Marian Devotion

  • Thread starter Thread starter SugarMagnolia
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
shondrea said:
Several years ago while cleaning the basement, my grandma and I found an odd picture. it was a rough texture on thick cardstock, worn away and brittle on the edges. It’s a dull, sepia tone picture of Mary. I liked it, and took it back up to my room and propped it up on my desk.

Well, that night, I got ready for bed, turned off my light, turned around, and nearly scared myself to death; turns out my portrait of Mary glows in the dark! XD

I love this picture. I have it framed and it’s hung above the very center over my closet.

I’m finding myself becoming very close to Mary. I don’t have a mother, she isn’t around, and never has been, but once I began reading the Catholic teachings of Mary, and realized I had a mom waiting for me in Heaven, one who loved me and wanted to see me again, I literally cried.
Click to expand...
What a sweet story shondrea! ❤️ Thanks for sharing it.
 
SugarMagnolia said:
A novena is a nine day prayer. You say the prayer every day for nine days before the feast day.
I like to light a candle when I say my novena. If you would like to say a novena, the feast of the
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin is on March 25. That means the novena begins on March 16.
Here is a prayer you can say.

Novena for the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

I greet you, Ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God, Throne of Grace,
miracle of Almighty Power!
I greet you, Sanctuary of the Most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the Universe,
Mother of Mercy and refuge of sinners!

Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness,
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you, miserable as I am,
and beg of you to obtain for me
from your dear Son the favor I request in this novena:

(make your request)

Obtain for me also, Queen of heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely those virtues
which you practiced so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all, I beg you to be my Mother and Protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children,
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.

Do not reject my petitions, Mother of Mercy!
Have pity on me, and do not abandon me during life
or at the moment of my death. Amen.
Click to expand...
Thank you!🙂 I’ll make sure to try this one.
 
I love the Blessed Mother! Even before I converted to Catholicism, I was drawn to her femininity, grace, desire to follow God’s Will…

When I came home to the Church, I found myself drawn closer to Mary. My husband proposed to me at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL (I carried her prayer card on my wedding day), and after we got married we moved from IL to FL. It was the first time I’d moved so far from home, and when I found myself really missing my family, I turned to my Heavenly Mother for comfort.

Now that I’m a mother myself, I often ask Mother Mary to pray for me and to be with me, particularly on difficult days.
 
NPalmby said:
I love the Blessed Mother! Even before I converted to Catholicism, I was drawn to her femininity, grace, desire to follow God’s Will…

When I came home to the Church, I found myself drawn closer to Mary. My husband proposed to me at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL (I carried her prayer card on my wedding day), and after we got married we moved from IL to FL. It was the first time I’d moved so far from home, and when I found myself really missing my family, I turned to my Heavenly Mother for comfort.

Now that I’m a mother myself, I often ask Mother Mary to pray for me and to be with me, particularly on difficult days.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your lovely story.
 
I have been practicing the True Devotion by St. Louis de Montfort for the past two years, but I had much difficulty understanding and living it, especially when it came to St. Louis’ admonition to do all things “With Mary, In Mary, Through Mary, For Mary.” I posted about it here and prayed to Mary to shed me light about this…and what do you know, I understood it better, little by little, through mental pictures that came to me during prayer, leisure, and work. I posted what I learned in the thread linked above, and I post it here too (with some modifications according to what I learned later on, which I highlight with blue font):
40.png
nuntym:
Stylteralmaldo,

…

Now I think (I hope!) I am understanding more what St Louis de Montfort was trying to say when he said we must do everything “With Mary, In Mary, Through Mary, For Mary,” and I found a way to remember these points through metaphors I thought about when I was re-reading the Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
  1. Through Mary
Doing everything “through Mary” is according to St Louis to “obey her always and be led in all things by her spirit, which is the Holy Spirit of God.” We should renounce our own will, spirit, and views before doing anything, and let Mary use us as she wishes.

For me, this is most akin to the Light from a Lamp or Lantern that illumines what we must do and see. Now the Light is of course the Holy Spirit, but we are all called to share this Light to all the world (Matt 5:14-16), and from all men and women, it is in the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin where It shines the brightest.
  1. With Mary
In doing everything “with Mary,” according to St Louis, we take St Mary as “as the perfect model of every virtue and perfection, fashioned by the Holy Spirit for us to imitate, as far as our limited capacity allows.” St Mary is to be our Ideal, where we look to as example of how to do things well.
  1. For Mary
To do everything “for Mary” is to “do everything for her as if we were her personal servant and slave.” Now for a time this was the most hard for me to understand, for isn’t it that we must offer all to God? St Louis cleared this up by saying: “This does not mean that we take her for the ultimate end of our service for Jesus alone is our ultimate end. But we take Mary for our proximate end, our mysterious intermediary and the easiest way of reaching him.”

In other words (at least for me) St Mary is to be our Altar where we offer all of our gifts to God, where, because of the beauty, purity and grandeur of this Altar, God will surely be pleased of our sacrifice.
  1. In Mary
When the Holy Spirit wills, we must do everything “In Mary,” so that
  1. We may be nourished with the milk of her grace and her motherly compassion.
Click to expand...
  1. We may be delivered from all anxiety, fear and scruples.
Click to expand...
  1. We may be safeguarded from all our enemies, the devil, the world and sin which have never gained admittance there. That is why our Lady says that those who work in her will not sin, that is, those who dwell spiritually in our Lady will never commit serious sin.
Click to expand...
  1. We may be formed in our Lord and our Lord formed in us, because her womb is, as the early Fathers call it, the house of the divine secrets where Jesus and all the elect have been conceived. “This one and that one were born in her.”
Click to expand...
In other words, Mary is to be our spiritual Home in this world and the next, as Jesus had lived for nine months in her womb, and for 30 years Jesus lived wherever she and St Joseph lived, and now Jesus lives in as the Ark of the Covenant in heaven.
You may have noticed the four physical metaphors I offered—Lantern, Ideal, Altar, Home—when their initials are arranged they spell “hail.” I now try say “Hail Mary!” before every decision, every action, in every moment, that I may consecrate myself to Jesus through Mary.

:signofcross:

Hail our Home! Hail our Altar! Hail our Ideal! Hail our Lantern!

Hail Mary!

:signofcross:
Click to expand...
Here is my daily (hourly? minutely? :D) prayer based on this:

Hail my Home! Grant me the strength to do what is pleasing to my Lord.
Hail my Altar! Let all that I do please my Lord.
Hail my Ideal! Teach me how to please my Lord.
Hail my Lantern! Show me what will most please my Lord.
O my Queen and Mother! Let me have but one desire: to please the Lord, my God and King, with everything I do, now and forever.
Amen.
And also, there is The Little Meditations on the Mysteries of the Rosary.

👍
 
SugarMagnolia said:
Share your favorite Marian devotions, prayers, and art.
Also welcome are your favorite books about Mary, or your
memories, thoughts, and feelings about the Blessed Virgin.❤️
Click to expand...
The wooden Rosary in my pocket
Praying it everyday
The callouses on my knees
The picture of Mary with Jesus on her lap
Her gentle eyes
His merciful look
The stillness…the quiet…

These are a few of my favorite things
 
Today is the Feast of the Annunciation. In the “Gospel of Luke,” Luke reveals how the angel Gabriel
came to the Virgin Mary, bringing her the good news that she has been chosen to be the mother of God.

*"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name
was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is
with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying,
and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not,
Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house
of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall
this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath
also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
For with God nothing shall be impossible. *

The Blessed Virgin then humbly accepts the honor which has been given to her.

*And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. *

Then, Mary goes to visit her cousin Elisabeth.

*And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered
into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the
salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she
spake out with a loud voice, and said, **Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. **
And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice
of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed:
for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. *

After this greeting from her cousin, Mary responds joyfully in what is now known as “The Canticle of Mary,” or
“The Magnificat.”

And Mary said,
My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low
estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty
hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put
down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever" (Luke 1:26-55).
 
I Agree, St Louis de Montforts “The Secret of Mary”, and “True Devotion to Mary” are very inspired writings to say the least.

I love this Prayer…

The Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone
who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help
or sought thy intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee,
O Virgin of virgins, my Mother!
To thee do I come.
before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
hear and answer me.

Amen.
 
May is the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary and May Day is Mary’s day. ❤️

How perfect then, that today is a glorious spring day with clear blue skies,
radiant sunshine, and the delightful fragrance of flowering trees from which
every gentle breeze loosens pink and white petals that flutter to the earth beneath!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top