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Evil is crushed by the lowly!  The joy that flows from Mary’s simplicity.

Reading 2 Heb 10:5-10

Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.'”First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Gospel Lk 1:39-45

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

We discuss with Fr. Mark Cyza the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

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For more on the Immaculate Conception from St. John Paul II:

HOLY MASS ON THE OCCASION OF THE 150th ANNIVERSARY
OF THE DOGMA OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Wednesday, 8 December 2004

 

1. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Lk 1: 28).

We address the Virgin Mary several times a day with these words of the Archangel Gabriel. Let us repeat them with fervent joy today, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, remembering 8 December 1854 when Blessed Pius IX proclaimed this wonderful Dogma of the Catholic faith in this very same Vatican Basilica.

I cordially greet those who are gathered here today, especially the representatives of the National Mariological Societies who have taken part in the International Mariological Congress, organized by the Pontifical Marian Academy.

I then greet all of you present here, dear brothers and sisters, who have come to pay filial homage to the Immaculate Virgin. I offer a special greeting to Cardinal Camillo Ruini. I renew to him my warmest wishes for the jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood and express to him my deep gratitude for the service that with generous dedication he has and continues to render to the Church as my Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome and President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

2. How great is the mystery of the Immaculate Conception that the Liturgy presents to us today! A mystery that never ceases to invite the contemplation of believers and inspires the reflection of theologians. The theme of the Congress that has just been mentioned: “Mary of Nazareth welcomes the Son of God into history”, has fostered a deep examination of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary as a presupposition for receiving in her virginal womb the Word of God Incarnate, the Saviour of the human race.

“Full of grace”, “κεχαριτωµευη”: in the original Greek of Luke’s Gospel, the Angel greets Mary with this title. It is the name that God, through his messenger, chose to use to describe the Virgin. This is how he had always seen and thought of her, ab aeterno (from all eternity).

3. In the hymn of the Letter to the Ephesians just now proclaimed, the Apostle praises God the Father “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (1: 3). What a special blessing God addressed to Mary from the beginning of time! Mary was truly blessed among women (cf. Lk 1: 42)!

The Father chose her in Christ before the creation of the world, so that she might be holy and immaculate before him in love, preordaining her as the first fruits of filial adoption through the work of Jesus Christ (cf. Eph 1: 4-5).

4. The predestination of Mary, like that of each one of us, is linked to the predestination of the Son. Christ is that “seed” that was “to bruise the head” of the ancient serpent, according to the Book of Genesis (cf. Gn 3: 15); he is the Lamb “without blemish” (cf. Ex 12: 5; I Pt 1: 19), immolated to redeem humanity from sin.

With a view to the saving death of the Son, Mary, his Mother, was preserved free from original sin and from every other sin. The victory of the new Adam also includes that of the new Eve, Mother of the redeemed. The Immaculate Virgin is thus a sign of hope for all the living who have triumphed over Satan by the blood of the Lamb (cf. Rv 12: 11).

5. Today let us contemplate the humble young girl of Nazareth, holy and blameless before God in love (cf. Eph 1: 4), in that “love” whose original source is God himself, one and triune.

How sublime an act of the Most Holy Trinity is the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of the Redeemer! Pius IX, in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, recalls that the Almighty “by one and the same decree had established the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of divine Wisdom” (Pii IX Pontificis Maximi Acta, Pars prima, p. 559).

The Virgin’s “yes” to the announcement of the Angel fits into the reality of our earthly condition, with humble respect for the divine will to save humanity not from history but in history. Indeed, ever preserved free from all taint of original sin, the “new Eve” benefited uniquely from the work of Christ as the most perfect Mediator and Redeemer. The first to be redeemed by her Son, she shares to the full in his holiness; she is already what the entire Church desires and hopes to be. She is the eschatological icon of the Church.

6. Consequently the Immaculate Virgin, who marks “the very beginning of the Church, Bride of Christ, without spot or wrinkle, shining with beauty” (Preface), always precedes the People of God in the pilgrimage of faith, bound for the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 58; Redemptoris Mater, n. 2).

In Mary’s Immaculate Conception the Church sees projected and anticipated in her most noble member, the saving grace of Easter.

In the event of the Incarnation the Church encounters Christ and Mary indissolubly united: “he who is the Church’s Lord and Head and she who, uttering the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Church’s condition as spouse and mother” (Redemptoris Mater, n. 1).

