ETERNAL WISDOM:
“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ~ John 14: 1-31
“May the Heart of Jesus Christ be our School! Let us make our abode there. Let us study its movements and attempt to conform ourselves to them. Yes, Oh, Divine Jesus, I want to live there.” ~ St. Claude de la Colombière, Spiritual Director to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST NEWSLETTER [2nd Edition]
JMJ+
1 September 2023, 21H30 EASTERN | 18h30 PACIFIC
Dear Readers:
As the new school year begins, each of us can take more time to reflect on how we might encourage the next generation of youth to cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit in prayer.
Dr. Kaufman’s notes in the above video1 help us explore these questions by imagining the incredible prayer needs of children:
How can we encourage our children to pray?
How can we pray for our children?
How can we help our children to walk in humility & meekness (qualities of the Sacred Heart of Jesus)?
On First Friday, and First Saturday, how can we ask for a new heart from God?
How do we help children be more attentive to God’s order & invite greater virtue to emerge in their hearts, while allowing His mercy to forgive and to desire His grace (St. Augustine)?
How can we help children practice / respond to virtue?
How can each of us model courageously and with confidence2 in our times the Virtues of Our Lady?
Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC ends with a short note on prayer.
Today, he presents some of the above themes when he leads a reflection and shares thoughts on the Sacred Heart of Jesus in this 60 minute Live Stream model for First Friday Devotion.
This broadcast began 8PM EST this p.m. (join on Live Stream on YouTube / Facebook) and takes place each month at the same time. Mark your calendar.
Our team invites you to join the Marians for tomorrow’s First Saturday Devotion at 11 AM EST; talk will be led by a Marian with an 11H45 Devotion.
THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES FOR SATURDAY: A ROSARY CHALLENGE
St. John Paul II reminds us that when we pray the Rosary every day, we enter into the School of Our Lady. This enrolment is a mystery, yet St. Louis Marie de Montfort reminds that the public prayer of the Rosary:
is a most potent way to defeat evil in our world
it strengthens our communities;
it sanctifies members of our parishes;
it illuminates conscience by Our Lady’s intercession;
it invites the work of God to flourish in the action of our daily lives.
In that spirit, our team created a “Joyful Mysteries” Rosary package for prayer of the Rosary on Saturdays and Mondays (This is “Booklet #1” of 4)
As and idea, perhaps pray tonight or tomorrow about who you can call on the phone to invite him / her to pray with you:
STEP 1: check in to see how they are doing, spiritually, and find out how you can pray for them, as suggested by Chris Stefanick’s “Finding Joy”;
STEP 2: invite that someone in your life to pray a decade or more of the Rosary with you, taking turns leading a decade etc:
Pastors and parishes; families and teachers; parents and Godparents; caregivers and patients; brothers and sisters; grandparents and grandchildren can download this ready-to-use document and pray the Rosary together through the new school year.
NOTES ON BECOMING BELOVED CHILDREN OF GOD:
Living the TEN VIRTUES OF OUR LADY
Dr. Robert Stackpole, theologian for the Marians of the Immaculate Conception and director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy posited this question in a Series on Our Lady’s virtues:
“Sometimes we wonder: How can we carry on and live as God's children in the midst of such spiritual emptiness, moral decline, and cultural gloom all around us?”
In response, he quotes St. Pope John Paul II’s Wednesday audience address to highlight Our Lady “as the supreme model of faith, hope, and love for the People of God”:
Despite the sins of her members
the Church is first and foremost the community of those who are called to holiness and strive each day to achieve it.Não obstante os pecados dos seus membros,
a Igreja é antes de tudo a comunidade daqueles que são chamados à santidade e se empenham cada dia por alcançá-la.
ALSO
In this arduous path to perfection they feel encouraged by Mary, who is the "model of virtues." The [Second Vatican] Council noted: "Piously meditating on her and contemplating her in the light of the Word made man, the Church with reverence enters more intimately into the great mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more and more like her spouse" (Lumen Gentium, 65).
Neste árduo caminho rumo à perfeição, eles sentem-se encorajados por Aquela que é «modelo de virtudes». O Concílio observa que «a Igreja, meditando piedosamente na Virgem, e contemplando- a à luz do Verbo feito homem, penetra mais profundamente, cheia de respeito, no insondável mistério da Encarnação, e mais e mais se conforma com o seu Esposo» (LG, 65).
IN PORTUGUESE: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/pt/audiences/1997/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_03091997.html
FINALLY,
So the Church looks to Mary. The Church not only contemplates the wondrous gift of Mary's fullness of grace, but strives to imitate the perfection which in her is the fruit of her full compliance with Christ's command: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).
