Tag Archives: Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary’s Month

Posted on May 8, 2023 | Leave a comment

Amidst all the regular devotions to which I am… devoted(?) I almost overlooked a big one.

The month of May has traditionally been dedicated to the Blessed Mother.

Parishes had May Crownings. Trad parishes still do and, thankfully, a number of NO parishes also have revived this custom.

What a beautiful thing for us to teach our children and for us to learn from as well!

Crowning an image of the Blessed Mother is a great symbol of our love for her. Another great act of devotion for Our Blessed Lady is the prayerful recitation of the rosary – Our Lady’s Psalter. If you are not in the habit of praying the rosary, please, I beg of you, build the habit. I have heard it said that no man who truly prays the rosary every day will end up in hell. I would ask, “How could a man who is truly devoted to the Woman who is our model in all virtues ever not come to the joys of eternal life?” It seems a no-brainer.

So this month, this lovely month of May, make time for Our Blessed Mother. Spend a few moments extra each day meditating on the mysteries of the rosary. Meditate on her perfect humility. The devil hates that. He cannot stand her because her humility is the antithesis of his pride. When she is near to you, he will flee. Form the simple devotion of praying three Hail Mary’s first thing in the morning and last thing at night (and frequently throughout the day), imploring, “Oh my Mother, preserve me from mortal sin during this day!” at the end.

Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!

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First Saturday: Spare a Few Moments for Your Mother

Posted on May 6, 2023 | Leave a comment

The promises made by Our Lady to Sr. Lucia are a great consolation to us miserable sinners.

TODAY, May 6, IS THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH.

Click here for the details.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

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My Queen is Pure… Your Queens?

Posted on December 7, 2022 | Leave a comment

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

In my 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal is a prayer to be prayed after Communion. It reads in part, “I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me.” And I always pause a moment after uttering those words interiorly half wondering if the same Second Person of the Trinity Who literally just gave Himself to me will actually speak within me or perhaps if He will stir up some profound sentiment of His love within me.

This morning a thought popped into my head in that moment. The thought was this: “I have given Myself to you and thus made a tabernacle of your sinful flesh and bone.” I was overcome for a moment with deepest humility and gratitude.

And I couldn’t help but think of the greatest and first tabernacle He made for Himself – the womb of His Immaculate Mother. Logically, then, the next thought for me was this. I must always imitate the Blessed Mother.

Assumption stained glass, St. Mary of the Assumption, Fort Worth, TX

I could spend the remainder of my days on earth trying to ponder her loveliness and never scratch the surface.

I mentioned Malachi Martin in a recent post. He offered a stirring view of the particular judgment of each man that I wish to draw upon.

When He calls me… When He draws me to Himself for my day of judgment; I will gaze upon His crucified flesh and I will either run towards Him Who died for love of me, a sinner. Or I will turn and flee with deepest shame and greatest fear to the eternal fires of hell. But next to Him, beneath His cross, will be a light so pure and so radiant, that I pray it will blind me. I pray her brilliance will blind me to the evils I have committed, blind me to the bleeding wounds my sins inflicted on her baby. It is this immaculate light who’s son I put to death. it is this immaculate light who spoke to three shepherd children in Portugal. It is this immaculate light who commanded a peasant Aztec man to evangelize the New World. It was this immaculate light who stood by the cross on that Good Friday, consoling Magdalene and John.

At the same time, I hope in all sincerity that she remember the many Ave’s I offered up in this life. “Pray for us sinners… at the hour of our death.”

I pray that her radiance will reach out to me and help me advance to her Son. I pray that she literally takes me by the hand and draws me to Him! Spotless from the moment of your conception, Blessed Mother, cradle me in thy arms! Every gash on His body is rightfully mine. Wilt thou, fairest of our race, forgive me?

Queen conceived without original sin, Virgo prudentissima! Have pity on us. Hold back the arm of His wrath. Pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen!

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Why Did He Not Listen?

Posted on December 5, 2022 | Leave a comment

This evening I sat near the fire pit in my driveway, warming myself while also working my way through the plentiful devotions afforded me during this Advent. The Lord IS coming and He has given to me to keep Watch in prayer. I jokingly complain that I’m “novena’ed out” but the truth is that this is exactly what I must do – pray and pray without ceasing. Our Lord Himself gave that command.

So tonight, while praying the third day of the Guadalupe novena, I read a line that I will paraphrase (since I already put the novena books back on the shelf).

“The Blessed Mother then said to Juan Diego, ‘Go and tell the bishop of Mexico all that I have instructed you. I desire a temple built on this spot as a refuge of sinners where I may hear their afflictions and offer my consolation.’ Juan Diego replied, ‘My dearest Lady, I will do what you have commanded.’”

The humble servant, Juan Diego, immediately vowed to do what she commanded. He knew it would be difficult. He knew he would likely win no human respect. He would be laughed at and scorned. He would wear out his feet running with joy to the bishop. But he would do all for his Blessed Lady.

Humility. Devotion. Filial Love. These are the hallmarks of true charity of any good son toward his mother.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, Santa Fe, NM

Flash forward 438 years.

If what Malachi Martin recalls is even remotely correct – and we have truly no reason to believe it isn’t – Papa Roncalli opened an envelope in his apartment in the Vatican, the same quarters Bergoglio refuses to occupy because he is not the Vicar of Christ, and read the contents. The same Blessed Mother who asked Juan Diego to relay a simple request to the bishop had commanded John XXIII to reveal a new message to the world. His words are chilling.

