Be with us Mary....

    

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/62135669832952670/                                http://hicatholicmom.blogspot.in/2011/06/birth-of-st-john-baptist.html

St. Luke gives a very vivid picture of the birth of St. John the Baptist in Luke chapter 1. What I find interesting here is the life of his mother Elizabeth before and after the visitation of Mary in their summer house in Ein Karem.
Verse 24 says :

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

 Why did Elizabeth remain in seclusion , I wonder. Was she afraid to meet her neighbours? Was she so overwhelmed by the great gift of God growing in her womb that she could not or would not want to meet anyone? Or was it just that she wanted to reflect on the mercies of God and was remaining in seclusion?
Well, once Mary comes into the scene, there is a great change happening in Elizabth. First of all, on hearing the greeting of Mary, both the child in the womb and Elizabeth herself are filled with the Holy Spirit.

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,  where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 

What a change is this ! The woman who was silent and in seclusion for the past 5 -6 months, suddenly speaks out so loudly!!Then, after having Mary with her for three months, the make over that has come upon Elizabeth is amazing. Then when the baby was born, we find her sharing her joy with the neigbours.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.  Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,  but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.  He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.  All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

http://readingacts.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/luke-168-god-will-visit-his-people/
Let us pray to Mary to visit our home too and to remain with us so that we too shall enjoy the fellowship of God's people. 

Basilica of Annunciation, Nazareth.

Church Of Annunciation, Nazareth

The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is a modern Catholic church built over the remains of Byzantine and Crusader churches. It incorporates the cave, known as the Grotto of the Annunciation 

Vicka (of Medjugorje)  had her apparition on August 20, 2013. in front of this statue of the Virgin Mary in the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth. http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/9611/mary-was-joyful-in-return-to-nazareth   

 http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/9611/mary-was-joyful-in-return-to-nazareth/

       

http://www.mussner.info/mary_of_nazareth.html
“Maria of Nazareth”, patron Saint of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, is a fine representation of the Holy Virgin Mary and was created by the sculptor Gregor Mussner of the studio Mussner G. Vincenzo in Ortisei, Italy.
The Bl. Virgin is represented while descending the steps, visiting her cousin Elizabeth (Luc. 1,39). Her dress shows all her grandiosity:
Queen of the sea: in the green emerald colors of her dress;
Queen of the land: in the brown color of her cape around her waist;
Queen of heaven: in the light blue of the veil around her waist;
On the head: a silver diadem (tiara) with 12 stars, enriched with diamonds;
The hands: the left showing towards her breast to indicate that Jesus is in her heart and she gives us Jesus;
The right hand turned towards the people to say: walk with me.
The statue carved in occasion of the “Jubilee 2000” to consecrate (dedicate-devote) the world to Mary, was crowned by the Bl. Pope John Paul II and visited 35 nations in all 5 continents and in many parish communities.
The statue continues to visit many parishes, inviting the people to a renewed devotion to the Mother of Jesus.

The lower church of the Basilica of the Annunciation. The
apse of this fifth century Byzantine church is said to be
built in the Grotto of the Annunciation.

This statue of the Virgin Mary adorns the grounds of the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. 

Front of the Church. The Gate with the Jerusalem Cross.

The Church bells chimed for the Angelus...,

Standing in front of the Church of Annunciation

I said my Angelus with a grateful heart.........!!!

O Maria of Nazareth ,My Mother.........

 How I love you..., My Star of the Ocean !

Lord of the World - A 1907 Dystopian Novel.

I'm intrigued. Pope Francis has quoted from the 1907 dystopian novel “Lord of the World,” by Robert Hugh Benson,a story of the anti-Christ.Here is what I have gathered from my search for the Book in the Google! 

Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson's Lord of the World is a novel about the Antichrist, who will tempt Christians to apostasy before Christ's Second Coming. It describes the final battle in the supernatural war for souls that has been fought continually both in heaven and on earth from the time of the Fall and will conclude with the general judgment; thereupon will follow the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. As we will see, before creating his fictional account, Msgr. Benson carefully explored the various passages on the endtimes included in Scripture and the teachings of the Church Fathers as background for this tale of the Antichrist.

Like all fictional classics, it offers new layers of meaning on each rereading, revealing ever more clearly the author's message to his readers. 

The fictional 90-year-old Mr. Templeton recounts to the main protagonist of the book, Fr. Percy Franklin, what has transpired from 1904 up to our own time:

http://www.catholicity.com/mccloskey/lord-of-the-world.html

Described by Fulton Sheen as one of the three greatest depictions of the advent of the demonic in world literature, Lord of the World is science fiction with a difference.http://www.sacramentals.org/otherbooks2.htm

From the Prologue of  Lord of the World 

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14021/pg14021.html

"Prophesy, sir," said Percy suddenly. "I mean about religion."

Mr. Templeton inhaled another long breath from his instrument. Then again he took up his discourse.