7. To you, Virgin Immaculate, predestined by God above every other creature to be the advocate of grace and model of holiness for his people, today in a special way I renew the entrustment of the whole Church.

May you guide your children on their pilgrimage of faith, making them ever more obedient and faithful to the Word of God.

May you accompany every Christian on the path of conversion and holiness, in the fight against sin and in the search for true beauty that is always an impression and a reflection of divine Beauty.

May you obtain peace and salvation for all the peoples. May the eternal Father, who desired you to be the immaculate Mother of the Redeemer, also renew in our time through you, the miracles of his merciful love. Amen!

“Behold Your Mother – A Biblical and Historical Defense of the Marian Doctrines”, by Catholic apologist Tim Staples,  is  outstanding!  For those who are unfamiliar or even unsure what the Church teaches about the Mother of God, this is a tremendous entry point for your study.  For all who have a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, this is the book to have in order to help articulate the truths of Marian Dogma clearly to others!   Director of Apologetics and Evangelization for Catholic Answers, Tim Staples, has authored a work that is easy to navigate and filled with solid biblical and historical reasons for what we as Catholics believe about Mary. A must for the Catholic library in every parish and home!  A GREAT book for Advent reflection and study, as well as a gift for family and friends!

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You can find the book here

Tim Staples respectfully but clearly answers every conceivable Protestant objection to Mary, the Mother of God. With the street cred of one who has been there, Tim backs up his words with Scripture every time. His answers are exhaustive but not exhausting! An invaluable book for thoughtful, truth-seeking Christians. —-Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., EWTN host and author of Mary: Virgin, Mother, and Queen

The greatest doctrinal obstacle to my return to the Catholic Church was fear that Catholics had no basis for or boundaries on the Marian dogmas. If only Tim Staples had written Behold Your Mother then! His presentation is fearless, precise, biblically wise, historically rooted, and popular in expression. He addresses objections I haven t seen addressed elsewhere. I can t think of a more insightful, comprehensive single volume that persuades so thoroughly. Great, truly great, piece of apologetics. — Al Kresta, president, Ave Maria Communications and host of Kresta in the Afternoon

Tim Staples presents a remarkable defense of the six major Marian doctrines, including a veritable compendium of source material from the Bible, Fathers, and Church documents. He gives clear presentations of the controversial issues surrounding each doctrine, makes careful definitions and distinctions, and thinks his way through each issue as if he were having a conversation with the reader. Even well-informed readers will benefit from this engaging book. – –Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., president, Magis Center of Reason and Faith

Outside of the Sacramental prayers of the Church, for me, there is no other prayer more important then the prayerful recitation of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our late great Holy Father, St. John Paul II put it beautifully in His Apostolic Letter On the Rosary of the Virgin Mary:

“A path of contemplation”

“But the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a genuine “training in holiness”: “What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the heart of The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation. Developed in the West, it is a typically meditative prayer, corresponding in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in the soil of the Christian East.”-  His Apostolic Letter On the Rosary of the Virgin Mary

Please take some time to check out the Discerning Hearts “Holy Rosary Page”

Audio mp3 download/podcasts of the Holy Rosary

Joyful Mysteries
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Sorrowful Mysteries
[powerpress url=”http://www.old.discerninghearts.com/Devotionals/Rosary-Sorrowful-Mysteries.mp3″]Download (right click & choose “Save Link As”)

Luminous Mysteries
[powerpress url=”http://www.old.discerninghearts.com/Devotionals/Rosary-Luminous-Mysteries.mp3″]Download (right click & choose “Save Link As”)

Glorious Mysteries
[powerpress url=”http://www.old.discerninghearts.com/Devotionals/Rosary-Glorious-Mysteries.mp3″]Download (right click & choose “Save Link As”)

meditative music  provided by

 

Join Bruce and I as we discuss the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the wonderful Fr. Mark Cyza.

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From Pope Benedict XVI 2005 found at vatican.va:

I am also thinking of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that we recently published, in which the Word of God is applied to our lives and the reality of our lives interpreted; it helps us enter into the great “temple” of God’s Word, to learn to love it and, like Mary, to be penetrated by this Word.

Thus, life becomes luminous and we have the basic criterion with which to judge; at the same time, we receive goodness and strength.

Mary is taken up body and soul into the glory of Heaven, and with God and in God she is Queen of Heaven and earth. And is she really so remote from us?

The contrary is true. Precisely because she is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us.

