Twelve Points of the Humility of Mary, 2022

In this precious month of the Holy Rosary, we offer this brief snippet from a very worthwhile book, “The Admirable Heart of Mary“, in the hope that thinking on these aspects of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart will aid your Rosary meditations. I am not able to write more as I would have preferred to do, but hope that by now, you readers will “fill in the blanks” possibly better than I could!

Abyss of Humility

Deep calleth upon deep,
Thy billows are passed o’er me.

In the abyss of my heart,
nothingness beckons to Thee, my love
Look upon my nothingness
And fill my darkness with Thy Light.

The following is from Part 8, Chapter 5

The Humility of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Consider the words of the Holy Ghost: “Deep calleth on deep” (Ps. 41, 8). What do they mean? They mean that the Holy Ghost sets before us the image of a twofold or dual abyss.

The first is the humble heart immersed by profound humility in the realization of its own nothingness, an abyss that engulfs the humble man, preventing him from seeing in himself anything but nothingness and making him love the lowliness and abjection of such nothingness.

The second is the abyss of graces and celestial blessings that everywhere surround and accompany the truly humble heart. The first depth calls for the second: “Deep called on deep,” because the prayer of the humble heart has such power with God, that it is always heard. Divine Goodness can refuse it nothing.

It is the profundity that summons and attracts all the graces of Heaven; God showers them into the lowly soul with open hand and without reserve. Humility is the guardian of all other graces and virtues, and they are safe where it abides, according to the words of St. Basil: “Humility is the safe treasury of all virtues.”

All the greatness of the Blessed Virgin was accomplished by the humility of her most holy Heart. From the first to the last moment of her life, her humility never ceased to invoke and draw upon her grace after grace, perfection after perfection, holiness upon holiness, until it brought her to the summit of the grace and holiness that next to that of Christ ever was or shall be greatest among men.

Humility is our Savior’s own spiritual virtue, which He constantly preached by His example and earnestly recommended with the words: “Learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart” (Matt. 11, 29), so can we say that humility is also the most beloved virtue of His dearest Mother. She urges us to practice it by her example.

On its twelve principal manifestations.

The first manifestation was the complete self-annihilation with which she adored God from the very beginning of her life as her Creator and Sovereign Lord.

The second manifestation … was the uneasiness she felt on hearing the salutation of the Angel Gabriel.

“She was troubled at his saying” (Luke 1, 29), because he greeted her as full of grace, as one having the Lord with her in a special manner, and as being blessed among all women. That salutation is what troubles her most humble Heart, which cannot listen to such exalted praises without trembling. (Here, St. John Eudes quotes St. Thomas Aquinas)

The third effect … was that, after hearing St. Gabriel’s proclamation, she answered: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” Instead of taking pride, she humbled herself, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”

St. Bonaventure exclaims: “How wonderfully deep is Mary’s humility! An archangel salutes her; she is called full of grace; she is told the Holy Ghost will overshadow her; she becomes the Mother of God Himself; she is raised above all creatures; she is appointed sovereign Lady of Heaven and earth; and yet instead of becoming filled with pride, she humbles herself most deeply, saying, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord.’

The fourth manifestation of her humility: Her stupendous silence at the Incarnation of the Son of God within her immaculate womb. After she had conceived the Only-begotten Son of God in her blessed womb, she revealed to no one, not even to her spouse St. Joseph, the tremendous mystery which exalted her to the highest pinnacle.

Then, quoting St. Thomas of Villanova, St. John Eudes writes: “The greatest mystery, the most incomparable marvel, has been wrought in thee by the divine power, and thou dost tell no one. No human being knows the vital miracle, so jealously dost thou guard thy secret! Thou dost remain in profound silence, until, in the house of thy cousin Elizabeth, beholding that God Himself has revealed this miracle of miracles, then only dost thou breathe thy blessed silence, and raise to Heaven the sublime canticle of praise and adoration for the author of all these marvels: “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” (Luke 1, 46)

The fifth effect of Mary’s humility was accomplished during her visit to her cousin St. Elizabeth, concerning SL John the Baptist. (Note: This fifth effect seems to have been glossed over by St. John Eudes, but when we consider his words here, immediately following the fourth point, seems to indicate not the Magnificat, which was covered in point four, but the Holy Virgin’s excellent submission to the will of God as she brought Our Lord to St. John, each of them enclosed within their Mothers’ wombs, thus allowing Our Lord to baptize the baptizer himself!  In this action Mary demonstrates the action of the priest who allows himself to be the vehicle for Christ’s saving grace as he administers the sacraments.

