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Tuesday is a Holy Day of Obligation for Mary’s Assumption

Mass will be at 9:30 am.

Immediately after death, Mary was assumed, soul and body, into heaven. This is the ancient belief of the Church, as the feast of the Assumption, one of the oldest feasts of Mary, proves. Her blessedness surpasses the blessedness of the angels and saints of heaven, because the measure of her soul was so great that she was worthy to carry God beneath her heart.

Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, The Face of the Heavenly Mother

O God, Who didst deign to choose for Thy dwelling the virginal womb of the blessed Mary, grant, we beseech Thee, that, defended by her protection, we may assist with joy at her festival. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Blessed art thou, O Virgin Mary, who didst bear the Creator of all things: thou didst bring forth Him Who made thee, and remainest forever a virgin.

May our offerings be commended to Thy mercy, O Lord, by the prayer of the Mother of God, whom Thou hast removed from this world that she may with confidence intercede for us with Thee. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Grant Thine assistance, O merciful God, to our frailty, that we, who anticipate the festival of God’s holy Mother, may, by the aid of her intercession, rise from our iniquity. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Bishop Challoner’s Meditation on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Consider first, in the festival of this day, and contemplate in spirit the glorious entry of the blessed virgin Mary, the mother of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, into the everlasting kingdom of her Son. See, my soul, with what joy of the whole court of heaven, with what triumphs, with what heavenly hymns, she was escorted thither by legions of angels; see how all the citizens of heaven went forth to meet her: with what affectionate embraces she was welcomed by her divine Son, and presented by him to his eternal father: see how she was placed above all the angels and saints, above all the cherubim and seraphim on a most glorious throne, the highest in heaven next to that of her Son; and crowned by him with a diadem of such supereminent brightness and glory as is not to be expressed nor conceived. Rejoice, O my soul, in this glorious assumption of the mother of our Lord, who as he has been pleased to make us his brethren, has been pleased to make her also our mother. O what a happiness it is for us to have such a mother, (who has so great interest with the king of heaven, and who takes our welfare so much to heart,) so near the throne of all mercy and grace! O blessed Virgin, graciously look down upon us in this our banishment, and always show thyself a mother to us.

Consider 2ndly, what brought this ever-blessed Virgin to this supereminent glory, which we honour in this festival of her assumption? 1. It was her most profound humility – she was exalted above all because she was the most humble of all. For he that humbleth himself the most upon earth shall be the most exalted in heaven. 2. It was her perfect purity of soul and body, mind and heart, from all the defilements of sin. 3. It was principally her supereminent love of God; for the degree of the enjoyment of God in his eternal glory is ever proportioned to the degree of our love of God in this mortal life. If then we hope one day to follow this blessed Virgin to heaven, and to have a share in the glory of her assumption, we must endeavour to imitate her humility, her purity, and her love of God. No soul can ever ascent to heaven by any other way than that of humility, purity, and the love of God.

Consider 3rdly, that this imitation of the virtues of the blessed Virgin is an excellent way of honouring her, and of showing our real esteem, love, and devotion to her. For how can we better testify our affection and veneration for the saints of God than by honouring and loving in them that which made them saints; and that which God himself honours and loves in them, that is their virtues? Or how can we better express our esteem and love for their virtues than by studying to imitate them? This kind of devotion is most pleasing to the saints, and to the queen of the saints, and to the God of the saints; it is most honourable to them and most profitable to ourselves. This will bring us effectually to the eternal society of the saints; which without this no other devotion can secure to us.

Conclude so to rejoice in the exaltation of our blessed Lady, in this day of her glory, and to take up on this day a generous resolution of walking in her footsteps, by a diligent imitation of her life; but more especially by following the great example of her humility, purity, and love of God. This generous resolution of thine will be so agreeable to her as to add a new satisfaction and joy to the immense felicity she possessed before.

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Everyone is Your Neighbor

After the dedication of our chapel this past Sunday by Most Reverend Bp. Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI, Fr. Sandquist offered a High Mass for the feast of Our Lady’s Visitation. The Congregation Mater Dei Sisters sang for the dedication and the Mass.

Bp. Pivarunas delivered the sermon on charity that is embedded above. His Excellency is a wonderful storyteller and in this talk he pulls together a story from 1999 and one from this year to illustrate the lesson that everyone is our neighbor.

