SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

EVENING PRAYER

St. Bernard's Prayer to the Virgin Mary

From the Divine Comedy

Photo:R.Massaro(c)2013SpiritSinging

Regina Health Center Richfield, Ohio

Maiden and Mother, daughter of thine own Son,
Beyond all creatures lowly and lifted high,
Of the Eternal Design the corner-stone!

Thou art she who did man's substance glorify
So that its own Maker did not eschew
Even to be made of its mortality.

Within thy womb the Love was kindled new
By generation of whose warmth supreme
This flower to bloom in peace eternal grew.

Here thou to us art the full noonday beam
Of love revealed: below, to mortal sight,
Hope, that for ever springs in living stream.

Lady, thou art so great and has such might
That whoso crave grace, nor to thee repair,
Their longing even without wing seeketh flight.

Thy charity doth not only him up-bear
Who prays, but in thy bounty's large excess
Thou oftentimes dost even forerun the prayer.

In thee is pity, in thee tenderness,
In thee magnificence, in thee the sum
Of all that in creation most can bless.


Dante, Translation: Laurence Binyon


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro
Shrine at Lourdes, France

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, that in thy celestial apparitions on the mount of Tepeyac, thou didst promise to show thy compassion and pity towards all who, loving and trusting thee, seek thy help and call upon thee in their necessities and afflictions.

Thou didst promise to hearken to our supplications, to dry our tears and to give us consolation and relief. 

Never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession,

 either for the common welfare, or in personal anxieties, was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Mary, ever Virgin Mother of the True God! Though 

grieving under the weight of our sins, we come to prostrate ourselves in thy august presence, certain that thou 

wilt deign to fulfill thy merciful promises. We are full of hope that, standing beneath thy shadow and 

protection, nothing will trouble or afflict us, nor need we fear illness, or misfortune, or any other sorrow.

Thou hast decided to remain with us through thy admirable image, thou who art our Mother, our health and

 our life. Placing ourselves beneath thy maternal gaze and having recourse to thee in all our necessities we 

need do nothing more. O Holy Mother of God, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer us. 

(Here mention your petition.)

Five Hail Marys...in gratitude for the four apparitions to Juan Diego and the one to Juan Bernardino.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro-Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Shrine Youngstown, Ohio

At the dawn of creation the eyes of God rested with satisfaction on the universe He created. At a second moment He looked with pleasure on the soul of Mary, as He was about to recreate a fallen world. So fresh, unsullied, so unsurpassingly beautiful she was. He smiled on the loveliest creature that His creative love had fashioned; He saw that she was good.

Her soul was a meeting-place. Here was goodness, for she was full of grace; here was beauty, for she was all-beautiful; here was truth, for here was the Word in her womb, the source of all truth. No wonder He found delight in her.
Pilgrims with Mary, John Moloney, P.P.




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R.Massaro
Sorrowful Mother Shrine Bellevue, Ohio

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Mary

I offer you, my holy Mother Mary,
All my thoughts and all my actions,
all my prayers and all my acts of charity,
all my faith and good works,
and all the sacrifices that I make today.

Give me the grace to do everything in my life
with a pure intention
and a desire to please God.
I consecrate myself to your Holy
and Immaculate Heart,
and I pray, through the merits
of your intercession,
that I may adore the Divine Heart of Jesus
and through His mercy,
obtain the grace of conversion
and the remission of my sins.

O Mary, my Blessed Mother, watch over me
and protect me from all sin
and evil throughout this day.

Amen.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, O.C.D.S.

Carmelite Quote

Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and inspired by the words of St. Paul wished to become a "Praise of Glory" to the most Holy Trinity. This is an excerpt of her description of a soul who is a Praise of Glory:

A praise of glory is a soul that lives in God, that loves him with a pure and disinterested love, without seeking itself in the sweetness of this love; that loves him beyond all His gifts and even though it would not have received anything from Him, it desires the good of the Object thus loved...Thus the soul must surrender itself to this will completely, passionately, so as to will nothing else but what God wills.

A praise of glory is a soul of silence that remains like a lyre under the mysterious touch of the Holy Spirit so that He may draw from it divine harmonies: it knows that suffering is a string that produces still more beautiful sounds, so it loves to see this string on its instrument that it may more delightfully move the Heart of its God.

As Secular Carmelites we are striving to be a Praise of Glory in our own unique way by using the gifts God has given us. We are not holy of ourselves and our own efforts. We only reflect the light, and beauty, and holiness of the Trinity living within us. When we become Christlike and become the image of his Son by our charity, we become a true Praise of His Glory.

Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, pray for us.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

Carmelite Quote

St. Therese of the Child Jesus:

Ah! What peace floods the soul when she rises above natural feelings. No, there is no joy comparable to that which the truly poor in spirit experience. If such a one asks for something with detachment, and if this thing is not only refused but one tries to take away what one already has, the poor in spirit follow Jesus' counsel: "If anyone take away your coat, let go your cloak also."

To give up one's cloak is, it seems to me, renouncing one's ultimate rights; it is considering oneself as the servant and the slave of others. When one has left his cloak, it is much easier to walk, to run...

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
____________________

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Prayer to Our Lady for Religious Vocations 

by Pope St. John Paul II

Photo: R. Massaro (C)2021 Spirit Singing Walsh University Chapel Canton, Ohio

Mary, Mother of the Church, to you we turn. With your "yes" you have opened the door to the presence of Christ in the world, in history and in souls, receiving in humble silence and total submission the appeal of the Most High.

Grant that many men and women may know and hear, even today, the inviting voice of your Son: "Follow me." Stretch out your motherly hand over all missionaries scattered throughout the world, over religious men and women who assist the elderly, the sick, the deficient, the orphans; over those who are engaged in teaching, over the members of secular institutes, the silent leaven of good works; over those who in the cloister live on faith and love and beg for the salvation of the world. Amen.





Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS