JAN 1 - Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

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Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord - continued:

And the Virgin Mary responds with her ‘fiat’. “She offers herself - this is the movement of her grace, the movement inspired by the Holy Spirit already dwelling in her …” (MMTQ, p. 35) And, as she has faithfully done during her whole life, she trustingly cooperates with the grace being offered by God!

“And **the Holy Spirit descends upon the Virgin Mary **in order to prepare her soul for the work that He is about to accomplish, a work in which the Virgin is called to cooperate.” (MMTQ, p. 35.)

“…**the power of God … with the Virgin Mary’s collaboration, her Fiat, brings abut the **incarnation of the Word of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity … **At this moment, the work of building the humanity of Christ begins. But greater still than that is … the union of the divinity with the humanity of Christ Jesus taken from the Virgin Mary. ** This union forms the Incarnate Word, Jesus … the same Jesus whom we know. This is the mystery that is fulfilled in the Annunciation.” (MMTQ, p. 36.)

As we celebrate the feast of the Annunciation, let us greet the Blessed Virgin for having been given the dignity and role of Mother of God. Let us thank her for her awesome cooperation with every grace the Lord willed to give her! It was her faithful cooperation with the Lord’s will that allowed her Divine Maternity to be a reality, followed by her maternity of grace, whereby we all become her children in the order of grace.

“She has given us Jesus; she has fashioned the humanity of Jesus, the Word Incarnate. Now she acts and works to build … the Mystical body of Christ.”(MMTQ, p.36.)

Today, “Let us ask for the grace to give her our constant and total filial trust. If we entrust to her our spiritual life, its growth will be faster and smoother.” (MMTQ, p. 23.)

What lessons can we draw from the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord?
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)

Reference: MMTQ = More Mother than Queen, by Venerable Fr. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, OCD.
 
The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord - continued:

What lessons can we draw from the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord?
  1. St. Augustine observes that the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived the Word in her heart even before she conceived the Word in her womb. It was through her faithful response to every offer of grace by the Lord which allowed her to be fruitful, enabling her to conceive the Word in her heart, which in turn, prepared her to conceive the Word in her womb.
We can start imitating Our Lady today. Be fruitful after her example, by cooperating with every grace the Lord offers us each moment. We can start by consciously conceiving the Word in our heart, and letting the process continue until we, too, are ready for the mission in life God has chosen for us - whatever it be at the different stages of our life.

Spiritual writers comment that the Virgin Mary’s 'fullness of grace was only a preparation for her maternity’. Our Lady accepted and treasured ALL the graces and opportunities for fruitfulness offered her by God through the ordinary demands of life as well as through the extraordinary. None was wasted; and so, she was always full of grace, and in the fullness of time, was ready to be the Mother of God.

What about ourselves? Baptism adorned and beautified our souls with Sanctifying Grace. Do we carelessly expose ourselves to losing it, or degrees of it, by giving way to fleeting pleasures? What about the actual graces that God constantly gives us each moment to help us remain faithful to Him? Are we even aware of them? Or are we too busy to notice? Do we use them - or do we waste them?

We know we can never be as faithful as our Blessed Mother was, to all the offers of grace we constantly receive from God; but we can surely try our level best to be faithful.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
What lessons can we draw from the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord? - continued:
  1. The Lord is almighty. He can do all things by Himself without depending on our cooperation to do His will. However, He wills to use our cooperation.
This was the case with the Incarnation. It was only after Mary gave her consent - her fiat - that God proceeded with His work of redemption to give the world a much-needed Saviour.

