Our Lady of Walsingham, whose feast we celebrate on Sept. 24, is a symbol of what was, what is, and what will be.
It’s so fitting that May is the month of Mother’s Day, celebrated this year on May 12. Every good mother is a good mother insofar as she is a shadow, an imitation of Our Lady, Mother of God, Mother of Mercy, and Mother of All the Living.
Mary is the Mother of the Church, of all the members of the Body of Christ — and she is mighty to help us. We honor her on the Monday after Pentecost, May 20.
"We may think that our prayers or sacrifices do not make much of a difference, but we would be in error," says Fr. Thaddaeus Lancton, MIC. "Jesus instructed St. Faustina that her prayers and sacrifices saved more souls than missionary priests through their preaching alone."
The Marian Family celebrates the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Virtues on July 10, a feast inherited from St. Joan of France. Let us ask Our Lady, says Chris Sparks, to train us to be virtuous like her, immaculate like her, and therefore have the world-changing power of her goodness, holiness, and intercession.
Come, let us, with one mind and heart, praise the Lord on this Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, Aug. 15 (a Holy Day of Obligation). Mary's bodily Assumption into Heaven is the fulfillment of God's promise to recover all gifts to mankind. The Immaculate one lived and lives as all human beings were destined to live.
On Sept. 8, the Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God! This feast day is celebrated exactly nine months after the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8. Be sure to honor Our Lady and wish her a Happy Birthday as we look to her as our Spiritual Mother!
Saint Theophanes called his friend, St. John Damascene (feast day: Dec. 4), “Chrysorrhoas” (golden stream) due to his oratorical gifts.
The Akathist Hymn to the Most Holy Mother of God (the Theotokos) is one of the most well-loved services of devotion in the Eastern Church. Reciting the hymn is one way to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.
The Christmas Octave concludes on Jan. 1, the beginning of a new calendar year and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, a Holy Day of Obligation. Start the New Year off right!
