#the second joyful mystery of the most holy rosary | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

angeltreasure · 3 years

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How do I pray the rosary? 💜

How to Pray the Rosary:

1. While holding the crucifix in your hand, make the Sign of the Cross, followed by reciting The Apostles’ Creed.

2. On the first bead next to the crucifix, recite the Our Father (that’s the prayer Jesus taught us to pray.)

3. On the three small beads, recite the Hail Mary for an increase of faith, hope, and charity.

4. Next on the big bead, recite the Glory Be.

5. Stay on the big bead. You must now decide which set of Mysteries you will pray on. There are four different Mysteries for the Rosary which I will color differently:

Joyful Mysteries (usually said on Monday and Saturday):

The Annunciation

The Visitation

The Nativity

The Presentation

The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

Luminous Mysteries (this is usually prayed on Thursday):

Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan

The Wedding of Cana

The Proclamation of the Kingdom

The Transfiguration of Jesus

The Institution of the Eucharist

Sorrowful Mysteries (this is usually prayed on Tuesday and Wednesday):

The Agony of the Garden

The Scourging at the Pillar

The Crowning of Thorns

The Carrying of the Cross

The Crucifixion

Glorious Mysteries (this is usually prayed on Sunday and Wednesday):

The Resurrection

The Ascension of Jesus

The Decent of the Holy Spirit

The Assumption of Mary

The Crowning of Mary

6. After you pick which Mystery you want, using the big bead you are paused on recite the first mystery. Reflect on it briefly.

7. Staying on the big bead, recite the Our Father.

8. Move upwards to choose a side you want to start on. Each set is called a decade. Keeping in the mind the first mystery. On each small bead of a decade, pray recite the Hail Mary meanwhile, meditate on the first mystery. (For example, if I wanted to pray the Glorious Mysteries rosary, I could meditate on The Resurrection for the first decade, while reciting the Hail Mary for each bead.)

9. When you are finished the tenth Hail Mary, notice there is a bead that separates the start of the second mystery. Recite the Glory Be (I like to make the sign of the cross with the crucifix when I do this) and then recite the Fatima Prayer.

10. Now you start the second mystery. Recall the second mystery, meditate on it briefly, recite the Our Father. Move onto the new set of decades and repeat the steps above until you are finished making your way around.

11. Go to the big bead. Recite Hail Holy Queen and concluding prayer. I’ve seen people do different ones but I like the Rosary Prayer {Verse) Let us pray, (Response) O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation. Grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that we may both imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.}.

12. To finish, use the crucifix to make the sign of the cross.

13. I personally like to kiss the crucifix afterwards as to say thank You to Jesus, but that’s not really required lol.

youtube

How to Pray the Rosary with Bishop Barron

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Why Pray the Rosary?

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The Power of Praying the Rosary

Those are just some of many videos that describe it. I love to follow along with Mother Angelica and her nuns. The videos made on EWTN show pictures as they pray on each mystery and really helps my visual mind stay focused. Here’s a link to one of the four:

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The Glorious Mysteries led by Mother Angelica

When you say your Rosary, don’t rush through it like you’re reading a newspaper. There is no race. It’s no contest. This is your time to develop your spirituality and holiness. Some people have trouble finishing the rosary due to its repetition, especially when tired. One of them is me if I say it before bed. It is better to meditate one or two decades than to pray nicely on one and rush the rest. Try to make each mystery like a movie in your head. Also, don’t wear the Rosary around your neck like souvenir. It must be treated with respect, as the devil sees it as a sword.

Here’s some quotes about the Rosary:

“The rosary is a means given by the Virgin for contemplating Jesus and, meditating on his life, for loving and following him always more faithfully.” - Pope Benedict XVI

“The Rosary is my favorite prayer.” - St. Pope John Paul II

“You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary." - Mary to Blessed Alan de la Roche

“The Rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful, and frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual…” - Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

““Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if—and mark well what I say—if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.” - St. Louis de Montfort

“When you say your Rosary, the angels rejoice, the Blessed Trinity delights in it, my Son finds joy in it too, and I myself am happier than you can possibly guess. After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there is nothing in the Church that I love as much as the Rosary.” - Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

There are a lot of amazing stories of the Rosary. I think my absolute favorite story of the Rosary is how it effected a man called Blessed Bartolo Longo!

Edit: I also highly recommend do not pray the Rosary while you are driving. I don’t want to hear about you dying. Keep your eyes alert at all times. (Don’t use your phone in your hands either. Texting can wait. If you have the ability to use it hands free for a phone call, then of course that is ok if you really need it.) Anyway, follow your laws and stay safe! God bless!

#asks #rosary #rosarycrusade #Catholic #Catholicism #Christian #Christianity #Mary #prayer #prayer life #reference

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apenitentialprayer · 2 years

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Stained Glass Panel with the Visitation, 1444, Middle Rhine.

Praying the Rosary with Pope John XXIII Joyful Mysteries - Second Mystery - The Visitation

What gentleness and charm in this three months’ visit made by Mary to her beloved cousin! Each of them is about to bear a child, but for the Virgin Mother this is the most sacred maternity that it is possible to imagine on earth. Their two songs mingle and respond in a sweet harmony: ‘Blessed are you among women’ [Luke 1:42] on the one hand, and on the other: ‘God my Savior has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed’ [Luke 1:48]. What takes place here, at Ain-Karim on the hill of Hebron, sheds a light, both very human and divine, on the relations that bind Christian families, brought up in the ancient tradition of the holy rosary: the rosary recited at every evening at home, in the family circle; the rosary recited not just in one or a hundred or a thousand families but by every family, by everyone, everywhere in the world, wherever there is one of us ‘suffering, fighting, praying,’ someone who has answered another call to the priesthood or to missionary service or to a dream which will turn out to be and apostolate; or wherever men are constrained by those legitimate if obligatory demands of labor or trade, military service, study, teaching or any other occupation. There's a beautiful reunion, during the ten Hail Marys of the mystery, of so many countless souls, linked together by blood or by domestic ties, in a relationship which hallows and thereby strengthens the love that binds our dearest ones together: parents and children, brothers and relations, people from the same locality, people of the same race. All this with the purpose and intention of sustaining, increasing and irradiating that universal charity, the exercise of which is the most profound joy and supreme honor of our lives.

- collected in Journal of a Soul (page 364), trans. Dorothy White

#Catholicism #Christianity #Virgin Mary #Saint Elizabeth #The Visitation #Joyful Mysteries #Pope John XXIII

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traumacatholic · 3 years

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How to pray The Chaplet of Saint Michael

The Chaplet of St. Michael is a wonderful way to honor this great Archangel along with the other nine Choirs of Angels. What do we mean by Choirs? It seems that God has created various orders of Angels. Sacred Scripture distinguishes nine such groupings: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels and Angels (Isa. 6: 2; Gen. 3: 24; Col. 1: 16; Eph. 1: 21; Rom. 8: 38). There may be more groupings but these are the only ones that have been revealed to us. The Seraphim is believed to be the highest Choir, the most intimately united to God, while the Angelic Choir is the lowest.

The history of this Chaplet goes back to a devout Servant of God, Antonia d'Astonac, who had a vision of St. Michael. He told Antonia to honor him by nine salutations to the nine Choirs of Angels. St. Michael promised that whoever would practice this devotion in his honor would have, when approaching Holy Communion, an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine Choirs. In addition, for those who would recite the Chaplet daily, he promised his continual assistance and that of all the holy angels during life, and after death deliverance from purgatory for themselves and their relations.

The salutations are each of the numbered texts. On the first salutation bead, you would pray “By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity. Amen.” before going into the Our Father:

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.“

Then on the second salutation bead you would pray the second one, and so on and so forth.

The Hail Mary is

“Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen.“

You can find a nice and brief explanation of the Hail Mary here or you can read Pope Francis’ line by line explanation here. A guide to prayer and the Hail Mary is also available in the Catechism of the Catholic Church - available online for free.

