St Paul , in writing of Jesus states, that He was a man in things like us but sin: Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Here we have the paradox that lies at the heart of all Christology, that on the one hand He was sinless but at the same time sinless and Divine. So interpreting this we find some take the low road of underlining the fact that Jesus was human, a carpenter and the son of a carpenter. Or the high road that underlines His Divinity So with Mary she was a woman ,all women are human but she was also sinless, Immaculate, the Theotokos the Mother of God. The Modernist Heretics who have currently taken over control of the Church take very much a low, low Road in understanding the Immaculate. They seek to kill all things Mystical. Hence the Eucharist is a merely a symbol. The Word of God merely the writings of good men. The Church is an assembly of good people rather than the Mystical Body of Christ. Angels are a practical irrelevance. Hell does not exist. Miracles simply don;t really happen.. and on and on and on. As to Mary. Well she was they believe just an ordinary very pious Jewish maiden. No Virgin Birth. No Theotokos, no mystical. In other words a very Protestant Tradition and outlook. But the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception gives the lie to all this nonsense. It re enthones the Mystical at the very centre or our understanding.. It was no accident that it was reserved to these latter times as an antidote to the poison which is currently killing our Church. For when you kill the Mystical you kill the Church. The Immaculate Conception 490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace".133 In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace. 491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God,134 was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.135 492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son".136 The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".137 493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature".138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. "Let it be done to me according to your word. . ." 494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word."139 Thus, giving her consent to God's word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's grace:140 As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."141 Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith."142 Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through Mary."143
Apologies Padraig, im not really sure where to post this. I found it absolutely fascinating. I suppose that if its meant for someone, then it'll not pass that someone, wherever it's posted... Anyways, it talks of St. Brigid asking Our Lord for the exact number of times he was struck. And her response. And what each of us can do to offer recommence. https://www.theworkofgod.org/Devotns/bridget_12years.htm
I used to love the Promises and Prayers of St Brigid and read them all the time. I had a little prayer book with her promises I carried all the time.
Because the Tridentine Rite celebrates the Feast today and the Novus Ordo tomorrow I get two Feasts of the Immaculate Conception! How wonderful!
copied and posted here.....http://motheofgod.com/threads/promises-to-st-bridgid-of-sweeden.14200/#post-265469
Every time the Feast of the Immaculate Conception rolls round it makes me feel so stupid. The immensity of the Mystery kind of overwhelms me. So I sat in the dark in the Church before mass a very long time saying the prayer, 'Oh Mary Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee'. Feeling very dull and dry for not coming up with any deep, wonderful meditations on the Mystery. But a couple of things came along to console me in he Desert. The first was the joy I could feel all around me beaming down from heaven. How exultant they all were on the Great Feast. I thought to myself, 'Well at least they have some understanding of what it's all about!' The second consolation came at Holy Communion . A young man I have watched for years at early mass every day. Totally wrapped up in prayer..and ah his eyes, his wonderful prayerful eyes. I thought to myself , well if I can't do it right its wonderful to watch others doing it..and that cheered me up.
The mystery of the Immaculate Conception is overwhelming. A little prayer they say at the end of the of the flame of love rosary has had me thinking lately. O Mary share with us your Immaculate Conception. A little prayer ,but some how it seems to have an immense purpose to it. I don't think we will even understand the immensity of the Immaculate Conception completely in heaven.
Perhaps the fact that we know we understand so little means we have begun to have a little understanding. We'll spend an Eternity not scratching the surface of it all.
Imagine one day you wake up in heaven. Then you get to be alone with Our Lady. What would you say, what might you ask. Well I suppose for the first three billion years , if you are like me, you would spend thanking her over and over again for saving yourself from hell and all the huge graces she had obtained for you. But after that I would ask her to teach me about Mysteries like the Immaculate Conception and the story of her life on Earth. How beautiful would that be. ...and you know , Eternity being Eternity we will get to spend some time alone with Our Mother. Beautiful thought. A priest one time asked me what Our Blessed Mother actually looked like. I explained it like this. If I got to heaven and only got to see her once every hundred years from half a mile away , at the back of a crowd of millions, in just that my heaven would be complete. What a huge treat, we have in store. Just t gaze on Mary is heaven in itself; with nothing else added.
