POPE AT
ANGELUS: ‘MARY IS EVER-GREEN OASIS OF HUMANITY’ AND EXPLAINS: MARY, ‘FULL OF
GRACE’ 08/12/2017 13:29 (Vatican Radio)
Pope Francis reflected on the
mystery of the Immaculate Conception at his Angelus address on Friday, December
8th, as the Church celebrates the Marian Solemnity.
Ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, Pope Francis
said the words of the angel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke contain the key to
understanding the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
The Pope said Gabriel calls Mary “full of grace”, even before
pronouncing her name.
In this way, he said, God “reveals the new name, which God has
given her and which befits her more than the one given by her parents.”
The Holy Father said “full of grace” means that “Mary is full of
the presence of God”.
“And if she is entirely pervaded by God, there is no place in
her for sin. This is extraordinary,” he said, “because unfortunately the whole
world is contaminated by evil.” Mary alone, he continued, is the “ever-green
oasis” of humanity. She is “the only uncontaminated person, immaculately
created to welcome fully – with her ‘yes’ – God who came into the world”.
Pope Francis went on to say that, when we call Mary “full of
grace”, we are paying her “the greatest compliment, which is the same, offered
her by God.”
Because Mary is without sin, he said, she is immune to ageing,
since “sin makes one old, not age”, and worthy of the name tota pulchra, or
“all fair” or “completely beautiful”.
“Since her youth depends not on age, her beauty consists not on
external appearances. Mary, as the day’s Gospel shows, does not excel in
appearance. She is from a simple family; she lived humbly in Nazareth, an
almost unknown place.”
Finally, Pope Francis reflected on the secret of the “beautiful
life” lived by Mary, “full of grace”.
“In many paintings [of the Annunciation] Mary is depicted as
seated before an angel with a little book. This book is the Scriptures. So Mary
often listened to God and reflected with Him. The Word of God was her secret:
close to her heart, He took on flesh in her womb.”
The Holy Father invited all to ask for the grace “to remain
young by saying ‘no’ to sin and to live a beautiful life by saying ‘yes’ to
God.
COURTESY: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/12/08/pope_angelus_immaculate_conception/1353687
POPE
FRANCIS' PRAYER TO MARY ON THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (Vatican
Radio) 08/12/2017 16:00 Pope Francis made his annual
visit to Rome's Spanish Square on Friday to pray at the foot of the column and
statue of the Immaculate Conception.
A litany of present-day viruses and their corresponding
antibodies: this was at the heart of Pope Francis’ prayer, offered to Our Lady
on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, when he visited Rome’s Piazza di Spagna on Friday
afternoon.
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
The Pope recited the prayer before the column and statue of
Mary, dedicated in 1857 to mark the dogma of the Immaculate Conception which
had been defined by Pope Pius IX three years earlier. The dogma teaches that
the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the moment of her conception, by a special grace of
God, was preserved from all stain of original sin.
Mary accompanies us on our journey
The text of the prayer begins by thanking Our Lady for
accompanying different categories of humanity of their respective journeys:
families, religious, workers, the sick, the elderly, the poor, and those who
have immigrated to Rome “from places where there is war and hunger”.
Viruses of our time
The Pope then goes on to identify a series of what he calls
“viruses of our times”, which range from indifference to fear of the foreigner,
from hypocrisy to the exploitation of others. These must be combatted, said
Pope Francis, with the “antibodies that come from the Gospel”.
Here is the full translated text of the
prayer:
Immaculate
Mother,
For
the fifth time I come to your feet as Bishop of Rome,
to pay you homage on behalf of all the inhabitants of this city.
to pay you homage on behalf of all the inhabitants of this city.
We
want to thank you for the constant care
with which you accompany us on our journey,
the journey of families, parishes, religious communities;
the journey of those who daily, and sometimes with difficulty,
pass through Rome on their way to work;
the journey of the sick, the elderly, the poor,
the journey of so many people who immigrated here from places where there is war and hunger.
with which you accompany us on our journey,
the journey of families, parishes, religious communities;
the journey of those who daily, and sometimes with difficulty,
pass through Rome on their way to work;
the journey of the sick, the elderly, the poor,
the journey of so many people who immigrated here from places where there is war and hunger.
Thank
you, because as soon as we turn our thoughts,
or a fleeting glance, towards you,
or recite a quick Hail Mary,
we feel your maternal presence, tender and strong.
or a fleeting glance, towards you,
or recite a quick Hail Mary,
we feel your maternal presence, tender and strong.
O
Mother, help this city develop the "antibodies" it needs
to combat some of the viruses of our times:
the indifference that says: "It’s not my business";
the unsociable behavior that despises the common good;
the fear of the foreigner and those who are different from us;
the conformism that disguises itself as transgression;
the hypocrisy that accuses others while doing the same things;
the resignation to environmental and ethical degradation;
the exploitation of so many men and women.
to combat some of the viruses of our times:
the indifference that says: "It’s not my business";
the unsociable behavior that despises the common good;
the fear of the foreigner and those who are different from us;
the conformism that disguises itself as transgression;
the hypocrisy that accuses others while doing the same things;
the resignation to environmental and ethical degradation;
the exploitation of so many men and women.
Help
us to reject these and other viruses
with the antibodies that come from the Gospel.
Let us make it a good habit
to read a passage from the Gospel every day
and, following your example, to keep the Word of God in our hearts,
so that, like a good seed, it may fruit in our lives.
with the antibodies that come from the Gospel.
Let us make it a good habit
to read a passage from the Gospel every day
and, following your example, to keep the Word of God in our hearts,
so that, like a good seed, it may fruit in our lives.
Immaculate
Virgin,
175
years ago, not far from here,
in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte,
you touched the heart of Alphonse Ratisbonne, who at that moment,
from being an atheist and enemy of the Church, became a Christian.
in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte,
you touched the heart of Alphonse Ratisbonne, who at that moment,
from being an atheist and enemy of the Church, became a Christian.
You revealed yourself to him as a Mother of grace and mercy.
Grant that we too, especially in times of trial and temptation,
may fix our gaze on your open hands,
hands that allow the Lord's graces to fall upon the earth.
Help us to rid ourselves of all pride and arrogance,
and to recognize ourselves for what we really are:
small and poor sinners, but always your children.
Grant that we too, especially in times of trial and temptation,
may fix our gaze on your open hands,
hands that allow the Lord's graces to fall upon the earth.
Help us to rid ourselves of all pride and arrogance,
and to recognize ourselves for what we really are:
small and poor sinners, but always your children.
So,
let us place our hand in yours
And allow ourselves to be led back to Jesus, our Brother and Savior,
and to our Heavenly Father, who never tires of waiting for us
and forgiving us when we return to Him.
And allow ourselves to be led back to Jesus, our Brother and Savior,
and to our Heavenly Father, who never tires of waiting for us
and forgiving us when we return to Him.
Thank
you, Mother, for always listening to us!
Bless the Church that is in Rome.
Bless this City and the whole world.
Bless the Church that is in Rome.
Bless this City and the whole world.
Amen.
COURTESY: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/12/08/pope_francis_prayer_to_mary_on_the_immaculate_conception/1353716
Vatican City, 9 December 2014 (VIS) – Yesterday, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before the image of Mary, Salus Populi Romani, and then to Piazza di Spagna where he carried out the traditional act of veneration of Mary Immaculate. For the occasion, Francis composed and recited a prayer, the full text of which is published below:
“Mary our Mother, today the People of God celebrate you and venerate you as Immaculate, preserved forever from the stain of sin.
Accept the homage I offer you in the name of the Church in Rome and throughout the world.
Knowing that you, who are our Mother, are totally free from sin, is of great comfort to us.
Knowing that evil has no power over you, fills us with hope and strength in the daily struggle we have to face against the threats of the evil one.
But we are not alone in this struggle, we are not orphans because Jesus, before dying on the Cross, gave you to us as our Mother.
Even though we are sinners, we are still your children, children of the Immaculate, called to that holiness that shines in you by the grace of God since the beginning.
Inspired by this hope, today we invoke your maternal protection for us, our families, this city and the whole world.
Through your intercession, may the power of God’s love that preserved you from original sin, free humanity from every form of spiritual and material slavery and make God’s plan of salvation be victorious in both hearts and in history.
May grace prevail over pride in us too, your children.
May we become merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful.
During this time leading to the celebration of Jesus’ birth, teach us to go against the flow: to strip ourselves, to be humble and giving, to listen and be silent, to go out of ourselves, giving space to the beauty of God, source of true joy.
Pray for us, our Immaculate Mother!”.
___________________________________________________________
OUR LADY EXPLAINED TO SAINT MECHTILDE WHAT THE WORDS OF THE HAIL MARY SIGNIFIED:
“By The Word HAIL (Ave), I Learned That in His Infinite Power, God had Preserved Me From All Sin and its Attendant Misery, Which The First Woman had Been Subjected to. The Name MARY, Which Means “Lady of Light” Shows That God has Filled Me with WISDOM and LIGHT, like a Shining Star, to Light up Heaven and Earth. The Words FULL OF GRACE Remind Me That The Holy Spirit has Showered So Many Graces upon Me that I Am Able to Give These Graces in Abundance to Those Who Ask For Them. I Am Able to Give Them Through Me as Mediatrix. When People Say THE LORD IS WITH THEE, They Renew The Indescribable Joy That Was Mine When the Eternal Word became Incarnate in My Womb. When You Say BLESSED ART THOU AMONG WOMEN, I Praise Almighty God’s Divine Mercy, Which Lifted Me to This Exalted Plane of Happiness. And at The Words, BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF THY WOMB, JESUS, The Whole of Heaven Rejoices With Me to See My Son Jesus Christ Adored and Glorified For Having Saved Mankind.
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Angelus: like Mary, welcome grace and correspond with faith
Vatican City, 9 December 2014 (VIS) – “Everything is given freely by God, all is grace, all is a gift of His love for us”. This, said Pope Francis, is the message of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, appearing at the window of his study to pray the Angelus at midday with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The Holy Father explained that in the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel called Mary “full of grace”, since “in her there was no space for sin: God had always chosen her as the mother of Jesus, and so He protected her from original sin. Mary corresponds to this grace and abandons herself to it, saying to the Angel, 'Be it done to me according to your word'. She does not say 'I will do it according to your word', but rather, 'Be it done to me…'. And the Word was made flesh in her womb. We too are asked to listen to God Who speaks to us and to accept His will; according to the logic of the Gospel, nothing is more active and fruitful than to listen and receive the Word of the Lord”.
The attitude of Mary of Nazareth “shows us that being comes before doing, and we must let God act in order to truly become what He wants us to be. It is He Who works so many marvels in us. Mary is receptive, but not passive. Just as, at a physical level, she receives the power of the Holy Spirit but then gives flesh and blood to the Son of God Who grows in her, she also receives grace and corresponds with faith, on a spiritual level. This mystery of the acceptance of grace, that in Mary by unique privilege was without the obstacle of sin, is a possibility for all. … As Mary is greeted by St. Elizabeth as 'blessed among women', so we too have always been 'blessed', that is, loved, and therefore 'chosen first from the creation of the world to be holy and immaculate'. Mary was preserved, whereas we have been saved thanks to baptism and faith: all of us, however, Mary and ourselves, through Christ”.
