Ave Maria!— May’s Theme: Mary Mediatrix

“Given that the Immaculate is the Mediatrix of all graces, then the more one draws close to Her, the more exuberant will be his spiritual life. And, without a doubt, the most perfect form of drawing close to Her is the total consecration of oneself.” (cf. SK #637)

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Ave Maria!— May’s Theme: Mary Mediatrix

“Our good works, even the most holy ones, are not without defect and, if we want to offer them to Jesus Christ as pure and without stain, we must hand them directly over to the Immaculate alone and give them to Her as Her property, so that She may offer them as Her own to Her Son. Then these, our good works, will become pure, immaculate. Moreover, having received an infinite value by means of the divinity of Jesus, they will worthily adore the Father.” (cf. SK #643)

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FI News #37 – The life and charism of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. ( 04min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Here is the short version of our vocations video. The long one (8 min) is to come out in a week or two. Enjoy this video of our charism and life as Franciscan friars totally consecrated to the Immaculate and if you know anyone who is discerning a vocation or you think has a vocation, please forward them the link. And most of all, please pray for vocations. For more information call FI Vocations Director at: 812-825-4742 or go to marymediatrix.com.

Ave Maria!

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FI News #45 – Introducing the Poor Clares of the Immaculate ( 5min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

FI Friars, Sisters, Tertiaries…and now the 4th branch: the Poor Clares of the Immaculate. This vocations video comes from the newest addition to the FI family in Italy, where upwards of 60 Poor Clare sisters are already living the life of Total Consecration to Mary.

The video includes lovely music and photos, and is narrated by one of our Poor Clare sisters who generously shares part of her vocation story. What an inspiring video, and what a beautiful life! In the words of St. Clare: “His Love will make you happy.”

For more information on vocations to the Poor Clares of the Immaculate, there’s an address you can write to at the end of the video.

Ave Maria!

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ST. LOUIS–MARIE GRIGNION DE MONTFORT

1673 – 1716
Feast:April 28

PRAYER TO JESUS:  O most loving Jesus, deign to let me pour forth my gratitude before Thee, for the grace Thou hast bestowed upon me in giving me to Thy holy Mother through the devotion of Holy Bondage, that she may be my advocate in the presence of Thy majesty and my support in my extreme misery.

Alas, O Lord! I am so wretched that without this dear Mother I should be certainly lost. Yes, Mary is necessary for me at Thy side and everywhere that she may appease Thy just wrath, because I have so often offended Thee; that she may save me from the eternal punishment of Thy justice, which I deserve; that she may contemplate Thee, speak to Thee, pray to Thee, approach Thee and please Thee; that she may help me to save my soul and the souls of others; in short, Mary is necessary for me that I may always do Thy holy will and seek Thy greater glory in all things.

Ah, would that I could proclaim throughout the whole world the mercy that Thou hast shown to me ! Would that everyone might know I should be already damned, were it not for Mary! Would that I might offer worthy thanksgiving for so great a blessing! Mary is in me. Oh, what a treasure! Oh, what a consolation! And shall I not be entirely hers? Oh, what ingratitude!

My dear Savior, send me death rather than such a calamity, for I would rather die than live without belonging entirely to Mary. With St. John the Evangelist at the foot of the Cross, I have taken her a thousand times for my own and as many times have given myself to her; but if I have not yet done it as Thou, dear Jesus, dost wish, I now renew this offering as Thou dost desire me to renew it. And if Thou seest in my soul or my body anything that does not belong to this august princess, I pray Thee to take it and cast it far from me, for whatever in me does not belong to Mary is unworthy of Thee.

O Holy Spirit, grant me all these graces. Plant in my soul the Tree of true Life, which is Mary; cultivate it and tend it so that it may grow and blossom and bring forth the fruit of life in abundance. O Holy Spirit, give me great devotion to Mary, Thy faithful spouse; give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy, so that by her Thou mayest truly form in me Jesus Christ, great and mighty, unto the fullness of His perfect age. Amen.

THE PRACTICES OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION (from a letter to the Friends of the Cross)

Christian holiness consists in this: Resolving to become a saint: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine;”2. Self-denial: “Let him renounce himself;”3. Suffering: “Let him take up his cross;”4. Acting: “Let him follow me.”

A. If anyone wants to follow me

If anyone,” says our Lord, to point out the small number of chosen ones willing to conform themselves to Christ crucified by carrying their cross. Their number is so small that we would be dumbfounded if we knew it.

It is so small that there is scarcely one in ten thousand, as has been revealed to several saints, including St. Simon Stylites (as is related by Abbot Nilus), St. Basil, St. Ephrem and others. It is so small that, should it please God to gather them together, he would have to call them one by one as he did of old through his prophet, “You will be gathered one by one;” one from this country, one from that province.

“If anyone wants,” if anyone has a genuine desire, a determination, not prompted by nature, habit, self-love, self-interest, or human respect, but by the all-conquering grace of the Holy Spirit, which is not given to everyone. “It is not given to all men to know this mystery.”

In fact, only a few people have the knowledge of how to live out the mystery of the Cross in daily life. For a man to climb Mount Calvary and allow himself to be nailed to the cross with Christ in the midst of his own people, he must be courageous, heroic, resolute; one who is close to God, and treats with indifference the world and the devil, his own body and his own desires; one who is determined to leave all things, to undertake all things, and to suffer all things for Christ.

You must realise, my dear Friends of the Cross, that should there be anyone among you without this determination, he is only walking on one foot, flying with one wing. He is not worthy to be one of your company, since he is not worthy to be called a Friend of the Cross, which we must, like Jesus, love “with a generous mind and a willing heart.”

It only needs one half-hearted member to spoil the whole group, like a mangy sheep. If such a one has entered your fold through the evil door of the world, then in the name of Christ crucified drive him out as you would a wolf from the flock.

“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine.” If anyone wants to follow me who so humbled and emptied myself that I became a worm rather than a man; who came into the world only to embrace the Cross, to set it in my heart, to love it from my youth, to long for it all the days of my life, to carry it joyfully, preferring it to all the joys and delights that heaven and earth could offer, and not being content till I had died in its divine embrace.

B. Let him renounce himself

If anyone, therefore, wants to follow me thus abased and crucified, he must glory, as I did, only in the poverty, humiliations and sufferings of my Cross. “Let him renounce himself.”

Excluded, then, from the company of the Friends of the Cross are those who take pride in their sufferings; the worldly-wise, the intellectuals and the skeptics who are attached to their own ideas and puffed up with their own talents. Away from you those endless talkers who make a great show but produce nothing but vanity. Away from you those so- called devout Catholics who in their pride display the self-sufficiency of proud Lucifer wherever they go, saying, “I am not like the rest of men;” who cannot endure being blamed without making some excuse, being attacked without answering back, being humbled without exalting themselves.

Be careful not to admit into your society those delicate and sensitive people who are afraid of the slightest pin- prick, who cry out and complain at the least pain, who know nothing of the hair- shirt, the discipline or other instruments of penance, and who mingle, with their fashionable devotions, a most refined fastidiousness and a most studied lack of mortification.

C. Let him take up his cross

“Let him take up his cross,” the one that is his. Let that man (or woman) so rare “far beyond the price of pearls,” take up his cross joyfully, embrace it lovingly, and carry it courageously on his shoulders, his own cross, and not that of another – his own cross which I, in my wisdom, designed for him in every detail of number, measure and weight; his own cross which I have fashioned with my own hands and with great exactness as regards its four dimensions of length, breadth, thickness and depth; his own cross, which out of love for him I have carved from a piece of the one I bore to Calvary; his own cross, which is the greatest gift I can bestow upon my chosen ones on earth; his own cross, whose thickness is made up of the loss of one’s possessions, humiliations, contempt, sufferings, illnesses and spiritual trials, which come to him daily till his death in accordance with my providence; his own cross, whose length consists of a certain period of days or months enduring slander, or lying on a sick-bed, or being forced to beg, or suffering from temptations, dryness, desolation, and other interior trials; his own cross, whose breadth is made up of the most harsh and bitter circumstances brought about by relatives, friends, servants; his own cross, whose depth is made up of the hidden trials I shall inflict on him without his being able to find any comfort from other people, for they also, under my guidance, will turn away from him and join with me in making him suffer.

