Angels | AirMaria.com

Mary Vitamin – The Portiuncula Indulgence – Our Lady of the Angels

apostolate — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:01:10 +0000

Topic: The Portiuncula Indulgence – Our Lady of the Angels (August 2nd)

Quote:
?[St. Francis] embraced the Mother of Our Lord Jesus with indescribable love because, as he said, it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother, and through her we found mercy. After Christ, he put all his trust in her and took her as his patroness for himself and his friars.” – St. Bonaventure, From The Life of St. Francis

Meditation:
The Portiuncula Indulgence refers to the plenary indulgence originally granted by Pope Honorious III at the request of St. Francis to those who visit the chapel of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi on August 2nd. This chapel was dear to the heart of Holy Father Saint Francis. (The original small chapel is now enshrined in a large basilica.) The indulgence has been extended to Franciscan churches the world over.
(See the Catholic Encyclopedia for further reading.)

Father Marion Habig, OFM, explains the history of the Portiuncula indulgence:
?A special impulse led St. Francis on a certain night to go to the chapel. There he saw our Lord and His holy Mother surrounded by a great host of angels. Filled with astonishment and reverence, the saint prostrated himself upon the ground and adored the Divine majesty. Then he heard the voice of our Lord urging him with ineffable tenderness to ask some special favor. Nothing was so near to the heart of Francis as the salvation of souls, and so, after a few moments of reflection, he asked for the grace of a full pardon for all who, being contrite and having confessed their sins, would visit this little sanctuary. Mary cast herself upon her knees before her Divine Son, and repeated the petition of her faithful servant.?
The Franciscan Book of Saints (Franciscan Herald Press:1979), 570.

Resolution:
What can be my resolution if I cannot visit a Franciscan church today?
I will imitate Holy Father St. Francis who took the Blessed Virgin as his special patroness and I will pray in a special way for the salvation of souls.

Marian Vow:
?On Marian anniversaries (solemnities, feasts and memorials) let [the Tertiaries] make every effort not to miss Holy Mass and Communion in honor of the divine Mother and Queen of the Seraphic Order.?
Marian Seraphic Pathways, Constitutions, 29b.

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Ave Maria!

+++

Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

The post Mary Vitamin – The Portiuncula Indulgence – Our Lady of the Angels first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Oct 02 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Guardian Angels

apostolate — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:07:55 +0000

Homily #081002 ( 10min) Play – On this Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia preaches on how these angels fit into the hierarchy of creatures and then outlines their relation to us.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
+++

The post Oct 02 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Guardian Angels first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:00:14 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.” (Lk. 2:14)

MEDITATION

At Bethlehem the angels announced two things: Glory to God and peace to men; the one corresponds to the other. No one glorifies God as much as that little Babe lying on the straw. He alone, being the eternal Word, can give God the perfect, infinite praise that is worthy of Him. And no one more than Jesus, our Savior, brings peace to men; making reparation for sin, He reconciles man with his Creator and establishes a new covenant between them: the Creator will become Father, and man, will become a son.

Something similar is verified in our daily life. Those who obey God’s law enjoy peace; observing the divine law they also glorify God. The glory of God corresponds perfectly to the peace of men. But we are treating of that peace which comes only from Jesus, from His grace, peace which we will seek in vain elsewhere.

Peace is the tranquility of order. Order is established by the law and will of God. Those who respect this order fully possess the plenitude of interior peace; those who depart from it, even in a slight degree, lose their peace in proportion to their deviation from it. Peace is the refreshment and repose of the soul in the midst of the struggles and sorrows of life, but this is not the only reason for which we should try to obtain and possess it. We should desire it above all because it gives glory to God.

The angels promised peace “to men of good will”. Our will is “good” when it is upright, docile and resolute. It is upright when it is sincerely and entirely oriented toward good; docile when it is always ready to follow every indication of God’s will; resolute when it is prompt to adhere to the will of God, even though difficulties and obstacles arise, and sacrifices are required. The Lord is continually urging us to generosity and abnegation in all the circumstances of life, even the smallest ones. We must give ourselves to God without hesitation, certain that if God asks anything of us, He will also give us the strength to carry out His wishes. Such was the conduct of the shepherds; as soon as they heard the message of the angel, they left all, their flocks and their rest, and “came with haste [to Bethlehem] where they found … the Infant lying in the manger” (Lk. 2:16). They were the first to find Jesus and to taste His peace.

Time passes and does not return. God has assigned to each of us a definite time in which to fulfill His divine plan for our soul; we have only this time and shall have no more. Time ill spent is lost forever. Our life is made up of this uninterrupted, continual flow of time, which never returns. In eternity, on the contrary, time will be no more; we shall be established forever in that degree of love and glory (that we have attained at life’s end). If we possess only a slight degree of love, that is all we shall have throughout eternity. No further progress will be possible when time has ended.

Therefore, while we have time, let us work good to all men. We must give every moment its full amount of love, and make each passing moment eternal, by giving it value for eternity, This is the best way to use the time given us by God. Charity allows us to adhere to God’s will with submission and love and thus at the close of life we shall have realized God’s plan for our soul; we shall have reached the degree of love which God expects from each one of us and with which we shall love and glorify Him for all eternity.

(Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.)

Look at Christ Jesus. All His life is consecrated to the glory of His Father Whose will He always accomplishes: “I seek not My own will but the will of Him that sent me”(Jn.5:30, 6:38). He seeks only that. At the moment of achieving His life here below, He says to His Father that He has fulfilled His mission: “I have glorified Thee on the earth” (Jn 17:4). The desire of His Divine Heart is that we too should seek the glory of His Father.

(Blessed Columba Marmion)

Gloria in altissimis Deo, et super terram pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis.

Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
Laudamus te
Benedicimus te
Adoramus te
Glorificamus te
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam
Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens
Domine fili unigenite, Jesu Christe
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius patris
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis
Qui tollis peccata mundi suscipe deprecationem nostram
Qui sedes ad dexteram patris miserere nobis
Quoniam tu solus sanctus
Tu solus Dominus
Tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe
Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen.

English:
Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to people of good will
We praise you
We bless you
We adore you
We glorify you
We give thanks to you for your great glory
Lord God, Heavenly King, God Almighty Father
Lord Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father
You who take away the sins of the world have mercy on us
You who take away the sins of the world hear our prayer
You who sit at the Father’s right hand, have mercy on us
For you alone are holy
You alone, Lord
You alone the Most High, Jesus Christ
With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

The post Gloria in excelsis Deo! first appeared on AirMaria.com.

September 29th: Feast of the Archangels

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:36 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

St. Michael the Archangel

The name Michael signifies “Who is like to God?” and was the warcry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against satan and his followers. Holy Scripture describes St. Michael as “one of the chief princes,” and leader of the forces of heaven in their triumph over the powers of hell. He has been especially honored and invoked as patron and protector by the Church from the time of the Apostles. Although he is always called “the Archangel,” the Greek Fathers and many others place him over all the angels – as Prince of the Seraphim. St. Michael is the patron of grocers, mariners, paratroopers, police and sickness.

On Sunday April 24th 1994, Pope John Paul II recommended this prayer be used by all Catholics as a prayer for the Church when he said: ‘”May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle we are told about in the Letter to the Ephesians: ‘Draw strength from the Lord and from His mighty power’ (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle, recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid recollection of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to St. Michael throughout the Church. Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world.”‘

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;

and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host

– by the Divine Power of God –

cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,

who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

+++

St. Raphael the Archangel

St. Raphael is one of seven Archangels who stand before the throne of the Lord. He was sent by God to help Tobit, Tobiah and Sarah. At the time, Tobit was blind and Tobiah’s betrothed, Sarah, had had seven bridegrooms perish on the night of their weddings. Raphael accompanied Tobiah into Media disguised as a man named Azariah. Raphael helped him through his difficulties and taught him how to safely enter marriage with Sarah. Tobiah said that Raphael caused him to have his wife and that he gave joy to Sarah’s parents for driving out the evil spirit in her. He also gave Raphael credit for his father’s seeing the light of heaven and for receiving all good things through his intercession.

