Category Archives: Mary

St. Michael the Archangel and the Reign of the Sacred Heart

Posted on by

Today is the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel (technically, it’s for all three Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, but since I just completed a Novena to St. Michael, this post is focused on him. I promised Gabriel and Raphael that they’ll get their own post someday. Incidentally, this was originally just St. Michael’s Day, “Michaelmas,” in the pre-Vatican II liturgical calendar. Gabriel and Raphael had their own days before 1962.)  

In coming up with today’s Sacred Heart Friday post, I ran across this prayer:

For the Reign of the Sacred Heart

O Mary Immaculate, great Queen of Heaven and earth and our gentle advocate, we beg Thee to intercede for us. Pray God to send St. Michael and the holy Angels to ward off all the obstacles contrary to the reign of the Sacred Heart in our souls, our families, our country and in the whole world.

And thou, O holy Michael, Prince of the Heavenly hosts, from our hearts we beg thee to come to our aid.

Defend us against the rage of Satan. Through the Divine power bestowed on thee by God, after securing victory for the Church here below, guide our souls to our eternal home. Amen.

St. Michael, first champion of the Kingship of Christ, pray for us!

Source: Catholic Tradition

It beautifully combined devotion to St. Michael with fighting for the reign of the Sacred Heart in the souls of everyone. It is a prayer very pertinent to what’s going on today.

 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Our Lady of Sorrows: the Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary! Part 10

Posted on by

For this Sacred Heart Friday, I bring up the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. It recalls Mary’s seven painful sorrows throughout her life; I believe she often ‘pondered them in her Heart.’ 

  1.  The Prophecy of Simeon  (Luke 2:34)

  2. The Flight into Egypt by the Holy Family (Matthew 2:13)

  3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:43)

  4. Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother along the Way of the Cross (Luke 23:26)

  5. Mary stands at the Foot of the Cross (John 19:25)

  6. Mary receives the dead body of Jesus in her arms (Matthew 27:57)

  7. Jesus is Laid in the Tomb (John 19:40)

Sorrows unite the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The Sorrowful Heart of Mary was pierced in particular by the sufferings of Jesus during His Passion and Death. How could they not? 

Jesus was sorrowful even unto death, yet he endured His Passion for our sake. As I have mentioned in previous posts in this series, several approved private revelations have spoken of the closeness of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary: as she was how Our Lord came into this world, then she certainly would have been attuned to the pains endured by His Heart during the tortures of Good Friday. 

This lends a sublime empathy for Our Lady. She suffered for Him, and since we are the adopted sons and daughters of God the Father, we are siblings to Our Lord; with Mary being our Mother. Therefore, just as Mary was united with Our Lord in His sufferings; she is united to us in ours. Recall all the sufferings you endured (and caused) during your drinking and drugging days. Mary was there. You were not alone. 

 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

A funny thing happened while writing today’s Sacred Heart Friday post

Posted on by

A funny thing happened while writing today’s Sacred Heart Friday post. I was writing this (brilliant) piece in my series of posts on the Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary and linking it to today’s feast day on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Unfortunately, after reading it and thankfully before hitting “send to blog” I noticed that it had much more to do with the Immaculate Conception of Mama Mary than her Birth. Actually, it didn’t have anything to do with her Birth.

Oops.

Yes, if I had started drafting it earlier this week I might have noticed. But I was very busy all week, especially today with stuff, and only got around to writing it tonight. 

So, no Sacred Heart Friday post for today. But there’s an utterly brilliant one scheduled to go out on Friday, December 8th!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Creativity and the Immaculate Heart

Posted on by

Continuing along with yesterday’s post; on this Immaculate Heart Saturday, think about the ways in which you can use your creative aspirations to lead people through Mary and onward to Jesus. Mary participated in the creation of Jesus in His sacred Humanity when she said ‘Yes,’ to the Angel Gabriel and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and Jesus was conceived in her most holy womb. Allow Mary to work with you; allow yourself to be a pen or paintbrush in her hands and use your God-given talents to win souls for Jesus.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Ponder these things in your heart

Posted on by

The month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

Mary, who was referred to having ‘pondered these things in her heart’ a few times in Scripture, serves as a symbol or model of the contemplative life. Her heart is the source of her love for us and her Son, Jesus Christ, as well as her virtues and purity. 

