Virgin Mary

“ Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the most blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, may intercede for us before the throne of Thy mercy, now and at the hour of our death, through whose most holy soul, in the hour of Thine own passion, the sword of sorrow passed. ”

“ To the Virgin Mary
Oh Mary, hail to thee, hail lily, thou most white
which thy beloved son does shelter at his breast;
to sinners mercy show, who do abound in grace;
our souls cry out to you, from grief deliver us. ”

“ Mary is born! The dawn announcing the coming salvation of mankind is at hand. The deep significance of Mary's birth is expressed in the words of the Church: "Thy birth, O virgin Mother of God, has brought joy to the world; for from thee is to come forth the Sun of Justice, Christ our Lord, to dispel the curse and bring the blessing, to conquer death and bring us everlasting life. On this day a light broke forth to brighten the paths of men through all time. Let us, then, rejoice in Mary's coming." ”

“ O God, Who didst will that Thine eternal Word should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the angel delivered his message; grant that Thy petitioners, who verily believe her to be the Mother of God, may be assisted by her intercession. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. ”

“ O glorious Virgin and Mother of God, Mary! As thy sacred body after death was preserved from corruption, and united with thy sinless soul was borne to heaven by the angels; obtain for me the grace that my life and death be holy, so that on the Day of Judgment I may arise to glory everlasting. ”

“ We need not accept the teaching that exalts the mother of Jesus to a place beside or above her divine Son. We need have no sympathy whatever with the dogma that ascribes worship to the Virgin Mary, and teaches that the Son on his throne must be approached by mortals through his more merciful, more gentle-hearted mother. But we need not let these errors concerning Mary obscure the real blessedness of her character. We remember the angel's greeting, "Blessed art thou among women." Hers surely was the highest honor ever conferred upon any woman. ”

“ It is but natural, then, that we arrive at the belief in the Immaculate Conception, at the belief in the sinlessness, the spotlessness of the Blessed Virgin from the very beginning of her existence. If we honor Mary principally because the angel honored her, because God honored her, we honor her, also, because of her immaculate conception and total freedom from sin. She was a model of all virtues. Is it not reasonable, then, to honor Mary, to love her, and to believe that she loves us? If we honor the good and virtuous, where can we find a nobler example of virtue than Mary? ”

“ I BLESS thee, and I praise and glorify thee, O Virgin Mary, holy Mother of God, for all the good gifts abundantly bestowed upon thee by God; for thy virtues without number; and for the very great privileges of grace, by which thou wast so remarkably distinguished above all the Saints upon earth, in being thought worthy to become the Mother of God, to hold in thy lap, to clasp in thy blessed arms, to lift and to carry about, the Word of God, Who of thy substance had taken Flesh. ”

“ MIRROR of holy purity, Mary, Virgin immaculate, great is my joy while I consider that, from thy immaculate conception, the most sublime and perfect virtues were infused into thy soul, and with them all the gifts of the Holy Ghost. I thank and praise the Most Holy Trinity, who bestowed on thee these high privileges. I pray thee, gentle Mother, obtain for me grace to practise virtue, and to make me worthy to become partaker of the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost. ”

“ Oh afflicted Virgin! oh soul, great in virtues and great also in sorrows! for both arise from that great fire of love thou hast for God; thou whose heart can love nothing but God; ah mother, have pity on me, for I have not loved God, and I have so much offended him. Thy sorrows give me great confidence to hope for pardon. But this is not enough; I wish to love my Lord, and who can better obtain this for me than thou—thou who art the mother of fair love? Ah Mary, thou dost console all, comfort me also. ”

“ Mary longs for that happy day when her eyes will look upon Him, and yet she fears that moment, too. How will she be able to serve her God in His human life? How will she dare to raise Him up in her arms—the King of nations, and she but a humble Virgin? When she reflects that the hour is approaching in which she is to see the Light of the world, her heart almost fails her, for on the one hand she knows that she bears her God, and on the other she is full of love because she is His Mother. Come, then, speedily we beseech Thee, come and save us! ”

“ THOUGH we were not preserved from sin like Mary, yet God in His ineffable goodness and mercy granted us the grace to be cleansed from sin and to be clothed with the garment of sanctifying grace in Baptism. No treasure of the world can be compared with this prerogative. But as we bear this grace in a fragile vase, we must be most careful to protect and preserve it in ourselves and others from all danger. Let the Blessed Virgin Mary be our example. ”

“ Far from every impure influence, conversing with the Blessed Virgin Mary, passing her time in crowning her with prayers and telling her chaplet, this little maid preserved that absolute purity and baptismal innocence which the breath of the world so easily tarnishes, even in the best. Such was this childish soul, bright and calm as the unknown lakes which lie hidden among lofty mountains and silently reflect the splendors of heaven. "Blessed are the clean of heart," says the Gospel; "for they shall see God." ”

“ After the love which we owe Jesus Christ, we must give the chief place in our heart to the love of His Mother Mary. — St. Alphonsus.
3
When we feel our cross weighing upon us, let us have recourse to Mary, whom the Church calls the "Consoler of the Afflicted." — St. Alphonsus.
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The devotions we practise in honor of the glorious Virgin Mary, however trifling they be, are very pleasing to her divine Son, and He rewards them with eternal glory. — St. Teresa.
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There is nothing which is more profitable and more consoling to the mind than to frequently remember the Blessed Virgin. ”

