Catholic Spiritual Living Journal

"Prayer is the light of the spirit "

Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, so our spirit, when it is intent on God, is illumined by his infinite light. I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer from the heart, not confined to fixed times, or periods but continuous throughout the day and night.

Our spirit should be quick to reach out toward God not only when it is engaged in meditation; at other times also, when it is carrying out its duties, caring for the needy, performing works of charity, giving generously in the service of others, our spirit should long for God, and call him to mind, so that these works may be seasoned with the salt of God's love, and so make a palatable offering to the Lord of the universe. Throughout the whole of our lives we may enjoy the benefit that comes from prayer if we devote a great deal of time to it.

Prayer is the light of the spirit, true knowledge of God, mediating between God and man. The spirit, raised up to heaven by prayer, clings to God with the utmost tenderness; like a child crying tearfully for its mother, it craves the milk that God provides. It seeks the satisfaction of its own desires, and receives gifts outweighing the whole world of nature.

Prayer stands before God as an honored ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart. I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love to deep for words, a gift not given by man but by God's grace. The apostle Paul says: "We do not know how we are to pray but the Spirit himself pleads for us with inexpressible longings." Rom. 8:26.

When the Lord gives this kind of prayer to [someone]; he gives him riches that cannot be taken away, heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. One who tastes this food is set on fire with an eternal longing for the Lord: his spirit burns as in a fire of the utmost intensity.

Practice prayer from the beginning. Paint your house with the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive him as in a splendid palace, and through his grace you will already possess him, his image enthroned in the temple of your spirit. "

The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary.

In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger” (Lk 2:7).

Thereafter Mary's gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding Jesus, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating his decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a gaze radiant with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).

Mary's memories

11. Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51). The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son's side. In a way those memories were to be the “rosary” which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life.

Even now, amid the joyful songs of the heavenly Jerusalem, the reasons for her thanksgiving and praise remain unchanged. They inspire her maternal concern for the pilgrim Church, in which she continues to relate her personal account of the Gospel. Mary constantly sets before the faithful the “mysteries” of her Son, with the desire that the contemplation of those mysteries will release all their saving power. In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary.

The Rosary, a contemplative prayer

12. The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary's own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer. Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning, as Pope Paul VI clearly pointed out: “Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: 'In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words' (Mt 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord's life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. In this way the unfathomable riches of these mysteries are disclosed”.14

It is worth pausing to consider this profound insight of Paul VI, in order to bring out certain aspects of the Rosary which show that it is really a form of Christocentric contemplation .

( APOSTOLIC LETTER ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOPS , CLERGY AND FAITHFUL ON THE MOST HOLY ROSARY )

We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; and God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides.
~Saint Thomas Aquinas

Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you.
~St. Francis De Sales

But if these beings guard you, they do so because they have been summoned by your prayers.
~Saint Ambrose

The angels are the dispensers and administrators of the divine beneficence toward us; they regard our safety, undertake our defense, direct our ways, and exercise a constant solicitude that no evil befall us.
~ John Calvin

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Keep us from being preocuppied with money and worldly goods, and with trying to increase them at the expense of justice.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." Help us not to be ruthless with one another, and to eliminate the discord and violence that exists in the world around us.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Let us not be impatient under our own burdens and unconcerned about the burdens of others.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled." Make us thirst for you, the fountain of all holiness, and actively spread your influence in our private lives and in society.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." Grant that we may be quick to forgive and slow to condemn.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." Free us from our senses and our evil desires, and fix our eyes on you.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." Aid us to make peace in our families, in our country, and in the world.

Lord Jesus, You said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of justice, for the kingdom of heaven in theirs." Make us willing to suffer for the sake of right rather than to practice injustice; and do not let us discriminate against our neighbors and oppress and persecute them.

August 16, 2006

God is always attentive to our prayer when it is done with faith and love.

Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ´every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.´ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Prayer:

Lord, help me trust that you will guide my conscience and direct my heart according to your will. Teach me your truth and take away from me any doubt or skepticism.

Lord, grant me the confidence that you will answer my prayers every day. Teach me to pray that your will be done.

1. Witness to Charity.

One of the most urgent tasks for every Christian is to seek reconciliation with our brothers and sisters in a spirit of true charity according to the Gospel. We must go to great lengths to restore trust and confidence in each other in order to be a witness to the world of the transforming power of the Gospel. In the early Church, unbelievers were converted by the testimony of love the Christians had for one another, explainable not merely in human terms but only as a fruit of a relationship with Jesus Christ. We have to let the grace and love of Christ lead us to look for reconciliation with everyone.

2. Win Over Your Brother.

Sometimes we need to say the difficult and awkward truths; sometimes people need to hear them. All too often we are drawn along by a “live and let live” philosophy that is not true tolerance based on respect, but rather an indifference to the fate of others, a closing-in on ourselves. Sometimes we lack the courage and the loving commitment to charitably admonish and remind others that they are children of God with responsibilities toward him. We need to pray for true charity, which seeks the good of our brothers and sisters without regard to ourselves.