"Briefly," he said, "there are three forces—Catholicism, Humanitarianism, and the Eastern religions. About the third I cannot prophesy, though I think the Sufis will be victorious. Anything may happen; Esotericism is making enormous strides—and that means Pantheism; and the blending of the Chinese and Japanese dynasties throws out all our calculations. But in Europe and America, there is no doubt that the struggle lies between the other two. We can neglect everything else. And, I think, if you wish me to say what I think, that, humanly speaking, Catholicism will decrease rapidly now. It is perfectly true that Protestantism is dead. Men do recognise at last that a supernatural Religion involves an absolute authority, and that Private Judgment in matters of faith is nothing else than the beginning of disintegration. And it is also true that since the Catholic Church is the only institution that even claims supernatural authority, with all its merciless logic, she has again the allegiance of practically all Christians who have any supernatural belief left. There are a few faddists left, especially in America and here; but they are negligible. That is all very well; but, on the other hand, you must remember that Humanitarianism, contrary to all persons' expectations, is becoming an actual religion itself, though anti-supernatural. It is Pantheism; it is developing a ritual under Freemasonry; it has a creed, 'God is Man,' and the rest. It has therefore a real food of a sort to offer to religious cravings; it idealises, and yet it makes no demand upon the spiritual faculties. Then, they have the use of all the churches except ours, and all the Cathedrals; and they are beginning at last to encourage sentiment. Then, they may display their symbols and we may not: I think that they will be established legally in another ten years at the latest.

"Now, we Catholics, remember, are losing; we have lost steadily for more than fifty years. I suppose that we have, nominally, about one-fortieth of America now—and that is the result of the Catholic movement of the early twenties. In France and Spain we are nowhere; in Germany we are less. We hold our position in the East, certainly; but even there we have not more than one in two hundred—so the statistics say—and we are scattered. In Italy? Well, we have Rome again to ourselves, but nothing else; here, we have Ireland altogether and perhaps one in sixty of England, Wales and Scotland; but we had one in forty seventy years ago. Then there is the enormous progress of psychology—all clean against us for at least a century. First, you see, there was Materialism, pure and simple that failed more or less—it was too crude—until psychology came to the rescue. Now psychology claims all the rest of the ground; and the supernatural sense seems accounted for. That's the claim. No, father, we are losing; and we shall go on losing, and I think we must even be ready for a catastrophe at any moment."

"But—-" began Percy.

"You think that weak for an old man on the edge of the grave. Well, it is what I think. I see no hope. In fact, it seems to me that even now something may come on us quickly. No; I see no hope until—-"

Percy looked up sharply.

"Until our Lord comes back," said the old statesman.

Father Francis sighed once more, and there fell a silence.

* * * * *

"And the fall of the Universities?" said Percy at last.

"My dear father, it was exactly like the fall of the Monasteries under Henry VIII—the same results, the same arguments, the same incidents. They were the strongholds of Individualism, as the Monasteries were the strongholds of Papalism; and they were regarded with the same kind of awe and envy. Then the usual sort of remarks began about the amount of port wine drunk; and suddenly people said that they had done their work, that the inmates were mistaking means for ends; and there was a great deal more reason for saying it. After all, granted the supernatural, Religious Houses are an obvious consequence; but the object of secular education is presumably the production of something visible—either character or competence; and it became quite impossible to prove that the Universities produced either—which was worth having. The distinction between [Greek: ou] and [Greek: me] is not an end in itself; and the kind of person produced by its study was not one which appealed to England in the twentieth century. I am not sure that it appealed even to me much (and I was always a strong Individualist)—except by way of pathos—-"

"Yes?" said Percy.

"Oh, it was pathetic enough. The Science Schools of Cambridge and the Colonial Department of Oxford were the last hope; and then those went. The old dons crept about with their books, but nobody wanted them—they were too purely theoretical; some drifted into the poorhouses, first or second grade; some were taken care of by charitable clergymen; there was that attempt to concentrate in Dublin; but it failed, and people soon forgot them. The buildings, as you know, were used for all kinds of things. Oxford became an engineering establishment for a while, and Cambridge a kind of Government laboratory. I was at King's College, you know. Of course it was all as horrible as it could be—though I am glad they kept the chapel open even as a museum. It was not nice to see the chantries filled with anatomical specimens. However, I don't think it was much worse than keeping stoves and surplices in them."

"What happened to you?"

"Oh! I was in Parliament very soon; and I had a little money of my own, too. But it was very hard on some of them; they had little pensions, at least all who were past work. And yet, I don't know: I suppose it had to come. They were very little more than picturesque survivals, you know; and had not even the grace of a religious faith about them."

Percy sighed again, looking at the humorously reminiscent face of the old man. Then he suddenly changed the subject again.

"What about this European parliament?" he said.

The old man started.

"Oh!… I think it will pass," he said, "if a man can be found to push it. All this last century has been leading up to it, as you see. Patriotism has been dying fast; but it ought to have died, like slavery and so forth, under the influence of the Catholic Church. As it is, the work has been done without the Church; and the result is that the world is beginning to range itself against us: it is an organised antagonism— a kind of Catholic anti-Church. Democracy has done what the Divine Monarchy should have done. If the proposal passes I think we may expect something like persecution once more…. But, again, the Eastern invasion may save us, if it comes off…. I do not know…."

Percy sat still yet a moment; then he stood up suddenly.

"I must go, sir," he said, relapsing into Esperanto. "It is past nineteen o'clock. Thank you so much. Are you coming, father?"

Father Francis stood up also, in the dark grey suit permitted to priests, and took up his hat.

"Well, father," said the old man again, "come again some day, if I haven't been too discursive. I suppose you have to write your letter yet?"

Percy nodded.

