Mar. 25 - This is the Day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice in it!

  • Thread starter Thread starter MariaChristi
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MariaChristi

Guest
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation when the Word became Flesh in the womb of Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We rejoice in God’s Work in the soul of Mary, Immaculate from the first instant of her conception and we are so grateful to her for her “Yes” to Him – we are exceedingly glad that by God’s Grace won for us, we too may say our “yes” to Him through her.

Some of us on CAF and elsewhere completed 33 Days of Preparation for our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary and now, today, on this beautiful Feast of the Annunciation, Mar. 25 we pray our Act of Consecration! All over the world many of our brothers and sisters will be praying the Act of Total Consecration written by St. Louis de Montfort, for the first time or will be renewing it for as many times as they have prayed these words before today, by God’s Grace.

Perhaps you who are reading this have never thought about reading St. Louis de Montfort’s little treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. I encourage you to do so. The online version is HERE. I thank God for all those who will pray this prayer today and I thank Him with all my heart for the Grace He gave me to pray this prayer over the course of many years, and for the grace to continue learning more to love Him through Mary as He has loved me.

Full text of the Prayer of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary is HERE

God willing, tomorrow I will also post how you may enroll in the Association of Mary, Queen of All Hearts, if you have not done so already.
 
Last edited:
Dear Mary888,

Thanks for your “heart” letting me know you liked this post. 🙂 Perhaps you are one of the many who will be praying this Act of Consecration today, too. I hope so – but if not please do read what St. Louis de Montfort wrote in his little treatise on True Devotion to Mary – for, as St. John Paul II testified, reading De Montfort’s “True Devotion” was a turning point in his young life.

May God continue to raise up saints like St. John Paul II by means of His Grace working through saints who have loved him through Mary!
 
Last edited:
Dear hazcompat,

Thanks so much for catching the fact that my link did not work and for alerting me and others. 🙂 I was able to edit that link in the original post so – Thanks so much for your kindness!

Thanks also for your many replies that helped me, and others, I’m sure – to appreciate the many gifts God gives us through reading and pondering the wisdom of saints like St. Louis de Montfort, who love Jesus and Mary so much and sought to share them with others through their writing and their witness among all those in need of God’s Mercy.

St. Louis de Montfort has impressed me most of all by his love for God’s Word; his desire to grow in God’s Wisdom, and not to depend on himself. How we need God’s Wisdom today! Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love! Mary Mother of the Church, pray for us. Jesus we trust in You!
 
Last edited:
RESPONSORY See Luke 1:31, 42

Receive, O Virgin Mary, the word which the Lord has made known to you by the message of the angel: You will conceive and give birth to a son, both God and man,
— and you will be called blessed among women.

A virgin, you will indeed bear a son; ever chaste and holy, you will be the mother of our Savior.
— And you will be called blessed among women.

TE DEUM

You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the King of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.
— Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.
— We praise your name for ever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.
— Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy,
— for we have put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:
— And we shall never hope in vain.

CONCLUDING 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.
— Amen.
 
The sun is shining down on a blanket of snow on this glorious day when we commemorate the Day that the Son, at the behest of the Father, became one of us.

I wonder how many Catholics in the United States are aware that this is one of the holiest days ever known to Mankind. Let us on this thread make sure that next year our bishop and pastor make available to their respective flocks a celebration worthy of the events that took place on the Day of the Incarnation. Many clergy are still tragically unsure as to the importance of the feast; the majority of the laity are still unaware of the meaning of the Annunciation.

Imagine that you are the Father, Who loves us so much that He sends His Son to save us. Imagine, also, that you are the Word of God, Who accedes to the Father’s will, even knowing the pain and heartbreak that will arise. Imagine still further that you are the Holy Spirit of God, Who becomes the Spouse of the Virgin to save the world from sin. Then see the ungratefulness of the world and even of the members of the Body of Christ, who say we do not have to welcome this Savior when He comes as long as we can have a good old celebration in nine months for the anniversary of His Birth.

The Savior, awaited for thousands of years by countless people, is finally here among us and for some reason those He saved are too busy to greet Him. What is worse, those He has specially chosen and blessed with a priestly vocation have chosen to deprive the Faithful under their care of the many graces available to them on this Solemnity by failing to educate and instill in them a love for the Annunciation.

Bishops and pastors have taken shelter under the convenient excuse that true celebration of the Annunciation, which is outside of the prescriptions of Lent, would interfere with the penitential season of Lent or, in some years, with Holy Week. Yet we have great celebration on the feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph. It is beyond the realm of reason that those to whom our spiritual well-being is entrusted should prefer to celebrate the Incarnation on Christmas rather than on the Solemnity of the Annunciation.

If our bishops and pastors decline the invitation to make us aware of the feast and to urge us to attend Mass on the Day, let us who are aware tell our family and friends and take them to Mass with us, carrying flowers and singing appropriate hymns and receiving Our Lord, as did Jesus’ Blessed Mother, into our hearts.

Welcome, Jesus. We choose not to wait until Your Birthday. You come to save us today. Thank you. We love You.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for sharing the Te Deum! How appropriately the Church puts those words of praise on our lips today!

My husband and I only pray the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours; our Concluding Prayer this morning was:
Shape us in the likeness of the divine nature of our Redeemer, Whom we believe to be true God and true man since it was Your will, Lord God, that He, your Word, should take to Himself our human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Dear Patjoe,

Thanks much for your reply, and for your love of God our Father, Who loved us so much He sent His Son by the power of His Holy Spirit to become Flesh in the womb of Mary. I agree with you in your saying:
Many clergy are still tragically unsure as to the importance of the feast; the majority of the laity are still unaware of the meaning of the Annunciation.
Click to expand...
It is a “tragedy” indeed, that not only Clergy, but Catholics all over the world, seem to be drifting further from our Mother Mary, given to us by Jesus from His Cross, whom they once cherished. In my own country (USA) Catholics seem not only to be drifting away from Mary, but from the Catholic Church of whom Mary is Mother and Model. The past and present scandals of sexual abuse are horrendous, but are only part of the problem. The Church has been growing more worldly for some time now.

Spiritual Formation in Seminaries and in Catholic Schools has been on the decline for years. As a teacher, I’ve taught in both Catholic, and Public Schools and the children have not been well served. God sent His Son through Mary the first time and He continues to send Him through Mary, but many today, like our first parents, seem to be listening to words, other than God’s Word, as Mary pondered all in her heart.

Rather than go on and on, let me quote St. John Paul II’s words from an address to the Legion of Mary in Oct., 1982:
…Where the Mother is, there too is the Son. When one moves away from the Mother, sooner or later he ends up keeping distant from the Son as well. It is no wonder that today, in various sectors of secularized society, we note a widespread crisis of faith in God, preceded by a drop in devotion to the Virgin Mother.…
Click to expand...
I’ve spoken to Pastors and I’ve written the Bishop more than once or twice. I’ve spoken to Religious Ed. Coordinators and School Principals, to Youth Leaders and to Parents, but it seems to me clergy and those in authority are “busy about many things” – the decline in Marian devotion is not a priority . There are a few among God’s clergy and people whom I am blessed to know and I thank God for them.

I take solace in remembering Jesus’s words: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Lk 12:32) 🙂 Happy, Holy Feast Day to you!
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top