3. Pray Always.

God is always attentive to our prayer when it is done with faith and love, with confidence in his mercy and forgiveness. We need to persevere in prayer and never doubt God’s love for us. Prayer in common unites us not only to God, but to others as well. We are reminded that we are children of God our Father and very much within his loving providence and care. We need to renew the faith and belief that we have a God who is in our very midst. He is not a distant God off somewhere in the universe, uncaring and uninvolved, but a close, intimate God who knows our every need.

Lord God, teach me to trust in your providence and to hope in your loving care.
Help me learn to forgive and be reconciled with each and every person because they too are your sons and daughters, my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Resolution:

I will think of one person I have not yet forgiven and reach out in a gesture of reconciliation and charity.

... and our Heavenly Mother , from The Cross ( Gospel of John 19:26-27 )

First please remember that Catholics meditate on Mary only in the light of Christ.

Jesus Christ is the heart of the Church.

It was St. Catherine of Siena, who lived during the fourteenth century, who said that "All the way to heaven is heaven, because Christ is the Way."

Gospel of John 19:26-27

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

In this passage in the Gospel of John, Jesus dying on the Cross tells "the disciple" to behold his Mother Mary. It seems that Jesus is referring to John, but the actual words are "the disciple."

And so, in that instant, Mary becomes Mother of all disciples of Jesus, including those in our own time who follow Jesus.

To quote Pope John Paul II in his 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater, "This is true not only of John, who at that hour stood at the foot of the Cross together with the Mother [of Jesus], but it is also true of every disciple of Christ, of every Christian (45.3)."

Jesus Christ is the heart of Catholic Tradition and Christian life.

Catholics celebrate the Mass, read the Bible, and receive the Seven Sacraments.

In the Mass we share in the one Sacrifice on the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we await his Second Coming.

In the Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the cross with Mary.

Receiving Holy Communion with others during the Sacrifice of the Mass brings unity of the Church, the Body of Christ.

Three of our favorite prayers are the Our Father, the Hail Mary (or Ave Maria), and the Rosary.

The Our Father is the prayer of hope given to us by Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew [6:9-13].

The Scriptural basis for the Hail Mary is from the Gospel of Luke [1:26-42].

Mary is the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God [Mark 1:1, Acts 9:20, Romans 1:4, 2 Cor 1:19].

As Jesus is both God and man, Mary is the Mother of God [Luke 1:43].

Her intercessory role in the second part of the prayer is based on her mediation at the wedding feast of Cana, recorded in the Gospel of John [2:1-12].

The Rosary is a Biblical account of the life of Jesus.

Mary is our model of Love and Mercy, who intercedes with her Son Jesus for us, her children on earth.

Mary serves as the perfect example of motherhood for our modern world.

Prayer :

We know that God's commandment of love and our vocation to follow Jesus Christ impels us to cooperate in the mission of the Church. Realizing our own weakness, we entrust the renewal of our personal lives and our apostolate to your intercession .

We are confident that through God's mercy and the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, you, who are our Mother, will obtain the strength of the Holy Spirit as you obtained it for the community of the apostles gathered in the upper room.

Therefore, relying on your maternal intercession, we are resolved from this moment on to devote our talents, learning, material resources, our health, sickness and trials, and every gift of nature and grace, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of all.

We wish to carry on those activities which especially promote the catholic apostolate for the revival of faith and love of the people of God and so bring all men and women into the faith of Jesus Christ.And if a time should come when we have nothing more to offer serviceable to this end, we will never cease to pray that there will be one fold and one shepherd, Jesus Christ.

In this way, we hope to enjoy the results of the apostolate of Jesus Christ for all eternity. Amen.

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts, June 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On May 17—the two-year anniversary of same-sex "marriage" in Massachusetts—the first-grade son of a prominent pro-family advocate was dragged and beaten behind the Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington during recess, receiving multiple blows to the chest, stomach, and genital area.

Jacob Parker, the 7-year-old who was attacked, is the son of David Parker. LifeSiteNews.com readers will recall that David Parker objected to homosexual curriculum in his son's kindergarten class. At a meeting with the principal of the school last year Parker requested that the school inform him of when homosexual discussions would take place, so he could exclude his son from the activity. The principal refused and Parker said he would not leave until his request was granted. School administration called the police and had Parker charged with trespassing. (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05042910.html)

Brian Camenker the President of MassResistance, a pro-family group, that has worked with Parker to have the rights of parents in Massachusetts respected told LifeSitenews.com that the school system has since continued to refuse to notify parents of such material being presented in class. On April 27, 2006, Parker, his wife, and another family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school system.

LifeSiteNews.com spoke with Mr. Parker about the incident. According to Mr. Parker, school authorities determined from an investigation into the assault that the beating was indeed planned and premeditated.

