SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro (c) 2019 Spirit Singing

She who was perfectly faithful to her mission, who continually accompanied her Divine Son, who stood beneath His cross and closed the tomb on His body, will ever be a loyal friend to all of God's children. 

                                                  Most Rev. Richard Ackerman

VIRGIN MOST FAITHFUL, PRAY FOR US!

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, ocds

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro Lourdes, France  (C)2019 Spirit Singing

The Catholic faith sees Mary as a sign of God's special love...That's why her name goes straight to our heart. Our relationship with our own mother may show us how to deal with Mary the Lady of the Sweet Name. We have to love God with the same heart with which we love our parents, our brothers and sisters, the other members of our family, our friends. And we must love Mary with that same heart, too...

Let us be contemplative souls, carrying on an unceasing dialogue with our Lord at all hours--from the first thought of the day to the last, turning our heart constantly toward our Lord Jesus Christ, going to him through our Mother, Holy Mary, and through him to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

St. Josemaria Escriva




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro (c)2019 Spirit Singing  Sorrowful Mother Shrine Bellevue, Ohio

The Pieta speaks the universal language of human anguish; it possesses a universal meaning as it silently utters the deepest human grief...

In this painful scene, Mary appears once again as a woman of great courage and a sign of hope. Courageously Mary hold the lifeless body of her only child after he was taken down from the cross. Jesus endured the scandal of a criminal's execution and Mary, probably recognized by some as his mother, endured the ridicule, reproach and insults of the crowd. Perhaps she also received the pity of neighbors who knew that this widowed mother had only one son--and he seemed a failure. Mary bore in her arms the weight of her son, and in her tender heart the weight of her grief. 

Mary's right arm supports Christ's body while she extends her left hand as in an embrace, an offering, a gesture of immeasurable pain. She is every mother holding her dead child, every person who grieves for someone dear and departed, every man and woman grieving over lost dreams or shattered hopes. Mary feels the heartbreak of all humanity; she feels all the sadness of life. 

Excerpt from Mary First Disciple by Bishop Thomas J. Grady



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

Photo: R.Massaro (C) Spirit Singing Carmelite Monastery Cleveland, Ohio

SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

Bounteous Mother of God, Glory of Mount Carmel, we are members of your family, endow us with your own virtues; have pity, and protect us from every danger.




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

Photo: R. Massaro Lourdes, France (C)2019 Spirit Singing

Secular Carmelites throughout the world will be praying and fasting on Monday, July 15, in preparation for the solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16.  Secular Carmelites fast on the vigil of the major feasts of the Order.  

Although we are asked to fast on these special days of preparation, Carmelites are called to mortify and detach themselves from worldly pleasures often. Detachment helps us to be disposed for prayer, for as St. Teresa of Jesus tells us in her Way of Perfection, "Prayer and self-Indulgence do not go together.
(The Way of Perfection, 4:2)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

Photo: R. Massaro Lourdes, France (C)2019 Spirit Singing

Prayer to Our Lady of Life

Holy Mary, Our Lady of Life,
teach us to be grateful that
we have been created in love
by God our Father.

Teach us to understand that each person,
at every stage in life,
is precious in the eyes of God
and is our brother or sister in Christ Jesus.

Teach us to defend the unborn,
the disabled, the sick and the dying
with all our strength, our love
and our support.

Teach us to proclaim to the world
the most sacred truth about the gift of life,
with charity and conviction.

Please ask your Son,
Who is the way, the Truth and the Life,
to send us the Paraclete
so that the face of the earth may be renewed in his love.

Amen.

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Divine Mercy Litany

Photo: R. Massaro-St. Stephen Church Cleveland, Ohio

Divine Mercy, gushing forth from the bosom of the Father,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, fountain gushing forth from the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, better than the heavens,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word,  I trust in You Divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of Jesus, I trust in You Read more... Peace be with you! Rosemarie,ocds