“Faced with love, faced with mercy, with the divine grace poured into our hearts, just one consequence is imposed: gratuity. None of us can buy salvation! Salvation is a gift freely given by the Lord, a free gift from God who comes to us and abides in us. In the same way as we have received his gift freely, so we are called to freely give, in imitation of Mary, who straight after having received the Annunciation of the Angel, goes to share the gift of her fertility with her relative Elizabeth. Because, if all has been given, everything must be given again in turn. How? By letting the Holy Spirit make of us a gift for others. The Spirit is a gift for us and we, through the Spirit, must be a gift for others and enable the Holy Spirit to make us into instruments of acceptance, instruments of reconciliation, instruments of forgiveness”.
“If our existence is allowed to be transformed by the Lord's grace, so that the Lord's grace may transform us, we cannot keep for ourselves the light that comes from His face, but must instead pass it on so that it may illuminate others”.
__________________________
"Each grace passes through her hands.".........St. Padre Pio
Mediatrix in Scripture
Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5), but all Christians are called to participate in the one mediation of Jesus Christ. All the baptized participate in Christ's mediation by our prayers for one another. In our works of charity and evangelization we "mediate" Christ to others. The Blessed Virgin Mary was asked by God to take her part in her divine Son's mediation in a unique and privileged way, like no other creature. The title "Mediatrix of all Graces" is appropriate for Mary simply by the fact that she gave Jesus his human nature. In accepting the invitation to be his Mother, she becomes the "God-bearer" and thereby mediates to us Jesus Christ, author of all graces. Therefore, the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) is an event of mediation on the part of Our Lady, as she finds herself "in the middle," that is, between God and us. She, alone, freely chooses whether she will or will not give flesh to the second person of the Trinity.
"Mediatrix of all graces" is also a fitting title for the Blessed Virgin in light of Luke 1:41, where the physical presence of Mary mediates grace to the unborn John the Baptist, by bringing to John the presence of the unborn Redeemer, resulting in the sanctification of the Baptist. At the Wedding of Cana (cf. John 2:1-11), we again see Mary's mediation, and, most significantly, we see the effects of her mediation: "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him" (John 2:11). As our Lord was dying on the Cross, he gives to his Virgin Mother the new role of Mother of all Christians: "Woman, behold, your son!...Behold, your mother!" (John 19:26). At the Lord's command the Blessed Virgin becomes Mother of all Christians (and universally, the Mother of all peoples), and therein is called to exercise her supernatural duties as our spiritual Mother. This surely means that she will have the task of nourishing her children, and she does this by mediating the graces of the Redemption from Christ to mankind. Therefore, she is "Mediatrix of all Graces."
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Mary mediatrix of graceThe grace of Jesus Christ resides fully in Mary, to be fully communicated to His children. She gave birth to the Origin of all graces, God chose her to be the treasurer of His graces, in such a way that His graces and gifts pass through Mary’s hands.
God came to us through Mary. He wants us to go to Jesus through Mary. At the wedding in Cana, it only took a discreet intervention from Mary: “They have no more wine”, for Jesus to perform His first miracle. Jesus has infinite love for His Mother, and loves to grant us graces through her intercession. Mary expects only a gesture of true filial abandonment, as a sign of our complete confidence in her all-powerful intercession, as when we come to the foot of the Altar or when we wear her medal.
Let us not be surprised if we don’t receive what we ask for: because Mary only wants what Jesus wants for us, the good of our soul, our sanctification.
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Pope Paul VI Address on the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions, October 13, 1977:
"The tail of the devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church."
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"Jesus is the mediator of justice; Mary obtains for us grace; for, as St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Germanus, St. Antoninus, and others say, it is the will of God to dispense through the hands of Mary whatever Graces He is pleased to bestow upon us. With God, the prayers of the saints are the prayers of His friends, but the prayers of Mary are the prayers of His Mother."
~ Saint Alphonsus Liguori ~
2013-06-19 12:00:10
(Vatican Radio) In the first decree of a liturgical nature of this pontificate, Pope Francis has decided that name of St. Joseph should be added to the Eucharistic Prayers II, II and IV, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Below please find the text of the decree issued Wednesday by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments:
DECREE
Exercising his paternal care over Jesus, Saint Joseph of Nazareth, set over the Lord’s family, marvelously fulfilled the office he received by grace. Adhering firmly to the mystery of God’s design of salvation in its very beginnings, he stands as an exemplary model of the kindness and humility that the Christian faith raises to a great destiny, and demonstrates the ordinary and simple virtues necessary for men to be good and genuine followers of Christ. Through these virtues, this Just man, caring most lovingly for the Mother of God and happily dedicating himself to the upbringing of Jesus Christ, was placed as guardian over God the Father’s most precious treasures. Therefore he has been the subject of assiduous devotion on the part of the People of God throughout the centuries, as the support of that mystical body, which is the Church.
The faithful in the Catholic Church have shown continuous devotion to Saint Joseph and have solemnly and constantly honored his memory as the most chaste spouse of the Mother of God and as the heavenly Patron of the universal Church. For this reason Blessed Pope John XXIII, in the days of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, decreed that Saint Joseph’s name be added to the ancient Roman Canon. In response to petitions received from places throughout the world, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI deemed them worthy of implementation and graciously approved them. The Supreme Pontiff Francis likewise has recently confirmed them. In this the Pontiffs had before their eyes the full communion of the Saints who, once pilgrims in this world, now lead us to Christ and unite us with him.
Accordingly, mature consideration having been given to all the matters mentioned here above, this Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, by virtue of the faculties granted by the Supreme Pontiff Francis, is pleased to decree that the name of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary is henceforth to be added to Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as follows: in Eucharistic Prayer II: “ut cum beáta Dei Genetríce Vírgine María, beáto Ioseph, eius Sponso, beátis Apóstolis”; in Eucharistic Prayer III: “cum beatíssima Vírgine, Dei Genetríce, María, cum beáto Ioseph, eius Sponso, cum beátis Apóstolis”; and in Eucharistic Prayer IV: “cum beáta Vírgine, Dei Genetríce, María, cum beáto Ioseph, eius Sponso, cum Apóstolis ”.
As regards the Latin text, these formulas are hereby declared typical. The Congregation itself will soon provide vernacular translations in the more widespread western languages; as for other languages, translations are to be prepared by the Bishops’ Conferences, according to the norm of law, to be confirmed by the Holy See through this Dicastery.
All things to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1 May 2013, on the Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker.
What does God’s grace do to us?
How is God’s grace related to our freedom?
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The Blessed Virgin is the Mother of Divine Grace because she is the Mother of God, who is the Author of grace. Except for Jesus Christ, the Son of Mary, the grace that was lost by the fall of Adam and Eve would not have been restored to the human race. Our Lady's fiat mihi (be it done to me) at the Annunciation began the restoration of God's grace to the human family.
“How is Mary the Mother of Divine Grace?” She intercedes for us to obtain the graces that we need. Her powerful intercession is proportionate to her holiness, and there is no human person more holy than Mary.
All this grace, made available through the Mother of God, depends on our invoking her aid. That is why the Rosary is such a powerful channel of grace to those who recite it with faith.
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"But the power of Mary over all the devils will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snares against her heel: that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom she will raise up to make war against him. They shall be little and poor in the world’s esteem, and abased before all like the heel, trodden underfoot and persecuted as the heel is by the other members of the body. But in return for this they shall be rich in the grace of God, which Mary shall distribute to them abundantly. They shall be great and exalted before God in sanctity, superior to all other creatures by their lively zeal, and so well sustained with God’s assistance that, with the humility of their heel, in union with Mary, they shall crush the head of the devil and cause Jesus Christ to triumph."--St. Louis de Montfort~
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Pope adds name of St. Joseph to Eucharistic prayers2013-06-19 12:00:10
(Vatican Radio) In the first decree of a liturgical nature of this pontificate, Pope Francis has decided that name of St. Joseph should be added to the Eucharistic Prayers II, II and IV, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Below please find the text of the decree issued Wednesday by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments:
DECREE
Exercising his paternal care over Jesus, Saint Joseph of Nazareth, set over the Lord’s family, marvelously fulfilled the office he received by grace. Adhering firmly to the mystery of God’s design of salvation in its very beginnings, he stands as an exemplary model of the kindness and humility that the Christian faith raises to a great destiny, and demonstrates the ordinary and simple virtues necessary for men to be good and genuine followers of Christ. Through these virtues, this Just man, caring most lovingly for the Mother of God and happily dedicating himself to the upbringing of Jesus Christ, was placed as guardian over God the Father’s most precious treasures. Therefore he has been the subject of assiduous devotion on the part of the People of God throughout the centuries, as the support of that mystical body, which is the Church.
The faithful in the Catholic Church have shown continuous devotion to Saint Joseph and have solemnly and constantly honored his memory as the most chaste spouse of the Mother of God and as the heavenly Patron of the universal Church. For this reason Blessed Pope John XXIII, in the days of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, decreed that Saint Joseph’s name be added to the ancient Roman Canon. In response to petitions received from places throughout the world, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI deemed them worthy of implementation and graciously approved them. The Supreme Pontiff Francis likewise has recently confirmed them. In this the Pontiffs had before their eyes the full communion of the Saints who, once pilgrims in this world, now lead us to Christ and unite us with him.
Accordingly, mature consideration having been given to all the matters mentioned here above, this Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, by virtue of the faculties granted by the Supreme Pontiff Francis, is pleased to decree that the name of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary is henceforth to be added to Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as follows: in Eucharistic Prayer II: “ut cum beáta Dei Genetríce Vírgine María, beáto Ioseph, eius Sponso, beátis Apóstolis”; in Eucharistic Prayer III: “cum beatíssima Vírgine, Dei Genetríce, María, cum beáto Ioseph, eius Sponso, cum beátis Apóstolis”; and in Eucharistic Prayer IV: “cum beáta Vírgine, Dei Genetríce, María, cum beáto Ioseph, eius Sponso, cum Apóstolis ”.
As regards the Latin text, these formulas are hereby declared typical. The Congregation itself will soon provide vernacular translations in the more widespread western languages; as for other languages, translations are to be prepared by the Bishops’ Conferences, according to the norm of law, to be confirmed by the Holy See through this Dicastery.
All things to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1 May 2013, on the Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker.
( Antonio Card. Cañizares Llovera )
Prefect
( X Arthur Roche )
Archbishop Secretary
The Congregation has provided English language translations for the additions to the Mass prayers.
In Eucharistic Prayer II:
that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
with the blessed Apostles
In Eucharistic Prayer III:
with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs
In Eucharistic Prayer IV:
with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
and with your Apostles
http://en.radiovaticana.va/
Prefect
( X Arthur Roche )
Archbishop Secretary
The Congregation has provided English language translations for the additions to the Mass prayers.
In Eucharistic Prayer II:
that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
with the blessed Apostles
In Eucharistic Prayer III:
with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs
In Eucharistic Prayer IV:
with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
and with your Apostles
http://en.radiovaticana.va/
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What is grace?
By grace we mean God’s free, loving gift to us, his helping goodness, the vitality that comes from him. Through the Cross and Resurrection, God devotes himself entirely to us and communicates himself to us in grace. Grace is everything God grants us, without our deserving it in the least.
“Grace”, says Pope Benedict XVI, “is being looked upon by God, our being touched by his love.” Grace is not a thing, but rather God’s communication of himself to men. God never gives less than himself. In grace we are in God.
