The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 2023

Today, we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary on the feast day of her Presentation in the Temple, when her parents, Joachim and Anne, who had consecrated her to the Lord God, brought her to the Temple of Jerusalem.

“Hearken O Daughter and consider, and incline thine ear, forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house. And so shall the King desire thy beauty, for He is the Lord thy God.”
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While it is not likely that the current occupants of the Vatican will truly honor Our Lady on her feast day, we are so blessed to be able to honor our Mother today.  And since we are so blessed, let’s be sure to pray for those poor prelates. Although modernists/marxists disparage this feast for what they perceive as a “lack of historicity”, for those who are consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, this beautiful feast teaches volumes.  Venerable Mother Maria de Agreda,  in her monumental work, The City of God, explains that this beautiful mystery is a lesson of the importance of humility. Thus, it is a worthwhile meditation for our preparation for our Total Consecration soon.

The Hebrew Ark of the Covenant was but a foreshadowing of the true Ark which is the most Blessed Virgin Mary herself; she who was foreordained to bear our Lord Jesus Christ, Savior. As our Little Office proclaims, “Thou wast the Mother of Him Who made thee, and thou remainest a Virgin forever”. And so, Joachim and Anne brought the true Royal Ark of the Covenant to the Temple, but to all appearances they were merely ordinary pious Jews of their time  bringing yet another consecrated child to the Temple.

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The Poor Souls’ Friend

Whenever I have the time and the strength, I love to plunder around on Archive’s site in hopes of discovering some long lost devotional book or booklet, and today I have one such treasure for you.

It’s  a Novena entitled The Poor Souls’ Friend and it’s by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a favorite of mine. It was published by the Redemptorist Purgatorian Society.  There is a link to the booklet after the post.

By providing this Novena now, I’m hoping that some of you may decide to add it to your own Purgatorian Prayers for this beautiful month of mercy.

THE POOR SOULS’ FRIEND

NOVENA FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY

(By St. Alphonsus de Liguori)

Let us commend to Jesus Christ and His holy Mother the souls in Purgatory, in particular those of our relatives, benefactors, friends, and enemies; especially those for whom we are bound to pray; and let us offer the following considerations and prayers for them, pondering over the great sufferings which these spouses of Christ endure.

First Day

Manifold are the sufferings which those blessed souls must endure, but the greatest of all is the reflection that their sins in life are the cause of their present torments.

Daily Prayer

O Jesus, my Saviour, I have so often deserved to be cast into hell; how great were my suffering if I were now cast away and obliged to think that I, myself, had caused my damnation! I thank Thee for the patience with which Thou hast endured me. My God, I love Thee above all things and I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee because Thou art infinite goodness. I will rather die than offend Thee again. Grant me the grace of perseverance; have pity on me, and at the same time on those blessed souls suffering in Purgatory. Mary, Mother of God, come to their assistance with thy powerful intercession.

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Palm Sunday Sermon

previously posted March 28, 2021 by evensong

Excerpts from Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s Sermon for Palm Sunday

ON THE EVIL EFFECTS OF BAD HABITS

“Go ye into the village that is over against you, and immediately you shall find an ass tied.”—Matt . 21:2.

Wishing to enter Jerusalem, to be there acknowledged as the promised Messiah sent by God for the salvation of the world, the Saviour said to his disciples: “Go to a certain village, and you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them to me.” “The ass which was tied,” says St. Bonaventure, “denotes a sinner.” This exposition is conformable to the doctrine of the Wise Man, who says, that the wicked are bound by the chains of their own sins. “His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the rope of his own sins.” (Prov. 5:22.)

