Mary's Little Office

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Experience This


The Goose Bump Chapter


OUR LADY OF LOURDES - 1869
The Goose Bump Chapter
by Henri Lasserre


THE night had ended the agitations of so many minds so differently influenced, some believing in the reality of the Apparition, others remaining in a state of doubt, while a certain number persisted in denying the fact.

Day was about to break, and the universal Church over all the surface of the Globe, was murmuring in the interior of Temples, in the silence of solitary presbyteries, in the peopled shade of Cloisters, beneath the vaulted roofs of Abbeys, Monasteries and Convents, those words of the Psalmist in the Office of Matins:  Tu es Deus qui facis mirabilia.  Notam fecisti in populis virtutem tuam . . . . . viderunt te aquæ Dues, viderunt te aquæ, et imuerient, et turbatæ sunt abyssi.  “Thou art the God who workest marvels.  Thou hast shown forth Thy power in the midst of the multitudes . . . . .  The waters saw Thee, O Lord, the waters saw Thee, and they trembled in Thy presence and the depths were troubled.”

Bernadette, having arrived before the Rocks of Massabielle, had just knelt down.

An innumerable crowd had preceded her to the Grotto and pressed around her.  Although there were there a good number of sceptics, of such as denied the truth of the Apparition, and of others who came merely from motives of curiosity, a religious silence suddenly prevailed as soon as the child had been perceived.  A shudder had passed through the crowd like a shock of electricity.  All, by a unanimous instinct, the incredulous as well as believers, had uncovered their heads.  Several had kneeled down at the same time as the daughter of the miller.

At that moment the divine Apparition manifested Herself to Bernadette, who was suddenly transported into her marvelous ecstasy.  As was always the case, the radiant Virgin stood in the oval excavation of the rock, and her feet rested on the wild rose.

Bernadette contemplated her with an inexpressible sentiment of love, a sentiment sweet and deep, which overflowed her soul with delight, without at all disturbing her mind or causing her to forget she was still upon earth.

The Mother of God loved this innocent child.  She wished, by a still closer intimacy, to press her yet more to her bosom;  She wished to strengthen still more the bond which united Her to the humble shepherd-girl, in order that the latter, amid all the agitations of this world, might feel, so to say, every moment, that the Queen of Heaven held her invisibly by the hand.

“My child,” she said, “I wish to impart to you, always for you alone, and concerning you alone, a last secret, which, as with the other two, you will never reveal to any one in the world.”

We have explained further back the profound reasons which formed, out of these intimate confidences, the future safeguard of Bernadette, amidst the moral dangers to which the extraordinary favors, of which she was the object, must inevitably expose her.  By this triple secret, the Virgin clothed her messenger, as it were, with armor of three-fold strength against the dangers and temptations of life.

Bernadette, in the exceeding joy of her heart, listened, in the meanwhile, to the ineffable music of that voice so sweet, so maternal, so tender, which, eighteen hundred years ago, had charmed the filial ears of the Infant-God.

“And now,” rejoined the Virgin, after a short silence, go and drink from, and wash yourself in the Fountain, and eat of the herb which is growing at its side.”

Bernadette, at this word “Fountain,” gazed around her.  There was, and never had been, any Spring in that spot.  The child, without losing sight of the Virgin, betook herself quite naturally towards the Gave, whose tumultuous waters were rushing a few paces from there, across pebbles and broken rocks.

A word and a gesture from the Apparition arrested her in her course.

“Do not go there,” said the Virgin;  “I have not spoken of drink from the Gave; go to the Fountain, it is here." And stretching out her hand―that delicate yet powerful hand―to which nature submits, She showed with her finger to the child, on the right side of the Grotto, the same parched corner towards which, but the morning before, She had made her ascend on her knees.

Although she saw nothing in the place pointed out to her which appeared to have any connection with the words of the divine Being,  Bernadette obeyed and the command of the heavenly Vision.  The vaulted roof of the Grotto sloped downwards on this side, and the little girl scrambled on her knees the short distance she had to traverse.

On reaching the end, she did not perceive before her the least appearance of a fountain. On the face of the rock there sprung here and there some tufts of that herb belonging to the Saxifrage family, which is called la Dorine.

Whether it was owing to a new sign from the Apparition, or to an inward impulse of her soul, Bernadette, with that simple faith so pleasing to the heart of God, stooped down, and, scratching the ground with her tiny hands, began to scoop out the earth.

