#blessedvirgin — Public Fediverse posts

Quote of the day, 20 March: Blessed Francis Palau y Quer

God in His providence has ordained not to cure our ills or grant us grace without the intervention of prayer. He wishes us to help in saving each other by means of our prayer (cf. Jas 5:16f). If the heavens showered down dew and the clouds rained the righteous One, if the earth opened to bring forth the Savior (cf. Is 45:8), it was God’s good pleasure that His coming should be preceded by the prayers of that singular Virgin who by the beauty of her virtues drew into her womb the uncreated Word of God.

The Redeemer came, and by constant prayer, He reconciled the world to the Father. If Christ’s prayer and the fruits of His redemptive work are to be applied to any nation or people, or if the gospel message is to enlighten them and they are to have someone to administer the sacraments, it is indispensable that someone or even many persons should have previously won them over and reconciled them to God by earnest entreaties and supplications, by prayers and sacrifices.

Christ prayed throughout His entire life, whereas He spent only three years preaching. Since God does not distribute His graces to men except through prayer, because He wishes us to recognize Him as the source from which all good things flow; in like manner, He does not wish to save us from danger, or cure our wounds, or console us in affliction, except by means of this same exercise of prayer.

Blessed Francis Palau y Quer

From his spiritual writings

Note: Born in Aytona (Lérida) on December 29, 1811, Blessed Francis Palau y Quer entered the Carmelite Order in 1832 and was ordained in 1836. Amid civil unrest, he lived for years in exile. Returning to Spain, he founded the School of Virtue in Barcelona, later suppressed, and was again exiled—this time to Ibiza (1854–1860), where he lived in solitude at El Vedrá and deepened his mystical insight into the mystery of the Church. He went on to found the Teresian Carmelite Missionary Brothers and Sisters and devoted himself to preaching and Marian devotion. He died at Tarragona on March 20, 1872, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

Featured image: Background: Es Vedrá is an islet in the Balearic Islands, near Ibiza, in Spain. It is part of the natural reserve of Es Vedrá, Es Vedranell and els illots de Ponent. The statue of Blessed Francis is found in the chapel of the Teresian Carmelite Missionary Sisters, Tarragona.
Image credits: Alejandro Tapia / Adobe Express (photo of the Balearic Islands) and bocachete / Wikimedia Commons (photo of the statue, public domain)

Today's Flickr photo was taken in Pompeii: the dome of the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario (Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary).

#pompeii #church #architecture #dome #fresco #BlessedVirgin #rosary

Today's Flickr photo was taken in Pompeii: the dome of the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario (Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary).

#pompeii #church #architecture #dome #fresco #BlessedVirgin #rosary

Today's Flickr photo was taken in Pompeii: the dome of the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario (Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary).

#pompeii #church #architecture #dome #fresco #BlessedVirgin #rosary

Today's Flickr photo was taken in Pompeii: the dome of the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario (Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary).

#pompeii #church #architecture #dome #fresco #BlessedVirgin #rosary

Today's Flickr photo was taken in Pompeii: the dome of the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario (Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary).

#pompeii #church #architecture #dome #fresco #BlessedVirgin #rosary

Quote of the day, 19 January: St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi

Turning to an image of the Blessed Virgin, [Sister Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi] said:

“O Mary! I see after all the most pure and resplendent eyes of my Spouse, looking down upon me with a countenance no longer troubled but benign. But, pray! tell me, O my Jesus, what did I do in so short a space of time for which I may have deserved so sweet and smiling a look?”

And she was answered: “Conformity of will.”

In August of 1588, the wine in a keg in the monastery having become sour and the mother prioress having no means to provide good wine, she ordered Sister Mary Magdalen to pray to Jesus that He might be pleased to turn the spoiled wine again into good wine.

Then our Saint, strengthened by obedience, took a little framed picture which represented St. [James], and going with it to the wine cellar, after a short prayer, made the sign of the cross over the keg.

After this, the sister butler came to draw wine, and found it, in fact, restored to its former good taste. The nuns gave thanks to God, who had so miraculously provided for their needs.

A fellow sister, Mary Angiola Santucci, was then confined to her bed by a serious illness, and, on hearing of this miracle, asked for a drink of the wine. No sooner had she tasted it than she felt a notable relief from her illness, and, feeling her hope of ultimate recovery increase, she wanted to taste more of it on the following day. After this, she felt better; and on the third day, taking the same small quantity, she recovered her health entirely, to the inexpressible wonder of the sisters, who could not help being cognizant the double prodigy worked through the virtue of our humble and holy [Sister].

Father Placido Fabrini

Chapters 25 and 17 (excerpts)

Fabrini, P. & De’ Pazzi, M.M. 1900, The life of St. Mary Magdalen De-Pazzi: Florentine noble, sacred Carmelite virgin, translated from the Italian by Isoleri A., [publisher not identified] Philadelphia.

#beloved #BlessedVirgin #conformity #miracle #obedience #StMaryMagdalenDePazzi #willOfGod #wine

Quote of the day, 30 December: St. John Paul II and St. Thérèse

The Marian pope was, in an exemplary manner, a man of hope. On this point, he is particularly close to Thérèse of Lisieux, who is par excellence the Doctor of Mercy and Hope—that is, of unlimited Hope in the infinite Mercy of the Redeemer. Already, in his first encyclical, John Paul II highlighted the Mystery of Merciful Love contemplated in Christ the Redeemer:

“God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Above all, love is greater than sin, than weakness, than the “futility of creation” (cf. Rom 8:20), it is stronger than death; it is a love always ready to raise up and forgive, always ready to go to meet the prodigal son (cf. Lk 15:11–32), always looking for “the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom 8:19), who are called to the glory that is to be revealed” (cf. Rom 8:18). This revelation of love is also described as mercy (cf. St. Thomas, Summa Theol., III, q. 46, a. 1, ad 3); and in man’s history this revelation of love and mercy has taken a form and a name: that of Jesus Christ (Redemptor Hominis, n. 9).

In the same spirit, the pope would later write the encyclical Dives in Misericordia and would beatify and canonize Sister Faustina Kowalska. Along the same lines, he named the renowned theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar as Cardinal, who was a steadfast advocate for the universal hope of salvation. Before him, the poet Charles Péguy had discovered the same reality of hope in Mary, “All Hope,” as we will see in one of our meditations.

But there is no doubt that the principal authority on this point is Thérèse of Lisieux as a Doctor of the Church. John Paul II’s expression at the end of the Letter to the Montfort religious family is certainly inspired by Thérèse of Lisieux: “Together with the Blessed Virgin and with the same maternal heart, the Church prays, hopes and intercedes for the salvation of all men and women.”

Here, it is necessary to summarize Thérèse’s doctrine, which we will explore more deeply in upcoming meditations. Indeed, it was already with the same maternal heart that young Thérèse, at the age of 14, before entering Carmel, hoped against all hope for the salvation of the criminal Pranzini, condemned to death and unrepentant, wanting “at all costs to prevent him from falling into hell.” She herself calls him “my first child,” affirming the full certainty of hope in his regard, which has as its sole foundation the infinite Mercy of Jesus (Ms A, 45v–46v).

This extreme hope explicitly becomes hope for all on the day of her religious profession when she asks her spouse: “Jesus, allow me to save very many souls; let no soul be lost today” (Pri 2)—that is, among all those who die today, let not one go to hell. Similarly, when she offers herself “as a victim of holocaust to Merciful Love,” she expresses her desire to “save souls on earth,” meaning all souls (Pri 6).

François-Marie Léthel, o.c.d.

The Light of Christ in the Heart of the Church
Meditation 4: The Splendor of Charity, Faith, and Hope Lived by John Paul II with Mary Most Holy

Lethel, F 2011, La lumière du Christ dans le coeur de l’Église : Jean-Paul II et la théologie des saints : retraite de carême avec Benoît XVI, 13-19 mars 2011, Parole et Silence, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Photographer Frank McKenna captures this image of five birds in flight above the Pacific shore at San Diego, California. Image credit: Frank McKenna / Unsplash (Stock photo)

#BlessedVirgin #DoctorOfTheChurch #FrançoisMarieLéthelOCD #hope #Pranzini #salvation #StJohnPaulII #StThérèseOfLisieux