But, as Jesus Christ could not sit on the ass before she was loosed, so He cannot dwell in a soul bound with her own iniquities. If, then, brethren, there be among you a soul bound by any bad habit, let her attend to the admonition which the Lord addresses to her this morning. “Loose the bond from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion.” (Isa. 52:2.) Loose the bonds of your sins, which make you the slave of Satan. Loose the bonds before the habit of sin gains such power over you, as to render your conversion morally impossible, and thus to bring you to eternal perdition. This morning I wil l show, in three points, the evil effects of bad habits.
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The Language of Hell

Last posted on : september 7, 2020  by evensong

 

“Blasphemy is the language of hell because, as God speaks by the mouth of the saints, so the devil speaks by the mouth of blasphemers.” (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)

Blasphemy is an essential component of satan’s plan to destroy the Kingdom of Christ on earth.  This has long been a staple of the so-called entertainment industry; to slip at least one incident of blasphemy against the Lord, most especially in the form of “Jesus!” said sneeringly or vehemently and almost always by a protagonist. By this, Hollywood presents blasphemy of Our Savior’s name as a model to be emulated. This knee-jerk blasphemy is Hollywood’s tribute to their true master. And of course, the masses of people followed dutifully. The escalating rioting and destruction we are so dismayed by is the result of  the widespread blasphemy against Jesus Christ, Who alone is the source of peace and order.
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The Language of Hell

Last posted on : september 7, 2020  by : evensong

“Blasphemy is the language of hell because, as God speaks by the mouth of the saints, so the devil speaks by the mouth of blasphemers.”
(St. Alphonsus de Liguori)

Blasphemy is an essential component of satan’s plan to destroy the Kingdom of Christ on earth.  This has long been a staple of the so-called entertainment industry; to slip at least one incident of blasphemy against the Lord, most especially in the form of “Jesus!” said sneeringly or vehemently and almost always by a protagonist. By this, Hollywood presents blasphemy of Our Savior’s name as a model to be emulated. This knee-jerk blasphemy is Hollywood’s tribute to their true master. And of course, the masses of people followed dutifully. The escalating rioting and destruction we are so dismayed by is the result of  the widespread blasphemy against Jesus Christ, Who alone is the source of peace and order.

NOTE: As I was restoring this post, I edited out several passages detailing the blasphemies of the unfaithful prelates now occupying the Vatican. I did this because it has become evident to me that such filth just should not sully this site which is dedicated to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. But the point which I was trying to make is valid, even without the examples:

When a consecrated soul deliberately disobeys God, grace is withdrawn, leaving the sinner more vulnerable to the power of satan. A common sign of diabolic power is blasphemy.  Blasphemers thus unknowingly proclaim themselves as marked by satan, becoming, as it were his mouthpieces.

In her revelation at La Salette, Our Lady complained against blasphemy and linked it with famine. In days gone by, it was said that blasphemies bring on famine, earthquakes, and pestilence. “Propter blasphemias, et fames , et terræmotus et pestilentia fiunt.” (From St. Alphonsus Liguori)

St. Alphonsus tells us of blasphemy:

“All sins are hateful in the sight of God; but the sin of blasphemy ought more properly to be called an abomination to the Lord. Every mortal sin, as the Apostle says, dishonours God… but blasphemy dishonours Him directly by the profanation of His most holy name.

If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf; but if a man shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him?” (1 Kings 2:25 .) The sin of blasphemy, then, is so enormous, that the saints themselves appear not to have courage to pray for a blasphemer.

O diabolical tongue! exclaims St. Bernardine of Sienna, what could have induced you to blaspheme your God, who has created you, and redeemed you with His blood?

Today, it is all too common to hear others blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ—of God who died on a cross for the love of them; instead of loving and blessing this God, they revile and curse Him.  As St. Augustine says, “Christ was scourged by the lash of the Jews; but He is not less scourged by the blasphemies of false Christians.”  Many today also blaspheme and insult the Virgin Mary, that good mother, who loves us so tenderly, and prays continually for us.

In years past, some of these blasphemers have received a horrible chastisement from God. The infamous Nestorius blasphemed and induced others to blaspheme, most holy Mary, by asserting that she was not the mother of God. But, before death, his impious tongue was eaten away by worms, and he died in despair.

