Some thoughts for contemplation when praying the Rosary: MARY SPOUSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT We entered the age of Mary in 1830 with Rue de Bac - the 'medal of the Immaculate conception' more commonly known as the miraculous medal'. 1854 Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate conception as a dogma of the Catholic faith. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9ineff.htm 1858 Lourdes Bernadette asks the Lady, 'What is your name'? Response 'I am the Immaculate Conception'. I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION The Immaculate Conception is actually the name of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the immaculate conception of Love between the Father and the Son, between the Lover and the Beloved. Mary truly is the inseparable spouse of the Holy Spirit. She takes the name of her spouse, the Immaculate Conception. The nuptial bond between Mary and the Holy Spirit is a union of grace. The revelation of the Immaculate Conception is not only a revelation about Mary but also a revelation about the Holy Trinity. Mary is the created Immaculate Conception, she mirrors the uncreated Immaculate Conception, the Holy Spirit, her well-beloved spouse. ‘The conception of Mary is to be venerated as something extraordinary, wonderful, eminently holy and different from the conception of all other human beings’ (Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus; The Immaculate Conception, 1854).
MARY - MOTHER OF THE SON 'And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent. To her did the Father will to give his only-begotten Son — the Son whom, equal to the Father and begotten by him, the Father loves from his heart — and to give this Son in such a way that he would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was she whom the Son himself chose to make his Mother and it was from her that the Holy Spirit willed and brought it about that he should be conceived and born from whom he himself proceeds'(Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus; The Immaculate Conception, 1854). Jesus' flesh is flesh of Mary The moment that Mary said ‘Yes’ her Divine Son was conceived in her womb, the Logos became material, corporeal; Christ in the womb was both mortal and immortal, ‘for the flesh of Jesus is the flesh of Mary’ (St Augustine). The same Christ we receive in the Blessed Eucharist from the tabernacle is the same Christ who was housed in the womb of Mary, since she is the one who provided the divine matter for this sacrament. She is the imperishable tabernacle because she carried within Christ the saviour, in order to share with humanity the ‘heavenly manna’, ‘the bread of life’, ‘the Eucharist’ (The Rosary, Behold Thy Mother). In the Annunciation we learn that Christ was born in the heart of Mary before he was born in her womb. Mary’s heart shows the way to Jesus’ Sacred Heart, and it is through her rosary that we can come to know God more perfectly through the light of her Immaculate Heart. The two hearts beat in tandem they are inseparable - in the passion there was a union of suffering so Mary can truly be considered Mediatrix (The Rosary, Behold Thy Mother) Friday - Devotion to the Sacred Heart Saturday - Devotion to the Immaculate Heart God wants to establish devotion to Immaculate Heart that God because God wants the world to recognise her Divine Maternity.
MARY DAUGHTER OF THE FATHER Mary is the summation of all of God the Father's creation both visible and invisible. In the spiritual realm she surpasses the seraphim through the fire of her love, the angels in purity and the Patriarchs in faith. God the Father gave her an Immaculate Heart, and in doing so He looked inward to give her a heart like His own. In the created order creation manifests her presence – the blue sky is her mantle, the stars align as her garments, she is clothed in the Sun with the moon at her feet; the flowers of the garden reflect her beauty and her incomparable fragrance. She is the Rosa Mystica and the fair Lily of the Valley. Mary is a flower with pure white petals without stain or thorn, as Isaiah prophesised, that ‘from the root of Jesse shall blossom a flower’ (Isaiah 11v1), for Mary was from the Davidic line and the Christ was the visible fruit of her virgin womb. Mary is the earthly paradise, the enclosed Garden, where Christ chose to enter into the temporal order in order to dwell and rest. Mary’s Immaculate Heart is ‘the treasury of the Lord,’ where, ‘God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas (maria), so He gathered all his graces together and called them Mary (Maria)’ (St Louis de Montfort). Mary is foreshadowed in the Old Testament, as the burning bush that burns with a divine flame without consuming itself; she is the Ark of the Covenant made from imperishable wood containing unfathomable mysteries; she is Jacob’s ladder joining heaven to earth, she is Aaron’s rod that blooms in the darkness of the meeting tent revealing the presence of the Lord. (The Rosary, behold thy Mother).