The sixth effect was manifested in her relationship with St. Joseph, whom she regarded and honored as her husband, not disdaining to serve him, and be subject to his will. What exalts her humility above all admiration is that she prefers to endure an unspeakable humiliation rather than reveal to Joseph the admirable mystery wrought in her by God, and her newly received rank of Mother of the promised Messias.

The seventh effect of the humility of the royal Heart of Mary was revealed at the birth of Her Divine Son in a stable at Bethlehem. . . . being turned away from every house, was obliged to seek the lowly abode of animals. There she brought forth the only Son of God the Father, the King of Glory, the sovereign Lord of all things. And she sustained these humiliations without a complaint and with most perfect humility.

The eighth effect of the admirable humility of the Mother of God became apparent when she subjected herself to the Hebrew law of Purification. (Note: again, St. John Eudes is rather terse, which leaves space for us to turn to Our Lady herself to tell us the rest by means of her Holy Rosary. I also recommend the excellent writings available at The Rosary to the Interior; for the Purification of the Church. I also have written of the Mystery of the Purification in these pages.)

The ninth effect of the humility of the blessed Heart of Our Savior’s Mother was the virtue she practiced during the forty days’ penance of her Divine Son in the desert. Remember what we have said above; namely, that our Savior’s incomparable love for His Blessed Mother made Him desire her to resemble Him as closely as possible, and caused Him to engrave in her Heart a perfect image of all the states and mysteries of His most holy life.

The tenth effect of the humility of Mary’s all-pure Heart became manifest at the wedding of Cana in Galilee, where she obtained from her beloved Son the miracle whereby He changed water into wine. But how did she induce Him to perform that miracle? Was it by exerting her authority as His Mother? By no means. . .  she did not even presume to entreat Him, but merely made plain to Him, with the greatest modesty and humility, the need for additional wine. Mary left it entirely to His divine will to act as He thought best.

The eleventh effect of the humility of the admirable Heart of the Mother of Jesus was that she suffered with her beloved Son all the contempt and insults He endured during His public ministry from His enemies. . . She likewise endured with her Son all the indignities and ignominies of His passion when He was treated as a criminal, bound and throttled like a thief, torn with whips, crowned with thorns, reviled by the shocking preference of the mob for Barabbas, and nailed to a Cross between two bandits.

Yes, my Jesus, Thy most worthy Mother bore with Thee all this shame and humiliation! As Thy glory is now her glory, so were Thy ignominies her very own, which she bore with such humility that she never uttered a complaint to God or man. 0 prodigious humility! Most humble Mary, pray to thy dear Son that He may grant us the grace to learn from Himself and from thee how to suffer insults and humiliations patiently and with humility, and never to complain.

The twelfth effect of the humility of the Admirable Heart of Mary is recorded in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles where it is written that, after the Ascension of Christ into Heaven, St. Peter, St. John and the other disciples withdrew to the Cenacle of Jerusalem.

There they remained until the coming of the Holy Ghost, united in prayer with the holy women and Mary, Mother of Jesus, whom St. Luke the Evangelist mentions last, not only after the holy Apostles, but even after the sinner from whom our Savior had driven seven devils. How can it be that she who is the first in dignity, in merit, and in sanctity should be put in the last place?

It is that her most profound humility compelled her scribe, St. Luke, to name her thus in the last place, according to the lowliness of her self- estimation, considering and treating herself as the least and most unworthy of creatures. What peerless humility!  (. . . )

0 Queen of the humble, thou seest how remote we are from the practice of true and perfect humility. Obtain from thy beloved Son the pardon of all the sins we have committed against this great virtue; offer to Him thy very humble Heart in reparation and satisfaction for our misdeeds; and entreat Our Lord to grant us the graces we need to enable us to imitate carefully and faithfully the most holy humility of the amiable Heart of Jesus and Mary.

Eudes, St. John. The Admirable Heart of Mary. KIC. Kindle Edition.

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!
†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
†  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
†  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

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!

The Most Admirable Heart of Mary

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is of the essence of the Message of Fatima.

