Feast of the Divine Maternity OF MARY

October 11: Feast of the Divine Maternity of Our Lady

This feast, observed throughout the Western Church on October 11, honor Mary as Mother of God, and bears the same sort of relation to the Annunciation and to Christmas as does the Synaxis of Our Lady in the Byzantine rite. It was long known in Portugal and elsewhere, but was finally instituted in 1931 by Pope Pius XI in view of the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus.

At the same time the Pope ordered at his own cost the restoration of the Marian mosaics in Saint Mary Major, much decayed through age. He issued an encyclical letter, “Lux veritatis.” In this, among the objects of the new festival, is named one truth that was particularly close to the heart of Pius XI, “…that Mary, who is loved and revered so warmly by the separated Christians of the East, would not suffer them to wander and be unhappily led further away from the unity of the Church, and therefore from her Son, whose vicar on earth we are.”

“On this occasion the heavenly Lady was full of the Holy Ghost and moreover bore within Her, as His Mother, the Divine Word, who proceeds from the Father and the Holy Ghost. Saint Joseph received special enlightenment and the plenitude of divine graces, and altogether renewed in fervor of spirit he said:

“Blessed art Thou, Lady, among all women, fortunate and preferred before all nations and generations. May the Creator of heaven and earth be extolled with eternal praise, since from his exalted kingly throne He has looked upon Thee and chosen Thee for his dwelling place and in Thee alone has fulfilled the ancient promises made to the Patriarchs and Prophets. Let all generations bless Him: for in no one has He magnified his name as He has done in thy humility; and me, the most insignificant of the living, He has in his divine condescension selected for thy servant.”

In these words of praise and benediction Saint Joseph was enlightened by the Holy Ghost, in the same manner as Saint Elizabeth, when she responded to the salutation of Our Queen and Mistress. The light and inspiration, received by the most holy spouse was wonderfully adapted to his dignity and office. The heavenly Lady, upon hearing the words of the holy man, answered in the words of the Magnificat, as She had done on her visit to Saint Elizabeth, and She added other canticles. She was all aflame in ecstasy and was raised from the earth in a globe of light, which surrounded Her and transfigured Her with the gifts of glory.

At this heavenly vision Saint Joseph was filled with admiration and unspeakable delight; for never had he seen his most blessed Spouse in such eminence of glory and perfection. Now he beheld Her with a full and clear understanding, since all the integrity and purity of the Princess of heaven and mystery of her dignity manifested themselves to him. He saw and recognized in her virginal womb the humanity of the infant God and the union of the two natures of the Word. With profound humility and reverence he adored Him and recognized Him as his Redeemer, offering himself to his majesty. The Lord looked upon him in benevolence and kindness as upon no other man, for He accepted him as his foster-father and conferred upon him that title. In accordance with this dignity, He gifted him with that plenitude of science and heavenly gifts which Christian piety can and must acknowledge.

*from The Woman in Orbit and The City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda

Feast of the Divine Maternity

THE IMMENSE VALUE OF THE WRITINGS IN THE DIVINE WILL FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta,

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will:

  VOLUME 23

 January 29, 1928

Immense value of the Writings on the Divine Will. How they are characters transmitted by the Celestial Fatherland.  How they will lay siege to the human will.  Desire of the Heart of Jesus.  His Acts, an army asking for the Kingdom of the Fiat.

 I was reading in the 20^th volume what regarded the Divine Will, and I felt such impression, as if I would see a Divine Life, alive and palpitating, flowing in the written words.  I could feel the strength of the light, the life of the warmth of Heaven, the virtue, as though operating, of the Divine Fiat in what I was reading, and I thanked my Jesus from the heart, who, with so much love, had deigned to make me write. 

But while I was doing this, my Beloved Jesus, as though unable to contain, Himself, the throbs of His Heart, came out from within my interior, and throwing His arms around my neck, He pressed me tightly to His Heart to let me feel His ardent heartbeats, and told me: “My daughter, you thank Me for I have made you write what regards My Will—Doctrine all of Heaven, and that has the virtue of communicating the life of It, palpitating and all celestial, to those who will read these Writings. 

