Something About Mary ~ Holy Exercise

Venerable Mary of Agreda

"She incited them to mental prayer, teaching them its excellence and necessity, because the noblest occupation of the reasonable creature is to raise his mind above created things to meditate on the divine, and that nothing should be preferred to this holy exercise."

TheDivine Life of the Most Holy Virgin, (Tan Books), 221.

Something About Mary ~ The request from Fatima

"The Immaculata must conquer the whole world for herself, and each individual soul as well, so that she can bring all back to God. This is why we must acknowledge her for what she is, and submit to her reign, which is all gentleness." ~St. Maximilian Kolbe

70,000 people witnessed the miracle of the sun at Fatima. It was reported by newspapers...why have we forgotten this amazing, supernatural sign that could only come from God?!

What did Our Lady ask on behalf of the God who performed such a stunning miracle?

She asked for something very specific and have we responded as we should? Or have we responded in negotiation with God, pridefully wanting to do it our way...NOT the way He specified. And what have we got to lose by fulfilling the actual request?

I believe our God is a God who keeps His promises and I believe in consecration.

A Video to give your time to.

Something About Mary ~ Kolbe Consecration

"God sends to us the one who personifies his love: Mary, the spouse of the Spirit - a spirit of maternal love - immaculate, all beautiful, spotless, even though she is our sister, a true daughter of the human race."

~ St. Maximilian Kolbe

Frequently asked questions about the Kolbe Marian Consecration....

A video on the Saint of Auschwitz .

Something About Mary ~ Our Lady of the Highways

Today we travel to join my family in a mini family vacation. My brother and his family will be hosting my family, my Mom and Dad, my sister and grandmother. We'll be enjoying the beauty of the Northern Neck of Virginia and the Corrotoman river. I should have lots of pictures to share when we return!

It's a LONG drive and so we'll start with this prayer to Our Lady.

Prayer to Our Lady of the Highway
O Lady of the Highway, be with us on our journey, for all your ways are beautiful and all your paths are peace. O God, who with unspeakable providence does rule and govern the world, grant unto us, your servants, through the intercessions of our watchful mother, to be protected from all danger and brought safely to the end of our journey. Amen.

God gave angels wings. He gave mankind dreams.

AMERICAN MINUTE

by Bill Federer

MAY 20, 1927, at 7:52am, one of the greatest feats in aviation began as 25-year old Charles A. Lindbergh left Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, in his silver monoplane named "The Spirit of St. Louis." Thirty-three and a half hours later he landed in Paris, completing the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Lindbergh was decorated by the president of France, the King of England, and President Calvin Coolidge. The son of a Congressman, he was a test pilot for a St. Louis firm, performed feats of barnstorming and became an Air Service Reserve cadet, flying mail routes to Chicago. At the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, February 1, 1954, Charles Lindbergh stated: "It was not the outer granduer of the Roman but the inner simplicity of the Christian that lived through the ages." On the Bicentennial of Air and Space Flight, February 7, 1983, President Ronald Reagan said: "We Americans have always been at our best when we've faced challenge... Whether...Daniel Boone or Charles Lindbergh...I've always believed that mankind is capable of greatness...But it depends on us. God gave angels wings. He gave mankind dreams. And with His help, there's no limit to what can be accomplished."

Earlier today I was praying about the challenges of the Church. May God grace us to meet the challenges.....

Rock On, Padre!

H/T to Cecilia via AmericanPapist

Something About Mary ~ Fatima...Papal Prohecy??

For your discernment....

"In the 1930's, the Vatican Secretary of State, the future Pope Pius XII, made an astonishing prophecy about the upcoming upheaval in the Church. He predicted with a terrific degree of accuracy just about everything that was going to go wrong in the Church. The following was taken from a biography of Pius Xll by Cardinal Roche."

"I am worried by the Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy of Fatima. This persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church is a divine warning against the suicide of altering the Faith in her liturgy, her theology and her soul.

I hear all around me innovators who wish to dismantle the sacred chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject her ornaments and make her feel remorse for her historical past.