In order to help us understand the importance of this devotion, we offer today an essay by Saint John Eudes, from his work, “The Admirable Heart of Mary”:

“… Listen to what He revealed in 1300 to St. Mechtilde, one of the most glorious daughters of St. Benedict, whose writings have been approved by learned and devout doctors. One day during Advent, as the Saint sought to salute the Mother of God in a most pleasing manner, Our Lord Himself deigned to instruct her as follows:
Continue reading “The Most Admirable Heart of Mary”

The Most Admirable Heart of Mary

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is of the essence of the Message of Fatima.

In order to help us understand the importance of this devotion, we offer today an essay by Saint John Eudes, from his work, “The Admirable Heart of Mary”:

“… Listen to what He revealed in 1300 to St. Mechtilde, one of the most glorious daughters of St. Benedict, whose writings have been approved by learned and devout doctors. One day during Advent, as the Saint sought to salute the Mother of God in a most pleasing manner, Our Lord Himself deigned to instruct her as follows:

“Thou shalt salute my holy Mother’s virginal Heart as an ocean replete with heavenly grace and a treasure filled with myriad blessings for mankind.

“Thou shalt honor it as the purest Heart after mine own because she was the first to take the vow of chastity.

“Thou shalt hail it as the humblest Heart of any simple creature, for her humility drew me from my Father’s bosom and rendered her worthy to conceive me in her chaste womb by the power of the Holy Ghost.

“Thou shalt reverence her Heart as supremely devout and most ardent in its desire for my Incarnation and birth on earth, because the fervor of her desires and of her longing attracted me to her and became the cause of man’s salvation.

“Thou shalt honor her Heart as most glowingly inflamed with love for God and man. Thou shalt salute it as the wisest and most prudent, for she kept in her Heart the memory of each event of my childhood, youth and adult life and made a most holy use of this remembrance.

“Thou shalt greet her Heart as the most faithful, for she not only consented to permit me, her only Son, to be sacrificed, but she also offered me to my Eternal Father as a sacrifice for the redemption of the world. “Thou shalt salute her Heart as the most vigilant and most zealous for the interests of the nascent Church, for the care she took to pray unceasingly could not be disregarded.

“Thou shalt glorify her Heart as raised to the highest degree of uninterrupted contemplation, for no tongue can worthily speak of the graces and favors that men owe to the power of her intercession.”

Thus did Our Lord speak to St. Mechtilde, revealing clearly how pleasing to His Divine Majesty is the devotion to His Blessed Mother’s Holy Heart and how profitable to those who practice it. But if we shall further lend our ears to Jesus, the great teacher of the devotion to Mary’s august Heart, He will impart to us many other edifying and consoling truths. Let us listen.

“I alone”, Our Lord tells us, “can worthily proclaim the devotion which the hearts of all who love me shall cultivate towards the Heart of my holy Mother, for I am the source and principle of all the great and marvelous qualities to be found in this abyss of wonders, and I alone have a perfect knowledge of the eminent perfections of her Heart.”

“I am the eldest Son of this maternal Heart and am therefore filled with the most tender and filial love for it. I am the first-born of my most worthy Mother’s incomparable Heart, as I am the first fruit of the adorable Heart of my Eternal Father. My admirable Mother formed me and carried me in her Heart more holily, longer and sooner than in her womb. For the sanctity of her blessed bosom has its origin in the charity and purity of her most holy Heart, … She bore me in her bosom for nine months only, but she always held me and will forever hold me in her Heart. I am, … more truly the fruit of her Heart than of her womb.”

“0 admirable mystery! Her incomparable Heart is, among created beings, the masterpiece of my Almighty Goodness; yet by an unfathomable miracle I am myself the excellent product of her humility, whereby she drew me from my Father’s adorable bosom, where I was born before all ages began, that I might be born of my virginal Mother in the fullness of time.”

“I have always been and shall forever be the most singular object of all the affections of her Holy Heart, as she herself has always been and will forever be, after my Eternal Father, the first object of my love. All who truly love me must, therefore, be particularly zealous in honoring and teaching others to honor the Heart that I love more and that gives me greater glory and love than the hearts of all the angels and men together.

“For all these reasons, I myself have willed to be the teacher of this devotion practiced by many of my saints during the past centuries, a devotion still observed in many churches today; and I personally taught the first principles of this devotion to St. Mechtilde. “It is I, my dearest children, who have made it flourish again in your hearts. I am now addressing those who have a special veneration for the most worthy Heart of my virginal Mother. I myself have rooted in your hearts your ardent desire of honoring Her Heart as I wish it to be honored.