Likewise in our life, the Lord will not impose His will upon us to save us. He will however give us the grace, the light and the strength to cooperate with His will. If, like the Virgin Mary, we choose to trust in the Lord and give Him our fiat, then He can do wonders in the world with us as His instruments, and we can grow from grace to grace in our spiritual life. It is our untiring fiat that enables us to participate in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
What lessons can we draw from the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord? - continued:
  1. The Archangel Gabriel greeted the Virgin Mary and said: 'The Lord is with you.’ (Lk 1:28). It expressed the reality of God’s indwelling within Mary’s soul.
In his book, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, Ed Sri points out that the words **‘The Lord be with you’ are words that were addressed to ‘biblical heroes’ to whom God assigned "a mission that stretched the individual beyond his ‘comfort zone’ and forced him to rely on God as never before…" (p. 24.)

To name a few of these ‘biblical heroes’: Recall Moses who felt inadequate to lead God’s people out of Egypt. God assured him ‘I will be with you’ (Exo 3:12; 4:12). Recall, too, **Joshua **who had been given the mission of leading God’s people into the Promised Land. To give him courage, he was assured that 'the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ (Jos 1:5, 9). And now, we have Our Lady, who was chosen to become the Mother of the God-Man Jesus! The Archangel Gabriel assured her: ‘The Lord is with you’.

During the Holy Mass, these very words are addressed to us when we begin the Liturgy; and it is repeated throughout the Eucharistic Celebration. We are being assured, among other things, that if our life’s mission seems overwhelming, if we feel inadequate to handle the demands of our state in life, we are to take heart because we are not alone. Divine assistance is available because ‘the Lord is with us!’ And very shortly, we will encounter Him intimately in the Eucharist!
(To becontinued.)
 
Amiciel said:
What lessons can we draw from the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord? - continued:
  1. The Lord is almighty. He can do all things by Himself without depending on our cooperation to do His will. However, He wills to use our cooperation.
Likewise in our life, the Lord will not impose His will upon us to save us. He will however give us the grace, the light and the strength to cooperate with His will. If, like the Virgin Mary, we choose to trust in the Lord and give Him our fiat, then He can do wonders in the world with us as His instruments, and we can grow from grace to grace in our spiritual life. It is our untiring fiat that enables us to participate in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
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This reminds me of Mother Angelica of EWTN. God did and still is doing great things as a result of Mother Angelica’s generous “fiats”!
 
grateful_child said:
This reminds me of Mother Angelica of EWTN. God did and still is doing great things as a result of Mother Angelica’s generous “fiats”!
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So very true, grateful_child! I thank Our Lord for giving us Mother Angelica, and for all the graces He willed to bestow on her … 🙂
 
What lessons can we draw from the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord? - continued:
  1. Luke’s Gospel tells us that the Virgin Mary was troubled at the words of the angel. (Lk 1:29). She was disturbed at the praises being given to her. Why? Because truly humble souls are deeply aware of their weakness and insufficiency. They are aware that all glory belongs solely to God; aware, too, how dangerous flattery is to humility.
**Are these our sentiments, too? **Or do we sometimes exaggerate when we speak of ourselves to our advantage? Do we sometimes artfully praise ourselves? In our culture where praising self may be considered necessary if we are to go up our career ladder, we need to pray for guidance to find the happy balance of behaviour that will not endanger our spiritual life.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
What lessons can we draw from the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord? - continued:
  1. The foundation of a healthy spiritual life is humility. It was by the Virgin Mary’s humility that she was enriched by the extraordinary graces and virtues that prepared her for the role of Mother of God. It was her humility that attracted God to her.
“Why would God be so attracted to humility? Humility disposes us to the grace of God as does nothing else. Humility creates a space that God can inhabit with his self, healing and perfecting our self.” (MVM, p. 39.)

“Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the papal household, says, 'perfect humility consists in constantly making oneself small, not for the sake of some personal need or benefit, but for the sake of love, to elevate others.’ It was that humility radiating in the soul of Mary that propelled God’s love from heaven in the form of an espousal.” (MVM, p. 40.)

