this. She was completely selfless.

If you meditate on her life in its entirety, you cannot help, but love Mary, Mother of God. She’s beautiful.
 
When receiving communion, I will sometimes ask Our Blessed Mother to pray with me. More frequently I will ask her to give me her Immaculate Heart that I might truly recognize Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament and receive him in true faith. Other times, after receiving communion, I will just thank her for saying “Let it be done unto me.”

I think once you come to realize how intimately related Christ’s life is to his mother, a natural appreciation for her just springs up out of the recesses of the soul.
 
I asked my priest this exact question.

He told me to read ‘The Reed of God’ by Caryll Houselander. It was an amazing book - a beautiful meditation on the life of Mary and how we can model her in our own lives. I highly recommend it.

He also recommended starting slow. Reciting one or two decades of the rosary each day (doing more if I wished) and as I prayed, to just simply picture myself in the arms of Mary - holding me - allowing her to comfort and console me.

I am truly feel my devotion and my love for her growing.

I will say a prayer for you
 
Oh yea - also - pray about it! I find myself asking Our Mother almost everyday to help me to love her more!
 
Meditate on Her life, in Scripture (my favorite is the Gospel of Luke)… and become “initiated” in the Brown Scapular devotion.

You can get a brown scapular through any Catholic gifts supplier and have your parish priest “initiate” you.

God bless.
 
All the previous posts have great ideas and I would add to pray asking her to help you become closer to her and to help you understand her thoughts/feelings.
 
Hello all, I just recently bought my very first holy rosary and I ask you all to pray for me as I just started yesterday praying the rosary. I was looking for ways to grow closer to Mary by just praying the Rosary. I am very excited for this rosary and I hope you can give me some guidance on how to better pray the rosary. I am constantly having to look at the Apostle’s Creed and the fatima prayer to recite. Is there a way to better memorize these prayers? Does anyone know of a good rosary book to hold and carry with them when they are praying the rosary? Thank you! Bless you all!
~Stephen
 
cameraguy55 said:
Hello all, I just recently bought my very first holy rosary and I ask you all to pray for me as I just started yesterday praying the rosary. I was looking for ways to grow closer to Mary by just praying the Rosary. I am very excited for this rosary and I hope you can give me some guidance on how to better pray the rosary. I am constantly having to look at the Apostle’s Creed and the fatima prayer to recite. Is there a way to better memorize these prayers? Does anyone know of a good rosary book to hold and carry with them when they are praying the rosary? Thank you! Bless you all!
Code: 
                         ~Stephen
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:crossrc: Wonderful!!
Looking for a while is fine - you’ll memorize it soon. Just keep on doing it.
There are so many Rosary books out there and so many of them are really good. I’ve found that with me I needed to get a new booklet every so often (esp. at first) in order to keep from distractions (I read about St. Therese’s problems with falling asleep during her Rosary, so didn’t worry about it too much and thought of myself as the toddler who falls asleep in his mother’s arms:) ). Probably you’ll want to make sure one of your booklets is a Scriptural Rosary booklet. Another is one (at least) with beautiful paintings with each mystery - that really seems to help me, at least.🤷
Also, praying to your guardian angel before each Rosary helped me - that your GA help you pray it sincerely and finish any you’re not able to finish.
 
Thank you very much Brigid for your post! I just got my holy rosary blessed today after mass 🙂 I will be on the lookout for a rosary book and I try to say the rosary when I wake up and before I go to bed. Since I bought them Saturday night, I’ve been saying it like 3 times a day LOL! Thank you for your advice and (name removed by moderator)ut! God bless!
~Stephen
 
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