“I know that, as her Heart is the first object of the love of my Heart, after the Eternal Father, it is likewise, after God, the first object of your most tender and holy affection. Therefore have I given it to you to be an inexhaustible fountain of blessings in your midst.

“I have given my Mother’s Heart to you as a divine Sun to enlighten you through the darkness of the world, to warm you in the frosts of mortal life, to gladden and to comfort you in the sorrows, pains and miseries of earth, and to vivify and strengthen you against the decline and weakness of human frailty.

“I have given her Heart to you as a beautiful mirror, into which you should often gaze in order to see the stains that tarnish your souls, so that you may cleanse them. With the aid of this celestial mirror, you should array your souls with becoming ornaments that they may become pleasing in the sight of my divine majesty.

“I have given the Heart of My Mother to you as an unshakeable tower and impregnable stronghold in which you may take refuge and seek shelter against the machinations of the enemies of your salvation. “I have given it to you as a burning furnace of divine love into which you are to throw yourselves and be consumed, that you may turn into fire and flames of love for Him who is all fire and flaming love for you.

“I have given her Heart to you as a perfect pattern of the respect, love and obedience that you must entertain for those who hold God’s place on earth. I have given it to you as a fountain of wine, milk and honey, whence you may draw the charity, kindness and meekness with which you should treat one another.

“I have given her Heart to you as a heavenly chronicle and book of life, that you may study its pages unceasingly, and learn to know perfectly and to love ardently the ravishing beauty of those Christian virtues whose faithful practice gives eternal life. But what you should learn above all from this book are the marvelous merits of holy humility and the means to practice it, so as to crush in your hearts the cursed serpent of pride and vanity that wreaks such havoc, not only in the souls of children of perdition, but in my own children’s hearts as well.

“I have given the Heart of my incomparable Mother to you as a holy Rule that will enable you to become saints, if you faithfully observe it. It is the rule of the divine life you should lead, of the high qualities and habits you must assume, of the evangelical teachings you are to follow. By this rule you must measure the holiness that should permeate all your actions, the sentiments and affections that should fill your hearts. It is the rule of the love and hatred, the joy and sorrow, the desires and fears that must be yours, if you are to please me and sanctify yourselves.

“I have given her Heart to you as a vast ocean of graces of every kind, from which you must draw the graces you need at every hour, every moment, every place and every occasion, to avoid the manifold snares of Satan, which cover the entire earth, and to be able to serve God in justice and holiness all the days of your lives.

“I have given her Heart to you as a precious vessel, filled with manna from heaven and the nectar of paradise, to nourish your hearts with the meat of the angels, even in this world, and so to inebriate them with heavenly wine, that the things of the earth and time may be forgotten entirely and the sole delight of your hearts rest in those things which are heavenly and eternal. Such was always the life of my holy Mother, who is also your beloved Mother, and such were the affections of her Holy Heart.

“I have bestowed upon you the royal Heart of your great Queen to be regent of your hearts, to rule and govern them according to the most adorable will of my heavenly Father that you may be entirely fashioned according to His Heart.

“I have likewise given you the admirable Heart of my most worthy Mother, which is identified with my own Heart, that it may be your true Heart as well; that my children may possess only one Heart with their Mother, and my members the same Heart as their Head. Thus you may serve, adore and love God with a Heart worthy of His infinite goodness: Corde magno etanimo volenti  (2 Mac. 1, 3), that is, with an immense and measureless Heart, with a Heart all pure and holy, so that you may sing His divine praises and accomplish all your actions in the spirit, love, humility and all the holy dispositions of her admirable Heart. But in order to make this come true, you must renounce entirely your own heart, that is, your mind, your will and your love of self. Strive, therefore, to rid yourself of your earthly heart that is depraved and wicked, and you shall receive an entirely heavenly, holy and divine Heart.

“I have finally given this marvelous Heart as an inestimable treasure containing every possible blessing. It is for you, beloved children, to engrave in your hearts a high esteem, a profound respect and a particular affection for so rich a treasure, and to preserve it jealously by the continuation and increase of your veneration for a Heart so holy and amiable.

