Our Blessed Mother's birthday comes close and already this year I feel a joyous excitement. The Mystics tell us that it is the same thing in heaven when the Great Feast Days roll round. The angels dance, so to speak. Since this is a Marian Feast I suppose the angels specially granted to Mary's Household must be specially joyous. I can feel the joy and excitement in the air so much this year, for some reason. In the old days Catholics used to fast in preparation for Feasts. I don't know if anyone does this anymore; perhaps during Advent or Lent but not much else. https://www.ecatholic2000.com/agreda/vol1/vol1.shtml#__RefHeading___Toc349057544 Chapter XXI OF THE FELICITOUS BIRTH OF THE MOST HOLY MARY OUR MISTRESS OF THE FAVORS, WHICH SHE THEN RECEIVED FROM THE HAND OF THE MOST HIGH, AND HOW A NAME WAS GIVEN HER IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH. 326. The day destined for the parturition of saint Anne and for the birth of Her, who was consecrated and sanctified to be the Mother of God, had arrived: a day most fortunate for the world. This birth happened on the eighth day of September, fully nine months having elapsed since the Conception of the soul of our most holy Queen and Lady. Saint Anne was prepared by an interior voice of the Lord, informing Her, that the hour of her parturition had come. Full of the joy of the holy Spirit at this information, she prostrated herself before the Lord and besought the assistance of his grace and his protection for a happy deliverance. Presently she felt a movement in her womb similar to that which is proper to creatures being born to the light. The most blessed child Mary was at the same time by divine providence and power ravished into a most high ecstasy. Hence Mary was born into the world without perceiving it by her senses, for their operations and faculties were held in suspense. As She had the use of her reason, She would have perceived it by her senses, if they would have been left to operate in their natural manner at that time. However, the Almighty disposed otherwise, in order that the Princess of heaven might be spared the sensible experience otherwise connected with birth. 327. She was born pure and stainless, beautiful and full of grace, thereby demonstrating, that She was free from the law and the tribute of sin. Although She was born substantially like other daughters of Adam, yet her birth was accompanied by such circumstances and conditions of grace, that it was the most wonderful and miraculous birth in all creation and will eternally redound to the praise of her Maker. At twelve o’clock in the night this divine Luminary issued forth, dividing the night of the ancient Law and its pristine darknesses from the new day of grace, which now was about to break into dawn. She was clothed, handled and dressed like other infants, though her soul dwelt in the Divinity; and She was treated as an infant, though She excelled all mortals and even all the angels in wisdom. Her mother did not allow Her to be touched by other hands than her own, but she herself wrapped Her in swaddling clothes: and in this Saint Anne was not hindered by her present state of childbirth; for she was free from the toils and labors, which other mothers usually endure in such circumstances. 328. So then saint Anne received in her arms Her, who was her Daughter, but at the same time the most exquisite Treasure of all the universe, inferior only to God and superior to all other creatures. With fervent tears of joy she offered this Treasure to his Majesty, saying interiorly: “Lord of infinite wisdom and power, Creator of all that exists, this Fruit of my womb, which I have received of thy bounty, I offer to Thee with eternal thanks, for without any merit of mine Thou hast vouchsafed it to me. Dispose Thou of the mother and Child according to thy most holy will and look propitiously down upon our lowliness from thy exalted throne. Be Thou eternally blessed, because Thou hast enriched the world with a Creature so pleasing to thy bounty and because in Her Thou hast prepared a dwelling-place and a tabernacle for the eternal Word (Sap. 9, 8). I tender my congratulations to my holy forefathers and to the holy Prophets, and in them to the whole human race, for this sure pledge of Redemption, which Thou hast given them. But how shall I be able worthily to treat Her, whom Thou hast given me as a Daughter? I that am not worthy to be her servant? How shall I handle the true ark of the Testament? Give me, O my Lord and King, the necessary enlightenment to know thy will and to execute it according to thy pleasure in the service of my Daughter.” 329. The Lord answered the holy matron interiorly, that she was to treat her heavenly Child outwardly as mothers treat their daughters, without any demonstration of reverence; but to retain this reverence inwardly, fulfilling the laws of a true mother toward Her, and rearing Her up with all motherly love and solicitude. All this the happy mother complied with; making use of this permission and her mother’s rights without losing her reverence, she regaled herself with her most holy Daughter, embracing and caressing Her in the same way as other mothers do with their daughters. But it was always done with a proper reverence and consciousness of the hidden and divine sacrament known only to the mother and Daughter. The guardian angels of the sweet Child with others in great multitudes showed their veneration and worship to Mary as She rested in the arms of her mother: they joined in heavenly music, some of which was audible also to blessed Anne. The thousand angels appointed as guardians of the great Queen offered themselves and dedicated themselves to her service. This was also the first