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

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(Copied from Saints and the Liturgical Year; post by grateful_child.)
January 1 - Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (Holy Day of Obligation):

Collect (Opening Prayer):
“O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary
bestowed on the human race
the grace of eternal salvation,
grant, we pray,
that we may experience the intercession of her,
through whom we were found worthy
to receive the author of life,
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

"Today’s feast commemorates the important role Our Lady had in God’s work of salvation. It reminds us of the singular dignity accorded by God to Mary, as Mother of God. And, as is Mary’s role, her feast today points us to Jesus, the newborn Prince of Peace…

“This oldest feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates the mystery of her being the Mother of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. It is the principal feast of Mary, because her divine Motherhood is the reason why she received the special privileges of Immaculate Conception and Assumption into heaven. Mary is the Mother of Christ and the Mother of the Church.” (ORDO.)

For more on the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, see links:
www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/S/solemnityofmary.asp
www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-01-01 [End Quote]​

THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD:

In his book, More Mother Than Queen, Venerable Fr. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, o.c.d., writes his reflections on Our Lady, as Mother. The following excerpts from his book were shared last year in our group. This year, they are being posted here for the benefit of all of us who wish to come closer to Our Lady as our God-given Mother in the order of Grace. Hopefully, it will provide a deepening experience for us during this Jubilee Year of Mercy. Each excerpt provides excellent “food” for reflection.

Venerable Fr. Marie-Eugene writes:

“Our Lord lives on in the Church, but the building of the Mystical Body is more especially attributed to the Holy Spirit. Wherever the Holy Spirit acts, the Virgin Mary acts also… She is the creature whom He has chosen and associated as His spouse. ** Mary exercises a true motherhood…”** (pp. 19-20; emphasis added.)
(Please read on for continuation of thought.)
 
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD - continued:

"St. Peter Damian said that the Blessed Virgin holds in her hands all the divine riches. Before him, St. Jerome and other Fathers of the Church endeavored to show that all the graces of vocation and of perseverance come to us through Mary. The Virgin Mary, who was entrusted to St. John … is not just a symbol but an absolute reality: Mary given to humanity… Wherever Our Lord is Savior, she is associated with Him and, like Him, she continues her work.

Moreover, Mary is Mother. The grace of spiritual motherhood does not function by division or separation, like natural motherhood. On the contrary, it works by absorption in unity. This mode of functioning demands a continuous influence, without any fissure. On earth all our graces, without exception, must go back to their source." (p.20; emphasis added.)
(Please read on for continuation of thought.)
 
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD - continued:

"Mary powerfully exercises this great mission for the members of the whole Church. She still commands as she did at Cana: ‘Do whatever He tells you’.… God will save the souls who will have recourse to her …

This queenly power is at the service of her mission as mediator that she exercises with a total maternal love: tota Mater. From the very beginning, God has seen her as Mother, and all the graces she received from Him were in view of her motherhood. This is the unique privilege of her mission. Her sanctity was given to her for this mission, and all her beauty comes from her having accomplished God’s will, that is, to be Mother." (p. 21; emphasis added.)

“We must therefore remember that the Virgin Mary is all Mother, tota Mater, entirely enveloped in this grace. All her privileges merge into the unique privilege of her spiritual motherhood.” (p. 22; emphasis added.)
(Please read on for continuation of thought.)
 
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD- continued:

“… how very much superior, she is to us. We have admired her. But her greatness is not the essential aspect in her. We must remember that she is our Mother, and that she belongs entirely to each one of us. She may not have known us in advance as Our Lord has known us; but she knows us now; she knows our sentiments and our thoughts. Her knowledge and her power of vision penetrate the depths of our being.” (pp.22-23; emphasis added.)
(Please read on for continuation of thought.)
 