A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted, she will be tempted to believe that man has become God.

In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them. Like Mary Magdalene weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask where have they taken Him?"

Tabernacle placement and Ugly As Sin

Morally Ugly

BISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN said

Christian love bears evil, but it does not tolerate it.
It does penance for the sins of others, but it is not broadminded about sin.
The cry for tolerance never induces it to quench its hatred of the evil philosophies that have entered into contest with the Truth.
It forgives the sinner, and it hates the sin; it is unmerciful to the error in his mind.
The sinner it will always take back into the bosom of the Mystical Body;
but his lie will never be taken into the treasury of His Wisdom.
Real love involves real hatred:
whoever has lost the power of moral indignation and the urge to drive the buyers and sellers from the temples
has also lost a living, fervent love of Truth.

Charity, then, is not a mild philosophy of "live and let live";
it is not a species of sloppy sentiment.
Charity is the infusion of the Spirit of God,
which makes us love the beautiful and hate the morally ugly.

I cried watching this 82 year old Priest get arrested.

Something About Mary ~ Jesus came through her

The Church's devotion to the Virgin is not only the fruit of a spontaneous response to the exceptional value of her person and the importance of her role in the work of salvation, but is based on Christ's will.

The words "Behold, your mother!", express Jesus' intention to inspire in his disciples an attitude of love for and trust in Mary, leading them to recognize her as their mother, the mother of every believer.

At the school of the Virgin, the disciples learn to know the Lord deeply, as John did, and to have an intimate and lasting relationship of love with him. They also discover the joy of entrusting themselves to the Mother's maternal love, living like affectionate and docile children.

The history of Christian piety teaches that Mary is the way which leads to Christ and that filial devotion to her takes nothing from intimacy with Jesus; indeed, it increases it and leads to the highest levels of perfection. (more HERE)

There is nothing random about God. He is a God of order, not chaos.

He ordered the world so that Jesus would come through Mary. Why this way?

Why bring grace through Mary? He could have come any way. There must be something...full circle about His plan...she is the conduit....

Why did he send his angel, Gabriel, to greet her and say, "Hail, FULL of grace?"

How full is full? Angel means God's messenger, this was God's message to Mary...HIS WORD.

Jesus tell us that He is The Life, The Truth and The Way. If His journey began through Mary, ours should too. We should take for ourselves his mother, like John did at the Cross. We are to follow Him. We are to come to Him through Mary, to Jesus through Mary. Mary leads us to Jesus, ALWAYS.

Ad Jesum per Mariam. "Totus Tuus!"

The Dynamics of Celibacy

The Dynamics of Celibacy

Some recent high-profile priest scandals have put celibacy back in the limelight as a topic for the pagan world to rage about, but rarely will you hear what the Catholic Church actually teaches about it. I hope that the following insights will be a short-course in the dynamics of a marvelous life of grace: namely, celibate chastity. The world needs to hear “the other side” of the story.

Number One: Celibacy is a gift to the world, not a rule imposed by the Church on a few seemingly-abnormal men. Celibacy initiates men into a life of spiritual fatherhood in a strikingly positive way for others. We are called “father” for a reason: we bring spiritual life to our people through the sacred mysteries which we handle, and they are drawn into a spiritual family thereby. A truly dedicated priest has thousands of spiritual children who sometimes make immense demands on him—I often wish I had only seven children like my father! In an age where men have massively renounced their sacred duty to generate, protect and nurture families, there are myriads of selfless, celibate men sacrificing themselves in a truly manly way for the sake of God’s family and, indeed, even for the sake of many individual families. The fact that some priests fail at it does not make the gift of celibacy anything less than a true blessing; in fact, its failures force us to reflect more deeply on its quiet successes. It’s hypocritical to think that we should throw away the gift of celibacy (i.e., make it “optional”) based upon a miniscule percentage of failures of its practitioners. We don’t say the same thing about the much higher percentage of failures in marriage. Should we allow polygamy just because some married men can’t stick to one woman? This is the time to reaffirm the genuine beauty and value of celibacy, not change this immense gift to us.