“This is not for our time.”

When Juan carried out his duties with love and joy and faith, he was acting as a man should. The love in his heart for the Blessed Virgin shielded him from the threats of derision that would befall him if her message was not well received. He trusted her. And what isn’t to trust?

When John XXIII refused her request, he was exhibiting the most severe form of effeminacy. Fearful that his precious council would be derailed, he simply ignored the message from the Mother of Our Savior.

Juan’s actions brought about the mass evangelization of two continents. John’s actions brought about the mass apostasy from the faith worldwide.

The moral here? Listen to your mother and do not be afraid.

Virgin of Guadalupe, pray for us!

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She Bore Eternal Love

Posted on October 11, 2022 | Leave a comment

It has been a whirlwind of a few days for me. Between company going and coming and going again, and all the multiple airport runs that entails, I have been caught up in a beautiful festivity.

This day just passed was the feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Mother. This happens to be a feast on the “old” calendar that was stripped from the new. I cannot for the life of me figure out why a hierarchy that seems to detest motherhood (let alone authentic women) would want to suppress such a feast. Remember when he said our mothers needn’t “breed like rabbits”? What a vile and vulgar man…

Todays Mass from my hand missal.

I remember in seminary when our weekly rector’s conference was replaced one week by an aging couple who appeared at the pulpit in our chapel to teach us seminarians all about the joys of natural family planning. Oh they checked all the boxes of NuChurch fabulosity. They kind of reminded me of Bob and Penny Lord but without the charm. Plastered smiles and helmeted hair… Keep in mind that Aquinas was nowhere on our reading list; but NFP? They made sure we knew every in and out and, well, mostly out. It seemed to me that the number one priority of a priest was to teach couples how not to create souls for God.

My brother texted me this evening. “Did you celebrate John XXIII?” My reply, “Gross,” apparently was not what he was expecting. No, instead I started the day at the start of the day – midnight – in Adoration and singing 35 minutes of Marian hymns with other parishioners as a gift to Our Mother. I rounded out the day with my 15 decades and a sung Mass.

While I was kneeling during the canon, incense still billowing through the sanctuary, a thought came to me. Our Lord gave us this Mass because he loves us. He loves us enough to have died for us. And he loves us enough to give me – a degenerate and faithless sinner – a way to tell Him I love Him too. This Mass, this liturgy is His. It is His gift to us for it is His sacrifice but also because it is not an invention of man. Read the Fathers. Read Fortescue. Read the seers and visionaries and all the Catholic prophecies. Christ Himself showed us how to worship Him. This is in stark contrast to the New Order Mass written by Freemasons on a napkin in a cafe.

And then it really hit me. This is all possible because Mary is a mother. She was the living tabernacle of the Son of God. She suffered with Him in His sacrifice that I now kneel before. And He brought her body and soul to His glory. My Mother, your Mother is queen of Heaven and Earth because she is a mother.

Moms out there, let that sink in next time you doubt your vocation.

Mother Most Holy, pray for us!

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The Queen

Posted on September 8, 2022 | Leave a comment

No, not that one. Believe me. Enough ink will be spilled on her life and times to flood a decent sized room. And regarding her I will say this. I prayed for her soul this morning and I hope her judgment went well for her who presided over the transformation of a once-great nation into a typical post-Western den of sodo-iniquity. I’m sure she was a very nice woman.

No, I mean THE Queen – she who rules over heaven and earth. Today we celebrated the Nativity of the Blessed Mother.

Mother of Good Counsel, mosaic, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington. DC

Happy birthday, my Queen! Please obtain for me and my family from the Heart of thy Divine Son all the grace necessary to live holy lives, die happy deaths, and come to the joys of eternal bliss with thee and with Him.

I offer today my rosary in honor of your loveliness, O fairest of our race!

Lord Jesus, through the tears of Thy holy Mother Mary, have mercy on me, a sinner!

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“And From that Hour…”

Posted on August 22, 2022 | Leave a comment

Today we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a blessed feast to all of you!

I was struck by the Gospel at Holy Mass today. It was taken from John 19 – the Passion of Our Lord.

We know who stood by the cross of Jesus. Sheen tells us that Mary, Mary Magdalene, and John represent to us the “three figures ever to be found beneath the cross of Our Lord: Innocence, Penitence, and Priesthood.”

Leaving aside Magdalene for the moment… I have so many sins I could spend the rest of eternity offering penance. And I should.

High altar, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, Jersey City, NJ. Photo credit: Jon Stulich Photography (submitted by a reader and parishioner)

But let us focus just on the Mother and the Disciple whom Jesus loved. John here also represents all of us – the Church. Our Lord was giving His Mother to us to be our Mother too.

“And from that hour, the disciple took her into his home.”

Is it that simple? I believe it is. He gave her to us. She is our Mother now. And we must, especially in these times when the Church is in terrible eclipse, abandoned by all the Apostles while Our Lord’s Body writhes in agony and dies an ignominious death for us, we MUST immediately take her into our homes.

If your family’s abode is not a Marian shrine, if she is not welcomed and loved and honored; well then, I cannot help you. And for the times when that image of her Immaculate Heart on my wall was so often neglected by me as I walked past in haste, not stopping to acknowledge my loving Mother, I must learn from Magdalene, casting myself at His feet and weeping.

Mother of Fair Love, pray for us, your children!

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