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD- continued:

“Mary’s solicitude extends to all the details of our life. She follows maternally the progress of our soul. We may find our sanctification slow, but she knows that we are not strong enough to receive God’s light and love, and that God will give us time. Let us therefore surrender ourselves completely to her; let us ask her to intercede for us in everything. We must go to Mary in order to find the Word. May our prayer, our leisure, our work - all that we do - be offered to her. May God grant that His Mother make her home in us. 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.” (More Mother Than Queen, Venerable Fr. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, o.c.d., p. 23; emphasis added.)

Most loving Jesus, I am all Thine; and all I have, and will have, are Thine, through Mary, Thy most holy Mother! Amen.
 
Nelka said:
I never knew it was a solemnity.

Is that just in America?
Click to expand...
Nelka, the Church celebrates January 1 liturgically as the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. It is also a Holy Day of Obligation, although the obligation to go to Mass may be waived in some areas by the Bishops’ Conference for a variety of reasons. In the USA and the Philippines, it is a Holy Day of Obligation. When in doubt, it is best to check with your parish.

Below are some links with interesting and historical facts about Mary, the Holy Mother of God:

www.aleteia.org/2014/12/31/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-january-1st/
www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/844/Mary_Mother_of_God.html
www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/S/solemnityofmary.asp
 
Amiciel said:
Nelka, the Church celebrates January 1 liturgically as the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. It is also a Holy Day of Obligation, although the obligation to go to Mass may be waived in some areas by the Bishops’ Conference for a variety of reasons. In the USA and the Philippines, it is a Holy Day of Obligation. When in doubt, it is best to check with your parish.

Below are some links with interesting and historical facts about Mary, the Holy Mother of God:

www.aleteia.org/2014/12/31/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-january-1st/
www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/844/Mary_Mother_of_God.html
www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/S/solemnityofmary.asp
Click to expand...
👍
 
Last January 1, we celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. This “feast commemorates the important role Our Lady had in God’s work of salvation. It reminds us of the singular dignity accorded by God to Mary, as Mother of God. And, as is Mary’s role, her feast… points us to Jesus, the newborn Prince of Peace.” (Ordo)

By celebrating January 1st as the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, our Mother Church invites us to start the year right by continuing our journey during the year with Mary, the Holy Mother of God.

Thus, I thought of using this thread to compile links to Our Lady, Mary, Mother of Mercy, so that, during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, we can better know her and the singular graces and mission Our Lord has given her for our sake.

On the need to have the Blessed Mother known, St. Louis Marie De Montfort writes:

“Since she is the sure means, the direct and immaculate way to Jesus and the perfect guide to him, it is through her that souls who are to shine forth in sanctity, must find him. He who finds Mary finds life, that is, Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. But no one can find Mary who does not look for her. No one can look for her who does not know her, for no one seeks or desires something unknown. Mary then must be better known than ever for the deeper understanding and the greater glory of the Blessed Trinity.” (True Devotion to Mary, #50-5) (Emphasis added.)

The above observation on the need to know better the Blessed Mother in order to find Jesus Christ is so very true today. There is a need to make Our Lady better known!

You are therefore invited, in this Jubilee Year of Mercy, to share with us links on Our Lady which you have found helpful. Share them with us and together, let us grow in our insight on the graces bestowed by the Lord on our Blessed Mother.

I will be away for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, however, please feel free to share with us your links, especially links explaining Our Lady’s feasts. Thank you… and God bless!
 
January 24 - Our Lady Queen of Peace:

"Our Lady Queen of Peace has been the patroness of the Catholic Church in Hawaii since 1827. The first Catholic missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands arrived at Honolulu Bay on July 7, 1827. These missionaries were members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of Perpetual Adoration and upon their arrival in the islands dedicated their labors to the patroness of the Congregation, Our Lady Queen of Peace and placed the Islands under her protection. It was in her honor that these missionaries erected the first Catholic Church.

