OUR LADY, HELP of CHRISTIANS

When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth? St. Luke 18:8 

Today is the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians.  Here's a simple prayer to Our Lady!

Pope Pius VII instituted this feast day in honor of the assistance which Our Blessed Mother had accorded to the Church; this was after his returned to Rome in 1815 from several years of captivity imposed by the emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte.  The Pope’s exile and captivity was the emperor’s resistance to the authority of the Vicar of Christ, superior before God to his own.

The sacrilegious seizure of the Pope was executed, and he spent five years in exile in various places, finally at Fontainebleau, France. After 1815 the clemency of the great Pope towards the Emperor and his family is a matter of history; the latter were afforded a secure refuge in Rome itself, when Napoleon was exiled. And for the Emperor himself, relegated to the island of Saint Helena, the Pope pleaded for clemency with the Prince-Regent of England. When Napoleon died, it was with the assistance of chaplains sent to him by Pius VII.

Our Lady, Help of Christians, was made better known by Saint John Bosco, who consecrated his Order of Salesian priests to Her. And in Turin, beginning in 1865, he began to raise in Her honor a vast and magnificent church. Without ever having a penny in advance, always the needed sums of money arrived in time. About three-fourths of the gifts offered were presented in thanksgiving for favors obtained through Her intercession.

We will relate just one of those. A certain Senator of the Kingdom of Italy was ill; Don Bosco went to visit him and found him very discouraged and speaking of his imminent death. “What would you do,” said Don Bosco, “if Our Lady Auxiliatrix obtained your cure from God?” “My cure! Well, I would give two thousand francs a month for Her church, for six months.” “Be of good courage,” said the Saint on rising; “I will see that prayers are said for you.” Three days later, Baron Gotta, perfectly cured, went to Don Bosco to make his first payment, giving more than he had promised; and he did not cease to outdo himself in generosity.


Sources/ref: Prayer to Our Lady, Help of Christians, The Magnificat

A Reflection: Our Lady of Fatima

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. St. John 10:11

Happy Mother's day to all mothers, specially to Our Blessed Mother and to my mother!

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Today we remember the first of the six apparitions of Our Blessed Mother in a little town in Portugal. And today is the 9th day of our novena to Our Lady of Fatima. Two kinds of novenas were posted here last May 5. Click this link to pray the Novena to Our Lady.

Because of the Blessed Virgin's singular cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit, the church loves to pray in communion with Mary, to magnify with her the great things the Lord has done for her and to entrust supplication and praise to her. This prayer to Mary has found expression in the "Ave Maria"; Let us all pray the Hail Mary:

Much has been written concerning the six famous apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a little town in Portugal between May 13 and October 13, 1917. Later it would be said, and rightly so, that everything She predicted there to the three little shepherds has been fulfilled point by point. The story is too long to tell in detail in a few words, and indeed it is not over yet.

Our Lady of Fatima was sent to warn the 20th century that humanity had not followed the path that had been indicated to it by her Son; humanity had not developed as God intended, and the time of the last and worst enemy was fast approaching. She said that if Her requests for prayer and penance were not heard, Communism would spread its errors all over the earth. She appealed to the Apostles of the Latter Times to come forth, those who lived in humility, poverty and contempt for the world, repeating what She had already said at La Salette, France, in greater detail in 1846.

During the final apparition on October 13th, She appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, accompanied by Saint Joseph and the divine Child. Through Lucy of Fatima, Mary had promised a miracle to convince doubters of the reality of Her presence and the Will of God She had conveyed by Her words, and She fulfilled that promise. On October 13, 1917, the great Miracle of the Sun occurred, witnessed by all who were present at Fatima, an international crowd of 70,000 spectators. The sun whirled about and seemed to be plunging down as it sent off multicolored rays; many cried out that it was the end of the world.

A large shrine was built at Fatima, and in the 1940’s more than a thousand miracles had already been duly confirmed there. The famous “Secret of Fatima,” part of which was disclosed by the Vatican to certain heads of State in 1963, still remains largely a secret for most of the people who have been waiting for it since 1960, the year that the Virgin said it was to be made public.

Source/Reference: The Marnificat: Lives of Saints

Beautiful Story of a Mother

Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them. St. Matthew 18:20

This is a short story about Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine.

Saint Monica was given in marriage to Patricius, a pagan; even though she came from a Christian family and grew up in singular innocence and piety. After marriage, she devoted herself to her husband's conversion, praying for him always and winning his reverence and love by the holiness of her life and her affectionate forbearance. She was rewarded by seeing him baptized a year before his death.

When her son Augustine went astray in faith and habits, her prayers and tears were incessant. She once begged a learned bishop that he would talk to her son, in order to bring him to a better disposition, but he declined, despairing of success with a young man at once so gifted and so headstrong. At the sight of her prayers and tears, he nonetheless bade her be of good courage, for it could not happen that the child of those tears should perish.
Augustine, by going to Italy, was able for a time to free himself from his mother’s importunities, but he could not escape from her prayers, which encompassed him like the providence of God. She followed him to Italy; and there, by his marvelous conversion, her sorrow was turned into joy.

At Ostia, shortly before they were to re-embark for Africa, Augustine and his mother sat at a window conversing on the life of the blessed. She turned to him and said, “My son, there is nothing now I care for in this life. What I shall now do, or why I remain on this earth, I know not. The one reason I had for wishing to linger in this life a little longer was that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. This grace God has granted me superabundantly, seeing you reject earthly happiness to become His servant.” A few days afterwards she had an attack of fever and died at the age of fifty-six, in the year 388.

Reflection: It is impossible to set any bounds to what persevering prayer may do. It gives man a share in the Divine Omnipotence. Saint Augustine’s soul lay bound in the chains of heresy and an illegitimate union, both of which had by long habit grown inveterate. They were broken by his mother’s prayers.

Source:  Lives of Saints

Here's the 4th poem dedicated to Our Blessed Mother

On May 13, we commemorate the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a little town in Portugal. I am inviting you to join me in offering a nine day Novena to Our Lady of Fatima starting tomorrow, May 5. Two versions of the novena is presented:

First, the same verse or prayer is said once each day for the nine days to come.:

 Day 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9

Second, is the Nine Day Novena to Our Lady of The Rosary of Fatima.

Nine Day Novena to Our Lady of The Rosary of Fatima

May: The Most Beautiful Month of the Year

The month of May is the merriest and the most beautiful month of the year. It’s also the month when rain begins to pour after a long dry spell, flowers magically bloom overnight. First rain drops of this beautiful month happened this afternoon while my husband and I were exploring our town on our motorcycle. We got wet but we enjoyed our ride. It was a fun and refreshing afternoon getting wet under the rain.

Since the month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, I will offer each day of this month an honor for our Blessed Mother. Every day for 31 days of May, I will share a poem or prayer in praise and honor for Our Lady.

Here's the second poem this month in honor for Our Blessed Mother who brings glory to the month of May.

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven. St. Matthew 18:18