“**All of this is meant to be an encouragement for us, **who, seeing how undeserving we are of God’s goodness, agonize because we have nothing to offer him but our own indigent nothingness. Monsignor Giussani consoles us: 'Approaching the Mystery requires only one thing: the awareness of our ineptitude, which is more than nothingness; of our basic incapacity and our continuous betrayal; of our culpable poverty; of our conniving incapacity; of our being nothing.’ Mary sings in her Magnificat, ‘[The Lord] has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden’ (Lk 1:48). This historical fact gives us confidence that God will look upon us similarly in our lowliness.” (MVM, p.41; emphasis added).
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
What lessons can we draw from the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord? - continued:
  1. “Through the mystery of the Annunciation, 'God has placed, in the midst of barren, despairing mankind, a new beginning which is not a product of human history but a gift from above,’ Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger [now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI] wrote. It is a new beginning in human flesh, **for if Christ is not real in our lives in a fleshly way, then, Fr. Julian Carron explains, 'he becomes more and more something in our imagination. Remembrance is not enough; we need a presence made of flesh, historical, irreducible, that goes on seizing hold of me and drawing me on … Only someone who is happening now can draw along my whole life, my whole heart, all my love towards himself.’ The Annunciation is the inauguration of this new and permanent method by which God ordains to draw all people to himself.” (MVM, p.43.) (Emphasis added.)
“The Annunciation teaches us that, no matter how great may be our weakness, God asks only that we surrender to our heart’s desire for the Infinite and yield to the Infinite’s presence when he comes to meet us in the flesh. At the Annunciation, God asked Mary to be his mother. And at the crucifixion, he asked Mary to be a mother again, now in a new way: 'Behold, your son.’” (John 19:26) (MVM, p. 47.)

In obedience to the Lord’s command, let us accept the Virgin Mary as our Mother. She will help us live a fruitful life!

Through the following quote from St. Thomas of Villanova (+1555), we can see what a fiat can accoomplish:

“With a fiat, God created light, heaven, earth;
but with Mary’s fiat, God became Man.”
(Quoted in MVM, p.42.)

What will our ‘fiat’ accomplish?
Reference: MVM = Mysteries of the Virgin Mary, by Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P.

O most loving Jesus,
I am all Thine and all I have are Thine,
through Mary, Thy most holy Mother. Amen.
(Short Form - Montfort Consecration.)
 
Lea101 said:
My mother passed away on this day 😦
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Dear Lea, Sincere sympathy on your mother’s passing away … On the other hand, consoling thoughts can come our way that her passage from this temporary life to eternity occurred on the Solemnity of Mary as the Holy Mother of God … a day of abundant graces for all of us, both living and deceased…
 
April 26 - Canada celebrates the optional memorial of Our Lady of Good Counsel today:

(Quote from www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-04-26

"On the Feast of Saint Mark, April 25 1467, the people of Genazzano, Italy witnessed a marvellous sight. A cloud descended upon an ancient church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel. When the cloud disappeared, an image of Our Lady and the Child Jesus was revealed which had not been there before. The image, on a paper-thin sheet, was suspended miraculously.

Soon after the image’s appearance many miracles were attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Because of this, Pope Paul II ordered an investigation and the results have been preserved.

It was later discovered that the very same image had been seen in a church dedicated to the Annunciation in Scutari, Albania. The image in this church was said to have arrived there in a miraculous manner. Now, the image had been transported from Albania miraculously to avoid sacrilege from Moslem invasion.

A commission of enquiry determined that a portrait from the church was indeed missing. An empty space the same size as the portrait was displayed for all to see.

Many miracles continue to be attributed to Our Lady of Good Counsel. Pope Saint Pius V, for example, credited victory in the Battle of Lepanto to Her intercession.

Several Popes have approved the miraculous image. In 1682 Pope Innocent XI had the portrait crowned with gold. On July 2 1753 Pope Benedict XIV approved the Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and was the first to wear it.

In 1884 a special Mass and Office of the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel was approved by Pope Leo XIII.

For more than 500 years the image has continued to attract countless pilgrims.

Although much of the church was destroyed during World War II, the image has remained intact — and continues to be suspended miraculously.