“My Will is palpitating in the midst of creatures, but It lives suffocated by the human will. These Writings will make Its heartbeat felt so strongly, that It will suffocate the human will and will take Its first place of life that is due to It, because My Will is the heartbeat and the life of all Creation.  Therefore, the value of these Writings is immense; they contain the value of a Divine Will.  If they were written in gold, they would not surpass the great value that they contain in themselves. 

“These Writings are suns impressed with characters of most refulgent light in the walls of the Celestial Fatherland, and they form the most beautiful ornament for those walls of the Eternal City, in which all the Blessed remain enraptured and amazed in reading the characters of the Supreme Will.  Therefore, greater grace I could not give in these times, than transmitting, through you, the characters of the Celestial Fatherland to creatures, that will bring the life of Heaven into their midst.

“So, just as you thank Me, I thank you, for being willing to receive My lessons and to make the sacrifice of writing under My dictation. It was My Will that, while you were writing, made flow the living virtue of Its ardent, eternal and vivifying heartbeat, that It impressed in your characters.  This is why, in rereading them, you feel the renewing of it, all celestial, that is impressed in them.  Oh! how hard it will be for those who will read these Writings, not to feel the palpitating life of My Will, and not to be stirred, by the virtue of Its vivifying heartbeat, from the lethargy they are in. 

“These Writings on My Supreme Fiat, by the strength of Its light, will eclipse the human will; they will be balm to the human wounds, they will be opium to all that is earth; passions will feel themselves die, and from their death will rise again the life of Heaven in the midst of creatures. They will be the true celestial army that, while laying siege to the human will and to all the evils produced by it, will make peace, the lost happiness, the life of My Will, rise again in the midst of creatures.  The siege that they will lay will cause no harm to anyone, because My Will is to lay siege to the human will so that it may no longer tyrannize the poor creatures, but may leave them free in the Kingdom of My Will. 

“This is why I have insisted, and I insist so much in making you write, I have kept you on the cross, I have sacrificed you—it was necessary; it was about the most important thing, it was the echo of Heaven, the life of up there that I want to form upon earth. And this is the reason for My continuous refrain:  ‘Be attentive, omit nothing, and may your flight in My Will be continuous.’”

After this, I was continuing my round in the Divine Fiat, and I accompanied the sighs, the tears, the steps of Jesus, and all the rest done and suffered by Him, saying to Him: “My Love, Jesus, I place the army of all Your Acts around You; and investing Your words, Your heartbeats, Your steps, Your pains and all Your Acts with my ‘I love You,’ I ask You for the Kingdom of Your Will.  Hear, O Jesus—if You do not listen to me by means of the army of Your Acts, that pray You, that press You, what else could I do to move You to grant me a Kingdom so holy?” 

But while I was saying this, I thought to myself: “Did my sweet Jesus have His desires while He was on this earth, or did He not have them at all?” 

And He, moving in my interior, told me: “My daughter, as God, no desire existed in Me, because desire arises in one who does not possess everything; but in one who possesses everything and lacks nothing, desire has no reason to exist. 

“However, as man, I had My desires, because My Heart associated Itself with the other creatures in everything; and making the desires of all My own, I desired for all, with all ardor, to give the Kingdom of My Divine Fiat to all creatures.  So, if I sighed, I sighed for the Kingdom of My Will; if I prayed, cried and desired, it was only for My Kingdom, that I wanted in the midst of creatures, because, since It was the holiest thing, My Humanity could not do without wanting and desiring the most holiest thing^[1], so as to sanctify the desires of all, and give them what was holy and of greatest and most perfect good for them. 

“Therefore, everything you do is nothing other than My echo that, resounding in you, makes you ask, in each one of My Acts, for the Kingdom of My Will.  This is why I make present to you each Act of Mine, each pain I suffer, each tear I shed, each step I take—because I love that, investing them, you repeat after each one of My Acts:  ‘Jesus, I love You, and because I love You, give me the Kingdom of Your Divine Will.’ 

