The Queenship & Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary August 22

Since Our Lady’s whole life was a life of her Heart, the Immaculate Heart represents her life, her love, herself. From the moment of Conception, Mary offered acts of faith, hope, love, praise, adoration, thanksgiving to the God who created her. Her one ambition was union with God, her desire to do His will; the light of grace found no obstacle in her pure soul. Her immaculate Heart was the throne of all virtue. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the complement of devotion to the Sacred Heart; in the one we honor Christ, the Redeemer; in the other, Mary, co-redemptrix. Thus we honor Christ's mother with the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

God was so pleased with His Masterpiece of creation, Mary, that He willed to be born of her pure flesh and blood. By giving her consent, Mary became the channel through which Christ came to men; and this channel is the surest way to lead us back to God. It was Mary’s love for man, joined with and flowing from her love of God, that made her utter her “Fiat” – that Fiat meant consent to the Incarnation and to the Redemption. So also the Salvation of the world depends on Mary.

Among Our Lady’s urgent requests at Fatima was the plea for devotion and consecration to her Immaculate Heart – our devotion to Mary is neither complete nor true, unless we are willing to give ourselves over to the object of our love; true devotion culminates in dedication or consecration. Consecration consists in an act, by which we promise Our Lady not only everything we possess, but our very selves as well; and this, not for a time, but forever; secondly, it is a state whereby we recognize God’s sovereign dominion by acknowledging Christ as our King, and Our Lady as our Queen, pledging them complete service and devotion.

Our consecration, then, must be more than a well-written prayer, recited and then forgotten; it must be a vital, living state in which we recognize the importance of habitually belonging to Our Lady; to be fruitful it must inspire imitation. We must try to reshape our lives according to Our Lady’s, setting up a whole new pattern, studied at her feet, learned from the Rosary mysteries and modeled after her own Immaculate Heart.

To consecrate means to remove from the profane and set apart as sacred; renouncing self-love; doing all in union with and for our Heavenly Queen; removing sin and all obstacles to perfect union of heart with hers. If we do this, Mary will teach us all virtue and the way that will lead us to God. If men become slaves to an art which ends with death, should we not become slaves of Mary, the music of whose Heart will sing out for all Eternity?

Love will prompt this total submission, solid love of the will, ending in imitation and surrender. Our love for Mary must be so
intense that we chain our hearts to hers by golden links of love, stronger than any base metal of earth; Mary will then govern our thoughts, words, deeds. Our life will have but one purpose – God’s glory. Our hearts will yearn only for her interests and her honor – which is God’s honor, too; all her intentions and dispositions will become ours. Her humility will replace our pride; her purity efface our impurity; her selflessness, wipe out our self-love; and all her virtues replace our sins. From her we will learn the meaning of prayer, mortification, and penance. Resting close to her Immaculate Heart, our own cold hears will become enkindled with the Divine Fire and grow ablaze with her burning love.
Our lives thus surrendered to her can become like that of the angels, one continual song of praise; our hearts annihilated and lost within the sanctuary of her Immaculate Heart, will be able to sing truly, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Memorial of the Queenship of Mary

In 1954, Venerable Pope Pius XII formally promulgated the memorial of the Queenship of Mary with his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (Queen of Heaven). It was initially celebrated on May 31st but subsequently transferred to August 22nd, seven days after the Solemnity of the Assumption. In this encyclical, Pope Pius set down in writing what had long been part of our Catholic faith: that Mary is Queen, as seen in Scripture and the ancient Tradition of the Church, especially because of the words of the Archangel, who announced her royal position to her at the Annunciation. St. Gabriel foretold that her Son would reign forever (cf Luke 1:33). As well, St. Elizabeth’s words to Mary at the Visitation confirmed her as “Mother of my Lord” (cf Luke 1:43), the form of address for the mother of a king in the 1st century. And, the mother of a king is, of course, the queen mother.

Dr. Edward Sri brings out the subtle scriptural allusion to Mary as Queen in Matthew 2:11:

“All throughout the narrative in Matthew 1–2, Joseph is much more prominent than Mary. Matthew traces
Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph. The angel appears to Joseph three times. It is Joseph who leads the Holy Family to Bethlehem, to Egypt, and back to Israel. From this we can see Joseph often takes the spotlight in the first few scenes of Matthew’s Gospel. However, in this particular episode when the Magi come to honor Jesus, Mary takes center stage and Joseph fades into the background. Why? Because it shows the importance of Mary as queen mother.”* 

In addition to the Gospel references above, and the Old Testament prophecy of the virgin from whom would come a royal son (cf Isaiah 7), we know that the Blessed Mother is full of grace (cf Luke 1:28) and that nothing unclean may enter heaven (Revelation 21:27). Therefore, it’s no surprise, that Mary makes an appearance in Revelation 12 as Queen, as the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and, on her head, a crown of twelve stars (cf Revelation 12:1).
All who call her Queen and Lady express the consent of faith to this teaching. And, Pope Pius XII wrote that:

“…it is easily concluded that she is a Queen, since she bore a son who, at the very moment of His conception, because of the hypostatic union of the human nature with the Word, was also as man King and Lord of all things. So with complete justice St. John Damascene could write: ‘When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature.'”

The Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated and honored as Queen from the earliest history of the Church. Every honor and devotion we give to her “redounds to the glory of her Divine Son, not only because all graces and all gifts, even the highest, flow from Him as from their primary source, but also because ‘The glory of children [is their parentage]’ (Book of Proverbs, 17:6)” (Fulgens Corona — Radiant Crown).

 It is interesting to reflect on Mary’s title “Mother of Mercy” (or “Queen of Mercy”).  We hear her called that in various Church prayers.  Although she has the title “Mirror of Justice” which we address her by in the Litany of Loreto, St. Alphonsus Liguori, in his famous treatise The Glories of Mary, points out that she is never called the Mother of Justice.  “Mary, then, is Queen,” he writes, “but let all learn for their consolation that she is a mild and merciful Queen, desiring the good of all sinners… Kings… should principally occupy themselves with works of mercy, but they should not neglect the exercise of justice toward the guilty when it is required. But Mary is not a queen of justice, intent on the punishment of the guilty, but rather a Queen of Mercy, intent only on compassion and pardon for sinners. Accordingly, the Church calls her Queen of Mercy.” So, let us invoke our Blessed Mother this day, frequently, just as is done in the beautiful prayer said at the end of the rosary, and sung often after Compline, or Night Prayer, in the Liturgy of the Hours, “Hail, Holy Queen.” “Salve Regina!”

PLEASE ... PRAY FERVENTLY THAT OUR LADY'S IMMACULATE HEART TRIUMPHS SOON & THAT ALL BE SAVED & NONE BE LOST ACCORDING TO GOD'S HOLY WILL! 

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary on August 15 has been a part of Christian faith-tradition from the earliest centuries. This feast emphasizes the universal dimensions of Mary’s role in God’s plan of salvation. We do not celebrate her exaltation in the sense of a removal from us, but as the fulfillment of what we all are called to be.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII defined Mary's Assumption into heaven as a dogma of Roman Catholicism: "the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven." The proclamation of this dogma was made in the encyclical: Munificentissimus Deus. After entering heaven, Mary has remained active in the life of the Church.

This feast of Mary celebrates a special privilege of Mary, our Mother. The Assumption means that she entered into the glory of heaven not only with her soul, but also with her body. The Son of God took His Body from Mary's pure womb. It was fitting, then, that her body should be glorified as soon as her life here on earth was ended.

Now Mary is in heaven. She is Queen of heaven and earth. She is the Mother of Jesus' Church and Queen of apostles. Every time Mary asks Jesus to give us graces, He listens to her request.

After the resurrection from the dead, we, too, can go to heaven with our bodies. If we use our bodies now to do good, those  bodies will share in our heavenly reward.

After the resurrection, our bodies will be perfect. They will not be subject to illness anymore. They will not need any more food and drink to keep alive. They will be able to go every place without time or effort. They will be beautiful and splendid!

Let us not forget our dear Mother!

And still go to Mass or at least watch it on TV or Internet for those that are house bound
.... and PLEASE don't forget to pray your ROSARY!

"Thank you Most Pure Mother for soiling your feet on the earth again and again to bring us Jesus and to lead us to Jesus. I praise your love and mercy that flows to us through your Flame of Love directly from the Source of Divine Mercy. I thank you for never giving up on us. Lead all souls to heaven, Beloved Mother, especially those God has given us to pray for, and especially those most in need of God's mercy. Amen." ~Janet Klasson

DAILY ROSARIES PLEASE!!!!

(Along with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy & the Chaplet of Unity and the Chaplet of the HOLY WILL)
The door of MERCY  has already closed! But we can still pray for our friends and relatives that have turned lukewarm or left the Faith! Mercy will soon be over and then comes JUDGEMENT. Do you think that the centennial of Fatima, the locution that Pope Leo had, the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and all the signs in the sky are  coincidental? God put us in this place in history for a REASON. We BEST get crackin' on the main objective which is still the same as it has been always ..... " LEAD ALL SOULS TO HEAVEN"!!!!

PLEASE! Pray for the martyrs in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, India, the Ukraine and all Muslim and Communist countries! 

Read: Revelation 6:10-11

Father Bourdaloue, a famous preacher of the 17th century French court, said in a sermon on the Assumption:

Never was there a death more precious in the sight of God than that of the Virgin, because there was never a life more filled with merits than Hers. The death of the Blessed Virgin was precious not only by the merits which preceded it, but also by the graces and favors which accompanied it. But what made it precious in God's sight is above all the dispositions of mind and heart with which She received it... What then was Her disposition of mind? She envisaged death in the light of the purest faith, as the fulfillment of her wishes, as the means of being promptly reunited with Her Son and Her God, whose absence had for so long been a source of sorrow for Her. Her disposition of heart? Seeing death in this light, She desired it with all the ardor of the most fervent charity. Far more fervently than Saint Paul She longed to be disengaged from the bonds of the flesh, to live with Jesus Christ...