Mr. Parker described the incident at the school saying: "During the recess period, a group of 8-10 kids suddenly surrounded Jacob and grabbed him. He was taken around the corner of the school building out of sight of the patrolling aides, with the taunting and encouragement of other kids. Jacob was then positioned against the wall for what appeared to be a well planned and coordinated assault.”

Parker told LifeSiteNews.com, his son related that one student in particular performed the actual physical assault while, “many children stood, watched silently, and did nothing as the beating commenced.”

Parker added: "The group of kids surrounded Jacob and he was beaten and punched. Then, as he fell to the ground, another child was heard saying to the group of children, 'Now you all can finish him off,' and as he was down on his hands and knees, the beating continued on his back. Then, fortunately, one little girl ran to contact the oblivious playground aides to stop it.

"Four of the attackers were from Jacob's first-grade class; the others were from other classes at Estabrook.

"The teachers' aide apparently determined that since she could not see external bleeding, and since Jacob apparently was not hit in the face, she did not send him to she school nurse."

The family was immediately notified of the incident.

Speaking to LifeSiteNews.com, Parker speculated that the cause of the attack was most likely what he called “displaced aggression.” “If children hear venomous things from their parents, the children do internalize this,” he said.

“I certainly don’t want to vilify the children in this,” he said. “We understand that skirmishes happen on the playground. It’s taking the child around out of view of the aides, and the number of children that stood around watching that concerns us.”

Parker noted that his conflict with the school over homosexuality is well known among the students. "We are aware that the school administration sent notices home with all the young children concerning the Parker arrest, the 'King and King' incident and the federal lawsuit," he said. “They must know that the children read them.”

He pointed out that the date of the attack--the two year aniversary of same-sex "marriage" in Massachusetts--cannot be a coincidence.

The topic of Parker's beliefs has become so widespread among the students that Jacob says he overheard his fellow classmates ruminating that perhaps their current principle—who has resigned her position to take up a job elsewhere—was leaving the job because of Jacob’s father. Members of the community itself have organized public demonstrations specifically against Parker, in which their children have taken part. One of these demonstrations is pictured on the right and below. (photos courtesy of MassResistance.com) While prominently displayed in the student library are the back issues of the Lexington Minuteman that specifically deal with Parker’s case, for the children to read.

“We’re trying to be patient and tolerant," said Parker when asked if he was considering pulling his son out of the school. "We’re trying to hang on to the notion that the schools are for every child and for everyone. I don’t feel that we should have to leave for an injustice.”

But he added that “There are limits to how much patience we can have. I certainly understand why more and more parents are pulling their children out of public schools.”

Ironically, the school prides itself on its long-time involvement in various "Safe School" programs, which are geared to creating school environments "safe" for students who are homosexual.

Parker asked, "Isn't the school supposed to be addressing safety and preventing bullying and violence? Or are such programs only focused on children with homosexual parents? You can be certain that if this happened to a child with homosexual parents more would be made of this and that 'lessons' teaching tolerance and diversity of homosexual behavior normalization would be forced upon the young children."

The school and larger community are deeply divided over the Parker's stand against pro-homosexual indoctrination. A group has been formed in Lexington to counter Parker's efforts. The 'Lexington Cares' group maintains an anti-Parker website and has conducted anti-Parker letter writing campaigns and demonstrations.

Calls to Estabrook school were not returned by press time.

To express your concern to Estabrook school contact:

Estabrook School
117 Grove Street
Lexington, MA
02420 USA

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father at the Angelus today in Castel Gandolfo:

Dear brothers and sisters,

Christian tradition has placed in the heart of summer one of the oldest and most suggestive of Marian feasts, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Just as Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, in the same way, Mary, at the end of her earthly existence, was assumed into heaven.

The liturgy today recalls this consoling truth of faith to us, while it sings the praises of she who has been crowned with incomparable glory.

"In Heaven," we read in the passage from Apocalypse that is offered for our meditation today, "a grandiose sign appeared: a woman dressed in the sun, with the moon beneath her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (12,1)

The Fathers of the Church recognized Mary in this woman bathed in light. In her triumph, the Christian people - pilgrims through history - see the fulfillment of their expectations and the sure sign of their hope.

Mary is an example and a support for all believers: she encourages us not to lose faith in the face of difficulties and of the inevitable problems of everyday. She assures us of her help and reminds us that the essential thing is to search for and think of "the things above, not of this earth" (cfr Col 3,2).

In the grip of our daily concerns, we risk indeed thinking that the ultimate goal of human existence is here, in this world in which we are only passing through. But it is Paradise that is the true goal of our earthly pilgrimage.

How different our days would be if it was that prospect which animates them! That is the way it was for the saints. Their existence is testimony that when one lives with the heart constantly turned to heaven, earthly realities are lived according to their true value in the scale of things because they are illuminated by the eternal truth of divine love.

To the Queen of Peace, whom we contemplate in her celestial glory, I wish to entrust once more the concerns of mankind about every place in the world that is torn apart by violence.

We join our brothers and sisters who, at this time, are gathered at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa for a eucharistic celebration presided by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who went to Lebanon as my special envoy, to bring comfort and concrete solidarity to all the victims of the conflict and to pray for the great goal of peace.

We are also in communion with the priests and the faithful of the Church in the Holy land, who are gathered in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, along with the Pontifical Representative in Israel and Palestine, Archbishop Antonio Franco, to pray for the same intentions.

My prayers also go to the dear nation of Sri Lanka, threatened once more by a deterioration of ethnic conflict, and to Iraq, where the frightening daily trail of bloodshed makes the prospect for reconciliation and reconstruction seem more remote.

May Mary obtain for all sentiments of mutual understanding, the will towards such understanding, and a desire for concord.


After the Angelus prayers, he said this in English:

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for this Angelus. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

May the example of her life of obedience to the will of God, recognised by her exaltation into glory, be for all Christians a source of hope and inspiration!

"Bless are you among women and blest is the Fruit of your womb." –Luke 1:42

When God looked at all He had created, He called it "very good" (Gn 1:31). Creation was a masterpiece of perfect harmony. Then we sinned and disfigured the masterpiece. With sin, death entered the world, and we were barred from the tree of life (Gn 3:24).

Jesus hung on a tree (Acts 13:29) to take away the sins of the world and restored life to a deadly world. He restored the masterpiece of creation. Just as Eve began the ruin of creation, Mary began the restoration of the masterpiece. By the grace of her Son, she was sinless, "holy and blameless in His sight" (Eph 1:4), and therefore not subject to death. She is like the original masterpiece of creation. She was "very good," "blessed among women." She is the new Eve, the true "mother of all the living" (Gn 3:20).

This does not glorify Mary at the expense of Jesus. Mary does not take glory away from Jesus anymore than a masterpiece draws attention away from the artist. The Master is praised because of the masterpiece. It focuses attention on the Master. Shout with Mary: "My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord" (Lk 1:46).

PRAYER:

Praise You, Jesus, for the miracle who is Mary! Praise You, Jesus, for a sinless one through whom You, the all-holy One, entered the world.

PROMISE:

"A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." –Rv 12:1

PRAISE:

Mary was taken body and soul into heaven to join He Who first was glorified. "God Who is mighty has done great things for me, holy is His name" (Lk 1:49).

All-powerful and ever-living God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns wth you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen

At her Assumption, Mary was ``taken up to Life'' - body and soul. She is already a part of ``the first fruits'' (1 Cor 15:20) of our Savior's redemptive Death and Resurrection. The Son took his human life from her; in return he gave her the fullness of communion in Divine Life. She is the only other being in whom the mystery has already been completely accomplished. In Mary the final victory of Life over death is already a reality. And, as the Second Vatican Council reaches: ``In the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached the perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle'' (Lumen Gentium, 65). In and through the Church we too have hope of an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us''. (cf. I Pt 1:4).

You are blessed, O Mary! Mother of the Eternal Son born of your virgin womb, you are full of grace (cf. Lk 1:28). You have received the abundance of Life (cf. Jn 10:10) as no one else among the descendants of Adam and Eve. As the most faithful ``bearer of the Word'' (cf. Lk 11:28), you not only treasured and pondered this mystery in your heart (cf. Lk 2:19, 51), but you observed it in your body and nourished it by the self-giving love with which you surrounded Jesus throughout his earthly life. As Mother of the Church, you guide us still from your place in heaven and intercede for us. You lead us to Christ, ``the Way, and the Truth. and the Life'' (Jn 14:6), and help us to increase in holiness by conquering sin (cf. Lumen Gentium, 65).

The Liturgy presents you, Mary, as the Woman clothed with the sun (cf. Rev 12:1). But you are even more splendidly clothed with that Divine Light which can become the Life of all those created in the image and likeness of God himself: ``this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it'' (Jn 1:4-5).

O woman clothed with the sun, the youth of the world greet you with so much love; they come to you with all the courage of their young hearts . Denver has helped them to become more conscious of the Life which your Divine Son has brought.

We are all witnesses of this.

These young people now know that Life is more powerful than the forces of death; they know that the Truth is more powerful than darkness; that Love is stronger than death (cf. Song 6:8).

Your spirit rejoices, O Mary,

and our spins rejoices with you

because the Mighty One has done great things for you and for us,

- for all these young people gathered here in Denver -

and holy is his name!

His mercy is from age to age.

We rejoice, Mary,

we rejoice with you, Virgin assumed into heaven.

The Lord has done great things for you!

The Lord has done great things for us!