“It is to encourage you to do so that I have said these things. Set down my words in your hearts and practice them faithfully. In this way, you will become the true children of my holy Mother’s Heart, and you will live according to my own. My eyes and my Heart shall ever watch over your necessities. I will carry you in my innermost Heart. You will yourselves be my Heart, my joy and my delight. I will love you as my own Heart, and I will prepare a glorious habitation for you throughout eternity in my Heart and in the Heart of my blessed Mother, which is one with my own. You shall abide forever in our Hearts, and live by their life, you shall possess all the treasures enclosed in our Hearts, and be immersed and buried in their joys. Our Hearts shall be your paradise, the life of your life, the Heart of your heart.

“In the love of these Hearts, or rather, this one Heart, you will eternally love, bless and glorify my holy Mother and the Sovereign monarch of all hearts, which is the adorable Heart of the most Holy Trinity. May It be forever praised, adored, and loved by all the hearts of angels and of men!”

After listening to the divine words of Our Divine Savior encouraging us to love and honor the most amiable Heart of His Blessed Mother, we shall now contemplate the operations of His adorable Heart towards the maternal Heart of Mary, whereby He teaches us even more effectively than by His eloquent words. Oh, who could worthily describe the least spark of the Divine Heart of Jesus, that furnace of love, towards the Heart of His admirable Mother? Our Lord has so loved and honored her maternal Heart that He has exalted it above all the hearts of the universe, and made it the most august empire of His glory and the glorious triumph of His love. He has so loved and honored her Heart as to constitute it a Heaven higher and more brilliant than all the heavens in which He is glorified and loved more ardently than in the empyrean heaven.

God has loved and honored His Mother to such an extent that from the first instant in which He gave her blessed Heart its being, He worked in it countless great miracles, imparting the most abundant communication of His own divine perfections, and rendering it most worthy, noble, perfect, mighty, wise, holy, just, merciful, kind, liberal; He has made it the richest, happiest, most glorious, most amiable and most admirable of all hearts.

Now what Divine Love accomplishes in angelic hearts, Mary’s only Son, so filled with love and tenderness for His beloved Mother, has certainly accomplished in her Heart also but in a far more excellent manner. He gathers all the perfections of His divinity, divided as it were among the Orders of the Angels, and brings them together in the Heart of the august Queen of all Angels. It is fitting that, having chosen Mary to be His Mother, and having become her Son, Our Lord should establish such a perfect resemblance between Mother and Son. The Divine Son seeks to render her similar to Himself in His divinity, just as His exalted Mother caused Him to resemble her in His humanity. As the Eternal Father unceasingly communicates all the divine attributes to His Only-begotten Son with such fullness that He is called the figure and type of His substance and the image of the invisible God, similarly the Son makes His Mother’s virginal Heart participate in all the perfections He Himself received from His Heavenly Father, with such plenitude that her most blessed Heart bears a marvelous resemblance to all the excellent qualities found in our adorable Savior.

Yes, the incomparable Heart of Mary, Mother of our Redeemer, is a most precious and radiant mirror in which Jesus, the eternal Sun, reflects Himself in perfect manner, with all His beauties and perfections, and thereby renders her holy Heart so admirable, so amiable and so praiseworthy that it should be, next to the God-Man, the principal object of our devotion on earth, even as it is the first object of veneration for the happy inhabitants of heaven.

Eudes, St. John. The Admirable Heart of Mary

I’d like to repeat for emphasis,  just as “the Eternal Father unceasingly communicates all the divine attributes to His Only-begotten Son with such fullness that He is called the figure and type of His substance and the image of the invisible God”, and  similarly, “the Son makes His Mother’s virginal Heart participate in all the perfections He Himself received from His Heavenly Father”, this most Immaculate Virgin Mary desires to make of us, her children, a marvelous resemblance to all the excellent qualities found in our most admirable Mother.

Readers, here we have it!  This little gem of an essay is given to us by the Holy Ghost through the holy St. John Eudes precisely for this time.  It is a terrible tragedy that so few faithful Catholics today understand why the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is called for.  They don’t understand because it is not being explained to them! Catholic leaders, both priests and lay leaders have failed to teach this necessary devotion. Souls depend on this!

It is not helpful to criticise them for this lack, but for pity’s sake, let us do our best to get this message out to others. Please help share this message. Surely, if we explain the need for this, they will listen! Well, maybe some will, and to whomever reads this and spreads this message, at least you can be sure that you did your best in this troubled and confusing time. If each of us helps just one, then several hundred more souls will be given the opportunity to come to Our Lady and be led by her to safety. What a blessing!

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!

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!