SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Buckeye Lake, Ohio

The Virgin Mary is present in a special way, most of all as a model of faithfulness in listening to the Lord and in service to Him and to others. Mary is the one who preserved in her heart the life and actions of her Son and meditated on them, providing for us an example of contemplation. At Cana she counseled to do what the Lord commanded. Mary is an example of apostolic service. On another occasion, she waited, persevering in prayer with the apostles, for the coming of the Holy Spirit, thus giving witness to intercessory prayer. She is the Mother of the Order, Secular Carmel enjoys her special protection and cultivates a sincere Marian devotion.

The Constitutions of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (Washington Province) I:4

A PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF MOUNT CAMEL

O, most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel,
Fruit of the Vine, splendorous of Heaven.
Blessed Mother of the Son of God,
Immaculate Virgin,
assist me in this my necessity.

O, Star of the Sea, help me
and show herein you are my mother.

O, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth,
I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart
to succour me in my necessity.

There are none that can withstand your power,
O, show me here you are my mother.

O, Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to Thee.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands.

Amen.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

 

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, O.C.D.S.

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro Lourdes, France (C) 2018 Spirit Singing

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro-Our Lady of Perpetual Help-Walsh University Canton, Ohio

       Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help

O Mother of Perpetual Help, with greatest confidence I present myself to you.

I implore your help in the problems of my daily life.

Trials and sorrows often depress me; painful privations bring heartache into my life; often I meet the cross.

Have pity on me, compassionate Mother.

Take care of my needs, free me from my sufferings or if it be the will of God that I should suffer still longer, grant that I may endure all with love and patience.

Mother of Perpetual Help I ask this in your love and power. Amen.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues unceasingly from the consent which she gave loyally at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up into heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #969

May she hold each child of God in the palm of her hand and in her heart.









(photos:statue in St.Colette Church, Brunswick, Ohio)

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
____________________

Saturday of Our Lady

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Photo: R. Massaro

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Mary

I offer you, my holy Mother Mary,

all my thoughts and all my actions,

all my prayers and all my acts of charity,

all my faith and good works,

and all the sacrifices that I make today.

Give me the grace to do everything in my life

with  pure intention

and a desire to please God.

I consecrate myself to your Holy

and Immaculate Heart,

and I pray, through the merits

of your intercession,

that I may adore the Divine Heart of Jesus

and through His mercy,

obtain the grace of conversion

and the remission of my sins.

O Mary, my blessed Mother, watch over me

and protect me from all sin

and evil throughout this day.

Amen.

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Prayer To Our Lady of the Scapular

Photo:R.Massaro(c)2013SpiritSinging

Carmelite Monastery Cleveland, Ohio

O Most Blessed and Immaculate Virgin, ornament and splendor of Carmel, you who look with an eye of special kindness on those who wear the Blessed Habit, look down also upon me and cover me with the mantle of your special protection. Strengthen my weakness with your power; enlighten the darkness of my mind with your wisdom; increase in me faith, hope and love. Adorn my soul with such graces and virtues as will ever be pleasing to your divine Son and to you. Assist me in life, and console me in death, with your most holy presence, and present me to the most Holy Trinity as your devoted servant and child; that I may eternally bless and praise you in paradise. Amen.











Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF LIGHT 

Oh Lady of Light, Owner of all Graces,
Cover us with Your mantle resplendent,
For You are the Light that Guides us through darkness,
And through Your immense mercy You give us,
Strength and nourishment to follow our path,
That takes us to You, Oh Full of Grace.

Our Lady, illuminated through the Holy Spirit,
Mother of Our Lord, Our Fountain of Light,
You are our strength and our way,
And You protect us among mountains and valleys,
Through deserts and islands, in the suffering and tortures,
In the persecutions and temptations that we suffer.

Oh Our Lady of Light, Our Mother,
Cover us with Your interminable Glory,
And continue to illuminate our way,
With Your interminable and Divine Light,
That nothing else do we want to see,
Only the wonders of Your Presence.