“ Ant. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, Alleluia.
Ant. Fear not, Mary: * thou hast found grace before the Lord: behold, thou shalt conceive, and shalt bring forth a Son, Alleluia.
From Christmas until Candlemas
Ant. When Thou wert wondrously born of a virgin, then were the Scriptures fulfilled; Thou earnest down like the rain upon the fleece, that Thou mightest save mankind. We praise Thee, our God. ”

“ Do not permit the devil to glory in having in his chains any of us who are now consecrated to thee; but grant that we may come to thee in heaven to thank thee, and together with thee to praise and love our Redeemer Jesus for all eternity. Amen, thus may it be.
Prayer of St. Ephrem to Mary, abbreviated. [1927]
Oh immaculate and wholly pure Virgin Mary, mother of God, queen of the world, hope of the despairing; thou art the joy of the saints, thou art the reconciler of sinners to God, thou art the advocate of the abandoned, the secure haven of the shipwrecked ”

“ Truly worthy then of our veneration is this great mother of God, for God himself could not make her greater than he has done, by making her his mother. Oh, mother of God, and my mother, Mary, I adore thee, and would wish thee to be adored by all hearts, as that exalted Lady thou art. Have mercy on a poor sinner, who loves thee and trusts in thee. Virgin most venerable, pray for us: “Virgo veneranda, ora pro nobis.” ”

“ The apostles then became convinced that as God had preserved the body of Mary free from sin before, in, and after the birth of His Son, He was pleased likewise, after her death, to preserve that same body from corruption, and to glorify it in heaven."
A council held in Jerusalem in the year 1672 declared: "It is beyond all doubt that the Blessed Virgin is not only a great and miraculous sign on earth, because she bore God in the flesh and yet remained a virgin, but she is also a great and miraculous sign in heaven, because she was taken up thither with soul and body. ”

“ Also, although Mary had to die, and to bear the separation of soul and body, there was no necessity in her case for that penalty to be prolonged. God would not keep her—a perfect human creature—in an imperfect state, which the soul without the body must ever be. So, though not yet a dogma, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has ever been a belief of the Church. If we need a proof, let us call to mind the fact that no one has ever pretended to possess relics of Our Lady's body. ”

“ Ah, to whom shall we go, O Jesus, if not to Thee, since Thou hast the words of eternal life? Thou, O Jesus, my Lord and my God, art the true light, for Whose dawn the saints of the Old Law watched with longing eyes, looking to Thee for grace and salvation. O Mary immaculate, Virgin always faithful! lead us to Jesus, help us to find Jesus, and attach us to Him forever by the bonds of perfect charity, which, uniting us to His sacrifice during time, will associate us to His glory in eternity. ”

“ So, lest we fall into the temptation of raising her in dignity to the very throne of God, lest we succumb to the false teaching of those who would address their prayers to her, it becomes incumbent upon us to see the Virgin Mary in a clear and no uncertain light. Mystery in her conception there must always be, but in her giving birth in that manger of Bethlehem, it is as Mary the wife of Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, we must regard her. ”

“ The nativity of the same holy Virgin is kept as a solemnity in the Church, because Mary was born full of grace. Therefore, had the first moment of Mary's existence been one of sin, as that of all the other children of Adam, it never could have been made the subject of reverence by the Church. O Mary, thou bright ray of hope, penetrate our hearts, that we may rejoice in thy motherhood; thou art the dearest, purest, holiest Mother, whom we love most tenderly. ”

“ HOLY Scripture and the Fathers agree in the statement that the Blessed Virgin Mary made the vow of perpetual virginity. For when the Archangel Gabriel brought God's message to the immaculate spouse of St. Joseph, that she was to become the Mother of the Most High, she asked, "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" ”

“ Through the Virgin Mother may the Lord grant us salvation and peace. R. Amen.
LESSON III
And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, seeing I know not man? And the angel answering said unto her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who is called barren; for no word shall be impossible with God. ”

“ In the various tribulations of life, in great afflictions, dangers and temptations, when we require special assistance from God, an almost certain means to obtain it is to make a Novena in honour of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. How many souls have been heard by God, by having had recourse to the Most Holy Virgin through a Novena!
The Children of Mary apply themselves with special devotion and fervent piety to the celebration of her festivals, and, in return, the Blessed Virgin obtains for them an abundance of heavenly blessings. ”

“ As the veneration for Mary increased under the influence of the pagan conceptions of an immaculate mother-queen of heaven, these simple and natural consequences of her marriage could not be tolerated, even allowing for the exceptional conception of Jesus, and the orthodox began to assert that Mary was not only an uncontaminated virgin at the birth of Jesus, but that by miracle she did not lose her virginity by that event. ”

“ Holy Mary, All ye holy men and women, saints of God, intercede for us to our Lord, that we may be made worthy to receive help and salvation at His hands. Amen.
TO THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN.
I acknowledge thee, most holy Virgin, Queen of Heaven, Lady and Mistress of the Universe, Daughter of the Eternal Father, Mother of His well-beloved Son, most loving Spouse of His most Holy Spirit; and in these names I worship thee. ”

“ The holy Virgin promises paradise to him who endeavors to make her known and loved. [1872] Richard [735] of St. Lawrence says that Mary will honor in eternity those who honor her in this life. [1873] St. Anselm says, that as Mary, by being mother of God, was the means of saving sinners, so sinners receive salvation by proclaiming the praises of Mary. Not all can be preachers; but all can praise her, and tell others, when speaking familiarly with relatives and friends, of the merits of Mary, of her power and her mercy, and thus induce them to become servants of this divine mother. ”