The gravity of blasphemy

St. Alphonsus then recounts some of the teachings of the Fathers of the Church regarding the gravity of blasphemy:

“St. Chrysostom says, that “there is no sin worse than blasphemy; for in it is the accumulation of all evils, and every punishment.” St. Jerome teaches the same doctrine. “Nothing,” says the holy doctor, “is more horrible than blasphemy; for every sin, compared with blasphemy, is small.” (In Isa. 118.) And here it is necessary to observe, that blasphemies against the saints, against holy things or holidays—such as the sacraments, the Mass, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Holy Saturday—are of the same species as blasphemies against God; for St. Thomas teaches, that, as the honour paid to the saints, to holy things, and holidays, is referred to God, so an insult offered to the saints is injurious to God, who is the foundation of sanctity. The saint adds, that blasphemy is one of the greatest of the sins against religion.

Thus, from the works of St. Jerome we may infer, that blasphemy is more grievous than theft, than adultery, or murder. All other sins, says St. Bernardine proceeds from frailty or ignorance; but the sin of blasphemy proceeds from malice.For it proceeds from a bad will, and from a certain hatred conceived against God. Hence the blasphemer renders himself like the damned, who, as St. Thomas says, do not now blaspheme with the mouth—for they have no body,—but with the heart, cursing the divine justice which punishes them. “The detestation of the divine justice is in them an interior blasphemy of the heart.” (S. Thom. 2, 2, qu. 13, a. 4.) The saint adds, that we may believe that as the saints in heaven, after the resurrection shall praise God with the tongue, so the reprobates in hell shall also blaspheme him with the tongue.

Blasphemy the language of hell; because, as God speaks by the mouth of the saints so the devil speaks by the mouth of blasphemers.  When St. Peter denied Christ in the Palace of Pilate, and swore that he did not know Him, the Jews said, that his language showed that he was a disciple of Jesus, because he spoke the language of his Master. “Surely,” they said, “thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee.” (Matt. 26:73.) Thus we may say to every blasphemer: You are from hell; you are a true disciple of Lucifer; for you speak the language of the damned.

St. Antonine writes, that the entire occupation of the damned in hell consists in blaspheming and cursing God. In proof of this doctrine the saint adduces the following text of the Apocalypse: “And they gnawed their tongues for pain: and they blasphemed the God of heaven.” (Apoc. 16:10, 11.) The holy doctor afterwards adds, that he who indulges in the vice of blasphemy, already belongs to the number of the damned, because he practises their art.

 

Silver and gold . . .

In a sermon on blasphemy, Saint Jean Vianney recalls us to the early days of the Church when Saints Peter and John went up to the Temple to pray and met a beggar who had been lame from birth, begging at the Temple door.

Saint Peter said, “Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk.” (Acts 3,6)

“And Annas the high priest, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest. And setting them in the midst, they asked: By what power, or by what name, have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them:

‘Ye princes of the people, and ancients, hear: If we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he hath been made whole: Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the dead, even by Him this man standeth here before you whole.

‘This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved’. (Acts 4)

Our Lord Himself asserts, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you ask the Father anything in My Name, He will grant your request. Hitherto you have not asked for anything in My Name, but pray, so that you may receive, that your joy may be perfect.”

St. Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney, the beloved Curé d’Ars reminds us,

“With the Name of Jesus on their lips, the Saints of God breathed forth their souls. Jesus was their last prayer, their last sigh. “Lord Jesus, receive my soul!” This is how St. Stephen prayed when they were stoning him to death, and so he died in the Lord. “Jesus, my love!” sighed the holy martyr Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, as they led him to his death, to be torn asunder by the wild beasts.

Readers, think on these holy images from true saints. Each day, make reparation for those false Christians among us who have slipped into this offensive habit of blaspheming Our Lord’s name and the name of His most pure Mother. Think now, and always: The most holy name of Our Lord Jesus Christ is given to us as a blessing, yet what a curse it is to them that use it blasphemously! And we who hear it, what of us who treat this with indifference?

When you hear blasphemy against the most Holy Name of Jesus or His Most Blessed Mother, make the Sign of the Cross and pray in reparation, Blessed be the most holy name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God, or Blessed be the name of the great Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin. It is also essential to avoid these occasions of sin whenever possible. However, at times, it is impossible for us to withdraw; then we must offer Our Lord all our loving reparation. I remember being assigned an AIDS patient several years ago who was waving his rosary while screaming blasphemies interspersed with bits of prayers.  I was the unwilling witness to more vile blasphemies than in all the rest of my life together. I still pray for that poor tormented sinner, and those like him.

Grant us, most merciful Jesus that Thy most holy Name may ever be to us through all our life and especially at the hour of death, our consolation and our hope and in Heaven our eternal joy and blessedness. Amen

The above essay draws from the following resources:

  • “The Saint Alphonsus Liguori Collection, Sermons for all Sundays in the year”, Catholic Way Publishing, Kindle Edition, LINK.
  • “Sermons of the Curé of Ars: Sermons for all the Sundays and Feast Days of the Year”  LINK.

NOTE: Readers, there is a reason for this post at this time. During Christ’s Passion, blasphemy was the soundtrack, and now in the Passion of the Bride of Christ, we see the same. The deluge of sacrilege and blasphemy is a sharp reminder of just how far along this deadly path we have advanced. While it is a “normal” adaptation for people undergoing great stress to block out the stressors in order to take care of their daily responsibilities, we must not allow ourselves to become indifferent to the malicious blasphemies which attack Our Lord, but must make of everything a sacrifice, offering reparation with the Immaculata, our Mother and our sure path through this darkness to the arms of Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

Pope Francis tells us about Mary: “a normal girl”

By now, you’ve all  heard  the latest in Pope Bergoglio’s ongoing attack against the Immaculata.

The Pope: “I’ll tell you about Mary, a normal girlˮ.

He went on to say,

“From the moment she was born until the Annunciation, to the moment she encountered the angel of God, I imagine her as a normal girl, a girl of today, I can’t say she (sic) a city-girl, because she is from a small town, but normal, educated normally, open to marrying, to starting a family. One thing I imagine is that she loved the Scriptures: she knew the Scriptures, she had done catechesis in a family environment, from the heart. Then, after the conception of Jesus, she was still a normal woman: Mary is normal, she is a woman that any woman in this world can imitate. No strange things in life, a normal mother: even in her virginal marriage, chaste in that frame of virginity, Mary was normal. She worked, went shopping, helped her Son, helped her husband: normal”. (From La Stampa’s Vatican Insider.)

Thus, in just one brief paragraph, Bergoglio’s hatred of the Mother of God claims that Mary is “normal” eight times, and asserts that she was “open to starting a family”.

About Mary, a Normal Girl

Blessed Pope Pius IX: “We declare, announce, and define that the doctrine which states that the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of God Omnipotent and because of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the human race, free from all stain of original sin, is revealed by God and must therefore be believed firmly and with constancy by all the faithful” Pope Francis: “I’ll tell you about Mary, a normal girl.”

Blessed Pope Pius IX, pray for the Pope, pray for us!

Saint John Eudes: “Mary was filled with such eminent grace at the moment of her Immaculate Conception that she already surpassed the chief of Seraphim and the greatest of Saints.” Pope Francis: “I imagine her as a normal girl, a girl of today.”

St. John Eudes, pray for the Pope, pray for us!

Saint John Eudes quotes St. Bernardine of Siena:  “All the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost descended into the soul and heart of this heavenly Virgin in such fullness, especially when she conceived the Son of God within her chaste womb, that her Heart forms an abyss of grace which no human or angelic intellect can comprehend.” Pope Francis: “Mary is normal, she is a woman that any woman in this world can imitate. No strange things in (her) life, a normal mother:”

St. Bernardine of Siena, pray for the Pope, pray for us!

St. Padre Pio: “She was conceived without sin, and through her came grace to mankind. Protected with Grace by Him who was to be the Saviour of Mankind that had fallen into sin, she escaped all shadow of evil. She sprang from the mind of God as a pure ray of light, and will shine like a morning star over the human race that turns to her.” Pope Francis: “I’ll tell you about Mary, a normal girlˮ

St. Pio, pray for the Pope, pray for us!

Saint Padre Pio: “She will be the sure guide who will direct our steps toward the Divine Sun which is Jesus Christ. He makes her radiant with divine splendor and points to her as our model of purity and sanctity. No creature surpasses her. After Almighty God, she is the most perfect of creatures; more pure than the angels; God is indeed well pleased in her, since she most resembles Him and is the only worthy repository of His secrets.”  Pope Francis: “after the conception of Jesus, she was still a normal woman: Mary is normal,”

St. Pio, pray for the Pope, pray for us!

St. John Damascene: “Oh blessed Virgin, thou art born to procure the salvation of the whole world!” Pope Francis: “No strange things in (her)  life, a normal mother:”

St. John Damascene, pray for the Pope, pray for us!

St. Alphonsus Liguori quotes St. Bernard: Mary was already prefigured in the ark of Noah; for as by the ark men were saved from the deluge, so by Mary we are saved from the shipwreck of sin; but with this difference, that by means of the ark few only were saved, but by means of Mary the whole human race has been redeemed. Pope Francis: “I’ll tell you about Mary, a normal girl.”

St. Alphonus Liguori, pray for the Pope, pray for us!

Prayer of Reparation for Blasphemy Against the Blessed Virgin Mary

Most glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, turn thine eyes in pity upon us, miserable sinners; we are sorely afflicted by the many evils that surround us in this life, but especially do we feel our hearts break within us upon hearing the dreadful insults and blasphemies uttered against thee, O Virgin Immaculate.

O how these impious sayings offend the infinite Majesty of God and of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ! How they provoke His indignation and give us cause to fear the terrible effects of His vengeance! Would that the sacrifice of our lives might avail to put an end to such outrages and blasphemies! Were it so, how gladly we should make that sacrifice; for we desire, O most holy Mother, to love thee and to honor thee with all our hearts, since this is the will of God. And because we love thee, we will do all that is in our power to make thee honored and loved by all men.

In the meantime do thou, our merciful Mother, the supreme comforter of the afflicted, accept this our act of reparation which we offer thee for ourselves and for all our families, as well as for all who impiously blaspheme thee, not knowing what they say. Do thou obtain for them from Almighty God the grace of conversion, and thus render more manifest and more glorious thy kindness, thy power and thy great mercy. May they join with us in proclaiming thee blessed among women, the Immaculate Virgin and most compassionate Mother of God. Amen.

. † .

Remember Sister Lucia’s words to Father Fuentes (and to us) about the message of the Virgin:

She told me that the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Also, from now on we must choose sides. Either we are for God or we are for the devil. There is no other possibility.“

NOTE: For a newer post on this subject, please see: Blasphemy for Christmas

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

Please pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

On Mother’s Day, to Mary

This Mother’s Day, let’s first of all honor Mary, whom Our Lord Jesus Christ has given us for our own Mother. The following post is loosely based on meditations from St. Alphonsus de Liguori’s “The Glories of Mary”.

In giving us Jesus, Mary gave us the true life; and by offering upon Calvary the life of her Son for our salvation, she then brought us forth into the life of divine grace. Thus, at two different times Mary became our spiritual mother; the first when she was found worthy of conceiving in her virginal womb the Son of God, our Savior, as St. Albert Magnus says. St. Bernardine of Sienna more distinctly teaches us that when the most holy Virgin at the annunciation of the angel gave her consent to become mother of the eternal Word, which He awaited before making Himself her Son, she by this consent even from that time beseeched God with lively affection for our salvation; and she was so earnestly engaged in obtaining it, that from that time she has been our Mother.