“I want you to call Me in everything I do, to make resound for Me the sweet memory of My Acts saying: ‘Fiat Voluntas Tua on earth as It is in Heaven’; in such a way that, in seeing your littleness—the little daughter of My Will echoing all My Acts and placing them around Me like an army, I may hasten to grant the Kingdom of My Will.”

[1] From the Italian: “…la cosa più santissima…”.

From the Writings of

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will

 Immaculate Maternal Heart of Mary

In the Divine Will

 Volume 14

 March 16, 1922

To live in the Divine Will has nothing great externally; everything passes between the soul and God. 

… “My daughter, it shows how without your Jesus you can think and say nothing but nonsense.  My dear Mama also did nothing extraordinary in Her exterior life; even more, apparently She did less than others.  She lowered Herself to the most ordinary actions of life:  She would spin, sew, sweep, light the fire.… Who would ever have thought that She was the Mother of a God?  Her external actions indicated nothing of this.  And when She carried Me in Her womb, containing the Eternal Word within Herself, every motion of Hers, every human action, won the adoration of the whole of Creation.  From Her came the life and the preservation of all creatures:  the sun hung upon Her, expecting the preservation of its light and heat; the earth, the development of the life of the plants; everything hovered round Her – Heaven and earth hung upon Her every motion.  Yet, who saw anything?  No one.  All Her greatness, power and sanctity, and the immense seas of goods which came out of Her, were in Her interior.  Each one of Her heartbeats, breaths, thoughts, words, were an outpouring into Her Creator; there were continuous currents between God and Her, which She would receive and give.  Nothing would come out which would not wound Her Creator, and by which She would not be wounded by Him.  These currents expanded Her, raised Her, and made Her surpass everything – but no one saw anything.  I alone, Her God and Son, was aware of everything.  Such current ran between my Mama and I, that Her heartbeat would run within mine, and mine within hers.  So, She lived from my eternal heartbeat, and I from Her maternal heartbeat; therefore our lives were blended together.  And this was exactly what, in my eyes, distinguished Her as my Mama.  External actions do not satisfy Me, nor do they please Me, if they do not start from an interior whose life is formed by Me.

Prodigies of the Divine Will in the Blessed Virgin Mary

 From the Writings of The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta

August 15, 1899 Volume 2

The Virgin Mary assumed into Heaven. The ‘Hail Mary’ together with Jesus.

…After this, I felt I was going out of myself into the vault of the heavens, together with my loving Jesus. It seemed that everything was in feast – Heaven, earth and Purgatory.  All were inundated with a new joy and jubilation.  Many souls were going out of Purgatory and, like bolts of lightning, reached Heaven in order to be present at the feast of our Queen Mama.  I too pushed myself through that immense crowd of people – Angels, Saints and souls from Purgatory which already occupied that new Heaven.  It was so immense, that the heavens that we see, compared to that one, seemed a little hole to me; more so, since I had the obedience of the Confessor.  But as I went about looking, I could see nothing but a most refulgent Sun spreading Its rays, which penetrated through me, in such a way as to make me become like a crystal; so much so, that my little spots appeared very clearly, as well as the infinite distance that passes between Creator and creature.  More so, since each one of those rays had its imprint:  some delineated the sanctity of God, some the purity, some the power, some the wisdom, and all the other virtues and attributes of God.  So, in seeing her nothingness, her miseries and her poverty, the soul would feel annihilated, and instead of looking, she would fall down, her face to the ground, before that Eternal Sun which no one can face.

But what was more was that in order to see the feast of our Queen Mama, one had to look from within that Sun, so much did the Most Holy Virgin appear to be immersed in God; in fact, in looking from other points, one could see nothing. Now, while I was in this state of annihilation before that Divine Sun, Baby Jesus, being held in the arms of the Queen Mama, told me:  “Our Mama is in Heaven; to you I give the office of acting as my mama on earth.  And since my life is continuously subject to scorns, to poverty, to pains, to the abandonment of men, and my Mama, while being on earth, was my faithful company in all of these pains; not only this, but She tried to relieve Me in everything, as much as Her strengths were capable of – you too, acting as my mother, will keep Me faithful company in all of my pains, suffering in my place as much as you can; and where you cannot reach, you will try to give Me at least a refreshment.  Know, however, that I want you all intent on Me.  I will be jealous even of your breath, if you do not do it for Me; and when I see that you are not all intent on contenting Me, I will give you no peace and no rest.”