You absolutely don’t need a physical Rosary or Chaplet to pray this. You can use your fingers or some free apps like Laudate have interactive rosaries and chaplets so you can pray.

If you’re interested in learning how to pray the Holy Rosary, then I have guides to praying each of the mysteries: Joyful Mysteries, Luminous Mysteries, Sorrowful Mysteries, Glorious Mysteries

#Catholic #Catholicism #Christianity #Christian #Prayer #Catholic Resource

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pamphletstoinspire · 4 years

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November 29 - Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Beauraing.

Our Lady of Beauraing, Immaculate Virgin, bring to Jesus, your Son, all the intentions that we entrust to you today. Mother of the Golden Heart, reflection of the Father’s tenderness, look upon the men and women of our time with love and fill them with the joy of your presence. You, who promised to convert sinners, help us discover the infinite mercy of our God. Awaken within us the grace of conversion so that our lives may be a reflection of that mercy. Make every moment of our existence “a yes” to the question you ask today: “Do you love my Son? Do you love me?” Then the kingdom of Jesus will come to the world. Amen.

The world was staggering under the burdens of the catastrophic financial collapse of 1929, which led to the Great Depression in 1932. But soon after crawling out of the wreckage, the world was to be hurled once more into a devastating world war—number two—just as Our Lady of Fatima had prophesied!

Through this crucial time of self-determination—repent or be punished—Our Immaculate Mother was watching and endeavoring to lend her sweet assistance to rebellious mankind. Thus, in the Autumn of 1932, as in the Autumn of 1846, Our Lady came once again to young children. This time the country was Belgium, in the valley of Beauraing.

This time it was not to the mountains to which Our Lady came, but to the plains, and to a place which had something of beauty attached to it in the past, as its very name implies, though it was to bear an incomparable loveliness when graced by the immaculate presence of the Queen of Heaven.

Between November 29th, 1932, and January 3rd, 1933, Our Lady appeared thirty-three times to five children: Fernande, Albert, and Gilberte Voisin, and to Andrée and Gilberte Degeimbre. Although Our Lady appeared at various locations in and around the convent grounds, she appeared most of the time on a May tree—Mary’s tree! It was on a tree, also, that she appeared at Fatima, and she is said to have appeared on a tree at Heede, Germany, as well.

There is something significant about these trees on which Our Lady stood! It was through a tree, and that which grew on it, that Adam and Eve sinned, and the human race was damned forever. It was through a tree, and through Him Who hung upon it, that the same human race was Redeemed from that damnation. Now, once again, it is through a tree, and through her who stood upon it, that the sinful world is given the opportunity, and the only means, by which it can be saved from the unspeakable wrath of God at the sight of its countless sins. Many unheard-of atrocities in this world could be avoided, and as Our Lady said at Fatima, many souls could be saved from eternal damnation, if only we would do as she requested of us upon that “noble tree.”

As with Maximin at La Salette, and Francisco at Fatima, so now there appears on the scene another erstwhile skeptic; this time a grown woman, who brings with her a big stick to “knock It” with. On one occasion, Madame Degeimbre started to thrash the bushes, like poor Lucia’s mother at Fatima had thrashed her. But she also later became, like Lucia’s mother, a firm believer in the apparitions.

As at her visits to La Salette and Fatima, Our Lady appeared at Beauraing garbed in an unspeakable light, more dazzling than the sun. Here as at Fatima, she was dressed in spotless white, and both at La Salette and Beauraing she had golden rays shining around her Heart.

As Lucia had asked at Fatima, so Albert repeated here, “What do you wish?” And the first request of Our Lady was: “Always be good.” Thousands of the faithful began flocking to the place of the apparitions, and in December witnessed the children in ecstasy, much like St. Bernadette at Lourdes.

On December 29th, Our Lady appeared, opened her arms and revealed on her breast a Heart of Gold. Her actions were reminiscent of her apparition on June 13, 1917, when she revealed to the Fatima children her Immaculate Heart, surrounded by terrible thorns, which, they were told, were placed there by our sins and blasphemies.

On December 30th, in addition to showing her Heart to three of the children, Our Lady said: “Pray. Pray very much.” On January 1 she said to Gilberte Voisin: “Pray always.” On January 2, she said: “Tomorrow I will speak to each one of you separately.”

A great crowd was on hand for what was to be the final appearance, January 3rd, 1933. After two decades of the Rosary, four of the children gave a joyful shout and fell to their knees. Fernande sobbed because she could not see the vision.

Our Lady gave three of the children a secret, which they never divulged. To one she also promised: “I will convert sinners.” Upon saying “goodbye” to the fourth child, she said: “I am the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven. Pray always.” She then showed the Heart of Gold as she disappeared.

Fernande remained kneeling while the other children went inside the convent to answer questions. Suddenly Our Lady appeared to her and asked: “Do you love my Son? Do you love me?” When Fernande answered “yes” to both questions, Our Lady added: “Then sacrifice yourself for me.” Again she showed her Golden Heart and disappeared, saying: “Goodbye.”

Here again, as the world was rushing to its destruction in the Second World War, Our Lady came at the eleventh hour, to call men back to God, through sacrifice, penance, and prayer!

Tragically, men refused to listen to the Mother of Eternal Wisdom, and men went forward erecting their flimsy temples to false peace and worldly pleasure. Thus, the chastisements came, just as she had predicted. War! The punishment for the sins of mankind! Many priests were martyred: 11,000 were slain by the Communists in Spain alone. Many homes were destroyed, many people were killed, just as she had foretold at Fatima, where she also said that “most of those who die in war go to Hell.”

Hell! A terrifying word; a word which we are told by the Saints to consider daily, but which most so-called Catholics, at the Devil’s suggestion, put out of their minds entirely. Many of them, in fact, following the heresy of the Modernists, don’t even believe that Hell exists! Ah, would that they could, like St. Teresa of Avila or Sister Josefa Menendez, go down into Hell but for a moment or two, and see the countless numbers of apparently “good” people suffering there forever in endless hate, unspeakable rage, and despair. If they could see, as Josefa did, a young girl going down to Hell and cursing her parents the while, because they had permitted her to read suggestive and immoral books!

No wonder Our Lady wept at La Salette! No wonder she opened the earth at Fatima and showed the children a horrifying vision of Hell, and told them, as Our Lord Himself declared in Scripture, that most human beings go there! No wonder the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady is wrenched with sorrow, pierced with thorns and bleeding! But because she is our Mother, the Mother given to us by Jesus from the Cross, she continues her miraculous warnings, to save her little ones from this unimaginable eternity of pain, separated from the infinite Good for which we were created.

So urgent was (is!) the need, and so short the time, that from thence onward, Our Lady began to come much more frequently and with shorter intervals between. The next year was an extra Holy Year, and in that Year, only a few days after her visit to Beauraing, Our Lady appeared again in Belgium, this time at Banneux. Some time later she would come to Heede and then to Marienfried.

OUR LADY TO FERNANDE VOISIN, JANUARY 3, 1933

IN 1932 ALBERT VOISIN was a lively boy of eleven with a fifteen-year-old sister, Fernande. One November evening they called for their friends Andree and Gilberte Degeimbre and made their way to the convent school in their small home town of Beauraing to collect another friend, Gilberte Voisin, at the end of the evening study.

As they waited at the school door Albert suddenly cried out, “Look, the Virgin Mary is walking over the railway bridge!” He was a notorious prankster, so the girls took no notice. But Albert assured them he was not joking. When at last they turned to look, they saw a woman in white strolling through the air above the bridge and the convent garden. The children were afraid and hammered at the door.