( http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/jp2/denver17.html )

The Assumption of Mary is a special sharing in Christ's Resurrection. In today's liturgy St. Paul emphasizes this truth, announcing the joy for the victor over death achieved by Christ through his Resurrection. "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Cor 15:25-26). Victory over death, which became evident on the day of Christ's Resurrection, today concerns his Mother in a very special way. If death has no power over him—that is over the Son—neither has it any more power over his Mother, that is, over her who gave him earthly life.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul as it were makes a profound comment on the mystery of the Assumption. He writes thus: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ" (1 Cor 15:20-23). Mary is the first among "those who belong to Christ". In the mystery of the Assumption, Mary is the first to receive the glory; the Assumption represents as it were the culmination of the Easter mystery.

We greet you, glorious Mother of the Redeemer, Ark of the Covenant, in whom the mystery of Redemption was fulfilled: in you the promise of Emmanuel, God-with-us, became a reality, and God was made our brother.

We greet you, humble Handmaid of the Lord, who gave the Son of God to mankind, and, as the obedient Woman, by your fiat you taught us to accept with docility all that he asks of us.

We greet you Blessed Virgin, who accompanied and followed your divine Son, suffering and crucified, to his death, and at the foot of the Cross became "our Mother", Mother of the Church and of all humanity.

We greet you, Virgin who prayed with the Apostles in the Upper Room: by your intercession for us you obtained the gift of the Holy Spirit, who renews heaven and earth.

We greet you, glorious Virgin, in the mystery of your Assumption into heaven: in you God the Father anticipated what he intends to accomplish at the end of time for all those who die in communion with Jesus Christ, his Son and your Son.

We greet you, Queen of Angels and Saints; you intercede for us from heaven and sustain us on our earthly pilgrimage to the promised land: Keep our faith alive, our hope firm and our love fervent for God and for our brothers and sisters.

In contemplating the mystery of your Assumption O Mary, let us learn to evaluate earthly affairs in the proper light. Help us never to forget that our true and definitive dwelling place is heaven, and support us in our effort to live together here below in ever greater brotherhood and solidarity. Make us workers of justice and peacemakers in the name of Christ, our true peace.

Blessed Virgin, grant that every man and every woman may recognize Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb, as their own Saviour.

Though English words like 'worship' and 'adoration' are occasionally used to signify only veneration, honor or affection, they are generally understood to refer to that highest type of worship reserved for God alone. In this sense, Catholics do NOT adore or worship Mary, or any other created person or thing.

The Ecumenical Council held at Nicaea in 787 considered the issue of veneration which is not directed to the Divine persons in relation to sacred images. At this Council, the Church taught that the special type of worship called adoration may only be offered to God: Latria from the Greek term for enslavement. However, the Church also acknowledged that certain persons, though only creatures of God, are entitled to honor or veneration of a qualitatively lesser degree than the absolute allegiance owed to God. The Conciliar Fathers termed this lesser devotion: Dulia. Such veneration was proper for Mary and the Saints. In view of Mary's important role in salvation history as Mother of Jesus, the Church recognized that Mary warranted a special degree of honor among the Saints. For this class of devotion, St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) suggested the term hyperdulia.

No, Catholics do not worship Mary, if by worshiping is meant adoring. She is not God for us, has never been and will never be. Addressing prayer to Mary is like asking a dear and close friend for help. Do we make a God of our friend when asking him to keep us in his prayers? Do we divinize him/her when asking for his prayerful support in sickness and the trials of life? Believers on earth and in heaven constitute a living community which the major Christian denominations recognize as the communion of saints. The saints in heaven are not dead. Their Christian example of virtuous living and their closeness to God make of them powerful allies for us struggling mortals. They do not take God's place; they are an expression of his grace.

Likewise, there is nothing in Mary that would not have been in God and come from him. She is a pure creation of God ; this is the essential meaning of Mary's sinlessness. Never forget: if God wanted the exclusively direct relation between him and you and me he would never send Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, never allow scripture to be the foundation of our faith, never encourage his Son to found the Church or institute the sacraments. Christianity is the religion of mediation, essential and foundational in Christ; participative and subordinate in his Church and in varying degrees in the believers .

"O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and Mother of men, we believe with all the fervour of our faith in your triumphal Assumption, both body and soul, into heaven, where you are acclaimed as Queen by all the choirs of angels and all the legions of the saints. And we unite with them to praise and bless the Lord who has exalted you above all other pure creatures, and to offer you the tribute of our devotion and our love.

"We know that your gaze, which on earth, watched over the humble and suffering humanity of Jesus, in heaven is filled with the vision of that humanity glorified, and with the vision of the uncreated Wisdom; the joy of your soul in the direct contemplation of the adorable Trinity causes your heart to throb with overwhelming tenderness. We, poor sinners, weighed down by a body which hinders the flight of the soul, beg you to purify our hearts, so that while we remain here below, we may learn to love God and God alone in the beauty of His creatures.

