Marycast Specials #31 ( 10min) Play – The holy and hidden figure of St. Joseph comes to light during the Advent/Christmas seasons. What is the dignity of this great man, and how do we convey the wondrous power of his intercession? Listen now as Dr. Miravalle begins a 3-part series on the man whom God chose to “substitute” for Himself when the Word became flesh to dwell among us.
Ave Maria!

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Marycast Specials #32 ( 10min) Play – Imagine knowing that your wife and foster son would one day experience a horrific event, and that they would have to suffer this burden without you and without your support. Ponder this, and you get an inkling of what St. Joseph’s life must have been like. Dr. Miravalle delves into this fascinating and hidden side of the life of St. Joseph in the second part of this three-part series.

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

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Marycast Specials #33 ( 10min) Play – St. Teresa of Avila says, “If you have not asked St. Joseph for something, then I dare you to do so.” In the last of this mini-series, concluding on the Feast of the Holy Family, Dr. Miravalle takes a final look at the Patron of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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

The post Mark Miravalle: St. Joseph & the Immaculate Heart, Part III – Mcast S33 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

The post St. John Vianney: Patron of ALL Priests first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Saint John Eudes, Priest
Optional Memorial  August 19th

(1601-1680) Born in France, he was a gifted preacher and encouraged devotions to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Specially concerned to council and defend endangered women, he founded an association of priest and the religious Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity

St. Pope Pius X called St. Eudes the Immaculate Heart’s Father, Doctor and Apostle. It was through him that this devotion was made public and received ecclesiastical approbation. At his canonization, Holy Mother Church emphasized his role in establishing the liturgical devotion to the Heart of Mary. St. John Eudes, as a theologian, was the first to explain this devotion. The feast was established first in his Congregation and later through out the French dioceses. He composed a mass and office. In 1680, shortly before his death, his book, The Admirable Heart of Mary, was completed and published. It consisted of 12 books, took him 20 years to write it, and was the first of its kind.

St. John Eudes wrote, “Jesus lives in Her (Mary) soul and body…His Heart abides in Her heart, His Soul in Her soul … His virtues, mysteries, and divine attributes are loving in Her heart…” These very words were later echoed by St. Margaret Mary, the recipient of the devotion of the Sacred Heart, when she said; “The most efficacious way to obtain devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” She taught this to her novices and also composed a prayer for them to pray.  In honoring the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it is not her heart of flesh that we are honoring but the affections symbolized by the heart. Thus we are lead by material heart to the spiritual heart, thereby honoring the whole person.

St. John Eudes wrote, “When, therefore, we honor the Holy Heart of the Mother of God, we honor the heart that, of all hearts, after the Heart of her Son, is the most worthy of our admiration, the most perfect, the most beloved of God, the most adorned with every kind of virtue, the most full of grace and love; the Heart that has the most tenderness for poor sinners, that is the meekest, the most compassionate, the most merciful, the most charitable, the most beneficent, the most amiable; in a word, the object that, after Jesus, has the greatest charm for heaven and earth. It is, therefore, for the best of reasons that we should make this Holy Heart the object of our tenderest devotion, and pay it all the honor and respect that its own excellence and the favor that we have received from it, demand of our gratitude and love.”

The post For the Love of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts first appeared on AirMaria.com.

The priest’s mission seems hopelessly difficult. Has the world ever been as depraved as it is today? Have Satan’s cohorts ever been as numerous, as fierce, as cunning? Has the army of Christ ever been weaker compared to these powerful forces? A priest will lose confidence if he thinks about the enemy in comparison to himself. But it is Christ he should think about; Christ has given him his mission as the Father gave Christ His mission. (Jn. 20:21)

He is an ambassador of Christ (2 Cor 5:20) and Christ has declared, and He cannot be wrong:  “I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself (Jn 12:32). Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out (Jn 12:31). Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world ” (Jn 16:33).  Acting in the name of the Son of God, the priest is all powerful with the power of God. Acting in his own name, he  is as weak as the weakest of men. He is feeble when depending on himself alone; he is unbeatable when he acts with Jesus. When he acts in the Name of Jesus, his very weakness is an encouragement.

Recall how the great Apostle boasted of his weakness so that the power of Christ could be shown through him (2 Cor 12:9). Consider your call brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Cor 1:26-9).

Jesus bequeathed His Mother to all men and women to bolster their confidence. It was to John, the priest, representing all priests, that she was directly given. Perhaps this was for the purpose of bolstering the confidence of priests most of all.

In his exhortation, Menti nostrae, Pope Pius XII counseled priests, “When you meet very serious difficulties in the path of holiness and in the exercise of your ministry, turn your eyes and your mind trustfully to her who is the Mother of the eternal Priest and therefore the loving Mother of Catholic priests. He made reference to some recent, wonderful events witnessed by many priests when they consecrated their flock to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and then concluded, “To the Beloved Mother of God, Mediatrix of heavenly graces, We entrust the priests of the whole world in order that, through her intercession, God will vouchsafe a generous outpouring of the Spirit which will move all ministers of the altar to holiness and, through their ministry, will spiritually renew the face of the earth.”

If priests follow the intent of the Holy Father and personally consecrate themselves to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, they will find in this total gift of themselves to Mary, a special motivation for complete confidence. Consider the following: they belong entirely to Mary; their efforts are her efforts; their success is her success; their failures are her failures if, following her desires, they should fail.

