Showing posts with label Blessed Virgin Mary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blessed Virgin Mary. Show all posts

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Rosary Stops Ted Bundy


Spirit Daily today links to InGod'sCompany2 blog with an amazing post - this story is a must read. The power of the rosary never ceases to amaze me. Please pray it today and every day.


The Killer and the Rosary


"... To understand that Our Lady needs us, it helps to begin with the awareness that we also need her and that her help never fails those who pray to her with a sincere heart. This American Monsignor is a good witness of that.

On May 14, 2009, Mgr. William Kerr, a leading human rights figure, died. Mgr. Kerr often spoke of his very first hospital assignment, where he ministered to a young burn victim dying from his injuries. Later, he recalled, he would be called upon to perform even more ghastly duties.

In 1978, the police called Msgr. Kerr in the middle of the night to accompany them to a sorority house in Tallahassee. When he arrived he was told that all but one of the girls in the house were dead or near death, killed by the infamous serial killer, Ted Bundy. After administering last rites to one of the college girls who was dying, the police on the scene asked Fr. Kerr to speak with a girl who had survived the massacre unscathed. They had a very specific question: Why did Bundy stop right inside the door to her room, drop his weapon, and leave without touching her?

The young woman refused to speak to anyone except a priest. When Fr. Kerr approached the near-catatonic girl, she told him that her mother had made her promise, before going off to college for the first time, that she would pray the Rosary every night before bed for protection. Even if she fell asleep praying the Rosary, which she had that night. When Bundy came into her room to murder her as he had the other girls, the beads were still clutched in her hands.

Ironically, Bundy later sought out Msgr. Kerr as a spiritual counselor while he waited on death row. Over the course of their sessions, Bundy explained to Mgr. Kerr that when he entered the girl’s room, he just wasn’t able to continue with his spree, he dropped his weapon, and he fled.

Such is the power of our Mother’s protective mantle. Such also is the wisdom of a mom, who managed to give her daughter the most efficient, powerful weapon - the rosary, which later saved her life. "


Friday, May 15, 2009

Our Lady Help of Christians Novena

The Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians (also called Mary, Help of Christians) is celebrated May 24th. Today around the world novenas are beginning to honor the Virgin Mary in this manner.

St. John Bosco dedicated much of his ministry to Our Lady bearing this title. Spreading devotion to Mary, Help of Christians is one of the three primary devotions of the Salesian Order, which he founded. The accounts of intercession by Mary, Help of Christians are astonishing.

With secularism, socialism and anti-Catholic sentiment rampant the world over, I am so grateful that we have recourse to Our Lady with yet another powerful prayer. Please encourage prayer warriors everywhere to honor The Blessed Mother and invoke her powerful patronage as Our Lady, Help of Christians.

I found three great Novenas :

Novena #1

Novena#2

Novena #3

Prayer to Our Lady Help of Christians

St. John Bosco

Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christians,how sweet it is to come to your feet imploring your perpetual help.If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children, how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me?

Grant then to me, I implore you, your perpetual help in all my necessities, in every sorrow, and especially in all my temptations.I ask for your unceasing help for all who are now suffering. Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners.Grant through your intercessions many vocations to the religious life.

Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians,that having invoked you on earth we may love and eternally thank you in heaven.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Totus Tuus

Today is the feast date of St. Louis de Montfort. His book True Devotion to Mary is a must-read for Catholics everywhere. Check the reviews on Amazon.com and you will get an idea of how the timeless message of this book continues to transform lives and hearts hundreds of years after it was written.

In his work as a preacher and author, St. Louis de Montfort spread devotion to the rosary. He knew better than most the incredible power of this glorious prayer. St. Louis de Montfort understood that when the faithful pray the rosary from the heart, miracles happen.


So St. Louis de Monfort wouldn't have been a bit surprised to learn what happened centuries later when the world's super-powers were locked in the global arms and intelligence standoff known as the Cold War.


In response to the escalating tensions between the United States and Russia, Pope John XXIII called for prayers, and a million pilgrims in Fatima held an all-night prayer vigil before the Blessed Sacrament on October 12-13, 1960. On October 24th, a bizarre accident resulted in the explosion of a new Soviet missile, killing many of their top scientists and setting back the Soviet nuclear arms program.


On May 13, 1984, one of the largest crowds in Fatima’s history gathered to pray. On the same day, a series of explosions started at Severomorsk, Russia, the site of the Soviet Union’s northern fleet. The explosions continued for five days and destroyed much of the weaponry that was stored there at the time, but fortunately the nuclear weapons and ships were missed.


Four years later, it happened again. As thousands prayed all night long on May 12, 1988 during the vigil of the anniversary of the apparition at Fatima, another major explosion shut down the Soviet Union’s only missile motor plant.


Did the faithful ask for destruction of Russia's nuclear capabilities? I don't know. But I have no doubt that many people prayed the rosary for peace during those vigils.


A testament to the awesome power of prayer.
Especially prayer of the rosary.