After this, I began to act as his mama, but – oh, how much attention was needed to make Him content! To see Him content, one could not even take a glance at any place else.  Now He wanted to sleep, now He wanted to drink, now He wanted to be cheered with caresses; and I had to be ready for anything He wanted.  Now he would say:  ‘My Mama, my head is hurting – o please, relieve Me!’; and immediately I would check His head and, finding some thorns, I would remove them, and placing my arms beneath His head I would make Him rest.  While I would make Him, all of a sudden He would get up and say:  “I feel a weight and a suffering at my Heart, to the point that I feel I am dying.  Take a look at what is in there.”  And observing the interior of His Heart, I found all the instruments of the Passion; I removed them one by one, and I placed them in my Heart.  Then, seeing Him relieved, I began to caress Him and kiss Him, and I said to Him:  ‘My sole and only treasure, You didn’t even let me watch the feast of our Queen Mama, or listen to the first canticles that the Angels and the Saints sang as She entered Paradise.’

And Jesus: “The first canticle that they sang to my Mama was the ‘Hail Mary’, because in the ‘Hail Mary’ there are the most beautiful praises, the greatest honors; and the joy which She felt in being made Mother of God is renewed.  Therefore, let us recite it together to honor Her, and when you come to Paradise I will let you find it as if you had recited it together with the Angels and the Saints for the first time in Heaven.”

So, we recited the first part of the ‘Hail Mary’ together. Oh, how tender and moving it was to hail our Most Holy Mama together with Her beloved Son!  Each word He said carried an immense light, through which one could comprehend many things about the Most Holy Virgin.  But who can say them all – especially because of my inability?  Therefore I let them pass in silence.

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY

Our Lady of Good Remedy

800 years ago Christians were being captured by the Moslems and sold into slavery by the thousands, and nobody knew what to do about it. In the year 1198 St. John of Matha founded the Trinitarian order to go to the slave markets to buy the Christian slaves in order to set them free.

To carry out his plan, the Trinitarians need a large sum of money. So, they placed their efforts under the patronage of Mary. They were so successful that, over the centuries, the Trinitarians were able to free thousands upon thousands of people who were able to return safely home.

In gratitude for her miraculous assistance, St. John of Matha honored Mary with the title “Our Lady of Good Remedy.” Devotion to mary under this ancient title is widely known in Europe and Latin America, and the Church celebrates her Feast on October 8.

When in need—–for whatever reason, but especially when having difficulty obtaining help—–invoke the aid of Our Lady of Good Remedy, and you will surely be helped by the power of her intercession.

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY

O QUEEN OF HEAVEN and earth, Most Holy Virgin, we venerate thee. Thou art the beloved Daughter of the Most High God, the chosen Mother of the Incarnate  Word, the Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the Sacred Vessel of the Most Holy Trinity.

O Mother of the Divine Redeemer, who, under the title of Our Lady of Good Remedy, comes to aid of all who call upon thee, extend thy maternal protection to us. We depend on thee, Dear Mother, as helpless and needy children depend on a tender and caring mother.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with Thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

O LADY OF GOOD REMEDY, source of unfailing help, grant that we may draw from the treasury of graces in our time of need.

Touch the hearts of sinners, that they may seek reconciliation and forgiveness. Bring comfort to the afflicted and the lonely; help the poor and the hopeless; aid the sick and the suffering. May they be healed in body and strengthened in spirit to endure their sufferings with patient resignation and Christian fortitude.

Hail Mary . . .

DEAR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY, source of unfailing help, thy compassionate heart knows a remedy for every affliction and misery we encounter in life. Help me with thy prayers and intercession to find a remedy for my problems and needs, especially for . . .

(Here indicate your special intentions).

On my part, O loving Mother, I pledge myself to a more intensely Christian lifestyle, to a more careful observance of the laws of God, to be more conscientious in fulfilling the obligations of my state of life, and to strive to be a source of healing in this broken world of ours.