What does God’s grace do to us?
God’s grace brings us into the inner life of the Holy Trinity, into the exchange of love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It makes us capable of living in God’s love and of acting on the basis of this love.
Grace is infused in us from above and cannot be explained in terms of natural causes (supernatural grace). It makes us—especially through Baptism—children of God and heirs of heaven (sanctifying or deifying grace). It bestows on us a permanent disposition to do good (habitual grace). Grace helps us to know, to will, and to do everything that leads us to what is good, to God, and to heaven (actual grace). Grace comes about in a special way in the sacraments, which according to the will of our Savior are the preeminent places for our encounter with God (sacramental grace). Grace is manifested also in special gifts of grace that are granted to individual Christians ( charisms) or in special powers that are promised to those in the state of marriage, the ordained state, or the religious state (graces of state).
God’s grace is freely bestowed on a person, and it seeks and summons him to respond in complete freedom. Grace does not compel. God’s love wants our free assent.
One can also say No to the offer of grace. Grace, nevertheless, is not something external or foreign to man; it is what he actually yearns for in his deepest freedom. In moving us by his grace, God anticipates man’s free response.
(YOUCAT questions 338-340)
Dig Deeper: Corresponding CCC section (1996-2005) and other references here.
This text comes from the YOUCAT - an accessible expression of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a simple Q & A format. [Learn more here]
Copyright © 2011 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco.
Sponsored by Lighthouse Catholic Media, NFP. Powered by Flocknote.
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PRAYER TO
MARY, MOTHER OF GRACE # 2
(By. St. Athanasius, Bishop/Doctor)
It becomes you to be mindful of us,
as you stand near Him who granted you all graces,
for you are the Mother of God and our Queen.
Help us for the sake of the King,
the Lord God and Master who was born of you.
For this reason,
you are called full of grace.
Remember us, most holy Virgin,
and bestow on us gifts
from the riches of your graces,
Virgin full of graces.
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'The power of evil men lives on the cowardice of the good.'
St. John Bosco
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But the power of Mary over all the devils will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snares against her heel: that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom she will raise up to make war against him. They shall be little and poor in the world’s esteem, and abased before all like the heel, trodden underfoot and persecuted as the heel is by the other members of the body. But in return for this they shall be rich in the grace of God, which Mary shall distribute to them abundantly. They shall be great and exalted before God in sanctity, superior to all other creatures by their lively zeal, and so well sustained with God’s assistance that, with the humility of their heel, in union with Mary, they shall crush the head of the devil and cause Jesus Christ to triumph."
~ Saint Louis de Montfort ~True Devotion to Mary ~
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“The foundation of all our confidence is found in the Blessed Virgin Mary. God has committed to her the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For this is His will: That we obtain everything through Mary.” Pope Pius IX
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TO FIND THE GRACE OF GOD, WE MUST DISCOVER MARY: ST LOUIS MARIE DE MONTFORT
It all comes to this, then.
We must discover a simple means to obtain from God the grace needed to become holy.
It is precisely this I wish to teach you.
My contention is that you must first discover Mary if you would obtain this grace from God.
Let me explain:
(1)
Mary alone found grace with God for herself and for every individual person .
No patriarch or prophet or any other holy person of the Old Law could manage to find this grace.
(2)
It was Mary who gave existence and life to the author of all grace, and because of this she is called the
"Mother of Grace".
(3)
God the Father, from whom, as from its essential source, every perfect gift and every grace come down to us , gave her every grace when he gave her his Son.
Thus, as St Bernard says, the will of God is manifested to her in Jesus and with Jesus.
(4)
God chose her to be the treasurer, the administrator and the dispenser of all his graces, so that all his graces and gifts pass through her hands.
Such is the power that she has received from him that, according to St Bernardine, she gives the graces of the eternal Father, the virtues of Jesus Christ, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to whom she wills, as and when she wills, and as much as she wills.
(5)
As in the natural life a child must have a father and a mother, so in the supernatural life of grace a true child of the Church must have God for his Father and Mary for his mother.
If he prides himself on having God for his Father but does not give to Mary the tender affection of a true child, he is an impostor and his father is the devil.
(6)
Since Mary produced the head of the elect, Jesus Christ, she must also produce the members of that head, that is, all true Christians.
A mother does not conceive a head without members, nor members without a head.
If anyone, then, wishes to become a member of Jesus Christ, and consequently be filled with grace and truth , he must be formed in Mary through the grace of Jesus Christ, which she possesses with a fullness enabling her to communicate it abundantly to true members of Jesus Christ, her true children.
(7)
The Holy Spirit espoused Mary and produced his greatest work, the incarnate Word, in her, by her and through her.
He has never disowned her and so he continues to produce every day, in a mysterious but very real manner, the souls of the elect in her and through her.
(8)
Mary received from God a unique dominion over souls enabling her to nourish them and make them more and more godlike.
St Augustine went so far as to say that even in this world all the elect are enclosed in the womb of Mary, and that their real birthday is when this good mother brings them forth to eternal life.
Consequently, just as an infant draws all its nourishment from its mother, who gives according to its needs, so the elect draw their spiritual nourishment and all their strength from Mary.
(9)
It was to Mary that God the Father said,
"Dwell in Jacob",
that is, dwell in my elect who are typified by Jacob.
It was to Mary that God the Son said,
"My dear Mother, your inheritance is in Israel",
that is, in the elect.
It was to Mary that the Holy Spirit said,
"Place your roots in my elect".
Whoever, then, is of the chosen and predestinate will have the Blessed Virgin living within him, and he will let her plant in his very soul the roots of every virtue, but especially deep humility and ardent charity.
(10)
Mary is called by St Augustine, and is indeed, the
"living mould of God" .
In her alone the God-man was formed in his human nature without losing any feature of the Godhead.
In her alone, by the grace of Jesus Christ, man is made godlike as far as human nature is capable of it.
A sculptor can make a statue or a life-like model in two ways:
(i) By using his skill, strength, experience and good tools to produce a statue out of hard, shapeless matter;
(ii) By making a cast of it in a mould.
The first way is long and involved and open to all sorts of accidents.
It only needs a faulty stroke of the chisel or hammer to ruin the whole work.
The second is quick, easy, straightforward, almost effortless and inexpensive, but the mould must be perfect and true to life and the material must be easy to handle and offer no resistance.
Mary is the great mould of God, fashioned by the Holy Spirit to give human nature to a Man who is God by the hypostatic union, and to fashion through grace men who are like to God.
No godly feature is missing from this mould.
Everyone who casts himself into it and allows himself to be moulded will acquire every feature of Jesus Christ, true God, with little pain or effort, as befits his weak human condition.
He will take on a faithful likeness to Jesus with no possibility of distortion, for the devil has never had and never will have any access to Mary, the holy and immaculate Virgin, in whom there is not the least suspicion of a stain of sin.
Dear friend, what a difference there is between a soul brought up in the ordinary way to resemble Jesus Christ by people who, like sculptors, rely on their own skill and industry,
and a soul thoroughly tractable, entirely detached, most ready to be moulded in her by the working of the Holy Spirit.
What blemishes and defects, what shadows and distortions, what natural and human imperfections are found in the first soul, and what a faithful and divine likeness to Jesus is found in the second!
There is not and there will never be, either in God's creation or in his mind, a creature in whom he is so honoured as in the most Blessed Virgin Mary, not excepting even the saints, the cherubim or the highest seraphim in heaven.
Mary is God's garden of Paradise, his own unspeakable world, into which his Son entered to do wonderful things, to tend it and to take his delight in it.
He created a world for the wayfarer, that is, the one we are living in.
He created a second world - Paradise - for the Blessed.
He created a third for himself, which he named Mary. She is a world unknown to most mortals here on earth.
Even the angels and saints in heaven find her incomprehensible, and are lost in admiration of a God who is so exalted and so far above them, so distant from them, and so enclosed in Mary, his chosen world, that they exclaim:
"Holy, holy, holy" unceasingly.
Happy, indeed sublimely happy, is the person to whom the Holy Spirit reveals the secret of Mary, thus imparting to him true knowledge of her.
Happy the person to whom the Holy Spirit opens this enclosed garden for him to enter, and to whom the Holy Spirit gives access to this sealed fountain where he can draw water and drink deep draughts of the living waters of grace.
That person will find only grace and no creature in the most lovable Virgin Mary.
But he will find that the infinitely holy and exalted God is at the same time infinitely solicitous for him and understands his weaknesses.
Since God is everywhere, he can be found everywhere, even in hell.
But there is no place where God can be more present to his creature and more sympathetic to human weakness than in Mary.
It was indeed for this very purpose that he came down from heaven.
Everywhere else he is the Bread of the strong and the Bread of angels, but living in Mary he is the Bread of children.
Let us not imagine, then, as some misguided teachers do, that Mary being simply a creature would be a hindrance to union with the Creator.
Far from it, for it is no longer Mary who lives but Jesus Christ himself, God alone, who lives in her.
Her transformation into God far surpasses that experienced by St Paul and other saints, more than heaven surpasses the earth.
Mary was created only for God, and it is unthinkable that she should reserve even one soul for herself.
On the contrary she leads every soul to God and to union with him.
Mary is the wonderful echo of God.
The more a person joins himself to her, the more effectively she unites him to God.
When we say "Mary",
she re-echoes "God".
When, like St Elizabeth, we call her blessed, she gives the honour to God.
If those misguided ones who were so sadly led astray by the devil, even in their prayer-life, had known how to discover Mary, and Jesus through her, and God through Jesus, they would not have had such terrible falls.
The saints tell us that when we have once found Mary, and through Mary Jesus, and through Jesus God the Father, then we have discovered every good.
When we say "every good",
we except nothing.
"Every good" includes every grace, continuous friendship with God, every protection against the enemies of God, possession of truth to counter every falsehood, endless benefits and unfailing headway against the hazards we meet on the way to salvation, and finally every consolation and joy amid the bitter afflictions of life.
This does not mean that one who has discovered Mary through a genuine devotion is exempt from crosses and sufferings.
Far from it!
One is tried even more than others, because Mary, as Mother of the living, gives to all her children splinters of the tree of life, which is the Cross of Jesus.
But while meting out crosses to them she gives the grace to bear them with patience, and even with joy.
In this way, the crosses she sends to those who trust themselves to her are rather like sweetmeats, i.e. "sweetened" crosses rather than "bitter" ones.
If from time to time they do taste the bitterness of the chalice from which we must drink to become proven friends of God, the consolation and joy which their Mother sends in the wake of their sorrows creates in them a strong desire to carry even
heavier and still more bitter crosses.
•••...........................................................................................................................
Your name, O Mother of God,
is replete with all graces
and Divine blessings.
You have contained Him who cannot be contained,
and nourished Him who nourishes all creatures.He who fills heaven and earth,
and is the Lord of all,
was pleased to be in need of you,
for it was you who clothed Him with that flesh
which He did not have before.
Rejoice, then, O Mother and Handmaid of God!
Rejoice, because you have made Him a debtor
who gives being to all creatures.
We are all debtors to God,
but He is a debtor to you.
That is why, O most holy Mother of God,
you possess more goodness
and greater charity than all the other Saints,
and have freer access to God than any of them,
for you are his Mother.
Be mindful of us,
we beg you,
in our miseries,
for we celebrate your glories
and know how great is your goodness.
