The Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix

“I Am Not Pleased About Their Alteration of the Prayer” In the April 6, 1952 message from the Lady of All Nations (Church approval May 31, 2002, see “Church Approves Apparitions of the Lady of All Nations,” Marian Private Revelation Category), Our Lady manifests her dissatisfaction with the removal of the words “who was once was Mary” from the revealed prayer of the Lady of All Nations. The prayer was first published without the phrase “who once was Mary” due to the intervention of the bishop. But as soon as Our Lady expressed her explicit wish that the prayer remain as it was given, this wish was communicated to the bishop and the omitted phrase was immediately re-incorporated into the prayer. Our Lady then goes on to explain the meaning of the phrase for the theologians that only at the sacrifice of the cross did Mary become “the Lady”: “The Lord and Creator chose Miriam, or Mary, from among… Read more... The “What” and “Why” of the Fifth Marian Dogma In simple, yet poetic and profound language the third chapter of the Book of Genesis narrates the story of the fall of man. Three creatures play the major roles in this momentous drama: the serpent, the woman and the man. The serpent beguiles. The woman who was given to the man as his helpmate lets herself be beguiled and the man follows suit. The story seems deceptively simple, but it has monumental implications. The man, Adam, is the progenitor and head of the human family. The woman, Eve, is his companion. As partners they are equal, but they have different roles. He is the head of his wife and the head of the human family. “The whole human race is in Adam ‘as one body of one man.’ By this ‘unity of the human race’ all men are implicated in Adam’s sin” (1). At the same time it… Read more... Heaven Speaks to Those who Fear Purgatory December 21, 2006 Jesus My beloved children harbor many fears. This is understandable. The fears of one can be transmitted to another and this is not good. During this time, fear spreads through the world quickly, almost instantaneously, through the media. Perhaps you rise on each day and look out and see that the sun is shining. It is a good moment for you. I am with you, you are fed, and My sun is shining. But this is not enough. You look to see what is happening in other parts of the world. Through communications that are often unnecessary for you, you learn that there is war, disaster and famine. You look out again but the joy you had taken in the sunshine is gone. How can you feel… Read more... Co-redemptrix at the Cross The following excerpt is from Adrienne von Speier’s Mary in the Redemption (Ignatius Press).  Von Speier was a visionary who was the close collaborator to the famous Swiss theologian, Hans Urs Von Balthazar, who once commented, “To find my best theological contribution, look to the writings of Adrienne van Speier.”  Von Speier reports to have received the following insights regarding Our Lady’s role as Co-redemptrix as a direct mystical dictation from Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin. -Ed. At the Cross, Mary receives a new role through the Son’s suffering. She is not only a regular mother who is losing her human son and standing by him in his hour of death…. Read more Sacred Heart of Jesus: Furnace of Love for the Church It is certainly true that this adorable Heart is a burning furnace of divine love, radiating its fire and flame in all directions, in heaven, on earth, and even in hell: in heaven in the Church Triumphant, on earth in the Church Militant, and in purgatory in the Church Suffering, and to some degree even in the hell of the damned. If we lift our eyes and hearts to heaven, to the Church Triumphant, what shall we see? We shall behold an innumerable army of saints, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors and virgins. What are all these saints? They are so many flames from the immense furnace of the divine Heart of Jesus. Is it not the love of that kind Heart which brought them into the world, enlightened them with the light of faith, and gave them strength to conquer the devil, the world and the flesh? Is it… Read more Queen of Martyrs Why is she so called?—she who never had any blow, or wound, or other injury to her consecrated person. How can she be exalted over those whose bodies suffered the most ruthless violence and the keenest torments for our Lord’s sake? She is, indeed, Queen of all Saints, of those who “walk with Christ in white, for they are worthy”; but how of those “who were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held”? To answer this question, it must be recollected that the pains of the soul may be as fierce as those of the body. Bad men who are now in hell, and the elect of God who are in purgatory, are suffering only in their souls, for their bodies are still in the dust; yet how severe is that suffering! And perhaps most people who have lived long can bear witness in… Read more... Purgatory, Part One The following text concerning purgatory comes from visions recounted in Mist of Mercy by “Anne,” a lay apostle. She has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O’Reilly, for the distribution of messages which she receives from Jesus, God the Father, Our Blessed Mother, the angels and saints (see article, “Discernment of Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King,” Marian Private Revelation section). This is part one of a two part series. – Ed. May 26, 2006 Jesus “There is an attempt to obscure the reality of the next life, life eternal. For this reason, many souls do not accept that they have an inheritance awaiting them. Poor souls. How discouraging for them to labor and suffer without understanding the purpose. Is it any wonder there is such an attempt to discover substitutes for true peace? My apostles understand that there is no value in being too comfortable in an earthly… Read more... Purgatory: Part Two The following text concerning purgatory comes from visions recounted in Mist of Mercy by “Anne,” a lay apostle. She has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O’Reilly, for the distribution of messages which she receives from Jesus, God the Father, Our Blessed Mother, the angels and saints (see article, “Discernment of Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King,” Marian Private Revelation section). This is part two of a two part series. – Ed.. April 30, 2006 Today Our Lord brought me over the heavenly Kingdom. He stopped in the Valley of Solitude and I looked down at the stream, forest, mountains and valleys. Jesus said, “This is all for you, Anne. Do you understand?” Indeed I did. At that moment, I understood the smallest bit… Read more...  The Scapular Devotion The most highly developed of Marian Scapular devotions is that of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Since the seventeenth century, the Brown Scapular has been a uni­versal Catholic devotion, considered to be, together with the rosary, a customary form of Marian devotional practice. The popularity of the Scapular devotion was due to the sixteenth and seventeenth century popes, who promulgated the so-called Sabbatine Privilege and who approved the Confraternity of the Scapular for every diocese throughout the Catholic world. The growth and development of the Scapular devotion reached its culmination in 1726 in the extension to the universal Church of the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for July 16. {footnote} The feast spread rapidly in the seventeenth century. For its liturgical history, cf. Augustine M. Forcadell, O.Carm., Commemoratio Solemnis Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo (Romae, 1951). The rank of the feast has been… Read more...   “My Beloved to Me, and I to Him” "My beloved to me, and I to him" (Song 2:16). "I to my beloved, and my beloved me" (Song 6:2). "I to my beloved, and his turning is towards me" (Song 7:10), with His mind, His heart, His affection and His whole being. It is not without mystery that the Blessed Virgin Mary repeats the three foregoing verses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaking in the sacred Canticle (Song of Songs), which is so mysterious and full of eternal verities. The preceding three verses admit of nine explanations, each revealing to us the incomprehensible love of the Almighty for the peerless Virgin and the ardent love of her virginal Heart for God, Her Creator. The all-surpassing love of God for Mary causes Him to become entirely hers: "My beloved to me,"… Read more...   Consecration to Jesus Through Mary This devotion consists then in giving ourselves entirely to the Blessed Virgin, in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her. St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort True Devotion to Mary, No. 121. These words by St. Louis de Montfort, the great promulgator of Marian consecration, well sum up the means and the goal of consecration to Jesus through Mary. Far from being simply an added or isolated Marian piety, consecration to Jesus through Mary represents a crowning of Marian devotion, a new and dynamic Marian dimension of the Christian life that has been enthusiastically encouraged by the Church through both invitation and example. What Is Marian Consecration? Marian consecration is fundamentally a promise of love and a gift of self that gives all that the Christian is and does completely and directly to the Mother of the Lord, which thereby allows her to unite us to her Divine Son in ways… Read more...