Novena to Maria Bambina Starts Tomorrow

Picture source

Mahalo to Louise for sharing.

Novena Prayers Maria Bambina    

1.             Holy Child Mary, of the Royal house if David, Queen of the Angels, Mother of grace and love, I greet you

with all my heart. Obtain for me that I may love the Lord faithfully during all the days of my life. Obtain for     

me, too, a great devotion towards Thee, who art the first creature of God's love.     Hail Mary....

2.             O heavenly Child Mary, who, like a pure dove, was born Immaculate and beautiful, my soul rejoices before    

Thee, true prodigy of the wisdom of Good! O! do help me to preserve the angelic virtue of purity at the cost

of any sacrifice.   Hail Mary....

3.             Hail, lovely and holy Child, spiritual garden of delight, where, on the day of the Incarnation, the tree of Life    

was planted, assist me to avoid the poisonous fruit of the vanity and the pleasures of the world. Help me to

engraft into mu sould the thoughts, feelings and virtues of Thy divine Son.   Hail Mary....

4.             Hail, admirable Child Mary, closed garden, open only to the heavenly Spouse. O! lily of paradise, make me  

love the humble and hidden life; let the heavenly Spouse find the gate of my heart always open to the loving

calls of his graces and his inspirations. Hail Mary...

5.             Holy Child Mary. mustical dawn, happy gate of heavenm You are my trust and hope.  O powerful Advocate, from

thy little cradle, stretch your hand, support me in the path of life. Make me serve God with ardour and constancy

until death, and so reach an eternal crown.  Hail Mary....

Let us pray:

            Sweet Child Mary, who, being Mother of God, have also become our beloved Queen and Mother, for the numberless graces You have obtained for us, listen to my humble prayers. All my hope is upon You, in all the needs which surround me.

            Holy Child, by the merits and privileges which have been given only to You, be merciful towards me. Show that the source of the spiritual treasure You give out is inexhaustible. For the profusion of graces Almighty God has given You, O heavenly Child grant my prayer and I will praise Your goodness forever.

I M P R I M A T U R

In Curia Archiep. Mediolani 

31 August 1931

Can. CAVEZZALI, Pro Vic. Gen

Brief History of Maria Bambina

(Holy Child Mary)

The Miraculous Image of Maria Bambina was made before

1730 by a Franciscan num who afterwards entrusted Her to

others during the ensuing years so that eventually She came

into the care of the Sisters of Charity at Lovere, Italy.

In 1866 these Sisters of Charity were requested to take over

the management of the hospital of Ciceri in Milan and in 1876

the waxen image was carried to their Mother House there

at Via S. Sofia 13, where She has remained ever since. All this

time this stature was exposed for veneration only on the 8th of

September, the Feast of Mary's Nativity, but in 1884 Maria

Bambina wanted to reward those who had devotion to her.

Due to paralysi in her arms and feet, Sr. Josephine Woinovich was

bedridden and in unbearable pain. On the day of September 8th

she begged Mother General to get Maria Bambina and leave the

Image near her overnight. The following morning the Mother

General was inspired to take the Image, so old, worn and grayish

colored to the other sick sisters in the infirmary so they could kiss

Her. Here there was a good novice, Giulia Macario, who was

unable to move because of her serious illness, but who, overcome

by her ardent faith, took the Image into her arms and pleaded with

Her in tender and loving words for the grace of her recovery. She

was immediately and miraculously cured, for such faith moves

mountains. And at the same time this Image itself underwent an

amazing transformation from the former dull gray color to the warm

flesh hues it has today, as can be seen, where She is enshrined in the

Sanctuary of the Mother House in Milan.

Many graces and miracles have come from devotion to the Maria

Bambina among them the recovery of Sr. Josephine Woinovich herself.

And that is why now these Sisters are commonly know as the Sisters

of Maria Bambina.

Imprimatur: In Curia Arch. Mediolani

die 14-1 - 1967

+Theresius Ferraroni

Litany in Honor of the Holy Infancy of the Blessed Virgin 

Lord, have mercy on us,...........................................................Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us,.........................................................Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us,...........................................................Lord, have mercy on us.

Infant Jesus, hear us,...............................................................Have mercy on us.

Infant Jesus, graciously hear us,...............................................Have mercy on 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 Infant Mary,......................................................................Pray for us.

Infant Daughter of the Father,.....................................................Pray for us.

Infant, Mother of the Son,..........................................................Pray for us.