Sister Valeria came to the door with Gilberte Voisin. Gilberte looked towards the bridge and she too saw the apparition, but the nun saw nothing and told the children to go home. When she reported the alleged vision to Mother Theophile, the Superior, she was scolded for her credulity. The frightened children ran home to their respective parents, who were deeply skeptical and sent them to bed in disgrace for lying.

+ A SECOND APPARITION

The following day the children were at the convent school as usual to collect Gilberte Voisin when the apparition reappeared. Strangely, the youngsters were not frightened this time. Again they tried to convince Madame Germaine Degeimbre, but without success. She advised Hector Voisin that in future he should collect his daughter from school himself if the two families were not to be held up to ridicule all over the town.

The next evening, at about six o’clock, the Degeimbre children wanted to go to the convent again in the hope that the Virgin would appear. Their mother refused at first, but then she had second thoughts: what if someone was playing a practical joke on the children? She decided to accompany them and get to the bottom of the mystery. Other neighbors joined the group and they all set off for the convent. The children ran ahead and the adults heard their cries of delight: “She is here! She is here again!”

This time the vision appeared on the walkway between the garden and the convent door. Later the children reported that the Virgin was standing three feet above the ground. She wore a white dress and her hands were clasped in a gesture of prayer. Then she opened her arms to welcome them before vanishing. The adults saw nothing.

Later that night, Germaine decided to conduct further investigations on her own. Convinced that the children were not telling lies, she felt someone must be deceiving them with reflections or mirrors. The children begged to be allowed to go with her, and, when they were about to leave the garden, they saw the Lady in the hawthorn. And when they reached the convent they fell to their knees and began reciting the Ave Maria. Germaine walked towards the spot on which their eyes were fixed, but Andree Degeimbre warned her mother not to go further for fear of offending the Virgin. After a few moments the apparition vanished, and the distraught children cried. Germaine and the other adults then made a thorough search of the garden for the supposed trickster, but found no one.

In school the next day, Mother Theophile addressed all the children severely and said there was to be no talk of “visions”. Meanwhile, Madame Degeimbre and Madame Voisin had been to see the parish priest, Father Leon Lambert. The priest said that during Mass on December 8 he would pray for clarification: were the children being duped or was the Blessed Virgin truly visiting them?

+ WE WILL BE GOOD!

The following evening Mother Theophile padlocked the garden gate and let dogs loose in the yard as a further disincentive to the curious. Undeterred, the children went along as usual, followed by a small group of interested adults. Again the Virgin appeared and the young visionaries fell to their knees. The girls were silent but Albert asked them, “Is this the Blessed Virgin?” The Virgin nodded affirmatively, so he added, “What is it you want with us?” Then the girls spoke in chorus, as if in answer to a voice which they alone had heard: “Yes, we will always be good.” After this the vision disappeared.

On Sunday, December 4 the children went again to the convent school at about 6:30 in the evening. This time they took with them a little boy who had polio and a blind uncle of the Degeimbre girls. Again they asked the vision to declare unambiguously whether she was the Blessed Virgin or not. Later they reported that she had nodded her head. They then asked her to heal the two sick people they had brought with them. There was no apparent response.

They returned again on the 5th, and this time the accompanying group had grown into a crowd. Albert asked the Virgin for some sign to convince the adults that the vision was authentic. On the following day, December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas, the Virgin appeared holding a rosary and the children at once began to recite it. The Virgin asked them to return on the Thursday, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Word of the apparitions had spread throughout Belgium, and on Thursday twelve thousand people turned up. This time the children went into an ecstatic trance during which they were subjected to investigation by doctors who were interested in abnormal psychological states. One Dr. Lurquin lit a match and held it under Gilberte Voisin’s hand. She uttered no cry of pain, and later examination revealed no burn mark. The doctor also nipped and pinched the children, but drew no response.

In the following days not every child saw or heard the same phenomena, and so discrepancies and confusion arose. As a result Mother Theophile suspected that the Devil was involved, so on Christmas Eve she fastened a medallion of St. Benedict to the tree in the garden where the Lady had appeared. The apparitions briefly ceased.

+ PRAY VERY MUCH

They resumed again on December 27, when the Virgin told the children, “My last appearance will happen quite soon now.” On the 29th nine thousand pilgrims arrived in the hope of receiving a miraculous sign. That evening, Fernande Voisin claimed to have seen the Virgin reveal a golden heart radiating heavenly light. She alone saw this phenomenon, which made the subsequent interrogations even more ill-tempered. The youngsters were constantly interviewed and cross-examined by doctors and officials until they were tired out. On December 30, Fernande and Gilberte Voisin and Andree Degeimbre claimed they had seen the luminous golden heart; but only Fernande said she had heard the Lady say, “Pray very much.”

On January 3, 1933, thirty-five thousand pilgrims made the journey to Beauraing. The children at once went into an ecstatic trance and began to pray the Ave Maria in unnaturally high-pitched tones. Each child received a private message from the Virgin; they were all deeply touched and wept openly—–all except Fernande, to whom the Lady had not appeared that evening. She was heartbroken.

Fernande knelt by the gate and began praying the rosary desperately. At that moment there was a brilliant flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. It was apparent from the look on Fernande’s face that she could see the Virgin once again. After this the visions ended.

+ BLESSINGS AND CURES

Enthusiasm for the visionaries’ story competed with a mood of skepticism, so that controversy raged throughout Belgium. In May 1933 the Bishop of Namur set up a committee to evaluate the visions. Then came the first reports of cures and blessings. A young girl, Pauline Dereppe, was healed of a severe bone disease after praying at Beauraing. A middle-aged woman, Madame Van Laer, was cured of her tuberculosis. As the news spread, the number of pilgrims increased phenomenally: there were two and a half million in 1933 alone.

All the children survived into adulthood, married and raised children. Albert became a missionary schoolmaster in the Belgian Congo. It was not until 1949 that the findings of the committee of inquiry into the apparitions at Beauraing were made public. The Bishop declared, “The Commission has thoroughly studied the events and we are convinced of the supernatural character of the visions.”

+ VISITING THE SHRINE

At the north-west end of the church is the Garden of the Hawthorn, marking the place where Our Lady first appeared to the children. This is also the site of the Railway Bridge. A lovely statue of the Virgin in Carrara marble stands to greet you. Two miraculous cures were officially recorded here: those of Maria Van Laer and Madeleine Acar. Here too are the very paving stones where the visionaries fell to their knees. Under the podium is the Crypt of St. John, which contains a beautiful statue of Our Lady as well as stations of the Cross by Max Van Der Linden.

Don’t leave without visiting the Votive Chapel and the commemorative stone to the pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II on 18 May 1985. Proceed through the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, where Mass is celebrated daily, to the Monumental Arch under which is the Altar to the Queen of Heaven.

At the head of the nave is the Upper Church which is reached by a stairway [there is a ramp for wheelchairs]. On the right is a silhouette entitled The Mother of God, traced by Maurice Rocher and realized in ceramics by Alice van der Gaast. Under the Upper Church you find the Rosary Church with the ceramics of the Mysteries of the Rosary by Max Van Der Linden and also the metal stations of the Cross by the Swiss artist Willi Buck.

Between the shrine steps and the Town Hall is the Marian Museum, which displays souvenirs of the apparitions including clothing Worn by the visionaries themselves. Each year tens of thousands visit the chapel built near the little convent school. Beauraing has become one of the best-loved of all the shrines of Our Lady.

On 21/22 of August each year an international pilgrimage takes place and the anniversary of the apparition is celebrated on November 29.

The Beauraing cemetery contains the tombs of Andree Degeimbre and Fernande Voisin.

#our lady of beauring

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years

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7th October >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on

Luke 1:26-38 for The Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

And

Luke 11:1-4 for Wednesday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time.

