DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR OCTOBER  2009

+In this month of Our Lady of the Rosary let us rejoice in the Protection of the Mother of God+

To thank God for the graces He has given to our Lady, those who adopt this devotion [that is, say the Rosary] will often say the Magnificat. It is the only prayer, the only work, which the holy Virgin composed, or rather, which Jesus composed in her, for He spoke by her mouth. It is the greatest sacrifice of praise which God ever received from a pure creature in the law of grace. It is, on the one hand, the most humble and grateful, and, on the other hand, the most sublime and exalted of all canticles. Saints have said that devils tremble and flee at the words: “He hath shewed strength with His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.” You  never think about Mary, without Mary, in your place, thinking of God. You never praise or honour Mary without Mary praising and honouring God. Mary is altogether relative to God; and indeed I might well call her the relation to God. She only exists with reference to God. She is the echo of God – she says nothing, repeats nothing, but God. If you say “Mary”, she says “God.” Saint Elizabeth praised Mary and called her blessed because she [Elizabeth] had believed. Mary at once intoned: “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” That which Mary did then, she does daily now. When we praise her, love her, honour her, it is God Who is praised, God Who is loved, God Who is glorified. (Blessed Louis-Marie de Montfort)
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Bishop Anthony writes: How many Christians understand the true value and necessity of saying often the Angelic Salutation – the Hail Mary? Because our salvation actually began with the Hail Mary, the salvation of each one of us is attached completely to that prayer. Saint Dominic tells us that the Hail Mary, when devoutly said, makes the Word of God germinate in our souls and bring forth Jesus Christ Who is the Fruit of Life – our Salvation. After the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary is the most beautiful and necessary of prayers because it has been given to us by God Himself through the mouth of the Archangel Gabriel.  By this prayer Mary consented to the Incarnation and God became man. This prayer offered within the context of the Holy Rosary is the science of our Salvation. And the Hail Mary must be said devoutly, not mumbled – something we Catholics are often accused of doing!  As Blessed Louis tells us, every praise we give to Mary is given back by her immediately to God.  Mary is not an optional extra: she is intrinsically united to Jesus for all eternity because she bore Him in her womb. If we do not love and revere Mary, we do not love Jesus!  This, my dear brethren, I ask you to ponder prayerfully throughout October – the month of the holy Rosary.
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Let us pray: Through the mysteries of the most sacred Rosary, O Lord, may we recall the life, passion and glory of Thy only begotten Son; that we may be made worthy of His promises. Who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, unto ages of ages. +Amen+
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And a Passing Thought

It is better to say nothing and be a Christian, than to speak and not be one!  (St. Ignatius of Antioch)

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VOUCHSAFE THAT WE MIGHT EVER PRAISE THEE, O SACRED VIRGIN!
HAIL OUR LIFE, OUR SWEETNESS AND OUR HOPE, O THOU LADY OF THE ROSARY!
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, O BE OUR SALVATION!
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“When His Mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost.”
(Matthew, Chapter 1. Verse 18)           

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