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

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Then, too, "God the Father imparted to Mary his fruitfulness as far as a mere creature was capable of receiving it, to enable her to bring forth his Son and all the members of his mystical body." (TD #17).

Thus, "… being necessary to God by a necessity which is called ‘hypothetical,’ (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end." (TD #39).

Among the saints who advocate the same teaching are: St. Augustine, St. Ephrem, deacon of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Damascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure. (TD #40).

"Let us not be afraid to say with St. Bernard that we need a mediator with the Mediator himself and the divinely-honored Mary is the one most able to fulfill this office of love. Through her, Jesus came to us; through her, we should go to him." (TD #85). (Emphasis addedd.)

In Mysteries of the Virgin Mary by Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., we find a quote from St. Bernard of Clairvaux (+1153): "Let us venerate Mary with every fiber of our being, from the deepest part of our heart, because this is the will of him who wanted us to receive everything through Mary." (p.3).

(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
St. Antoninus (+1459): “All graces that have ever been bestowed …, all came through Mary.”

St. Lawrence of Brindisi (+1619): “Every gift, every grace, every good that we have and that we receive continally, we receive through Mary.”​

Remember the scene at Calvary as the Lord Jesus hung dying on the Cross while His Mother stood beneath His Cross? Jesus, the God-Man gave Mary to us as our Mother, thus making her truly our Mother in the order of grace. Now, what are entailed in this, Mary’s God-given function as our spiritual Mother?

De Montfort writes: "Mary has received from God a far-reaching dominion over the souls of the elect. Otherwise she could not make her dwelling-place in them as God the Father has ordered her to do, and she could not conceive them, nourish them, and bring them forth to eternal life as their mother. She could not … form them in Jesus and Jesus in them. She could not … be the inseparable associate of the Holy Spirit in all these works of grace. None of these things … could she do unless she had received from the Almighty rights and authority over their souls." (TD #37.)

De Montfort continues: "For God, having given her power over his only-begotten and natural Son, also gave her power over his adopted children, not only in what concerns their body … but also in what concerns their soul." (TD # 37.)

If the Almighty Himself has given Mary the rights and authority over our souls by making her our spiritual Mother, how can we validly reject her?

(to be continued.)
 
Read about MARY, QUEEN OF APOSTLES:

catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-05-11
Mary, Queen of Apostles
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Mary is Queen of Apostles because she was chosen to be the Mother of Jesus Christ and to give him to the world; she was made the apostles’ Mother and our own by our Savior on the cross. She was with the apostles while awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit, obtaining for them the abundance of supernatural graces they received on Pentecost. The most holy Virgin was and always will be the wellspring for every apostolate.
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She exercised a universal apostolate, one so vast that it embraced all others. The apostolate of prayer, the apostolate of good example, the apostolate of suffering–Mary fulfilled them all. Other people have practiced certain teachings of the Gospel; Mary lived them all. Mary is full of grace, and we draw from her abundance.
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Mary attracts the zealous to the various apostolates, then protects and defends all these works. She sheds on each the warmth of her love and the light of her countenance. She presented Jesus in a manner unparalleled throughout the ages. Her apostolate is of the highest degree–never to be equaled, much less surpassed.
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Mary gave Jesus to the world and with Jesus came every other blessing. Thus, because of Mary we have the Church: “Mary is the Mother of the Church not only because she is the Mother of Christ and his most intimate associate in ‘the new economy when the Son of God took a human nature from her, that he might in the mysteries of his flesh free man from sin,’ but also because ‘she shines forth to the whole community of the elect as a model of the virtues’ (Lumen Gentium. 55, 65). She now continues to fulfill from heaven her maternal function as the cooperator in the birth and development of the divine life in the individual souls of the redeemed” (The Great Sign, by Paul VI). What do we have of value that we have not received through Mary? It is God’s will that every blessing should come to us through her.
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Because the Blessed Mother occupies a most important position in God’s plan of salvation, all humanity should pay homage to her. Whoever spreads devotion to the Queen of Apostles is an apostolic benefactor of the human race, because devotion to Mary is a treasure. Blessed is the person who possesses this treasure! Mary’s devotees will never be without grace; in any danger, in every circumstance they will always have the means to obtain every grace from God.
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Several religious congregations practice devotion to Mary under the title of Queen of Apostles, including the Pallotines, the Marianists, and the congregations founded by Bl. James Alberione (the Society of St. Paul, the Daughters of St. Paul, and several others). In the twentieth century, Bl. Alberione promoted this devotion in a particular way.
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— Excerpted from Favorite Prayers and Novenas, copyright 1997 Pauline Books & Media
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On Friday, May 13, the optional memorial of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated. On the same day, the feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament is also observed.