"I did half of it this morning," he said, "but I felt I wanted another bird's-eye view before I could understand properly: I am so grateful to you for giving it me. It is really a great labour, this daily letter to the Cardinal-Protector. I am thinking of resigning if I am allowed."

"My dear father, don't do that. If I may say so to your face, I think you have a very shrewd mind; and unless Rome has balanced information she can do nothing. I don't suppose your colleagues are as careful as yourself."

Percy smiled, lifting his dark eyebrows deprecatingly.

"Come, father," he said.

The rise of the anti-Christ to power. Pope Bendedict XVI recommended this book when speaking at the Catholic University of Milan. He recommended this book when George H. W. Bush called for a "New World Order"
http://www.lulu.com/shop/hugh-benson/lord-of-the-world/ebook/product-17539212.html

* * * * *

Once again before he moved there came a long cry from overhead, startlingly beautiful and piercing, and, as he lifted his eyes from the glimpse of the steady river which alone had refused to be transformed, he saw high above him against the heavy illuminated clouds, a long slender object, glowing with soft light, slide northwards and vanish on outstretched wings. That musical cry, he told himself, was the voice of one of the European line of volors announcing its arrival in the capital of Great Britain.

"Until our Lord comes back," he thought to himself; and for an instant the old misery stabbed at his heart. How difficult it was to hold the eyes focussed on that far horizon when this world lay in the foreground so compelling in its splendour and its strength! Oh, he had argued with Father Francis an hour ago that size was not the same as greatness, and that an insistent external could not exclude a subtle internal; and he had believed what he had then said; but the doubt yet remained till he silenced it by a fierce effort, crying in his heart to the Poor Man of Nazareth to keep his heart as the heart of a little child.
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/2861/father_percy_vs_mister_francis_apostasy_and_liturgy_in_ilord_of_the_worldi.aspx#.UzT8caiSxE4

An early edition of "Lord of the World," and Fr. Robert Hugh Benson in 1913

Reverting myself to Nazareth where Annuciation took place...

Leonardo da Vinci: Annunciation” http://www.truelove.org/ucbooks/Historical_Christ/index.htm

Reflecting on the second Joyful Mystery compels me to take a step backward. Since this is March, with the Feast of Annuciation round the corner, I thought I'll ponder a bit on the first Joyuful Mystery, and once again I'll make a mental tour to the Holy Land, to remember the time I was there.

 Just yesterday, I heard a story about Zacchaeus - It goes like this. Sometime after meeting Jesus, whenever Zacchaeus felt tensed or anxious with the daily monotony of life, he used to sneak out of the house.By the time he returns after his long nocturnal outings, he would look happy,calm and serene!  His wife becoming suspicious, followed him one night , and found him standing beneath the sycamore tree with his arms around the trunk of the tree. When his wife asked him why he was doing that, he replied, "This is where Love found me". 

Like Zacchaeus, I too need to return to those moments when I too was blessed to make a short tour around the Holy places where all the great events in the Holy Bible were incarnated.....! 

So today let me go to the place where the Annunciation took place.
Before that I'll post a few snaps from my album to help my memory .

First,  the Greek Orthodox Church with Mary's Well

  

  

Church of Visitation - Ein Karem

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_the_Visitation_IMG_0670.JPG

The Rock behind which Elizabeth hid John in the Church of the Visitation

A huge stone set in a niche is known as the Stone of Hiding. According to an ancient tradition, the stone opened to provide a hiding place for the baby John during Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents, an event depicted in a painting on the wall.

To reach the church we have to pass a spring where Mary is reputed to have quenched her thirst, before she climbed up the hill to Elizabeth’s summer home.

Mary's Spring,   Ein Kerem

    A Holy spring which was the center of the ancient village. According to tradition, virgin Mary stopped here to drink while visiting John the Baptist's parents.  http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/MarySpring.html

"And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

                                     http://www.itsgila.com/highlightsmary.htm 


This month I am to meditate/ reflect / ponder on the Second Joyful Mystery - the "Visitation" ! Well, that was an inspired message I received from a holy priest. He asked me to make Bl. Mother  my friend, and to ask her to visit my home too, just as she visited St. Elizabeth....
 I thought I'll meditatate on Ein Karem today,  .This is the village mentioned in the Bible,  -  "Mary went into the hill country, to a city of Judah"(Luke 1). Ein Karem means "Spring of the Vineyard"

Ein Karem  is a village on the West side of Jerusalem. Though there are five important Churches in this area I think I will concentrate  the Church of Visitation.

Mosaic on the exterior of the Ein Karem Church of the Visitation, located 5 miles (8 kilometers) west of the center of Jerusalem

http://www.truelove.org/ucbooks/Historical_Christ/index.htm
  The Visitation Church is a Fransiscan Church, designed by Antonio Barluzzi, the Italian architect, built in 1955. The ancient santuary was built on a rock declivity, venerated as the "stone in which St. John the baptist was concealed according to the Protoevangelium of St. James.This was the place where the summer house of St.Elizabeth and St. Zechariah was located.   
  There is a crypt which marks the house, where Mary greeted Elizabeth, and there is an upper chapel dedicated to Mary. In the crypt, there is a grotto which has a well; its spring came into being at the time Mary uttered the great "Magnificat" , when Elizabeth greeted her.