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Honoring the Birth of Mary

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine, 1871

Why does the Church celebrate this festival?

Maria Bambina

Because the day of the blessed Virgin’s birth, which was so holy and immaculate, is one of universal joy to the whole world.

Why then does Mary’s birth cause such great joy?

To this the Church answers beautifully with the Antiphon of the Magnificat, which says: “O Virgin, Mother of God, Thy birth has announced joy to the whole world, for from Thee, has proceeded the Sun of justice, Christ our Lord, who, by taking away the curse, has shed benediction and, who by confounding death, has given us everlasting life.” This curse, caused by our first parents’ sin in paradise, burdened the whole earth and especially mankind, for “sin, having come into the world by one man, it passed upon all, since all have sinned in this one.”

It was in consequence to original sin, that mankind was covered with such a darkness, that led men to ignore their Creator, whilst they on the other hand prostrated themselves to creatures and adored idols of their own construction.

Don Silvestro de’Gherarducci, Birth of the Virgin
Italian, c.1375

Finally the hour of redemption had come. The infant was born, who was predestined by God to become the mother of the promised Savior, and who was consequently to crush the head of the serpent. How then ought this festival to spread joy through the world, since after such ardent desires salvation is at last about to appear! For Jesus, the Savior, our Lord and God, the Light of the world, the Sun of Justice, is to come forth from Mary; that darkness, which had overshadowed all nations is about to disappear, the knowledge of God shall abound, the bonds of sin, in which mankind lay fettered, shall be loosed, the curse so long resting upon creation shall be taken away,–in a word, the fulness of benediction shall reign upon earth. To-day even death is put to shame, for she is born, from whom shall come forth the Conqueror of death, who, depriving death of its sting, shall guide us unto perpetual life. Such are the glorious hopes, that Mary’s birth awakes in us, promising at the same time the speedy fulfillment of them.

Mary’s Birth and Presentation in the Temple
From a Historien Bibel
German (Swabia), c. 1375-1400

Then, as St. Peter Damian says, let us rejoice in Mary, the most blessed Mother of God, for she bears a new message unto the world, being the beginning of man’s salvation; let us rejoice in the day, on which was born the Queen of the World, the Gate of Heaven, the Portal of Paradise, the Tent of God, the Star of the Sea and the Ladder of Heaven, upon which the Supreme King in infinite humility deigned to descend to us, and upon which we may rise from our dust to heaven. Today the most glorious Virgin is born, from whom shall proceed, as a bridegroom from his chamber, the most beautiful of the sons of man; to-day she leaves her mother’s womb, who deserves to be the temple of God.

Albrecht Altdorfer, Birth of Virgin
German, 1520-1525

All images depicting the birth of Mary were found on this post at the Ad Imaginem Dei blog.

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Triduum of Our Lady of Good Counsel

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*Triduum, April 23-25, Feast, April 26

 

The devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel originated near Rome, where for centuries an Augustinian church, which contains a miraculous picture of Mary, has been a place of pilgrimage. Your earthly pilgrimage is beset with many dangers. You are in need of advice in the serious problems of life. Remember that Jesus gave you a counselor who will never fail you. Go to your Heavenly Mother with childlike confidence and abandonment. Entrust yourself to her prudent guidance, for she is your Mother of Good Counsel.

I, Wisdom, dwell in counsel and am present in learned thoughts..Counsel is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine” (Prov. 8, 12. 14).

PRAYER

MAY the kind intercession of Mary, Your glorious and ever Virgin-Mother, be our help, we beg of You, O Lord, that it may make those whom it has blessed with continual favors ever to know what should be done, and then strengthen them to carry it out faithfully. Who live and reign forever. Amen.

     Mary, you are favored more than all other women on earth, for in the presence of our God you have aided us in our weakness. Rule over us, you and your Son, because you have freed us from the hands of our enemies!

Hail Mary…

Mary speaks:

     “He that listens to me shall not be put to shame, and they that work by me shall not sin” (Ecclus. 24, 30).

PRAYER

O GOD, You gave her who bore Your beloved Son, to be our Mother, and glorified her fair image by a wondrous apparition; grant, we beg of You, that by always following her counsels we may be able to live after Your own Heart and arrive happily in our heavenly fatherland. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

*Taken from Mary, My Hope by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D., copyright 1954