Infant, Spouse of the Holy Ghost,...............................................Pray for us.

Infant, Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity,...........................................Pray for us.

Infant, fruit of the prayers of thy parents,.....................................Pray for us.

Infant, riches of thy father,.........................................................Pray for us.

Infant, delight of thy mother,......................................................Pray for us.

Infant, honor of thy father,..........................................................Pray for us.

Infant, honor of thy mother,........................................................Pray for us.

Infant, miracle of nature,............................................................Pray for us.

Infant, prodigy of grace,.............................................................Pray for us.

Immaculate in thy Conception,...................................................Pray for us.

Most holy in thy Nativity,...........................................................Pray for us.

Most devout in thy Presentation,................................................Pray for us.

Masterpiece of God's grace,......................................................Pray for us.

Aurora of the Sun of Justice,.....................................................Pray for us.

Beginning of our joy,.................................................................Pray for us.

End of our evils,.......................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, joy of earth,....................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, joy of heaven,.................................................................Pray for us.

Pattern of our charity,...............................................................Pray for us.

Model of our humility,...............................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most powerful,................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most mild,......................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most pure,......................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most obedient,................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most poor,......................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most meek,....................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most amiable,.................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, most admirable,..............................................................Pray for us.

Infant, incomparable,.................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, health of the sick,...........................................................Pray for us.

Comfortess of the afflicted,........................................................Pray for us.

Refuge of Sinners,....................................................................Pray for us.

Hope of Christians,...................................................................Pray for us.

Lady of the Angels,..................................................................Pray for us.

Daughter of the Patriarchs,.......................................................Pray for us.

Desire of the Prophets,.............................................................Pray for us.

Mistress of the Apostles,..........................................................Pray for us.

Strength of Martyrs,.................................................................Pray for us.

Glory of the Priesthood,............................................................Pray for us.

Joy of Confessors,...................................................................Pray for us.

Purity of Virgins,......................................................................Pray for us.

Queen of all Saints,.................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, our Mother,...................................................................Pray for us.

Infant, Queen of our hearts,......................................................Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,.................Spare us, Infant Jesus.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,.................Graciously hear us, Infant Jesus.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,.................Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus.

Infant Jesus,............................................................................Hear us.

Infant Jesus,............................................................................Graciously hear us.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and merciful God, Who through the cooperation of the Holy Ghost, didst prepare the body and soul of the Immaculate Infant Mary that she might be the worthy Mother of Thy Son, and didst preserve her from all stain, grant that we who venerate with all our hearts her most holy childhood, may be freed, through her merits and intercession, from all uncleanness of mind and body, and be able to imitate her perfect humility, obedience and charity. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Prayer of Adoration

Saint Louis of France

Picture source

 I love learning of a saint's virtue or mortification. Example today I learned from Father Tony at Mass this morning: Saint Louis of France: "He had a good sense of humor and enjoyed a joke, but refrained from humor on Fridays out of respect for the Passion of the Lord. He wore a hair shirt under his royal robes. He forbade any kind of profanity or vulgarity, and punished it severely in courtiers. During Advent and Lent, he himself would personally wait on and feed the hungry and indigent". (Diocese of Wichita) Happy Feast Day!

 Source

Santa Rosa de Lima

Picture source

Picture source

Picture source

Picture source

Novena for the intercession of St. Rosa de Lima in Spanish can be found here. You can have it translated at that site.

Santa Rosa de Lima, ora por el Perú!

Prayer given by Our Blessed Mother to Blessed Anna Maria Taigi

from Esther's prayer card collection

Source: The Living Rosary

Prostrate at thy feet,
O Great Queen of Heaven,
we venerate thee with
the deepest reverence and
we confess that thou art the
Daughter of the Father,
the Mother of the Divine Word,
the Spouse of the Holy Ghost.
Thou art the storekeeper
and the almoner of the Divine Mercies...
For this reason,
we call thee Mother of Divine Compassion.
Behold us here in affliction and anguish.
Deign to show us thy true love.
We beg thee to ask the Holy Trinity
most fervently to grant us the grace
ever to conquer the devil,
and the world and our evil passions;
the efficacious grace that sanctifies the just,
converts, sinners,
destroys heresies,
enlightens infidels and
brings all men to the true faith.

Obtain for us this great gift that all the world may form but one people united in the One True Church.

Mary, Mother of Holy Hope.
Pray for us.

The Queenship of Mary

Pope Pius XII originally proclaimed May 31st as the Feast day of the Queenship of Mary.

Picture source

"...8. From early times Christians have believed, and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God. He "will reign in the house of Jacob forever,"[5] "the Prince of Peace,"[6] the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."[7] And when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God.

9. Hence it is not surprising that the early writers of the Church called Mary "the Mother of the King" and "the Mother of the Lord," basing their stand on the words of St. Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that the Son of Mary would reign forever,[8] and on the words of Elizabeth who greeted her with reverence and called her "the Mother of my Lord."[9] Thereby they clearly signified that she derived a certain eminence and exalted station from the royal dignity of her Son..."

Pope Pius XII's Encyclical: Ad Caeli Reginam

"Mary, then, is a Queen; but for our common consolation, be it known that she is a Queen so sweet, clement, and so ready to help us that Holy Church wills that we salute her as Queen of Mercy.  Mary is Queen of Mercy as Jesus is King of Justice."

St. Alphonsus de Liguori - Glories of Mary

Basilica of Fatima, Portugal

Picture source

"The purpose of the universal feast of the Queenship of Mary which we again happily observe and welcome this week is to stir up in our souls renewed love and devotion to our Mother and Queen and to invite all to rededicate themselves to her Immaculate Heart.  These are indeed days of tension and worry throughout the world with talk of total destruction to mankind by nuclear weapons.  Mary, however, our Queen and our Mother, has come to the rescue of civilization in the centuries that have passed. She will do it again if we but turn to her and beseech her for true peace throughout the world.  Would that the prayer of Pope Pius XII to Mary our Queen be realized in the minds and wills of all.

'Reign over the minds of men, that they may seek only what is true; over their wills, that they may follow solely what is good; over their hearts, that they may love nothing but what you yourself love.'"

Homily of John J. Cardinal Carberry given on the occasion of the Queenship of Mary, May, 1959. Source:  Mary Queen and Mother:  Marian Pastoral Reflections by John J. Cardinal Carberry

Saintly Quote - Trust

Pope St. Pius X - Encyclical on the Separation of Church and State

Picture source

"...4. Recourse to God, so infinitely good, is all the more necessary because, far from abating, the struggle grows fiercer and expands unceasingly. It is no longer only the Christian faith that they would uproot at all costs from the hearts of the people; it is any belief which lifting man above the horizon of this world would supernaturally bring back his wearied eyes to heaven. Illusion on the subject is no longer possible. War has been declared against everything supernatural, because behind the supernatural stands God, and because it is God that they want to tear out of the mind and heart of man. 5. The war will be bitter and without respite on the part of those who wage it. That as it goes on harder trials than those which you have hitherto known await you is possible and even probable. Common prudence calls on each of you to prepare for them. And this you will do simply, valiantly, and full of confidence, sure that however fiercely the fight may rage, victory will in the end remain in your hands..."

UNE FOIS ENCORE

THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY

Picture Source

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

            The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary is a feast that traces its origin to the earliest ages of the Church. Tied to this feast are themes of Mary as Mother of the Church and model for the Church. In her the Church witnesses the fullness of the effects of the saving death and resurrection of Christ for humanity. The Preface for the feast’s Eucharistic Liturgy attests to this.

                        Today the Virgin Mother of God

                        was taken up into heaven

                        to be the beginning and the pattern of the Church

                        in its perfection,

                        and a sign of hope and comfort for your people

                        on their pilgrim way.

            The themes of the Mass prayers and readings, and those of the Liturgy of the Hours, reflect the basis of the Church’s teaching about Mary and the many titles accorded her in popular Christian devotion.

            The feast of Mary’s Assumption honors her Dormition, as the feast is called in the East, her falling asleep in the Lord and being taken body and soul to heaven when her earthly life was completed.  Mary’s Assumption is analogous to Jesus’ Ascension.

            The similarity between the privileges of Christ and those of his Mother is in no way identity.  Christ has his prerogatives by his very nature as God Incarnate.  Mary receives hers by a free gift from God.  “He who is mighty has done great things for me.”

            We understand that Mary is a creature only, dependent on Christ for everything. 