Patron: Albania, enlightenment."

More on Our Lady of Good Counsel from:
catholictradition.org/Mary/olgc.htm
 
OUR LADY OF MONTSERRAT
This feast is observed in Canada today.

Quote from: www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-04-27

"Our Lady of Montserrat -

The origin of the devotion to Our Lady at the shrine of Montserrat according to the earliest written records dates from 932, when the Count of Barcelona confirmed and renewed an endowment to the shrine made by his father in 888. This gift was again confirmed in 982 by Lothaire, King of France. Constant and unbroken tradition is that even previous to 888, an image of Our Lady was miraculously found among the rocks of Montserrat. Montserrat itself is a fantastic mountain group, four thousand feet high, about twenty miles from Barcelona. The name, Montserrat, of Latin origin, means saw-edged mountain. It is formed by huge boulders that raise their immense bulk perpendicularly to that four thousand foot summit. Outwardly, it resembles the seemingly inaccessible monasteries seen on high Mount Athos in Greece: “Montserrat is, and will forever be, a source of deep impressions caused by the singularity of the place. There, what is material becomes cyclopean, the mysterious is turned mystical and the picturesque is promoted to sublimity.” There is a story that the mountain was once a huge boulder with a smooth surface. At the time of the Crucifixion of Jesus, however, when the sun darkened, the rock was shaken to its very foundations and when light returned, the mountain had a thousand peaks.

The legend relates that the figure of Our Lady came from Jerusalem to Barcelona, and was brought into the mountains to save it from the Saracens. It is true that the Montserrat statue has oriental features, but this could well be traced to the Byzantine sculptors who were constantly employed in the West. The legend goes on to say that in the eighth century shepherds one night saw strange lights on the mountain and heard Seraphic music.

Guided by the shepherds, the Bishop of Manresa found, in a cavern, a wooden figure of Our Lady and the Holy Child. He ordered that the statue be carried into the cathedral immediately. However, the procession with the statue never reached the cathedral because, after much marching, the small wooden figure became too heavy so that the Bishop decided to accept it as a sign and left it in a chapel of a nearby hermitage. The statue remained there until a church was built on the site of the present abbey on the top of the rocks near where the statue was discovered.

Since that incident, this statue is the most celebrated, the most important of Spain; it is thirty-eight inches in height, and is known as “La Morenata” — The Little Black Madonna. The wood is now black with age; one of its most striking features is the dignified expression of Our Lady. In her right hand, she holds a majestic orb.

Excerpted from Shrines to Our Lady, Zsolt Aradi "

More on Our Lady of Montserrat from:
catholictradition.org/Mary/hope-popup3.htm
 
Hello, all.

Since May is the month of Our Lady, I was wondering what we can do during the month to deepen our understanding of Mary as our God-given Blessed Mother.

We shall therefore review the sharing we had in our *‘Petitions Before the Blessed Sacrament’ * Group way back in 2013 on “why we need our Blessed Mother”. With God’s grace, I hope this activity will be, for all of us, a refreshing encounter with Our Lady in her singular role as Mother of God and our God-given Mother.

Following, then, are excerpts from our 2013 sharing on Our Lady. Note that this sharing was prompted by grateful_child’s questions; and the answers to her questions were based mainly on the following writings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort:
  1. The Secret of Mary (SM)
  2. True Devotion to Mary (TD)
 