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 1:26-38

'I am the handmaid of the Lord'

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Gospel (USA)

Luke 1:26-38

You will conceive in your womb and bear a son.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Reflections (3)

(i) Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Today we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Catechism of the Church refers to the rosary as ‘the epitome of the whole gospel’. The Rosary invites us to reflect on the great mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Luke in his gospel presents Mary as a reflective person. In the second chapter of his gospel, in response to the words of the shepherds, Luke says of her that she ‘treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart’. Again, in response to the words her twelve year old child spoke in the temple, Luke says of Mary that she ‘treasured all these things in her heart’. Luke presents Mary as a contemplative person, reflecting deeply on all that was happening in her life. To that extent, she embodies the attitude of mind and heart that we are invited to bring to the praying of the Rosary. In praying that prayer, we too treasure and ponder upon the key moments in the journey of Jesus in this world and from this world to the Father. Mary not only pondered on what God was doing in the words and deeds of her Son, but she gave herself over to what God was doing in her own life, as shown by her response to the visit of Gabriel in today’s gospel reading, ‘Let it be to me according to your word’. As we ponder on the great mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we too will hear the call to give ourselves over more fully to God’s purpose for our lives as Mary did. Mary teaches us that our contemplating the word of the gospel is to find expression in the doing of that word, in allowing God’s word to shape us.

And/Or

(ii) Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

The Rosary has been a very important prayer in the prayer life of the church for many centuries. It is a prayer which invites us to reflect on the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and on the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as well as on Mary in glory. The two readings this morning present us with two of the mysteries we reflect on in the Rosary. The gospel reading is the first Joyful Mystery, the annunciation to Mary. The first reading is the beginning of the story of Pentecost; the disciples are in continuous prayer, together with Mary the mother of Jesus and other members of Jesus’ family as they wait for the coming of the Spirit. In the gospel reading, Mary is told by Gabriel that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and so the child to be born of her will be holy and will be called Son of God. It could be said that Gabriel announces Mary’s personal Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was needed at this moment of crucial new beginning. The first reading reflects another moment of new beginning, the beginning of the church. Again the Holy Spirit is needed at this second moment of new beginning, and, once again, this second moment involves Mary. Having had her own personal Pentecost, she is present at the Pentecost of the whole community of believers. There are always moments of new beginning in our own lives. Regardless of where we are on our life’s journey, the Lord is always calling us to make some new beginning. The same Holy Spirit is given to us as our resource at each of our own moments of new beginning, as he was given to Mary and the early church. As we set out on whatever new beginning we are making, no matter how small, we can confidently pray, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart’.

And/Or

(iii) Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

October has been traditionally the month of the Rosary. When I visited one of the First Holy Communion classes during the week, the teacher invited the children to show me the Rosary rings that they had made. This is a little ring with ten beads on it, made out of various materials, representing one decade of the Rosary. The two readings for today’s Mass reflect two of the fifteen traditional mysteries of the Rosary. The first reading is linked to the third glorious mystery, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The eleven disciples were gathered in prayer, along with several women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus and other members of Jesus’ family. It was in that context of prayer that the Holy Spirit came down upon them all. The first reading is the first joyful mystery, the annunciation to Mary of the birth of Jesus, her son and God’s Son. Mary is told by the angel Gabriel that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and, as a result, her child will be called Son of God. Through the coming of the Holy Spirit on Mary, Jesus was conceived and born. Through the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, including Mary, at Pentecost, the church was born. Through the working of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, we are continually reborn as sons and daughters of God, and brothers and sisters of Jesus. Saint Paul, in his letter to the Romans, tells us that the Spirit is given to us to help us in our weakness, because we do not know how to pray as we ought. We need the Spirit to pray as God desires us to pray. Whether we pray the Rosary or pray in some other form, our opening prayer needs to be, ‘Come Holy Spirit, help me in my weakness; empower me to pray as God desires me to pray’.

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Wednesday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 11:1-4

How to pray

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’

He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:

‘“Father, may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come;

give us each day our daily bread,

and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test.”’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 11:1-4

Lord, teach us to pray.

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins

for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,

and do not subject us to the final test.”

Reflections (3)

(i) Wednesday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Prayer can take many different forms for all of us. Sometimes our prayer is quite informal. We talk to the Lord as if to a friend expressing spontaneously to him what is in our heart. Such prayer can be deeply personal. The old catechism spoke of prayer as the lifting up of the mind and heart to God. In this kind of spontaneous prayer we lift up all that is in our mind and heart to God. We reveal ourselves as we are, with great freedom, trusting that God wants us to be ourselves before him. There are other times, however, when we are glad to be given a prayer to pray rather than having to pray spontaneously ourselves. We look for guidance in how to pray. That is what we find the disciples doing in today’s gospel reading, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’. Jesus did not always find his disciples such willing pupils, but on this occasion their question revealed a great openness of heart to what Jesus might have to teach them about prayer. In response to their request, Jesus gave them an actual prayer to say, which is itself a teaching on how to pray. Jesus’ prayer is addressed to God as Father. The Father of Jesus is also our Father, because we have come to share in Jesus’ own relationship with God. In this prayer, Jesus teaches us to begin our prayer by surrendering to God’s purpose for our lives and the life of the world. We pray not to promote our own kingdom but to open ourselves to the coming of God’s kingdom. This was the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, ‘not my will but yours be done’. In this prayer, Jesus teaches us to also ask on behalf of ourselves. However, we are to ask for what we need and not just for want we want. What do we need according to Jesus? We need the daily sustenance that only God can provide; we need forgiveness for our sins and a willingness to pass on the forgiveness we receive to others; we need the Lord’s strengthening presence when our faith and the values that flow from it are being put to the test. Here indeed is both a prayer to be prayed and a rich teaching on how to pray.

And/Or

(ii) Wednesday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Luke immediately follows the passage of the visit of Jesus to Mary and Martha’s house with the passage which is today’s gospel reading. Mary’s prayerful listening to the Lord’s wordgives way to the prayer of Jesus. Luke tells us that he ‘was in a certain place praying’. Jesus’ prayer in turn evokes the desire to pray in the heart of one of his disciples, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’. We all recognize our need of a wise guide when it comes to prayer. In response to that request, Jesus gives his disciples a lesson on how to petition God. The prayer of listening is one form of prayer; the prayer of petition is another. We all feel the need to ask God for something from time to time. Jesus’ teaching suggests that our prayer of petition should focus first on what God wants, ‘your name be held holy, your kingdom come’. All our requests are subject to that fundamental request that God’s kingdom would come and God’s will be done among us. Then Jesus suggests what it is we really need as his followers and, therefore, need to ask for, namely, forgiveness for our sins, sustenance for the day, God’s help when our faith is put to the test. Those petitions are to take priority over all others, and, by implication, all other petitions are in some way to derive from those fundamental ones. The prayer that Jesus gave his disciples is itself a lesson on how to pray.

And/Or

(iii) Wednesday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In yesterday’s gospel reading Mary was commended for her prayerful listening to the word of the Lord. Jesus himself was a person of prayer, while leading a very active life. The gospels suggest that he often went away to a lonely place to pray. His own prayerfulness inspired his disciples with a desire to become people of prayer, like himself, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’. The disciples seemed to recognize that if they were to pray they would need the Lord’s help. Prayer is not just a human activity; it is the Lord’s activity in us, through the Spirit. The disciples’ request is, in itself, a valuable prayer, ‘Lord teach us to pray’ or to express that prayer in different words, ‘Lord, help me to pray; Lord, pray within me’. The ‘Our Father’ has been rightly called the ‘Lord’s prayer’ because it is a prayer that the Lord himself has given us. The prayer begins with a focus on God and on God’s purposes for our lives and the world, and it then shifts to a focus on our primary needs as human beings and the Lord’s disciples. There is a pattern there that is valid for all of our prayer. We attend first to God and to whatever God desires and then to our needs before God.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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lawrenceop · 4 years

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Holy Land Retrospective - Day 2

Reminder: clicking on the link for each photo (links are all in red text) will take you to the Flickr page where you can see the photo in larger sizes. Start with DAY 1, or read on!

