(True Devotion, 233).
DAY 3 of 33: Contemplating the Hail Mary.
Action: Pray one decade of the Rosary contemplating the 2nd Joyful Mystery - the Visitation.
Today we will continue to contemplate the Hail Mary in light of the Mystery of the Visitation.
I will be giving a video Scripture Study on the Visitation. In it, I will briefly touch on Mary as the Ark of the Covenant.
To learn more please see Dr. Brant Pitre's study:
https://watch.formed.org/lectio-mary-with-dr-brant-pitre/season:1/videos/the-new-ark
The devil fears Mary
I will just add a few thoughts here to consider as well. In light of the grave evil we are facing, I would like us to remember that the devil fears Mary more than all Angels and men, and in a sense more than God Himself.
Fr. Gaitley mentions this in today's teaching as well, quoting St. Louis:
“Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little and humble handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the divine power.”
“Many faithful are asking themselves today how one can withstand the current storm of the great test and remain in the true Faith. I would like to answer that with the famous words of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima: 'My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way which leads you to God!'” Father Frank Unterhalt
Therefore, let us not lose heart when the world around us appears to be inundated with evil. We have nothing to fear when we place ourselves under her mantle. Mary's holiness terrifies satan and he runs from her (and from those who are under her care).
With this in mind, let's ponder the wondrous mystery of the Visitation:
Scripture for the Visitation: Lk 1: 39- 80
Wisdom about the Hail Mary from St. Louis de Montfort
“The Angelic Salutation" is St. Louis' favorite name for the Hail Mary... because it doesn't quite roll off the tongue and its vernacular is somewhat foreign to our modern minds - I will replace it with: "The Hail Mary"
Scripture for the Visitation: Lk 1: 39- 80
Mary Visits Elizabeth. During those days 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, “Most 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.”
The Canticle of Mary. And Mary
said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
47my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
48For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
49The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
51He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
52He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
53The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
54He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
55according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
56Mary remained with her about three months and then
returned to her home.
The Birth of John. When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave
birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that
the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but
his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives
who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his
father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a
tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he
spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these
matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who
heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child
be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The Canticle of Zechariah. Then Zechariah his father,
filled with the holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:
“Blessed be
the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.
69 He has raised up a horn for our salvation
within the house of David his servant,
70even as he promised through the mouth of his holy
prophets from of old:
71salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who
hate us,
72to show mercy to our fathers
and to be mindful of his holy covenant
73and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
and to grant us that, 74rescued from the hand of enemies,
without fear we might worship him 75in holiness and
righteousness
before him all our days.
76And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most
High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare
his ways,
77to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78because of the tender mercy of our God
by which the daybreak from on high will visit
us
79to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s
shadow,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80The child grew and became strong in spirit, and
he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Wisdom about the Hail Mary from St. Louis de Montfort
“The Angelic Salutation" is St. Louis' favorite name for the Hail Mary... because it doesn't quite roll off the tongue and its vernacular is somewhat foreign to our modern minds - I will replace it with: "The Hail Mary"
"The Hail Mary" is a most concise summary of all that Catholic theology teaches about the Blessed Virgin. It is divided into two parts, that of praise and petition: the first shows all that goes to make up Mary’s greatness and the second all that we need to ask her for and all that we may expect to receive through her goodness.”
“When we praise and bless Our Lady by the saying the "The Hail Mary" she always passes on these praises to Almighty God in the same way as she did when she was praised by Saint. Elizabeth. The latter blessed her in her most elevated dignity as Mother of God and Our Lady immediately returned these praises to God by her beautiful Magnificat.”
“The Hail Mary is a blessed dew that falls from heaven upon the souls of the predestinate. It gives them a marvelous spiritual fertility so that they can grow in all virtues. The more the garden of the soul is watered by this prayer the more enlightened one’s intellect becomes, the more zealous his heart, and the stronger his armor against his spiritual enemies.”
“By each Hail Mary we give Our Lady the same honor that God gave her when He sent the Archangel Gabriel to greet her for Him. How could anyone possibly think that Jesus and Mary, who often do good to those that curse them, could ever curse those that bless and honor them by the Hail Mary?”
“The Hail Mary is a sharp and flaming shaft which, joined to the Word of God, gives the preacher the strength to pierce, move and convert the most hardened hearts even if he has little or no natural gift of preaching.”
“In each Hail Mary we bless both Jesus and Mary: ‘Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is thy fruit of thy womb Jesus.’”
“If we make ourselves worthy of the greeting and blessings of Our Lady we shall certainly be filled with graces and a flood of spiritual consolations will come down into our souls.”
Flame of Love Devotion:
As we are contemplating the Hail Mary I wanted to share about a recent apparition, in which Mary is said to have requested that a petition be added to the Hail Mary. Here is an excerpt from a very informative article by Christine Watkins. Please see article for more information and additional devotions.
"In the troubling times in which we live, Jesus and His Mother, through recent and movements in the heavens and in the Church, are laying extraordinary graces in our laps for our disposal. One such movement is “The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” a new name given to that immense and eternal love that Mary has for all her children.
The movement’s foundation is The Spiritual Diary of Hungarian mystic Elizabeth Kindelmann, in which Jesus and Mary teach Elizabeth and the faithful the divine art of suffering for the salvation of souls. Tasks are assigned for each day of the week, involving prayer, fasting, and night vigils, with beautiful promises attached to them, laced with special graces for priests and the souls in purgatory. In their messages to Elizabeth, Jesus and Mary say that “The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” is “the greatest grace given to mankind since the Incarnation.” And in the not-so-distant future, her flame will engulf the entire world.