time, in which the heavenly Mistress saw them in a corporeal form with their devises and habiliments, as I shall describe in another chapter (Ch. XXIII) and the Child asked them to join with Her in the praise of the Most High and to exalt Him in her name. 330. At the moment of the birth of our Princess Mary the Most High sent the archangel Gabriel as an envoy to bring this joyful news to the holy Fathers in limbo. Immediately the heavenly ambassador descended, illumining that deep cavern and rejoicing the just who were detained therein. He told them that already the dawn of eternal felicity had commenced and that the reparation of man, which was so earnestly desired and expected by the holy Patriarchs and foretold by the Prophets, had been begun, since She, who was to be the Mother of the Messiah, had now been born; soon would they now see the salvation and the glory of the Most High. The holy prince gave them an understanding of the excellence of the most holy Mary and of what the Omnipotent had begun to work in Her, in order that they might better comprehend the happy beginning of the mystery, which was to end their prolonged imprisonment. Then all the holy Patriarchs and Prophets and the rest of the just in limbo rejoiced in spirit and in new canticles praised the Lord for this benefit. 331. All these happenings at the birth of our Queen succeeded each other in a short space of time. The first exercise of her senses in the light of the material sun, was to recognize her parents and other creatures. The arms of the Most High began to work new wonders in Her far above all conceptions of men, and the first and most stupendous one was to send innumerable angels to bring the Mother of the eternal Word body and soul into the empyrean heaven for the fulfilling of his further intentions regarding Her. The holy princes obeyed the divine mandate and receiving the child Mary from the arms of her holy Mother Anne, they arranged a new and solemn procession bearing heavenward with incomparable songs of joy the true Ark of the covenant, in order that for a short time it might rest, not in the house of Obededon, but in the temple of the King of kings and of the Lord of lords, where later on it was to be placed for all eternity. This was the second step, which most holy Mary made in her life, namely, from this earth to the highest heaven.
Beautiful Padraig! I could almost feel the sheer joy of it when reading and I will read this again on the 8th. Thank you!
You're thinking of the claim by Our Lady of Medjugorje that she was born on August 5th. This is an issue that doesn't warrant bickering. On the Church calendar we celebrate it on September 8.
I prefer to go along with the Church Calendar , Peter, in case I get lost. I hope you're feeling better. I am going out for a walk now in this cloudy blowy evening and will be praying for you.
I was thinking a lot of Our Blessed Lady today and some of the things she has said of herself and others have said of her. ...That we are all of us, each and everyone of us Mary's favourite child. It is as though we were, each of us her only child in the Universe. We each of us have her entire attention as she is the Perfect Mother. If we were to know how much Our Mother loves us, we would die of joy. We can never Praise Mary enough or too much. We know this because Our Holy Mother the Church has exhausted itself in her praise. I only found out by accident today something I never knew before whilst listening to a Spanish podcast. Apparently in Mexico they dedicate an entire week in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe....I never heard of such a thing anywhere else in the world. ..an entire week... https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/mexico-celebrating-our-lady-guadalupe
I was walking along the Lough Shore yesterday and there was a small boat on it's side as a decoration on a Lawn. On it's side were printed the words, 'The troubles you endure now are the Strength you will obtain in the Future'.
Something keeps telling me that I am a terrible sinner even though I pray, go to mass and try to follow Jesus
That "something" is --as you know--NOT from God. When you hear this you could say I am a sinner forgiven and saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
I was just doing my last Ward Run this morning and was on an Elevator happily looking forward to getting home. A lady was there all dressed up and ready to go into the Cardiac ICU and she looked so down in the dumps I couldn't help commenting on it. She told me she was really dreading her days work ahead and was finding it hard to make the effort to go into the Ward. I tried to tell her that perhaps this might be the happiest day of her life, that maybe something wonderful was about to happen. As I watched the poor woman disappear inside all that equipment I wondered what would make this day my happiest ever? I think what makes each day happier than the day before is my Faith in God. It is the goose that never fails to lay its golden egg of joy each morning. This is particularly important just at the moment when things in the World generally have taken such a dark turn. Jesus is so much my anchor, my Saviour, my Light my Life, my never failing Fountain of Joy. Also the Vespers of the Birthday of the Theotokos starts in just a few hours time. The candles in my heart are already lit. I stand , lamp in hand awaiting with the greatest joy her new coming with hosts of angels in celebration, the birth of the Mother of the Lord.
Sometimes I wonder if the devil tried to end the life of Most Holy Mary already in childhood; as he did with Jesus through Herod; case he learned that she was predestined to be the mother of the world's Redeemer.