PHOTO 4: Here at Gethsemane, in the place of the olive press, at the foot of the Mount of Olives is the ‘Church of All Nations’ where our Lord was pressed down by the sins and burdens of humanity. Within this church is an area of rock where Our Lord knelt and prayed in agony on the night before he was betrayed. And on this rock is the altar where we celebrated Holy Mass; the principal celebrant was Fr Donald Calloway MIC. Throughout the Mass, those pilgrims who were seated at the front were touching the rock, some placing their Rosaries on it, and some in tears. The sorrows and needs of the many are rightly expressed here for in this place the Lord underwent the agonies of all humanity ranged across all of time.

So the letter to the Hebrews says: “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.” (Heb 5:7) These words are inscribed in Latin beneath the mosaic on the facade of the church: Christ kneels before the Father, offering up prayers and supplications, suffering in his own body for the sake of humanity. And we see ranged on either side of Jesus representatives of all of Mankind, brought low by sin and the consequences of original sin: Because of the sin of Adam, Man is now subject to death, war, pestilence, ignorance, and suffering. (cf Gen 3:16-19) But the merciful immortal God assumed our humanity, our mortal condition, even, in the person of Jesus Christ. Thus God, through the human nature of Christ, is able to suffer as we do, even though he is innocent of all sin. And he, who is the second Adam, freely chose to suffer even the ignominy of the Cross for our sake so as to free us from the most profound effect of sin, which is death. So Pope St Leo the Great said:

“God’s compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died, not for the righteous or the holy but for the wicked and the sinful, and, though the divine nature could not be touched by the sting of death, he took to himself, through his birth as one of us, something he could offer on our behalf. The power of his death once confronted our death. In the words of Hosea the prophet: Death, I shall be your death; grave, I shall swallow you up. By dying he submitted to the laws of the underworld; by rising again he destroyed them. He did away with the everlasting character of death so as to make death a thing of time, not of eternity. As all die in Adam, so all will be brought to life in Christ.”

Here, in this place of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus manifested his will to suffer and die in order to “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." (Apoc 21:4)

PHOTO 5: Every Good Friday, the Passion is sung according to Dominican chant in our priories, and since 2005 I have sung the part of the Evangelist who begins with these words: “Jesus went forth with his disciples across the Kidron valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.” (Jn 18:1) These steps mark a route, dating to the time of Jesus, that would lead from the site of the Upper Room on Mount Zion (where the Last Supper took place) down into the Kidron valley, and across to the Garden of Gethsemane; these steps run just along the periphery of the house of Caiaphas the High Priest where Peter denied his Master. As I stood here contemplating the view – the Kidron valley down below, and the Mount of Olives in the distance – I heard the music of the Passion, and this year when I sang those lines again, this scene flashed through my mind.

PHOTO 6: Beneath the white structure on the right, which is shaped like the lid of a jar and continually cooled by jets of water, lie the first seven scrolls of the Bible discovered at Qumran in 1947, the “Dead Sea Scrolls”. Called ‘The Shrine of the Book’, it is part of the Israel Museum where we also viewed a wonderful model of Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple. The model helped us to locate and situate the events of Jesus’s Passion and Resurrection in relation to the geography and orientation of the holy city; the ancient scrolls of Scripture helped us to situate Jesus, the living Word of God made flesh, in the context of the culture and sacred history into which he was born.

“Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.””– Luke 4:20-21.

Photographically, I liked the contrast of the smoothly curved modern surface of the Shrine juxtaposed with the deeply-carved curls and swirls of the ancient capital in the foreground. It spoke to me of the antiquity of the lands we were in and its history and culture that continued into the present time.

PHOTO 7: Barely fifteen minutes from the Israel Museum is the village of Ein Karem, the ‘Spring of the Vineyard’ where St John the Baptist was born. The village is nestled in verdant hills, in the “hill country” of Judah as St Luke describes it (cf Lk 1:39). We prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary as we climbed up to the church of the Visitation. It was to this place that Mary went with haste after St Gabriel had left her. It was here that the infant John was sanctified in the womb by the Holy Spirit; here that the baby leapt with joy as the Redeemer in the womb drew near; here that the two cousins met and the ‘Magnificat’ was first sung. To honour this, I sang the Magnificat outside the church. In the crypt of this church is this well which many believe is where the Visitation took place, a well near the house of Zechariah where the Baptist was born, and also a well that Our Lady would have come to daily to draw water. At this place, therefore, Mary, who might well be called the well of salvation from whom the living waters of the Saviour was drawn, came to draw the waters of Ein Kerem.

The name ‘Ein Kerem’ is fitting, for the waters of the spring, which bubble up in this place of many wells, are indicative of fecundity and new life. For it is here, in the person of St John and his parents, St Elizabeth and St Zechariah, that God’s vineyard, Israel, learns of the coming of the Saviour who refreshes it. But not only Israel but the whole of God’s creation is renewed and made fruitful by the coming of Christ, so that from henceforth, all may now drink of the new wine of divinity that unites Man to God. (cf Jn 2:10-11)

O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water. – Ps 63:2

PHOTO 8: A particular joy and privilege of staying in Jerusalem throughout this pilgrimage, and being so close to the Holy Sepulchre, meant that I could visit this place, the centre of the world, every day. So, almost every evening, I rushed straight from dinner to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The doors would shut at 9pm, so I usually had just under an hour to explore the church, to enjoy the relative calm of the evening when the hordes of pilgrims and tourists had gone home, and to sit and pray in the shadows. Looking down from Calvary just before the doors are shut, this is where the entrance to the church is located, and here is the stone of anointing surrounded by pilgrims who are kissing it, touching crosses and Rosaries and handkerchieves to it, and kneeling in silent prayer.

I love this church because all of Christian history and cultures and peoples, with their rich diversity and confusing variety – and our disagreements, too – seem to converge on this sacred place. It is fragrant with the smell of incense, burning wax, and sooty olive oil, and it embodies the antiquity of the Christian Faith. Above all, it reminds me that Christianity did not originate in the West, and is not our possession, even if the Vicar of Christ ended up in Rome. Rather, in a sense, Christianity belongs here or at least it has its roots here, in the exotic ‘Middle East’, which comes alive with keening Byzantine chant, bearded monks in long black robes, and the hubbub of languages more ancient than Latin. For many centuries the universal Church looked to Jerusalem and its liturgies and rites for inspiration, for here, in the church of the Holy Sepulchre was the central focal point of the one true Faith, and thus, the centre of the world. During my one week in Jerusalem, how could I fail to come here daily and stand atop Calvary and beside the Empty Tomb?

How good and how pleasant it is, when brothers live in unity! It is like precious oil upon the head running down upon the beard, running down upon Aaron's beard, upon the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the heights of Zion. For there the Lord gives his blessing, life for ever. – Psalm 133.

Tomorrow: Nazareth and Mount Tabor.

#Holy Land #retrospective #reflection #travelogue #faith #pilgrimage #photos

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pope-francis-quotes · 4 years

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26th April >> (@VaticanNews) #PopeFrancis As #Pope Francis invites everyone to pray the #Rosary throughout May, we explore the dedication of various Popes through the centuries to this ancient devotion.

The Popes and the Rosary

This May, during the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis has invited the faithful to renew their love for the Most Holy Rosary, a prayer fully immersed in the Gospel. In this article, Vatican News looks at the dedication of various Popes throughout the centuries to this ancient devotion.

John Charles Putzolu

It is necessary to go back to the 15th century to Pope Sixtus IV to find when the Rosary was officially approved by the Catholic Church. The practice probably originated with the Cistercians in the two previous centuries as an aid for illiterate people. The recitation of prayers and psalms in succession, gradually became a series of 150 Hail Marys. Greeting Mary so many times was compared to offering her a wreath of roses, the “Rosary”.

