True devotion to Our Lady consists in nothing else than a conviction that she loves us, and those whom we are helping. God will do anything to save a soul that loves His Mother or that has loved her.
-- Father Dignam, SJ
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Our Hearts Together
Mother most pure, Mother most holy and most kind, may the love of Jesus and of thee grow in our hearts together; may that love make us hate sin and the world, strengthen us to deny ourselves, confirm our faith, hope and charity, and bring thee, sweet Mother, to our death-beds to console our last hour.
-- Father Dignam, SJ
-- Father Dignam, SJ
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A Flesh and Blood Mother
[T]his the Most Blessed Mother of God is also our Mother, a living human Mother, with hands of flesh to raise in supplication for us, a heart of flesh to feel for us, loving human eyes to watch over us . . .
Let us lift up our eyes to Heaven, then, with renewed confidence. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad alike because of her glory as Mother of God, and because of her mercy as Mother of men.
-- Lessons from Our Lady's Life
Let us lift up our eyes to Heaven, then, with renewed confidence. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad alike because of her glory as Mother of God, and because of her mercy as Mother of men.
-- Lessons from Our Lady's Life
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A Crown of Justice
What a "crown of justice" our dear Lady received from her divine Son, "the just Judge", of her merits and virtues!
Mary had suffered above all mortals; it was meet that her "crown of glory and honor" should exceed theirs.
As we gaze on our Mother, with her glorious diadem, we are reminded that none can win the crown except he strive lawfully. The cross here, the crown hereafter; such is God's divine plan. Hence we must learn to look at our sorrows as a proof that the crown is one day to encircle our brow. What we sow in tears, we shall reap in joy.
-- Madame Cecilia, Mater Mea
Mary had suffered above all mortals; it was meet that her "crown of glory and honor" should exceed theirs.
As we gaze on our Mother, with her glorious diadem, we are reminded that none can win the crown except he strive lawfully. The cross here, the crown hereafter; such is God's divine plan. Hence we must learn to look at our sorrows as a proof that the crown is one day to encircle our brow. What we sow in tears, we shall reap in joy.
-- Madame Cecilia, Mater Mea
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Just Say It
Nothing makes us love the Rosary like saying it. To those who are unaccustomed to it, it seems long and tedious; but by saying it, the devotion has become dear to thousands of men and women who now find it not long or tedious, but the easiest and most fruitful way of honoring God's dear Mother and obtaining grace.
-- Father Dignam, SJ
-- Father Dignam, SJ
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Rosary
As the Blessed Sacrament contains Jesus, with all the graces and virtues of His past states, so the Rosary calls up before the mind's eye all His mysteries. Therefore it is that, after the Eucharist and the liturgical offices, which successively recall to us all the feasts of Our Lord, the Rosary is the very best way of contemplating the life of Jesus Christ and of uniting ourselves to Him.
-- The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament
-- The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Verses
O Thou Mother, fount of love,
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with thine accord.
Make me feel as thou hast felt,
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ my Lord.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defence,
Be Thy cross my victory:
While my body here decays,
May my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in paradise with Thee.
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with thine accord.
Make me feel as thou hast felt,
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ my Lord.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defence,
Be Thy cross my victory:
While my body here decays,
May my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in paradise with Thee.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Valiant Woman
"There stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother."
Mary did not faint at the sight of Jesus on the cross. She, the valiant woman, stood there. She gazed on her divine Son as He hung, torn and bleeding, on the tree of ignominy. Every pang He suffered was re-echoed in Mary's heart; by her compassion she shared in His anguish, and offered her sufferings for the redemption of men, in union with the passion of Jesus, and she suffered thus because, animated with the same sentiments as Jesus, she was consumed with burning zeal for souls.
Mary did not faint at the sight of Jesus on the cross. She, the valiant woman, stood there. She gazed on her divine Son as He hung, torn and bleeding, on the tree of ignominy. Every pang He suffered was re-echoed in Mary's heart; by her compassion she shared in His anguish, and offered her sufferings for the redemption of men, in union with the passion of Jesus, and she suffered thus because, animated with the same sentiments as Jesus, she was consumed with burning zeal for souls.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Patience
"In your patience possess ye your souls." St. Augustine defines patience as "a virtue which enables us to endure with tranquility the misfortunes of life, whatever they may be."
Patience has various degrees; by the first we bear pain rather than offend God; by the second we accept trials with calm and resignation; by the third we ardently desire to suffer for the love of God.
Our dear Lady practised patience in its highest degree. Her life was full of sorrows, which she accepted joyfully as a means of imitating her divine Son. Look at our patient Mother standing on Calvary, suffering as no creature ever suffered, and yet so gentle, so forgiving to Jesus' persecutors, so perfectly calm because her patience had its source in her burning love of God.
-- Madame Cecilia, Mater Mea
Patience has various degrees; by the first we bear pain rather than offend God; by the second we accept trials with calm and resignation; by the third we ardently desire to suffer for the love of God.
Our dear Lady practised patience in its highest degree. Her life was full of sorrows, which she accepted joyfully as a means of imitating her divine Son. Look at our patient Mother standing on Calvary, suffering as no creature ever suffered, and yet so gentle, so forgiving to Jesus' persecutors, so perfectly calm because her patience had its source in her burning love of God.
-- Madame Cecilia, Mater Mea
