Our Lady of the Pillar

Our Lady of the Pillar (Spanish: Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary at her appearance during the start of Christianity in Spain. She is considered the Patroness of the country and of the Spanish Civil Guard. Her shrine is in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, by the river Ebro

According to tradition, on January 2, 40 AD, in the early days of the Church, James the Greater was evangelizing the Gospel in w Zaragoza. He was disheartened with his mission, making little progress having only few converts who had been traveling with him. In his despair, while praying by the banks of Ebro River, Mother Mary miraculously appeared before him and his group, comforting him and promised to help. Mary gave him a column or pillar as a symbol, being carried by angels with an image of the Mother on top. James was instructed to build a chapel on the spot where Mary left the pillar, a place where she and the pillar would dwell forever; so that by the grace of God, will marvel those who believed and asked in their hour of need. James returned to Jerusalem after establishing the church in Zaragoza.. The land he left eventually became believers of Christ through the works of his disciples

Blessed Pope John Paul II, on his visit to the basilica in November 1982, said....

"In my spiritual Pilgrimage of today, I wish to direct my thoughts to the Virgin of the Pilar in Zaragoza, Spain, whose basilica I had the pleasure of visiting, fulfilling my wish of kneeling as a devout son of Mary before Her sacred Column. This venerable Shrine, built on the banks of the Ebro River, is a great symbol of the presence of Mary since the beginning of the preaching of the Good News in the Iberian Peninsula.

According to an ancient local tradition, the Virgin appeared to James the Apostle in Zaragoza to console him, and she promised him her help and maternal assistance in his works of Apostolic preaching. Even more, as a signal of protection she left him a marble Column that, through the centuries has given the Shrine its name. Since then, Our Lady of Pilar in Zaragoza, as it is commonly called in Spain, is considered as the symbol of the firmness, the constancy of the faith of the Spanish people and moreover, it is also an indication of the road that leads to the knowledge of Christ through the Apostolic teaching.


The Spanish Christians have seen in the Pilar a clear analogy with the column that guided the people of Israel in their pilgrimage to the Promised Land. Therefore, through the centuries, they have been able to sing "Columnam disciples habemus," we have as a guide a Column that accompanies us to the new Israel."

Litany of Saint Francis

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, conceived without sin,
Pray for us.

Holy Mary, special patroness of the three Orders of Saint Francis,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, seraphic patriarch,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, most prudent father,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, despiser of the world,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, model of penance,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, conqueror of vices,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, imitator of the Saviour,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, bearer of the marks of Christ,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, sealed with the character of Jesus,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, example of purity,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, image of humility,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, abounding in grace,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, reformer of the erring,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, healer of the sick,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, pillar of the Church,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, defender of the Faith,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, champion of Christ,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, defender of thy children,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, invulnerable shield,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, confounder of the heretics,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, converter of the pagans,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, supporter of the lame,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, raiser of the dead,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, healer of the lepers,
Pray for us.

Saint Francis, our advocate,
Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

V. Pray for us, O blessed father Francis,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who,
when the world was growing cold,
in order to renew in our hearts
the flame of love,
imprinted the sacred marks of Thy Passion
on the body of our blessed father Francis,
mercifully grant that by his merits and prayers
we may persevere in bearing the cross
and may bring forth fruits worthy of penance,
Thou Who livest and reignest,
world without end.

Amen

The Holy Rosary

October is traditionally the month of the Holy Rosary. In praying the Rosary we join Mary in contemplating the face of Christ our Lord. As a compendium to the Gospel, the Rosary is a mediation on the mystery of Christ’s life, leading us to know him ever deeper in faith and love.

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, offered the following mediation on the Holy Rosary at the Pontifical Shrine of Pompeii on Sunday, October 19, 2008. It is offered here as a help and guide to a more fruitful praying of the Rosary.

RECITATION OF THE HOLY ROSARY

MEDITATION OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Pontifical Shrine of Pompeii
Sunday, 19 October 2008

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,

Dear men and women religious,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Before entering the Shrine to recite the Holy Rosary with you, I paused briefly before the tomb of Bl. Bartolo Longo and, praying, I asked myself: "Where did this great apostle of Mary find the energy and perseverance he needed to bring such an impressive work, now known across the world, to completion? Was it not in the Rosary, which he accepted as a true gift from Our Lady's Heart?" Yes, that truly was how it happened! The experience of the Saints bears witness to it: this popular Marian prayer is a precious spiritual means to grow in intimacy with Jesus, and to learn at the school of the Blessed Virgin always to fulfil the divine will. It is contemplation of the mysteries of Christ in spiritual union with Mary as the Servant of God Paul VI stressed in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis cultus (n. 46) and as my venerable Predecessor John Paul II abundantly illustrated in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae that today I once again present in spirit to the Community of Pompeii and to each one of you. You who live and work here in Pompeii, especially you, dear priests, men and women religious and lay people involved in this unique portion of the Church, are all called to make Bl. Bartolo Longo's charism your own and to become, to the extent and in the way that God grants to each one, authentic apostles of the Rosary.

To be apostles of the Rosary, however, it is necessary to experience personally the beauty and depth of this prayer which is simple and accessible to everyone. It is first of all necessary to let the Blessed Virgin take one by the hand to contemplate the Face of Christ: a joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious Face. Those who, like Mary and with her, cherish and ponder the mysteries of Jesus assiduously, increasingly assimilate his sentiments and are conformed to him. In this regard, I would like to quote a beautiful thought of Bl. Bartolo Longo: “Just as two friends, frequently in each other's company, tend to develop similar habits”, he wrote, “so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection.”

The Rosary is a school of contemplation and silence. At first glance, it could seem a prayer that accumulates words, therefore difficult to reconcile with the silence that is rightly recommended for meditation and contemplation. In fact, this cadent repetition of the Hail Mary does not disturb inner silence but indeed both demands and nourishes it. Similarly to what happens for the Psalms when one prays the Liturgy of the Hours, the silence surfaces through the words and sentences, not as emptiness, but rather as the presence of an ultimate meaning that transcends the words themselves and through them speaks to the heart. Thus, in reciting the Hail Mary, we must be careful that our voices do not ‘cover’ the voice of God who always speaks through the silence like the ‘still small voice’ of a gentle breeze (1 Kgs 19: 12). Then how important it is to foster this silence full of God, both in one’s personal recitation and in its recitation with the community! Even when the Rosary is prayed, as today, by great assemblies, and as you do in this Shrine every day, it must be perceived as a contemplative prayer. And this cannot happen without an atmosphere of inner silence.

I would like to add a further reflection concerning the Word of God in the Rosary, particularly appropriate in this period in which the Synod of Bishops is taking place on the theme: “The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church”. If Christian contemplation cannot leave the Word of God out of consideration, if it is to be a contemplative prayer, the Rosary must always emerge from the silence of the heart as a response to the Word, after the model of Mary’s prayer. Seen clearly, the Rosary is completely interwoven with scriptural elements. First of all there is the enunciation of the mystery, preferably made, as it has been today, with words taken from the Bible. The Our Father follows; by giving the prayer a ‘vertical’ orientation, the soul of who recites the rosary is opened to the correct filial attitude in accordance with the Lord’s invitation: “When you pray say: Father...” (Lk 11: 2). The first part of the Hail Mary, also taken from the Gospel, lets us listen again each time to the words that God addressed to the Virgin through the Angel and to the words of her cousin Elizabeth’s blessing. The second part of the Hail Mary resounds like the answer of children who, in addressing supplications to their Mother, do nothing other than express their own adherence to the saving plan revealed by God. Thus the thought of those who pray remains ever anchored to Scripture and to the mysteries presented in it.

Lastly, remembering that today we are celebrating World Mission Sunday, I wish to recall the apostolic dimension of the Rosary, a dimension that Blessed Bartolo Longo lived intensely, drawing inspiration from it to carry out on this earth so many charitable initiatives and works of human and social promotion. Furthermore, he wanted this Shrine to be open to the whole world as a centre of outreach of the prayer of the Rosary and as a place of intercession for peace among peoples. Dear friends, I would like to reinforce both of these aims: the apostolate of charity and prayer for peace, and I wish to confirm and entrust them once again to your spiritual and pastoral commitment. Following the example and with the support of the venerable Founder, never tire of working with enthusiasm in this part of the Lord's vineyard for which Our Lady has shown a special fondness.

Dear brothers and sisters, the time has come to take my leave of you and of this beautiful Shrine. I thank you for your warm welcome and especially for your prayers. I thank the Archbishop Prelate and Pontifical Delegate, his collaborators and those who worked to prepare my Visit in the best possible way. I must leave you, but my heart remains close to this region and to this community. I entrust you all to the Blessed Virgin of the Holy Rosary and I cordially impart the Apostolic Blessing to each one.

