The "time" draws near. Another day is marked off the calendar; are we anxious to receive the "Sun of Justice"?

O Dayspring, brightness of eternal Light
and Sun of Justice:
come and enlighten those who
sit in darkness and in
the shadow of death.
[Traditional "O" Antiphon]

Our heavenly Mother carried Jesus in Her womb for nine months, and on that special Day, Christ issued forth in a miraculous manner from Mother Mary's womb into Her arms. The Father protected Her Virginity for all eternity, and the Church calls Her "Ever-Virgin Mary". Unfortunately, many people don't believe this Truth of our Faith.

There is another similar Truth that , according to polls taken, people have either lost their belief in or just never could accept the teachings of the Church: The True Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!

Here's some thoughts on this "World's Greatest Secret", as John Haffert of the Blue Army called the Eucharist.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, Our Lady conceived and brought forth Jesus into the world.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, every priest, through the consecration prayers, brings forth Jesus in the consecrated Host. If it wasn't for priests, there would be no Eucharist! Imagine that!

Priests renew the reality of Jesus' birth in time. Yes, it is a mystery. So was the birth of Christ in a manger. When Jesus was born, His divinity was veiled under the features of a tiny Baby; when the priest consecrates the Bread, Jesus' divinity is veiled in the tiny white Host. Just as in the Baby Jesus, so also in the Blessed Sacrament is Christ truly present with His Body, with His Blood, with His Soul, and with His Divinity!

Sadly, today there is widespread doubts about the True Presence, and because of this unbelief, many sacrilegious Communions take place. Our Lady said in one of Her apparitions that if we saw the number of sacrilegious Communions that she sees, we would shed tears of Blood too!

I believe it is up to us to 'enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death" and to make reparation for this 'abomination of desolation' that has crept into our Church. This could be our Christmas present to Jesus, thanking Him for coming down from Heaven, He gave His life for our salvation.

"My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee!
I beg pardon for those who do not believe,
do not adore, do not trust
and do not love Thee."

"O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee!
My God, my God, I love Thee in
the Most Blessed Sacrament!"

"O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most precious Body,
Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ,
present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges
and indifference by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I beg the conversion of poor sinners."
[Fatima Prayers]

Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Annunciation (1898)

THE ANNUNCIATION
THE HAIL MARY

2. Full of Grace.
She was, indeed, overflowing with grace: to other saints, and even to the angels themselves grace was given only in part. But to Mary, grace was given in its fullness and plenitude. In order to understand the words of the Angel it is necessary to know what grace is. Just think for a moment what grace means for the rest of mankind: it is something divine, something of God, something from God. It is a divine entity that is communicated to man in order to raise him to divine life. It confers on him the title of Child of God. It gives him a right to inheritance from the Eternal Father. Since man becomes a child of God he is consequently also heir to Heaven. Now if all that wonder is achieved by grace in other men, if grace sanctifies and divinises them to such an extent, what must grace operate in Mary, since it was given Her in its total and complete fullness? If She possesses all grace, how could grace increase in Her during Her life? This is a mystery. When a glass is full, it can hold no more. But to God, nothing is impossible. God can dilate and increase at any moment the capacity of Her soul, that most precious vase, so that whilst always being full it could at the same time take in an increasing measure of the grace it already contains.

We're spending these days (5 to go) and hours in a vigil of prayer, open to the signs around us that the birth of Christ is near! Today's Traditional "O" Antiphon speaks of the opening and closing of God's designs:

O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel:
you open and no one shuts;
you shut and no one opens.
Come and lead forth from his prison
the captive sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death.

What was it like for Our Lady as She traveled, with St. Joseph, to Bethlehem? Was She anxious and uncertain about what awaits them? She traveled on a donkey; a difficult trip for anyone, it was cold and uncomfortable, especially for one carrying an unborn Child in Her womb.

But Her mind was with God, meditating on Who was inside Her, Who was about to be born. Nothing of the world could bother Her, as She was enraptured in the love of God. And She totally trusted in the Father's plan for Her. Perhaps She thought of a house, that She could be in to give birth to Jesus; a cradle for baby Jesus to lie in; food and clothing for the Three of them. And so divine Providence gave them a cave for shelter; a manger of straw for a crib; swaddling clothes and Mother's milk for the Child to be born.

In the divine plan it is the Father who opens and shuts, gives and takes, knows every hair on our head, and through suffering, leads us to His Heavenly Home! All we have to do is trust, and be open to His inspirations to follow His will.

The Father has given us His Son, Jesus. What does He want from us in return?
He only asks for our gift of love. To love Him with all your heart, mind and soul; and to love our neighbor unconditionally, as we love ourselves.

Jesus was born in a cold cave; we can give him the warmth of our love to comfort and console Him.

In this cold, cold world, let us be the candles of light to warm up those around us with the fire of our love!!!
God Bless+

Meditation 22

THE ANNUNCIATION
THE HAIL MARY

1. Ave.
This is a word of fond greeting, but the Angel uses it with a meaning of congratulation. In a hymn the Church says that Ave is just the contrary of Eva for as through Eve death was ushered into the world, so through Mary life is given to us. Thus the congratulations of the Angel must be extended to the whole of mankind. On this great occasion of Her life give your congratulations too to Mary and congratulate yourself also since through Her you were made a child of God.