The Rosary over two centuries

Promoted by the Dominicans in the 15th century, the Rosary took the form of a meditation on the life of Christ, while the Our Father and the Hail Marys were recited. In the 16th century, the Dominican theologian, Antonio Ghislieri, who became Pope St Pius V, structured the Rosary around 15 mysteries. On 7 October 1571, he instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

John Paul II in 2002 completed the Rosary with five new mysteries: The Luminous Mysteries were added to the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries.

Between 1571 and 2002, the Popes never ceased to encourage the recitation of the Rosary. In September 1893, in the Encyclical Laetitiae sanctae, Leo XIII stated that he was “convinced that the Rosary, if devoutly used, is bound to benefit not only the individual but society at large”, whose evils he denounced at the dawn of the second Industrial Revolution, which was deepening the imbalance between the social classes.

Prayer in difficult times

Pius XI foresaw the wave of National Socialism (Nazism) and Stalinism coming. In 1937, two years before the beginning of the Second World War, in his Encyclical Ingravescentibus malis, he observed that if the people of the twentieth century, “with its derisive pride, refuse the Rosary, there is an innumerable multitude of holy men of every age and every condition who have always held it dear”. He addresses the faithful, asking them to recite the Rosary at home so that “the enemies of the divine name (...) may be finally bent and led to penance and return to the straight path, trusting to the care and protection of Mary”.

Pius XI added: “The Holy Rosary, besides, not only serves admirably to overcome the enemies of God and Religion, but is also a stimulus and spur to the practice of evangelic virtues which it injects and cultivates in our souls”.

John XXIII recites the Rosary for new-borns

On May 4, 1963, while the Church was engaged in the Second Vatican Council, St John XXIII welcomed the first Italian Living Rosary pilgrimage, during which “Good Pope John” met many sick children. “You are dear to us, like the apple of our eyes,” the Supreme Pontiff said to them. “You are dear to us above all because, with the natural liveliness of your years, you are little children who pray,” he told them. He praised their “commitment to recite at least one decade of the Holy Rosary every day,” adding that a day without prayer is like “a sky without sun, a garden without flowers”.

Already in 1961, an attachment to the Apostolic Letter Il religioso convegno, noted that St John, in his daily Rosary, prayed for babies born in the past 24 hours, as he recited the third decade of the Joyful mysteries. He offered the “ten Hail Marys” in order to “recommend to Jesus all children born (...) from all human lineages, who, (...) by night, by day, have come into the world on the whole surface of the earth”.

In the Encyclical Grata recordatio of 1959, John XXIII encouraged daily recitation of the Rosary, affirming that the Rosary is an excellent means of meditative prayer, which, he said, “We never fail to recite it each day in its entirety”. He invited the faithful to pray the Rosary for the upcoming Ecumenical Council (Vatican II) and for “the renewed vigour of all the Christian virtues” expected of the Church.

In the wake of the Council, Pope St Paul VI dedicated an Apostolic Exhortation entitled Marialis cultus to Marian veneration in which he “intended to encourage the restoration, in a dynamic and more informed manner, of the recitation of the Rosary”. He also emphasized “the importance of a further essential element in the Rosary, in addition to the value of the elements of praise and petition, namely the element of contemplation. Without this the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas”. St Paul VI goes on “to recommend strongly the recitation of the family Rosary”.

John Paul II’s favourite prayer

St. John Paul II, who himself was deeply devoted to the Virgin Mary (Totus Tuus was his episcopal motto), encouraged the recitation of the Rosary many times during the 27 years of his pontificate. In 2002 he published an Apostolic Letter dedicated specifically to the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. In it, he described the Rosary as a prayer which “in the sobriety of its elements” concentrates “all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety”, and through which “the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer”. St John Paul II explains that in his youth he always gave an important place to this prayer, which was his favourite. He had already confessed this in 1978 two weeks after his election. It was in this Letter that he proclaimed the year of the Rosary from October 2002 to October 2003, inviting the faithful to “contemplate with Mary the face of Christ”.

At the dawn of the third millennium, the Polish Pope stressed “the urgent need to counter a certain crisis of the Rosary, which in the present historical and theological context can risk being wrongly devalued, and therefore no longer taught to the younger generation”. Concerned then by the critical situation of the family “increasingly menaced by forces of disintegration on both the ideological and practical planes”, he proposed the Rosary as “an effective aid to countering the devastating effects of this crisis typical of our age”.

The New Springtime of the Rosary

Benedict XVI, too, wished to revitalize the recitation of the Rosary: “The Holy Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thought of with nostalgia,” he said at the end of his prayer at the Roman Basilica of Saint Mary Major on 3 May 2008. “Instead, the Rosary is experiencing a new Springtime”, he said. “Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary. In the current world, so dispersive, this prayer helps to put Christ at the centre”.

Three years earlier, in a Message to young Catholics in the Netherlands, he wrote that “The recitation of the Rosary can help you learn the art of prayer with Mary's simplicity and depth”. During an Audience in May 2006, Benedict XVI invited the faithful “to intensify the pious practice of the Holy Rosary”. He said to young spouses: “I wish you may make use of the recitation of the Rosary in your family as a moment of spiritual growth under the maternal gaze of the Virgin Mary”. Speaking to the sick, he urged them “to turn with trust to Our Lady through this pious exercise, entrusting to her all of your needs”.

Again, difficult times

In October 2018, Pope Francis asked all the faithful to pray the Rosary every day, so that the Virgin Mary may help the Church in a period marked by “the revelation of sexual abuse, power and conscience on the part of clerics, consecrated persons and lay people, causing internal divisions”.

Today Francis renews this invitation on the eve of the Marian month in 2020, in order to contemplate together “the face of Christ with the heart of Mary”. Praying the Rosary “will make us even more united as a spiritual family and will help us overcome this time of trial”, writes the Holy Father as he assures everyone, and especially “those suffering most greatly”, of his prayer.

Topics

POPE FRANCIS

PRAYER

VIRGIN MARY

CATHOLIC CHURCH

25th April 2020, 15:31

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piouscatholic · 3 years

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Sixth & Last Apparition of Our Lady

OCTOBER 13, 1917

As on the other occasions, the seers, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, first saw a bright light, and then they saw Our Lady over the holm oak.

Lucia:

What does Your Grace wish of me?

Our Lady:

I wish to tell you that I want a chapel built here in my honor.

I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue to pray the rosary every day.

The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.

Lucia:

I have many things to ask you: if you would cure some sick persons, and if you would convert some sinners...

Our Lady: Some yes, others no. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.

Becoming sadder, she added, “Let them offend Our Lord no more for He is already much offended.”

Then, opening her hands, Our Lady shone the light issuing from them onto the sun, and as she rose, her own radiance continued to be cast onto the sun.

At that moment, Lucia cried,

"Look at the sun!"

Once Our Lady had disappeared in the expanse of the firmament, three scenes followed in succession, symbolizing first the joyful mysteries of the rosary, then the sorrowful mysteries, and, finally, the glorious mysteries.

Lucia alone saw the three scenes; Francisco and Jacinta saw only the first.

The first scene:

Saint Joseph appeared beside the sun with the Child Jesus and Our Lady of the Rosary. It was the Holy Family. The Virgin was dressed in white with a blue mantle. Saint Joseph was also dressed in white, and the Child Jesus in light red.

Saint Joseph blessed the crowd, making the Sign of the Cross three times.

The Child Jesus did the same.

The second scene:

A vision of Our Lady of Sorrows, without the sword in her breast, and of Our Lord overwhelmed with sorrow on the way to Calvary.

Our Lord made the Sign of the Cross to bless the people.

Lucia could only see the upper part of Our Lord's body.

The third scene:

Finally, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned queen of heaven and earth, appeared in a glorious vision holding the Child Jesus near her heart.