- SAINT METHODIUS (A.D. 847)
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Our Eucharistic Lord!
"And according as we say, 'Our Father,' because He is The Father of those who understand and believe; so also we call it 'our Bread,' because Christ is The Bread of those who are in union with His Body. And we ask that this Bread should be given to us daily, that we who are in Christ, and daily receive The Eucharist for the Food of Salvation, may not by the interposition of some heinous sin...be separated from Christ's Body."
~ St. Cyprian
"And according as we say, 'Our Father,' because He is The Father of those who understand and believe; so also we call it 'our Bread,' because Christ is The Bread of those who are in union with His Body. And we ask that this Bread should be given to us daily, that we who are in Christ, and daily receive The Eucharist for the Food of Salvation, may not by the interposition of some heinous sin...be separated from Christ's Body."
~ St. Cyprian
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"It is the queen who gives the king most trouble in this chess-game and all the other pieces support her. There is no queen who can beat this King as well as humility can; for humility brought him down from heaven into the Virgin's womb, and with humility we can draw him into our souls by a single hair. Be sure that he will give most to him who has most already, and least to him who has least."- St. Teresa of Jesus
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"It is the queen who gives the king most trouble in this chess-game and all the other pieces support her. There is no queen who can beat this King as well as humility can; for humility brought him down from heaven into the Virgin's womb, and with humility we can draw him into our souls by a single hair. Be sure that he will give most to him who has most already, and least to him who has least."- St. Teresa of Jesus
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Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.
-- St Ignatius Loyola
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.
~~St. Rose of Lima
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Jesus, who came to regenerate the world, began by keeping silence in public for thirty years. And yet there were so many vices to reform in the world, so many wandering souls to bring back. Our Lord reproves no one. He is content with praying, with doing penance, and with resisting evil and asking God's pardon for it. Oh! What a lesson against rash judgments!
-- St. Peter Eymard
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O FULL OF GRACE: Prayer of Pope Piux XII
O Mary, "full of grace and blessed among women,"
stretch out the hand of your motherly protection,
we ask you, upon us who gather round
your queenly throne as your handmaidens,
obedient to your command
and resolved with your help
to bring to realization in ourselves and our sisters
the ideals of truth and Christian perfection.
Our eyes are fixed on you in admiration, immaculate Virgin;
you who are loved by the Heavenly Father above all others!
O Virgin Spouse of the Holy Spirit!
Tender Mother of Jesus!
Obtain for us from your Divine Son
the grace to reflect your sublime virtues in our conduct,
according to our age and condition of life.
Grant that we may be spotless and pure
in our thoughts and in our behavior;
gentle, affectionate,
and sympathetic companions to our husbands;
to our children solicitous,
vigilant and wise mothers;
prudent administrators of our homes;
exemplary citizens of our dear country;
faithful daughters of the Church,
ever ready to allow ourselves to be guided
by her in thought and deed.
Help us, loving Mother,
to be truly devoted to the duties of our state of life;
help us make our homes true centers
of spiritual life and active charity,
schools where consciences will be rightly formed,
gardens where every virtue will flourish.
Give us your help that in social and political life
we may be patterns of deep faith,
of consistent and gracious Christian practice,
of incorruptible integrity,
and of well-balance judgment
based upon the solid principles of religion.
Bless these our resolutions
which you have inspired us to make
and the trials you have helped us to bear;
may we with your aid come to see
their abundant fruits in time and in eternity.
Amen.
we ask you, upon us who gather round
your queenly throne as your handmaidens,
obedient to your command
and resolved with your help
to bring to realization in ourselves and our sisters
the ideals of truth and Christian perfection.
Our eyes are fixed on you in admiration, immaculate Virgin;
you who are loved by the Heavenly Father above all others!
O Virgin Spouse of the Holy Spirit!
Tender Mother of Jesus!
Obtain for us from your Divine Son
the grace to reflect your sublime virtues in our conduct,
according to our age and condition of life.
Grant that we may be spotless and pure
in our thoughts and in our behavior;
gentle, affectionate,
and sympathetic companions to our husbands;
to our children solicitous,
vigilant and wise mothers;
prudent administrators of our homes;
exemplary citizens of our dear country;
faithful daughters of the Church,
ever ready to allow ourselves to be guided
by her in thought and deed.
Help us, loving Mother,
to be truly devoted to the duties of our state of life;
help us make our homes true centers
of spiritual life and active charity,
schools where consciences will be rightly formed,
gardens where every virtue will flourish.
Give us your help that in social and political life
we may be patterns of deep faith,
of consistent and gracious Christian practice,
of incorruptible integrity,
and of well-balance judgment
based upon the solid principles of religion.
Bless these our resolutions
which you have inspired us to make
and the trials you have helped us to bear;
may we with your aid come to see
their abundant fruits in time and in eternity.
Amen.
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OUR LADY MEDIATRIX AND ADVOCATE: -by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux A.D. 1090-1153
Our Mediatrix and Advocate
O blessed Lady,
you found grace,
brought forth the Life,
and became the Mother of Salvation.
May you obtain the grace for us to go to the Son.
By your mediation,
may we be received by the One
who through you gave Himself to us.
May your integrity compensate with Him
for the fault of our corruption;
and may your humility,
which is pleasing to God,
implore pardon for our vanity.
May your great charity cover the multitude of our sins;
and may your glorious fecundity
confer on us a fecundity of merits.
Dear Lady,
our Mediatrix and Advocate,
reconcile us to your Son,
recommend us to Him,
and present us to your Son.
By the grace you found,
by the privilege you merited,
by the mercy you brought forth,
obtain for us the following favour,O blessed Lady.
you found grace,
brought forth the Life,
and became the Mother of Salvation.
May you obtain the grace for us to go to the Son.
By your mediation,
may we be received by the One
who through you gave Himself to us.
May your integrity compensate with Him
for the fault of our corruption;
and may your humility,
which is pleasing to God,
implore pardon for our vanity.
May your great charity cover the multitude of our sins;
and may your glorious fecundity
confer on us a fecundity of merits.
Dear Lady,
our Mediatrix and Advocate,
reconcile us to your Son,
recommend us to Him,
and present us to your Son.
By the grace you found,
by the privilege you merited,
by the mercy you brought forth,
obtain for us the following favour,O blessed Lady.
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"We can cure physical diseases with medicine but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more who are dying for a little love. Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So spread love everywhere you go."
~ St. Teresa of Calcutta
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Belief in the Eucharist is a treasure we must seek by submissiveness, preserve by piety, and defend at any cost. Not to believe in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest of misfortunes.
-- St Peter Emyard
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Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy. Believe it firmly. Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God. Hope and have confidence in confession.
-- St Isidore of Seville
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"It is better to accustom ourselves
to seek God in everything we do,
than to spend a long time in prayer" ~St. Ignatius of Loyola
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I turned to Mary and asked her to obtain for me the grace to imitate our Lord’s Heart. I saw how perfectly her heart copied his: she loved those who put her Son to death and offered him to God the Father for them. This enkindled a very great love of virtue in my heart.
-- St. Claude La Colombiere
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Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy. Believe it firmly. Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God. Hope and have confidence in confession.
-- St Isidore of Seville
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"It is better to accustom ourselves
to seek God in everything we do,
than to spend a long time in prayer" ~St. Ignatius of Loyola
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MARIAN PRAYERS OF
SAINT BONAVENTURE # 2
(A.D. 1218-1274)
Have mercy on me, O Lady,
for my enemies have trodden upon me every day:
all their thoughts are turned to evil against me.
Stir up fury, and be mindful of war:
and pour out your anger upon them.
Renew wonders and change marvelous things:
let us feel the help of your arm.
Distill upon us the drops of your sweetness:
For you are the cupbearer of the sweetness of grace.
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"When the Holy Spirit, her spouse, finds Mary in a soul, He hastens there and enters fully into it. He gives himself generously to that soul according to the place it has given to His spouse. One of the main reasons why the Holy Spirit does not work striking wonders in souls is that He fails to find in them a sufficiently close union with His faithful and inseparable spouse."--St. Louis de Montfort~-- St. Claude La Colombiere
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"To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us." (1746)
--St. Faustina
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"To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us." (1746)
--St. Faustina
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"... All the saints have a great devotion to Our Lady; no grace comes from Heaven without passing through her hands. We cannot go into a house without speaking to the porter; well, the Holy Virgin is the portress of Heaven.
When we have to offer anything to a great personage, we get it presented by the person he likes best, in order that the homage may be agreeable to him. So our prayers have quite a different sort of merit when they are presented by the Blessed Virgin, because she is the only creature who has never offended God. The Blessed Virgin alone has fulfilled the first Commandment--to adore God only, and love Him perfectly. She fulfilled it completely."
--Saint John Vianney
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Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ
than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.
-- St. Augustine
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St. Pius X (+1914), in the Encyclical Ad diem illum, writes:
The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience, and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others.*
~St. Anthony
It cannot, of course, be denied that the dispensation of these treasures is the particular and peculiar right of Jesus Christ, for they are the exclusive fruit of his death, who by his nature is the mediator between God and man. Nevertheless, by this companionship in sorrow and suffering already mentioned between the Mother and the Son, it has been allowed to the august Virgin to be the most powerful Mediatrix and Advocate of the whole world with her divine Son (totius terrarium orbis potentissima apud unigenitum Filium suum mediatrix et conciliatrix). The source, then, is Jesus Christ. … But Mary … is the channel, or, if you will, the connecting portion the function of which is to join the body to the head and to transmit to the body the influences and volitions of the head—we mean the neck. … We are then, it will be seen, very far from attributing to the Mother of God a productive power of grace—a power which belongs to God alone. Yet, since Mary carries it over all in holiness and union with Jesus Christ, and has been associated by Jesus Christ in the work of redemption … she is the supreme minister of the distribution of graces (princeps largiendarum gratiarum ministra) (67).
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Pope Pius XI (+1939) calls the Virgin Mary the “Mediatrix of all graces with God” (72); he writes that Christ has associated Mary with himself as “minister and mediatress of grace” (73); he makes reference to the most efficacious patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Mediatrix of all graces” (74); he establishes the Blessed Virgin Mary of graces of Mount Philerimos as the principal patroness of the Archdiocese of Rhodes; and, in the related document, the Blessed Virgin is called “Mediatrix of all graces” (75).
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Pius XII wonderfully illustrates the doctrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s universal mediation:
Certainly, in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as his associate in the redemption, in his struggle with his enemies and his final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in his royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the divine Redeemer’s kingdom; from her union with Christ finally comes the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and his Father. Hence it cannot be doubted that Mary most holy is far above all other creatures in dignity, and after her Son possesses primacy over all. …
For if through his humanity the divine Word performs miracles and gives graces, if he uses his sacraments and saints as instruments for the salvation of men, why should he not make use of the role and work of his most holy Mother in imparting to us the fruits of redemption? “With a heart that is truly a mother’s,” to quote again our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, “does she approach the problem of our salvation, and is solicitous for the whole human race; made Queen of heaven and earth by the Lord, exalted above all choirs of angels and saints, and standing at the right hand of her only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she intercedes powerfully for us with a mother’s prayers, obtains what she seeks, and cannot be refused.” On this point another of our predecessors of happy memory, Leo XIII, has said that an “almost immeasurable” power has been given Mary in the distribution of graces; St. Pius X adds that she fills this office “as by the right of a mother” (77).