It may be well to consider your own contemplative life, especially in these days of rapid over-saturation of information and demands for our attention and all the coercion to ‘think certain ways or else.’

Contemporary devotion to the Immaculate Heart has it source in the Fatima visions, especially in the few received by Sister Lucia in her convent in Tuy, Spain, in 1925 and 1926. In the visions Our Lady asked for the practice of the Five First Saturdays to help make amends for the offenses committed against her heart by the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. The practice parallels the devotion of the Nine First Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart. 

In addition to Immaculate Heart Saturdays I will be posting throughout the month stuff on Mama Mary.

Please take look at this article from Catholic Culture on the month of August and the Immaculate Heart.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

August: The Immaculate Heart of Mary month!

Posted on by

And so ends July, the Month dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus. Next up: August which is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

I am thinking of starting a new series; related to the Sacred Heart Friday posts I began in January, these will be “Immaculate Heart Saturday.” Each Saturday for as long as I am able I will post something related to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

Many of them will be about the First Saturday Devotions as well as posts related to Fatima. I will probably include a few more in the unfinished series on the Alliance of the Two Hearts. Oh, there’s lots I can do!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary! Part 5

Posted on by

It’s Sacred Heart Friday time and this week I’m getting all mystical.

The Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary began when Jesus dwelt within the womb of Mary. Like all children when they are living within their Momma’s womb, He shared the body of Mary and thus she became the tabernacle for the Ark of the New Covenant that is Him.

Mary’s Immaculate Heart pumped the Precious Blood that flowed through His veins and arteries; she powered His Sacred Heart.

This union of the Two Hearts was far more intimate than any other. We all have heard of stories about pregnant women and how they marvel at the the movements of their unborn child; the kicks and wriggles and so forth. How much greater this must have been for Mary and Jesus. Mystical writings and approved private revelations tell that Jesus was fully aware from His conception in the womb. How? Unknown, but given that He is God and therefore would never have lost His Omniscience regardless of His form, He was fully in possession of His faculties. Some of the revelations also tell us that Jesus and Mary were in close communion with each other throughout her pregnancy. This makes sense. Jesus would obviously obey the Commandment to “Honor thy Father and thy Mother,” given His proximity to Mary while in her womb, it seems obvious that He would honor her in a way impossible for anyone else to do for their mother. He is God, omniscient, and in His mother’s womb. How do you think He would honor her? What feelings of love would He bestow upon Mary? What graces and blessings winkled He petition the Father to give her? 

Love returns love; what would Mary do for Him in return? She, who ‘kept all these things in her heart and pondered them’ could only return His love for her in kind. Mary, the daughter of God the Father, mother of God the Son, and Spouse of God the Holy Spirit….. what feelings of love and awe and wonder could she have given Him? 

It renders our attempts at worship and adoration paltry by comparison. This makes it reasonable for us to honor the recommendation of many saints, especially St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Louis de Montfort and others, to ‘go to Jesus through Mary.’ She can take our feeble and pathetic attempt to worship and adore Him and unite it to her own since her Heart is still united to His. 

The Union, or Alliance, of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary makes sense of all this. We can go directly to Jesus without Mary, but why would you in light of the above? There is much to ponder here; you cannot do it justice by rejecting ‘to Jesus through Mary’ out of hand when you realize the possibilities of their history together and the obvious truths entailed. 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

May, Mary, and the Sacred Heart

Posted on by

For this Sacred Heart Friday, I bring to your attention the (perhaps unintended?) symbolism of May coming just before June, in the sense of who these months are dedicated to.

