"Henceforth all generations will call me blessed." (Lk 1:48)
"I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels." (Is 61:10) [Gaudens gaudebo in Domino, et exsultabit anima mea in Deo meo, quia induit me vestimentis salutis, et indumento iustitia circumdedit me quasi sponsam ornatam monilibus suis.]
"He who fails to honor the Mother clearly dishonors the Son. Also, Scripture says, 'Honor your father and your mother.'" (St Aelred, Abbot) [Qui enim non honorat matrem, sine dubio inhonorat Filium. Iterum Scriptura dicit: 'Honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam.]
"At the beginning of every person's life, there is a mother's womb and face. At the beginning of the Church's life, there is the Immaculate Heart of Mary: a humble girl from a small town like Nazareth, the new Eve whose 'yes' changed the world's destiny." (John Paul II, Angelus Message)
"Mary is a portion of the Church: a holy member, an excellent member, an outstanding member." (St Augustine, Sermo 25, 7-8) [Maria portio est Ecclesiae, sanctum membrum, excellens membrum, supereminens membrum.]
"Hail Mary!
"I pronounce these
words, so simple and simultaneously so wonderful, with immense love and
reverence. No one can ever greet you in a more splendid way than
the manner in which the Archangel did one day. Ave Maria, gratia
plena, Dominus tecum! I repeat these words treasured by many
hearts and pronounced by many lips all over the world. All of us
here present repeat them in unison, knowing that these are the words with
which God himself, through his messenger, greeted you, the Woman promised
in Eden and chosen from all eternity as Mother of the Word, Mother of Divine
Wisdom, Mother of the Son of God.
"Hail, Mother of God!"
(John Paul II, Discourse, (Mexico) 27 Jan 79)
"O Virgin Immaculate,
Mother of the true God and Mother of the Church! You, who from this
place shows your clemency and pity on those who seek your protection, listen
to the prayer which we address to you with filial confidence, and present
it before your Son Jesus, our only Redeemer.
"Mother of mercy,
Mother of the hidden and silent sacrifice, today we consecrate to you --
who comes to meet us sinners -- all our being and all our love. We
also consecrate to you our life, our words, our joys, our sickness and
our sorrows.
"Grant our peoples
peace, justice and prosperity, since we place all that we have and are
under your care, our Queen and Mother.
"We want to be totally
yours and to walk with you the path of full fidelity to Jesus Christ in
his Church: do not let go of your loving hand.
"Virgin of Guadalupe,
Mother of the Americas, we ask you for all Bishops, so that they may lead
the faithful through paths of Christian life, of love and humble service
to God and to souls.
"See this immense
harvest, and intercede so that God may infuse the hunger for holiness in
the whole people of God, and so that he may grant abundant priestly and
religious vocations who are strong in faith and zealous dispensers of God's
mysteries.
"Grant our homes the
grace of loving and respecting incipient life, with the same love with
which you conceived the life of the Son of God in your womb. Holy
Mary Virgin, Mother of Fair Love, protect our families so that they may
always be united, and bless the education of our children.
"Our hope, look upon
us with compassion, teach us to go continuously to Jesus, and should we
fall, help us to get up, to return to Him, through the confession of our
faults and sins in the Sacrament of Penance, which brings tranquility to
the soul. We beg you to grant us a very great love for all the Holy
Sacraments, which are like the footsteps which your Son left us on earth.
"Thus, Most Holy Mother,
with God's peace in our conscience, with our hearts free of evil and of
hatred, we can lead everyone to the true joy and to true peace, the one
which comes from your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and
with the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen."
(John Paul II, Mexico
Jan 97)
"Lovely Lady dressed
in blue,
Teach me how to pray.
God was just your
little Boy,
Tell me what to say.
Did you lift Him up
sometimes
Gently on your knee?
Did you sing to Him
the way
Mother does to me?
Did you hold His hand
at night?
Did you ever try
Telling stories of
the world?
O! and did He cry?
Do you really think
He cares
If I tell Him things--
Little things that
happen? And
Do the angels' wings
Make a noise? And can
He hear
Me if I speak low?
Does He understand
me now?
Tell me, for you know.
Lovely Lady dressed
in blue,
Teach me how to pray.
God was just your
little Boy,
And you know the way."
(M.D. Thayer)
"The beginning of the way, at the end of which you will find yourself completely carried away with love for Jesus, is a confident love for Mary." (Bl Josemaria Escriva, Holy Rosary)
"If I were a leper
my mother would kiss me. She would kiss my wounds without fear or
hesitation.
"Well then, what would
the Blessed Virgin Mary do? When we feel we are like lepers, all
full of sores, we have to cry out: Mother! And the protection of
our Mother will be like a kiss upon our wounds, which will then be healed."
(Bl Josemaria Escriva, Forge, 170)
"Do not let anything afflict you, and do not be afraid of any illness or accident or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Do you need anything else?" (The Blessed Mother to Juan Diego, Mexico)
"In the dark loneliness
of the Passion, our Lady offers her Son a comforting balm of tenderness,
of union, of faithfulness; a 'Yes' to the divine will.
"Hand in hand with
Mary, you and I also want to console Jesus by accepting always and in everything
the Will of his Father, of our Father.
"Only then will we
taste the sweetness of Christ's cross, and come to embrace it with all
the strength of Love, carrying it in triumph along the ways of the earth."
(Bl Josemaria Escriva,
The
Way of the Cross, 4th Station)
"Tell my priests that I should be the only woman in their life, because I can love them more than any other woman can." (The Blessed Mother to the visionary of Lipa)
"Today, O my Queen, I also, in imitation of thee, wish to offer my poor heart to God... Offer me as thine to the eternal Father and to Jesus, and pray him that through the merits of his Son, and by thy favor, he may accept me, and take me for his own." (St Alphonsus, Glories of Mary, II, 6)
"I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I consider the great favors which God has given me through this blessed Saint; the dangers from which he has delivered me, both of body and of soul." (St Teresa of Avila, Autobiography, VI, 9)
"Our Lord would have us understand that as He was subject to St Joseph on earth--for St Joseph, bearing the title of father and being His guardian, could command Him--so now in Heaven Our Lord grants all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves to St Joseph, and they, too, know the same thing by experience...." (St Teresa of Avila, Autobiography, VI, 9)
"I have never known anyone who was truly devoted to him and honored him by particular services who did not advance greatly in virtue: for he helps in a special way those souls who commend themselves to him." (St Teresa of Avila, Autobiography, VI, 11-12)
"Our holy patron St Joseph has the power to assist us in all cases, in every necessity, in every undertaking." (St Thomas Aquinas)
The Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys of St Joseph
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