(Original post by Amiciel)
It is very important that we realize - and believe - that Mary is really and truly our spiritual Mother. It’s not merely a symbolic or metaphorical title of respect that we ascribe to her. It is a fact - a very real fact! Mary is our Mother! How so? Because Jesus, the God-Man, gave her to us as our Mother as she stood at the foot of the Cross.
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… when the Lord Jesus said: "Woman, behold, your son … [son], behold, your Mother", Mary, the Woman, became truly our Mother in the order of grace.
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Thus, we call Mary “our mother not because of mere feelings of piety and gratitude awakened in us by the conviction that she loves and protects us, but because she is our Mother in the spiritual order as truly as she is the Mother of Christ in the natural order. The spiritual motherhood of Mary [is] a consequence of her divine motherhood …” (The Secret of Mary, (footnote to # 12.)
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: (Original Post by grateful_child)
Amiciel,
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For quite a while, I thought of what you wrote about the Blessed Mother as being truly our spiritual Mother in the order of grace because Jesus gave her to us as such… I could not help thinking of the many people who have problems with accepting the Blessed Mother into their lives, or those who believe her help is optional. And there are also those who prefer to pray directly to God without any intermediary… Any insights? Thank you.
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(Original Post by Amiciel)
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grateful_child, your questions regarding the spiritual Motherhood of the Blessed Mother brought up three issues:
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  1. Some have difficulty accepting the Blessed Mother into their lives;
  2. Some believe that the Blessed Mother’s help is optional;
  3. Some prefer to pray directly to God without Our Lady as intermediary.
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I hope the following thoughts will be helpful. They are based mainly on the writings of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort:
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  1. The Secret of Mary (SM)
  2. True Devotion to Mary (TD)
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  1. Some have difficulty accepting the Blessed Mother into their lives:
First, we need to be aware of God’s purpose in creating us. St. Louis de Montfort writes: “It is the will of God that you be holy like Him in this life and glorious like Him in the next … Only God, by His grace, by His abundant and extra-ordinary grace, can accomplish it.” (SM #3).

This implies we cannot accomplish God’s plan for us by relying solely on our own efforts and capabilities. We need God’s grace to ascend to Him.

De Montfort continues: " … the grace of God is absolutely necessary. No one can doubt that God gives His grace to all, in a more or less abundant measure … for God, although infinitely good, does not give equal grace to all, yet to each soul He gives sufficient grace … It is the value and the excellence of the grace bestowed by God, and corresponded to by the soul, that gives to our actions their value and their excellence." (SM #5).

This means there is sufficient grace available to enable us to reach the height intended for us by God. The problem is: How shall we adequately enable ourselves to respond properly to God’s grace?

Since by our own effort alone, we cannot accomplish God’s purpose for us, and since by our own capabilities alone,we cannot guarantee that we will respond positively to all the graces made available to us by God, we need to have a sure means that will enable us to use these God-given graces, and thus reach that height in heaven intended for us by God.

(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
De Montfort then asks: “*What means will you choose to reach the height to which God calls you?” * (SM #4).

It all comes to this, then: "You should find an easy means for obtaining from God the grace necessary to make you holy … to find this grace of God, we must find Mary." (SM #6).

"*The difficulty, then, … is to find really and truly the most Blessed Virgin Mary in order to find all abundant grace. God, being the absolute Master, can confer directly by Himself that which He usually grants only through Mary. It would even be rash to deny that sometimes He does so. Nevertheless, **St. Thomas *teaches that in the order of grace, established by Divine Wisdom, God ordinarily communicates Himself to men only through Mary. Therefore, if we would go up to Him and be united with Him, we must use the same means He used to come down to us, to be made man to impart His graces to us. That means is a true devotion to our Blessed Lady." (SM # 23). (Emphasis added.)

We know that "…Mary, being a mere creature fashioned by the hands of God is, compared to his infinite majesty … simply nothing … This great Lord, who is ever independent and self-sufficient, never had and does not now have any absolute need of the Blessed Virgin for the accomplishment of his will and the manifestation of his glory. However, … considering things as they are, because God has decided to begin and accomplish his greatest works through the Blessed Virgin … we can safely believe that he will not change his plan in the time to come." (TD #14).

Further, "God the Father gave his only Son to the world only through Mary … The Son of God became man for our salvation but only in Mary and through Mary. God the Holy Spirit formed Jesus Christ in Mary but only after having asked her consent …" (TD #16).

(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
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