Mary wills their success:

– because it gives glory to God;

– because it promotes the mission of her Son;

– because it benefits the Church, born of Him and her on Calvary;

– because it benefits her children to whom she gave birth at the cost of great suffering and     of whom she seeks to make other Christs;

– because she desires this success more than they do: a sweeping, boundless success.

This success is certainly within her power. Is she not the Woman destined to crush the head of the serpent? Is she not the Distributrix of all graces of conversion and sanctification intended for all those confided to her priests? Before undertaking any endeavor, they should consult her to be sure it is her endeavor and not theirs. Then they can move ahead with complete confidence keeping in mind, as much as possible, that they are acting in her name. Without Mary they cannot succeed; with Mary they cannot fail!

Mary and the Priestly Ministry:  chapter 22

Fr. Emile Neubert SM

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Homily #110424 ( 17min) Play – Jesus Christ is Risen – Alleluia!
Ave Maria!
Mass: Easter Sunday (Option 1) – Ordinary Form
Readings:
1st Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43
Responsorial Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel: John 20:1-9

Audio (MP3)

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The post Apr 24 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: She Kept All These Things in Her Heart first appeared on AirMaria.com.

“May the life of the Immaculate take possession of us ever more, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, and this without any limitation, growing, in the same way, in every soul that exists and will exist for all time: behold our beloved ideal.”

Daily Renewal of Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

Immaculata, Queen and Mother of the Church, I renew my consecration to you this day and for always, so that you may use me for the coming of the Kingdom of Jesus in the whole world. To this end, I offer you all my prayers, actions, and sacrifices of this day. Amen.

+ St. Maximilian Kolbe

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Homily #130608b ( 17min) Play – On the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that follows the day after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Elias preaches on the unity of these two devotions and how they represent the unity of two hearts, united in will. He relates this to the Sorrowful Heart of Mary, to her title as Queen of Peace in the Litany, to Our Lady of Fatima, to her role as Coredemptrix, to Pope Benedict XV, and to World War I and and to the Belgian mystic Berthe Petit … and more!
Ave Maria!
Mass: Immaculate Heart of Mary – Feast – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: isa 61:9-11
Resp: 1sa 2:1, 4-8
Gsp: luk 2:41-51

Audio (MP3)

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The Five First Saturdays:

The Child Jesus spoke these words: “Have pity on the heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation.”

Our Lady was holding a heart encircled with sharp thorns and then She said to Sister Lucia:

“Behold my heart surrounded with the thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me. Announce in my name that I promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall:

1. confess and receive Holy Communion;

2. recite five decades of the Rosary;

3. and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

 Why Five Saturdays?

Christians have always honored the Blessed Virgin on Saturday because of her constant faith in Jesus on that first Holy Saturday before the Resurrection.

Five first Saturdays of reparation were requested to atone for the five ways in which people offend the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

1.attacks upon Mary’s Immaculate Conception 2.attacks against her Perpetual Virginity 3.attacks upon her Divine Maternity and the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all mankind 4.for those who try to publicly implant in children’s hearts indifference, contempt and even hatred of this Immaculate Mother 5.for those who insult her directly in her sacred images.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY:

Any formula may be used to consecrate oneself to the Mother of God, as long as it involves a total oblation of oneself. As a suggestion, one of the following consecrations could be renewed each first Saturday with the shorter formula renewed daily.

1. 0 Virgin Mary, most powerful Mother of Mercy, Queen of Heaven and earth, in accordance with your wish made known at Fatima, I consecrate myself today to your Immaculate Heart. To you I entrust all that I have, all that I am. Reign over me, dearest Mother, that I may be yours in prosperity, in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in life and in death.

   Most compassionate Heart of Mary, Queen of Virgins, watch over my mind and heart and preserve me from the deluge of impurity which you lamented so sorrowfully at Fatima. I want to be pure like you. I want to atone for the many crimes committed against Jesus and you. I want to call down upon this country and the whole world the peace of God in justice and charity.

   Mindful of this consecration, I now promise to strive to imitate you by the practice of the Christian virtues without regard for human respect. I resolve to receive Holy Communion on the first Saturday of every month when possible, and to offer daily five decades of the Rosary, with all my sacrifices in the spirit of penance and reparation. Amen.

2. I, . . ., a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy Heart, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.

   Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, in the presence of all the heavenly court, I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, and to thy Immaculate Heart, as thy child and slave of love, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity. Amen.

SHORT DAILY RENEWAL OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY:

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, I renew my consecration to you and to your Immaculate Heart. Please accept me, my dear Mother, and use me as you wish to accomplish your designs upon the world. I am all yours, my Mother, my Queen, and all that I have is yours.

TO JESUS THROUGH MARY:

Lest there should be any misconception about the place of devotion to Mary in Catholic piety, we honor in a special way the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of Jesus, i.e., the person of Mary in her eminent sanctity and glorification by God, because it is the wish of her Son — as Our Lady revealed in her second apparition at Fatima. Jesus knows well that true devotion to His Mother leads souls to Him. As Pope Paul VI wrote in his encyclical celebrating the centenary of the apparitions at Lourdes:

“Everything in Mary leads us toward her Son, our only Savior, by whose foreseen merits she was preserved immaculate and full of grace; everything in Mary lifts up our hearts to the praise of the Holy Trinity.”

“Consecration to the Mother of God,” says Pope Pius XII, “is a total gift of self, for the whole of life and for all eternity; and a gift which is not a mere formality or sentimentality, but effectual, comprising the full intensity of the Christian life — Marian life.” This consecration, the Pope explained, “tends essentially to union with Jesus, under the guidance of Mary.”

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