Mary is all holy. For the community of believers she represents the paradigm of the authentic holiness that is achieved in union with Christ. The earthly life of the Mother of God was characterized by a perfect harmony with the person of her Son and by her total dedication to the redeeming work He accomplished(General Audience of Sept. 3, 1997).A Igreja, portanto, olha para Maria. Não só contempla o dom maravilhoso da sua plenitude de graça, mas esforçase por imitar a perfeição que n’Ela é fruto da plena adesão ao preceito de Cristo: «Sede, pois, perfeitos, como é perfeito vosso Pai celeste» (Mt 5, 48). Maria é a inteiramente santa. Ela representa para a comunidade dos crentes o paradigma da autêntica santidade que se realiza na união com Cristo. A vida terrena da Mãe de Deus é, com efeito, caracterizada pela perfeita sintonia com a pessoa do Filho e pela dedicação total à obra redentora por Ele realizada.
“On the 10 Virtues of Our Lady” & the Charism of the Marian Fathers
The Rosary Hour Podcast has been fortunate to present many “Rosary Broadcasts” featuring the voices of priests and authors influenced by Our Lady’s charisms, including those of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, Fr. Anthony Gramlich & Fr. Chris Alar.
In fact,
the Marians of the Immaculate Conception were the first community of religious men in Church history to be founded upon the Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. The community was given that rule in 1699 by Pope Innocent XII and embraced it as the providence of God.
Now, 3[24] years later, they remain the only male congregation so founded.3
In this sense, the Marians are unique in the world4 having been the oldest order to reflect on the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, explored here below as recorded in the Gospels:
Our Lady Most Pure (Mt 1:18, 20, 23; Lk 1:27,34)
Our Lady Most Prudent (Lk 2:19, 51)
Our Lady Most Humble (Lk 1:48)
Our Lady Most Faithful (Lk 1:45; Jn 2:5)
Our Lady Most Devout (Lk 1:46-7; Acts 1:14)
Our Lady Most Obedient (Lk 1:38; 2:21-2, 27)
Our Lady Most Poor (Lk 2:7)
Our Lady Most Patient (Jn 19:25)
Our Lady Most Merciful (Lk 1:39, 56)
Our Lady Most Sorrowful (Lk 2:35)
The Marians historically “were called from their beginnings to defend Our Lady's perfect holiness in her Immaculate Conception. That also entailed glorifying her and imitating her evangelical virtues.”5
The video featured in today’s substack post lists the guests who will be coming to the Rosary Hour Podcast to answer the essential question which is the thematic focus of Season 2, as curated by Fr. Peter Turrone, IMC:
What does it mean to be a child of God?
One way this question can be answered is by specifically praying to emulate the 10 virtues of the Mother of God: may we perceive and receive the Truth from God when he calls us to into being and into becoming His beloved sons and daughters.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON FOLLOWING OUR LADY’S EXAMPLE & HER 10 VIRTUES
One of the greatest of Marians, Venerable Fr. Casimir Wyszynski, once noted:
"Whoever wants to glorify the Blessed Virgin Mary and wishes to stay under her protection, should love and respect her – but above all, should exercise the evangelical virtues and, through this, shall follow Mary's example."
This Venerable Servant of God, the Marians explain, created a contemplative prayer practice with the “Hail Mary” to develop in their hearts the 10 virtues of Our Lady.
Fr. Casmir “understood and expressed best the spiritual significance of this powerful prayer when he wrote in the introduction to the book called The Morning Star6:
We invite you to DOWNLOAD THE PDF to this book: “Morning Star: OR ON THE IMITATION OF THE TEN VIRTUES OF THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN MARY” here: https://images.marianweb.net/archives/pdfs/misc/en/Morning_Star.pdf
Dr. Stackpole continues:
Although our most beloved Lady was shining with innumerable virtues, all but ten were difficult not only to imitate, but even to understand, because, through them, Our Lady surpassed the angels themselves, let alone the holiest of men. The Holy Spirit desired that the Gospels recount for us only those ten virtues since they can be acquired not by Mary alone, but by all of us.
As a spiritual exercise and focus with our daily Rosary, each of us is invited to pray for the grace to emulate these 10 virtues.
Here is the prayer and “simple directions” for praying the Chaplet on Rosary beads: “pray it with all your heart and reflect on Our Lady’s virtues”:
First, we make the Sign of the Cross
then we recite one Our Father and ten Hail Mary’s, mentioning after the words “Holy Mary, Mother of God” one virtue, in the following order.