The innumerable spectators of this scene, as they neither heard nor saw the Apparition, did not know what to think of this singular operation on the part of the child.  Many already began to smile and to believe in some derangement of the poor shepherd girl’s brain.  How little is needed to shake our faith.

All at once the bottom of this little cavity dug by the child became damp.  Arriving from unknown depths, across rocks of marble and the bowels of the earth, a mysterious water began to spring up, drop by drop from beneath the hands of Bernadette, and to fill the hollow, about the size of a goblet, which she had just completed.

This water, newly come, mixing itself with the earth broken by Bernadette’s hands, formed at the first nothing but mud.  Three times did Bernadette essay to raise this muddy liquid to her lips;  but three times was her feeling of disgust so strong that she rejected it, feeling she had not the power of swallowing it. However she wished, before everything else, to obey the radiant Apparition who towered over this strange scene;  and the fourth time, making a grand effort, she surmounted her repugnance.  She drank, she washed herself, and she ate a morsel of the wild plant which grew at the foot of the rock.

At that moment the water of the Spring over-leaped the brim of the little reservoir hollowed by the child, and proceeded to flow in a slender stream, more slender, perhaps, than a straw, towards the crowd which was pressing on the front of the Grotto.

This stream was so extremely small that for a long time―until the close, in fact, of that day―the parched earth sucked it up entirely on its passage, and you could only guess its progressive course by the damp line, like a ribbon, which was traced on the ground, and which, increasing in length by degrees, advanced at an extremely slow rate towards the Gave.

When Bernadette had accomplished, as we have related above, all the mandates she had received, the Virgin gazed at her with an expression of satisfaction, and a moment afterwards, She disappeared from her sight.

The multitude was greatly excited by this prodigy.  As soon as Bernadette emerged from her state of ecstasy, all rushed towards the Grotto.  Every one wished to see with his own eyes the little hollow from which the water had gushed from beneath the hand of the child.  Every one wished to dip his handkerchief in it and raise a drop of it to his lips.  So this infant spring, in consequence of the gradual enlargement of its reservoir by the crumbling in of the earth, assumed, in a short time, the appearance of a puddle of water or of a liquid mass of wet mud.  The Spring, however, seemed to increase in volume as water was drawn from it, and the orifice through which it gushed from the depths below became visibly larger.

“It was some water which must have accidentally dripped from the rock during the rainy season, and which, and that, too, accidentally, must have a formed a little pool, under the ground which the child has also accidentally discovered,” said the savants of Lourdes.

And the philosophers remained perfectly satisfied with this explanation.

The next day, the Spring, urged by an unknown power from the mysterious depths, and perceptibly increasing in volume, gushed from the ground more abundantly.

The stream proceeding from it was already about the thickness of your finger.  It was, however, still muddy, owing to its struggles in forcing it passage through the earth.  It was only at the expiration of a few days that, after having augmented to a certain degree from hour to hour, it ceased to increase, and became perfectly limpid.  From that time it gushed from the earth in a jet of considerable magnitude, having almost reached the size of a child’s arm.

We must not, however anticipate events, but continue to follow them, day by day, as we have done hitherto.  We will now resume our narrative.

Keeping Your Family Holy by Bishop Robert Barron

BE SURE TO MAKE YOUR NEXT CLICK 🔥WORD ON FIRE🔥

The Bible is not particularly sentimental about families. What makes a family holy, as far as the biblical writers are concerned, is its willingness to surrender to the purpose of God. We see this in a number of key figures, including Joseph, Abraham, and Hannah.

Mass Readings

Reading 1 - Sirach 3:2-5, 12-14 or Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3
Psalm - Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 or Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Reading 2 - Colossians 3:12-21 or Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19
Gospel - Luke 2:22-40



Saturday, December 30, 2017

The Angelus

Twelve o'clock - six o'clock! The Church bell rings out its deep, clear tones, to recall our minds to Mary. The Angelus! What a sweet and necessary reminder of Heaven.

Our Lady's Story - See bottom of this page.

Recorded at the Kitchen Table - Scottsdale Arizona.

The Angelus 

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. 
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 at the hour of our death.  Amen.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: 
Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
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 at the hour of our death.  Amen.
And the Word was made Flesh:
And dwelt among us.