Here's todays Traditional "O" Antiphon:

O Root of Jesse, who stood as a sign for the people,
before you kings shall remain silent,
and to you the Gentiles shall make supplication:
come to deliver us, and delay not.

Live the "Holy Night" every night! How? By meditating on the Joyful Mysteries each day of our lives! Think about the Light (Jesus) who came down from Heaven into the deep dark night of this world, enslaved by sin and beyond hope or salvation. Who could save humanity, except God Himself!

But the world, even the Chosen People were not ready for this Messiah. They wanted a Knight on a shining horse to defeat their enemies and reign as their king. They couldn't accept a "suffering Messiah!

Then the "Light" appeared; a little infant was born and no one was expecting Him, no one received Him, except Mary and Joseph, some poor and humble shepherds, and three Wise men, Gentiles, who represented all of us. They gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh; we give Him our very lives, our souls, our wills!

Christ is born! Now redemption begins! Jesus is born to redeem everyone of their sins.

Let us stay close to the Crib of Jesus, with Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and yes, the Wise men, because as the old saying goes: "Wise men still follow Jesus!"

THE ANNUNCIATION
THE PRESENCE OF THE ANGEL

4. You in the Presence of Mary.
Do you too appear before Her with the enthusiasm, fervor and love of the Angel? Can you study, appreciate and revere your Mother as he did? The Angel spoke once to Mary. You instead can speak with Her many times. Do you really do so by constantly living in Her presence, by doing everything with Her and for Her? God sends His messages to you, through His angels, especially through your Guardian Angel, through your superiors, through Our Lady, while sometimes He even speaks to you directly Himself. How do you receive these inspirations, these calls, these knockings at your heart? Ask the Lord for the eyes of an Angel in order to know and study your Mother well, in order to love Her with fond tenderness, in order always to live for and with Her. Ask the Lord to give you a firm will to cooperate with grace, to receive His inspirations come as they may, with the spirit of faith, and follow them generously. Speak with the Angel of the Annunciation and with your own Guardian Angel.

One week from today it will be Christmas Day! As we approach this wonderful event of Our Lord's Birth, I thought we could meditate on some of the "moments" leading up to that Day in history!

Each day from the 18th to the 24th of December, the Liturgy of the Hours has a special "O" Antiphon, which is recited before and after the Canticle of Mary. Here is todays Traditional one:

O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel,
you appeared to Moses in the flame of the
burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai:
come, and with an outstretched arm, redeem us.

Imagine how much anxiety Mary and Joseph were filled with as they went from door to door seeking shelter, and all they received was refusal after refusal for any hospitality! After all, Jesus was about to be born, and any refusal was a refusal to Him.
Mother Mary was about to give humanity Her Child, but humanity did not want to receive Him.
Finally, they found a cave, which was so cold, like the world, except for an ox and a donkey. They had nothing, they were the poorest of the poor, yet they had the greatest Treasure of all, Jesus!

Is that why God loves the poor so much (Blessed are the poor, they shall inherit the kingdom), in imitation of Mary and Joseph and Jesus, born into poverty! Is that why God loves us so much when we are detached from material things. That way we become like little children, relying on the Father's Providence, as Mary and Joseph did. And when we possess this virtue of detachment, this nothingness, we are then led by the Holy Spirit and we become docile to the Father's Will. Then we will understand the Gospel and live Jesus word's.

The world does not understand these things because it is wrapped up in materialism, it cannot see the mystery and awesomeness of Almighty God, who gave us the Law on Sinai; and gave us Jesus, His Only-begotten Son in Bethlehem!

Let us stay close to the Heart of Mother Mary, She is our safe refuge in our journey to Christ, our Savior!

THE ANNUNCIATION
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL

3. The Embassy.
Now the Angel declares the purpose of his message. he comes about the conception and the birth of a Son who will be the Messias. He begs Mary's consent. the whole of creation, men and angels, and even God Himself now speak through the mouth of that Angel. All with impatient anxiety are hanging on the answer. Sublime moment! On Her word depends redemption and the salvation of mankind. The Angel continues to trace the figure of the Messias. He will be called Jesus, or Savior. He will be the holy of holies. He will be the Son of the Most High while at the same time those adorable names are blended together, Jesus and Mary. So far She has been the humble maid hidden away in Nazareth. Henceforth She will be Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Into this message of the Angel all the faith, all the longing, all the hopes of mankind are packed. There too are enclosed all the treasures of grace which had been poured on Mary from the moment of Her Immaculate Conception till now. The Angel's embassy to Mary will be eternally remembered.

FEAST OF THE EXPECTATION OF
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Today is one of the most inspiring days preceding Christmas! It is the feast of "Our Lady of Expectation," mostly unknown to many in these modern times, but still kept alive in many countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland as well as in a few religious orders. In older editions of missals, this feast is still listed as a votive Mass.

The feast is celebrated on the 18th of December, a week before Christmas Day. Our Blessed Lady, well advanced in pregnancy, is portrayed in the highest dignity of her Divine Motherhood. Dressed in royal apparel as daughter of David the King, she awaits with joy the arrival of her divine Son, Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Her whole posture suggests how she remains wholly consumed in contemplation of her Son under her heart. Her immaculate womb has become a living portable sanctuary of divinity. There are special prayers and novenas to "Our Lady of Expectation" available for women who cannot conceive or bear a child.

