This is an important weekend.
The Holy Father will consecrate the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun. He is leading the Church in prayer and adoration. Recall what happened in Syria after the vigil for peace. Something is happening.
I think of the prayer of Esther...
Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord. Taking off her splendid garments, she put on garments of distress and mourning. In place of her precious ointments she covered her head with dirt and ashes. She afflicted her body severely; all her festive adornments were put aside, and her hair was wholly disheveled...We have a Pope who set aside his splendid garments, the trappings of his office... who humbles himself in prayer before the Madonna.
Something is happening.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are all gathered for this event of the Year of Faith devoted to Mary, Mother of Christ and of the Church, our Mother. The statue of Our Lady, which has come from Fatima, helps us to feel her presence in our midst. Mary always brings us to Jesus. - Pope Francis, Vatican Radio
United in the prayers of the Rosary.
I love your reference to Queen Esther and how she humbled herself before the Lord in prayer for her people, and then relating it to Pope Francis. Truly, that is exactly what the Holy Father has done. We are in an age where apostasy is the rule and many souls are in danger. If ever there was time when we all need to go humbly before the Lord, now is the time, and our Holy Father is leading the way. And he is going through the Mediatrix of All Graces, the surest and most effective road to Jesus Christ.
ReplyDelete"Something is happening"
ReplyDeleteYes indeed...hold fast to the promise she made to the children of Fatima and to us:
"In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph"
Holy Virgin of Fatima, pray for us!
Here is a well written piece by Rocco Palmo regarding our Holy Father's devotion to Mary. The video from the Shrine of our Lady of Aparecida was an added treasure and the prayer our Holy Father composed to her is one that will benefit us all.
ReplyDeletehttp://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2013/10/mother-we-will-fight-together-we-will.html
Thank you for these insights!
ReplyDeleteHow do you know - how do we know - that something is happening here? What if Francis enthusiasts are just whistling in the dark? I ask sincerely.
ReplyDeleteConsecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun is whistling in the dark? You don't have to be enthusiastic about Francis to realize he thinks the world is screwed up and needs as much help from Our Lady as it can get.
ReplyDeleteATDP - Pretty much as Nan said.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had the words to express why I think I know.
I get the very deep impression that Our Lady is very much pleased with both Popes, and that Francis is carrying out the designs of heaven.
Nan,
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering, still, what the big deal is with Francis. I appreciate getting help from Our Lady, but hasn't this consecration already been done? Why, when Francis does something, do many Catholics respond with awe as if it's prompted entirely by some mystical sense, and then go on to dismiss any Catholic that expresses any concerns or confusion about the Pope with something like Palmo did? "They just, you know, don't get it."
It's put forth under the guise of a pious humility and childlike Ultramontanism but I see no reason to think that it's anything other than a preferentialism that is either unwilling to confront the confusion that others feel (how's THAT for getting into the existential peripheries) or simply a form of pride that credits its 'littleness' for being able to bypass such confusion at every turn.