While these scenes took place, the great throng of 70,000 spectators witnessed the miracle of the sun.

It had rained all during the apparition.

At the end of the conversation between Our Lady and Lucia – when the Blessed Virgin rose and Lucia shouted,

"Look at the sun!" – the clouds parted, revealing the sun as an immense silver disk shining with an intensity never before seen – though not blinding.

This lasted only an instant.

Then the immense disk began to "dance."

The sun spun rapidly like a gigantic circle of fire.

Then it stopped momentarily, only to begin spinning vertiginously again.

Its rim became scarlet; whirling, it scattered red flames across the sky.

Their light was reflected on the ground, on the trees, on the bushes, and on the faces and clothing of the people, which took on brilliant hues and changing colors.

After performing this bizarre pattern three times, the globe of fire seemed to tremble, shake, and then plunge in a zigzag toward the terrified crowd.

All this lasted about ten minutes.

Finally, the sun zigzagged back to its original place and once again became still and brilliant, shining with its normal brightness.

The cycle of the apparitions had ended.

Many people noticed that their clothes, soaking wet from the rain, had suddenly dried.

The miracle of the sun was also seen by numerous witnesses up to twenty-five miles away from the place of the apparition.

The Fatima apparitions were:

"without doubt, the most prophetic of all modern apparitions."

— Pope Benedict XVI

#AmericaNeedsFatimaOrg

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stjohncapistrano67 · 5 months

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I like this image of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The second Joyful Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary. Creator unknown.

#traditional catholicism #traditional catholic images #traditional catholic modern art #the blessed virgin mary #traditional catholic marian devotion #traditional catholic marian images #the most holy rosary #the second joyful mystery of the most holy rosary #the visitation of the blessed virgin mary

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eternal-echoes · 6 years

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The Visitation. The Gospel tells us, “In the days that followed, Mary rose up and went with all haste to a city of Judea, in the hill country, where Zachary dwelt; and there entering in she gave Elizabeth greeting. No sooner had Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, than the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Ghost; so that she cried out with a loud voice, ‘Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb’ (Luke 1:39-42). The first miracle worked by our Lord on earth was performed while He was still in His Mother’s womb. He stirred the unborn John and brought consciousness of His presence to Elizabeth, the cousin of His Mother. Thus, long before Cana, our Lord shows that it is through His Mother that He works His unseen wonders in the heart and through her that He is brought into the souls of men. The joy of the second Joyful Mystery is that of the Old Testament meeting the New, and of the young maiden greeting the old woman, as Mary burst into the most revolutionary song that was ever sung, the Magnificat, foretelling the day when the mighty would be unseated from their thrones, and the poor would be exalted. Yet at that moment, when Elizabeth is the first to call her the Mother of God, even before our Lord is born, Mary answers in her song that her greatness is due to Him, and that she was chosen because she was lowly. It may very well be that Mary was chosen to be the Mother of God after she had in her vow renounced the honor. Though greater than Elizabeth, she visits her in her hour of need. Only as we become little do we ever become great in the eyes of God.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, The Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary

#Catholic #Christianity #quotes #Archbishop Fulton Sheen

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z3norear · 3 years

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“A disease must be recognized in order to be treated. I speak to this source**, today, to help the public recognize good from evil. Do not allow the enemy of your salvation to discourage your prayers with his lies. Pray your rosaries and all prayers from the heart. I am listening.”

MESSAGE FOR ALL PEOPLE FROM APPARITION OF GOD THE FATHER TO VISIONARY MAUREEN SWEENEY KYLE IN OHIO USA HOLYLOVE.ORG

March 14, 2021

Public

God The Father

Once again, I (Maureen) see a Great Flame that I have come to know as the Heart of God the Father. He says: “These days, I desire you consider your rosaries* as a source of peace. When you pray the rosary or turn your hearts over to any prayer, you untie My Hands and allow Me to work in unprecedented ways during these most troubled times. You cannot see the ‘pandemic’ of evil that has consumed the heart of the world. This ‘pandemic’ has no earthly vaccine, but must be stopped with the conversion of hearts. The disease of evil which consumes the heart of the world has many symptoms, but all of these symptoms are represented in the acceptance of evil in the world today.”

Read Philippians 4:4-7+

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

+ Scripture verses asked to be read by God the Father. (Please note: all Scripture given by Heaven refers to the Bible used by the visionary. Ignatius Press – Holy Bible – Revised Standard Version – Second Catholic Edition.)

* The purpose of the Rosary is to help keep in memory certain principal events in the history of our salvation. There are four sets of Mysteries that center on the events of Christ’s life: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and – added by Saint John Paul II in 2002 – the Luminous. The Rosary is a Scripture-based prayer that begins with the Apostles’ Creed; the Our Father, which introduces each mystery, is from the Gospels; and the first part of the Hail Mary prayer is the Archangel Gabriel’s words announcing Christ’s birth and Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary. St. Pius V officially added the second part of the Hail Mary. The repetition in the Rosary is meant to lead one into restful and contemplative prayer related to each Mystery. The gentle repetition of the words helps us to enter into the silence of our hearts, where Christ’s spirit dwells. The Rosary can be said privately or with a group.

** American Visionary, Maureen Sweeney-Kyle.

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gospelmusic · 3 years

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Catholic Daily Reading + Reflection: 8 February 2021

Mass Reading for Monday February 8, 2021

Week day (5) Vestment: Green/White Today’s Rosary: Joyful Mystery SS Jerome Emiliani, P. & Josephine Bakhita, V. (Opt Mem) Onitsha: Tomorrow is the 19th anniversary of the Episcopal Ordination of Most Revd Valerian Okeke, February 9, 2002 Death anniversary of Bishop F.F. Ezeonyia, C.S.Sp of Aba 8 February 2015

FIRST READING

Lord spoke, and it was so. The beginning of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 1:1-19) (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 104:1-2a.5-6. 10 and 12.24

R/. May the Lord rejoice in his works! Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, how great you are, clothed in majesty and honour, wrapped in light as with a robe! R. You set the earth on its foundation, immovable from age to age. You wrapped it with the depths like a cloak; the waters stood higher than the mountains. R. R/. May the Lord rejoice in his works! You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow in between the hills. There the birds of heaven build their nests; from the branches they sing their song. R. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Bless the Lord, O my soul. R.

ALLELUIA Matthew 4:23

Alleluia. Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing every infirmity among the people. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

“As many as touched it were made well. ” A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 6:53-56) (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); At that time: When Jesus and his disciples had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognised him, and ran about the whole neighbourhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well. The Gospel of the Lord.

Today’s Reflection

The Apostles came back from their mission and briefed Jesus about all they taught and did. Jesus wanted them to go to a lonely place and have some rest as they were tired. But the crowd reached the destination before they could. This is typical of people. They are eager to make sacrifices and take risks to get whatever they dearly cherish. This they did and deprived the apostles of their rest. Jesus, who wanted to have privacy with them, rescinded his decision. He had compassion on the crowd and began to teach “for they were like sheep without a shepherd”. Sometimes we have to set aside our programmes and schedules to reach out to humanity or to God. For in giving we receive, and with the Lord by our side, we can rest assured of our strength being renewed. Don’t lose hope.

Blessings for the new week

Lord in your name we shall step out of our homes today to go and do our work and activities. Be with us and bless our efforts. Thank you for the gift of this new week. Thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for the new opportunity to do your will. Lead us in the right path and may your will be done in our lives. May your glory shield us from every harm and let our going out and coming in find favour in your sight. Give us the grace to show charity and help those in need as much as we can and in our times of need, may your divine assistance always be available to lift us up. Amen. Dear friend, it is a new day and a new week. I wish you the very best in all that you shall do. May God, bless you immensely, lift you up once again and may good things come your way. Be kind, be charitable, be merciful and work hard for it is well with you. May God remember you and pour out his blessings upon you in abundance. Amen. If God sends you help when you need it, please try to help others who are in need of your help too. Meditation: Luke 10:25-37

Personal Devotional

"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, my soul! I will praise him as long as I live, I will sing to my God all my life. Psalm 146:1 - Thank God for the gift of a new day - Ask for God’s pardon for the times you have doubted the goodness and capability of Jesus the Good Shepherd.