Number two: Celibacy is the personal renunciation of the legitimate goods of marriage and family as a fruitful sacrifice for the kingdom of God. The astonishment of this generation that a perfectly normal, red-blooded male could make that particular sacrifice is exactly the point of celibacy. The world needs to know that there are some men walking around who are not bound either by the expectations of society or by the terms of our fleshly human nature. They are bound by only one concern; that of a kingdom that is not of this world, and they are willing to sacrifice everything for it. The presence in society of men who make this sacrifice is profoundly challenging to a culture that wants to reduce everything in life to the pleasure principle. Such a total renunciation is truly counter cultural: it’s like choosing to live with a permanent wound in the heart that never heals but out of which flow “rivers of living water” (Jn 7:38) that heal countless others. Celibacy is not easy for anyone to live, in fact, it is a constant death to self; but it is enormously life-giving to others, and the Church has not lost sight of that for two thousand years.

Number three: vows are vows. Married men make vows and so do priests. A vow is a promise before God of fidelity to a particular person or state in life. From a spiritual point of view a vow in marriage has the same significance as a vow of celibate chastity: it is permanently binding on the individual and requires total fidelity. We all know that vows are broken by weak and fallible men, but we also know and have seen that vows can be repaired, sins repented of, amends made and forgiveness granted to those who have offended others. Who of us does not depend in some way on the Mercy of God and those we have hurt when we have fallen? The return to fidelity breaks our pride and chastens our passions. What we must never do is make excuses or justify our compromises with pop cultural moral relativism. For example, the fact of “falling in love” with someone is no more an excuse to abandon the celibate priesthood than it is to abandon a wife and family for another woman. I have known many married men who have had that experience and then, in a more rational moment, picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and returned to fidelity—sometimes at a great cost. Thankfully God gave us a rational will, in addition to our lower passions, so that we have something other than whimsical feelings to govern our actions. Fidelity is always possible for those who desire to return to their deepest commitments.Well, although a short article on celibacy is not enough to explain such a beautiful mystery, it is just enough to witness to a very dynamic way of life whose adherents have given life to millions throughout the centuries. In this time of great secular challenge to our faith, let us pray for the celibate men and women who have served us so well in this life and especially for those who are still trying to return to fidelity.

Sincerely,

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

Something About Mary - A May crowning

May they grow to love you, dear Mother....

Something About Mary ~ Salty Faith

Tomorrow is the traditional calendar feast of Our Lady of The Most Blessed Sacrament.

Dearest Mother, you and your Son, present in the Eucharist, are what help to define us as Catholics, pray for us that we may be salt of the earth.


Low sodium faith....

Bland, not distinctive...blending in...we are not called to live like that.

May 12, 2009VERSE:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good foranything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."
-- Matthew 5:13 http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+5:13

THOUGHT: Jesus wanted us to never give up our moral distinctiveness, our redemptive influence, or our loving impact on those around us. The purpose of our presence in the world is to be an influence in our culture against further decay and to season the bitter, dog-eat-dogworld with grace and mercy.

PRAYER: Dear holy and majestic LORD, please help me resist being conformed to my culture. Instead, dear Father, please use my distinctiveness to bless others and to expand the influence and impact of your Kingdom. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20090512

This reminded me of a post I read at Father Z's on the topic of reclaiming our Catholic Identity. It was written by a man who is in a parish that offers both the Novus Ordo Mass and the Latin Mass, both of which he attends. The guest bloggger makes comparisons between the 2 Masses and Father Z adds his own thoughts, in red. http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/05/revisiting-the-novus-ordo/ As I have heard from other converts and what strikes me about his analysis is the realization that one looks different and one could look like any protestant service......

"I proceed, next, not to the negative, but to the ambiguous. [I like his distinction.] One question that keeps recurring to me is this: What about this religious rite and ritual would be recognizably Catholic to someone who didn’t know what it was beforehand? [Excellent!] There is no question about its being Christian. Yet many of these things—the crucifix, the procession, the altar, the candles, the Nicene Creed, the kneeling, the filing up to receive communion—I have seen in Episcopal, Lutheran, and even Presbyterian churches. [Aha… we are getting at what makes it Catholic. We are back to asking questions about the connection of Catholic worship and Catholic identity.]