The votive Mass of "Our Lady of Expectation" is theologically enlightening and spiritually enriching for the time of Advent and Christmas. With the entrance antiphon, the Church prays with the prophet for the coming of the Just One from heaven that the earth may be ready to welcome the Savior: "Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the just. Let the earth open for salvation to spring up" (Is 45:8). In the opening prayer, the Church offers the prayer to God through Mary's intercession: "O God who wished that your Word would take the flesh from the womb of the Virgin as announced by the Angel and whom we confess to be the true Mother of God, may we be helped by her intercession."

This wonderful feast also reminds us that it has been almost nine months since the Annunciation/Incarnation (March 25) and that Jesus developed in Mary's womb just like we did in our mother's womb. Think of all the millions of babies who never make it through the nine months because their mothers have aborted them. May God, through the intercession of the Expectant Mother Mary, take their souls into His Kingdom.

OUR LADY IS INCREASINGLY SAD!

Our Lady's increasing sadness, as She continues to appear in Medjugorje, may be a poor omen.

As the world becomes more and more immersed in sin, we are coming closer to experiencing the wrath of God. Still, by our prayers and sacrifices, we can mitigate God's punishments, bring a smile to Our Lady's face, and bring peace to the world. The choice is ours.

Medjugorje

In 2006, the 25th anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions were marked in Medjugorje. The six seers, a quarter of a century ago, were just children. Today they are mature adults. Each one has established a family with children and, as they did years ago on Mount Podbrdo, all continue to assert Her messages to the world.

Six of the seers experienced the daily apparitions from June 25, 1981 until Christmas of the following year. From that day on, they see Our Lady with varied intensity and in different ways.

Significance Of Those Dates

Till now, three of them continue to see Her daily, and the other three periodically. Among the latter, is Mirjana Dragicevic Soldo, who reportedly has an apparition of Our Lady on the 2nd of each month, as well as on March 18th on Mirjana's birthday.

However, Our Lady does not do that just because it happens to be the date of her birth. Mirjana said that the symbolism of these particular apparitions, and those at the beginning of each month, will some day become very clear.

Mirjana said, "Our Lady appears to me in this way since 1987. These apparitions are more like a prayer for those who has have not yet recognized God's love. While much about the apparitions is the same, lately, much more frequently, I see Our Lady very sad. From time to time, She even has tears streaming down Her cheeks, in particular for those who still have not recognized God's love. All of us are Her children . . . the believers and the unbelievers."

Mirjana, who after these apparitions appears quite drained, said, "It is extremely painful for me each time I see Her profound sadness."

The Mysterious Parchment

All the seers know the secrets entrusted to them. However, Mirjana also has in her own possession a parchment (made of an unknown substance) on which all the secrets are inscribed. When will the secrets be revealed to the world? Except for the seers, no one else knows.

However, what is known is the name of the person who will disclose them. Mirjana has selected Father Petar Ljubicic to reveal her secrets to the world when the time comes. After fasting for seven days, Father Petar will disclose the contents of the secrets three days before each one of them is to be fulfilled . . . in other words, before the event contained in a particular secret actually occurs!

Three Visionaries Still Receive Daily Apparitions

I once read that Mirjana said that her secrets will begin to be revealed when only one Medjugorje visionary is still seeing Our Lady. Ivanka Ivankovic Elez and Jakov Colo no longer experience daily apparitions.

The three visionaries who do continue to receive daily apparitions no longer have Medjugorje as their primary residence. Ivan Dragicevic lives with his spouse in the United States, and only spends a portion of each year in Medjugorje.

Marija Pavlovic Lunetti resides with her spouse in Italy. It is from there, on the 25th of each month, that she relays Our Lady's message to the world.

Perhaps the most prominent among them is Vicka Ivankovic Mijatovic. She is now married and resides in the neighboring hamlet of Krehin Gradac.

Medjugorje & Garabandal

Until now, perhaps the most intriguing of the secrets is the third one, the one pertaining to a great and mysterious sign.

This secret refers to a sign that Our Lady will leave for the world to see, in order to confirm the authenticity of Her apparitions. The sign will be visible, permanent, and indestructible, and will be left on the hill where She first appeared 25 years ago.

Previously, in the 1960's to four children, a sign was also promised to be left at Garabandal, Spain, when in the future, "the greatest miracle of all time" will occur there.

The Answer From Our Lady

Prayer is the answer. Do you have a regular prayer schedule? If not, how then can you expect to continue to receive God's blessings. If you care about your own life and the future of your children and grand-children, you MUST pray.

Otherwise, when God's wrath comes, we are obliged to understand that it is our own fault, because we did little to stem the tide of evil that is presently permeating the entire world. the saddest thing about it, is that the remedy is so very clear!

Our Lady at Garabandal told the children that when the Warning occurs, the sins that we will see most predominantly, are our sins of omission, that is, spiritual sloth. What we will regret the most is what we did not do!

Fatima & The Five First Saturdays

Ask yourself, "What am I doing to remove the sadness from Mary's Heart?" Our Lady in Fatima gave us the formula to make Her smile and to obtain peace in the world: participate in the Five First Saturdays. However, too few people are doing it. It is not difficult, but we are often too uninformed or too slothful to make the effort.

On December 10, 1925, Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucia in the Dorothean convent at Pontevedra, Spain. She promised Her assistance at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation, (read that again . . . it means no hell!) to all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, do the following things:

1) Go to Confession (within eight days)

2) Attend Mass and receive Holy Communion

3) Pray five decades of the Rosary

4) Keep Our Lady company by meditating for 15 minutes on the Rosary Mysteries.