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In Pope Leo’s Encyclical Adiutricem populi, we read that the Blessed Virgin Mary, “who was so intimately associated with the mystery of human salvation is just as closely associated with the distribution of the graces which for all time will flow from the redemption. … Among her many other titles we find her hailed as ‘Our Lady, our Mediatrix,’ ‘the Reparatrix of the whole world,’ ‘the Dispenser of all heavenly gifts’” (65).
And in his Encyclical Fidentem piumque we read:
Undoubtedly the name and attributes of the absolute Mediator belong to no other than to Christ, for being one person, and yet both man and God, he restored the human race to the favor of the heavenly Father: One Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all (1 Tim 2:5-6). And yet, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, there is no reason why certain others should not be called in a certain way mediators between God and man, that is to say, in so far as they co-operate by predisposing and ministering in the union of man with God (Summa, p. 3, q. 26., a. 1, 2). Such are the angels and saints, the prophets and priests of both Testaments; but especially has the Blessed Virgin a claim to the glory of this title. For no single individual can even be imagined who has ever contributed or ever will contribute so much towards reconciling man with God. She offered to mankind, hastening to eternal ruin, a Savior, at that moment when she received the announcement of the mystery of peace brought to this earth by the angel, with that admirable act of consent in the name of the whole human race (Summa. p. 3, q. 30., a. 1). She it is from whom is born Jesus; she is therefore truly his mother, and for this reason a worthy and acceptable “Mediatrix to the Mediator” (66).
And in his Encyclical Fidentem piumque we read:
Undoubtedly the name and attributes of the absolute Mediator belong to no other than to Christ, for being one person, and yet both man and God, he restored the human race to the favor of the heavenly Father: One Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all (1 Tim 2:5-6). And yet, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, there is no reason why certain others should not be called in a certain way mediators between God and man, that is to say, in so far as they co-operate by predisposing and ministering in the union of man with God (Summa, p. 3, q. 26., a. 1, 2). Such are the angels and saints, the prophets and priests of both Testaments; but especially has the Blessed Virgin a claim to the glory of this title. For no single individual can even be imagined who has ever contributed or ever will contribute so much towards reconciling man with God. She offered to mankind, hastening to eternal ruin, a Savior, at that moment when she received the announcement of the mystery of peace brought to this earth by the angel, with that admirable act of consent in the name of the whole human race (Summa. p. 3, q. 30., a. 1). She it is from whom is born Jesus; she is therefore truly his mother, and for this reason a worthy and acceptable “Mediatrix to the Mediator” (66).
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Pope Leo XIII explains that in the vocal recitation of the Rosary we address first the Father who is in heaven and then the Virgin Mary. “Thus is confirmed that law of merciful meditation of which we have spoken, and which St. Bernardine of Siena thus expresses: ‘Every grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us’” (63). At the end of the encyclical the Holy Father, citing the authority of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, reaffirms that God has given us a “Mediatrix” in Mary, willing “that all good should come to us by the hands of Mary” (64).
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Pope Leo XIII (+1903) writes that “with equal truth may it be also affirmed that, by the will of God, Mary is the intermediary through whom is distributed unto us this immense treasure of mercies gathered by God, for mercy and truth were created by Jesus Christ. Thus as no man goes to the Father but by the Son, so no man goes to Christ but by his Mother” (62).
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"The Lord Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom ... He gave Mary the keys to His heart."
- Pope Pius XII
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~St. Anthony
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“If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady’s Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men.”
-Pope Pius XI
“If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady’s Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men.”
-Pope Pius XI
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"Take St. Maximilian’s advice and never despair when faced with repeated serious sin. Despair is truly the only sin God can’t forgive. Instead, purpose to learn humility and be docile to the graces God sends to you. Persevere in grace and wait patiently on Our Lord. He will deliver you in due time."
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MARIOLOGY SINCE VATICAN COUNCIL II
Vatican City, 8 September 2012 (VIS) - "Mariology since Vatican Council II: reception, outcomes and prospects" is the theme of the twenty-third International Mariological Congress. Receiving the participants this morning at Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father highlighted the appropriateness of the theme in light of the fact that 11 October this year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Council.
The Pope, who himself participated in Vatican Council II as a young theologian, turned his attention to chapter eight of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium", entitled: "The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the Mystery of Christ and the Church". Therein "the figure of Mary - re-examined and reinterpreted from the point of view of the Word of God, the texts of patristic and liturgical tradition, and a broad-ranging theological and spiritual reflection - emerges in all her beauty and uniqueness, closely enclosed within the fundamental mysteries of the Christian faith.
"Mary, whose faith is emphasised above all else, is part of the mystery of love and communion of the Blessed Trinity", Benedict XVI added. "Her participation in the divine plan of salvation and the unique mediation of Christ is clearly affirmed and given its correct import, thus making it a model and a point of reference for the Church which, in her, recognises herself, her vocation and her mission. Popular piety, which has always looked to Mary, is likewise nourished by biblical and patristic references.
"Of course the conciliar text was not able to cover all the questions concerning the Mother of God, but it does provide an essential interpretative horizon for all subsequent reflection, both the theological and the purely spiritual and pastoral. Moreover, it represents a valuable and highly necessary point of equilibrium between theological rationality and the emotion of belief".
The Pope concluded: "The unique figure of the Mother of God must be understood and studied from different and complementary standpoints. While the 'via veritas' remains valid and necessary, we cannot but also follow the 'via pulchritudinis' and the 'via amoris', in order to discover and contemplate ever more profoundly Mary's firm and crystalline faith, her love for God and her unshakeable hope".
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The postulator for Mother Teresa's cause, shows that in fact Mother Teresa received inner locutions during her earthly life, a fact that most of you are aware of that at this time. It has been released by Fr Brian who is postulator of Mother’s cause.
In the locutions that Mother Teresa received, she once again received the role of Mary as the Co-redemptrix. Please listen to these words as they were released, written back towards 1946. Mother says:
‘my own Jesus, what you ask is beyond me. I can hardly understand half the things you want. I am unworthy, I am sinful. I am weak. Go Jesus, and find a more worthy soul, a more generous one.’
Our Lord responds:
You have become my spouse for my love. You have come to India for me. The thirst you had for souls brought you so far. Are you afraid now to take one more step for your spouse, for me, for souls? Is your generosity grown cold? Am I a second to you? You did not die for souls. That is why you don’t care what happens to them. Your heart was never drowned in sorrow, as was my mother’s. We both gave our all for souls. And you, are you afraid that you will lose your vocation, you will become a secular and you will be wanting in perseverance? No, your vocation is to love and suffer and save souls and by taking this step you will fulfill my heart’s desires for you. You will dress in simple Indian clothes, or rather, like my Mother dressed: simple and poor. Your present habit is holy because it is my symbol. Your sari will become holy because it will be my symbol.
You see Our Lord speaks about how He and the Mother gave their all for souls, that’s Co-redemptrix and maybe Mother Teresa became such a hero for Co-redemptrix because for fifty years she herself was a co-redeemer. Fifty years in mystical darkness, fifty years experiencing a type of rejection from God, while at the same time being an apostle of joy for everyone else. She said:
‘I even tried to hide my suffering from Jesus himself and every time he brought me a suffering, I looked to him with a big smile and said: “Thank you, Jesus."'
You see Our Lord speaks about how He and the Mother gave their all for souls, that’s Co-redemptrix and maybe Mother Teresa became such a hero for Co-redemptrix because for fifty years she herself was a co-redeemer. Fifty years in mystical darkness, fifty years experiencing a type of rejection from God, while at the same time being an apostle of joy for everyone else. She said:
‘I even tried to hide my suffering from Jesus himself and every time he brought me a suffering, I looked to him with a big smile and said: “Thank you, Jesus."'
This is awesome sanctity. This is awesome co-redemption, making up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His body, which is the Church.
After the 1993 St. Louis Rosary conference, Mother Teresa:
‘Mary is our Co-redemptrix with Jesus. She gave Jesus his body and suffered with him at the foot of the cross. Mary is the Mediatrix of all grace. She gave Jesus to us, and as our Mother she obtains for us all his graces. Mary is our Advocate who prays to Jesus for us. It is only through the heart of Mary that we come to the Eucharistic heart of Jesus. The Papal definition of Mary as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate will bring great graces to the Church. All for Jesus through Mary. God bless you. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.’
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Four Marian Dogmas have already been proclaimed. They are
- Mary is the Mother of God (QeotokoV, Theotokos), proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
- Mary was Ever Virgin, before, during and after the birth of Jesus, proclaimed in 649.
- Mary was immaculately conceived, proclaimed by Pope Pius IX on 8th December 1854.
- Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul, proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on 1stNovember 1950.
There is growing support within the Catholic Church now for a fifth and final Marian dogma to be proclaimed, that Mary is Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate. The movement Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici is at the forefront of the growing enthusiasm for this fifth dogma. Since 1993 this movement has collected more than five million signatures in 157 countries in support of the proclamation of this dogma.
Co-Remptrix: 'Co' is from the Latin 'cum' which means with. 'Co-Redemptrix means Our Lady is 'one with the Redeemer.' It refers to Our Lady's co-operation in our redemption. She co-operated with God at the Annunciation to give a body to Jesus. She suffered with Jesus at the foot of the cross. This title of Our Lady shows that suffering has supernatural value, that there is a value in accepting the cross.
Mediatrix of all Graces: This means that all the graces from the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit flow to us through Mary.
Advocate: As Advocate our petitions flow back to the Trinity through Mary. She is our human connection to the Trinity.
1 Tim 2:5 says there is one mediator between God and man, Jesus. But that does not take away from others mediating to a lesser extent. Mary is a mediator, but subordinate to the mediation of Jesus. We could say that we are all called to act as co-redeemers by uniting our sufferings with Jesus on the cross, we are all called to mediate the love of God to others and every time someone asks us to pray for them they are asking us to be an advocate before God for them. The fifth dogma will recognize the unique role of Mary as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate.
These titles have already been used of Our Lady in the official magisterial teaching of the Church. The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium §62 refers to Mary as Mediatrix and Advocate. Also on 24th September 1997 Pope John Paul made a strong statement referring to Our Lady's role in our Redemption and referred to her role as our Mediatrix and Advocate. On 1st October 1997 Pope John Paul made a strong statement on Our Lady's role as Mediatrix.
It is the opinion of many that when this dogma is proclaimed the triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart will begin which she predicted at Fatima and that it will usher in a new Pentecost in the Church.
Courtesy: http://www.frtommylane.com/fifthmariandogma.htm
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According to Saint Alphonsus, the principle purpose of penance and mortification is to "restrain the inordinate inclinations of self-love". It is with this perspective that we must begin--for, as the saint says, "self-love is the most deceitful of all enemies". If our three principle enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil, the saints remind us that the flesh is the more formidable of the three, because it originates from within. "A domestic enemy," says St. Bernard, "is the worst of foes". St. John of the Cross echoes this sentiment; "The world is the enemy least difficult to conquer; the devil is the hardest to understand; but the flesh is the most tenacious, and its attacks continue as long as the old self lasts."
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Where there is no obedience, there is no virtue; where there is no virtue, there is no good; where there is no good there is no love; where there is no love, there is no God; and where there is no God, there is no Paradise” – St. Padre Pio
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Mary’s Spiritual Motherhood of all humanity is already the official teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, the solemn definition of this truth by our beloved Pope Benedict XVI will allow Our Lady to exercise fully and in an unprecedented manner her God-given intercessory powers for her human children in our present state of severe global crisis.
