Tuesday, May 31, 2011

May, the month dedicated to the Queenship of Mary - click to read more


"Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (...) And blessed art thou that hast believed" (Luke 1:42-43, 45)

"To ask something of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not the same as asking God. She knows what she has to do about my small desires, if she must say them or not...Finally, it is for her  to see, not to force God to fulfill me to leave him to do his will" (St Therese, Advice and memories 49).

Previous post on the subject including St Louis de Montfort's prayer of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady HERE
Solemn consecration prayer, composed by Venerable Pope Pius XII HERE
On Mary's Crowning HERE

Excerpts for Encyclical of Pope Pius XII, 'Ad Caeli Reginam': "Following upon the frightful calamities which before Our very eyes have reduced flourishing cities, towns, and villages to ruins, We see to Our sorrow that many great moral evils are being spread abroad in what may be described as a violent flood. Occasionally We behold justice giving way; and, on the one hand and the other, the victory of the powers of corruption. The threat of this fearful crisis fills Us with a great anguish, and so with confidence We have recourse to Mary Our Queen, making known to her those sentiments of filial reverence which are not Ours alone, but which belong to all those who glory in the name of Christian.
It is gratifying to recall that We ourselves, on the first day of November of the Holy Year 1950, before a huge multitude of Cardinals, Bishops, priests, and of the faithful who had assembled from every part of the world, defined the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven where she is present in soul and body reigning, together with her only Son, amid the heavenly choirs of angels and Saints. Moreover, since almost a century has passed since Our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, proclaimed and defined the dogma that the great Mother of God had been conceived without any stain of original sin, We instituted the current Marian Year. And now it is a great consolation to Us to see great multitudes here in Rome -- and especially in the Liberian Basilica -- giving testimony in a striking way to their faith and ardent love for their heavenly Mother. In all parts of the world We learn that devotion to the Virgin Mother of God is flourishing more and more, and that the principal shrines of Mary have been visited and are still being visited by many throngs of Catholic pilgrims gathered in prayer."