There is a painting on the wall which depicts this "meeting". 
Outside in the main court yard there is a statue of Mary and Elizabeth with the backdrop of the wall where the Magnificat is scripted in 57 languages . 
        By describing this episode in the Gospel, St. Luke wants us to grasp how in this 'joyful mystery'  the grace of Incarnation, after filling Mary, is being imparted to the neighbours; how the joy of Salvation is brought to Elizabeth's house. From the very moment when God became Man, in His very embryonic stage itself, He draws Mary to "rise up" and to go "in haste" to give the world its Saviour!!! Bl.John Paul II says that Mary's visit to the hill country , to the city of  Judah "is a prelude to Jesus' Mission", and it also shows Mary's readiness to cooperate with the Creator in bringing Redemption to the world.When in a joyful burst Mary greeted Elizabeth, lo the child within Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy because of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And Elizabeth too experiences the messianic joy and she too utters the mystery revealed instantly by the presence of the Messiah:  " Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb..." 
Pope John Paul II explains the Catechesis of Visitation in "VISITATION IS PRELUDE TO JESUS’ MISSION" 
http://www.passionistnuns.org/Saints/StElizabethVisitation/index.htm

In view of Mary's excellence, Elizabeth also understands what an honor her visit is for her: "And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Lk 1:43). With the expression "my Lord", Elizabeth recognizes the royal, indeed messianic, dignity of Mary's Son. In the Old Testament this expression was in fact used to address the king (cf. 1 Kgs 1:13,20,21 etc.) and to speak of the Messiah King(Ps 110:1).   The angel had said of Jesus: "The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David" (Lk 1:32). "Filled with the Holy Spirit", Elizabeth has the same insight. Later, the paschal glorification of Christ will reveal the sense in which this title is to be understood, that is, a transcendent sense (cf. Jn 20 28; Acts 2:34-36).

In its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) , #57, the Second Vatican Council states: 

“This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death; first when Mary, arising in haste to go to visit Elizabeth, is greeted by her as blessed because of her belief in the promise of salvation and the precursor leaped with joy in the womb of his mother.” 

 In Redemptoris Mater, #12, Pope John Paul II wrote: 

“Moved with charity, therefore, Mary goes to the house of her kinswoman.... While every word of Elizabeth is filled with meaning, her final words would seem to have a fundamental importance: ‘And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her from the Lord’ (Lk 1:45). These words can be linked with the title ‘full of grace’ of the angel’s greeting. Both of these texts reveal an essential Mariological content, namely, the truth about Mary who has become really present in the mystery of Christ because she ‘has believed,’ the fullness of grace announced by the angel means the gift of God himself. Mary’s faith proclaimed by Elizabeth indicated how the Virgin of Nazareth responded to this gift.

The Visitation
by Pope John Paul II. http://www.madonnahouse.org/restoration/2011/05/the_visitation.html

Even before Jesus was born, Mary was a vehicle through whom people encountered him.When Elizabeth greeted Mary, she (Elizabeth) in no way separated Mother and Son. Rather did she associate them intimately, for she said, and blessed is the fruit of your womb (Lk 1:43)….

Let us reflect: What is the meaning of Mary’s presence in that house in the hill country of Judea? Was she there only through kindness and thoughtfulness for her kinswoman who had conceived a son in her old age?Was it purely a human act of assistance?No. It was a much more significant and spiritually fruitful presence, because Mary brought her cousin the incomparable gifts of grace, joy, and light, associating the future Precursor with this bearing of gifts to his mother.

The moment Mary’s greeting sounded in her ears, the old woman not only felt the child leap in her womb, but she was also filled with the Holy Spirit and felt strengthened.Nor was that all: through illumination of that Spirit who had penetrated her, she above all acquired the superior capacity to see the very Mother of her Lord in her young cousin.

My Prayer: Bl. Mother, come into my home too, as you went to your cousin Elizabeth's. Just as you brought the elderly woman, "the incomporable gifts of grace, joy, and light" ..., so too bring to my home too those same gifts so that the darkness within the recesses, nooks and corners of this home be transformed in the dazzling Light of your Blessed Presence. Thus illuminated, let your presence make it possible for the Holy Spirit to penetrate into our very being with His seven fold Gifts, so that we too shall be strengthened, and acquire the sublime Wisdom of God. Aren't you the Lady Wisdom prefigured in the Old Testament? 
Come Mary, come. 
Be with us Mary along the way, guide every step we take.......

'The Holy Cloak Prayer' of St. Joseph - Some intersting notes I found in the web!

 

And as the Blessed Mother told Venerable Drageda: "You must see to it that you continually increase your love and devotion to this great saint. In all your necessities, you must avail yourself of his protection; under all circumstances, you must encourage as many people as possible toward this devotion, for indeed, whatever my devoted spouse requests of Heaven, the Almighty will grant on earth."

He to whom the tree belongs has a right to its fruit -- and so in that simple message is the anointing. He who clothed Jesus now seeks to spread his cloak over us.

It is natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage, and defend, the Church of Jesus Christ. - Pope Leo XIII, Quamquam Pluries
http://princeofthechurch.yolasite.com/holy-cloak-of-st-joseph.php

St Joseph who is always present mystically with Jesus and Mary in every holy hour. In the Old Testament times he was mystically present represented by the Cloud and Our Lady by the fire when the Divine Son as the Divine Word spoke out of the midst of the Divine Manifestation of God in cloud, smoke and fire. The God of Sinai is this Divine Son. The same one that gave us the Torah himself took on flesh and came as a man and then as God and Man he also became the Eucharistic bread and wine for us.

Joseph in eternity was also one of the four cherubim in the Garden of Eden- who were represented in the Temple by the two golden cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant and the two large olive wood cherubim that stood in the holy of holies either side of the Ark. The two on the Ark represent Jesus and Mary. Joseph is represented by the male olive wood cherubim.

Wednesday is the traditional Catholic day in honour of St Joseph which is linked to the fourth day of the Creation week where the two great lights appear. This of course makes us think of the vision of the Patriarch Joseph of the sun, moon and stars. There are of course many valid interpretations at the mystical level of reading scriptures. For example the Sun can represent the Divine Will. It can also represent the Messiah son of Joseph who is “the sun of righteousness who rises with healing in his wings”. Symbolised as a created mystical Sun it can represent Joseph himself. Joseph is so surrounded by the rays of the uncreated Mystical Sun that he becomes the created mystical Sun or icon of the Divine Sun. As Abba (Daddy/Father) to Jesus he is the created icon of the Father. It is in this manner that joseph is referred to as the Shadow of the Father.
The wonderful little prayer book entitled “The Holy Cloak in honour of St Joseph” has a beautiful prayer that says:
“O Glorious Patriarch St Joseph, prostrate, before you and your Divine Son, Jesus, I offer you with heartfelt devotion, this precious treasury of prayers, being ever mindful of the numerous virtues which adorned your sacred person. In you, O glorious patriarch, was fulfilled the dream of your precursor the first Joseph, who indeed seemed to have been sent by god to prepare the way for your presence on this Earth. In fact, not only were you surrounded by the shining splendour of the rays of the Divine Sun, but you were splendidly reflected in the brilliant light of the mystic moon, the Blessed Virgin Mary. O glorious Patriarch, if the example of the ancient Jacob, who personally went to congratulate his favourite son, who was exalted on the throne of Egypt, served to bring all his progeny there, should not the example of Jesus and Mary, who honoured you with their greatest respect and trust, serve to bring me, your devoted servant, to present you with this precious cloak in your honour...”

The full glories of St Joseph were not to be fully unveiled until the latter days according to St Isadore of Seville in the 8th century. St Joseph is the hidden saint. The new Testament calls him a Tzadik (A righteous man)- he is the hidden Tzadik who is the foster-father of the ultimate Tzadik the Messiah son of Joseph who would come riding on a donkey. The concept of Joseph ha Tzadik and the Hidden Tzadik as well as the Messiah son of Joseph is rich in Jewish mystical tradition. Joseph is present with us in each holy hour leading us in adoration with Our Lady to their Divine Son.

http://perpetualadoration13.blogspot.in/2010/12/st-joseph-and-perpetual-adoration.html

Virgo Fortis, "ply my heart to permeate with your Hope"

http://harksarmiento.wordpress.com/

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Revelation 21:2

"The LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.” Isaiah 14:32

It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.Is 4:6

Indeed, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her." Ps 87 :5

Among all these I sought a resting place;
I sought in whose territory I might lodge.
 “Then the Creator of all things gave me a commandment,
and the one who created me assigned a place for my tent.
And he said, ‘Make your dwelling in Jacob,
and in Israel receive your inheritance.’
From eternity, in the beginning, he created me,
and for eternity I shall not cease to exist.
 In the holy tabernacle I ministered before him,
and so I was established in Zion.
In the beloved city likewise he gave me a resting place,
and in Jerusalem was my dominion.
 So I took root in an honored people,
in the portion of the Lord, who is their inheritance.

Sirach 24 :7-12

I am the mother of beautiful love, of fear, of knowledge, and of holy hope; being eternal, I therefore am given to all my children, to those who are named by him.
[Sirach 24 : 18 foot note]
"What a marvelous echo the prophetic words about the new Jerusalem find in her wonderful existence as the Virgin of Israel: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."[Isaiah 61:10] With Christ, she sums up in herself all joys; she lives the perfect joy promised to the Church: Mater plena sanctae laetitiae[Mother full of Holy Joy]. And it is with good reason that her children on earth, turning to her who is the mother of hope and of grace, invoke her as the cause of their joy: Causa nostrae laetitiae."-Pope Paul VI in GAUDETE IN DOMINO

According to Christian tradition, Mary fell asleep on Mount Zion before she was assumed into Heaven. Dormition Abby, errected on Mount Zion, houses a statue of Mary sleeping.