Besides Raphael, Michael and Gabriel are the only Archangels mentioned by name in the bible. Raphael’s name means “God heals or The Remedy of God.” This identity came about because of the biblical story which claims that he “healed” the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch. Raphael is also identified as the angel who moved the waters of the healing sheep pool. He is also the patron of the blind, of happy meetings, of nurses, of physicians and of travelers.

+++

St. Gabriel the Archangel

The name Gabriel means “man of God,” or “God has shown himself mighty.” It appears first in the prophesies of Daniel in the Old Testament. The angel announced to Daniel the prophecy of the seventy weeks. His name also occurs in the apocryphal book of Henoch. He was the angel who appeared to Zachariah to announce the birth of St. John the Baptizer. Finally, he announced to Mary that she would bear a Son Who would be conceived of the Holy Spirit, Son of the Most High, and Saviour of the world. St. Gabriel is the patron of communications workers.

Who Is Like Unto God?

(As) we celebrate the Feast of the holy Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Each year, this feast gives us a golden opportunity to renew our friendship with the angels who are given for our spiritual benefit and are eager to assist us in our battle against the principalities and powers of the world of darkness. We need only to ask their assistance and their guidance on our way to heaven.

Let us take a moment to reflect on the glorious prince of the heavenly host, St. Michael the Archangel, the most potent of all God’s helpers. We start with his name: “Michael” is of Hebrew origin and, literally translated, means, “Who Is Like Unto God?” It is actually a composite of three little Hebrew words that form one phrase: “Mi” (pronounced “mee” and meaning “who?”); “cha” (pronounced “ka” and meaning “like”), and “el” (the Hebrew name for “God.”) The phrase, “Who is like unto God?” is not a statement about this angel being so close or similar to God – no one can claim that. Rather, it is a rhetorical question. It is what Michael uttered in his disbelief that someone would claim to be like God. That someone was another angel named Lucifer.

Tradition has it that Lucifer, the sublime Seraphim, ranked highest in the order of angels and proudly asserted that he wanted to “be like the Most High” (see Isaiah 14:14 for this). One faithful angel of a lower rank, unable to countenance the impudence of a creature thinking he were equal to God, courageously stood up in the divine assembly to defend the rights of God with a rebuke that issued from the depths of his being as a question something like: “And just who could possibly claim to be like God?” And so “Mi-cha-el” became his name.

Michael then cast Lucifer out of heaven with all his rebellious companions. No creature that rejects the sovereignty of God could ever remain in heaven. Michael is thus the defender of the rights of God and the one who manhandles the strongest of the demons. We have him to thank for showing us that proud Satan can actually be defeated and that the rights of God can be vindicated against all blasphemers.

Does God really have rights? You better believe it! The Lord of Heaven and Earth has, above all, the supreme right to be worshipped by all creation. God doesn’t need our worship in an absolute sense, but all creatures need very much to worship Him and keep Him in the first place in our lives because that is how the order of the universe is maintained. When creatures replace Him with idols or arrogantly suppose that they, as creatures, are gods, then all things fall apart and man loses the very meaning of his life. God is the divine center that holds all things together and, as such, He has an absolute right to be worshipped by His creation.

Today we need St. Michael’s aid more than ever. Never in the history of humanity has Satan convinced so many people to set up false idols to replace the worship of the True God. Never has Satan been so successful in getting people to abandon the worship of God and obedience to the moral law on such a massive scale. In the same way, never have we seen so much blasphemous conduct disseminated with such intensity throughout the human community by the power of modern communications; nor have we ever seen the glorification of Satan given such pride of place in the entertainment business.