Our Mother’s titles of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate are her functions for humanity. When they are solemnly defined by the Roman Pontiff, the bearer of the Keys of the Kingdom (cf. Mt. 16:15-20), then and only then will the Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces intercede for the historic graces of redemption and peace promised at places like Fatima, which will in turn definitively initiate the Triumph of her most Immaculate Heart and an eventual “era of peace” (cf. July 13, 1917 Fatima message).
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church: Mary's Universal Motherhood (2673-2674)
Through Jesus' glorified humanity, our prayer unites us with his mother (Acts 1:14).
Her consent of faith (given at the Annunciation) perdured to the cross of Jesus. Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer. Mary shows us to the way.
Two Distinct Movements (2675)
The Church developed prayers to the Mother of God which show two distinct movements. The first magnifies God for his great deeds toward Mary. The second entrusts our petitions to Mary (who knows Jesus' humanity so well).
The Hail Mary expresses these two movements. "Hail Mary" is God's greeting, showing God's high regard for her lowliness. "Full of grace, the Lord is with thee" reveals two truths. First, Mary is filled with grace because the Lord is with her. She is "the Ark of the Covenant, the dwelling of God with men" (Rev 21:3). Second, as "full of grace" she gives herself totally to Jesus whom she will give to the world.
Elizabeth's Words (2676)
"Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." Elizabeth said these words when she "was filled with the Holy Spirit." Mary was blessed because she "believed that the Lord's Word would be fulfilled" (Lk 1:42-45). Mary became the mother of believers who will receive the fruit of her womb.
"Holy Mary, Mother of God" (2677)
Because she gave us Jesus, Mary is the Mother of God and our mother. Her prayer for us is "Let it be done according to your Word" (Lk 1:38).
"Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." By asking her prayers, we entrust ourselves to her both today and at "the hour of death."
The Rosary (2678-2679)
Medieval piety developed the rosary in place of the Liturgy of the Hours. In the East, the Marian litany stayed closer to the Byzantine choral office. Other traditions (Armenian, Coptic, Syriac) developed popular hymns to Mary.
Mary is the perfect pray-er, and when we pray to her we adhere to the Father's plan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII
ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY
TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN, THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHIOPS, AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE HOLY SEE
42.
Besides, the Blessed Virgin possessed, after Christ, not only the highest
degree of excellence and perfection, but also a share in that influence by
which He, her Son and our Redeemer, is rightly said to reign over the minds and
wills of men. For if through His Humanity the divine Word performs miracles and
gives graces, if He uses His Sacraments and Saints as instruments
for the salvation of men, why should He not make use of the role and work of
His most holy Mother in imparting to us the fruits of redemption? "With a
heart that is truly a mother's," to quote again Our Predecessor of
immortal memory, Pius IX, "does she approach the problem of our salvation,
and is solicitous for the whole human race; made Queen of heaven and earth by
the Lord, exalted above all choirs
of angels and saints, and standing at the right hand of her only [55a] Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord, she intercedes powerfully for us with a mother's
prayers, obtains what she seeks, and cannot be refused."[56] On this point
another of Our Predecessors of happy memory, Leo XIII, has said that an
"almost immeasurable" power has been given Mary in the distribution of graces;[57]
St. Pius X adds that she fills this office "as by the right of a
mother."[58]
Given at Rome, from St.
Peter's, on the feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the eleventh day of October, 1954, in the sixteenth year of our Pontificate.
PIUS XII
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Compendium
OF THE
CATECHISM
OF THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
197.
How does the Virgin Mary help
the Church?965-970
974-975
After the Ascension of her Son, the Virgin Mary aided the beginnings of the Church with her prayers. Even after her Assumption into heaven, she continues to intercede for her children, to be a model of faith and charity for all, and to exercise over them a salutary influence deriving from the superabundant merits of Christ. The faithful see in Mary an image and an anticipation of the resurrection that awaits them and they invoke her as advocate, helper, benefactress and mediatrix.
"This motherhood of
Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she
loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering
beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to
heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold
intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . . . .
Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of
Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 969
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 969
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CARITATE CHRISTI COMPULSI
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON THE SACRED HEART
TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN THE PATRIARCHS,
PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES OF LOCALITES
HAVING PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.
31.
Let, therefore, this year the Feast of the Sacred Heart be for the whole Church
one of holy rivalry of reparation and supplication. Let the faithful hasten in
large numbers to the eucharistic board, hasten to the foot of the altar to
adore the Redeemer of the world, under the veils of the Sacrament, that you,
Venerable Brethren, will have solemnly exposed that day in all churches, let them pour out to that
Merciful Heart that has known all the
griefs of the human heart, the fullness of their sorrow, the steadfastness of
their faith, the trust of their hope, the ardor of their charity. Let them pray
to Him, interposing likewise the powerful patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of all graces, for themselves and for their
families, for their country, for the Church; let them pray to Him for the Vicar
of Christ on earth and for all the
other Pastors, who share with him the dread burden of the spiritual government
of souls; let them pray for their brethren who believe, for their brethren who
err, for unbelievers, for infidels, even for the enemies of God and the Church,
that they may be converted, and let them pray for the whole of poor mankind.
CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY
THE PRIEST,
PASTOR AND LEADER
OF THE PARISH COMMUNITY
PASTOR AND LEADER
OF THE PARISH COMMUNITY
In
penetrating that mystery, the Blessed Virgin Mary, united with the Redeemer, comes to
our assistance because "when we celebrate the Holy Mass, the Mother of the
Son of God is in our midst and introduces us to the mystery of His redemptive
sacrifice. Thus, she is the mediatrix of allthe grace flowing from this sacrifice
to the Church and to all the
faithful"[45]. Indeed, "Mary was
associated with the priestly sacrifice of Christ in a singular way by sharing
His will to save the world through the Cross. She was the first and
perfect spiritual participant in His oblation as Sacerdos et Hostia. As
such, she can obtain and give to those who share ministerially in the
priesthood of her Son, the grace to respond all the
more to the demands of the spiritual sacrifice which the priesthood demands: in
particular she can obtain and give the grace of faith, hope and perseverance in
the face of trials which stimulate a more generous participation in the
redemptive sacrifice"[46].
DARIO Card. CASTRILLON HOYOS
Prefect
Prefect
CSABA TERNYAK
Titular Archbishop of Eminenziana
Secretary
Titular Archbishop of Eminenziana
Secretary
***
Parish Priest's Prayer to Mary Most
Holy
O Mary,
Mother of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen,Mother of the Church, a priestly people (1 Pet 2,9),
Mother of priests, ministers of your Son:
accept the humble offering of myself,
so that in my pastoral mission
the infinite mercy of Eternal High Priest
may be proclaimed:
O "Mother of Mercy".
You who shared the "priestly obedience" (Heb 10, 5-7; Lk 1, 38),
of your Son,
and who prepared for him a worthy receptacle
by the anointing of the Holy Spirit,
keep my priestly life in the ineffable mystery
of your divine maternity,
"Holy Mother of God".
Grant me strength in the dark hours of this life,
support me in the exertions of my ministry
entrust me to Jesus,
so that, in communion with you,
I may fulfil the ministry with fidelity and love,
O Mother of the Eternal Priest
"Queen of Apostles and Help of Priests"[145].
Make me faithful to the flock
entrusted to me by the Good Shepherd,
You silently accompanied Jesus
on his mission to proclaim
the Gospel to the poor.
May I always guide it
with patience, sweetness
firmness and love,
caring for the sick,
the weak, the poor and sinners,
O "Mother, Help of the Christian People".
I consecrate and entrust myself to you , Mary,
who shared in the work of redemption
at the Cross of your Son,
you who "are inseparably linked to the work of salvation"[146].
Grant that in the exercise of my ministry
I may always be aware of the "stupendous and penetrating dimension of your maternal presence"[147]
in every moment of my life,
in prayer, and action,
in joy and sorrow, in weariness and in rest,
O "Mother of Trust".
Grant, Holy Mother, than in the celebration of the Mass,
source and centre of the priestly ministry,
that I may live my closeness to Jesus
in your maternal closeness to Him,
so that as "we celebrate the Holy Mass you will be present with us"
and introduce us to the redemptive mystery of your divine Son's offering[148]
"O Mediatrix of all grace flowing from this sacrifice to the Church and to all the faithful"[149]
O "Mother of Our Saviour".
O Mary: I earnestly desire to place my person
and my desire for holiness
under your maternal protection and inspiration
so that you may bring me to that "conformation with Christ, Head and Shepherd"
which is necessary for the ministry of every parish priest.
Make me aware
that "you are always close to priests"
in your mission of servant
of the One Mediator, Jesus Christ:
O "Mother of Priests"
"Benefactress and Mediatrix"[150]
of all graces.
Amen.
***
Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Mediatrix (Vatican II)
(Excerpt from the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen
Gentium)
There is but one Mediator as we know from the words of the apostle, "for there is one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all". The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power.
For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ.
Predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin was in this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Savior in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace.
This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent which she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, and lasts until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.(15*) By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home.
Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.(16*) This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.(17*)
For no creature could ever be counted as equal with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer. Just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by the ministers and by the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is really communicated in different ways to His creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.
The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary. It knows it through unfailing experience of it and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that encouraged by this maternal help they may the more intimately adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer.
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Mediatrix in Three Ways
According
to world– renowned Mariologist J.B. Carol, O.F.M., “a mediator is one who
stands between two persons or groups of persons either to facilitate an
exchange of favors or to reconcile parties at variance [with one another]”. The
universal mediation of Mary i.e., her maternal function in the acquisition,
impetration, and distribution of graces, is certainly one of the most
interesting and actual aspects of the entire Mystery of Mary in the History of
Salvation.
Carol goes on to say that “our Lady may be
styled ‘mediatrix’ either (a) because, as worthy Mother of God and full of
grace, she occupies a middle position between God and his creatures; or (b)
because, together with Christ and under him, she cooperated in the
reconciliation of God and humankind while she was still on earth; or (c)
because she distributes the graces that God bestows on His children.
“No matter in which of these three meanings it
may be taken, Mary’s mediation must always be understood as secondary to, and
dependent on, Christ’s primary and self – sufficient mediatorial role…
“For some theologians, the title ‘Co-Redemptrix’
refers to Mary’s cooperation in the Redemption in the sense that she knowingly
and willingly gave birth to the Redeemer (technically: indirect, remote cooperation)
and that she dispenses to us the fruits (graces) of the Redemption already
accomplished by Christ alone (i.e., cooperation in the subjective Redemption).
“The majority [of theologians] ,
however, believe that, besides the two types of cooperation just mentioned,
Mary also contributed to the Redemption itself., i.e., to the redemptive action
of Christ that was consummated on Calvary (called objective
Redemption). Specifically: Together with Christ (though in total subordination
to him an in virtue of his power), Mary atoned or satisfied for our sins,
merited every grace necessary for salvation, and joined the Savior’s sacrifice
on Calvary to appease the wrath of God.”
As a result of this joint operation of Jesus and
his Mother, God canceled the debt of the human race and took its members back
into His friendship that had been broken by sin.