Padraig, an atheist Professor who had a vision of our Immaculate Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary described Her as "indescribably beautiful"! When I saw this thread, it reminded me of that. How fortunate to be Her children and having a loving Mother Who is so beautiful, so pure and so majestic! "Schoeman said Mary told him her favorite prayer is ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ (Our Lady originally presented this prayer to St. Catherine Labouré.) When I went to sleep that night,” Schoeman continued, “I knew virtually nothing about the Blessed Virgin Mary…I knew none of what she revealed to me in this experience.” “Although she was perfectly beautiful to look at–indescribably beautiful–even more perfecting was the beauty of her voice. It was composed of that which makes music music. “When she spoke, and when the beauty of her voice flowed through me, carrying with it her love, it lifted me up into a state of ecstasy greater than I ever imagined could exist.” (!) https://churchpop.com/2019/12/02/at...-catholicism-she-was-indescribably-beautiful/ Just think, we will experience that indescribable beauty and glorious ecstasy, with our Good Lord Jesus, His Immaculate Mother, the Saints and Angels, for all eternity. All we have to do is persevere in our Catholic Faith till the end, and strive to grow in grace every day, to reach that eternal bliss, with Jesus and Mary!
I love what one of the visionaries , I think it was Viska, in Medugorje said. She asked Our Lady how come she was so beautiful? To which the Blessed Mother replied 'I am beautiful because I love' This it seems to me is the perfect answer to the question. What is most wonderful about it is that we too have the road led open before us to be beautiful too. All we have to do is to say, 'Yes' to God as Mary did. Around where I live there are many , many people who go out running, I often admire their very great physical beauty. It reminds me of the Scripture, Psalm 8:5 How Majestic is Your Name! …4what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? 5You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor. 6You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet:… But I am so aware that this it only outer beauty. I love it so much in Church to see people who truly practice their Faith. For instance sometimes I have time in the very early morning, around 6 am I get to Church an hour early for mass. There are a very small group of people doing at least an hour in prayer before mass each and every day. Just looking at these people reminds me of looking at Our Lady. They are beautiful because they love. A good Catholic who carries out the duties of their Faith shines like the sun and seems like an angel walking the Earth. We may not recognise this on this Earth, but we shall see it clearly in the Life to Come.
Let me try that again, A friend of mine recently walked the entire st. James camino, something like 1000KMs. But i bet she, like many others - including myself, dont really know the Christian history / meaning of it. I googled it. But like many things religious on google, they promote the humanist standpoint in it: and discuss caveats such as - the views, the shell markers, how Australian walkers find it, getting there, accommodation etc. Does anyone know the Christian tradition and roots of it, and why people do it. Incidentally, for anyone thats interested, i see Ireland have begun - over the past few years to facilitate a camino. Its in Sligo. Google the Sligo Camino...
I just love it when people post videos.. If you see anything interesting, please post it. In this fast lane, when I'm not working i wash a lot of dishes and peel a lot of spuds. I crave videos to listen to whilst undertaking these chores. So post away, and - as Clint used to say.. "go ahead punk, make my day"
When I pray the Glorious mysteries of the rosary, and I get to the last one, "The Crowning of Our Blessed Mother" . . .I ask her if I can see that someday. After I die there must be an instant re-run of such a phenomenal event. I can picture billions of souls, heavenly choirs of angels present, the Blessed Trinity in celestial jubilation. And our beautiful, exquisite Blessed Mother receiving her crown. What an eternal vision that would be to witness the glory.
Dr Taylor Marshall put out a very,very good video on the Camino some time back, as I recall. It would go wells with spuds. I admire you for still peeling potatoes, I am lazy and get mine frozen from Iceland. Everything I eat was frozen. I am like an Eskimo.
I was at mass this morning for an Aunt who died of cancer a couple of days ago. One of the readings tells of how the dead, the new born in heaven will be crowned in Glory. I love that thought that when we get to heaven we will get our own crowns. Just like Our Lady. I really LOVE the Crown Our Lady wore at Knock. Like a Celtic Princess. Very Irish.