While she lived on this earth she could only be close to a few people. Being in God, who is close to us, actually, “within” all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God. Being in God and with God, she is close to each one of us, knows our hearts, can hear our prayers, can help us with her motherly kindness and has been given to us, as the Lord said, precisely as a “mother” to whom we can turn at every moment.

She always listens to us, she is always close to us, and being Mother of the Son, participates in the power of the Son and in his goodness. We can always entrust the whole of our lives to this Mother, who is not far from any one of us.

On this feast day, let us thank the Lord for the gift of the Mother, and let us pray to Mary to help us find the right path every day. Amen.

“Under the Mantle: Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest” is fantastic!  Fr. Donald Calloway’s books just keep getting better and better.  In this work, he begins this journey with Our Lady, who then guides the reader through the rich treasures found in the Church established by her Son, Jesus Christ.  Through the Sacraments, to the depth of devotion found in our spiritual practices, and then with a  rich appreciation of what authentic manhood and femininity truly are,  Fr. Calloway explores the many facets of our faith.   This book is a book well suited for everyday mystagogia.  Without ever dumbing down the content, Fr. Calloway’s writing style is engaging and designed for “joe or josephine”  pew person.  This book is perfect for those who are in the RCIA, for folks who have completed a consecration preparation to Our Lady, or for anyone just looking for a more penetrating study of the faith.  You will not be disappointed!  And what a beautiful tribute to Our Blessed Mother!

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You can find the book here

“We are living in an extraordinary time of grace and mercy. It is a time in which many people, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are experiencing a renewed appreciation for the sacred and unchanging truths of Catholicism. Though the vast majority of universities and colleges today indoctrinate their students into the dictatorship of moral relativism, the media puts forth an ideology of rampant secularism, and the political realm is filled with proponents of a culture of death, nevertheless, it is in these times that Jesus, through the Immaculata, is raising up a new generation of Catholics. In Under the Mantle: Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest, Fr. Calloway masterfully blends together aspects of his own conversion story with profound theological insights into Catholicism, presenting everyone from “Joe six-pack in the pew” to a seminary rector with incredibly vivid and thought-provoking analogies into why it is so important for a Christian to live under the mantle of Mary. I very highly recommend that everyone read this book! ”
-Very Rev. Douglas Mosey, C.S.B., Ph.D. President-Rector
Holy Apostles College & Seminary. Cromwell, CT

Also check out: IP#16 Fr. Donald Calloway – No Turning Back on Inside the Pages

[powerpress]Msgr. Esseff reflects on Our Lady of Fatima and the power of the Holy Rosary. It is a tremendous instrument of peace to those who pray in Our Lady’s garden of prayer.  Anyone seeking peace in the world, as well in their own lives, should turn to Our Lady and her Holy Rosary.  The way to the face of God can be found in the Holy Rosary and all the mysteries contained in this treasury of grace.

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Join Bruce and I as we discuss Our Lady of Fatima with Teresa Monaghen of the Pro Sanctity Movement.
She also shares with us the complying memory of May 13, 1981 when she was in the square at St. Peter’s and St. John Paul II was shot.

For more on the Message of Fatima click here

Fr. Andrew Apostoli does a tremendous job covering all the varied aspects of the events of Fatima and the  call  of Our Lady of Fatima. He conveys the “immaculate” heart of the message, as well as tackling the “controversies” that have plagued the events over the years.  Because of the prophetic nature of her messages, Our Lady of Fatima has been the subject of much controversy and speculation. In this book, Father Andrew Apostoli carefully analyzes the events that took place in Fatima and clears up lingering questions and doubts about their meaning. He also challenges the reader to hear anew the call of Our Lady to prayer and sacrifice, for the world is ever in need of generous hearts willing to make reparation for those in danger of losing their way to God.

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Check out the book here

“As was so dramatically obvious during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Fatima in May, 2010, Our Lady’s apparitions in 1917 remain powerfully compelling for us today. There she was an evangelist, calling us to prayer, conversion of heart, and penance, pointing to Jesus and repeating her words at Cana, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ This book brings it all home.”
-Most Reverend Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York
“For us, Fatima is a sign of the presence of faith, of the fact that it is precisely from the little ones that faith gains new strength, one which is not limited to the little ones but has a message for the entire world and touches history here and now, and sheds light on this history . . . Even now there is tribulation, in every conceivable form, and power threatens to trample down faith. Even now, then, there is a need for the answer about which the Mother of God spoke to the children at Fatima.”
-Pope Benedict XVI

USCCA12- Episode 12-  Mary:  The Church’s First and Most Perfect Member

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Archbishop Lucas offers insights on the US Catholic Catechism for Adults Chapter 12:

The Second Vatican Council remains us that Mary is a member of the Church who “occupies a place in the Church which is the highest after Christ and also closest to us” (LG, no. 54).  She is the first and the greatest of all the disciples of Christ.