  She is a woman and a mother, and her grace is adapted to her own nature and to her own special function.  Christ exists for God.  Mary exists for Christ.  God made Christ our unique Redeemer.  Mary exercises her role as Cordemptrix only through union with Christ, and she herself had to be redeemed by him.  Christ is our necessary advocate with the Father.  Mary is our advocate with Christ and through Christ.  So it is with all the privileges of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

            This analogy is the work of the filial piety of the Son of God for his Mother.  This was understood by the faithful from earliest times, even though it was not formulated until later.   In the eighth century St. John of Damascus  explained in regard to the Assumption: “It was necessary that the Mother should have entered into the possession of all the goods of her Son, and that she should have been venerated by all creation as the Mother and Handmaid of God.  It is a customary practice that the wealth of the parents pass to their children.  But here . . . the springs of the sacred waters flow toward the height.  The Son has submitted the entire creation to the dominion of his mother.”    Centuries later St. Louis de Montfort wrote:  “All that is proper to God Incarnate by nature is proper to Mary by grace.”

            Around 1930 the renowned Marianist Mariologist and author, Father Emile Neubert, S.M., expressed this principle of analogy with theological exactness: “To the various privileges of the humanity of Jesus there correspond analogous privileges in Mary, in the manner and in the degree required by the difference between her condition and that of her Son.”

            Finally Pope Pius XII solemnly defined Mary’s Assumption as a dogma and an article of faith in Munificentissimus  Deus more than six decades ago on November 1, 1950. 

           

             In many countries this feast is a holyday of obligation.  In Lebanon, August 15 is also a national holiday observed by peoples of all faiths.

            What meaning and message does Mary’s Assumption have for us today?  This doctrine and feast remind us of our eternal destiny, that we are made for everlasting life with God.  This feast honoring Mary points us to our future and reminds us to live accordingly so as to achieve our goal.  The Assumption of Mary also teaches us respect for life and for the sacredness of the human body.

            Queen assumed into heaven, pray for us!

St. Maximilian Kolbe

“The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him to the greatest extent of our powers.” (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

Quote source

Picture source

Picture source

Picture source

Picture source

Picture source

Picture source

Broadcasting in Japan via Ham radio

Picture source

Picture source

Immaculate One, Virgin Mother, to Thee I turn in humble prayer: "Grant that I may praise Thee, O holy Virgin; give me strength against Thine enemies!" (Bl. John Duns Scotus)

The Immaculate One appears in this world without the least stain of sin, the masterpiece of God's hands, full of grace. God, the Most Holy Trinity, beholds the lowliness (that is, the humility, the root of all Her other virtues) of His Handmaid, and does great things for Her, He the Almighty (cfr. Lk. 1,49). God the Father gives Her His own Son to be Her Son; God the Son descends into Her womb; and God the Holy Spirit forms the body of Christ in the womb of this pure Virgin. And the Word was made flesh (Jn. 1,14). The Immaculate One becomes the Mother of God. The fruit of the love of God in his Trinitarian life and of Mary the Immaculate One is Christ the God-Man. (Sketches for a Book, SK 1295)

Who is the Immaculate One? To this abrupt question it is not possible to give a satisfactory answer because this mystery transcends our human intelligence. She is the Mother of God, and Her name is the Immaculate One. When God showed Himself to Moses, He said of Himself: I am the One who is (Ex. 3,14)—in other words, I am Being itself. When St. Bernadette asked the most blessed Mother Her name, Mary replied: I am the Immaculate Conception. Such is the Immaculate One defined by Her own words.

But what does the expression Immaculate Conception mean? The word conception tells us that She is not eternal, that She had a beginning. Immaculate tells us that from the first instant of Her existence there never was in Her the least conflict with God's will. The Immaculate One is the most perfect of all creatures...She was immaculate because She was to become the Mother of God; She became the Mother of God because She was immaculate.

Mother of God! The human mind cannot grasp what God is. Neither can we comprehend the dignity of the Mother of God. It is easier to understand a title like servant of God; daughter of God is more difficult to grasp; but Mother of God transcends our minds completely.

God calls creatures into being when He creates them. Then, in their movement of return to God, these creatures draw near to Him and come to resemble their Creator more and more. God comes to this most perfect Creature, the Immaculate One; and the fruit of Their love is Jesus Christ, the Mediator between the Creator and all creatures...

True knowledge of the Immaculate One can only be acquired in prayer. The purer a soul is, the greater efforts it makes to avoid sin; and if it does happen to sin, it tries its best to rise from sin and to make up for its fault by love. The more humble it is, and the more spirit of penance it shows, the more and better it will get to know the Immaculate. (Conference 26.VII.39)

Source of the excerpt of St. Maximilian Kolbe's writings on the Immaculata, EWTN