But Most Important . . .

But, most important (and this is the omission), ALL of these four must be done with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Many individuals forget to make this intention with each and every one of the four above requests of Our Blessed Lady, and thus, they might not fully merit the promised reward. This is especially true of daily communicants. They mean well, but they simply forget to make the intentions.

The intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a necessary stipulation of Our Lady and Our Lord, to truly fulfill the Five First Saturday requirements.

Our Lady promised that by doing this, we can bring peace to our souls and to the world. Jacinta of Fatima said, "God has entrusted the peace of the world to Our Lady."

Unfortunately, it seems that too few are fulfilling Our Lady's requests accurately. The tide of evil, like a green slime, continues to spread over all the earth. To prevent this, we need reparation.

John Haffert, in Soul Magazine, said that, "The First Saturday devotion is so important that we might well wonder if fulfillment of the basic conditions of Fatima for world peace (sanctification of daily duty) might be impossible without the practice of the First Saturday devotion.

In a book on the First Saturdays (Tequi, Paris, May 13, 1985) fr. Coveliers points out that the First Saturday devotion is a great act of love not accomplished easily.

"The time we dedicate to Mary on the First Saturdays is a 'strong' time, and difficult to accomplish perfectly just on the spur of the moment. the devotion of the First Saturdays cannot be authentic if it is not the fruit of a constant attitude of the soul pervading all the days of our life," he says.

We need to know and understand that where evil weighs down on us, we can mightily tip the other side of the scale with reparation.

We Must Take Prayer and Reparation Seriously

Mary comes to us in many places in order to save our souls. Don't we love God, Her, ourselves, and our family enough to pray and make reparation? God and Mary, and all the visionaries everywhere, tell us that this is the sure formula!

Our love is so cold. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to set our hearts on fire, and begin again to put God and His interests in first place in our lives.

Start with asking yourself this most important question: What time am I going to Mass tomorrow? and then plan your day around that blessed hour. Then watch your life and the entire world change for the better. The victory is already won by Christ, but let us be a greater part of it. Let us participate more actively in God's plan for our salvation and for peace in the world.

The efforts of even a few souls can change the world for the better. Much depends upon what YOU do . . . daily Mass, daily Rosary, and the Five First Saturdays. Many other favorite devotions are also spirit-filled and very rewarding. Think about it; change and pray.

[Reprinted with permission from '101 Times' #70, by Dr. Rosalie Ann Turton]

ANTI-CHRISTMAS FEVER ABOUNDS

Catholic League president Bill Donohue released these remarks today on the latest round of anti-Christmas incidents:

“Like most Jews, Olympic skater Sasha Cohen is not offended by Christmas carols. But that didn’t stop a government employee from trying to protect her. While Cohen was skating at a rink in Riverside, California, a high-school choir started singing ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman,’ immediately sending Michelle Baldwin into orbit. She summoned a cop and got him to institute a gag rule: he ordered the choir to stop singing. Baldwin maintained that because Cohen was Jewish, she would be upset by the carol. But she never bothered to ask the skater if she objected. As it turns out, Cohen couldn’t have cared less. As usual, those who say we must be careful not to offend non-Christians at Christmastime are the ones who object to Christmas—not those whom they falsely claim to represent.

“Like Baldwin, Sandra Byrne, principal of an elementary school in Delray Beach, Florida, has a need to show how inclusive she is. That’s why she has no Christmas tree, nativity scene or menorah in her office. Instead, her spot is adorned with teddy bears wearing sweaters. Moreover, only ‘winter parties’ and ‘winter celebrations’ are tolerated. ‘We’re very careful about this,’ she says. No doubt she is.

“Here’s another example of anti-Christmas fever. In a Detroit suburban school district, they’ve instituted a quota system on religious songs that can be sung at school concerts. That’s right, only 30 percent of the songs at Howell Public Schools can be religious. It’s not certain whether the choir director will be fined or imprisoned if a multicultural monitor finds that 31 percent of the songs are religious. We recommend incarceration.

“After Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998, Castro made a good-faith gesture by allowing Cubans to celebrate Christmas again. Maybe we should hire Fidel to talk to these madmen.”

And another sad story today from England:

A SCHOOL head was slammed last night after removing the word Virgin from Mary's name for Christmas celebrations - so as not to upset Muslim pupils.

Sarah Watson said the move was needed to "tread a line between two faiths" at Walter Street primary in Brierfield, Lancs, where 90 per cent of 370 pupils are of Pakistani descent.

Mrs Watson said: "We cut the name to just Mary because Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet, not son of God."

But Christian and Muslim leaders branded the move absurd.

Canon Chris Chivers, head of inter-faith relations in East Lancs, said: "It's religious paranoia."

THE ANNUNCIATION
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL

2. The Greeting.
Hail, O Thou, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee and blessed art Thou amongst all women! This greeting springs from admiration. It is an outburst of enthusiasm. Every sentence gives vent to fond love. How greatly does the Angel love Mary! How finish his greeting of praise? From a human mouth these words would have sounded ridiculous flattery, a passionate overstatement. But such terms cannot be applied to the words of an angel who is incapable of adulation, of falsehood, of exaggeration! What then is Mary?