“Let him take up,” that is, let him carry his cross and not drag it, or shake it off, or lighten it, or hide it. Instead, let him lift it on high and carry it without impatience or annoyance, without intentional complaint or grumbling, without hesitation or concealment, without shame or human respect.

“Let him take it up” and set it on his brow, saying with St. Paul, “The only thing I can boast about is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Let him carry it on his shoulders like our Lord, that it may become the source of his victories and the sceptre of his power: “Dominion is laid upon his shoulders.”

Let him set it in his heart, where it may, like the burning bush of Moses, burn day and night with the pure love of God without being consumed!

“The cross”: let him carry it, for nothing is so necessary, so beneficial, so agreeable, or so glorious as to suffer something for Jesus Christ.

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Marycast Specials #57 ( 10min) Play – St. Maximilian’s answer to the rise of atheism & Freemasonry in our times was total, universal consecration to the Immaculate.  How do we return the universe to Jesus?  In the same way in which Jesus came to us: through the Immaculate.  In this episode, Dr. Miravalle discusses this observation of St. Kolbe & how grace descends to us from the mediation of the Mother of God.

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

Ave Maria!

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Marycast #68 ( 09min) Play – In this episode, Dr. Miravalle discusses St. Louis de Montfort’s Consecration to Our Lady, its role in the life of Pope John Paul II, & how Marian devotion is always founded on sound Marian doctrine.

Ave Maria!

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The post Video – Marian Consecration & St. Louis’ Prayer – Dr. Miravalle: MCast 68 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

“Pray that my love will be without limits.”

–Saint Maximilian Kolbe in his last letter to his mother.

St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) Priest and Martyr

Patron of the Franciscans of the Immaculate

St. Maximilian wrote: To bring about the purpose of the M.I. (Militia Immaculatae) as soon as possible, to conquer for the Immaculate the entire world and every single soul that now lives or will live till the end of the world, and through her to win them for the Sacred Heart of Jesus! In addition, we are to be watchful lest anyone remove the Immaculate’s standard from a soul; but rather to deepen constantly in souls their love for the Immaculate, to tighten the bond of love between them and her, so that they may become one with her, so that she herself may live and love and act in them and through them. Just as she belongs to Jesus and to God, so every soul will belong to Jesus and to God through her and in her in a much more perfect manner than would be possible by not going through her or without her, if, indeed, that were possible. Then souls will love the Sacred Heart of Jesus as they have never loved him up to now, because like her they will plunge more deeply than ever into the mysteries of love: the cross and the Eucharist. The love of God will be enkindled in the world through her, will set it on fire, and there will take place the “assumption” of souls through love.

When will all this happen, that is, the divinization of the whole world in her and through her? There is one primary and essential condition: that those whose duty it is to labor [in Cities of the Immaculate] should themselves give the example. To understand this spirit they themselves must be impregnated with it. To become instruments of the Immaculate so that she herself may be the one who acts, they must consecrate themselves to her with no restrictions. They themselves first of all must belong to her and live out their unlimited consecration to her, draw the bonds of love uniting them to her more tightly, become one with her so that she may act through them and in their souls. This is the essential condition. She will act through them only in the degree to which they belong to her. Therefore nothing can remain that comes from themselves. They must belong to her limitlessly.

If they do not offer a well-founded hope that they desire to aim constantly for this goal, they cannot make their profession at Niepokalanow. This is why the Statutes of the M.I. are obligatory beyond the Rule and the Constitutions. These must be studied in depth and made part of their lives. This is the essential content of the spiritual preparation to be given to the workers. Under this aspect a deeper understanding of the Rule and the Constitutions is also necessary, so as to reinforce as fully as possible one’s total consecration to the Immaculate: our will through holy obedience, our body through chastity, our convenience through poverty. Everything is for the purpose of becoming an instrument in her hands in as perfect a manner as possible.