The bishop of Meaux, Bossuet, preaches in the same vein: If the great Apostle wants to break the bonds of the flesh to go to meet his Master at the Father's right hand, what must the emotion of a maternal heart be? ... And what regret had the Virgin not experienced, seeing Herself separated for so long from a Son whom She loved as She alone could love? ... She prayed, Ah, my Lord! permit my love to act! It will soon detach my soul from my mortal body, and transport me to You, in whom alone I live.' If you believe me, holy souls, you will not labor long to seek any other cause for Her death. This love, so ardent, so strong, so inflamed, could not utter a single sigh incapable of breaking all the bonds of that body; it did not send forth a single desire to heaven which did not take with it the soul of Mary. Ah! I said earlier that the death of Mary was miraculous; now I speak a little differently, and say that it is not so much Her death that is a miracle; Her death is rather the cessation of a miracle. The continuous miracle was that Mary could live, separated from Her Beloved.

We see from these texts why the departure of the soul of Our Lady is not termed a death like that of other mortals, but rather a dormition — a falling asleep in the Lord, as the early Christians called it. (Cf. Acts 7:60) All writers on the subject are unanimous — it was Her supreme love for God, nothing else, which was its cause. Tradition affirms that She knew in advance that Her departure was at hand, and prepared with incredible fervor for the holy moment, when She would hear the voice of Her Son say: Come to Your eternal repose, O blessed Mother: arise and come, You who are My Heart's friend, the most beautiful of women. The winter is over, the springtime begins; come, My all-beautiful one, My beloved; there is no stain in You; I prefer Your perfumes to all others.

Portiuncula Indulgence & Feast of Our Lady of the Angels

Event Name: Portiuncula Indulgence & Feast of Our Lady of the Angels
Date(s): Aug 1 - Aug 2
Time: Starts: 12:00 PM Ends: 11:59 PM

The following is an excerpt from Major Life of St. Francis by St. Bonaventure.

What is Portiuncula?

”The Portiuncula was an old church dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God which was abandoned . Francis had great devotion to the Queen of the world and when he saw that the church was deserted, he began to live there constantly in order to repair it. He heard that the Angels often visited it, so that it was called Saint Mary of the Angels, and he decided to stay there permanently out of reverence for the angels and love for the Mother of Christ.

He loved this spot more than any other in the world. It was here he began his religious life in a very small way; it is here he came to a happy end. When he was dying, he commended this spot above all others to the friars, because it was most dear to the Blessed Virgin.

This was the place where Saint Francis founded his Order by divine inspiration and it was divine providence which led him to repair three churches before he founded the Order and began to preach the Gospel.

This meant that he progressed from material things to more spiritual achievements, from lesser to greater, in due order, and it gave a prophetic indication of what he would accomplish later.

As he was living there by the church of Our Lady, Francis prayed to her who had conceived the Word, full of grace and truth, begging her insistently and with tears to become his advocate. Then he was granted the true spirit of the Gospel by the intercession of the Mother of mercy and he brought it to fruition.

He embraced the Mother of Our Lord Jesus with indescribable love because, as he said, it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother, and through her we found mercy. After Christ, he put all his trust in her and took her as his patroness for himself and his friars.”


Today the chapel of Portiuncula is situated inside the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels roughly 5 km from Assisi, Italy.

The Indulgence:

“The Portiuncula indulgence is the first plenary indulgence that was ever granted in the Church. There were indeed indulgences at all times, but they were only partial, and only a partial remission of the temporal punishments could be obtained by them. But, as already remarked, he who gains the Portiuncula indulgence is freed from all temporal punishments and becomes as pure as after holy baptism. This was also the reason why Pope Honorius was astonished when St. Francis petitioned for the confirmation of this indulgence, for such an indulgence, up to that time, had been entirely unknown. It was only after he had come to the conviction that Jesus Christ Himself wished it, that he granted the petition of the saint and confirmed the indulgence”

August 2nd is the feast of Portiuncula. A plenary indulgence is available to anyone who will:

1. Receive sacramental confession (8 days before of after)

2. Receive the Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass on August 2nd

3. Enter a parish church and, with a contrite heart, pray the Our Father, Apostles Creed, and a pray of his/her own choosing for the intentions of the Pope.

The Portiuncula indulgence then is a great grace of which we should avail ourselves every year. Try to gain it. See above all, that you make a humble, contrite and sincere confession, for a good confession is the first and most necessary requisite for the forgiveness of sins and the gaining of the indulgence. Receive Holy Communion with the most profound humility and adoration. Say the prayers for an indulgence with devotion and sentiments of repentance, according to the intention of the Holy Father, and relying on the merits of Jesus Christ, on the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Francis, and the other saints, beseech God with confidence to impart to you the indulgence and to deliver you from all temporal punishments. Promise to be thankful to him for this grace all the days of your life by carefully keeping your conscience free from even small faults. Visit the church several times and after repeating the prayers for an indulgence apply it to the poor souls that they may partake of the grace thereof. Thus the Portiuncula indulgence will be to you a key with which you will open heaven, both for yourselves and for many poor souls.