The Second Vatican Council formally called Mary "Daughter of Zion" in the dogmatic constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium" (No. 52). There is  a rich Scriptural foundation for this. Mary illustrates the prophecies of the Old Testament that ascribed value to the eschatological role of woman as mother both of the Messiah and of the new people of God.The title Daughter of Zion evokes the great biblical symbolism of the Messianic Zion. Both at Cana and at Calvary (in John's Gospel), Mary represents not only her maternity and physical relationship with her son, but also her highly symbolic role of Woman and Mother of God's people. At Calvary, more than any other place in the fourth Gospel, Mary is "Mother Zion": her spiritual maternity begins at the foot of the cross.
As "Mother Zion," she not only welcomes and represents Israel, but the Church, the People of God of the New Covenant. At the foot of the cross, Mary is the mother of the new messianic people, of all of those who are one in Christ. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/shout-for-joy-o-daughter-zionDaughter of Zion is the personification of the city of Jerusalem. Zion was the name of the Jebusite citadel that later became the City of David. In the many texts of the Old Testament that speak of the Daughter of Zion, there is no real distinction to be made between a daughter of Zion and the city of Jerusalem itself.In the Old Testament, the title Virgin of Israel is the same as the Daughter of Zion. The image of the bride of the Lord is found in Hosea, Chapters 1-3: It reflects the infidelity of the people to their God.Jeremiah 3:3-4 speaks of prostitution and the infidelity of the bride. Virginity in the Old Testament is fidelity to the Covenant. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul speaks of the Church as a pure virgin. Here, virginity is the purity of faith.Throughout the Old Testament, it is in Zion-Jerusalem that God shall gather together all of his people. In Isaiah 35:10, the tribes of Israel shall gather in Zion. In Ezekiel 22:17-22, the prophet describes God’s purification of his people that shall take place “within” the walls of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem.

Virgo Fidelis,Virgin Most Faithful        http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/virgofidelis.html

Mary, offering the Son resting on her lap to the world, is depicted inside a heart-shaped medallion which bears the inscription, "Her heart is faithful" (2 Esdras 9), and, "Faithful woman" (1 Corinthians 7).  The real reason for Mary's title is illustrated in the image below which features the crucifixion.  Mary is indeed the "faithful woman."  She is standing at the foot of the cross, her heart pierced with a sword.  The scenes right and left of the crucifixion seem to be of allegorical meaning.  The scene to the left may well allude to Ariadne and Theseus, the woman's thread leading the man safely through the labyrinth of Knossos.  Faithfulness warrants safety and right direction in life.  On the other side, the figure lowered from the window on a rope reminds of David.  Michal, David's wife and Saul's daughter, let "David down through a window, and he made his escape in safety" (1 Samuel, 20:12).  Michal is the loving and faithful wife standing by her husband, protecting him from her father's wrath.  The following lemma is an invitation to unwavering fidelity:

"Be faithful unto death" (Revelation 2).

John Paul II on the virtues of Faith and Hope as seen in Mary, Mother of God.

On the virtue of Faith, the pontiff highlights three separate dimensions, referring to them as “the faith of Mary,” her “availability to receive the God’s Word and to fulfill it,” and that she is “a model of faith for all for the pastors of the Church.”
The faith of Mary is the “legacy of the faith of Israel, which in Mary has been ‘exceeded,’” he wrote, observing that in listening only to God’s word, “she conceived the Word – the Son, first spiritually, then physically.”
Her availability goes hand in hand “with being ‘poor in spirit’” noted the Blessed, adding that in her “persistent faith” she “never wavered,” and that she is truly a “Virgo fortis,” or “Brave Virgin.”

Looking to the virtue of Hope, Bl. John Paul II spoke of how St. Paul is a strong model, but that he was still a citizen of Rome, and because Mary had “no human connections, no human points of reference,” her hope “is more wonderful.”
“At the cross and especially later: with her hope she was holding the initial Church. And Her hope is deposited in the holy Church.”
Questioning to what extend we actively participate in Mary’s hope, the Blessed asked in his letter “Do we base ourselves fundamentally and exclusively on the grace of God? How do people feel after meeting us?”
Drawing attention to Mary’s optimism, he prayed “’Give me, Mother, your hope, ply my heart to permeate with Your hope.’”

http://www.dfwcatholic.org/personal-notes-underscore-john-paul-iis-marian-devotion-47085/.html

Yahweh, my Rock

http://pastorbowman.com/pictures/

Psalm 144:1-2

1-2 Blessed be God, my mountain,
who trains me to fight fair and well.
He’s the bedrock on which I stand,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight,
The high crag where I run for dear life,
while he lays my enemies low.[Msg]
My Steadfast Love and my Fortress, my High Tower and my Deliverer, my Shield and He in Whom I trust andtake refuge, Who subdues my people under me. [Amp]

http://www.myfaithworks.me/biblereading.htm

Yahweh, my God
You alone are my Rock
My ocean Crag !

To You alone do I run
For there isn't any other refuge
On this earth.

         The earthy crags and citadels
         Can only  make me 
          Drained and exasperated!
         Oh, those phony delusions!
       
              But You O Lord
            Are the sure Rock Foundation of my life.
           It is Your wounded Shoulder
           That alone has the Strength
            To bear my cross.

I praise and adore You
My Jesus, I thank You
For carrying me and my cross
Along this meandering maze of life......

Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus Christhttp://www.praytherosaryapostolate.com/sacredwounds.htm

O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.

Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

Isaiah 38:17

From Maria Valtorta's 'Poem of Man God' - Jesus expounds the Gospel event of Calming the Storm

http://valtorta.org/jesus_calms_the_storm_defaultpage.asp Jesus Calms the Storm                    Rembrandt 1633 From POEM OF THE MAN-GOD, Volume 2, pp. 230-233, (Chapter 185) Jan. 30, 1944. Peter loses his calm and patience.  He hands the rudder over to his brother, staggers towards Jesus and shakes Him vigorously.     Jesus wakes up and raises His head.     "Save us, Master, we are going to drown!" Peter shouts to Him (he must shout to make himself heard).     Jesus stares at His disciple, looks at the others and then at the lake.  "Do you believe that I can save you?"     "Quick, Master" shouts Peter, while a real mountain of water moves fast from the center of the lake towards the poor little boat.  It is so high and dreadful that it looks like a water spout.  The disciples who see it coming kneel down and hang on to whatever they can, certain that it is the end.     Jesus gets up.  He stands on the stern board: a white figure against the livid storm.  He stretches His arms out towards the billow and says to the wind: "Stop and be quiet" and to the water:  "Calm down. I want it."  And the billow dissolves into foam, which falls harmlessly with a last roar, which fades into a whisper, while the wind dies down changing into a whistle and then a sigh.  And the sky becomes clear once again over the appeased lake, while hope and faith fill the hearts of the disciples.     I cannot describe Jesus's majesty.  One must see it to understand it. And I enjoy it inwardly because it is still present in my mind and I think of how placid was Jesus' sleep and how imperious was His command to the winds and the waves.
Jesus then says:     "I will not expound the Gospel in the same sense as everybody else does.  I will elucidate the circumstances preceding the Gospel passage.     Why was I sleeping?  Did I perhaps not know that there was going to be a storm?  Yes, I knew.  Only I knew.  Why was I sleeping, then?     The apostles were men, Maria. They were full of good will, but still very much "men".  Man thinks he is always capable of everything.  When he is really capable of doing something he is full of haughtiness and attachment to his "ability".  Peter, Andrew, James and John were good fishermen and consequently they thought they were unexcelled in handling a boat.  As far as they were concerned I was a great "Rabbi", but a mere nothing as a sailor.  Thus they thought I was unable to help them, and when on the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee, they begged Me to sit down because I was not capable of doing anything else.  Also their love for Me was behind their attitude, as they did not want Me to do any material work.  But their attachment to their own ability was greater than their love.     I do not impose Myself, Maria, except in exceptional cases.  I generally leave you free and wait.  On that day, tired as I was and being requested to rest, that is to let them act, clever as they were, I went to sleep.  In My sleep there was mingled also the ascertainment of how man is "man" and wants to do things by himself without feeling that God asks but to help him.  I saw in those "spiritually deaf men", in those "spiritually blind men", all the spiritually deaf and blind people, who throughout centuries would ruin themselves, because "they wanted to do by themselves", although I was bent over their needs awaiting to be asked to help them.     When Peter shouted: "Save us!", My bitterness dropped like a stone.  I am not "man", I am the God-Man.  I do not behave as you do.  When someone rejects your advice or your help, and you see him in trouble, even if you are not so bad as to rejoice at it, you are uncharitable enough to look at him disdainfully and indifferently, without being moved by his shouts for help.  Your attitude means: "When I wanted to help you, you did not want me?  Well, help yourself now".  But I am Jesus, I am the Savior.  And I save, Maria.  I always save as soon as I am asked to.     The poor men might object:  "In that case, why do You allow single or collective storms to break out?".  If by My power I should destroy Evil, you would consider yourselves the authors of Good, which in actual fact is a gift of Mine, and you would not remember Me any longer.  You would never remember Me.  My poor children, you are in need of sorrow to remember that you have a Father.  As the prodigal son remembered he had a father when he was hungry.      Misfortunes persuade you of your nothingness, of your ignorance, which is the cause of so many errors, or your wickedness, the cause of so much mourning and grief, of your faults, the cause of the punishments which you inflict upon yourselves, as well as of My existence, of My power and of My goodness.     That is what today's Gospel teaches you.  "Your" Gospel of the present time, my poor children.  Call Me.  Jesus does not need sleep except when He is in anguish because He sees that He is not loved by you.  Call Me and I will come."

Lent thoughts - Let's Gaze Upon the Face of Jesus

From the Catechism of Catholic Church

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catechism_of_the_Catholic_Church

IV. INTERIOR PENANCE

1430 Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.²³

1431 Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) andcompunctio cordis (repentance of heart).²⁴

1432 The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart.²⁵ Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him: "Restore us to thyself, O LORD, that we may be restored!"²⁶ God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God's love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. The human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our sins have pierced:²⁷

http://vultus.stblogs.org/index.php/2011/07/la-madre-on-saint-mary-magdale/ 

I knew not, but on that day the sunset of His eyes slew the dragon in me, and I became a woman, I became Miriam, Miriam of Mijdel.                          from  KhalilGibran's 'Jesus the Son of Man'                 

Let us fix our eyes on Christ's blood and understand how precious it is to his Father, for, poured out for our salvation it has brought to the whole world the grace of repentance.

A “Penitent Magdalene” is depicted by 17th century painter Nicholas Régnier.

A web-only photo from Wikimedia Commons.http://www.pnwumc.org/news/umns-mary-magdalene-apostle-or-harlot/

                 

                           1433 Since Easter, the Holy Spirit has proved "the world wrong about sin,"²⁹ i.e., proved that the world has not believed in him whom the Father has sent. But this same Spirit who brings sin to light is also the Consoler who gives the human heart grace for repentance and conversion.³⁰

Mamma Carmela and the Message of Merciful Love

The Message of Merciful Love was received by Mamma Carmela
during a period which lasted some ten years, from 1968 to 1978. It ended in the year that Rome had at last lifted the suspension on the Divine Mercy revelations to Sister Faustina, who was subsequently canonised by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000 in St. Peter’s, Rome.