Collect (Opening Prayer):
“O God, who chose the Mother of your Son to be our Mother also,
grant us that, persevering in penance and prayer
for the salvationof the world,
we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.”

Read about Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament:
www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/O/ourladyoffatima.asp
www.ewtn.com/fatima/apparitions/BVM.htm
www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-05-13
catholictradition.org/Mary/virgin-eucharist2.htm

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us!
 
grateful_child said:
On Friday, May 13, the optional memorial of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated…

Collect (Opening Prayer):
“O God, who chose the Mother of your Son to be our Mother also,
grant us that, persevering in penance and prayer
for the salvationof the world,
we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.”

Read about Our Lady of Fatima…:
www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/O/ourladyoffatima.asp
www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-05-13
catholictradition.org/Mary/virgin-eucharist2.htm

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
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In anticipation of the 100th year anniversary of the apparitions of OUR LADY OF FATIMA, EWTN offers the following instructive and interesting site:

www.ewtn.com/fatima
 
May 31-The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast).

Collect:
“Almighty ever-living God,
who, while the Blessed Virgin Mary was carrying your Son in her womb,
inspired her to visit Elizabeth,
grant us, we pray,
that, faithful to the promptings of the Spirit,
we may magnify your greatness
with the Virgin Mary at all times.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.”

Today’s Scripture readings and reflections:
usccb.org/bible/reflections/
ymlp232.net/archive_gbmbuqgjgu.php

The Feast of the Visitation “is celebrated between the Annunciation and the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, as recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel. The Visitation is the meeting between the Blessed Virgin Mary and her cousin St. Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist. Our Lady’s Magnificat is a manifestation of her humility before God, and her readiness to serve St. Elizabeth’s temporal needs is a lesson in charity.” (Daily Roman Missal, MTF.)

For more on the Feast of the Visitation, see links:
www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/V/visitationoftheblessedvirginmary.asp
www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-05-31
 
grateful_child said:
May 31-The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast).

Collect:
“Almighty ever-living God,
who, while the Blessed Virgin Mary was carrying your Son in her womb,
inspired her to visit Elizabeth,
grant us, we pray,
that, faithful to the promptings of the Spirit,
we may magnify your greatness
with the Virgin Mary at all times.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.”
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Our Lady of the Visitation / Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, May 31, 2016:

The scriptural basis for this feast of Our Lady is St. Luke’s narrative in Lk 1:39-55. Luke’s Gospel narrates how Our Lady, after receiving the grace of the Annunciation, hurries to visit her cousin, Elizabeth.

Below are some reflections taken from Mysteries of the Virgin Mary, by Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., and the General Audience on October 2, 1996 of St. John Paul II.

Fr. Cameron makes an interesting observation that Our Lady’s visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, is celebrated by the Church as a ‘Visitation’ instead of a ‘simple visit’.

Is there a difference between a ‘visitation’ and a ‘simple visit’? Fr. Cameron explains: “What makes a visitation different from a simple visit is that it intends to accomplish something. A visitation is an encounter that carries within it a meaning that is significant or even exceptional.” (p. 48.)

What is the meaning of Our Lady’s Visitation for us today? St. Luke indicates a couple of these in the way he words his narrative.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, continued:

To describe Mary’s journey to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, Luke uses a Greek verb (anistemi) meaning ‘to set out’, ‘to arise’, ‘to start moving’; and he describes Mary’s movement to visit her cousin as being done ‘in haste’. (Lk 1:39.)

Commenting on Luke’s words, Saint John Paul II writes:

“Considering that **this verb **is used in the Gospels to indicate Jesus’ Resurrection (Mk 8:31; 9:9,31; Lk 24:7,46) or physical actions that imply a spiritual effort (Lk 5:27-28; 15:18, 20), we can suppose that Luke wishes to stress with this expression the vigorous zeal which led Mary, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to give the world its Saviour … St. Luke seems to invite us to see Mary as the first ‘evangelist’, who spreads the ‘good news’, initiating the missionary journeys of her divine Son.” (General Audience, October 2, 1996.) (Emphasis added.)

The Visitation, in fact, is the first occasion when Mary, as Mother of the God-Man, served as her Son’s instrument so He can approach and sanctify humanity, represented by John.

Saint John Paul II continues: “Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, in fact, is a prelude to Jesus’ mission and, in cooperating from the beginning of her motherhood in the Son’s redeeming work, she becomes the model for those in the Church who set out to bring Christ’s light and joy to the people of every time and place.” (General Audience, October 2, 1996.) (Emphasis added.)