We need a powerful and glorious angel to teach us to defend the rights of God again. St. Michael has been doing this since before time began and is eminently equipped to teach us to make sure that God remains as the absolute center of our lives and our society. Let us turn to St. Michael on his feast day and thank him for defending God and us against “the wickedness and snares of the devil.” Let us invoke his protection over our loved ones and renew our friendship with him again on his feastday.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

The post September 29th: Feast of the Archangels first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Video – Mary, Queen of Angels 1of3: Intro – Dr. Miravalle: Mcast #96

apostolate — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:45:13 +0000

Marycast #96 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Miravalle introduces a new mini-series on Mary Queen of Angels where he will present theology and the teachings of the fathers of the Church and how this doctrine is based on her relation to her Son Jesus. Finally he will discuss how this truth was part of the test to which the Angels were subjected which would determine whether they remain angels of light or become demons.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

+++

The post Video – Mary, Queen of Angels 1of3: Intro – Dr. Miravalle: Mcast #96 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Video – Mary, Queen of Angels 2of3: Archangels – Dr. Miravalle: Mcast #97

apostolate — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:45:19 +0000

Marycast #97 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Mark Miravalle teaches on how Mary is the Queen of the Archangels which is truly remarkable since the angels are of a superior nature to Mary’s human nature. Listen as Dr. Mark explains the important roles of the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

+++

The post Video – Mary, Queen of Angels 2of3: Archangels – Dr. Miravalle: Mcast #97 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Video – Mary, Queen of Angels 3of3: 9 Choirs – Dr. Miravalle: Mcast #98

apostolate — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:13:59 +0000

Marycast #98 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Mark introduces us to the glorious Nine Choirs of the Angels (Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels) and how Mary is their Queen by virtue of her Son.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

+++

The post Video – Mary, Queen of Angels 3of3: 9 Choirs – Dr. Miravalle: Mcast #98 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

HOLY FAMILY AND ADORATRION OF THE CHILD

Carol Girard — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:00:15 +0000

Collection of masterpieces depicting Holy Family and adoration of the Child by Angels and Saints.

The post HOLY FAMILY AND ADORATRION OF THE CHILD first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Aug 02 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: Our Lady of the Angels

apostolate — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:13:12 +0000

Homily #100802 ( 15min) Play – Today is the feast of the chapel of Our Lady of the Angels also known as the Portiuncula or “Little Portion” and it is there that St Francis took up residence after his conversion and where the Order of Friar Minors first started to grow. Also it was known for being frequented by angels and thus its name. It is one of the three churches that St Francis rebuilt as preparation for his mission from Christ to rebuild the entire Catholic Church in general. So it had a very dear place in St Francis’s heart and he commanded his brothers to never give up possession of it. In fact, he asked his brothers to bring him there when he was dying and there passed from this life to the next.
Ave Maria! Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula – Mass: OF, – Readings:
1st: sir 24:1-4, 16, 22-34
Resp: psa 34:5, 7, 9-10, 18-19
2nd: gal 4:3-7
Gsp: luk 1:26-33

Audio (MP3)

+++

The post Aug 02 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: Our Lady of the Angels first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Dec 25 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Angels We Have Heard on High

apostolate — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 04:26:33 +0000

Homily #101225 ( 15min) Play – In the Gospel for the Midnight Mass for Christmas we have the appearance of the angels to the shepherds in Bethlehem who announced to them the coming of Christ the Lord as a little babe laid in a manger:

And the Angel said to them: Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people: for this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.

Fr. Angelo preaches on how Our Lord comes in a lowly manner and announces himself first to the lowliest, the shepherds.

Ave Maria!
Mass: The Nativity of Our Lord – First Mass at Midnight – Form: EF, Dominus Dixit
Readings:
1st: tit 2:11-15
Gsp: luk 2:1-14

Audio (MP3)

+++

And the Angel said to them: Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people: for this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.

The post Dec 25 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Angels We Have Heard on High first appeared on AirMaria.com.