Meditation 21

THE ANNUNCIATION
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL

1. The Angel Before Mary.
The Angel of the Incarnation was one of the greatest and most beautiful spirits which surround the throne of God. Watch him, a magnificent being, shining, sublime. We might be led into mistaking him for God Himself. Consider the dignity of his message, the importance of his embassy for Mary. God does not entrust it to a man as He was wont to do on other occasions, when Moses, Elias, Eliseus, the prophets and patriarchs were His messengers. No, this time to be dispatched to Our Blessed Lady He chose an angel and in fact one of the highest.
It was quite befitting that the woman who was more than an angel for Her purity should be visited by an angel of God. Let us picture that visit. The Angel enters Her dwelling and offers Her his most respectful greetings. He who would never bend except before the throne of God now falls at the feet of Mary. What did the Angel, used as he was to see the wonders of Heaven, see in Mary? What could he see on earth to strike him as wonderful? Yet when he saw Mary he was dumbfounded, struck with admiration and awe. After the beauty of the divine essence, he had never even in Heaven seen anything similar to the soul of that Virgin hidden in the retirement of Nazareth. And the world knew nothing about Her. In truth, in order to know Mary you must look at Her, not with the eyes of a man but the eyes of an angel.

THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. I’M PRINTING IT OUT AND PUTTING WITH OUR CHRISTMAS LIST.


What a Wonderful Idea!!! Think I will send two! Good Idea!!!!!!!! Yes, Christmas cards! This is coming early so that you can get ready toinclude an important address to your list. Read on........ What a GREAT idea! Fun with the ACLU...... Wanna have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD thisyear. As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of thisholiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN, card to brighten uptheir dark, sad, little world. Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it Here's the Address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's Not the ChristianWay, you know!) ACLU 125 Broad Street 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 So spend39 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them thatthere is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". . . . It's a Christmas Tree evenin the fields!! And pass this on to your total email lists. We really want to communicatewith the ACLU! They really DESERVE us!!

Spirit & Life
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63) Volume 01, Number 46 | Friday, Dec. 15, 2006
......................	WWW.hli.org
Setting the Record Straight on Mary The new movie that debuted on December 1st, The Nativity Story, has received many positive reviews around the country already and also a fair amount of attacks by the standard group of village atheists. Criticisms notwithstanding, the movie certainly has many redeeming qualities to it including its portrayal of Joseph and the touching scene of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, but at the same time I feel it necessary to correct the record about its presentation of Mary. More to the point, twenty centuries of theological reflection on the Virgin Mary have been effectively glossed over in the movie, and we have been given someone's private interpretation of Mary's role in salvation history which does not match the public record of historical Christianity. The Catholic Church has made it clear from the beginning that we do not understand Jesus as a historical and theological figure without Mary, and so a Nativity story that gets Mary wrong also skews our understanding of Jesus. First and foremost, any portrayal of Mary as giving birth in pain is simply contrary to the Christian Church's long tradition of Mary as virginal before, during and after birth. In this view, Her intact physical integrity during birth was accompanied by a psychic integrity that admitted of no pains during childbirth in any form. That may be a surprise to some, but it is nonetheless the historical Christian view of this event. The movie's portrayal of Her childbirth is thus not the Church's mainstream understanding and qualifies as a strictly private interpretation of the event. In fact, the movie had a chance to contrast the painful childbirth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth with the miraculous birth of Jesus to Mary, and it missed the perfect opportunity to provoke a good theological debate! Biblical Christians should know that there is a Scriptural reason for this doctrine. The virtually unanimous opinion of the Fathers of the Church in the first six centuries was that Mary is the "New Eve," the necessary counterpart to Christ, the New Adam (cf. Rom 5:12-14). Just as the old Eve collaborated in the sin of Adam, so the New Eve, with the New Adam, reverses the original disobedience and undoes the curse brought upon the human race by the first sinners. That same curse also brought about the grim consequence of labor pains for all of Eve's daughters (cf. Gen 3:16), but the New Eve who broke the curse was not subject to its dictates. Secondly, Mary was not an immature adolescent as she is portrayed in the movie. The director of the movie, Catherine Hardwicke, intended to portray Her as such in order to make her more "real" to teens. That is fine as an evangelistic motive, but depicting Her in a quasi-feminist tizzy against her father's authority when he addresses the delicate subject of pre-marital relations is simply inaccurate to the historical record and doesn't help kids to take Her as a role model. The immaculate Mary's passions were first and foremost totally consecrated to the Lord and without the slightest disorder in any sense; she is not your typical teen in western society. She is the teen Mother of the Messiah, the perfect role model for all kids and adults alike. Not only would it not have entered the mind of the All Pure Mary to have pre-marital relations, She could not have had a fit of rebellion against Her father's legitimate authority that concretized God's Will for Her. This presentation of Mary is quintessentially Hollywood and reflects neither historical Christianity nor even the Biblical evidence. It is also a reflection of the Protestant view that Mary is just another person who happened to follow Jesus. No, Mary is the Mother of God, perfectly pure in every respect and, even as a teenager dedicated heart, mind, soul and strength to God's Plan of salvation. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me as you say." (Lk 1:38) Let the historical record speak for itself. Sincerely Yours in Christ, Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer President, Human Life International

THE ANNUNCIATION
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT

3. Your Own Recollection.
Have you learnt how to speak with God in the solitude of the sanctuary of your soul? Examine your interior and exterior life and see how frequently the latter interferes with the former. See if you love retirement, or do you rather pine for the outside world? Examine your visits and conversations. Are they frivolous?, against charity?, dissipated? Do you keep recollected everywhere? At home, in your amusements and relaxations? Do you give the necessary importance to your monthly recollection, to your yearly Retreat? Do you make use of them for your spiritual advancement? Do you look forward to those sacred days?
Rigorously put right any faulty attitude in this regard. You should often take stock of your interior life: any increase or decrease in it should be carefully watched.

