“Loving slaves of Jesus in Mary should hold in high esteem devotion to Jesus, the Word of God, in the great mystery of the Incarnation, [on] March 25th, which is the mystery proper to this devotion…” excerpt from St. Louis Marie de Montrfort's True Devotion in the Preparation for Total Consecration In the marvelous lilt of the Church’s song of fasting and feasting, it is with the joy of hearts made pure by the austerities of Lent that we rejoice to celebrate our patronal feast: the Solemnity of the Annunciation. In the 10th anniversary of our founding, we delight—like a child who has discovered in itself its parents beloved features—to unite with Our Lord’s dependence upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and Our Lady’s great “Fiat”, that made possible the marriage of heaven and earth by the union of the Divine Nature and Sacred Humanity of the Eternal Son in her blessed womb.
Build Him a home in my heart; Father Dear,
Build Jesus a home in my heart. Shave off all that keeps me from loving aright The Lord of the World, Whom your lips kissed goodnight. Cut out all the knots of self-love, and my thoughts Make polished for Him in His home in my heart. Build Jesus a home in my heart, Joseph Just, As a cradle to hold Him always. Set right the beams of my penance and make Of my heart a sweet refuge where Jesus may stay. With your hands to forge me, to finish from start, I’ll know He’ll rest, safe, in His home in my heart. - A Marian Sister of Santa Rosa “The Lord made to him a covenant of peace, and made him a prince; that the dignity of priesthood should be to him forever…” Introit of the Mass of the Chair of St. Peter “I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction… My peace I give to you…”
Sacred Scripture is woven throughout with the peace of the Lord; peace that is given through the hands of Our Lady from the heart of the Tranquil Trinity. The Prince of Peace was heralded by the Angels with songs of glorious peace, and in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, after the consecration of the Sacred Host, it is peace that follows in His trail: “Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum…” Fiat! on going with doves
In basket, and God on your arm, Not dreaming of sword-talk or fall And rise of the many. Dismiss Now and forever the hope Of any salvation unsworded. Always there’s shadow on sunlight, Ever surprising’s the sword Held over happiest hour. Thus God takes precaution on error Of heaven confounded with earth. Poised on each hour’s some sword. Mother Mary Francis, PCC (The Mysteries of the Rosary, IV. The Presentation in the Temple, p. 150, “Summon Spirit’s Cry”, Ignatius Press) "Behold the Lord the Ruler is come: and the Kingdom is in His hand, and power, and dominion." - Introit: Mass of Epiphany The Christmas season comes to its liturgical culmination (and is the continuation of that mystery) with today's feast of the Epiphany of our Lord. In the word's of Dom Prosper Gueranger:
"The Epiphany is indeed a great Feast, and the joy caused us by the Birth of our Jesus must be renewed on it, for, as though it were a second Christmas Day, it shows us our Incarnate God in a new light. It leaves us all the sweetness of the dear Babe of Bethlehem, who hath appeared to us already in love; but to this it adds its own grand manifestation of the divinity of our Jesus. At Christmas, it was a few Shepherds that were invited by the Angels to go and recognise The Word made Flesh, but now, at the Epiphany, the voice of God Himself calls the whole world to adore this Jesus, and hear Him." I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for He hath clothed me with the garment of salvation, and with the robe of justice He hath covered me, as a bride adorned with her jewels. - Introit: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (Isaiah 61:10) From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so loved her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.
"May we be assisted, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the prayers of Thy most holy Mother, whose Rosary we celebrate, that the virtue of the mysteries we adore may be shared and the effect of the sacraments we have received may be obtained." - Communion: Mass of the Most Holy Rosary Excerpt from Pope Leo XIII Encyclical: Iucunda Semper Expectatione (on the Holy Rosary) "The recourse we have to Mary in prayer follows upon the office she continuously fills by the side of the throne of God as Mediatrix of Divine grace; being by worthiness and by merit most acceptable to Him, and, therefore, surpassing in power all the angels and saints in Heaven. Now, this merciful office of hers, perhaps, appears in no other form of prayer so manifestly as it does in the Rosary. For in the Rosary all the part that Mary took as our co-Redemptress comes to us, as it were, set forth, and in such wise as though the facts were even then taking place; and this with much profit to our piety, whether in the contemplation of the succeeding sacred mysteries, or in the prayers which we speak and repeat with the lips ... Rejoice, O sorrowful Mother; after your great sufferings,
you shine forth as Queen, enthroned beside your Son. - Benedictus Antiphon How radiant is that precious cross which brought us our salvation. In the cross we are victorious, through the cross we shall reign, by the cross all evil is destroyed. - Antiphon 3, Lauds: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross "O Cross, more refulgent than all the stars, honored throughout the world, deeply loved by men, holiest of all things: You alone were worthy to bear the price of world's ransom. O sweet wood, o sweet nails, that held so sweet a burden: save this flock gathered today to sign your praises."
"Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of thy Order;
it is the special sign of my favor, which I have obtained for thee and for thy children of Mount Carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire. It is the badge of salvation, a shield in time of danger, and a pledge of special peace and protection." - Our Lady to St. Simon Stock |
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