"We trust that your merciful eyes may deign to look down upon our miseries and our sorrows, upon our struggles and our weaknesses; that your countenance may smile upon our joys and our victories; that you may hear the voice of Jesus saying to you of each one of us, as He once said to you of His beloved disciple: 'Behold thy son.' And we, who call upon you as our Mother, take you, like John, as the guide, strength and consolation of our mortal life.

"And from this earth over which we tread as pilgrims, comforted by our faith in the future resurrection, we look to you, our life, our sweetness and our hope. Draw us onward by the gentleness of your voice, so that one day, after our exile, you may show us Jesus, the Blessed Fruit of your womb, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary."

(Pope Pius XII)

The Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we contemplate today assumed body and soul into heaven, reminds us very definitely that our permanent abode is not on earth but in heaven where she, with her divine Son, has preceded us in all the fullness of her human nature. This is the dominant thought in today's liturgy.
"O Almighty and everlasting God, who hast taken up body and soul into heavenly glory the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Thy Son: grant, we beseech Thee, that, ever intent upon heavenly things, we may be worthy to be partakers of her glory" (Collect).

The Feast of the Assumption is a strong appeal to us to live "ever intent upon heavenly things", and not to allow ourselves to be carried away by the vicissitudes and seductions of the world. Not only was our soul created for heaven, but also our body, which, after the resurrection, will be welcomed into our heavenly home and admitted to a participation in the glory of the spirit.

Today we contemplate in Mary, our Mother, this total glorification of our humanity. That which has been wholly realized in her, will be realized for us, as well as for all the saints, only at the end of time. This privilege was very fitting for her, the all-pure, the all-holy one, whose body was never touched by even the faintest shadow of sin, but was always the temple of the Holy Spirit, and became the immaculate tabernacle of the Son of God. It is a reminder to us to ennoble our whole life, not only that of the spirit, but also that of the senses, elevating it to the heights of the celestial life which awaits us. "O Mother of God and of men," exclaims Pius XII in his beautiful prayer for the Assumption, "we beg you to purify our senses, so that we may begin to enjoy God here on earth and Him alone, in the beauty of creatures."

2. Mary's Assumption shows us the route we must follow in our spiritual ascent: detachment from the earth, flight toward God and union with God.

Our Lady was assumed body and soul into heaven because She was Immaculate; She was all-pure — free not only from every shadow of sin, but even from the slightest attachment to the things of the earth, so that she "never had the form of any creature imprinted on her soul, nor was moved by such, but was invariably guided by the Holy Spirit" (St John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt Carmel III, 2, 10).

The first requirement for attaining God is this total purity, the fruit of total detachment. The Blessed Virgin, who lived her earthly life in absolute detachment from every created thing, teaches us not to allow ourselves to be captivated by the fascination of creatures, but to live among them, occupying ourselves with them with much charity, but without ever letting our heart become attached to them, without ever seeking our satisfaction in them.

In her Assumption Mary speaks to us of flight toward heaven, toward God. It is not enough to purify our heart from sin and all attachment to creatures, we must at the same time direct it toward God, tending toward Him with all our strength. The Church has us pray in today's Mass, "O Lord, though the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary who was assumed into Heaven, may our hearts, enkindled by the fire of Thy love, continually aspire toward Thee" . Our earthly life has value for eternal life insofar as it is a flight toward God, a continual seeking after Him, a continual adherence to His grace. When this flight fails, the supernatural value of our existence lessens.

Mary has been taken up to heaven because she is the Mother of God. This is the greatest of her privileges, the root of all the others and the reason for them; it speaks to us, in a very special way, of intimate union with God, as the fact of her Assumption speaks to us of the beatific union of heaven. Mary's Assumption thus conforms us in this great and beautiful truth: we are created and called to union with God. Mary herself stretches out her maternal hand to guide us to the attainment of this high ideal. If we keep our eyes fixed on her, we shall advance more easily; she will be our guide, our strength, and our consolation in every trial and difficulty.

~~ author Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. ~~

Scripture: Luke 1:39-56 (alternate reading: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14)

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,
40 and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." 46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,
52 he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.

Meditation:

How strong is your hope in the promises of God? Mary is a model of faith and hope for us. And she is among "the first-fruits" of "all those who belong to Jesus" and who share in his triumph (1 Cor.15:20-24). What enabled Mary to grow in faith and to persevere in hope in the face of obstacles and trials? The Gospel of Luke reveals the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in Mary's life. When Elizabeth and Mary greeted one another they were filled with the Holy Spirit and with a joyful anticipation of the fulfilment of God's promise to give a Savior. John the Baptist, even before the birth of the Messiah, pointed to his coming and leapt for joy in the womb of his mother as the Holy Spirit revealed to him the presence of the King to be born. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us to enable us to know and experience the indwelling presence of God and the power of his kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the way in which God reigns within each of us. Mary accepted her mission with uncompromising faith and obedience. She acted with unwavering trust and faith because she believed that God would fulfill the word he had spoken. Her great hymn of praise echoes the song of Hannah (see 1 Samuel 2:1-10) and proclaims the favor of the Lord: God exalts the lowly and he fills the hungry. The Holy Spirit is ever ready to renew your faith and hope in God's promises and to make you strong in love for God and your neighbor. Do you live in the joy and confidence of God's indwelling presence with you through his Holy Spirit?
"Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me joy in seeking you more closely. Increase my faith in all your promises, my hope in the joys of heaven, and my love for You as my All."