Even if you've never heard of St. Louis de Montfort, his motto may ring a bell. In it's entirety it reads:


Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt, O Virgo, super omnia benedicta.


which translates as:


I am all yours, and all that is mine is yours, O Virgin, blessed above all.


Sound familiar? Pope John Paul II shared St. Louis de Monfort's True Devotion to Mary, and adopted Totus Tuus as the motto of his pontificate.


with appreciation to 2heartsnetwork.org

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A Great Day!


Today is the Feast of the Annunciation.

After school, I took my children to church to bring flowers to Mary.

We passed the tabernacle first, went in and said a prayer. My young son was anxious to take the flowers back to Mary, so he asked if he could go there.

I said yes.

I reminded him to please say goodbye to Jesus.

He waved at the tabernacle and smiled affectionately just like he does when he says goodbye to his father and me.


"Bye, Jesus. I love you."

Off he went in search of Mary.

As we set the flowers alongside her statue, I explained that today was a beautiful day because it commemorated the day that Mary learned she would be Jesus' mommy.

We talked about how Mary was probably pretty scared. And confused. Excited, too.

Because even though she couldn't see Him, God had already become a person. And she was in charge of keeping Him safe.

I explained that if he was ever scared or confused he could talk to Mary, because she understands what it is like to feel that way.

Tonight when we say our prayers, we will thank Mary for saying yes to God.

And we will thank God the Father for the gift of His Son.

We will of course have very special prayers for Jesus. Although we celebrate His birth on Christmas Day, this feast commemorates the day He became human.

Mary couldn't yet see Him, but she trusted God that He was there.

He was a person.

And she was His Mother.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Mary and the Passion of Our Lord


Lenten Fridays are special. Very good days to meditate on the suffering of Our Lord.


As a mother, it is almost unbearable to think of what Mary must have felt as she encountered Jesus on his way to Calvary.


I found a little solace in an encyclical of Saint Pius X.

Think about God the Father for a second.


Through the mystery of the Trinity, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, are one.
So God, in Jesus the Son, got to choose His own Mother.


He chose Mary.


Think about how perfect she would have to be, to be worthy to carry Him in her womb. To nurse Him, to hold Him, love Him and protect Him. How perfect she would be to be trusted to help shape His human nature.



Not only that, she had to understand the significance of her role in the salvation of humanity. She had to appreciate the magnitude of her responsibility in being the Mother of Our Lord.



Kind of hard to get your brain around that one. God is walking around in the kitchen, he's hungry. Have to make God a snack.



So God made Mary really smart. Wise, as they say in the bible. It means that she got it. She understood how important her Son was and is, that He truly was and is God. And when she stood at the foot of the cross, although her heart undoubtedly broke at the agony of her Son, she rejoiced along with Jesus in His Passion.


In her wisdom, she knew that the Passion was necessary for our salvation. And she knew the Passion was necessary for Jesus to bring you home.


Because Mary, above all things, wants her Son to be happy. And that means having you home with Him in heaven. So however horrible it was to endure, both for Jesus who suffered and for His mother who had to watch her beloved Son in such unimaginable physical, mental and spiritual agony, the Passion was a beautiful thing.



She understood that you are worth it.


She knew that her Son dying on the cross was the greatest triumph the world would ever know.


Most people- Christians, Catholics - live their whole lives and only understand a fraction of what Mary knew.


So she joined her Son and rejoiced through her tears as he suffered on the Cross.


Yep, she is that cool.


And the good news is, she loves you with a mother's heart. She wants more than anything for you to be with her Son one day in heaven.


So open your heart, and ask for her help.


She will answer.


Hail Mary
Full of Grace
The Lord is With Thee
Blessed art thou among women
and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus
Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us Sinners
Now and the hour of our death

Amen



for further reading, see:


Saint Pius X
Encyclical, Ad diem illum, Feb. 2, 1904

Hence that never disassociated manner of life and labors. ... But when the final hour of her Son came, His Mother stood by the cross of Jesus, not just occupied in seeing the dread spectacle, but actually rejoicing that her Only-Begotten was being offered for the salvation of the human race. ... from this common sharing of sufferings and will, she merited to become most worthily the reparatrix of the lost world, and so the dispensatrix of all the gifts which were gained for us by the death and blood of Jesus. ... She ... since she was ahead of all in holiness and union with Christ, and was taken up by Christ into the work of human salvation, she merited congruously, as they say, what Christ merited condignly, and is the chief minister of the dispensation of graces.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Gifts for Mom


After a priest is ordained, he wipes the oils from his hands onto a cloth. Customarily, he gives this cloth to his mother. When she dies this cloth is placed in her casket. She carries this cloth with her when she appears before the Lord as an indication that she gave God the gift of a priest.

So sweet!
Speaking of mothers, Jesus loves His Mother very much. Please do yourself a favor and learn more about Mary, the Mother of the Word. She will change your life, and bring you to love Jesus more than you thought you ever could.
Because like every good mother, Mary wants everyone to know how wonderful her Son is.