THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST NEWSLETTER | FEBRUARY 11, 20241
TRANSCRIPTION OF THE ABOVE2 DISCUSSION
FR. ELIAS MARY MILLS:
“Well, the Immaculate Conception especially, is so important because 169 years ago, Pius the IX declared it a Dogma of our faith. But that doesn't mean that the church began to believe in that only 169 years ago. It just means that it finally declared it to be de fide, that you must believe this truth that it is so important in, you might say, remaining Catholic to believe in the Immaculate Conception — because it really is, as St. Maximilian Kolbe came to understand at birth, at Lourdes when Our Lady was asked by Bernadette, “What is your name?”
Our Lady said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
And she said it in such a humble way. She first looked up to heaven and then she looked down and she let her hands fall down at her side, as she is seen in the Miraculous Medal or as Our Lady of Grace.
And she said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
And Saint Maximilian Kolbe said the reason why she said that is because that's the most, she loves that title.
She loves that name because that represents the first grace that she ever received from God … was the fact that when she was conceived in her mother's womb, she was conceived without the stain of original sin and full of grace from the first moment of her conception.
So that that was… Our Lady was so humble and so grateful and thankful to God that from that grace flows all the other graces that Our Lady received you know that she's Immaculate so that she can be the Mother of God; she's immaculate so that she can be the most pure virgin; she's immaculate so that she can be assumed into heaven; she's immaculate so that she can be also our co-redemptrix, our mediatrix and our advocate.
So that was like your baptismal grace that made you a child of God…. that was so important for you because at baptism you received heaven in your soul…
Well, Immaculate Conception is even more so because Our Lady never had any moment when she was not a friend with God.
From the first moment of her conception, she was only moved by God and the Holy Spirit.
So, it is really a beautiful thing when we think about it.
And all that was because he chose Our Lady to be His mother.
And so Christ prepared for Himself a mother that would be worthy of Him.
Amelia, did you know that the Fathers and Doctors of the church said that when the Trinity finished making Our Lady, they were exhausted.
God put everything he could into His mother that He couldn't say anything more.
When you think about God made a mother worthy of Himself, well, God wouldn't make her anything less than worthy of Him.
And so, we can't even imagine the beauty, the greatness of what God has done in His mother.
She's not just pure, she's most pure.
And she's not just beautiful, she's most beautiful.
And even though we think sometimes, well, she's so humble, but now God really wants us to know the great and wonderful and beautiful things that He's done in His mother.
So when you pray your rosary every day, our lady begins to reveal not only herself, but the great things that God has done in her for not just for her, but for all of us.
So keep praying that rosary and you'll see the beautiful things about Our Lady.
St. Maximilian Kolbe said, “if you want to know Our Lady and to know her well, you have to do it through prayer.”
And I think the Rosary is a way you're going to find out these beautiful mysteries of Our Lady today.”
END OF TRANSCRIPT | COPYRIGHT 2024 © THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST & TRAVESSA DA SENRA HOUSE PRESS, PORTO, PT.
SEE THIS SAME VIDEO ON YOUTUBE and SHARE WITH OTHERS to spread the message of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the importance of praying the Rosary:
OUR LADY OF LOURDES, PRAY FOR US
FATHER DAVID MICHAEL on OUR LADY
Our latest guest to the Rosary Hour Podcast, Fr. David Michael reflects on Our Lady in the following video:
EXPLAINING THE FAITH
The Narrator of the Rosary Hour Podcast, Fr. Chris Alar, shared 3 years ago reflections on Mary: The Gift of God’s Mercy:
Fr. Chris tries in this video to clarify the teachings about Our Lady, explaining why she is the Mother of the Church: “If we are the Church, Our Lady is our Mother, as we represent John who was given Mary.”
Fr. Chris notes that “there is no salvation outside of Jesus”, and that “Jesus’s body is the Church.” Since we need Jesus for salvation and his body is the Church, “we need the Church for salvation.” Yet, “to be a full member of the Church, we need the Church’s mother. Jesus gave us the Church AND the mother of the Church to get to Heaven. To Jesus through Mary and the Church, because she is the mother.”
Father Chris asks, “If you could create your own Mother, wouldn’t you make her perfect?” (So she can help us). He reiterates that we don’t worship Mary when we pray the Rosary or lead processions, or celebrate Marian Feast days.
Fr. Chris explains that “Mary is the guide, Jesus is the goal.” He notes that “No one climbed Mount Everest without a guide” and that our goal is to “get to Heaven” (to Jesus) but that “Mary is the guide who will get us there. She has a very important role.”
Fr. Chris continues by asking, “Who does Satan fear more? God or Mary?”
Watch this video to explore all the teachings around Our Lady, and then you can watch this updated video on the EWTN show that Fr. Chris began years after the above video.
If you have time, watch these foundational teachings to help those in our lives who are struggling to understand what makes Our Lady and specifically the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception so foundational to Catholicism.
SAVE-THE-DATE for SATURDAY, MARCH 9th, 2024
To prepare students for this broadcast, we invite you to download the Digital toolkit via:
DAY 34: BISHOP JOHN LEADS THE FINAL DAY OF THE CONSECRATION JOURNEY
From Scotland, Bishop Keenan encourages us as if we are “in the OT times, summoned by the Lord to be brought out of the land of Egypt into the Promised Land”. He speaks of the “multitude” in this video and then prays the Rosary with our Consecration Journey participants now on Day 34, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, also the memory of the First Apparition of Lourdes.
FROM THE LOURDES WEBSITE:
“On 11th February 2023, let us turn our thoughts to the Shrine of Lourdes, a prophetic lesson entrusted to the Church for our modern times.” (Pope Francis)
“The Sanctuary invites you to celebrate the feast of Our Lady Lourdes at the Grotto of Massabielle. Thousands of pilgrims are expected to celebrate together and to pray to Our Lady of Lourdes. Come and experience this beautiful celebration in the place where the sick always come first.”
“It was on 11th February 1858 that a young 14-year-old girl left a damp, dark and dirty cachot to fetch soke fallen branches, and thus bring a little light and warmth to the sad life of the cachot. She decided to go to the grotto of Massabielle, because it was a place owned by the local community, and no one would accuse her of being a thief. Such a disreputable place… A place whose position prevented even the sun from entering.
It was there that the light of heaven came to illuminate the life of poor Bernadette. This is where today huge crowds come together to find the light of heaven. Crowds that come to seek the living water, the water of baptism… Come and see!”
What is Purity of Heart?
In this homily, Fr. Peter Turrone explores via the Daily TV Mass on YouTube Livestreamed Feb. 7th, Feast of the Wounds of Christ in Portugal, what it means to have a well-ordered heart.
Listen here about how he suggests we cultivate purity of heart within us, and the importance of renewal of our baptismal promises, which St. Louis Marie de Montfort suggested was so important and something we could strive for with the 33-Day consecration.
Fr. Peter links this effort the concept of freedom and challenges us to ask for “grace, humility, purity of heart” in this contemplation of Mark 7: 14-23.
Fr. Peter makes regular appearances on the Daily TV Mas, and is a Spiritual Advisor, Executive Producer and Theological Consultant for the Rosary Hour Podcast Chidren’s Rosary Q and A for Season 2: “What does it mean to be a child of God” and he supports Fr. Charles Nahm. We welcome to the podcast the support of Fr. Elias Mary Mills as well as more recently, Fr. David Michael and Fr. Nuno who help us to contemplate humor and joy.
FOOTNOTES (1st Edition)
Opening Pictures by Travessa da Senra House Press w/ photo of Basilica at Lourdes by Fr. Peter Turrone from Marian Pilgrimage to Lourdes, France from his trip there last June 2023. Image of Fr. Elias Mary Mills as the previous rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Why the Immaculate Conception? Fr. Elias Mary Mills reflects on the anniversary of the first apparition at Lourdes with the Rosary Hour Podcast Team