Oh Our Lady of Light, Mother of God,
Help us through Your infinite goodness,
To face all dangers and temptations,
So that with Your precious aid,
We may follow our way with Your Light,
And far from the Shadows of Darkness

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

 

Prayer to Our Lady of Mariapoch

O most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, adorned with miracles, whose icon shed tears at the place of your mercy in Mariapoch, we who honor you, humbly beseech your motherly care.  Save our country from all its enemies; protect the church; and join all in one faith that, at last, the words of Christ may be fulfilled:  "There shall be one fold and one shepherd."  Do not deny us your intercession; and obtain for us peaceful times, health for our bodies and peace for our souls.  Obtain the grace for us that our last hour finds us in the Christian faith and in a state of grace so that we may be enabled to gain eternal salvation.  Amen.

Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch

Located at:     17486 Mumford Road, Burton, OH  44021

Shrine Website

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

OUR LADY OF PONTMAIN

(Our Lady of Hope)

Prayer to Our Lady of Hope
 

O Mary, my Mother, I kneel before you with heavy heart. The burden of my sins oppresses me. The knowledge of my weakness discourages me. I am beset by fears and temptations of every sort. Yet I am so attached to the things of this world that instead of longing for Heaven I am filled with dread at the thought of death.

O Mother of Mercy, have pity on me in my distress. You are all-powerful with your Divine Son. He can refuse no request of your Immaculate Heart. Show yourself a true Mother to me by being my advocate before His throne. O Refuge of Sinners and Hope of the Hopeless, to whom shall I turn if not you?

Obtain for me, then, O Mother of Hope, the grace of true sorrow for my sins, the gift of perfect resignation to God's Holy Will, and the courage to take up my cross and follow Jesus. Beg of His Sacred Heart the special favor that I ask in this novena.



Read more about this apparition of Our Lady


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds



Saturday of Our Lady

Prayer To Our Lady of Fatima

Queen of the Rosary, sweet Virgin of Fatima, who hast deigned to appear in the land of Portugal and hast brought peace, both interior and exterior, to that once so troubled country, we beg of thee to watch over our dear homeland and to assure its moral and spiritual revival.

Bring back peace to all nations of the world, so that all, and our own nation in particular, may be happy to call thee their Queen and the Queen of Peace.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for our country. Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for all humanity a durable peace. Amen.

WEBCAM-LIVE at FATIMA

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds


SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro Christ the Servant Parish Canton, Ohio

From The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort


THE EIGHTEENTH ROSE: The Hail Mary--Blessings

The heavenly salutation draws down upon us the blessings of Jesus and Mary in abundance, for it is an infallible truth that Jesus and Mary reward in a marvelous way those who glorify them. They repay us a hundredfold for the praises that we give them...

Now, if we say the Hail Mary properly, is not this a way to love, bless and glorify Jesus and Mary?

In each Hail Mary we bless both Jesus and Mary: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus."

By each Hail Mary we give Our Lady the same honor that God gave her when He sent the Archangel Gabriel to greet her for Him. How could anyone possibly think that Jesus and Mary, who often do good to those that curse them, could ever curse those that bless and honor them by the Hail Mary?

Both Saint Bernard and Saint Bonaventure say that the Queen of Heaven is certainly no less grateful and conscientious than gracious and well-mannered people of this world.  Just as she excels in all other perfections, she surpasses us all in the virtue of gratitude; so she would never let us honor her with love and respect without repaying us one hundredfold. Saint Bonaventure says that Mary will greet us with grace if we greet her with the Hail Mary.

How to join the National Rosary Confraternity

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

EVENING PRAYER

St. Bernard's Prayer to the Virgin Mary

From the Divine Comedy

Photo:R.Massaro(c)2013SpiritSinging

Regina Health Center Richfield, Ohio

Maiden and Mother, daughter of thine own Son,
Beyond all creatures lowly and lifted high,
Of the Eternal Design the corner-stone!

Thou art she who did man's substance glorify
So that its own Maker did not eschew
Even to be made of its mortality.

Within thy womb the Love was kindled new
By generation of whose warmth supreme
This flower to bloom in peace eternal grew.

Here thou to us art the full noonday beam
Of love revealed: below, to mortal sight,
Hope, that for ever springs in living stream.

Lady, thou art so great and has such might
That whoso crave grace, nor to thee repair,
Their longing even without wing seeketh flight.