Catholic Identity. People used to think Catholics stood out, they didn't eat meat on Fridays...there was an ancient mystery to the Mass, the Latin...

When the Protestants split from the Catholic Church in England in the 16th century, they changed the Mass to reflect their heretical beliefs. The altars were replaced by tables. Latin was replaced by English. Statues and icons were removed from the churches. The Last Gospel and the Confiteor were abolished. “Communion” was distributed in the hand. Mass was said out loud and facing the Congregation. Traditional music was discarded and replaced with new music.

There was a time when a weeknight would find a church filled with parishioners praying a miraculous medal novena or a rosary... Devotion to Mary, the Blessed Mother made us different, our belief that the Eucharist was TRULY the Body and Blood of Christ brought us to our knees to recieve on our tongue from the consecrated hands of a priest, not casually taken from our hands like a potato chip.

Returning to our rich history is not a mistake. Our Holy Father wrote, "What earlier generations held as sacred, REMAINS SACRED AND GREAT FOR US too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place." -Pope Benedict XVI. the Vicar of Christ on earth, LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Traditional Catholicism
We are what you once were.
We believe what you once believed.
We worship as you once worshipped.
If you were right then, we are right now.
If we are wrong now, you were wrong then.

Something About Mary - Marian Medal Hairbows!

One of the most amazing women I know has come up with a wonderful idea.

Hairbows 4 Life.

She'll make you a gorgeous hairbow of your design, like this Marian Medal one that I am ordering for my daughter and part of her proceeds will go to the Pro-Life community!

Visit her blog for a religious hairbow or other charming bows, even flip-flops! There's no denying that Our Blessed Mother was Pro-Life!

Something about Mary ~ Quotes in her honor

On the Blessed Virgin Mary...

"We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son."-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

"All true children of God have God for their father and Mary for his mother; anyone who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his father."-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

"If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother."- Saint Maximilian Kolbe

“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”– Saint Maximilian Kolbe

"Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son."-Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church

"The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, he gave his Son to Mary for the world to receive him from her."-Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church

“As mariners are guided into port by the shining of a star, so Christians are guided to heaven by Mary"-Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church

"The day of the Nativity of the Mother of God is a day of universal joy, because through the Mother of God, the entire human race was renewed, and the sorrow of the first mother, Eve, was transformed into joy."-Saint John Damascene, Father and Doctor of the Church

"The reason why Christ is unknown today is because His Mother is unknown."-Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman

”Let those who think that the Church pays too much attention to Mary give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord Himself gave ten times as much of His life to her as He gave to His Apostles.”-Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (The World’s First Love)

"We confess, then, our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his Godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the Virgin according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial with the Father in Godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her"-The Council of Ephesus, Formula of Union, A.D. 431 - THIS IS WHAT THE EARLY CHURCH BELIEVED...THE FIRST CHRISTIANS.

These quotes courtesy of Catholic Quotations blog.

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We wouldn't have them, if.....


Happy early Mother's Day.

God bless the mother's who gave the gift of life, to their child and to an adopting family!

Support for Catholic Homeschooling - Father Corapi and others!

Father Corapi is a supporter of Catholic Homeschooling....so many priests are. In June, the annual IHM conference will take place. For 2 days a sea of Catholic homeschoolers will converge and be nourished by the encouragement of dozens of well-known (again, many EWTN)priests, even illustrious authors like Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand! For a complete description of each talk -
http://www.ihmconference.org/national/flyer.pdf

It has been said by priests that they see the Catholic homeschooling movement as the work of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the Catholic church. See THIS link for quotes from Catholic documents, Popes, and catechism supporting Catholic Homeschooling.

You may be surprised and impressed by a list of "famous" homeschoolers.

Something About Mary ~ O Virgin most tender, our homage we render....