For all of us who wish to participate in Christ’s mission, be it in silent, hidden ways or in active, public endeavors, Mary, then, is our perfect Model.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, continued:

**The Visitation may be seen as the first *Corpus Christi procession ***whereby Mary, bearing the God-Man in her womb, approaches humanity and draws it towards her Son, present within her.

Fr. Cameron writes: “The impetus that Mary exhibits in the Visitation never ends. Bishop Bossuet explains: 'The visit that so honoured and overwhelmed Elizabeth had not been sought by her: part of the very honor consisted in the fact that Mary had paid it of her own accord … Our God treats us, His poor creatures, in the same way. Whether the sinner who needs converting, or the just who is called to a higher life and the way of perfection, be concerned, He alike comes without waiting for us to ask Him. We are often not thinking of Him specifically at all - we may have even actually forgotten Him; but He seeks us out - goes before us - … We feel and know His grace, suddenly present with us, as the Baptist knew it in his mother’s womb, when we have done absolutely nothing to call it down.” (p. 50-51.) (Emphasis added.)

“The many approved Marian apparitions that have taken place in the world throughout the Church’s history find their scriptural foundation in the mystery of the Visitation.” (p. 51; emphasis added.)

Today, Our Lady continues her Visitation among us. She brings her Son, Jesus, close to us, hoping to draw us close to Him. ** How shall we respond?**
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, continued:

Fr. Cameron continues: "Our Lady of the Visitation continues to remind us of God’s promise of mercy. All that is required is that we do what Elizabeth did as Mary unfailingly makes her way to us: that we welcome the Blessed Virgin Mary into our home."

He further writes: "Nothing could be holier than such humble dependence on the agency of the Mother of God. This is why St. Francis de Sales counsels us: ‘Observe that Saint Elizabeth received the Holy Spirit through the intervention of the Blessed Virgin, in order to teach us that we must make use of her as our Mediatrix with her Divine Son, if we wish to obtain the Holy Spirit. True, we could go directly to God and ask Him for His grace without the help of the Blessed Virgin and the saints, but God has not so willed it.’ " (p.54; emphasis added.)

Let us then follow the counsel of St. Francis de Sales: Let us go to Jesus through His Mother, Mary.

As Fr. Cameron so beautifully comments: “Nothing changes us as does the One who comes to stay with us. And He comes to us through Mary.” (p. 56; emphasis added.)​

O Mary, dear Lady of the Visitation, intercede for us and love us. Amen.
 
June 04, 2016, Saturday - The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary - (Memorial): This feast is celebrated on the Saturday following the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost.

Collect (Opening Prayer):
“O God, who prepared a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit
in the Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
graciously grant that through her intercession
we may be a worthy temple of your glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.”

Today’s Scripture readings and reflection:
usccb.org/bible/reflections/
ymlp232.net/archive_gbmbuqgjgu.php

“In 1942, Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; however, this is not a new devotion. In the seventeenth century, St. John Eudes preached it alongside the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Church instituted this feast to encourage the faithful to trust in the Blessed Mother as a source of grace and mercy.” (Daily Roman Missal, MTF).

For more on the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, see links:
www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/heart/index.htm
www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-06-04
 
June 8 - Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, from CatholicCulture.org:

catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-06-08

"According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. Pope Leo XIII declared in his Encyclical of September 22, 1891: “We may affirm that nothing, by the will of God, is given to us without Mary’s mediation, in such way that just as no one can approach the almighty Father but through His Son, likewise no one, so to speak, can approach Christ but through His Mother.”

Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces
Traditionally, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. All the graces which flow from the redemption of Jesus Christ are granted to the human family through the motherly intercession of Mary. Mary mediated Jesus Christ, the Author of all graces, to the world when she agreed to be the human mother of God made man (cf. Lk 1:38). And from the cross at Calvary (Jn 19:26) and as the final gift to humanity, Jesus gives Mary as a spiritual mother to us all: “Son, behold your mother” (cf. Jn 19:26). For this reason, Vatican II refers to Mary as a "mother to us in the order of grace " (Lumen Gentium, n. 62) and several twentieth century popes have officially taught the doctrine of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces, quoting the words of St Bernard: “It is the will of God that we obtain all favours through Mary.” The Mediatrix performs this task in intimate union with the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, with whom she began the drama of our Lord’s Redemption at the Annunciation (cf. Lk. 1:35).

Thirdly, Mary is our Advocate for people of God, in that she takes the petitions of her earthly children, especially in times of difficulties, and brings them through her maternal intercession before her Son and our Lord Jesus.

In the Old Testament, the Queen Mother brought the petitioned needs of the people of Israel to the throne of her son the king (cf. 1 Kings 2:19). Now Mary is the new Queen Mother and Advocate in the new Kingdom of her Son, who brings the petitioned needs of the people of God to the throne of her glorious Son, Christ the King, particularly in our present difficult times.

The universal mediation of the Mother of Jesus as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate for the people of God is already contained in the official and authoritative teachings of the Church’s Magisterium. Now, at the summit of the Marian era, what remains is the final proclamation by the Church of this final Marian doctrine as Christian dogma revealed by God."
 
Dear all, The original plan was to post, during the month of May, our sharing on the following 3 topics. For lack of internet access in my new area of residence, this was not possible. At the moment, internet access is still intermittent but, whenever possible, will attempt to finish our posts.
(Original Post by Amiciel)
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 following 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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For our sharing on the 1st topic ‘Some have difficulty accepting the Blessed Mother into their lives’, please see:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=13882463#post13882463

We will now start our sharing on the 2nd topic: ‘Some believe that the Blessed Mother’s help is optional’.
 
  1. Is help from Our Blessed Mother optional for our salvation?
We have seen how, in God’s plan, the Blessed Mother occupies a necessary role in our salvation. We have also seen how, although she is not an ‘absolute necessity’ to God for his work of salvation, God has willed to make her necessary to His work by a necessity which is called ‘hypothetical’ (that is, because God so willed it); and because the Almighty willed it, "the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end. Consequently, we must not place devotion to her on the same level as devotion to the other saints as if it were merely something optional." (TD # 39.)

From the foregoing, we gather that God has willed to make the Blessed Mother a necessity for God’s work of salvation, as opposed to being merely optional. Therefore, devotion to her (regardless of the form, which is optional) is a necessary means to reach the height of glory for which God has created us.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Is help from Our Blessed Mother optional for our salvation? - continued:

However, although God willed to make Mary necessary in His work of salvation, she does not replace God as Source of the graces we need. Mary remains merely the Lord’s mystic channel through which His graces reach us. She remains the means chosen by God to help us obtain from Him the graces necessary to make us holy.

God, therefore, gave Mary to us as our spiritual Mother, with the God-given function of spiritually nourishing, nurturing and forming us according to His plan. As Mother, she tries to develop in us a proper disposition towards God because our capacity to receive God’s grace depends on our disposition. And we know that we often limit our capacity to receive grace by our poor disposition in life.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Is help from Our Blessed Mother optional for our salvation? - continued:

As an aside, and by way of a clarificatory example: Let’s look at our Eucharistic Celebration, or the Holy Mass. At Mass, we receive the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion. As God, Jesus brings with Him an abundance of infinite graces intended to fill our life with.

But do we receive all the available graces we need for ourselves and our families? Most likely, not! Why? Because we can receive only as much grace as we have the capacity to receive; and poor disposition limits this capacity. This is the reason why it is very important for us to prepare ourselves for our Eucharistic Celebration; and the Blessed Mother can help us here.

Thus, we need help; and God has given us that help. He has given Mary to us as our spiritual Mother. On her we depend to accomplish the task of nourishing, nurturing and forming us and our disposition. And we acknowledge and express this dependence on Mary Our Mother, through the different forms of devotion we have for her.

Note that the particular form or kind of devotion we choose to express our dependence and love for the Blessed Mother is optional. Our choice can be any of the wide range of possible forms of Marian devotion. The form we choose will reflect our degree of perceived love and dependence on the Blessed Mother. This degree will vary from person to person because the state of one’s soul depends on the grace which one has received from the Lord and on the quality of one’s acceptance and response to that grace.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Is help from Our Blessed Mother optional for our salvation? - continued:

It is helpful to remember that the perfect practice of true devotion to Mary is a grace received from God, and that only relatively few are able to persevere in the spirit of this path of perfection. This implies that it is acceptable to have other forms of authentic Marian devotion to which we are drawn. And from time to time, our chosen form of devotion may change based on the graces received. This will indicate a state of love and dependence on Mary our Mother in varying degrees of intensity. Since one’s choice of devotion will be determined by the grace one has received and by one’s response to that grace, it is possible to grow from grace to grace, from intenisty to intensity, in one’s devotion to Mary, until finally, one is drawn to the perfect practice of true devotion to Mary as described by St. Louis de Montfort.
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)
 
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