The Most Reverend George J. Lucas leads the Archdiocese of Omaha. 

For other episodes in the visit our Archbishop George Lucas page

This programs is based on:

More information can be found here.

We wish to thank the USCCB for the permissions granted for use of  relevant material used in this series.
Also we wish to thank Fr. Ryan Lewis   for his vocal talents in this episode.

CW4 Our Lady of the Rosary – Praying with the Blessed Virgin Mary – The Great Cloud of Witnesses: Guides for Prayer with Fr. Mark Cyza

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Fr. Mark Cyza discusses praying with Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.  He speaks of the history of the devotion., as well as,  the importance of spending time in contemplation of the saving mysteries of our salvation.  Fr. Cyza explains why should welcome the opportunity to pray with Blessed Virgin Mary and how she walks with us in her great garden of prayer.

Resources:

Visit the
Discerning Hearts
Holy Rosary Page
here

 

There’s no doubt that Gary Michuta has a great love  for the Blessed Virgin Mary. In “Making Sense of Mary“, he offers  rich insight and research in regards to the teachings on Our Lady.  Steeped in Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, Gary shines a beautiful light on the multi-facet diamond which is Mary, the Mother of God. Wonderful.

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You can find the book here

“The world is full of nonsense when it comes to the Blessed Virgin Mary from simple confusion and ignorance to disrespect and blasphemy. Michuta has done us a great service by blowing away the fog and shining the light of clarity on a matter so important to the story of God’s salvation. Drawing from Scripture, Sacred Tradition, Councils and the Fathers of the Church, Gary helps scholars and beginners alike to understand the ABC’s of the person and role of Mary.”

Stephen K. Ray, Author of Crossing The Tiber and Host of The Footprints of God video Series “

Stunning…simply stunning.  I love “Mysteries of the Virgin Mary: Living Our Lady’s Graces”! A beautiful and lovingly assembled collection of and meditations on the 13 principal Marian mysteries celebrated by the Church.  From the sound theological foundations for our devotion to Our Lady to the reflections and teachings of the saints, Fr. Peter John Cameron, founding editor-in-chief of the monthly worship aid Magnificat, has given us a wonderful resource to deepen our walk with the Blessed Mother of God.

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You kind find this book at www.servantbooks.org

Here is the extended web-exclusive edition of our “Inside the Pages” interview with Fr. Cameron[powerpress url=”http://www.old.discerninghearts.com/interviews/Inside_the_Pages-Fr_Peter_John_Cameron_special_extended_edition.mp3″]Download (right click & choose “Save Link As”)

Mary Our Mother

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On this faith check let’s talk about why Catholics believe the Virgin Mary is not just Jesus’ mother, but our mother too.

It was during the crucifixion in St. John 19 that Our Lord looked down at Mary and the apostle John at the foot of the cross and said to Mary, “Woman behold your son,” and to John, “Behold your mother.” ¹

Bear in mind here that Jesus is suffering the pains of the cross—He must be doing something bigger than simply asking John to watch after his Mother.  John here is a representative of all of Jesus’ followers, and Jesus is giving his mother to all of us.

In Revelation 12 John describes his vision of a “woman clothed with the sun,” ² who brings forth a male child to rule the nations and defeat the ancient dragon who is the devil.  Verse 17 says that the offspring of this woman are those who keep God’s commandments and bear testimony to Jesus.

Friends, God has given us Mary, the Woman chosen from all eternity, ³ to be our spiritual mother and draw us closer to her son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 -  Jn. 19:26-27

2 -  Rev. 12:1

3 -  cf. Gen. 3:15, Is. 7:14; Jer. 31:22, etc.

[powerpress]Msgr. Esseff reflects on the birth of the Virgin Mary.  But even more than that, he ponders the importance of the Blessed Mother in our lives.  The gift of her presence in the action of salvation history and  role is the “Mother” of us all.

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building A Kingdom of Love“