Blessed Mother

A MOTHER’S ROLE
A woman becomes a mother by bringing a child into the world. This is meant to happen within the Sacrament of Marriage with a mother and a father who love each other the way God intended. But the work of a mother does not end when her baby is born; her work is just beginning. A mother loves and nurtures, protects and teaches her children. She wants only good for her children because she loves them.

God, in His great wisdom, uses us little human beings in His plan of salvation. The Virgin Mary was chosen from among all women to be the mother of Jesus, the mother of the Word made flesh. Mary bore Jesus in her womb for nine months; she is “theotokos” the God-bearer. Mary is the mother of Jesus, the mother of our Savior.
Holy Mary, Mother of God.


At Cana, Mary pointed the world to her Son when she told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” A good son, Jesus has obeyed the commandments and honored His Mother! This is a foreshadowing of the time – when on the cross – Jesus gives His Mother to all of us. And what does our Blessed Mother tell us to do? Do whatever Jesus tells us!

Throughout the centuries, Jesus has continued to send His Mother to the world, she made full of grace, who always leads us to her Son.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF A FEW SELECTED APPARITIONS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Zaragossa

According to tradition, the first apparition of the Blessed Mother occurred just seven years after the crucifixion of our Lord. The Apostle James was evangelizing in Spain. James and his companions had stopped at a quiet spot to rest one evening, and they had begun to pray when James was startled by heavenly music, the sound of angels chanting, “Ave Maria, gratia plena.” The Apostle fell to his knees and saw a radiant light. He beheld the Blessed Virgin Mary descending from the clouds, seated on a marble pillar and surrounded by two companies of angels.



What is the meaning of this first recorded apparition of Mary Most Holy? The Apostle was out following the direction of our Lord Jesus: preaching the gospel to the whole world. In this painting by Bouguereau, we have a vision of Mary before a marble throne, eyes cast downward in all humility and grace, presenting her Son. They are surrounded by angels adoring the Christ Child. To me, this is a message from Heaven, affirming the role Jesus gave to His Mother—bringing her Child to the world.

Guadalupe

Christopher Columbus arrived in the new world in 1492. At that time, the Aztecs of Mexico were ruled by the sinister Montezuma and millions of people were sacrificed on the pyramids to pagan gods. In 1509, Montezuma’s sister, Princess Papantzin, had a vision. A glowing angel with a black cross on his forehead led the princess to the ocean shore. She saw ships, unlike any she has ever seen before, with black crosses emblazoned on their sails. The angel told her that her nation would be conquered and brought to the knowledge of the true God. Montezuma, respectful of prophecies, brooded upon hearing his sister’s dream.

Once the Spanish invasion began, conflicts were numerous and bloody, but Montezuma’s defeat was swift. Spain moved quickly to bring the Aztec people into the Christian faith. Missionaries were dispatched, and churches, schools and hospitals were opened. A distinguished scholar, Prior Juan Zumarraga, was appointed the first Bishop of the new world. Princess Papantzin, Montezuma’s sister, was one of the first Mexicans to be baptized Catholic, but there were very few conversions—the people were too set in their pagan ways. Bishop Zumarraga prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary and asked her for a sign—Castilian roses…even though Castilian roses did not grow in Mexico.

In 1531, a 57-year-old peasant name Juan Diego was on his way to Mass. As he approached Tepeyac Hill, the site of a former pagan temple and of human sacrifice, Juan heard music like that of a celestial choir coming from a glowing white cloud and emitting a rainbow. He heard a voice call him by name, and he ran to the top of the hill where he beheld a beautiful glowing Lady. She told him she was the Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God. She instructed him to go to the house of the Bishop of Mexico City and to tell him that she wished for a temple to be built on that site.

Juan Diego rushed to Bishop Zumarraga’s house and told him all that he had seen and heard, but the Bishop did not believe him. Juan Diego started home, but Mary was waiting for him at Tepeyac. The Blessed Virgin urged Juan Diego to return to the Bishop and repeat her request.

The next day, Juan Diego returned to the Bishop’s house. This time, the Bishop interrogated him at length, and Juan Diego repeatedly recounted his story, consistently and without contradiction. The Bishop began to believe, but he told Juan that he would need a sign.

Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac Hill, followed by the Bishop’s spies, but as he reached the top of the hill, he disappeared from sight. The Bishop’s men left in frustration. Juan recounted the Bishop’s statement, and the radiant Virgin promised to deliver a sign the next day.

On the morning of Tuesday, December 12, 1531, Juan Diego faced a dilemma: his uncle was dying, and he needed to find a priest who could give last rites; but he had promised the Virgin that he would return to the Bishop’s. Juan decided to take an alternate route in order to avoid Tepeyac and find a priest, but the Mother of God intercepted him. Poor Juan explained, and the Blessed Mother comforted her son. She told him that his uncle was cured!

Juan Diego then rushed to Tepeyac Hill, and there he found the sign promised by the Virgin Mary—Castilian roses blooming in the frozen December soil! He gathered the flowers in his cape as instructed, and the Virgin herself arranged them!

Juan Diego returned to the Bishop. At first, he was detained, but then he was allowed an audience. He opened his cape to allow the flowers to fall out, and everyone present fell to their knees in awe. On Juan Diego’s cape, they beheld a miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary! Within the next few years, over nine million Aztecs converted to Catholicism!

Juan Diego’s cloak has remained intact for almost 475 years! Scientists say the simple peasant tilma woven from cactus fibers should have disintegrated within about ten years.

Fatima

On a rainy spring day in Portugal in 1916, three young cousins were tending their family’s sheep. Jacinta Marto, age 6, Francisco Marto, age 8, and Lucia Santo, age 9, took shelter from the rain in a cave. An angel appeared to them in a globe of light. The angel called himself “the Angel of Peace” and he asked the children to pray with him. He kneeled and he prayed this prayer which the children repeated after him three times:

“O my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.”

The angel appeared to the children two more times, and he encouraged them to pray and make sacrifices because God was offended by a sacrilegious and indifferent world.

Then on May 13, 1917, the children were again shepherding the family flocks when, above a small oak tree, they beheld a shining lady in a white dress, more beautiful than the angel. Lucia said that she was “a lady more brilliant than the sun.” The Lady told the children, “I come from Heaven.” She asked them to return on the 13th of each month until October, and then she would tell them who she was and what she wanted.

Word spread of what was happening, and on October 13, 1917, the Lady arrived for her final appearance. It had rained all the previous night, but 70,000 people had gathered and stood in ankle deep mud in the rain. It was just after noon when the Lady appeared to the children, and she told them: “I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and to ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord anymore, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let then continue saying it every day.”

Then the Lady of the Rosary pointed to the sky, and Lucia also pointed. The clouds parted, and everyone present saw the sun appear as a silver disk. They could gaze directly into it without burning their eyes. Then the sun began to whirl and throw off shafts of multicolored light. The sun repeated this a total of three times. Then a gasp rose from the crowd as the sun grew and appeared to be plummeting toward the earth. People fell to their knees in terror—some thought it was the end of the world. Then the sun returned to its normal position in the sky. When the people arose, they found that their muddy clothes were now clean and dry. Many sick and crippled people were miraculously cured that day.

Garabandal

Between 1961 and 1965, the blessed Virgin appeared to four girls, ages eleven and twelve, in the beautiful mountain village of Garabandal, Spain. There were many miraculous physical phenomenon associated with the apparitions: these included ecstasies in which the girls were impervious to physical pain from extremely bright lights, pricks, burns and blows. It was impossible to distract them during the apparitions. Another phenomenon included running at great speed down the steep mountainside, even backwards, so that it was impossible for the astonished spectators to follow them. They did not seem to be subject to the law of gravity, but endowed with some sort of spiritual agility. Blessed Mother appeared to the girls as Our Lady of Carmel, wearing a white robe and blue mantle.

Our Lady gave the girls four messages for the world. Her first message was on October 18, 1961: “Many Sacrifices must be made. Much penance must be done. We must pay many visits to the Blessed Sacrament, but first of all we must be very good. If we do not do this, punishment awaits us. Already the cup is filling, and if we do not change we shall be punished.”