After more than a decade of contentious relations with the Hawaiian government, the missionaries were finally allowed to proceed with their evangelization work. In thanksgiving, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was erected. Completed in 1843, a statue of Our Lady Queen of Peace was placed in the niche above the main altar. The Cathedral was solemnly blessed and dedicated to Our Lady of Peace on the feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1843.

The original statue of Our Lady Queen of Peace is located in the Convent Chapel of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts in Picpus, France. During the troubled days of the Commune, in 1871, the populace, incited by atheistic leaders, invaded churches, chapels and convents, destroying every emblem of religion that fell into their hands. The chapel of Our Lady Queen of Peace became their prey. The Superior, with tears in her eyes, begged them to spare their beloved shrine; and, strange to say, the rabble went away, leaving it unharmed. When the tempest of the persecution subsided, the statue was again returned to its usual place and honored and venerated by a phalanx of devout souls.

On July 9, 1906, the statue of Our Lady Queen of Peace was solemnly crowned in the name of Pope Pius X by his Eminence Cardinal Amette, Archbishop of Paris. Every year on July 9 the feast of Our Lady Queen of Peace is celebrated with great solemnity in the Congregation of the Fathers and Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and Perpetual Adoration.

During World War I Pope Benedict XV added the title Queen of Peace to the Litany of Loreto.

Things to Do:
Code: 
Pray the Litany of Loreto.
Pray for peace in the world, especially for an end to the war in Iraq and for the safety of all soldiers."
(Quote from catholicculture.org: catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-01-24 )

Our Lady, Queen of Peace, please pray for us.
 
February 2 - Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
(In the Old Calendar = Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.)

Excerpt from catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-02-02

"Until 1969, the ancient feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, which is of Oriental origin, was known in the West as the feast of the Purification of Our Lady, and closed the Christmas Cycle, forty days after the Lord’s birth. This feast has for long been associated with many popular devotional exercises. The faithful:

•gladly participate in the processions commemorating the Lord’s entry into the Temple in Jerusalem and His encounter with God, whose house He had come to for the first time, and then with Simeon and Anna. Such processions, which in the West had taken the place of licentious pagan events, always had a penitential character, and were later identified with the blessing of candles which were carried in procession in honor of Christ, ‘the light to enlighten the Gentiles’ (Lk 2, 32);

•are sensitive to the actions of the Blessed Virgin in presenting her Son in the Temple, and to her submission to the Law of Moses (Lk 12, 1-8) in the rite of purification; popular piety sees in the rite of purification the humility of Our Lady and hence, 2 February has long been regarded as a feast for those in humble service.

Popular piety is sensitive to the providential and mysterious event that is the conception and birth of new life. Christian mothers can easily identify with the maternity of Our Lady, the most pure Mother of the Head of the mystical Body — notwithstanding the notable differences in the Virgin’s unique conception and birth.

These too are mothers in God’s plan and are about to give birth to future members of the Church. From this intuition and a certain mimesis of the purification of Our Lady, the rite of purification after birth was developed, some of whose elements reflect negatively on birth.

The revised Rituale Romanum provides for the blessing of women both before and after birth, this latter only in cases where the mother could not participate at the baptism of her child.

It is a highly desirable thing for mothers and married couples to ask for these blessings which should be given in accord with the Church’s prayer: in a communion of faith and charity in prayer so that pregnancy can be brought to term without difficulty (blessing before birth), and to give thanks to God for the gift of a child (blessing after birth).

In some local Churches, certain elements taken from the Gospel account of the Presentation of the Lord (Lk 2, 22-40), such as the obedience of Joseph and Mary to the Law of the Lord, the poverty of the holy spouses, the virginity of Our Lady, mark out 2 February as a special feast for those at the service of the brethren in the various forms of consecrated life.

The feast of 2 February still retains a popular character. It is necessary, however, that such should reflect the true Christian significance of the feast. It would not be proper for popular piety in its celebration of this feast to overlook its Christological significance and concentrate exclusively on its Marian aspects. The fact that this feast should be ‘considered …] a joint memorial of Son and Mother’ would not support such an inversion. The candles kept by the faithful in their homes should be seen as a sign of Christ ‘the light of the world’ and an expression of faith.

— Excerpted from Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy

Things to Do:
…
•Read Luke 2:22-35, the account of the presentation including the Canticle of Simeon.
•Meditate on the constant fiat of Our Lady of Sorrows, who embraced the will of God even as Simeon predicted that a sword would pierce her heart."
 
**February 11 - Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes:
**
Collect (Opening Prayer):
“Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness,
that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God,
may, with the help of her intercession,
rise up from our iniquities.
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.”

“This day marks the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858 to fourteen-year-old St. Bernadette Soubirous. There were eighteen in all, the last of which was on July 16, 1858. The message of Lourdes is a call to conversion, prayer, and charity.” (Daily Roman Missal, MTF.)

More on Our Lady of Lourdes from Catholic Culture:
catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-02-11
 
grateful_child said:
**February 11 - Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes:
**
Collect (Opening Prayer):
“Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness,
that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God,
may, with the help of her intercession,
rise up from our iniquities.
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.”
Click to expand...
February 11 - World Day of the Sick
Here’s Pope Francis’ message for World Day of the Sick: "Trust Mary to Lead to Jesus"

www.ncregister.com/daily-news/popes-world-day-of-sick-message-trust-mary-to-lead-to-jesus
 
April 4, 2016 - The Annunciation of the Lord (Solemnity):
(March 25 is the usual Solemnity of the Annunciation. Since it occurred this year during Holy Week, it is moved to the Monday after the 2nd Sunday of Easter (April 4).)

Collect (Opening Prayer):
“O God, who willed that your Word
should take on the reality of human flesh
in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
grant, we pray,
that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man,
may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature.
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
www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-04-04

“At the Annunciation St. Gabriel the Archangel told the Blesssed Virgin Mary she would be the Mother of the Son of God. She gave her fiat (‘be it done’), upon which she conceived the Savior by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christians find meaning in this dialogue in which the Mother of God appears so great because of her humility. Because of her consent to God’s Word, she participated in the redemptive work of her Son, Jesus Christ. She is the Mother of Christ and of each Christian.” (Daily Roman Missal, MTF.)

For more on the Annunciation, see link:
www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/A/theannunciation.asp
 
Hello, all - The following is a reflection on the Solemnity of the Annunciation. My apologies for posting late … Our area has been having intermittent internet signals …
 
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grateful_child:
April 4, 2016 - The Annunciation of the Lord (Solemnity):
(March 25 is the usual Solemnity of the Annunciation. Since it occurred this year during Holy Week, it is moved to the Monday after the 2nd Sunday of Easter (April 4).)

Collect (Opening Prayer):
“O God, who willed that your Word
should take on the reality of human flesh
in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
grant, we pray,
that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man,
may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature.
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
www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-04-04
Click to expand...
Last year, a reflection on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord was shared in our group. As a refresher for all of us, some excerpts from the reflection are being re-posted here:

The **Annunciation narrative actually begins in Genesis 3 **where we are made aware of the tragic Fall which occurred in Paradise and which affected all of creation. To undo the Fall’s evil and deadly effects, God promised to send a Redeemer through a woman. The Book of Isaiah describes this woman as a virgin who ‘shall conceive and bear a Son’. Luke’s Gospel, then, identified this woman as Mary of Nazareth, a poor, simple, unknown peasant. St. Luke further discloses through the Archangel’s greeting that the Holy Spirit has previously prepared Mary for this important mission through the grace of her Immaculate Conception.

'Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you’ (Lk 1:28), that is: Rejoice, be glad! O plenitude of grace! The Lord ‘dwells in you in an extraordinary way because he wants to accomplish a work in a totally extraordinary way.’ (MMTQ, p.34.)
(Pls read on for continuation of thought.)

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