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 at the hour of our death.  Amen.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, 
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: 
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

Years ago I was browsing through a Religious Goods store in Boston when an old cement statue of Our Lady standing behind the front door caught my eye.  I was entirely captivated by her aged beauty.  I was told by the salesman that Our Lady had stood in a nearby convent yard for 80 years and was in need of a new home.  That is how the Lady's peeling paint figure and I met.  From Boston she traveled to Littlemore Farm in Iowa and stood in a shrine that I built with a thousand brick and a summer's labor.  When my wife and I left the farm Our Lady came with us and now stands in her niche to greet all who visit our home.  
The farm shrine stands empty.  The video was taken at Littlemore Farm.





Friday, December 29, 2017

The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary


I opened the window to the gentle rain and said my prayers there.


LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. 

Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, Pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, Pray for us.
Mother of Christ, Pray for us.
Mother of divine grace, Pray for us.
Mother most pure, Pray for us.
Mother most chaste, Pray for us.
Mother inviolate, Pray for us.
Mother undefiled, Pray for us.
Mother most amiable, Pray for us.
Mother most admirable, Pray for us.

Mother of good counsel, Pray for us.
Mother of our Creator, Pray for us.
Mother of our Saviour, Pray for us.
Virgin most prudent, Pray for us.
Virgin most venerable, Pray for us.
Virgin most renowned, Pray for us.
Virgin most powerful, Pray for us.
Virgin most merciful, Pray for us.
Virgin most faithful, Pray for us.
Mirror of justice, Pray for us
Seat of wisdom, Pray for us.
Cause of our joy, Pray for us.
Spiritual vessel, Pray for us.
Vessel of honor, Pray for us.
Vessel of singular devotion, Pray for us.
Mystical rose, Pray for us.
Tower of David, Pray for us.
Tower of ivory, Pray for us.
House of gold, Pray for us.
Ark of the covenant, Pray for us.
Gate of heaven, Pray for us.
Morning star, Pray for us.
Health of the weak, Pray for us.
Refuge of sinners, Pray for us.
Comforter of the afflicted, Pray for us.
Help of Christians, Pray for us.
Queen of angels, Pray for us.
Queen of patriarchs, Pray for us.
Queen of prophets, Pray for us.
Queen of apostles, Pray for us.
Queen of martyrs, Pray for us.
Queen of confessors, Pray for us.
Queen of virgins, Pray for us.
Queen of all saints, Pray for us.
Queen conceived without original sin, Pray for us.

Queen of the most holy Rosary, Pray for us.
Queen of peace, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
     
     V.  Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
     R.  That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.


Let us Pray

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His passion and cross be brought to the glory of His resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Ind. of 300 days, each time.―Pius VII. Sept. 30, 1817.)

Ejaculations to the Blessed Virgin

Mary. 
(Ind. of 25 days, each time.―Clement XIII. Sept. 5, 1750.)

Mary, Virgin Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me. 
(Ind. of 50 days, once each day.―Leo XIII. March  29, 1894.)

Mary our hope, have pity on us. 
(Ind. of 300 days, each time.―Pius X. Jan 8, 1906.) 

My Mother, my trust. 
(Ind. of 300 days, each time.―Benedict XV. Sept. 6, 1915.)

Our Lady of the most Holy Sacrament, pray for us. 
(Ind. of 300 days, each time, before the Blessed Sacrament exposed.―Pius X.  Jan 10, 1906.)

The Man of God
Fr.  Callan & McHugh
Authors of "Blessed Be God."
P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1928



23. The Liberty of God

Parochial School, Danbury, Conn.
Date taken:September 9, 1950

Our liberty consists to a considerable extent in restraints on liberty, so that each may be protected against the inevitable encroachments of others.  As our liberties increase so do our laws. 

Keep yourself free from sin.  This is the truest liberty here, and the greatest exercise of human strength and determination.  
Jesus - I trust in You!!
 
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Thursday, December 28, 2017

December 28th - The Feast of the Holy Innocents


"The feast of the beloved Disciple is followed by that of the Holy Innocents. The Crib of Jesus, where we have already met and venerated the Prince of Martyrs and the Eagle of Patmos, has today standing round it a lovely choir of little Chridren, clad in snowwhite robes, and holding green branches in their hands. The Divine Babe smiles upon them: he is their King; and these Innocents are smiling upon the Church of God. Courage and Fidelity first led us to the Crib; Innocence now comes, and bids us tarry there. 