Her final message was on June 18, 1965: “Since my message of October 18, 1961 has not been complied with and has not been made much known to the world, I will tell you that this is the last one. Before, the chalice was filling. Now it is overflowing. Many Cardinals, many Bishops, and many Priests are on the path of perdition and they take many souls with them. To the Eucharist, there is given less and less importance. We should avoid the wrath of God on us by our good efforts. If you ask pardon with your sincere soul God will pardon you. It is I, your mother, who through the intercession of St. Michael, wish to say that you amend, that you are already in the last warnings and that I love you much and do not want your condemnation. Ask Us sincerely and we will give to you. You should sacrifice more. Think of the passion of Jesus.”

Medjugorje

On June 24, 1981, Blessed Mother appeared again to six young people in the village of Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Yugoslavia at that time). Our Lady’s message is a call to conversion. She requests that we pray (especially the Rosary), and that we make reading the Bible part of our daily lives. She asks us to fast—to make small personal sacrifices in our daily lives that we may become the people we should be, more like Our Savior Himself. She asks us to go to monthly confession (if you are not Catholic, pray for forgiveness with a sincere heart) that we may reconcile ourselves with Our Father in Heaven. And Our Lady asks us to go to Mass often (weekly Worship services if you are not Catholic).

The 25-year anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady in Medjugorje is upon us. Our Blessed Mother has been appearing every day for 25 years! This is unprecedented! Our Lady has been telling us this is a “time of grace.” For 25 years, Our Blessed Mother has been calling us. Our loving Mother in Heaven wishes to lead us back to Our Lord. We must ask ourselves, how much longer will this time of grace last?

In the past century, Our Lady has appeared in Fatima, Garabandal, Medjugorje and many other places. The Blessed Virgin comes for all mankind—she loves all her children. Blessed Mother wants to lead us back onto the right path. At Fatima, the children were shown a vision of hell. Many souls are on the wrong path, and our God does not wish any to be lost. This is why Jesus is sending His Mother, Our Mother, to call us. And always in her messages she greets us, “Dear children!”

At Garabandal, the girls were told of three events that will happen in the future: a Warning, a great Miracle and a Chastisement. And at Medjugorje, the visionaries have also been given ten secrets about the future. I believe these “secrets” contain both great graces from God and also chastisements for a sacrilegious and indifferent world. We can be certain that any chastisements that come we will have brought on ourselves. What is it that consumes our lives? Do we long for all that is good and right and just? Or do we chase after what is vain and selfish? Do we love truth? Or falsehood? Our Lady urges us to amend our lives. How long will this time of grace last?

As I have been writing this post, I have been reflecting on my own experiences in Medjugorje and the graces the good God and Our Lady gave to me. I remember the visionary Mirjana told us that she had been called to be a visionary. And she said that all of us pilgrims that had come to Medjugorje had been called to take the messages back home with us. I pray that God gives me the grace to answer well. Mirjana told us, “The most important message Our Lady has been repeating is the Holy Mass.” Emphasis on the Eucharist was a message at Fatima and Garabandal also.


Always Our Lady tells us to put God in the first place. Mirjana told us that, “This is the time of decision…” Are we deciding for God? Are we putting God in the first place?

Our Lady urges us to open our hearts and let Jesus in. Our Lady tells us to, “Pray, pray, pray!”

And so, I will end this post with prayer:
Come into our hearts, Lord; come into our hearts.
Come into our life, Lord; come into our life.

A prayer spoken by Father Jozo:
“Bless us. Save us.
Touch our hearts and souls.
Come, O Most Holy Spirit!
Come change us. Come Bless us.
Come give us new birth.
Take from us our heart of stone.
We need a new heart—
A heart that loves,
A heart that believes,
A heart that forgives,
Jesus’ Heart, a Christian heart.
Come, O Most Holy Spirit!
Awaken us. Change us.
Come, O Most Holy Spirit!
That we may become believers,
That we may become witnesses
Of a new better world.
Come, O Most Holy Spirit!
In Your name Jesus,
Amen.

MEMORARE
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of Virgins. My Mother, to you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me.
Amen.


OUR LADY OF THE AMERICAS
by Reyes Ruiz





Blessed Mother,
She Who Has Been Made Full of Grace,
pray for us!
Our Lady of the Angels, pray for us!
Saint James the Apostle, pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
Our Lady, Patroness of the Americas,
pray for us!
Saint Juan Diego, pray for us!
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
Sister Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart,
pray for us!
Our Lady of Carmel, pray for us!
Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us!
Gospa Majka Moja, Kraljica Mira, moli za nas!

In the name of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.