Today the church recalls that Mary, as the Theotokos or God bearer, was free from the stain of original sin. Many Christians may question such a dogma declared by the church in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in his Ineffabilis Deus. However, it seems only natural that God’s grace would keep Mary free from sin who is representative of our human destiny to be in full communion with a God that wanted to vanquish our sin by walking among us in human form. The Patroness of the Immaculate Conception is also the Patroness of the United States. While the United States is far from perfect, such an example reminds those citizens living within her borders that they should all strive for seeking God’s grace and to do His will just as Mary did. Mary’s fiat and acceptance of saying yes to bearing Jesus in her womb can only result in receiving sanctifying grace and being in perfect union with God from the moment of her conception.

Pope BI. Pius IX – 1854

Excerpt from The Immaculate Conception https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9ineff.htm

And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent

As St. Anselm describes about Mary in the Office of Readings in the Roman Breviary:

God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Saviour of the world. Without God’s Son, nothing could exist; without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.

Let us reflect on this gift of grace that God has bestowed upon Mary today. Mary’s triumphant victory over sin with the reception of bearing God’s Son is a reminder to all of us of our destiny.

Let us reflect on today’s Collect from the mass as we go about our day:

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son, grant, we pray, that, as you preserved her from every stain by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw, so, through her intercession, we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

A Sermon by Pope St Gregory the Great

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message.

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels. And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.

Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy.”

Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.

So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle. Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.

Prayer:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

About Padre Pio: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/padre-pio-his-biography-13815

Letter from Padre Pio To Raffaelina Cerase, May 19, 1914

Stones of the eternal dwelling

The divine craftsman gets ready to prepare stones to build an eternal temple; he cuts these stones by repeated blows of his hammer and carefully polishes them by removing any excess. 

This is what the holy Catholic church, our tender Mother sings, as the hymn of the Office of the Dedication of a Church. And it can be seen to be true in this way. Each heart intended for eternal glory can be very well considered as one of these stones created for the eternal temple. When a contractor wants to build a house, he must first cut the stones, which will be used for construction; this he does with blows of hammer and chisel. Thus our heavenly Father acts on the heart which he chooses and desires from all eternity, in his great wisdom and Providence, to build as an eternal dwelling place.

To reign with Christ in eternal glory, the heart must thus be cut with large blows of hammer and chisel; in this way, as with stones, the divine architect prepares the hearts that it chooses. What are these blows of hammer and chisel? They are the shadows, my sister: the fears, temptations, afflictions, spiritual anxieties, and also the physical maladies.

Therefore, give thanks for the infinite tenderness of our Heavenly Father, who deals thus with your heart to save it. Why will mature people not praise these kind gestures that every father does? Open your heart to this celestial doctor of hearts and surrender yourself in all confidence to his very sacred hands for he treats you as someone whom he has chosen to follow Jesus closely, until the summit of martyrdom. As for me, I believe, that his grace will make itself manifest in you through the joy and wise movement of your heart. Thus, do not doubt that all that happens to your soul has been willed by the Lord. Thus, do not fear that God makes you fall into some evil or ruin! It should be enough for you to know that in all your life, you never offended the Lord whom you should approach more and more.

If this most benevolent Spouse hides himself in your heart, he does so, not as a punishment for your sin as you believe, but to further test your fidelity and your constancy; and moreover, to cure some weakness that your eyes of feeble, failing flesh, do not see, of which no one is simply free. As we know from the Holy Scripture: the righteous man falls seven times a day. (Pr 24,16).

And believe me, if I did not learn that you are also afflicted, I would be less happy, since I would think that the Lord decides to give you less pearls… Drive out like temptations doubts to the contrary… Drive out also the doubts that refer to your manner of living, namely, that you did not heed the divine calls and that you opposed the gentle invitations of your Husband. All that does not come from the good spirit, but from the bad. They are diabolic tricks that aim to bring you away from perfection, or at least to delay you along his way. Do not lose courage!

When Jesus shows himself to you, thank him; should he hide from you, thank him still. To love, everything is a joy. I wish that you deliver your spirit with Jesus on the cross and that you be able to say with him: All is accomplished! (Jn 19,30)

(retrieved from the Divine Office of Readings)

Mt. 9:9-13 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

It is remarkable that the apostle and gospel writer, St. Matthew, would mention his profession & humble call to follow our Lord. The synoptic gospel writers St. Mark & St. Luke also mention the call of Levi or Matthew in their accounts. St. Luke adds a further detail noting that a banquet in St. Mathew’s home was given:

Lk 5:29 Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them.

As St. Bede mentions regarding the banquet that St. Matthew held, “he not only gave a banquet for the Lord at his earthly residence, but far more pleasing was the banquet set in his own heart which he provided through faith and love” (Bede, the Venerable, Hom. 21: CCL 122, 149-151, excerpt from Office of Readings of the Divine Office).

In many respects, the taking & giving of earthly wealth and the occupation of a tax collector were not professions of prestige. St. Matthew knew from the invitation to follow Jesus that he had to act. How do we act and respond to God’s call in our life? Is there some earthly fear holding us back? The lure and temptation to allow mammon to become our “god” by accumulating power and wealth is a real temptation to those of us who are sinners & sick among us in need of healing. As our Lord reminds us in another account, when responding to the Pharisees in paying the census tax we should “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mt. 22:21). The gospel also reminds us of the insurmountable and eternal truth of God where heaven and earth may pass away, but the words of Jesus shall never pass as a reminder to all of us (Mt. 24:35). Matthew heeded the words of Jesus to come & follow him.

While we may stray from the path and allow temptation & other worldly concerns to separate us from God’s invitation to follow Him, let our hearts be ready for the banquet for the Lord to enter where our faith & love are present.

St. Matthew, pray for us.

From the office of daily readings for September 13, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor. An excerpt of a homily by St John Chrysostom:

The waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear of drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock. Let the sea rage, it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise, they cannot sink the boat of Jesus.What are we to fear? Death? Life to me means Christ, and death is gain. Exile? ‘The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world’s threats, I find its blessings laughable.I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long to live, except for your good. I concentrate therefore on the present situation, and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence.Do you not hear the Lord saying: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst? Will he be absent, then, when so many people united in love are gathered together? I have his promise; I am surely not going to rely on my own strength!I have what he has written; that is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbor. Let the world be in upheaval. I hold to his promise and read his message; that is my protecting wall and garrison. What message? Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!

If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear?

Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider’s web. Indeed, unless you, my brothers, had detained me, I would have left this very day. For I always say “Lord, your will be done”; not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do. That is my strong tower, my immovable rock, my staff that never gives way. If God wants something, let it be done! If he wants me to stay here, I am grateful. But wherever he wants me to be, I am no less grateful.Yet where I am, there you are too, and where you are, I am. For we are a single body, and the body cannot be separated from the head nor the head from the body.Distance separates us, but love unites us, and death itself cannot divide us.For though my body die, my soul will live and be mindful of my people.You are my fellow citizens, my fathers, my brothers, my sons, my limbs, my body. You are my light, sweeter to me than the visible light. For what can the rays of the sun bestow on me that is comparable to your love? The sun’s light is useful in my earthly life, but your love is fashioning a crown for me in the life to come.

More about the biography of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop & Doctor:

Saint John Chrysostom

The two times a Pope has spoken ex cathedra or from the chair of Peter are when the Immaculate Conception was declared under Pope Pius IX in 1854. This tenet of papal infallibility was solidified with the first Vatican Council in 1870. The second time occurred in 1950 under Pope Pius XII with the dogma explained in Munificentissimus Deus with the Assumption of Mary. The Eastern Orthodox Church defines this as the Dormition or the Falling Asleep of the Virgin Mary.

The teachings of Mary’s Assumption was an established teaching by the early church in the 600s.

Saint John of Damascene on The Dormition of Mary (Office of Readings from the Roman Breviary)

“It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God” (Dormition of Mary [A.D. 697])

Such a miracle of Mary’s glorious Assumption reminds us of the Christian mystery of being raised from the dead. The heavenly birthday of Mary in which she is received into heaven both body and soul is one that we should all celebrate. Mary as the new Eve is a sign for us Christians that the fall from grace by our first parents Adam & Eve is not lost. Through Mary’s obedience to the divine will of the Father her gift of being full of grace is shone with no stain of sin upon her soul nor corruption of her earthly body. How can Mary not be assumed into heaven when she was chosen as the Theotokos or God bearer of our Lord Jesus the Christ?

Catechism of the Catholic Church

“Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians: In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 966)

Excerpts from APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF
POPE PIUS XII MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS DEFINING THE DOGMA OF THE ASSUMPTION, November 1, 1950

4. That privilege has shone forth in new radiance since our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the loving Mother of God’s Immaculate Conception. These two privileges are most closely bound to one another. Christ overcame sin and death by his own death, and one who through Baptism has been born again in a supernatural way has conquered sin and death through the same Christ. Yet, according to the general rule, God does not will to grant to the just the full effect of the victory over death until the end of time has come. And so it is that the bodies of even the just are corrupted after death, and only on the last day will they be joined, each to its own glorious soul.

5. Now God has willed that the Blessed Virgin Mary should be exempted from this general rule. She, by an entirely unique privilege, completely overcame sin by her Immaculate Conception, and as a result she was not subject to the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and she did not have to wait until the end of time for the redemption of her body.

14. Christ’s faithful, through the teaching and the leadership of their pastors, have learned from the sacred books that the Virgin Mary, throughout the course of her earthly pilgrimage, led a life troubled by cares, hardships, and sorrows, and that, moreover, what the holy old man Simeon had foretold actually came to pass, that is, that a terribly sharp sword pierced her heart as she stood under the cross of her divine Son, our Redeemer. In the same way, it was not difficult for them to admit that the great Mother of God, like her only begotten Son, had actually passed from this life. But this in no way prevented them from believing and from professing openly that her sacred body had never been subject to the corruption of the tomb, and that the august tabernacle of the Divine Word had never been reduced to dust and ashes. Actually, enlightened by divine grace and moved by affection for her, God’s Mother and our own dearest Mother, they have contemplated in an ever clearer light the wonderful harmony and order of those privileges which the most provident God has lavished upon this loving associate of our Redeemer, privileges which reach such an exalted plane that, except for her, nothing created by God other than the human nature of Jesus Christ has ever reached this level.

15. The innumerable temples which have been dedicated to the Virgin Mary assumed into heaven clearly attest this faith. So do those sacred images, exposed therein for the veneration of the faithful, which bring this unique triumph of the Blessed Virgin before the eyes of all men. Moreover, cities, dioceses, and individual regions have been placed under the special patronage and guardianship of the Virgin Mother of God assumed into heaven. In the same way, religious institutes, with the approval of the Church, have been founded and have taken their name from this privilege. Nor can we pass over in silence the fact that in the Rosary of Mary, the recitation of which this Apostolic See so urgently recommends, there is one mystery proposed for pious meditation which, as all know, deals with the Blessed Virgin’s Assumption into heaven.

16. This belief of the sacred pastors and of Christ’s faithful is universally manifested still more splendidly by the fact that, since ancient times, there have been both in the East and in the West solemn liturgical offices commemorating this privilege. The holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church have never failed to draw enlightenment from this fact since, as everyone knows, the sacred liturgy, “because it is the profession, subject to the supreme teaching authority within the Church, of heavenly truths, can supply proofs and testimonies of no small value for deciding a particular point of Christian doctrine.”

17. In the liturgical books which deal with the feast either of the dormition or of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin there are expressions that agree in testifying that, when the Virgin Mother of God passed from this earthly exile to heaven, what happened to her sacred body was, by the decree of divine Providence, in keeping with the dignity of the Mother of the Word Incarnate, and with the other privileges she had been accorded. Thus, to cite an illustrious example, this is set forth in that sacramentary which Adrian I, our predecessor of immortal memory, sent to the Emperor Charlemagne. These words are found in this volume: “Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten your Son our Lord incarnate from herself.”

18. What is here indicated in that sobriety characteristic of the Roman liturgy is presented more clearly and completely in other ancient liturgical books. To take one as an example, the Gallican sacramentary designates this privilege of Mary’s as “an ineffable mystery all the more worthy of praise as the Virgin’s Assumption is something unique among men.” And, in the Byzantine liturgy, not only is the Virgin Mary’s bodily Assumption connected time and time again with the dignity of the Mother of God, but also with the other privileges, and in particular with the virginal motherhood granted her by a singular decree of God’s Providence. “God, the King of the universe, has granted you favors that surpass nature. As he kept you a virgin in childbirth, thus he has kept your body incorrupt in the tomb and has glorified it by his divine act of transferring it from the tomb.”

19. The fact that the Apostolic See, which has inherited the function entrusted to the Prince of the Apostles, the function of confirming the brethren in the faith,(13) has by its own authority, made the celebration of this feast ever more solemn, has certainly and effectively moved the attentive minds of the faithful to appreciate always more completely the magnitude of the mystery it commemorates. So it was that the Feast of the Assumption was elevated from the rank which it had occupied from the beginning among the other Marian feasts to be classed among the more solemn celebrations of the entire liturgical cycle. And, when our predecessor St. Sergius I prescribed what is known as the litany, or the stational procession, to be held on four Marian feasts, he specified together the Feasts of the Nativity, the Annunciation, the Purification, and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.(14) Again, St. Leo IV saw to it that the feast, which was already being celebrated under the title of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God, should be observed in even a more solemn way when he ordered a vigil to be held on the day before it and prescribed prayers to be recited after it until the octave day. When this had been done, he decided to take part himself in the celebration, in the midst of a great multitude of the faithful.(15) Moreover, the fact that a holy fast had been ordered from ancient times for the day prior to the feast is made very evident by what our predecessor St. Nicholas I testifies in treating of the principal fasts which “the Holy Roman Church has observed for a long time, and still observes.”

20. However, since the liturgy of the Church does not engender the Catholic faith, but rather springs from it, in such a way that the practices of the sacred worship proceed from the faith as the fruit comes from the tree, it follows that the holy Fathers and the great Doctors, in the homilies and sermons they gave the people on this feast day, did not draw their teaching from the feast itself as from a primary source, but rather they spoke of this doctrine as something already known and accepted by Christ’s faithful. They presented it more clearly. They offered more profound explanations of its meaning and nature, bringing out into sharper light the fact that this feast shows, not only that the dead body of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained incorrupt, but that she gained a triumph out of death, her heavenly glorification after the example of her only begotten Son, Jesus Christ-truths that the liturgical books had frequently touched upon concisely and briefly.

21. Thus St. John Damascene, an outstanding herald of this traditional truth, spoke out with powerful eloquence when he compared the bodily Assumption of the loving Mother of God with her other prerogatives and privileges. “It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God.”

22. These words of St. John Damascene agree perfectly with what others have taught on this same subject. Statements no less clear and accurate are to be found in sermons delivered by Fathers of an earlier time or of the same period, particularly on the occasion of this feast. And so, to cite some other examples, St. Germanus of Constantinople considered the fact that the body of Mary, the virgin Mother of God, was incorrupt and had been taken up into heaven to be in keeping, not only with her divine motherhood, but also with the special holiness of her virginal body. “You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life.”(18) And another very ancient writer asserts: “As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him.”

27. Moreover, the scholastic Doctors have recognized the Assumption of the Virgin Mother of God as something signified, not only in various figures of the Old Testament, but also in that woman clothed with the sun whom John the Apostle contemplated on the Island of Patmos.(24) Similarly they have given special attention to these words of the New Testament: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women,”(25) since they saw, in the mystery of the Assumption, the fulfillment of that most perfect grace granted to the Blessed Virgin and the special blessing that countered the curse of Eve.

28. Thus, during the earliest period of scholastic theology, that most pious man, Amadeus, Bishop of Lausarme, held that the Virgin Mary’s flesh had remained incorrupt-for it is wrong to believe that her body has seen corruption-because it was really united again to her soul and, together with it, crowned with great glory in the heavenly courts. “For she was full of grace and blessed among women. She alone merited to conceive the true God of true God, whom as a virgin, she brought forth, to whom as a virgin she gave milk, fondling him in her lap, and in all things she waited upon him with loving care.”

29. Among the holy writers who at that time employed statements and various images and analogies of Sacred Scripture to Illustrate and to confirm the doctrine of the Assumption, which was piously believed, the Evangelical Doctor, St. Anthony of Padua, holds a special place. On the feast day of the Assumption, while explaining the prophet’s words: “I will glorify the place of my feet,”(27) he stated it as certain that the divine Redeemer had bedecked with supreme glory his most beloved Mother from whom he had received human flesh. He asserts that “you have here a clear statement that the Blessed Virgin has been assumed in her body, where was the place of the Lord’s feet. Hence it is that the holy Psalmist writes: ‘Arise, O Lord, into your resting place: you and the ark which you have sanctified.”‘ And he asserts that, just as Jesus Christ has risen from the death over which he triumphed and has ascended to the right hand of the Father, so likewise the ark of his sanctification “has risen up, since on this day the Virgin Mother has been taken up to her heavenly dwelling.”

30. When, during the Middle Ages, scholastic theology was especially flourishing, St. Albert the Great who, to establish this teaching, had gathered together many proofs from Sacred Scripture, from the statements of older writers, and finally from the liturgy and from what is known as theological reasoning, concluded in this way: “From these proofs and authorities and from many others, it is manifest that the most blessed Mother of God has been assumed above the choirs of angels. And this we believe in every way to be true.”(29) And, in a sermon which he delivered on the sacred day of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s annunciation, explained the words “Hail, full of grace”-words used by the angel who addressed her-the Universal Doctor, comparing the Blessed Virgin with Eve, stated clearly and incisively that she was exempted from the fourfold curse that had been laid upon Eve.

31. Following the footsteps of his distinguished teacher, the Angelic Doctor, despite the fact that he never dealt directly with this question, nevertheless, whenever he touched upon it, always held together with the Catholic Church, that Mary’s body had been assumed into heaven along with her soul.

32. Along with many others, the Seraphic Doctor held the same views. He considered it as entirely certain that, as God had preserved the most holy Virgin Mary from the violation of her virginal purity and integrity in conceiving and in childbirth, he would never have permitted her body to have been resolved into dust and ashes.(32) Explaining these words of Sacred Scripture: “Who is this that comes up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?”(33) and applying them in a kind of accommodated sense to the Blessed Virgin, he reasons thus: “From this we can see that she is there bodily…her blessedness would not have been complete unless she were there as a person. The soul is not a person, but the soul, joined to the body, is a person. It is manifest that she is there in soul and in body. Otherwise she would not possess her complete beatitude.

34. The above-mentioned teachings of the holy Fathers and of the Doctors have been in common use during more recent times. Gathering together the testimonies of the Christians of earlier days, St. Robert Bellarmine exclaimed: “And who, I ask, could believe that the ark of holiness, the dwelling place of the Word of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, could be reduced to ruin? My soul is filled with horror at the thought that this virginal flesh which had begotten God, had brought him into the world, had nourished and carried him, could have been turned into ashes or given over to be food for worms.”

35. In like manner St. Francis de Sales, after asserting that it is wrong to doubt that Jesus Christ has himself observed, in the most perfect way, the divine commandment by which children are ordered to honor their parents, asks this question: “What son would not bring his mother back to life and would not bring her into paradise after her death if he could?”(38) And St. Alphonsus writes that “Jesus did not wish to have the body of Mary corrupted after death, since it would have redounded to his own dishonor to have her virginal flesh, from which he himself had assumed flesh, reduced to dust.”

39. We must remember especially that, since the second century, the Virgin Mary has been designated by the holy Fathers as the new Eve, who, although subject to the new Adam, is most intimately associated with him in that struggle against the infernal foe which, as foretold in the protoevangelium,(44) would finally result in that most complete victory over the sin and death which are always mentioned together in the writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles.(45) Consequently, just as the glorious resurrection of Christ was an essential part and the final sign of this victory, so that struggle which was common to the Blessed Virgin and her divine Son should be brought to a close by the glorification of her virginal body, for the same Apostle says: “When this mortal thing hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.”

40. Hence the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages.

44. For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

From the Collect at today’s mass: Almighty ever-living God, who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of your Son, body and soul into heavenly glory, grant, we pray, that, always attentive to the things that are above, we may merit to be sharers of her glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church recalls the memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. This soldier turned saint portrays a remarkable story for us as at any time, the Holy Spirit can turn our life around to do His will. Injured from a cannonball at the battle of Pampolona and bedridden for nearly a year, Saint Ignatius eventually become immersed in the writings of saintly heroes. Ignatius wrote The Spiritual Exercises and founded the Society of Jesus in 1534.

For more about this Saint, visit https://www.jesuits.org/stories/the-life-of-st-ignatius-of-loyola/

“Go Forth and set the world on fire” – Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Living “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam”

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Pray for us.

Today the Roman Church remembers the life of St. Mary Magdalene, formerly a person whose title was associated with the “penitent.” It is reported that St. Thomas Aquinas gave Mary the title of “Apostle of the Apostles.” On July 22 of 2016, Pope Francis elevated the day to a Feast to “stress the importance of this faithful disciple of Christ.”

In Mark’s Gospel chapter 16 verse 9, the evangelist indicates that Jesus “appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.” In John’s Gospel chapter 20, we have the image of Mary appearing early outside of the tomb while still dark before the other disciples. We know that Mary holds an important status for Christian salvation history as presented in the story of Jesus’s appearance to her before the others. Simon Peter and the other disciple were only able to view the burial clothes, but did not quite have a sense of what occurred. Mary, on the other hand, does not leave but stays weeping and mourning for our Lord. Two angels appear to Mary and state” Woman, why are you weeping?” Her reply is classic based on our limited perceptions of God’s will in which she replies “they have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him” (Jn 20:14). After such a moment, Jesus appears to her and questions her weeping. Mary for a second time does not understand and assumes such a character is a gardener with her reply “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” The third occurrence Jesus just has to state her name for her human nature to see the divine person of Jesus in which her reply is “Rabbouni” or teacher.

It is remarkable that Mary of Magdala is the first message bearer to proclaim our salvation and hope in the Risen Lord! Jesus sends her on the church’s first mission to proclaim the good news to the other disciples in which he states “go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'” (Jn 20:17). Mary, although a person with a troubled past and a sinner like all of us, is a remarkable saint to reflect on. Culturally speaking, Jesus gives such an important task to a woman which was not reflective of the time period’s societal decorum. During this time period, women did not possess the same stature as the male dominated society. Secondly, Mary’s revelation of seeing our risen Lord and her encounter at the tomb shows us that possessing a deep love for our Lord can only come from someone that wears one’s emotion on their sleeve. We must soften our hardened hearts and become dependent upon His great agape love to not only weep when necessary, but also to stay vigilant in our faith at all times. Mary’s deep faith and love for our Lord is something for us to consider this day as we try to stand watch and seek the risen Lord who shows us the way to the Father. May we have the humility, steadfast love & courage to go and tell others about the risen Christ to our brothers & sisters in the Lord. Take some time to reflect upon these readings & find quiet time of how God has been there with you in your life where you wept and then during times where you rejoiced. Ask the risen Lord, especially in the Eucharistic host come down from heaven to help you proclaim how Jesus is fully alive in our Churches. Come Holy Spirit, enlighten in us today the wonder and awe of the risen Lord Jesus in our midst. Help us, like Saint Mary of Magdala to proclaim the good news!

May the Lord Bless us and protect us from all evil this day and lead us to eternal life.

St. Mary of Magdalene, pray for us. Amen.

Today in the Catholic church’s calendar, St. Mark the Evangelist is recalled in prayer. History indicates that his gospel may have been one of the earliest writings completed sometime around 70 ad (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-Mark).

When I was to be confirmed and had to choose a saint name, it was Mark that I chose. Some attribute his name to John Mark (Acts 12:25) The image of the strength of a winged lion representing this saintly man (imagery is also taken from Ezekiel’s prophetic account in 1:6-10) was a choice any young man might pick for a saintly confirmation name.

It was not until later that I began to enjoy the simplicity of this gospel’s message that are full of climactic moments in the life of Jesus. The literary style of Mark’s gospel are definitely way different with much more detail given than the other synoptic gospels of Matthew and Luke’s gospels.

St. Mark is also the patron of Venice Italy. It is believed that on his journey, he made it to the shores of Venice. Legend states that upon his arrival he was greeted by an angelic messenger in the form of a winged lion whom stated “Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus. Hic requiescet corpus tuum” (Peace be with you Mark my evangelist, here your body will rest) (https://imagesofvenice.com/the-lion-of-st-mark/).

The reading from 1 Peter 5:12-14 describing Mark’s encounters with Silvanus are interesting to note :

“ I write these few words to you through Silvanus, who is a brother I know I can trust, to encourage you never to let go this true grace of God to which I bear witness. Your sister in Babylon, who is with you among the chosen, sends you greetings; so does my son, Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ.”

A prayer on this day from the collect of the Roman Missal:

O God, who raised up Saint Mark, your Evangelist, and endowed him with the grace to preach the Gospel, grant, we pray, that we may so profit from his teaching as to follow faithfully in the footsteps of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

St. Mark, pray for us.

What can Saint Joseph teach us as we commemorate this worthy and humble saint? Today, the Church honors Joseph, the husband of Mary. First and foremost, Saint Joseph serves as a role model for husbands everywhere. He took Mary as his wife without hesitation, trusting the message delivered to him in a dream.

We also know that Joseph protected his family when he fled with them to Egypt, exemplifying the courage and commitment of a father. His trust in God and his humility are evident in his actions—he did not question, but faithfully followed God’s will. Joseph’s love for his family shone through in his quiet but steadfast obedience, ensuring their safety and well-being.

Although not much is said about Saint Joseph in scripture, we recognize him as a vital member of the Holy Family—a man of action who answered God’s call to care for those entrusted to him. Today, let us ask for Saint Joseph’s intercession, seeking the same fidelity to God’s will in our own lives.

Memorare to St. Joseph

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought your intercession were left unassisted.
Full of confidence in your power I fly unto you and beg your protection.
Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer my humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me.
Amen.