Tomorrow, March 26th, is the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. (The Annunciation is typically celebrated on March 25th, unless that day falls on a Sunday during Lent.) On this day of the Annunciation, we celebrate the angel Gabriel’s appearance to the Virgin Mary when he announced that the Blessed Virgin was chosen by God to be the Mother of the Lord. We also celebrate Mary’s fiat, which was her willingness to accept God’s holy plan.
The Angelus (latin for “angel”) is a prayer that may be recited in memory of the Incarnation. It was traditionally recited in Roman Catholic churches, convents and monasteries three times a day at 6:00 am, 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Some Anglican and Lutheran churches also use this devotion.
The Angelus
V. The angel spoke God’s message to Mary,
R. and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail, Mary. . . .
V. ”I am the lowly servant of the … [Read More...]
I have a Saint Jude statue that I’d purchased a couple of years ago on the EWTN site in their Religious Catalogue section. I was going to take a picture of it and include it in this post but since it’s been raining all day and really quite dark, I wasn’t confident that the picture would come out okay and so I figured I’d just use another image instead.
There is a small drawer at the foot of the statue which holds a tiny piece of paper with the prayer to Saint Jude written on it. I keep the statue on my dresser and the other day I noticed that the drawer was open a crack. It prompted me to keep my promise to Saint Jude from months and months ago that I would dedicate a blog post to him at some point. Better late than never! You see, I’d been praying the Saint Jude Novena at that time and … [Read More...]
This is the fourth in a series of posts titled True Devotion to Mary which I started in a hopeful effort to promote the prophetic message of Saint Louis De Montfort in his book titled True Devotion to Mary. Please refer back to this post which will link you back to the previous ones.
Also, please note that everything written in burgundy font is quoted directly from Saint Louis De Montfort’s book and my personal remarks and insights are in black font.
ARTICLE TWO: Mary Is Necessary to God in the Sanctification of Souls
29. God the Father wishes to have children by Mary til the consummation of the world; and He speaks to her these words: “Dwell in Jacob” (Ecclus. 24:13); that is to say: Make your dwelling and residence in My predestined children, prefigured by Jacob, and not in the reprobate children of the devil, prefigured by Esau.
30. Just as in the natural and corporal … [Read More...]
Yesterday, May 31st, was the Feast of the Visitation. Pope Benedict XVI closed the Marian month of May in the Vatican Gardens with a strong message of faith and courage. Please read the following article which I’ve copied and pasted from Catholic News Agency.
Vatican City, Jun 1, 2011 / 06:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI concluded a month of Marian celebrations with a procession and Rosary in the Vatican Gardens on May 31, the Feast of the Visitation. He offered the faithful a message about Mary’s fearless trust in God, for whom “nothing is impossible.”
“The one whom Elizabeth welcomes into her home is the Virgin who ‘has believed’ the Angel’s annunciation, who responded with faith, courageously accepting God’s plan for her life and thus embracing within herself the eternal Word of the Most High,” he said.
The procession traveled from the Church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians to the grotto dedicated to Our Lady … [Read More...]
I think the first time I heard the words “moral decay in America” was when Father John Corapi used the phrase in one of his talks when he was referring to the spiritual breakdown of our culture. I had this instant visualization of a person sitting in a dentist’s chair having a cavity filled in order to prevent the whole tooth from rotting and falling out. I don’t have any cavities so I’m not sure what the process is like, but I’m told that it isn’t a very pleasant experience and also that once a cavity is detected, it is usually dealt with immediately to prevent losing the tooth altogether. It seems to be high on people’s priority list when they fall prey to tooth decay.
I have a question: Why is it that so many people are more concerned with losing a tooth than they are with losing their soul? It’s frightening. The moral decay in America has hit … [Read More...]
My last post, Escape from Bondage – Part Two, will make reading this one a bit easier. And the one before that is called Escape from Bondage which I also recommend that you read, prior to Part Two. I started out thinking that this topic was going to fit into a single post and that I would wrap it up within 500-700 words or so. But after I wrote the first one, I realized that there was way too much material and more that needed to be said; so I added Parts Two and Three.
My Own Escape from Bondage Story
Well, I have a few of those stories. But the latest one occurred a year ago this month and I am still experiencing the repercussions from it. It involved a change of direction and more importantly, a complete change of mind and heart. It had been a long time coming, but up until that point, I had no … [Read More...]
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Hello, my name is Margo. When I was 23 years old and working as a part-time nanny in New York City I had the pleasure of caring for a little 5-year-old boy named Alexander. One day I had been overcome with sadness and in a weak moment, I found myself confiding to this little boy about a friend I couldn't find because he was lost. Alexander, quickly responded without missing a beat, “Follow a trail!” [