Dear Lady of Good Remedy, be ever present to me, and through thy intercession, may I enjoy health of body and peace of mind, and grow stronger in the faith and in the love of thy Son, Jesus.

Hail Mary . . .

1. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of Good Remedy, R. That we may deepen our dedication to thy Son, and make the world alive with His Spirit.

Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta,

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will:

 August 15, 1922 Volume 14

The acts of Jesus and those of the Most Holy Virgin in the Divine Will.

Finding myself in my usual state, I was abandoning myself in the arms of the Most Holy Will of God, and my sweet Jesus told me: “My daughter, in my Will you will find not only all of the acts that my Humanity did, in which I intertwined all creatures together, but you will also find all the acts that my dear Mama did which, weaving with Mine, formed one single act.

As soon as I was conceived in Her womb, She began the weaving with my acts; and since my Humanity had no other Life, no other food, and no other purpose but the Will of my Father alone which, flowing everywhere, made Me act of each creature so as to give to the Father the rights as Creator on the part of creatures, and to give Myself as Life to all creatures, in the same way, as She began Her intertwining with Me, She too gave back to the Father His rights as Creator in the name of all, and gave Herself to all creatures. Therefore, all creatures received, together with my acts, the acts of my Mama as Life.

Now, in Heaven, She embraces all the glory of each creature; my Will gives Her such glory on the part of each creature that there is no glory which She does not contain, and no glory which does not descend from Her. And since She wove Her works, Her love, Her pains, etc. with Me, now in Heaven She is circumfused with as much glory as were the weavings She did in my Will:  this is why She surpasses everything, embraces everything and flows in everything.  This is what it means to live in my Will.  My beloved Mama could have never received so much glory, if all of her acts had not flown in my Will; acts which constitute Her Queen and crown of all.

Now I want you in my Will, so that the weaving may not be between two, but among three; my Will wants to expand in order to find all creatures together in one creature. Do you see the great good that will come to you; how much glory you will give Me, and how much good you will do to all?”

 Our Lady of the Place

October 3: Our Lady of the Place, Rome (1250)

Abbot Orsini wrote: “This image having fallen into a well at the house of Cardinal Capocius, in the year 1250, the water swelled up miraculously, and cast out the image, which the cardinal placed in his chapel. But Pope Innocent IV obliged him to build another on the very spot where the miracle had occurred. This chapel having been given to the Servites, they have had a fine church built, in which the well is enclosed.”

The church of Santa Maria in Via, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, is also known under the special title of Madonna del Pozzo, Our Lady of the Well. The church that presently stands at the location was built between the years 1491 and 1513, and is not the one originally commissioned in 1256.

The miracle that the Abbot Orsini mentions actually occurred in the year 1256, on the evening of 26 and 27 September. At that time the Cardinal Pietro Capocci had a residence at the location, and one of his servants either accidentally or deliberately, it is no longer known, threw an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the well of the stable. The image was painted on a heavy stone tablet, but it never struck the bottom of the well.

Before the image of the Blessed Virgin had gone very far, the water inside the well suddenly rose up and over the top of the well and flowed abundantly in all directions with such force that the image of Mary was suspended upon the surface of the water. The horses were alarmed by the rushing water, bringing the rest of the domestics from their various places to witness the miracle. The image remained where it was until the cardinal himself responded, and with devout astonishment, retrieved the sacred image that appeared to be miraculously floating on the water. Once the image was taken, the water immediately receded.

The first church, Santa Maria in Via, was already built nearby, and was a titular church. It is no longer known why it was so named, but it is known that Cardinal Pietro Capocci had a residence there. When Pope Alexander IV learned of the event, he declared it to have been a miracle and ordered the construction of a new chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The new chapel was built over the well, and was an annex to the older church. The fountain can still be seen on the right hand side upon entering the church.

It was Pope Innocent VIII who ordered the construction of the church that can presently be seen. In the year 1513 the church was given to the Servites by Pope Leo X, and the Servite Order still remains there to serve the church.Our Lady of the Place