THE ANNUNCIATION
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT

2. Mary A Model.
How She loved retirement in Her little house!
Nobody sees Her. No one is aware of what She is doing. But God is pleased with that recollection and there He goes to meet Her. The Angel does not appear in the street, in the squares, not even publicly in the Temple but only in the solitude and retirement of Nazareth. It is there that Mary feels Herself to be wholly and exclusively God's and God is wholly Her's. There, without witnesses, the great and intimate communications between God and Mary take place. There the great mystery of the Incarnation is brought about. Her retirement is definite. If She goes out of Her home, it is for the sake of charity, as at the Visitation, or in a spirit of obedience, as when She goes to Bethlehem, to Egypt, or to the Temple of Jerusalem. She would never indulge in touring for recreation or as a mere pastime.
Watch Her in the street and see Her interior recollection as shown in Her demeanor, in Her eyes. Be present at the visits She makes, mark Her actions. Attend to Her conversations, listen to the words that fall from Her mouth. Convinced that She is God's Temple, She is not carried away by social life: even in the midst of the world, She never abandons Her interior recollection. Look at Her, busy at home. Even in those days when the work is most pressing She knows how to sanctify it in the presence of God, whose sight She never loses. Everything helps to increase the intensity of Her already intense interior life.

Meditation 20

THE ANNUNCIATION
OUR LADY'S RETIREMENT

1. A Life of Recollection.
Such is the life of the one who says goodbye to everything external and makes use of it only in so far as it is indispensable for his interior life. How little we understand the interior life! What a confusion of ideas prevail when we believe that what matters is to work much, to do much, with a good intention of course, but only externally, without giving proper importance to the real life of our soul, namely, to the interior life. An external work will never be fruitful, either for you or for others, if it is not well grounded on the interior life. Nobody can give what he does not possess. And how could you give a life of fervor and sanctity to others, if you do not have it yourself? God gives Himself to souls only in retirement and recollection. His voice, says the Holy Scripture, is like a murmur of a soft breeze. In the tumult of external occupations, that Voice is not heard. That is why nobody is so keen on promoting that din and tumult of external things as the devil, who thus can silence the Voice of God.
Moreover, virtue flourishes like plants in a green-house, well protected against the rigors of the weather. How can virtue grow in the midst of the noise of worldly bustle?

OUR LADY AT PRAYER

4. Your Own Prayer.
In front of this sublime model, reflect:
a) how necessary prayer is for you. Your passions, your sins, your imperfections and miseries ceaselessly remind you of this necessity;
b) what fruit would you reap if you were a soul of prayer. Your communication with God, your relishing the things of God, your perfection and sanctity depend on your prayer;
c) how do you pray and how ought you to pray in the presence of such a model. Consider your want of fervor, your inattention, your want of composure, your tiredness and sloth, your excuses to shorten , or perhaps drop, your prayer when you most need it;
d) see how you say your vocal prayers such as the Little Office, the Rosary and the rest.
Implore a great spirit of prayer. Through the prayers of holy souls entreat the Lord to grant the world many children of Mary.

OUR LADY AT PRAYER

3. Why She Prays.
She prays because prayer is not only useful but necessary. She needed it not for Herself, neither did Christ; yet the prayer of Jesus and the prayer of Mary go on without interruption. The first time that the Gospels speak of Mary, they introduce Her praying. It was during Her prayer that She received the visit from the Angel. The last time the Evangelists mention Her, She is portrayed in the Supper Room teaching the Apostles how to pray, preparing them to receive in a prayerful way the Holy Spirit. Mary begins Her life praying and ends it in prayer. What an example God has given us in Mary! Moreover, it was through prayer that She prepared to become the Mother of the Messias. The holy work of the Incarnation is pivoted around Mary's prayer.

OUR LADY AT PRAYER

2. What She Prays for.
Later on Jesus would teach us that we must ask for the Kingdom of God and its justice and this is exactly what Mary is asking for: that the Savior come, that God send the Messias, that the Lord hasten the hour of Redemption. And She asks it with such fervor that God does not know how to refuse. Mary's prayer anticipates the happy hour. Remember the wedding feast at Cana: Christ said there that His hour had not yet arrived. But through the intercession of Mary He anticipates it and works the miracle. Think of God advancing the hour when He will send His Son on to earth. In the same way as He advances the hour of the first miracle, He anticipates the hour of Redemption on the Cross, the hour of His Resurrection, all in response to Mary's request.

Feast Day of St Juan Diego (Cuauhtlatoatzin)

(1474-1548).

Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the event of Guadalupe, "El Nican Mopohua" (written in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano), give some information on the life of the saint and the apparitions.

Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley.

When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego, asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was true. On 12 December, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as "proof". When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac.

With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus.

Much deeper than the "exterior grace" of having been "chosen" as Our Lady's "messenger", Juan Diego received the grace of interior enlightenment and from that moment, he began a life dedicated to prayer and the practice of virtue and boundless love of God and neighbour. He died in 1548 and was buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. He was beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Guadalupe, Mexico City.