Spiritual Bouquet: They have lived upon our earth, and yet it defiled them not! Truly these tender Lambs deserve to be forever with the Lamb of God! May this same earth of ours, grown old in wickedness, draw down the divine mercy on itself, by the love and honor it gives each year to these sweet Children of Bethlehem, who, like the Dove of Noah's Ark, could not find whereon to rest their feet.  

The Liturgical Year
 By Dom Prosper Guéranger O.S.B.





Wednesday, December 27, 2017

December 27th - The Feast of St. John The Evangelist

"He that loveth cleaness of heart shall have the King for his friend."
"St. John, called the beloved disciple, appears today at the court of the Divine Child, in order to have us penetrate deeper into the mysteries of the love of the Incarnate God. Who would be more fit for this holy task than that disciple to whom it was granted, while resting on the bosom of Christ, to contemplate love in its very source, in His Divine Heart, whence he drew the streams of living waters, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge embodied in his writings."

Spiritual Bouquet: "To those who love God, all things tend to good." 



Daily Daily Sing to Mary: Index

Mary's Prayer Little Prayer Index

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

December 26th - The Feast of St. Stephen

Behold the saint at the moment of his death, his eyes raised to heaven, praying for his executioners.
"The grace of God, our Saviour, hath appeared to all men", Holy Church exclaims on Christmas day, and today she invites all her children to rejoice when she says, "Come, let us adore the new-born Saviour, Who hath today crowned St. Stephen."

Resolution: I will beg St. Stephen for great love of God and of neighbor. 



The Stoning of St. Stephen, 1635
Rembrandt van Rijn
Such, 1606 - 1669

Monday, December 25, 2017

22. Conformity to God's Will


Preparing for The Christmas Play - 1949? USA

He said, "Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me" (Matt. xxvi. 39).  We too are allowed to pray for favours and deprecate chastisement, in the hope that God may have so arranged things from the beginning, in prevision of our prayers, as to grant our desires; but we must be prepared to accept a refusal or a delay with contentment and gratitude.    

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Christmas Morning



Good Morning and Merry Christmas!

Ancient Christmas Hymn used in Morning Prayers 

O Jesu! (Jesus) Redeemer of mankind! born before the light was made, and born of the Eternal Father, equal to him in infinite glory;

O thou the Light and brightness of the Father! O thou the everlasting hope of all men! hear the prayers offered thee by thy servants throughout the world.

Be mindful, O Creator of all things! that heretofore thou didst assume a Body like unto ours, and was born from the sacred womb of a Virgin. 

Glory be to thee, O Jesus who wast born of the Virgin! and to the Father and the Holy Ghost, for everlasting ages.
         Amen.




Sunday, December 24, 2017

Building a House

by Bishop Robert Barron December 24, 2017

The readings for this dramatic fourth Sunday of Advent put us in the heart of a deep and abiding mystery: the mystery of God’s providence. Just when we are tempted to say, “nothing makes sense,” the Bible interrupts us to say, “wait.” God works in subtle ways, and often it takes years, even centuries, for God’s plan fully to be realized.
Mass Readings
Reading 1 - 2 Samuel 7:1-16
Psalm - Psalm 89:2-29
Reading 2 - Romans 16:25-27
Gospel - Luke 1:26-38

The Nativity


Myself at Mission Beach, California.

INDEX

The consideration of Our Lord's Nativity is not complete unless we give due prominence to her who was God's chief agent in the mystery.

How can we picture to ourselves adequately her acts and sentiments in those first moments of ecstasy, when she saw before her, and took in her arms the expected Messias, the King of Israel, the Son of God! And He was her own Child, He was her beloved one, and she was His. He was to be the possession of the whole world, but in that hour she possessed Him to herself. She was the first to welcome Him.

Merry Christmas!
 
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Saturday, December 23, 2017

21. The Double Will of God


Twins Praying in a Catholic Church, USA - 1944.


INDEX

God does not command the impossible; He requires from each man only in proportion to what he has received.

Thank God for His desire for your salvation. Trust in Him and do not wrong His mercy by any suspicion. Do what you can, and your salvation is secure.  

Jesus - I trust in You!!
 
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