Psalm 33:2-3,11-12,20-21

2 Praise the LORD with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song, play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
20 Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield.
21 Yea, our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Refuge of the Human Race, Victress in all God's battles, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Throne, confident that we will receive mercy, grace and bountiful assistance and protection in the present calamity not through our own inadequate merits, but solely through the great goodness of thy Maternal Heart.

To thee, to thy Immaculate Heart in this, humanity's tragic hour, we consign and consecrate ourselves in union not only with the Mystical Body of thy Son, Holy Mother Church, now in such suffering and agony in so many places and sorely tried in so many ways, but also with the entire world, torn by fierce strife, consumed in a fire of hate, victim of its own wickedness.

O Mother of Mercy, obtain peace for us from God and above all procure for us those graces which prepare, establish and assure the peace.

Queen of Peace, pray for us and give to the world the peace for which all people are longing, peace in the Truth, Justice and Charity of Christ. Give peace to the nations and to the souls of men, that in the tranquillity of order the Kingdom of God may prevail..

Extend thy protection to the infidels and to all those still in the shadow of death; give them peace and grant that on them also the sun of truth may shine, that they may unite with us in proclaiming before the one and only Saviour of the world "Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will."

Give peace to the people separated by error or discord, and especially to those who profess such singular devotion to thee and in whose homes an honoured place was ever accorded thy venerated ikon (today perhaps often kept hidden to await better days): bring them back to the one fold of Christ under the One True Shepherd.

Obtain peace and complete freedom for the Holy Church of God; stay the spreading flood of modern paganism; enkindle in the faithful the love of purity, the practice of the Christian life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the servants of God may increase in merit and in number.

Lastly, as the Church and the entire human race were consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so that reposing all hope in Him, He might become for them the sign and pledge of victory and salvation; so we in like manner consecrate ourselves forever also to thee and to thy Immaculate Heart, our Mother and Queen, so that thy love and patronage may hasten the triumph of the Kingdom of God and that all nations, at peace with one another and thee, may raise their voices to resound from pole to pole in the chant of the everlasting

Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, where alone they can find truth and peace. Amen.

O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you.

If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: "She will crush your head," and, "You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world." Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for intro­ducing and increasing your glory to the maxi­mum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holi­ness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Allow me to praise you, O Sacred Virgin.

Give me strength against your enemies.

St. Maximillian was born in the Poland in 1894 and baptized under the name of Raymond. He entered the novitiate of the Conventual Franciscans in 1910 and given the name of Maximillian. He took his final vows in Rome in 1914 and three years later, organized, with six other confreres, the association of the Meletsia Immaculate, which may be translated, The Militia of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Whatever else Maximillian never forgot is that we are here on earth in the Church militant. He was ordained in Rome in 1918.
In 1922, he began publishing the magazine, "Knight of the Immaculate," first in Polish and then in other languages. He is an outstanding promoter of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the modern media of writing, radio and, since his day, television.
In 1927, he began building a whole town with property donated by a wealthy nobleman, called the "Town of the Immaculate," outside of Warsaw. There he began training people with vocations among the laity and prospective Religious and Priests, to become apostles of Mary. The first Marian Missionaries to Japan were trained in the "Town of the Immaculate." In 1930, Maximillian opened a Marian publication apostolate in Nagasaki, Japan—one of the two cities in Japan which would later be ravaged by a nuclear bomb during the Second World War. As popes have been saying ever since, God chose His most faithful people as a sacrifice to insure future peace in the world.
In 1939, Maximillian was arrested by the Nazis who had taken over Poland. Two years later, in 1941, he died at Auschwitz, the infamous concentration camp. He had been first denied food, but when after some time had passed they looked into his cell, he was still alive. They then inoculated him with deadly poison. Why? Because he offered his life for another man who was chosen in reprisal by the Nazi's for that father of a large family. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI and canonized by Pope John Paul II.