Pope St. Pius X, in his 1904 Encyclical Ad
Diem Illum Laetis Simum (“On That Joyful Day”) , indicated that Mary
conceives and gives birth to us as Mother of the Redeemer:
“The Blessed Virgin did not conceive the eternal
Son of God merely in order that He might be
made man, taking His human nature from her, but also in order that by means of
the nature assumed from her He might be the Redeemer of man…
“Accordingly , in the same holy bosom of His
most chaste Mother, Christ took to Himself flesh and united to Himself the
spiritual Body formed by those who were to believe in Him. Hence, Mary,
carrying the Savior within her, may be said to have also carried all those whose
life was contained in the life of the Savior…
“Thus , in a spiritual and mystical fashion, we
are all children of Mary, and she is Mother of us all.”
Mary also gave spiritual birth to humankind at
the foot of the Cross. Like a Mother suffering the pangs of childbirth, she
stood by the Cross and in union with and subordinate to Christ gave
spiritual birth to the members of the Mystical Body. This point is brought out
by the words of Father Pierre Benoit, a world- renowned Scripture scholar:
“In the birth pangs of the Church, in the agony
of the Cross, Jesus was not alone. As man, sensitive and suffering, He needed a
helper and His Mother stood beside the Cross. She helped to accept and offer
everything to God; like a Mother, she shared in the birth of the Church.
“In my opinion it is incorrect to speak of Mary
as ‘Virgin Priest’; she is not a priest. Jesus is the one and only priest and
all other priests are His sacramental representatives. But Mary is the Mother
of that priest and she alone can fill that role. She helped her Son to
consummate His sacrifice.
“Thus all the graces that come to us from Jesus
– and they come from Him alone since He is the one source of salvation – come
through the hands of Mary, in glory beside her Son, collaborates with Him in distributing
these graces, just as in her role of Mother, a role at once humble and exalted,
she had collaborated with Him in the winning of grace.”
History of the Title
The whole history of the Church demonstrates the
existence of recourse to Mary to obtain her intercession in every circumstance
of life. We have seen this in Chapter 7: “Help of Christians.”
At the same time, the Fathers of the Church
consistently made statements that indicated Mary’s great power of mediation.
In the third century, St. Irenaeus wrote: “Mary
espoused but yet a virgin, became by her obedience a cause of salvation for
herself and the whole human race” (against Heresies, III, 22).
In the fourth century, St. Jerome stated: “death came through Eve, but life through Mary” (Epistle 22,
21) .
At the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century,
St. Cyril of Alexandria pronounced the greatest Marian sermon of
antiquity, relating Mary’s mediation to her office as Mother of God and her
relationship with the Blessed Trinity.
With Basil of Seleucia in the fifth century, the
word Mediatrix itself appeared in the context of the Annunciation: “Hail, full
of grace: set up as a Mediatrix of God and human beings, so that the walls of
enmity should be torn down and heavenly and earthly things come together as
one” (On the Annunciation).
Thus, from the fifth through the sixteenth
centuries, Fathers, Doctors, preachers, and hymnologists explained or assumed
Mary’s mediation without contradiction. In the Middle Ages, it was mainly
through the influence of St. Bernard of Calirvaux (d. 1153) that the doctrine
of Mary’s mediation became familiar to the Catholic faithful- through such
sayings as the following : “God has willed that we should have nothing that did
not pass through the hands of Mary.”
St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) made use of
the term Mediatrix in reference to Mary in his commentary on the Gospel of
John. Later, St. Bernardine of Siena (d.1444) applied to Mary the mediatorship of all
graces: “I do not hesitate to say that [Mary] has received a certain
jurisdiction over all graces… They are administered through her hands to whom
she pleases, when she pleases, and as much as she pleases.”
Beginning with the seventeenth century to 1921,
a huge output of material was published concerning this doctrine. The two most
popular books on our Lady during this time – True Devotion to Mary by
St. Louis Grignion de Montfort (d. 1716) and The Glories of Mary by
St. Alphonsus Liguori (d. 1878) – both were composed on the theme of Mary’s
universal mediation.
1921 to the Present
As a result of the
growing clamor on all sides for the definition of a Dogma about Mary’s
mediation of all graces, Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, Belgium,
petitioned Pope Benedict XV in 1921 for such an act. He received permission to
have a Mass and Office of “Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces” celebrated in all
dioceses of Belgium and saw the establishment of three commissions
by Pope Pius XI to study the question. But no definition was forthcoming.
In
the preparatory phase for the Second Vatican Council, which ended in the spring
of 1960, almost 500 bishops and other prelates requested that Mary’s universal
mediation be defined. However, this did not come to pass because of the
decision that Vatican II should not define any new Dogmas and because of the
fear of setting back the ecumenical effort. Pope John Paul II reiterated the
same point in 1999 when he declined to define a Dogma of Mary as Mediatrix of
All Graces.
In
this connection, an interesting point was made in 1984, when Cardinal
Confalonieri, in the name of the Chapter of St. Mary Major in Rome , asked for the definition of Mary’s universal mediation. The
future Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, replied that such a solemn pronouncement was not needed.
The reason he adduced for this view is most enlightening : “The doctrine of
Mary’s universal mediation is already adequately set forth in the various
documents of the Church :” The Cardinal so much as said that it is a secure
doctrine, already officially taught.
The
truth of this declaration can be seen in the writings of the latest Popes as
well as Vatican II and the Liturgy.
The Doctrine and the Magisterium
Perhaps
Blessed Pope Pius IX in his 1854 Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus
(“Ineffable God”) containing the solemn definition of the Dogma of the
Immaculate Conception paved the way for this title with his words:
“Let
all the children of the Catholic Church, who are most dear to us, hear our
words. With even more ardent zeal for piety, religion, and love, let them
continue to venerate, invoke, and pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of
God, conceived without original sin. Let them with utter confidence have
recourse to this sweetest Mother of mercy and grace in all dangers,
difficulties , necessities, doubts, and fears.
“Under
her guidance, patronage, kindness, and protection, nothing is to be feared and
nothing is hopeless. For, while bearing towards us a truly motherly affection
and having in her care the work of our salvation, she is solicitous about the
whole human race.
“
And since she has been appointed by God to be the Queen of heaven
and earth, and is exalted above all the choirs of Angels and saints, and even
stands at the right hand of her only – begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she
presents our petitions in a most efficacious manner. What she asks she obtains.
Her pleas can never be unheard.”
In
the wake of those words, papal documents have often portrayed Mary as Mediatrix
of all graces. Pope Leo XIII, for example, in his 1891 Encyclical Octobri Mense
(“The Month of October”), stated: “It may be affirmed with … truth and
precision that, by the Will of God, absolutely no part of that immense treasure
of every grace that the Lord amasses… is bestowed on us except through Mary.”
The
same doctrine was taught by Pope St. Pius in his Encyclical Ad Diem illum
Lactissimum (“On That Joyful Day”) Pope Pius XI in his 1928 Encyclical
Miserentissimus (“Most Merciful”), and Pope Pius XII in his May 13, 1946, radio
message. St. Bernard’s dictum that God wills us to have everything through Mary
is found in the writings of Blessed Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Pius XII,
and Blessed John XXIII.
Paul
VI solemnly promulgated this teaching, as it is included in the Constitution
on the Church. In his 1968 Apostolic Exhortation Signum Magnum (“The Great Sign”), he changed the Council
wording to make it stronger. “She makes herself their Advocate, Auxiliatrix,
Aid – Giver, and Mediatrix.”
Vatican
II, after a lengthy argumentation for and against the doctrine, adopted the
following neutral text: “Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church
under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix”
(Constitution on the Church , no. 62)
It
also stressed that the tiles just mentioned “are to be so understood that they
neither take away nor add anything to the dignity and efficacy of Christ the
one Mediator.” Indeed, “the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude
but rather gives rise among creatures to a manifold cooperation that is but a
sharing in this unique source” (ibid).
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church (nos. 968-970) sets forth this same
doctrine on Mary’s universal mediation with quotes from Vatican II: “She
cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the Savior’s
work of restoring supernatural life to souls… By her manifold intercession
[she] continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.”
Mass of “Mary, Mother and Mediatrix of Grace”
In
1971, the Congregation fro Divine Worship approved a Mass of “The Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother and Mediatrix of Grace.” This Mass, faithfully following
the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, commemorates both the maternal role
of our Lady and her function of mediation and is currently celebrated in many
places on May 8.
In
1987, this Mass was included in the new Collection of Masses of the Blessed
Virgin Mary – 46 Masses that can be celebrated on open days,
especially Saturdays.
The
Mass gives pride of place to Christ, “truly God and truly human… the one
Mediator… always living to make intercession for us” (preface). It also
commemorates our Lady as “Mother of the Author of grace,” for God the Father,
in His eternal wisdom and love, chose her as the Mother and companion of the
redeemer.
The
Mass text goes on to make the following points:-
1. The Virgin Mary is Mother of grace, for in her
chaste womb she carried Him who is” truly God and truly human” (Entrance
Antiphon) , and brought forth for us” the Author of all grace” (Opening Prayer)
2. The Virgin Mary is the Mediatrix of grace, for
she was the handmaid of Christ in gaining for us the greatest of all graces:
redemption and salvation, the Divine life and unending glory.
3. Our Lady’s mediation is interpreted as “the love
that she bestows as a mother [a love] of intercession and pardon, of prayer and
grace , of reconciliation and peace” (Preface)
Christ : The One Mediator
There
is no doubt that Jesus is the one Mediator between God and human beings: “No
one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He is the Mediator in
an absolute, original, and exclusive sense. When we apply the term Mediatrix to
Mary, we use it in a relative and subordinate sense as a participation in the
unique Mediation of Christ.
Thus,
the Apostles of Jesus were also mediators, as are missionaries and those who
proclaim the Gospel down the ages. So also are pastors and parents who educate
children in the faith. Indeed, all baptized persons who bear witness to Christ
by their lives are mediators.
Every
form of the Christian apostolate is mediation. But it is clear that we are
talking about one that is subordinate to and dependent upon that of Christ, who
remains the sole Mediator. Neither does he lose this prerogative when others
participate in it.
Even
if Christ shares this prerogative of mediation with creatures, Mary’s
participation in it has an extension and importance that are unique: it is
proportionate to her role as Mother of God (what greater participation could
there be than consenting to the Incarnation of the Word, through which consent
Christ was born of her?), as our Mother, as collaborator with Christ in the
whole work of the Redemption.
Saints
and theologians affirm that through Mary we have received Christ, fount of
every grace, hence, even all the graces that come to us though Him. The Divine
Motherhood is thus the principal source of Mary’s mediation.
The
expressions of Vatican II render fully legitimate the title of Mediatrix of All
Graces attributed to Mary. It merely needs to be explained more fully. She is a
Mediatrix dependent on the unique Mediation of Christ and is called upon to
apply the Redemption to all souls.
The
word grace is used in its broadest sense and includes whatever produces,
conserves, increases, and perfects the Christ-life in us. It includes
sanctifying graces, the infused virtues, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all
actual graces, the charisms, and material goods that aid the attainment of
heaven.
All
human beings are affected by the Mediatrix. Those who lived before her received
their graces in view of her future effectiveness as the universal Mother. Those
who come after her receive their graces from the actual excessive of her
function as Mediatrix.
Leo
XIII stated in his 1894 Encyclical Iucunda Semper Expectatione (“An Ever Joyful
Expectation”) that every grace communicated to human begins has three stages:
by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to Mary, and from
Mary it descends to us. This is how God will to dispense grace.
