"What was family life in Nazareth like? In the home of the Holy Family in Nazareth, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph sanctified their ordinary life, without doing anything spectacular or newsworthy. They led a life that was to all appearance the same as that of their neighbors, a life that was important, not because of the material things they did, but because of the love that they put into these things, in perfect union with the Will of God the Father." - St. Josemaria Escriva Hymn from Vespers of the feast of the Holy Family Blest light of all the heavenly hosts, Sole hope of them that well on earth, The purest love that ever graced A home, did smile upon thy birth. Mary, dear Mother, who but thee Was ever yet so rich in grace? Didst nourish Christ upon thy knee And fold him in a sweet embrace? And Joseph, chosen out to guard The Virgin with thy gentle might, The Infant Jesus smiled on thee And called thee father as by right. You, who to save a guilty race Were born of David’s noble line O hear the humble prayers of all Today, who gather round your shrine. The sun now wends his way to rest And earth is veiled in shadows gray; Yet hearts a-fire with joy and love Still bid us linger on to pray. O may the grace of that sweet home Which held the earthly Trinity. Be shed abroad upon the world And bless the Christian family. O Jesu, born of a Virgin bright, Immortal glory be to thee; Praise to the Father infinite And Holy Ghost eternally. Amen. Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we love Thee.
Save souls! How delightful it is when little children reveal their age by holding up (somewhat haphazardly) as many little fingers as they have years to their lives. If we were to have done so this year, we would need all fingers on both hands: Our Lady’s Little community turned ten years old in the 2022. We would love to recount with you, our dear friends, relatives and benefactors, the many blessings bestowed on us by God throughout the past year.
O Maria sine labe concepta, ora pro nobis! "'I will put enmities between thee and the woman.' In these words the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was announced to our first parents. It was to be the reversal of the friendship with the serpent contracted by Eve, when she listened to his voice and fell under his power. The second Eve was never to be under the power of the devil; the enmity between them was to admit of no possible exception. This involved the grace of being conceived immaculate. Mary's Immaculate Conception was the foundation of all her graces. The absence of any stain or spot of sin distinguished her from all the rest of mankind. It distinguished her from the holiest of the Saints, since they, one and all, were sinners. Her perfect sinlessness was the source of all her glory and all her majesty; it was this which opened the door to the unlimited graces that she received from God; it was this that qualified her for her divine maternity, and raised her to her throne as Queen of heaven." - Roman Missal 1962 on the Immaculate Conception
Holy Mother of God, Mary ever-Virgin, you are the temple of the Lord
and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Beyond all others, you were pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ. Magnificat Antiphon for Vespers "Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast granted to honor in one solemn Feast
the merits of all Thy Saints: we beseech Thee, that through the multitude of intercessors, Thou wouldst bestow upon us the desired abundance of Thy atonement." - Collect: Solemnity of All Saints "In me is all grace of the way and of the truth;
in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Like a rose planted on the rivers I have borne fruit." - Offertory: Mass of the Most Holy Rosary of the B.V.M. "Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts: you ministers of His who do His will." Alleluia Verse: Mass of the Guardian Angels "It is of faith, on the testimony of the Scriptures and of unanimous tradition, that God commits to his Angels the guardianship of men, who are called to contemplate him together with these blessed spirits in their common fatherland. Catholic theology teaches that this protection is extended to every member of the human race, without any distinction of just and sinners, infidels and baptized. To ward off dangers; to uphold man in his struggle against the demons; to awaken in him holy thoughts; to prevent him from sinning, and even, at times, to chastise him; to pray for him, and present his prayers to God; such is the office of the Guardian Angel. So special is his mission that one Angel does not undertake the guardianship of several persons simultaneously; so diligent is his care that he follows his ward from the first day to the last of his mortal existence, receiving the soul as it quits this life, and bearing it from the feet of the sovereign Judge to the place it has merited in heaven, or to its temporary sojourn in the place of expiation and purification.
Bless the Lord, all ye His angels; you that are mighty in strength,
and execute His word, harkening to the voice of His orders. -Introit for Dedication of the St. Michael the Archangel "Thy birth, O Virgin Mother of God, brought joy to the whole world: for out of thee arose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God: who, taking off the curse, hath bestowed blessing; and, defeating death, hath given us life everlasting.” - Responsory: Office of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary "Let us, then, understand the Church when, even on this day, she proclaims thy divine maternity, and unites in her chants of praise the birth of Emmanuel and thine own. He who, being Son of God by essence, willed to be also Son of man, had, before all other designs, decreed that he would have a Mother. Such, consequently, was the primordial, absolute character of that title of mother, that in the eternal decree, it was one with the very being of the chosen creature, the motive and cause of her existence, as well as the source of all her perfections natural and supernatural. We too, then, must recognize thee as Mother, even from thy very cradle, and must celebrate thy birthday by adoring thy Son our Lord.
“I gaze upon the children of men to see whether anyone feels compassion for me, and alas, I see but few! …Do not forget me. Consider how much I have suffered.” - Our Lady to St. Bridget In the 14th Century, Our Lady appeared to St. Bridget of Sweden revealing the seven promises for those who honor meditate on her Seven Sorrows: |
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