Bring Flowers to the Fairest....



Set up little remembrance of Our Lady all over your house and delight in providing her fresh flowers all month.

No thanks?

People will show you who they are....

No White House ceremony to be held on National Day of Prayer
Story By: Associated Press
Source: AP

Published Thu May 07, 2009, 06:23 AM MDT

For the first time in nine years, there won't be a White House ceremony in observance of the National Day of Prayer today.


White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama will pray privately as he does every day, but his only public acknowledgement will be to issue a White House proclamation.
Republican Congressman Randy Forbes, co-chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, says a proclamation urging Americans to pray would be more meaningful if the president set a public example.

Forbes calls it a missed opportunity, but says, "Hopefully we'll have millions of people around the country that will make up for the void we see at the White House on the National Day of Prayer."



Seems to me our country needs to come together in prayer...if not in thanks, then in supplication!

The end of Christianity? Our future world.

Do you love the gospel? Christ?

Christianity will not be the prevalent faith of the world for our children and our children's children.

Some statistics to get you thinking...

Christian Europe will cease to exist. There are more mosques than there are churches. By 2025, 1/3 of all the births in Europe will be muslim.

In 39 years France will be islamic. By 2050 Germany will be muslim.

There is a 30 fold increase of islamics in England.

In Netherlands, 50% of all births are to muslims, same for Belgium.

In a few years 40% of the Russian army will be muslim.

Islam is the fastest growing religion, surpassing Catholicism.

In 30 years there will be 50 million muslims in America.

In 5-7 years islam will be the dominate religion of the world.

These statistics can be seen here

Yes, children ARE a blessing from God!

Not having children is sometimes a selfish reason from a society that eschews sacrifice and wants to spend their money and time on personal gratification. Now, many may feel reverse selfishness... deciding to have children to selfishly keep our Judeo-Christian values represented in the world.

Share the gospel!

Something About Mary ~ May Feelings II on the Rosary

One of my priests sent this...that's a man!

As my youngest son approaches his First Confession....

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm.

He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it.

He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his Sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally, let's wash the dishes' But Sally said, 'Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.'Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?' So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.'Sally just smiled and said, 'well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help? She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?' So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he Finally couldn't stand it any longer..He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you... I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.'

Thought for the day and every day thereafter: Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done...? And the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is...You need to know that: God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life... He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven. He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets.

Always remember: God is at the window!

From the Baltimore Catechism....
What do we mean when we say that God is all-knowing?
When we say that God is all-knowing we mean that He knows all things, past, present, and future, even our most secret thoughts, words, and actions.

Something About Mary - The Scapular

I am so honored to share with you a post from a guest blogger, the serene, Theresa, of Carmelitemom on a topic dear to me as I have written on the brown and the green SCAPULARS.

The Scapular

According to tradition, in the 13th century, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock who, at the time, was Superior General of the Carmelite Order. She gave him the brown scapular stating that whoever wore it would be preserved from eternal damnation and on the first Saturday after their death, would be delivered from Purgatory if temporal punishment was still due after death.

The brown scapular is an outward sign of one's love and devotion to the Mother of God. It also acknowledges her special role in the plan of salvation. It is a miniature model of the larger form worn by the members of the Carmelite Order as part of their habit and it leads us into the family of Carmel.

It must be understood that the scapular is not some kind of magical charm. Those who wear it must be striving earnestly to live up to all Christian ideals especially in following the Commandments. The wearing of the scapular signifies a pledge on our part and a promise on the Blessed Mother's part. Placed under her protection, it becomes an aid and helps us maintain the virtues of our vocations.Through the scapular, the Blessed Virgin teaches us to be open to God and His Holy Will, to listen to the Word of God and put it into practice, to pray at all times practicing the Presence of God and to love our neighbor. One need only to be enrolled in the scapular once by a priest. The scapular can be replaced as needed and does not need to be blessed each time. With sufficient reason, the cloth scapular can be replaced with a scapular medal but the faithful are encouraged to wear the cloth scapular when at all possible. Vanity and fear of making open profession of our affiliation with Our Lady would be wrong reasons for substituting the medal for the cloth. The scapular should be made of 100% wool and the plastic casing removed that is sometimes included. Pictures are not necessary.

The following conditions should also be fulfilled in wearing the scapular (The Sabbatine Privilege):1) Wear the scapular continuously 2) Observe chastity according to one's state in life 3) Recite daily the "Little Office of the Blessed Virgin" Or) Observe the fast days of the church together with abstaining from meat onWednesdays and Fridays Or) With permission from priest, say five decades of the Holy Rosary Or) With permission from a priest, substitute some other good work.Pope Benedict XV granted 500 days indulgence for devoutly kissing your scapular.

Without saying to Mary that we venerate her, love her and trust her, we tell her these things every moment of the day, by simply wearing the scapular.

Something about Mary - Taddei Madonna

This image of Our Lady, The baby Jesus and St. John is called the Taddei Madonna (or Taddei Tondo) by Michelangelo. There is a connection to this image for me because my maternal grandmother is a Taddei. Taddeo Taddei commisioned this sculpture; he was one of Michelangelo's first patrons. It hangs in the Royal Academy in London.

I am struck by how the image comes full circle, when Mary holds her grown Son in her arms (Michelangelo's Pieta) and another John is by her side.

This time Our Lady weeps.....

Mary, our Mother in times of joyful love and in times of crushing sadness, ora pro nobis.
(See post below for how to join me in honoring Mary in her month of May.)

Something About Mary - a month to blog in honor of Our Lady

Day One.

Join me.

I will try to post every day in Our Lady's month of May SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.

Feel free to use this image above and, like last year...here are some suggestions.

* Favorite book about Blessed Virgin Mary
* Favorite Saint devoted to Mary and their quotes on Our Lady
* Other favorite quotes on Blessed Virgin Mary
* Favorite Marian Prayer, devotion
* Favorite Marian title, image, statue (post picture)
* Favorite Marian experience, pilgrimage, shrine
* Favorite Marian movie
* Favorite Marian hymn
Add more....

For all those who respond, I will enter your names into a bowl and choose a winner on May 31st, the one year anniversary of my blog. Stay tuned for the prize!

Perhaps, like me, you'll also start your month honoring Our Blessed Mother by praying her litany at this gorgeous website? As Father gave this prayer to me as my penance today, at that exact moment the boom box we use to give confession some privacy in a small chapel began playing Ave Maria! Thank you, dear Mother, for the confirmation and your arrival beside me on my month of honoring you.....

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn, pray for us

By Jill Stanek

On Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Obama began his death march as the most anti-life president in U.S. history. Marking Obama's 100th day in office. This list substantiates Obama's personnel and policies to that end. He actually started way before Day 1:

Day -75: Names pro-abortion Rahm Emmanuel as chief of staff, who earned a 100 percent approval rating from NARAL while congressman.
Day -59: Appoints executive director of EMILY's List, Ellen Moran, as White House communications director.
Day -56: Names Melody Barnes, who previously served on the boards of EMILY's List and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, as his director of the Domestic Policy Council.
Day -51: Nominates pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
Day -51: Nominates pro-abortion Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations; Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards commends her in press release.
Day -51: Nominates pro-abortion Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security, who vetoed her state's partial birth abortion ban.
Day -41: Nominates pro-abortion and pro-universal health (abortion) care Sen. Tom Daschle as secretary of health and human services.
Day -41: Appoints pro-abortion Jeanne Lambrew as deputy director of newly created Office of Health Care Reform under Daschle, which Planned Parenthood heralded as "exciting" in a statement.
Day -41: White House transition team publishes 55-page list of demands from pro-abortion groups.
"Th e Emerging Brave New World" covers the gradual dehumanization of human beings that has invaded American culture
Day -31: Nominates embryonic stem cell research and human cloning advocates Harold Varmus and Jonathan Moreno to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Day -16: Chooses pro-abortion Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as Democratic Party chairman.
Day -16: Nominates pro-abortion, pro-porn David Ogden as deputy attorney general.
Day -16: Nominates "pregnancy is slavery" and former ACLU and NARAL counsel Dawn Johnsen as assistant attorney general.
Day -16: Nominates Thomas Perrelli, former pro-euthanasia attorney for Terri Shindler Schiavo's husband Michael, to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice.
Day -16: Nominates pro-abortion former Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan as solicitor general, with the buzz she is on short list as next Supreme Court nominee; she supports taxpayer funding of abortion.
Day 1: At 12:01 p.m. EST, the White House website is instantly and completely transformed from pro-life to pro-abortion. Scrubbed is President Bush's Sanctity of Human Life proclamation issued the week before in commemoration of Jan. 22, the anniversary Roe v. Wade, and all else heralding preborn life. In its place:
President Obama … has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his administration. … He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in that case.Day 1: Signals his intention to fund human embryo experimentation by stating in his inaugural address, "We will restore science to its rightful place."
Day 4: Reverses Mexico City Policy, releasing taxpayer money to international organizations that promote or commit abortions (for which Obama received 35 percent approval in a Gallup Poll, making this his least popular decision to date).
Day 4: Releases statement expressing desire for Congress to restore funding to the United Nations Population Fund, which has previously been found to aid in China's coercive abortion and sterilization program.
Day 17: After attending National Day of Prayer breakfast, signs executive order redirecting the Office of Faith Based Initiatives to include a "focus on family planning," according to NPR.
Day 24: Nominates former House co-sponsor of the Freedom of Choice Act, Leon Panetta, as CIA director.
Day 38: Signals commitment to comprehensive sex ed by including it in his 2010 budget.
Day 39: Announces plan to repeal Bush regulations enforcing protection of health care entities and workers not to participate in morally abhorrent practices.
Day 40: After Daschle withdraws as HHS secretary nominee, chooses radically pro-abortion Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who has financial ties to late-term abortionist George Tiller.
Day 45: Holds "health care summit" at White House, inviting only pro-abortion groups.
Day 46: Creates new post of ambassador for global women's issues and appoints Melanne Verveer, abortion activist and former chief of staff to first lady Hillary Clinton; according to the Associated Press, she "pledged … 'deep commitment' … [to] slowing the world's population explosion and empowering women … through … the right to choose if and when to become pregnant."
Day 49: Signs executive order providing taxpayer funding of human embryo experimentation and overturns Bush executive order funding alternative morally acceptable adult stem cell research.
Day 50: Announces 30-day review period with intent to overturn HHS regulations enforcing conscience protections of health care entities and workers.
Day 51: Signs bill into law restoring UNFPA's funding – to a record $50 million.
Day 51: Signs bill into law (which he sponsored as senator) restoring cut rate wholesale birth control pill prices to Planned Parenthood.
Day 51: Signs bill into law increasing "family planning" funding by $7 million and cutting abstinence funding by $14 million.
Day 51: Signs bill into law increasing international "family planning" funding by $30 million.
Day 51: Announces establishment of the White House Council on Women and Girls, which the National Organization for Women "cheers" in a statement, appoints former NOW VP Tina Tchen to head.
Day 51: Obama administration promotes unlimited right to abortion at U.N. Commission on the Status of Women meeting and denies negative effects of abortion.
Day 54: Nominates pro-abortion Dr. Margaret Hamburg as Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
Day 54: Nominates Joshua Sharfstein as deputy Food and Drug Administration commissioner, who once wrote pro-life laws "undermine women's health."
Day 57: Makes first pro-abortion judicial pick in former ACLU board member David Hamilton as U.S. circuit judge, who previously blocked implementation of an informed consent law before abortion.
Day 78: Nominates pro-abortion Yale Law School dean Harold Hongju Koh as the State Department's legal adviser, who believes in the international right to abortion and was former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, who authored the Roe v Wade decision.
Day 85: Department of Homeland Security releases document calling pro-life activists potential domestic terrorist threats.
Day 94: FDA refuses to appeal court ruling ordering over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to 17-year-old girls and boys.

This is only the start.