DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR AUGUST  2007.

+Thoughts for the Month in which we honour Our Lady as Queen assumed into Heaven+

Are you in the miserable state of sin?Then call on the divine Mary and say to her “Ave” which means “I salute thee with the most profound respect:thou who art without sin” and she will deliver you from evil. Have you strayed from the path leading to Heaven?Then call on Mary,for her name means “Star of the Sea” – the North Star which guides the ships of our souls during the voyage of this life and she will guide you to the harbour of eternal salvation. Do you hunger for the bread of grace and the bread of life? Draw near to her who bore the Living Bread Which came down from Heaven,and say to her “Blessed be the Fruit of thy womb Whom thou hast conceived without the slightest loss of thy virginity.
Blessed be Jesus Who has redeemed our suffering world,Who has healed the world of its sickness and brought home the banished,Who has restored sinners and Who has saved men from damnation.” Without doubt your soul will be filled with the bread of grace in this life and eternal glory in the next.

(Saint Louis de Montfort)

Bishop Anthony writes: In so many of our devotions it can,as the Church says,be a great help to go to Jesus through Mary,Mary whom God endowed with eminent holiness – Mary chosen by God Himself to bear His Son,our Redeemer.Let us remember that Jesus and Mary are eternally close and love each other beyond any love we can understand! It is only pleasing to Jesus when we praise and honour His most holy Mother.All the devotion we offer to Mary is instantly returned by her to God. When we say “Pray for us sinners” we go to Mary in confidence,knowing she is full of compassion for those in need. It is,after all,because of all our many sins that Mary became,by her total consent,the Mother of our Redeemer. Jesus gave Mary to be our Mother when she stood in sorrow at the foot of the cross with Saint John. If we will only go to Mary,she will intercede for us,protect and help us.She is,as the Church tells us, the Refuge of sinners. She will always be leading us to Jesus. Mary of course is not divine but,as Cardinal Vaughan says,she may be so called because she was divinely chosen for the divine office of Mother of a divine Person,Jesus Christ.
Some people,contemplating all the tragedies and horrors of our physical world,will be thinking that the protection and intercession of Mary is just for a few pious souls;those people forget that our eternal destiny is elsewhere.In this life God has given to mankind free will and to the physical world and all its elements free reign. Heaven may chose to intervene in earthly matters – or indeed not. But the prayers of our Blessed Lady Mary will never fail and will bring us at last to the throne of God – if we desire it!
The culmination of Mary’s earthly life was her Assumption,Body and Soul,into heavenly Glory.Her final triumph which will bring blessed joy to Christians and which will be the scourge of all who hate her Divine Son,will be the Consecration,by our Holy Father the Pope,of the entire world to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary – our Mistress and our Queen.   So be it+
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Let us pray: Almighty God,Who didst prepare a worthy dwelling place for the Holy Spirit in the Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary:grant us this grace,that in devoutly keeping the Solemnity of her most Immaculate Heart,we may have strength to live according to the will of Thine own Heart.  +Amen+
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And a passing thought

When we dedicate ourselves to Mary,we become instruments in her hands,just as she is an instrument in God’s hands. (St.Maximilian Kolbe,Priest, who perished at Auschwitz to save a jewish man)

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY,DRAW US EVER NEARER TO JESUS!
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY,MY MOTHER AND MY QUEEN,O BE MY SALVATION!

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