Thy charity doth not only him up-bear
Who prays, but in thy bounty's large excess
Thou oftentimes dost even forerun the prayer.

In thee is pity, in thee tenderness,
In thee magnificence, in thee the sum
Of all that in creation most can bless.


Dante, Translation: Laurence Binyon


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro
Shrine at Lourdes, France

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, that in thy celestial apparitions on the mount of Tepeyac, thou didst promise to show thy compassion and pity towards all who, loving and trusting thee, seek thy help and call upon thee in their necessities and afflictions.

Thou didst promise to hearken to our supplications, to dry our tears and to give us consolation and relief. 

Never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession,

 either for the common welfare, or in personal anxieties, was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Mary, ever Virgin Mother of the True God! Though 

grieving under the weight of our sins, we come to prostrate ourselves in thy august presence, certain that thou 

wilt deign to fulfill thy merciful promises. We are full of hope that, standing beneath thy shadow and 

protection, nothing will trouble or afflict us, nor need we fear illness, or misfortune, or any other sorrow.

Thou hast decided to remain with us through thy admirable image, thou who art our Mother, our health and

 our life. Placing ourselves beneath thy maternal gaze and having recourse to thee in all our necessities we 

need do nothing more. O Holy Mother of God, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer us. 

(Here mention your petition.)

Five Hail Marys...in gratitude for the four apparitions to Juan Diego and the one to Juan Bernardino.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro-Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Shrine Youngstown, Ohio

At the dawn of creation the eyes of God rested with satisfaction on the universe He created. At a second moment He looked with pleasure on the soul of Mary, as He was about to recreate a fallen world. So fresh, unsullied, so unsurpassingly beautiful she was. He smiled on the loveliest creature that His creative love had fashioned; He saw that she was good.

Her soul was a meeting-place. Here was goodness, for she was full of grace; here was beauty, for she was all-beautiful; here was truth, for here was the Word in her womb, the source of all truth. No wonder He found delight in her.
Pilgrims with Mary, John Moloney, P.P.




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R.Massaro
Sorrowful Mother Shrine Bellevue, Ohio

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Mary

I offer you, my holy Mother Mary,
All my thoughts and all my actions,
all my prayers and all my acts of charity,
all my faith and good works,
and all the sacrifices that I make today.

Give me the grace to do everything in my life
with a pure intention
and a desire to please God.
I consecrate myself to your Holy
and Immaculate Heart,
and I pray, through the merits
of your intercession,
that I may adore the Divine Heart of Jesus
and through His mercy,
obtain the grace of conversion
and the remission of my sins.

O Mary, my Blessed Mother, watch over me
and protect me from all sin
and evil throughout this day.

Amen.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, O.C.D.S.

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Prayer to Our Lady for Religious Vocations 

by Pope St. John Paul II

Photo: R. Massaro (C)2021 Spirit Singing Walsh University Chapel Canton, Ohio

Mary, Mother of the Church, to you we turn. With your "yes" you have opened the door to the presence of Christ in the world, in history and in souls, receiving in humble silence and total submission the appeal of the Most High.

Grant that many men and women may know and hear, even today, the inviting voice of your Son: "Follow me." Stretch out your motherly hand over all missionaries scattered throughout the world, over religious men and women who assist the elderly, the sick, the deficient, the orphans; over those who are engaged in teaching, over the members of secular institutes, the silent leaven of good works; over those who in the cloister live on faith and love and beg for the salvation of the world. Amen.





Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY: WILL YOU SHELTER HER

The Virgin, weighed
with the Word of God,
comes down the road:
if only you'll shelter her.
St. John of the Cross

 



Will you shelter her?


"In the history of the Church, the Order of Carmel has come to be known for its dedication to a life of prayer and to Mary, the Mother of Jesus."

This quote is from Fr. Emmanuel J. Sullivan, O.C.D. from his work entitled, Mary and the Holy Spirit in the Writings of St. John of the Cross.
As we reflect on this quote by by Fr. Sullivan, let's keep this theme in mind: shelter.

Fr. Sullivan tells us that Carmel is known for its life of prayer, but not just a life of prayer, but dedication to a life of prayer. As Secular Carmelites, we can ask ourselves these questions: Are we dedicated to our life of prayer that the church has called us to? Are we dedicated to imitate the Virgin Mary who pondered the Word in her heart? Do we look forward to the time of mental prayer?