No fixed formula exists. The better one understands this unlimited characteristic, the better it would be.

The second condition is to wear the Miraculous Medal. This is an “integral” condition, something complementary (not essential). We wear it because the Immaculate recommended this and has promised her protection to those who do so. We sorely need that protection. Experience shows that when the devil wants to lead someone astray, the first thing he does is to make him look for some pretext to lay aside the Miraculous Medal. How powerful is the Immaculate’s protection!

This is therefore an important condition, an “integral” one, even if not “essential” If it should happen, because of individual circumstances, that there were no more Miraculous Medals, the MI would not cease to exist; the medal is an external sign of our total consecration to her.

By these conditions (the first of which is essential), we unite ourselves to her, we become her instruments, we belong to her and become one with her. The act of consecration of the MI. explains these ideas. The means are those which she herself wishes to be used. During the apparition of the Miraculous Medal, she dictated an ejaculatory prayer, so this is our prayer and in it we include all men. She gave us the Miraculous Medal, so this is our weapon with which to strike hearts. In addition, any other means, provided it is licit, can be used, anything that zeal and prudence suggest-in a word, whatever love commands us, a love without limits-whatever this beloved Mother of ours, Mother of the whole world and of each and every soul wishes to do by our instrumentality.

All inventions should first of all be at her service and then promote other purposes: art, literature, the theater, the cinema, publications, journalism, radio, etc., etc. But before everything else we ourselves must be hers, even to the complete annihilation of our ego, to a personal holocaust, total, unreserved, without limits (“penance, penance, penance”). So then everything is given [to her]: soul, body, all the faculties of the soul and the powers of the body, talent, energy, knowledge, etc…everything! Everything:  the past, the present and future, life, death, eternity…in a word, everything without even the slightest, tiniest reservation. 0 Immaculate Mother, glory to you for all ages!

Novena Prayer to St. Maximilian Kolbe

(pray for 9 consecutive days)

O St. Maximilian Kolbe, faithful follower of St. Francis of Assisi, inflamed by the love of God, you dedicated your life to the practice of virtue and to works of charity. Look kindly upon us who devoutly confide the following petitions to your intercession: (here mention your specific requests).

Having consecrated yourself to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, you founded the Militia of the Immaculata (MI) Movement so that the Blessed Virgin might lead countless souls to holiness by inspiring them to do good, avoid evil, and spread the Kingdom of God. Obtain for us, through her, the grace of drawing many souls to Christ.

In your close conformity to Our Divine Savior, you reached such an intense degree of charity that you offered your life to save that of a fellow prisoner. Implore God that we, inflamed by such ardent charity, may, through our faith and good works, witness Christ’s Love for the world and thus merit to join you in the blessed vision of God. Amen.

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Marycast #69 ( 09min) Play – In this episode, Dr. Miravalle continues his talk on the history of Marian consecration, which is our effort to become “a servant to the handmaid of the Lord” (servus Mariae).  Pope John Paul II’s consecration & devotion to Our Lady is widely known, but have there been other popes in history that have consecrated themselves to Her as well?  In this episode is also a short biographical sketch of St. Louis de Montfort.  Listen to this brief but rich history as described by Dr. Miravalle.

“Whatever you are about to offer, remember to commend it to Mary, so that through the same channel whence grace flows, it may return to the Giver of grace.” – St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church and “Oracle” of the 12th Century

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Marycast #70 ( 09min) Play – In this episode, Dr. Miravalle continues his discussion on Marian consecration, which theologians and saints call the climax or the crowning of Marian devotion.

What is Marian consecration?  Dr. Miravalle says, “It is a gift of self and a promise of love whereby we give ourselves entirely to Mary so that She can use Her intercessory power to help us to live our full baptismal promises to Jesus Christ.”  In other words, it is the giving of oneself to Our Lady so that She can give us entirely to Her Son.

Ave Maria!

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