The miraculous image, which is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shows a woman with native features and dress. She is supported by an angel whose wings are reminiscent of one of the major gods of the traditional religion of that area. The moon is beneath her feet and her blue mantle is covered with gold stars. The black girdle about her waist signifies that she is pregnant. Thus, the image graphically depicts the fact that Christ is to be "born" again among the peoples of the New World, and is a message as relevant to the "New World" today as it was during the lifetime of Juan Diego.

[From 'Vatican News']

Opening Mass Prayer

Lord God,
through Saint Juan Diego
You made known the love of
Our Lady of Guadalupe
towards You people.
Grant by his intercession
that we who follow the
counsel of Mary, Our Mother,
may strive continually to do Your will.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Meditation 19

THE ANNUNCIATION -
OUR LADY AT PRAYER

1. How She Prays.
Moved by holy curiosity peep through the little window of the home in Nazareth and you will find Mary at prayer. What a sight! Admire Her external demeanor. No exaggerations. No dramatic attitudes. Her hands joined or crossed on Her breast. Perhaps Her forehead touches the ground for She is prostrate in adoration. Her eyes lowered in modest recollection or raised to the Heavens towards the Mansions above.

See Her interior fervor! No distractions, inopportune thoughts, tiredness, lukewarmness, or annoyance. Look at Her well, for She is the model of prayer. The angels in ecstasy joyfully witness Her prayer. God is pleased with Her, He communes with Her, gives Her an increase of grace, grants favors to the world in response to the prayers of Mary. Could you not learn how to copy some of your Mother's fervor?

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE ESPOUSAL OF OUR LADY

3. Practical Conclusion.
Strengthen your trust in God. Ask pardon for your hesitation, timidity. Never doubt that although you do not see the aim of the trials and tribulations sent you by the Lord, nevertheless it is all for the best. Do not insist that every detail of the divine plan in your regard should be made known to you. Allow yourself to be led even when you think everything is just the contrary of what it ought to be. See how St. Joseph becomes more virginal the closer he approaches Mary. And do not forget that to look at Mary, to approach Her, to be united with Her, will be also for you a source of purity, an increase of chastity, an increase of your love for virginity.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE ESPOUSAL OF OUR LADY

2. The Virginal Union.

But God, for whom nothing impossible, found a way out. His solution was the virginal union of Mary and Joseph. Mary should not remain alone nor should She bear a Son without being betrothed. The world, having no idea about the miraculous conception brought about by the Holy Spirit, might have punished Mary for adultery, but the wisdom of God by giving Her a spouse, safeguards the honor of Mary, whilst at the same time through a virginal betrothal Her virginity is safeguarded. How well God does things!

How infinite is His wisdom. And how masterful His providence. It is madness to insist that everything should go according to our plans, measures and time-tables, disregarding altogether whatever God may have designed for us.

Contemplate now these two virginal spouses. St. Joseph was chosen by the priests because amongst all those who aspired to the hand of Mary he was virginal. Poetical tradition says that the Lord caused Joseph's rod to blossom with lilies after it had been placed in the Ark of the Covenant. St. Joseph had made no vow of virginity, such a vow being unknown in his day but certainly Our Blessed Lady on the very same day of Her espousals would have informed Joseph of the vow She had taken. Then St. Joseph admiring the pure virtue of the Virgin and not wanting to lag behind would, in the footsteps of his spouse, also by vow consecrate his virginity to God. It is sweet to think that it was Joseph who through Mary after Her made the first vow of virginity. Joseph immediately realized that his destiny was to be the guardian of the virginal purity of Mary. There was a veil over the Ark of the Covenant warding off the curious glances of the bystanders. That veil was an image of Joseph who hid and guarded the great mystery that was enclosed in the Ark of the New Testament, Mary.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

MEDITATION 18

THE ESPOUSAL OF OUR LADY

Traditionally Our Lady is believed to have remained in the Temple from the age of three until She was fifteen, when, according to the Jewish custom She was betrothed by order and arrangements of the priests to St. Joseph. Since everything that Mary did cannot but be a matter of instruction for us, let us today see what we can learn from Her at this moment of Her life.

1. Trust in God.
This is the first lesson. Inspired by God, Our Lady had in His honor made a vow of virginity. By this vow She had renounced the very possibility of marriage and this only to conform to the will of God. Now in the name of God the priests tell Her that the divine will is that She should get married. What would anyone else have done in such a case? How difficult it is for us to divest ourselves of our opinions and especially, of course, when we are perfectly convinced that we are right.
See, instead, the most prudent behavior of our Heavenly Mother. Nobody could be more sure than She that Her vow of virginity was from God. Nor could She doubt that, humanly speaking, marriage and the vow were absolutely incompatible. What could She do? Should She insist on Her point and disregard that of the priests? She obeys and trusts. This is the solution. A blind obedience and boundless trust in God. It was His work. It was He who allowed the obstacles and the contradictions. It was for Him to straighten them out. What an example for us! A difficult one, no doubt, but beautiful, sublime, pleasing to God. Do you not instead argue and doubt and pass judgment regarding the orders and suggestions of your superiors? See how little you resemble Mary in this regard.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF MARY
Continued