Indeed, when in the Gospel we read that Mary brought forth her first-born Son, that refers to the fact that since Mary was and always remained an immaculate virgin, her other children are her spiritual children, that is to say, we are her children. Thus, as St. Alphonsus relates, “Our Lord revealed this to St. Gertrude who reading one day the passage of (St. Luke’s) Gospel was troubled, not knowing how to understand it, that Mary being mother of Jesus Christ alone, it could be said that He was her first-born. And God explained it to her, by telling her that Jesus was her first-born according to the flesh, but men were her second-born according to the spirit.”

Additionally, Mary brought us forth to grace when on Calvary, she offered to the eternal Father with so much sorrow of heart the life of her beloved Son for our salvation. Wherefore, St. Augustine asserts that, by her loving co-operation with Christ in the birth of the faithful into the life of grace, she became also by this co-operation the spiritual mother of us all. And then she in her sorrow brought us forth to eternal life; so that we may all call ourselves children of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary.

She, our most loving mother, was always wholly united to the Divine will; hence St. Bonaventure remarks, that when she saw the love of the Eternal Father for men, who would have His Son die for our salvation, and the love of the Son in willing to die for us, she too with her whole will, offered her Son and consented that He should die that we might be saved, in order to conform herself to that exceeding love of the Father and Son for the human race.

When God the Eternal Father saw the great desire of Mary to devote herself also to the salvation of men, He ordained that by the sacrifice and offering of the life of this same Jesus, she might co-operate with Him in the work of our salvation, and thus become mother of our souls. And this our Savior signified, when, before He died, He saw from the cross His mother and the disciple St. John both standing near Him, and first spoke to Mary: ‘Woman, Behold thy son’. And then turning to the disciple, He said: ‘Behold thy mother’. By which words, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, Mary was then made Mother not only of St. John, but of all men, for the love she bore them.

By giving us His own dear Mother to be our Mother, Our Lord was tenderly telling us, even as He was dying for love of us, “See, we shall be brothers now, My Mother will be thy Mother!” St. Anselm, full of joy at this thought, exclaimed, “Oh, blessed confidence! The mother of God is my mother also. With what certainty may we hope, since our salvation depends upon the sentence of a good brother and of a kind mother! Hear, then, our mother who calls us, and says to us; ‘Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me.’ Little children have always on their lips the word mother, and in all the dangers to which they are exposed, and in all their fears, they cry mother, Ah, most sweet Mary!”

Most loving mother! You desire that we become your children, and call upon you in all our dangers, and have recourse to you, for you will aid and save us, as you have saved all your children who have had recourse to you. How ungrateful would we be and how unfaithful to God’s will, if we did not turn to you for help, and  so we  take you for our own Blessed Mother, our safe refuge and the way which will lead us to God!

Prayer to Mary, my Mother

O, most holy mother, how is it possible that, having so holy a mother, I should be so sinful? How can I be so indifferent to thee, dearest Mother, who art given to me by my Savior Himself? I no longer deserve to be thy child, because by my bad life I have rendered myself unworthy. With thy help, I renounce all my sins, and all my bad habits. And I will be thy child and thou wilt be my mother.

O Mother! This name wholly consoles me, melts me, and reminds me of my obligation to love thee. I call thee Mother and this name encourages me to confide in thee. When I am the most terrified at the thought of my sins and of the divine justice, I am comforted by the remembrance that thou art my mother and will never fail me.

Permit me, then, to call thee my mother, my sweetest mother. Thus I call thee, and thus I will ever call thee. Thou shalt always be my hope, my refuge, and my love, in this valley of tears. O most merciful Mother, keep me close to thee always and permit never more to stray from thee and when death comes, may I be ever faithful, commending my soul, at the last moment, into thy sacred hands, saying: “My mother, my mother Mary, help me, and bring me to Jesus, my Lord and my God.” Amen.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)

 ✝︎  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
 ✝︎  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
 ✝︎  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
 ✝︎ St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!