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus Christ, take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding, and my will. All that I have and cherish you have given me. I surrender it all to be guided by your will. Your love and your grace are wealth enough for me. Give me these, Lord Jesus, and I ask for nothing more. Amen.

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romancatholicreflections · 6 years

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31st May >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 1:39-56 for the Feast of The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘Blessed is she who believed’. The Feast of The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada) Luke 1:39-56 The Almighty has done great things for me Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ And Mary said: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him. He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors – of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home. Gospel (USA) Luke 1:39-56 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. Reflections (6) (i) Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Luke’s account of Mary visiting Elizabeth comes immediately after his account of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary. The Lord came to Mary through his messenger Gabriel. Although initially perplexed by this visit of the Lord, Mary received the Lord’s visit, surrendering to his will for her life. Having received the Lord’s visit, Mary herself went on a visit to her older cousin in need. Having received the Lord, she brought the Lord to Elizabeth. She physically carried the Lord in her womb. Just as the Lord visited Mary through Gabriel, now the Lord visits Elizabeth through Mary. As Mary welcomed the Lord’s visit through Gabriel, Elizabeth welcomed the Lord’s visit through Mary, ‘Blessed is the fruit of your womb’. Elizabeth also asked ‘Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?’ Just as Mary was initially perplexed that the Lord should visit her through Gabriel, Elizabeth is perplexed that the Lord should visit her through Mary. Both Mary and Elizabeth were humbled by the Lord’s visit to them. The story of Gabriel’s visit to Mary and Mary’s visit to Elizabeth reveals an important truth about our own lives as the Lord’s disciples. The Lord visits each of us, as he visited Mary and Elizabeth. He comes into our lives in different ways, sometimes in very ordinary ways, such as through the visit of a friend, at other times in more mystical ways, such as during a time of prayer. We are called to receive the Lord’s visit with the same openness and humility that Mary and Elizabeth showed. Having received the Lord’s visit, we are then called to bring the Lord to others, as Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth. The Lord who visits us always wishes to visit others through us. And/Or (ii) Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary The gospel reading depicts Mary setting out from Nazareth in Galilee into the hill country of Judah to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She set out in response to the message of the angel Gabriel that Elizabeth was six months pregnant. Even though she herself was with child, Mary set out on a journey of love to give support to her older cousin. Mary brought herself to Elizabeth but she also brought Jesus, the Lord, whom she was carrying in her womb. Mary graced Elizabeth by her journey. As a result of Mary’s visit, we are told that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. When anyone of us visits someone in their need, we can be a source of grace and blessing to them. Mary not only gave to Elizabeth but she also received from her. She herself was blessed by Elizabeth. ‘Blessed are you among women… blessed is she who believed’. It is often the way that when we visit someone we not only grace them but we are graced by them, we not only bless them but we are blessed by them. We discover that in giving we receive more than we give. When two people of faith meet, there is always a third person present and that is the Lord. Both Mary and Elizabeth show themselves to be very aware of the Lord. Elizabeth recognizes Mary as the mother of the Lord and Mary proclaims the greatness of the Lord in response to Elizabeth’s blessing of her. We can learn from Mary and Elizabeth to be attentive to that hidden dimension of our meetings and encounters, the presence of the Lord. The meeting between Mary and Elizabeth shows us what is best in any human encounter, a moment of mutual giving and receiving in a spirit of attentiveness to the Lord’s presence. And/Or (iii) Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary The month of May has traditionally been associated with Mary. It is fitting that the last day of May should be a feast of Mary, the feast of her visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. This scene in Luke’s gospel has become the second joyful mystery of the Rosary. The first part of the prayer we know as the Hail Mary is drawn both from the greeting of the angel Gabriel to Mary at the annunciation, ‘Hail, full of grace’, and from the response of Elizabeth to Mary’s greeting at the visitation, ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb’. Gabriel was God’s messenger to Mary and Mary was God’s messenger to Elizabeth. As Gabriel brought good news to Mary, so Mary brought good news to Elizabeth. We are all called to be God’s messenger to one another; we are to be good news for each other. According to the gospel reading, in response to Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and because of the way that Elizabeth received Mary, Mary was filled with a spirit of prayer as she exclaimed, ‘my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…’ There was something about the way these two women received each other that allowed the Holy Spirit to come alive within each of them. They were good news for each other. The encounter between these two women can serve as a model for all our human encounters. And/Or (iv) Feast of The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary In this morning’s gospel reading, Elizabeth declares Mary blessed. In her response to Elizabeth’s greeting Mary acknowledges that ‘all generations will call me blessed’. In other words, Elizabeth’s recognition that Mary is blessed is only the beginning of a long line of believers who will declare Mary blessed. Elizabeth declared Mary blessed because of the child she is carrying, whom Elizabeth refers to as ‘my Lord’, and because of Mary’s faithful response to God’s word of promise, God’s call. We declare Mary blessed today for the same two reasons. She is the mother of our Lord and she exemplifies a faithful response to God’s word. In a sense, the latter is more important than the former. It is because of her faithful response to God’s word that she became the mother of the Lord. She is the mother of the Lord because she is firstly the Lord’s disciple, the one who does the will of the Father in heaven. It is her faithful response to God’s word that we can all imitate. Her surrender to what God wants, ‘let it be to me according to your word’, anticipated Jesus’ own surrender to what God wants, ‘not my will but yours be done’. She shows us what surrendering to God’s purpose looks like. When we pray in the Our Father, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’, we are praying as she did. And/Or (v) Feast of The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Part of Elizabeth’s greeting of Mary in today’s gospel reading has made its way into the prayer that we know as the Hail Mary, ‘of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb’. Elizabeth declares Mary blessed because she is the mother of the Lord. Elizabeth goes on to declare Mary blessed because of her faith, ‘blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’. It was because of her faith that she became the mother of God’s Son. It was her surrender in faith to God’s call, ‘let it be to me according to your word’, that ensured she would become the mother of the Lord. We may not all be able to imitate Mary’s motherhood, but we can imitate her faith, which was what really defined her. Paul in his letter to the Galatians speaks of ‘faith working through love’ or faith which expresses itself in love. That was the kind of faith Mary had; her visit to Elizabeth was her faith expressing itself in love. This is the same mature faith that we are all called to, ‘the faith that shows itself in love’. Mary shows us the way to such a faith. And/Or (vi) Feast of The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary I have often been struck by that line in today’s gospel reading, ‘As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb’. The child in Mary’s womb evoked a response from the child in Elizabeth’s womb, a response of joy. The meeting of Mary and Elizabeth was, at another level, a meeting between the Son of the Most High and the prophet of the Most High, between Jesus and John the Baptist. The meeting between Mary and Elizabeth had a deeper dimension that would not have been obvious to an external observer. However, the text suggests, that both Mary and Elizabeth were very aware of this deeper dimension. Elizabeth addresses Mary as the mother of my Lord; Mary proclaims the great things that the Almighty has done for her. The gospels suggest that any meeting between two people, especially between two disciples of the Lord, has a deeper dimension beyond what is clearly visible. We each bring something of the Lord to those we meet and the Lord comes to us in one way or other in and through those who meet with us. We are not always aware of that deeper dimension of our day to day encounters. We grow in our awareness of that dimension to the extent that we grow in what might be called a contemplative approach to all of life. Mary exemplifies such an approach. Twice in the opening chapters of his gospel, Luke says of her that she pondered and treasured these things, these apparently ordinary things. Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland. Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie Please join us via our webcam. Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC. Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf. Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

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