In 1968, in the city of Milan, a widow with a large family, who had given her whole life to works of  Mercy in her city, was praying one evening when she heard a voice that said: “You will be another witness to my Divine Mercy. I will bless you and give you special graces. I ask your help as a beggar asks alms. Will you
help Me? I want you to find new apostles, and once again spread my message of Merciful Love to the ends of this earth.”

On March 22, 1970 Sister Faustina herself gave a message to Carmela and her Mother of Divine Love Prayer Group, she said: “It is not the first time that I come among you, but it is the first time that I wish to speak.I am Sister Faustina and I ask you to make with particular devotion the Novena of Mercy, so that all men will begin to believe in the mystery of salvation, which is contained in the devotion to the Divine Mercy.”

Carmela Carabelli was born in Melegnano, Italy on May 9, 1910. She died in the peace of Christ on
November 25, 1978. Since 1968 she received, almost daily, messages from Jesus Christ as the Merciful Jesus,and from the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of Divine Love. She transcribed straight away into notebooks all that was said, without hesitation or correction afterwards, in the form of conversations with Jesus, who spoke about His Father, the Father of all men, and of His Mother, very tenderly; and so lovingly of his foster father St.Joseph, and about many other saintly people, and through this privileged person to all the world, for these writings are meant for all wish to seek and find God.

Excerpts from the ebook Pilgrimages and Spiritual Exercises - From the Writings of Mother Carmela

THE IMAGE OF THE
MERCIFUL JESUS

“Write my daughter, you will be the apostle of my
Merciful Love. I will bless you. I will shower on
you abundant graces and great gifts. I will bless
the families who expose my Image. Speak to Me
often and invoke Me thus:

‘Merciful Jesus, we trust in You:
have mercy on us
 and on the whole world.’ ”
Milan, April 20, 1968

The Merciful Jesus in the excessive goodness of his Heart promises that:
“Whoever venerates with love and devotion in his house my Divine Image will
be preserved from the chastisement. In the same way as the ancient Hebrews
marked their houses with a cross made with the blood of the paschal lamb and
were spared by the exterminating Angel, so it will be in these sad times for those
who will have honoured and exposed my Image.”
Milan, September 5, 1968

“I have invited you to be apostles of my Divine Face and I have promised you
that with that Image I will touch the hearts of sinners and I will draw everyone
to Me.”
Milan, January 25, 1972

“My children, you all want mercy for everyone. Well then, become interpreters
of our desires. Do so that in every family together with my Divine Face may
enter the practice of the Rosary, just as it is, as the holy Virgin wanted it, as the
saints, the virgins, the martyrs, the great and the small of every age practised
it.”
Milan, May 4, 1972

http://www.divinemercyapostolate-australia.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Pilgrimages.pdf
PILGRIMAGE
FROM MAY 31 TO JUNE 3, 1968
TO SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO - LORETO -
ST. DAMIAN
Jesus May 31, 1968
(To San Giovanni Rotondo)

My daughter, listen to Me: I will give you the lesson on the train, as you go to that dearly beloved son of
mine who tears many grace and so many gifts from my heart. I'll tell you why his prayer has such power over
my heart, whereby, what he asks from my Mother and Me, is like a command for us.
Padre Pio does not live for himself, but only in Me and for Me. He does not act, does not think, does not
speak, does not suffer, does not pray, except in God, and doing the holy will of God in every moment.
Everything he does, it is I who works in him; therefore, his works are marvellous, and he knows no distances of
place and time.
God is everywhere, you know, and this thought must reawaken faith in you every moment and arouse
thoughts of confidence and hope.
God never lets you down. He keeps you immersed in his immensity like the sea collects fish in its waters. As
these could not live without the water where they are immersed and where they find their food, so you can not
live except by being immersed in your God. You, living constantly in his presence and immersed in Him, live
the spiritual life as the reason for your existence.
"Live in my presence and you shall be perfect," says the Holy Spirit. Love to talk to your God in prayer; give
to your God your heart! I've said many times that God is jealous of your heart, and you must keep it only for
Him.
Now, you go to Padre Pio and you must bring back from this visit these teachings.
You are going to find a man who made his life a complete giving to God up to making himself substituted by
Him. You go to see a man who has made his life a holocaust for the benefit of the brethren, in a sacrifice similar
and united to the one that I myself made on the cross.
Imitate him in these offerings.
You also give yourself completely to Me; you do my will faithfully, lovingly, joyfully in every moment of
your life.
Call Me in you so that I may take your place. I will speak in you, and then your word will be effective. I will
think in your mind and love in your heart. I will sanctify your sufferings. I will give value to your works that I
myself will do in you, and you shall be only a faithful instrument of mine.
Imitate that dear son of mine in his dedication in favour of the brethren. Your sacrifice will be more
effective, will bring redemption, and help Me in the work of salvation.
The pilgrimage will bear its fruits.
I am happy with your gift for him. I love the generosity, above all if it is in favour of those who gave
everything for others.
I promise you that I will speak to him about you and your group, and that I will use all his sufferings to
obtain for all those spiritual and material graces for which you have embarked on the journey.



Jesus June 1, 1968