* * *

Our Lady of Sorrows

Blessed Pope John Paul II, in his (1984) Apostolic Letter, Savifici Doloris, wrote ( No. 25):

It is especially consoling to note—and also accurate in accordance with the Gospel and history—that at the side of Christ, in the first and most exalted place, there is always his Mother through the exemplary testimony that she bears by her whole life to this particular Gospel of suffering. In her, the many and intense sufferings were amassed in such an interconnected way that they were not only a proof of her unshakeable faith but also a contribution to the redemption of all. In reality, from the time of her secret conversation with the angel, she began to see in her mission as a mother her "destiny" to share, in a singular and unrepeatable way, in the very mission of her Son. And she very soon received a confirmation of this in the events that accompanied the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and in the solemn words of the aged Simeon, when he spoke of a sharp sword that would pierce her heart. Yet a further confirmation was in the anxieties and privations of the hurried flight into Egypt, caused by the cruel decision of Herod.

And again, after the events of her Son's hidden and public life, events which she must have shared with acute sensitivity, it was on Calvary that Mary's suffering, beside the suffering of Jesus, reached an intensity which can hardly be imagined from a human point of view but which was mysterious and supernaturally fruitful for the redemption of the world. Her ascent of Calvary and her standing at the foot of the Cross together with the Beloved Disciple were a special sort of sharing in the redeeming death of her Son. And the words which she heard from his lips were a kind of solemn handing-over of this Gospel of suffering so that it could be proclaimed to the whole community of believers.

As a witness to her Son's Passion by her presence, and as a sharer in it by her compassion, Mary offered a unique contribution to the Gospel of suffering, by embodying in anticipation the expression of Saint Paul which was quoted at the beginning. She truly has a special title to be able to claim that she "completes in her flesh"—as already in her heart—"what is lacking in Christ's afflictions ".

In the light of the unmatchable example of Christ, reflected with singular clarity in the life of his Mother, the Gospel of suffering, through the experience and words of the Apostles, becomes an inexhaustible source for the ever new generations that succeed one another in the history of the Church. The Gospel of suffering signifies not only the presence of suffering in the Gospel, as one of the themes of the Good News, but also the revelation of the salvific power and salvific significance of suffering in Christ's messianic mission and, subsequently, in the mission and vocation of the Church.

70th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of St Maximilian Kolbe

Br Louis Mary OFMConv and a friar from Africa at the cemetery of Niepokalanow, Poland.
Outside the Basilica, before Holy Mass.
Mass at Niepokalanow, Poland, 15 August 2011, Feast of the Assumption, Cardinal of Warsaw.
Br Louis Mary OFMConv and pilgrims.
Br Louis Mary OFMConv and pilgrims.
Mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Krakow, Archbishop Dziwisz, former secretary to Bl Pope John Paul II.
Mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Krakow, Archbishop Dziwisz, former secretary to Bl Pope John Paul II.
Survivors of Auschwitz and part of the congregation at mass in Auschwitz camp, August, 2011.
Congregation at Mass in Auschwitz camp, August, 2011.
The General with the relic.
Reaching the gate of Auschwitz.
Procession, Poland, 14 August, 2011.
Some of the congregation, 14 August, 2011.
Some of the congregation, 14 August, 2011.
The General leading prayers Poland, 14 August, 2011.

St Maximilian Kolbe...We must place Our Lady in every soul.

(February 11, 1937, Rome.)

"Let us seek to penetrate the plan of God: The Immaculate, united to Her divine Son by ties of blood, is associated with Him in the mystery of salvation, in the struggle against evil, in the triumph of good; the new Adam, the new Eve, together in grace, together in suffering, together in glory, on Calvary as in heaven, always united, today as well as yesterday in the attacks of infidels. Against whom do the forces of evil and error rage? Against Christ, our Lady and the Pope. The atheistic, materialist, masonic press spreads errors against religion and the faith, combats the Church and the Pope, and aims at blotting from the face of the earth the very names of Christ and of our Lady. Every means is used: press, radio, cinema and entertainment to spread disbelief and to ridicule the faithful, organize blasphemous processions to denigrate the Holy Father. Where they can, they make use of authority and violence to level churches, crosses and every symbol of faith.

At Campo di Fiori, here in Rome, they chanted in honor of Giordano Bruno to show disrespect to the Pope, a prisoner in the Vatican, and beneath the Vatican carried banners and flags showing Lucifer vanquishing St. Michael. Are we merely to stand and watch? It is not enough to weep behind drawn blinds. We must pray and sacrifice for the conversion of the erring and of sinners, but if we are consecrated souls, if we are knights of the Immaculate, we must come out into the field and fight, organize all our forces to keep the virtuous faithful and lead the erring back into the way of faith, lead them back to the mercy of God, to the maternal goodness of the Immaculate, enlightening them concerning the eternal destiny awaiting them and for which we have been created, that ineffable peace which the Lord already gives in the present life. Every word of truth draws its efficacy from divine grace.