We can be assured that if we make a place for Mary in our lives, we are creating a holy shelter for Christ as well. Wherever Mary is present, Christ is present.

"You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride." Songs 4:12

The image of the enclosed garden (the monastic cloister or enclosure) has come to represent the life of Carmel, the life of intimate prayer with the Beloved, where we remain with Him in the shelter of our heart. We often say that we have chosen Carmel, but is it not the Lord who first chose us to follow this path?

He asks us and all men to find a shelter of rest in Him. "Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." Yes, holy rest of contemplation; this is His gift to us in which we do not have to labor with our intellect or imagination during the time of prayer.

We can turn to our Holy Father Elijah to see the symbolism of shelter in his life. In the book of Kings we read that Elijah took shelter in a cave. But the Lord cried out to him, "Why are you here?" He responds with the famous anthem of the Carmelites, "I have been zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts." He was asked a second time, "Why are you here?"

Elijah took shelter in fear for his life, but because he listened to the voice of God, and was intent on doing his own will, the Lord fed him with bread for the journey

(a prefigurement of the Eucharist) and sent him on mission. 

Carmelites continue the mission of Elijah in the world today. By our prayer life, regular reception of the Holy Eucharist, our dedication to the Mother of God, and to the Church, we provide a holy witness to the world. A deep prayer life is a powerful witness against secularism, materialism, and individualism. These are the idols worshipped today that we must denounce with our promises of chastity, poverty, and obedience.

During this Advent season, Let us meditate on this same question that was asked of Elijah. Why am I here? Why am I in the family of Carmel?

The vocation of prayer in Carmel is not for ourselves alone, but for the Church and the world. We have to leave the shelter of our prayer life to attend to daily duties. This can be extremely difficult. St. Teresa tells us it is painfully difficult for people who are given to prayer to attend to duties of business. But we know, too, that the Lord sends the Holy Spirit to help us and we may be given the type of prayer that we can go about our daily duties while being in deep communion with the Lord. Sometimes, we may find that it is a mystery and an especially delightful one as to how this takes place.

Our local Secular Carmelite community is named after the Holy Family. In these remaining days of preparation and waiting for the Lord, let us meditate on the theme of shelter. How do we shelter the Holy Family in our spiritual life? How do we shelter and keep company and find rest in the Holy Family of the Most Holy Trinity?

Let us look to Our Lady, the Daughter of the Eternal Father, the Mother of the only-begotten Son, and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, she who is caught up in the mysterious love of the Holy Family of the Trinity. Mary will obtain for us the grace we need to become holy Carmelites, to be holy dwelling places of God.


The tabernacle is a holy shelter for our Eucharistic Lord. We are living tabernacles where God is ever-present in our soul!

If we provide a place for Mary in our lives, we welcome the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as well.

WILL YOU SHELTER HER?
Peace be with you!

Rosemarie
_______________________

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Prayer to Our Lady Health of the Sick

Photo: R. Massaro (c) Spirit Singing-St. Rose Church Girard, Ohio

Our Lady, Health of the Sick,
I look to you for the comfort of a mother's love,
I pray to you on behalf of those who are suffering
and for my own healing needs.

Mary, your love strengthens me
and brings me peace.

Our Lady, Health of the Sick,
embrace all who are emotionally and physically ill that they may return to
good health under your tender care. And please intercede for my very
special needs. (mention your needs here).

Mary, your love strengthens me and brings me peace.

Our Lady, Health of the Sick, pray for us.  Amen.


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro-Our Lady of Cedars Church Akron Ohio (C)2020 Spirit Singing

This is an ancient prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary called the “Sub Tuum Praesidium.” It is the oldest known prayer to Our Lady asking her intercession. This prayer is older than the Hail Mary prayer.This ancient prayer is attributed to the discovery of a 3rd century Egyptian papyrus, a small scrap of papyrus with brown ink, dated between the years 250 AD-280 AD.

Here is the prayer:

We fly to Thy protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from all dangers,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
Amen.

Most Holy Mother of God, Mother of the Church, pray for us!


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS