The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Prayer

Mother of God, most holy Mary, how often by my sins have I merited hell! Ere now the judgment had gone forth against my first mortal sin, hadst not thou in thy tender pity stayed a while God’s justice and then, softening my hard heart, drawn me on to take confidence in thee. And oh, how often in dangers which beset my steps, had I fallen, hadst not thou, loving Mother that thou art, preserved me by the graces which thou have availed to me. My Queen, what will thy pity and thy favor have availed me, if I perish in the flames of hell? If ever I have not loved thee, now, after God, I love thee above all things. Ah! Suffer not that I turn away from thee and from God, who through thee hath granted me so many mercies. Lady most worthy of all love, suffer not that I be doomed to hate and curse thee forever in hell. Couldst thou bear to see a servant whom thou lovest lost forever? O Mary, say not so. Say not that I shall be among the lost! Yet lost am I assuredly if I abandon thee. But who can have the heart to leave thee? How can I ever forget the love which thou hast borne me? No, it is impossible for him to perish who hath recourse to thee, and who with loyal heart confides in thee. Leave me not to myself, my Mother, or I am lost. Let me ever have recourse to thee! Save me, my hope! Save me from hell, and first from sin, which alone can cause my eternal ruin. Amen. 

The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VII, by a decree of the S. Cong. Of Indulgences, May 15, 1821, granted: An indulgence of three hundred days, once a day, to those who, with at least contrite heart and devotion shall say this prayer, together with the Salve Regina three times. A plenary indulgence, once a month to all who shall practice this devotion every day for a month, on any day when, being truly penitent, after confession and communion, they shall pray for some time the intention of His Holiness. – Raccolta, pp. 183, 188. 

Source: The Catholic Instructor with Encyclopedic Dictionary, Copyright The Office of Catholic Publication, 1910. 

Feast of the Annunciation with Fr. Paul Nicholson

I simply love listening to Fr. Paul Nicholson's homilies and teachings.  He's a wonderful priest, full of love for the Church and graced with a gift to teach the Faith to others.

If you don't know Fr. Nicholson, please visit his website (below) and his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FrPaulNicholson

This years Annunciation homily by Father Paul Nicholson:

Wonderfully said and taught Fr. Paul!

And please don't miss last years 2014 homily "The Most Important Day in History!"- its spectacular!

For more works by Fr. Paul Nicholson go here: http://www.fatherpaulnicholson.com/index.php

Catholic Meme:

:)



In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

Christmas Story in July

I know we've covered this before folks, but its come up again and as often as it does I will respond but... who knew so many people had such issues with Mary being the Mother of God Incarnate?

Anonymous writes: Eat your heart out goddess Mary worshipper...I tell you that every Catholic that venerates mother Mary is nothing more than a pagan idolater! And Catholics do it because they have the need to worship mothers and relegate fathers to a secondary place in direct rebellion to the fact that GOD BECAME A MAN AND NOT A WOMAN...Does God need a mother? NO! Was Mary existing before the creation and spoke to limitless God and said, "Hey! I have an idea, let's make a baby so that I can be the mother of God?" How high do you want to elevate a human being? A mere woman?! You tell us! Catholics are in denial by thinking that a mere human being could be elevated to the place of "Mother of God." Again, God has no mother you fools.

My Response: Let me start by saying I am not a "goddess Mary worshipper" and Catholics are not relegating "fathers to a secondary place". Mary is the mother of God Incarnate, hence we call her "Mother of God". It was God who chose Mary and placed her in the position of being the Mother of God Incarnate. That was God's decision, not Mary's. Mary accepted the Will of God and become the Mother of our Savior Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:38).

Luke 1
26 "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God." 38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her."

You ask "Does God need a mother?" and then you say "no", but the fact is God must have needed a Mother for His Divine Salvation Plan or He wouldn't have approached Mary with His Divine Will of her being the mother of our Savior on earth, Jesus Christ. Mary was part of God's plan for the salvation of people through Jesus Christ our Sacrifice. For God to be born incarnate on earth, God needed a "mother". Mary is the Mother of God Incarnate. She carried him in her womb, gave birth to him and raised him. We (Catholics) aren't elevating Mary, God elevated Mary above all women to be the mother of our Savior. Don't get hung up on the title and miss the importance and significance of God's Divine Will and the birth of God Incarnate. No one is saying Mary pre-dated God the Father. Mary was chosen by God's Divine Will to be the Mother of God Incarnate- Jesus Christ our Savior. The scriptures say "God with Us" or Immanuel (Matt.1:22). That is where she gets her title from, she gave birth to Immanuel! God on earth. That is the Christmas story!

Was Mary the "Ever Virgin"?

Mary the Mother of God is a topic of interest and many questions for non-Catholics and Catholics alike. She is also a subject I love and enjoy discussing with people as I have a great love for Mary. I hope to always honor her name and answer questions about her correctly. If any Catholic readers ever see an error in any of my responses please email me your corrections, I welcome them. Now to the question from Lora and my response about Mary:

Lora writes: Why do Catholics elevate Mary so much so that she seems to be nearly equal to Jesus? And what's with the "Ever Virgin" stuff? The bible clearly states several times that Jesus had brothers so we know Mary had other children. Why do Catholics ignore that?

My response: You've asked some great questions and I am happy to answer them to the best of my abilities. First off, let me say the Catholic Church does not elevate Mary to be equal to Jesus Christ. I can't speak for every individual Catholic in the world, so perhaps there are some out there who mistakenly and wrongly do that, but what I can tell you is the official teaching of the Catholic Church and my understanding of it. Mary is honored as the Mother of God Incarnate. Scripture states this and the Catholic Church believes it. In Luke 1:48 scripture declares that all ages/generations will call Mary blessed for being the Mother of God Incarnate. This is the high honor that God bestowed on her according to this verse. The Catholic Church today recognizes this honor and honors Mary accordingly. We do not worship her or elevate her to the same level as our Savior Jesus Christ, He is our Lord and Savior, she is our Blessed Mother. She is honored greatly, first by God as scripture shows and then by us. Even non-Christians honor Mary for being the Mother of Jesus Christ. Muslims, though they do not believe Jesus to be God Incarnate, view him as a great prophet and honor Mary as His Mother. The reason Mary is called the "Ever Virgin" is because she was. Mary gave birth to Jesus and Jesus only. Even the Reformers who founded Protestantism believed Mary to be the Ever Virgin. Here are a few of their quotes:

Martin Luther: "Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that". {Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }

Luther: "Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers". {Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539)

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John Calvin:

Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ's 'brothers' are sometimes mentioned. {Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin's Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p.215; on Matthew 13:55} [On Matt 1:25:]
Under the word 'brethren' the Hebrews include all cousins and other relations, whatever may be the degree of affinity. {Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 283 / Commentary on John, (7:3)

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Huldreich Zwingli

I have never thought, still less taught, or declared publicly, anything concerning the subject of the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of our salvation, which could be considered dishonourable, impious, unworthy or evil . . . I believe with all my heart according to the word of holy gospel that this pure virgin bore for us the Son of God and that she remained, in the birth and after it, a pure and unsullied virgin, for eternity. {Thurian, ibid., p.76 / same sermon}

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John Wesley
I believe... he [Jesus Christ] was born of the blessed Virgin, who, as well after as she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.
{"Letter to a Roman Catholic," quoted in A. C. Coulter, John Wesley, New York: Oxford University Press, 1964, 495}
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Heinrich Bullinger

'The Virgin Mary . . . completely sanctified by the grace and blood of her only Son and abundantly endowed by the gift of the Holy Spirit and preferred to all . . . now lives happily with Christ in heaven and is called and remains ever-Virgin and Mother of God.' {In Hilda Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion, combined ed. of vols. 1 & 2, London: Sheed & Ward, 1965, vol.2, pp.14-5}
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The bible never mentions Mary giving birth to anyone but Jesus. When the term "brother" is used, it points to ANY male relation (uncle, cousins, step-brothers etc.). We can find a few examples of this right in scripture. In Gen.14, Lot calls Abraham his "brother" when in fact Lot was Abraham's nephew. Another example is Jacob and his uncle Laban are called "brothers" when they are just 'relatives' (uncle and nephew). The same is done with Jesus and his 'relatives' in scripture. These "brothers" are male family relations, uncles, cousin and possibly (as some believe) step brothers if Joseph was a widower when he married Mary. Mary never gave birth to anyone but Jesus, that is what the bible records and the Catholic Church believes it. To believe otherwise is to go beyond Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition held by Christians for centuries, as shown above even the Reformers knew without a doubt that Mary was the Ever Virgin. So you see, Catholics don't ignore anything, we embrace the truth revealed by God to His Church. I hope that answered your questions. God bless.