Furthermore,
Mary distributes grace to all, not just to those who pray to her. She
reinforces all prayer, whether it is immediately referred to God or passes by
the intercession of the other Saints. Anyone who receives any grace whatever,
receives it through and from Mary.
A
Decree issued by the Sacred Congregation of Rites for the 1947 Canonization of
St. Louis de Montfort, the great Marian Apostle, and approved by Pius XII,
nicely sums up this Catholic belief historically and doctrinally.
“Gathering
together the tradition of the Fathers, St. Bernard teaches that God wants us to
have everything through Mary. This pious and salutary doctrine all theologians
hold in common accord [as of 1947].
“We
call it a pious and salutary doctrine
because Mary is the most loving Mother
not only of Christ but of all of us, and she exercises her power given her from
above, for the good of human begins in bestowing Divine graces in abundance.
Application to Us
This
title of Mary as Mediatrix is of great importance to us. It means that we are
assured of receiving all the graces we need from the hands of our loving Mother
in heaven. We should, then, frequently call upon her to dispense graces to us
as needed.
However,
there is another aspect to this title, which is nicely borne our by Pope John
Paul II:
“In
effect, Mary’s mediation is intimately linked with her motherhood.
It possesses a specifically maternal character, which distinguishes it from the
mediation of other creatures who in various and always subordinate ways share
in the one mediation of Christ, although her own mediation is also a shared
mediation.
“In
fact, while it is true that ‘no creature could ever be classed with
the Incarnate Word and Redeemer’ , at the same time ‘the unique
mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise among
creatures to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this unique
source. And thus ‘the one goodness of God is in reality communicated diversely
to his creatures’ (Constitution on the Church, no. 62)” (Encyclical Redemptoris
Mater [“Mother of the Redeemer”] , no. 38)
Hence,
this Marian title tells us that we too have an obligation to actively
participate in the mediation of Mary and her Son. We have to make sure to
utilize all our forces to advance the salvation won for the world by Christ.
Whatever we can do in this regard is of immense importance.
In
this sense, we are, in the words of St. Paul, “filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ”
(Colossians 1:24)
What
is more, we should realize that if we do not carry out the saving work intended
to be done by us, it will go undone.
Prayer to Our Lady, Mediatrix of Graces
Most holy Mary,
Great Queen of heaven,
The very treasure of life
And ever-flowing channel of Divine race!
By the ineffable virtues
Infused into your soul
At your Immaculate Conception,
You were so pleasing in God’s sight
That you were privileged
To conceive in your virginal womb
The very Author of life and grace,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
By becoming the Mother of the God-Man,
You also became the Mother of redeemed humankind.
Mother of grace and life,
Of mercy and forgiveness,
Turn to me your kind face.
Behold my many miseries of soul and body.
Raise me up to a state of perfect friendship
with God.
Obtain for me
the grace of final perseverance.
The above article is from:- “THE
GREATEST MARIAN TITLES”
Their History, Meaning and usage
Anthony M. Buono
Acknowledgement : The author is very grateful to
the Catholic Book Publishing Corp. for graciously granting him permission to
use in the present book (as part of chapters 9, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22) some of
the material that he originally wrote and included
in the Dictionary of Mary , © 1997 by
Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
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HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
1. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Lk 1: 28).
We address the Virgin Mary several times a day with these words of the Archangel Gabriel. Let us repeat them with fervent joy today, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, remembering 8 December 1854 when Blessed Pius IX proclaimed this wonderful Dogma of the Catholic faith in this very same Vatican Basilica.
I cordially greet those who are gathered here today, especially the representatives of the National Mariological Societies who have taken part in the International Mariological Congress, organized by the Pontifical Marian Academy.
I then greet all of you present here, dear brothers and sisters, who have come to pay filial homage to the Immaculate Virgin. I offer a special greeting to Cardinal Camillo Ruini. I renew to him my warmest wishes for the jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood and express to him my deep gratitude for the service that with generous dedication he has and continues to render to the Church as my Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome and President of the Italian Bishops' Conference.
2. How great is the mystery of the Immaculate Conception that the Liturgy presents to us today! A mystery that never ceases to invite the contemplation of believers and inspires the reflection of theologians. The theme of the Congress that has just been mentioned: "Mary of Nazareth welcomes the Son of God into history", has fostered a deep examination of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary as a presupposition for receiving in her virginal womb the Word of God Incarnate, the Saviour of the human race.
"Full of grace", in the original Greek of Luke's Gospel, the Angel greets Mary with this title. It is the name that God, through his messenger, chose to use to describe the Virgin. This is how he had always seen and thought of her, ab aeterno (from all eternity).
3. In the hymn of the Letter to the Ephesians just now proclaimed, the Apostle praises God the Father "who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (1: 3). What a special blessing God addressed to Mary from the beginning of time! Mary was truly blessed among women (cf. Lk 1: 42)!
The Father chose her in Christ before the creation of the world, so that she might be holy and immaculate before him in love, preordaining her as the first fruits of filial adoption through the work of Jesus Christ (cf. Eph 1: 4-5).
4. The predestination of Mary, like that of each one of us, is linked to the predestination of the Son. Christ is that "seed" that was "to bruise the head" of the ancient serpent, according to the Book of Genesis (cf. Gn 3: 15); he is the Lamb "without blemish" (cf. Ex 12: 5; I Pt 1: 19), immolated to redeem humanity from sin.
With a view to the saving death of the Son, Mary, his Mother, was preserved free from original sin and from every other sin. The victory of the new Adam also includes that of the new Eve, Mother of the redeemed. The Immaculate Virgin is thus a sign of hope for all the living who have triumphed over Satan by the blood of the Lamb (cf. Rv 12: 11).
5. Today let us contemplate the humble young girl of Nazareth, holy and blameless before God in love (cf. Eph 1: 4), in that "love" whose original source is God himself, one and triune.
How sublime an act of the Most Holy Trinity is the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of the Redeemer! Pius IX, in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, recalls that the Almighty "by one and the same decree had established the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of divine Wisdom" (Pii IX Pontificis Maximi Acta, Pars prima, p. 559).
The Virgin's "yes" to the announcement of the Angel fits into the reality of our earthly condition, with humble respect for the divine will to save humanity not from history but in history. Indeed, ever preserved free from all taint of original sin, the "new Eve" benefited uniquely from the work of Christ as the most perfect Mediator and Redeemer. The first to be redeemed by her Son, she shares to the full in his holiness; she is already what the entire Church desires and hopes to be. She is the eschatological icon of the Church.
6. Consequently the Immaculate Virgin, who marks "the very beginning of the Church, Bride of Christ, without spot or wrinkle, shining with beauty" (Preface), always precedes the People of God in the pilgrimage of faith, bound for the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 58; Redemptoris Mater, n. 2).
In Mary's Immaculate Conception the Church sees projected and anticipated in her most noble member, the saving grace of Easter.
In the event of the Incarnation the Church encounters Christ and Mary indissolubly united: "he who is the Church's Lord and Head and she who, uttering the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Church's condition as spouse and mother" (Redemptoris Mater, n. 1).
7. To you, Virgin Immaculate, predestined by God above every other creature to be the advocate of grace and model of holiness for his people, today in a special way I renew the entrustment of the whole Church.
May you guide your children on their pilgrimage of faith, making them ever more obedient and faithful to the Word of God.
May you accompany every Christian on the path of conversion and holiness, in the fight against sin and in the search for true beauty that is always an impression and a reflection of divine Beauty.
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| GOD GIVEN HEAVENLY HELP (Our Archangels & Angels) | |
| COURTESY: http://divinemercyintercessory.com/full_talk.php?id=81 | |
| God given help for our Sanctification, protection and help: Scapular, Rosary, Medals, Sacraments, Holy Water, incense, Blessings, ……. In special we have Saints, Angels and Archangels. Who are Saints? Gods Grace has become the light of their lives. Who are the Angels & Archangels? They are the First Creations of God. In love God created them. They are Spirits, no body. They are of two types: Angels: they are ministering spirits and messengers of God’s love, of minor announcements e.g. angels, Guardian angels. Archangels : they are ministering Spirits and messengers of God’s love, of Major announcements. E.g. Michael, Raphael, Gabriel. 3 revolted against the plan of God and became His Adversaries, and they were thrown down from heaven. Lucifer (Chief) – Satan , on land (earth) Leviathan – Sea Monster Arthaxasthres – Air Monster Their aim is to destroy God’s plans and all those associated with them. The 7 Archangels who were faithful to God’s plan are: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, St. Uriel, St. Saltiel, St. Yehudiel, St. Barachiel. They are faithful to God and His plans. They serve God and help us to obey God and know His Glory. St. Michael is the Leader and he has with him 9 choirs of Angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers , Virtues, Principalities, Archangels and Angels. They re all Heavenly help to make us grow in God’s plans and His Grace. Besides there are the Guardian Angels assigned to each one of us at Baptism u> – to help us grow in God’s ways. Jesus says ‘ these angels constantly look at ABBA Father’s face ‘ to guard His children’. Jesus says to Nathaniel ‘ You will see angels ……Daniel saw the Angels, Archangels adoring and worshiping God. How did St. Michael become the leader in God’s sight? God disclosed His plan to the Council of Angles and Archangels: ‘The Mystery of Incarnation ‘Word of God’ to become(be made) MAN and that he be adored …. Lucifer (Morning Star) protests and along with him one third of angles. St. Michael says I will adore Him. A great battle happens in heaven and he is thrown out. (Rev.12:7) Hence St. Michael becomes the leader. After the fall of Angles, God fulfils His plan @Adam-Eve’. Creation: 2nd creation. God creates man…… and man fails God because of Satan’s deception. Then according to God’s promise ‘A NEW Adam – in the person of JESUS CHRIST, without sin is born of Virgin Mary and Angels, Archangels and Heaven adores Him. Hallelujah ! Ps.8:6 ‘You have made man a little lower than angels and crowned him with Glory & Honour.’ What is this Glory and Honour? All the qualities and dispositions God placed in His 7 Archangels are found in man in various degrees and ways. 1. St. Michael : Defends God’s honour. Do you defend the honour, name of others, your own family members ? 2. St. Gabriel: Gives strength to obey God’s Word, Proclaims Word of God. Do you say God’s Words to others, encourage others to be faithful to God’s Word? 3. St. Raphael: Takes care of sick, a physician and healer. Do you take care of peoples health, reach out to them, heal their woundedness? 4. St. Uriel: Imparts Grace of Conversion to repent, stands with us at our death. Do you pray for their conversion to repent, reach out to people at dying? 5. St. Saltiel: Imparts foretaste and warmth of God’s life in heaven. Do you tell others to taste and see the goodness of God, to look unto heaven for help and Trust ? 6. St. Yehudiel: Empowers our leadership qualities and encourages us in our life batt;les. Do you encourage others to blossom their leadership qualities, especially when people struggle in life? 7. St. Barachiel: Empowers to savour the goodness and kindness of God in this life here and now. Do you help others to explore themselves of their good and kind qualities to flourish in life? Anecd: A boy gave a flower to the girl and said ‘you are my angel’ ! ‘Be Happy, the Angelic qualities are inherent in you. Be Angel of God to the people around you. God be praised for these Wonderful Creations ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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