Precisely in order to combat such impious wickedness, the Pious Union of the Militia of Mary Immaculate, with the approval of ecclesiastical authority and of the Superiors of the Order, was established in 1917. Its nature is to place us in the hands of our Lady to work for the kingdom of God, certain of Mary’s victory over such great evils in the world, over hatred, the horrible carnage and smoldering ruins of the war of 1914-1918.

We, too, must make use of the press and other means of communication – let us be clear, even in the best of circumstances this will always be little, in contrast with what the atheistic and anti-religious world press disposes – and place these in the service of the Immaculate to combat error and impiety, for the glory of God, so that every man might know he has been redeemed by Jesus Christ and called to immortal glory. We cannot take rest as long as there is in the world one soul in danger, who does not yet know the Immaculate. Our human frailty, limited resources or any other worldly difficulty must not restrain us; let us confide in the Immaculate, let us place ourselves truly in Her hands and She will continue to win the battles of God, as at Lepanto, as at Vienna. We must place our Lady in every soul so that from every soul sin be expelled and Jesus introduced. Who finds the Immaculate, finds Jesus.

The Immaculate is the conqueress of the devil, is the Mother of God, always united to God, the full of grace, the masterpiece of grace with every holiness and perfection attainable by a human creature. The Immaculate is She who in Her unbounded and respectful love wills the glory of God, fights the battles of God for overcoming evil, for the triumph of good, crushes the head of hell’s monster and destroys all heresies in the whole world. Let us pray to the Immaculate, let us trust in the Immaculate, the conqueress, faithfully awaiting the day in which a knight of the Immaculate will raise high above the Kremlin in Moscow the white standard of the Immaculate.

I find myself before so many Professors, so many distinguished representatives of theological thought and ecclesiastical learning. When will there arise a Library of the Immaculate to chant and to perpetuate the glories of the Immaculate? How many are willing to undertake this laborious and glorious task? To collect, to organize and to pass on all which speaks of the Immaculate along the course of the centuries: Sacred Scripture, the Supreme Pontiffs, the Holy Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, the Theologians and Saints. To create a doctrinal and historical corpus where all can attain knowledge of the mystery of the Immaculate, can grow in devotion, admiration and love of the Immaculate – not only the clergy and religious, but also the simple faithful throughout the world: what a worthy monument to God who willed to give us the Immaculate; what a lighthouse for non-believers; what a bond of love to unite us evermore to the Immaculate! May all nourish themselves on this truth so as to enter into the thought of God who willed the Incarnation to give us much more than what we had lost in Adam, and who in the Incarnation willed the Immaculate to remind us of the innocent man created by God and of the vision of an innocent world, according to the plan of God.

To God all glory, to God our respectful love and our praise, who willed thus to exalt and glorify the Immaculate. Mother of this dismembered and sinful humanity, our Hope, always."

Ember Days

Ember days are special days of prayer and penance which correspond to the beginning of the four seasons. They were traditionally kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in the appropriate season: after the Feast of St. Lucy (Summer), the week after Ash Wednesday (Autumn), after Pentecost Sunday (Winter), and after the Feast of the Holy Cross (Spring). Their dates were remembered by this old mnemonic:

Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia
Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.

Which means:

Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost,
are when the quarter holidays follow.

Their purpose, besides that of the discipline of prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. Four times a year, the Church sets aside three days to focus on God through His marvelous creation. They seem to have corresponded to pagan harvest festivals which were duly ‘christianised’ as an acknowledgment of God’s Lordship over all.

Ember Days were associated with different events in the life of the Church. They were days favored for priestly ordinations, prayer for priests, first Communions, almsgiving and other penitential and charitable acts. Because of the days’ focus on nature, they are also traditional times for women to pray for children and safe deliveries. Folklore also had its part. Again because of the focus on things natural, it was thought that the weather conditions of each of the three days of an Embertide foretold the weather of the next three months – and thus great importance was placed on praying for favourable weather for the forthcoming harvest.

While their observance has undoubtedly waned, if not disappeared in some places, since the liturgical reform following the Second Vatican Council, Ember Days remain an important part of the patrimony of the Church. Prayer and penance are always necessary in our struggle with sin, and with a growing awareness of our dependence on a fragile environment, we are encouraged to thank the Creator for His gift of creation, and to seek his help in caring for it. For this reason, the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference has in recent years decided that the Church here should observe the first Fridays in Autumn and Spring each year as special days of prayer and penance.