"I am all yours, and all that I have is yours, O most loving Jesus, through Mary, your most holy Mother"
(True Devotion, 233).
SECTION 3: Entering into the Mystery of Jesus Carrying His Cross
Contemplating the Sorrowful Mysteries with Mary, St. John Paul II and St. Louis de Montfort as our guides.
Action:
1. Resolve to pray a complete set of mysteries of the Rosary every day - as an act of love to God and in fulfillment of Mary's requests to us. So, therefore, PRAY the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary today and every day - see day 8 for instructions/ guidance on how to fit this into your day.
2. Skim through the accompanying pictures and the extraordinary wisdom of St. Louis de Montfort and St. Mother Teresa and read through as much (below) as possible.
3. Continue to choose to enter more deeply into the daily prayer program (below) at least in this way:
Ponder and pray The Nicene Creed today and the accompanying Scripture texts as you meditate and PRAY THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES AND ALL THE LUMINOUS MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY - while praying for the grace to listen, to hear and respond to God as Mary does.
And to pray for the grace to surrender whatever is keeping us from responding
fully to God - in and through and with Mary’s love and help.
1. Resolve to pray a complete set of mysteries of the Rosary every day - as an act of love to God and in fulfillment of Mary's requests to us. So, therefore, PRAY the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary today and every day - see day 8 for instructions/ guidance on how to fit this into your day.
2. Skim through the accompanying pictures and the extraordinary wisdom of St. Louis de Montfort and St. Mother Teresa and read through as much (below) as possible.
3. Continue to choose to enter more deeply into the daily prayer program (below) at least in this way:
Ponder and pray The Nicene Creed today and the accompanying Scripture texts as you meditate and PRAY THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES AND ALL THE LUMINOUS MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY - while praying for the grace to listen, to hear and respond to God as Mary does.
4.
Begin to take steps to make the Mass the center of your life.
5. Pray the 4th Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross.
Today we meditate on Jesus not only carrying his cross, but embracing it and choosing it with such unfailing love for us in order to "Make all things new!"
Today we meditate on Jesus not only carrying his cross, but embracing it and choosing it with such unfailing love for us in order to "Make all things new!"
May meditating on His passion stir into flame our love for Him. Watch
and listen to his passion based on revelations he gave to Blessed Anne
Catherine Emmerich and to Sr. Josefa Menedez.
Also, I love how today's readings for Advent fit so beautifully with
this Mystery. Juxtapose these readings as Jesus climbs the mountain of Calvary with these prophesies of His coming:
"...On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.
On that day it will be said:
"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!"
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain." Is 25
"... He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage." Ps 23
"At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd..." Mt. 15
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120419.cfm
Also, for today's meditation I wanted to share a reflection by the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception:
https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/consoling-jesus-during-his-passion:"At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd..." Mt. 15
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120419.cfm
Also, for today's meditation I wanted to share a reflection by the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception:
"The hidden and beautiful first moment of the life of Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, seems so different from the very public and brutal last moments of our Lord's life. But by God's providence, Christ's saving Passion and Death make possible the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, and her Immaculate Conception makes possible our Lord's Passion. How does Mary make possible our Lord's Passion? One way is by consenting to become the Mother of God. Another way is through her consoling presence at, and participation in, our Lord's Way of the Cross.
Mary was there at the foot of Christ's cross (see Jn 20:25), accompanied by some women from Nazareth (see Mt 27:55). Additionally, tradition teaches us through the Stations of the Cross that Jesus met His mother on the way to His crucifixion.
So the Immaculate Conception was there, walking with our Lord. How it must have pained her heart to see her Son suffer! She was prepared by Simeon's words, which she had pondered for 33 years: "[A]nd a sword will pierce through your own soul also" (Lk 2:35).
What a consolation Mary must have been to our Lord as she walked with Him in His suffering! She was there to help carry Him emotionally and spiritually, as only a mother could. Just as she bore Him in her womb, so too she bore Him in her heart during His hour of trial.
In the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, our Lord breathed Mary's soul into her body and gave her supernatural - as well as natural - life at the moment of her conception. In the mystery of the Carrying of the Cross, our Lord draws ever closer to the moment when He will breathe forth His Spirit and give up His earthly life so that we may become spiritually "immaculate" - like Mary - and thus truly alive.
Our Lord in His mercy shares with us the Immaculate Conception: a loving Mother who walks with us and carries us in her heart as we bear our trials and crosses. The Founder of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Blessed Stanislaus Papczynski, chose for his motto, "May the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary be for us a refuge and protection." She is a companion, a consolation, and a refuge for us on our personal Way of the Cross.
In addition, she is a font and model of pure love. Untainted by original sin and disordered desires, Mary loves perfectly, choosing God above all things and loving her neighbor as herself. But our hearts, unfortunately, are not so free. We find ourselves choosing lesser goods and priorities over God. Our Lord said to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque, "Behold this heart which loves so much and yet which is so little loved."
Nevertheless, in the person of Mary, the Heart of Jesus is loved very much! Apart from our Lord, only her human heart, immaculate and full of grace, can love in a rightly ordered way. We turn to our Mother that she may hold us in her heart, nurture us, and teach us, so that our hearts may love ever more like hers and thereby bring consolation to the aching Heart of our Lord in His Passion."
Let us begin by praying the Nicene Creed - with all of these mysteries in mind:
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.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
PART 3: A taste of Fr. Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory if you have time:
“Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary. Fill my heart with praise to God for giving me Mary as my spiritual mother”.
CLICK HERE for Day 23 Podcast
© Janet Moore 2019. All Rights Reserved.
Posted 27th November 2018 by Janet Moore
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