3. You and Virginal Purity.
Meditate on the greatness of this virtue so that you may be induced to thank God for the love that He has put in your heart for it. To be a virgin is to be an angel on earth, but even with more merit than they. The angels are virgins: they cannot be otherwise because they are not of flesh. But for you, burdened with flesh and a corruptible body, saddled with all concupiscence in the midst of a corrupt world, with a constant struggle against the passions which the devil is fanning in you and around you, yet inspite of all to be pure, to be chaste, to be a virgin; all this although it may sound as an exaggeration is more than angelic. A pure soul is the image of Mary, is her faithful portrait. Such a soul is the spouse of God.
God's predilection for virginity goes to the extent of loving virginal souls as His spouses on whom He lavishes divine gifts, for whom He reserves such a singular reward which only a virgin can enjoy. In fact, they are the bodyguard of the Virgin of Virgins. They follow the Immaculate Lamb in close attendance, singing the hymn of virginity which they alone may sing. Glory to this virtue. Glory to Mary who taught us the value of virginity. Let this enthusiasm for virginity and for the Virgin of virgins encourage us in our difficulties, strengthen us to practice self-denial and penance and fervor, so that Christian purity may till the end of our life blossom within us without ever failing. So let it be, dear Mother Mary.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

2. The Value of Virginity.
From this you can deduce what this mysterious virtue means for God and for Mary. Although without any counsel or command to follow, without either any example to guide Her, Mary seems to guess the value of virginity in God's eyes; and realizing that it gives Him pleasure and glory decides to embrace it. She could see that this virtue, unknown as it was in Her world, would not be appreciated; that, indeed, all Her companions and even Her very relations would deem Her dishonored.
She foresaw that to be a virgin would draw down on Her sorrow, reproaches, rudeness and contempt. However, She does not hesitate. God wants it, that suffices. The rest She will leave in the hands of God. What an example of detachment and generosity for us, who are always complaining, we who are so reluctant to obey that at times we even refuse Him. So half-hearted is our surrender, so calculating are we when it is a matter of making a heavy sacrifice.
But God was already preparing Her reward. God cannot be beaten in generosity. When we are generous with Him, He overwhelms us with new graces and favors. Mary thought that by that pledge She was renouncing to be the Mother of God, that as She later on told the angel the divine maternity was not possible for Her. And yet the reward of that vow of virginity was none other than that God appoints Her to be His Mother. How great is God in His rewards, but especially how generously He rewards virginity and purity. How great must be the value of this virtue when it so attracts and enamors the Heart of God!

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

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AmericanPapist: Not Your Average Catholic!

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

Her Virginity. We might end our meditation on the Presentation of Our Lady by thinking of Her virginity, since it was on that occasion that She made Her vow of virginity to God.

1. The Vow of Virginity of Our Lady.
It is not dogmatically certain that She made this vow, for we are told only that She was a Virgin, before, during and after Her giving forth the Child Jesus. However, with many doctors and holy fathers, the Church admits that Mary chose to be united with God through this vow. Tradition tells us that She uttered this vow when She was presented in the Temple at the age of three. Contemplate that scene as best you can. Mary in the Temple, in the presence of God surrounded by choirs of admiring angels. The angels do not know what is going to happen. Yet they guess something great is about to take place, since God is all intent. Then She opens Her lips and utters Her vow of virginity. What a marvelous sight! Hear the canticles intoned by the angels in praise of this young maid. Picture God's joy on hearing that vow. Innumerable graces were poured on Our Lady, at that moment.
How many sins are committed in the world! How much He is offended, how deeply His Heart is wounded. However, the joy and complaisance of God in the vow of Mary was much greater than all the sorrow that the sins of the world could cause Him. She alone by this action gave God enough glory to cancel out all the loss of glory destroyed by sinners with their horrible sins.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

4. Your Own Life in The Temple.
Remember how Our Lord Jesus Christ once cast out from the Temple those who were profaning it. Although His goodness and kindness were so great, yet on this occasion He purified that Mansion of Prayer, the House of God, with energetic wrath and a holy, burning zeal, even taking a scourge in His hand to purify it the better.
The House of God! How well was that term understood by Our Blessed Lady! How worthily She lived it! When you are in the Temple do you also imitate Our Lady? Or do you rather imitate those who caused such displeasure to Our Lord? Have you nothing to reprove yourself with as regards your reverence towards the House of God or in your way of speaking with Him? Do you honestly try hard to fight against voluntary distractions?
Think, moreover, that there is another Temple where above all God wishes to dwell, to speak with you and to be spoken to by you. It is the Temple of your heart. He has condescended to be in those temples scattered over the earth, that He might establish His Mansion in the living temples of our souls. It is there that He achieves His communion with us. Have you mastered the art of withdrawing into the solitude of the sanctuary of your soul, there to speak with God? Do you always behave with the dignity due to the Mansion of God that you have in your heart? Derive from Mary a greater devotion to the shrine of your soul. Often visit Jesus and His churches and tabernacles; but do not forget to visit Him much oftener in the Temple of your Heart!

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LADY
Continued

3. A Life of Labor.
Hers was a life of labor in God and for God. She had always worked for God; but now in the Temple whatever She did was to be exclusively for God. See the little maiden all intent on the cleanliness and tidiness of the things used in the temple services. What love and devotion accompanied Her work. Whatever we do for God, even when it is very small, has an immense value. There is nothing small in the service of the Almighty. Also you must learn how to raise all your labor to God so that you always grow in love and merit in His presence. Then nothing will go unrewarded.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]