Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro Our Lady of Consolation, Carey, Ohio

Mary is the supreme masterpiece of Almighty God and he has reserved the knowledge and possession of her for himself. She is the glorious Mother of God the Son who chose to humble and conceal her during her lifetime in order to foster her humility.
St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

SORROWFUL MOTHER SHRINE BELLEVUE, OHIO

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro (C)SpiritSinging2013
Statue in the Grotto at Lourdes, France

OUR LADY OF LOURDES

FEAST DAY: FEBRUARY 11

The Ten Principal Virtues of the most holy Virgin

1.    Profound humility
2.    Lively Faith
3.    Blind Obedience
4.    Continual Prayer
5.    Universal Mortification
6.    Divine Purity
7.    Ardent Charity
8.    Heroic Patience
9.    Angelic Sweetness
10.  Divine Wisdom
(From True Devotion by St. Louis de Montfort)

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

Saturday of Our Lady

There are several interior practices of true devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Here briefly are the main ones:

1). Honoring her as the worthy Mother of God, by the cult of hyperdulia, that is, esteeming and honoring her more than all the other saints as the masterpiece of grace and the foremost in holiness after Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

2). Meditating on her virtues, her privileges and her actions.

3). Contemplating her sublime dignity.

4). Offering to her acts of love, praise and gratitude.

5). Invoking her with a joyful heart.

6). Offering ourselves to her and uniting ourselves to her.

7). Doing everything to please her.

8). Beginning, carrying out and completing our actions through her, in her, with her and for her in order to do them through Jesus, in Jesus, with Jesus and for Jesus, our last end. We shall explain this practice later.

(True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, #115)

As Secular Carmelites we are called to have a special devotion to Our Lady who leads us to the summit of Mt. Carmel, Christ our Lord. True Devotion to Mary is an excellent devotion that helps to unite us with Christ through Mary. The late Pope John Paul II was a Secular Carmelite. He also promoted the Total Consecration to Mary as outlined by St. Louis de Montfort. It is said that he renewed his consecration each day by praying the long form of the total consecration. Although we do not promote Montfortian spirituality in our Carmelite meetings, this is an excellent devotion one can embrace in their spiritual life.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

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Saturday of Our Lady

Our Blessed Lady, in her immense love for us, is eager to receive into her virginal hands the gift of our actions, imparting to them a marvelous beauty and splendor, and presenting them herself to Jesus most willingly. More glory is given to our Lord in this way than when we make our offering with our own guilty hands.

True Devotion to Mary #224

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

True Devotion to Mary

Praying the Magnificat

St. Louis de Montfort:

To thank God for the graces he has given to our Lady, her consecrated ones will frequently say the Magnificat...The Magnificat is the only prayer we have which was composed by our Lady, or rather, composed by Jesus in her, for it was he who spoke through her lips. It is the greatest offering of praise that God ever received under the law of grace. On the one hand, it is the most humble hymn of thanksgiving, and on the other, it is the most sublime and exalted. Contained in it are mysteries so great and so hidden that even the angels do not understand them.

The Magnificat:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant,
and from this day all generations will call me
blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me;
Holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and has sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

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Saturday of Our Lady

True Devotion to Mary

An excerpt by St. Louis Marie DeMontfort

#118

As this devotion essentially consists in a state of soul,it will not be understood in the same way by everyone. Some--the great majority-- Will stop short at the threshold and go no further. Others--not many --will take but one step into its interior. Who will take a second step? Who will take third? Finally who will remain in it permanently? Only the one to whom the Spirit of Jesus reveals the secret. The Holy Spirit himself will lead this faithful soul from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from light to light, until he attains transformation into Jesus in the fullness of his age on earth and of his glory in heaven.

This excerpt reminds me of the spirituality in the Interior Castle as described by St. Teresa of Avila. She states that many souls do not even enter the castle because of worldly attachments. Then there are souls who enter who never make any progress in getting into the higher mansions.

For Secular Carmelites, Mary is the helper we need to escort us into the inner mansions-to lead us to her Son. She is the Gate of Heaven! Let us implore her to help us attain union with God. Let us implore her to lead us from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from light to light!

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS
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