Cardinal and Archbishop Péter Erdő of Esztergom-Budapest, Primate of Hungary, established a commission to study The Spiritual Diary and the various recognitions that local bishops around the world had given to The Flame of Love movement, as a private association of the faithful. In 2009, the cardinal not only gave the Imprimatur to The Spiritual Diary, but recognized Elizabeth’s mystical locutions and writings as authentic, a “gift to the Church.” In addition, he gave his episcopal approval of the Flame of Love movement, which has formally operated within the Church for over twenty years. Currently, the movement is seeking further approbation as a Public Association of the Faithful. On June 19, 2013, Pope Francis gave to it his Apostolic Blessing. ..
THE FLAME OF LOVE PRAYER
Elizabeth Kindelmann wrote:
“I am going to record what the Blessed Virgin told me in [October of] this year, 1962. I kept it inside for a long time without daring to write it down. It is a petition of the Blessed Virgin: ‘When you say the prayer that honors me, the Hail Mary, include this petition in the following manner:
Hail Mary, full of grace … pray for us sinners, spread the effect of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.’”
The bishop asked Elizabeth: “Why should the very old Hail Mary be recited differently?”
“On February 2, 1982, Our Lord explained, ‘Because of the Holy Virgin’s efficacious pleas, the Most Blessed Trinity granted the outpouring of the Flame of Love. For her sake, you must place this prayer in the Hail Mary so that, by its effect, humanity is converted.’
Our Lady also said, ‘I want to awaken humanity by this petition. This is not a new formula but a constant supplication. If at any moment, someone prays three Hail Mary’s in my honor, while referring to the Flame of Love, they will free a soul from purgatory. During November, one Hail Mary will free ten souls.’”
THE UNITY PRAYER
Jesus said:
“I made this prayer completely my own … This prayer is an instrument in your hands. By collaborating with Me, Satan will be blinded by it; and because of his blindness, souls will not be led into sin.”
May our feet journey together.
May our hands gather in unity.
May our hearts beat in unison.
May our souls be in harmony.
May our thoughts be as one.
May our ears listen to the silence together.
May our glances profoundly penetrate each other.
May our lips pray together to gain mercy from the Eternal Father.
On August 1, 1962, three months after Our Lord introduced the Unity Prayer, Our Lady said to Elizabeth:
“Now, Satan has been blinded for some hours and has ceased dominating souls. Lust is the sin making so many victims. Because Satan is now powerless and blind, the evil spirits are set and inert, as if they have fallen into lethargy. They do not understand what is happening. Satan has stopped giving them orders. Consequently, souls are freed from the domination of the evil one and are making sound resolutions. Once those millions of souls emerge from this event, they will be much stronger in their resolve to stay firm.”
http://catholicmom.com/2019/06/26/practices-promises-of-the-flame-of-love-of-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary/
Action:
1. Read through the accompanying pictures and the extraordinary wisdom of St. Louis below if possible.
2. Continue to choose to enter more deeply into the daily prayer program (below) at least in this way:
Ponder and pray the Hail Mary today and the accompanying Scripture texts as you meditate and pray one decade of the Rosary - the 2nd Joyful Mystery of the Rosary- the Visitation - while praying for the grace to listen, to hear and respond to God as Mary does.
Praying also for the grace to surrender whatever is keeping me from responding fully - in and through and with Mary’s love and help.
Daily Prayer Program for these 33 Days:
It
is important to make a commitment to strive to pray more deeply, more
intensely and with more of your heart during these days of preparation.
Here are some guidelines and suggestions for how to live these days.
Pray about how you can grow in each of these areas listed below and
while living out this prayer program it is especially important to
Trust in the Truth and Supernatural Reality of God’s Presence within each of them
1. Sacraments
• LIVE Grace and Renew our Baptism - renounce sin and Satan
• Mass and the Eucharist the Center of our lives
• Confession frequently
2. Scripture - Pray and Internalize it daily
• To Jelena: “I’m going to reveal a spiritual secret to you:
if you want to be stronger than evil, make yourself a plan of personal
prayer. Take a certain time in the morning, read a text from Holy
Scripture, anchor the Divine word in your heart, and strive to live it
during the day, particularly during the moment of trials. In this way,
you will be stronger than evil.” (Our Lady of Medjugorje, April 19,
1984)
• Rosary – With and in Mary, contemplating Scripture and the mysteries of God
3. Fill mind with wisdom of Mary and the Saints
• God is sending Mary to earth for she is the Crusher of Satan. Listen to her words.
• St. John Paul II – example of life given over – Totus Tuus
• St. Maximilian Kolbe – Militia Immaculata every soul consecrated to Mary will save the world
• St. Louis de Montfort – Mary will form the greatest saints
who ever lived – easiest shortest most sure way to sanctity
• St. Mother Teresa and many more
PART 2: Readings and Prayers for St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's Total
Consecration to Jesus through Mary
12 Days
of Preparation renouncing the spirit of the world
Today Father Gaitley shares St. Louis de Montfort's Consecration prayer - highlighting we are making a renewal of Baptismal promises and offering and placing ourselves in the hands of Mary
We are also called to renounce Satan and all his pomps and works - and commit ourselves to Jesus through with and in Mary
We are also called to renounce Satan and all his pomps and works - and commit ourselves to Jesus through with and in Mary
Why? Because Mary has given the power to defeat Satan, first proclaimed in Gen. 3: 15, and because of this:
“Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little and humble handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the divine power.”
“Come, Holy Spirit,
living in Mary, Give me the grace to reject Satan and follow Christ more
closely”.
thanks Janet!!
ReplyDeleteYou're Welcome!!!
Delete