FR. ANTHONY RETURNS for SEASON 2
This past year, The Rosary Hour Podcast has presented our prayers as “Rosary Broadcasts” on YouTube.
In 2022, Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC, took the time to teach us about the Rosary, then challenged us to find creative ways to inspire the prayer of the Rosary using the podcast medium. He continues, btw, to pray for all of you from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy and we are grateful for his correspondence, tutelage and continued encouragement.
If you are ever flying or driving through Massachusetts and can make it down to Stockbridge, please take the time to pray at the Shrine and say hello to Fr. Anthony and Fr. Chris.
9 Sept 2023 is the 13th Annual Mercy for Souls conference.
No registration is required. All are welcome. SEE: https://marian.org/events/thirteenth-annual-mercy-souls-conference
Watch the Marian Month Ahead here for more info:
https://www.thedivinemercy.org/videos/marian-fathers-schedule-september-2023
Also, on Sept. 13, 2023, you can join Fr. Chris Alar, who will pray the Rosary at 2 p.m. EST. Visit:
— men committed to praying the Rosary TOGETHER AT WORK, EVERY WEDNESDAY 2PM EST. Join them in prayer and consider starting a Rosary Group for the workplace to unite in prayer.
FOOTNOTES
Monte Santa Trega, A Guarda, Pontevedra, Spain
https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/saint-margaret-mary-and-reparation-sacred-heart
Act of Hope and Confidence in God by St. Claude de la Colombière
My God, I believe most firmly that You watch over all who hope in You, and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon You in all things. Therefore, I am resolved for the future to cast all my cares upon You. People may deprive me of my worldly goods and status. Sickness may take from me my strength and the means of serving You.
I may even jeopardize our relationship by my sin, but my trust shall never leave me. I will preserve it to the last moment of my life, and the powers of hell shall seek in vain to grab it from me. Let others seek happiness in their wealth and their talents. Let them trust in the purity of their lives, the severity of their mortifications, the number of their good works, and the enthusiasm of their prayers.
As for me, my Rock and my Refuge, my confidence in You fills me with hope, for you, my Divine Protector, alone have settled me in hope. “This confidence can never be in vain. No one who has hoped in God has ever been confounded.”
I am assured therefore of my eternal happiness, for I firmly hope in it, and all my hope is in you. “In you, Oh loving God have I hoped: let me never be confounded.”
I know too well that I am weak and changeable. I know the power of temptation against the strongest virtue. I have seen stars fall and foundations of my world crack; these things do not alarm me. While I hope in you, I am sheltered from all misfortune, and I am sure that my trust shall endure, for I rely upon You to sustain this unfailing hope.
Finally, I know that my confidence cannot exceed Your generosity, and I shall never receive less than I have hoped for from You. Therefore I hope that You will sustain me against my evil inclinations, that You will protect me against the deceitful attacks of the evil one, and that You will cause my weakness to triumph over every hostile force. I hope that You will never cease to love me and I shall love You unceasingly.
“In You, O loving God, have I hoped: let me never be confounded.”
SEE: https://padrimariani.org/en/imitating-mary/
“Our Marian character has a special trait. It is the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of the Lord. This charismatic dimension of our Marian character has been present from the very beginning of the Congregation. Our community has always been aware of the central place of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in our charism, although it was expressed in various ways, while many of our confreres – also those very important to our history – have spent years in gaining an understanding of the charism of their religious community. (SEE: “Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae, Consecrated for Christ and the Church Pg. 14)
SEE PORTUGUESE HERE: https://images.marianweb.net/archives/pdfs/misc/po/Ad_Honorem.pdf
O caráter da nossa comunidade religiosa é desde o início eminentemente mariano e encerra-se já no próprio título da Congregação. No entanto a nossa piedade mariana tem uma marca especial, que é a Imaculada Conceição da Mãe do Senhor. Essa dimensão carismática da nossa devoção mariana está presente desde o início da Congregação. Na nossa comunidade a consciência da posição central da Imaculada Conceição de Maria no carisma sempre esteve presente, embora se tenha expressado de diversas formas, e embora muitos dos nossos coirmãos − também muito importantes na nossa história − tenham levado anos até amadurecerem para a compreensão do carisma da sua comunidade religiosa (pg. 14/15).
Download the link to the “Morning Star” here: https://images.marianweb.net/archives/pdfs/misc/en/Morning_Star.pdf
"Morning Star": 10 Virtues of Our Lady + The Charism of the Marian Fathers w/ invitation to the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in September 2023