May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary; June to the Sacred Heart. The Church teaches that all authentic Marian devotion leads us to Jesus. Therefore, we can spend this month of Mary, with its holidays of Our Lady of Fatima (May 13th) Mary, Mother of the Church (right after Pentecost) and the Feast of the Visitation (May 31st) preparing for the Sacred Heart. We can focus on each of those days and meditate or reflect on their significance, all with a mind as to how they lead us to Jesus.

The message of Our Lady of Fatima is prayer, penance and reparation. War is punishment for sin; immodest fashions offend God; we must pray the Rosary every day for the conversion of Russia as well as the World. Mary said, ‘In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph!” This means the ultimate end of Satan’s free rein of terror and a period of peace before the Second Coming.

Mary, Mother of the Church :the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, therefore Mary is our Mother. The Church was established by Christ to facilitate our redemption. The Church has one job: to save souls. It was started out of love for us; without it, we would have no Shepherd and no way to authentically interpret Scripture. No Church and there would be the confusion and chaos as evidenced by the countless Protestant and Evangelical denominations. 

The Feast of the Visitation celebrates when Mary made haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was miraculously pregnant with St. John the Baptist. What lesson can we derive from this? Hospitality, for one. Make time in your life to come to the aid of your family, friends, kindred, tribe, clan, whatever. Your neighbor! Also, it is the declaration from Elizabeth that Mary IS the Mother of God, with Mary’s response that her should magnifies the Lord and her spirit rejoices in God, her saviour; as well as that all generations will call her blessed. Does your soul magnify the Lord? Are you grateful for all the things He has done for you? Do you call Mary ‘Blessed?’ 

Don’t forget! One if the ways to honor the Blessed Mother is doing the Five First Saturday Devotions.

Next Sacred Heart Friday: The Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Social Media May for Mary

Posted on by

Today begins May, which is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In honor of that, I am instituting #SocialMediaMayforMary, wherein every day I post to this blog’s Facebook Page, LinkedIn Page, MeWe SoberCatholic Discussion Group, Telegram Channel, Mastodon and Twitter accounts videos on the Blessed Mother and her Rosary. These will not be posted to this blog. Not sure why, perhaps an experiment I’m conducting. 

PANIC EDIT: These are not MY videos; just stuff I find on YouTube and elsewhere I think you’d enjoy!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

33 day Consecration to Mary can begin this Friday!

Posted on by

You can tell I’ve been reading St. Louis de Montfort.

I discovered that the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary still exists, and still is managed by the Dominicans just like back in the days of St. Dominic and Bl. Alan de la Roche! (Should I have known that?) This association was mentioned quite often in a book by St. Louis de Monfort I read this past week. (I’ll tell you which one at the end. Which “ones” actually.)

Because of this I may start another 33 day Montfortian consecration thingy this Friday April 28th. It’s de Montfort’s feast day. It’ll end just in time for May 31st which is the Feast of the Visitation on the new calendar 1970 calendar; it’s the Feast of the Queenship of Mary on the old 1962 calendar.

My wife and I already did it once before, leading up to our wedding day. We may do it again, together, as a renewal. 

Gabi of the GabiAfterHours YouTube Channel is also doing it beginning this Friday (just found that out.)

You can look into his effort here: Gabi After Hours Community posting on 33 day consecration to Mary.

I bring Gabi up because he’s uploaded several very important videos over the past few months or so.  He posted this one quite recently on several books that are must reads:

This one: 

…and this one:

…started me on saying the entire Rosary daily. Gabi got the idea from one of the de Montfort books he recommends in the first video above. Those are the one’s that I’ve read this week (numbers 1 and 2 on Gabi’s list.) “The Secret of Mary” and “The Secret of the Rosary.” They’re wonderful, inspiring reads. De Montfort writes in a style similar to that of St. Alphonse Liguori. (His “The Glories of Mary” is number 4 on Gabi’s list.)

This is a new one:

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)