Maximillian's Marian Spirituality

The spirituality of St. Maximillian is based directly on this truth: that the Immaculate Virgin Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces.
That is the first premise of his Marian thinking. If this were not so, Maximillian explains, all our strength and effort in the spiritual life would be in vain. In other words, our spiritual life depends on grace. That's obvious, but it also depends on the grace that we must receive through Mary.
Second, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mediatrix of all the graces that any human being receives, believer or unbeliever, Christian or non-Christian, without exception.
Third, our life of grace depends on the nearness of grace that we have to the soul of the Immaculate Mother of God. It is an article of Faith that everyone receives sufficient grace to reach Heaven. But the degree of grace that any person receives—always from Christ but through Mary—depends on the degree of grace which that person, at the time when the grace is needed, is near to, like to, assimilated to the Mother of Jesus. The more Marian we are, the more assurance we have of obtaining grace from Mary's Son through His Mother. That deserves to be memorized.
Fourth, the nearer a person's soul is, to the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the purer that person's soul becomes, the more sinless, the holier that person becomes in his faith, growing in understanding and firmly accepting God's revealed truth. In other words, holiness determines clarity; holiness determines intelligibility; holiness determines certitude in the faith that we already possess. Our faith will grow in the measure of our holiness approximating, at any given point in time, the holiness of Christ's Mother. Correspondingly, the greater becomes that person's virtues—theological and moral. This is a unique insight into Marian spirituality.
Our relationship with Mary, as Mediatrix is normative. Depending on how closely our life of grace approximates Mary's at any given time in our lives, she then becomes the standard of how much grace we are going to receive.
Fifth, Maximillian describes Our Lady in terms of her relationship with the Holy Trinity. The one created person in whom we can best recognize and find reflected the Holy Trinity, is the Blessed Virgin Mary who is the spouse, says Maximillian, of the Holy Trinity.
Everything which God does, outside of His own Trinitarian life—in other words in the created universe of time and eternity—is always done by all three Persons, equally and simultaneously. Having created the world, the apex of the work of the Holy Trinity is the Incarnation and therefore Mary, who had to cooperate with her free human will with the Holy Trinity. Otherwise there would not have been an Incarnation.
Maximillian insists that although Mary is of course a creature, there is one and only one who is the most sublime model that God has created among human persons; one for us to both venerate and imitate, and that is the Immaculate Mother of God.
Sixth, unlike her Son Who is a divine Person, there are not, as the heretical Nestorius claimed, two persons in Christ, human and divine. There are two natures, one Person in Christ. Mary was not divine, but she was as closely united with the Trinity as any human person can be. The key words in Maximillian's Mariology are "human person." The only human person who was as closely united to the Holy Trinity as is absolutely possible, and therefore, the highest reflection of the love of the Holy Trinity; the most perfect human, living, visible, audible human being is the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Seventh, St. Maximillian spoke of the human soul as going with Mary to Christ, not going to Christ from Mary. He avoided that preposition of relationship.
Eighth, he stressed the importance of every Catholic consecrating him or herself to Mary and he added that this could be done in one of a variety of ways. "We can consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate one in various ways," he said, "and express our consecration in different words or different forms. In fact, a simple act of the will would be enough for that really is the essence of such a Marian consecration."
However, he did provide one formula as follows: "My Immaculate Queen of heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and Mother most loving; you to whom God entrusted the entire order of mercy. I am an unworthy sinner. I cast myself at your feet, humbly pleading that you ordain to accept me completely and totally as your property and possession and do with me, and all my powers of body and soul, and with all my life and death and eternity, whatever is pleasing to you."
Ninth, for St. Maximillian Kolbe, the outward sign of consecration to Mary was to wear, or at least carry, the Miraculous Medal. He explained, this is not absolutely essential, but then he added, "it is the integral sign and condition for our consecration."
Tenth, the most effective means of conversion is through Mary. His great hope was that the missionary evangelization and conversion apostolate of the Catholic Church into the future would be placed into the hands of Mary. He predicted that after 2000 years, only a fraction of the human race would even be nominally Christian. He said, "we need Mary for the conversion of sinners, for the bringing of tepid souls to sanctity, for bringing the millions of non-Christians to Christ.

Conditions For Conversion

St. Maximillian saw the prospects of converting sinners to a life of grace under two conditions.
First, we will be as effective converters (or evangelizers or missionaries) as we are personally devoted to Our Lady.
Secondly, we must, if necessary, make drastic changes in our approach to those whom we want to bring to Christ or to a closer following of Mary's Son. We must promote our missionary and conversion zeal through promoting the knowledge, love and devotion to the Mother of God. Mary will do wonders, provided we use her name and her influence to effect what is so desperately needed in the modern world.
Given this logic, that Mary is the key to converting the world to her Son, St. Maximillian not only named but organized his special followers as the Militia or "Army of the Immaculate" following, as he said, on the promise that Yahweh had made in Genesis: that Mary would crush the serpent's head.

St. Maximillian Kolbe, zealous promoter of the veneration of the Immaculate Mother of God and martyr of charity, pray for us.

My hero is Maximilian Kolbe. My hero died in the darkest days of World War II as an inmate of a death camp. Some people were chosen to be put to death for some trivial infractions. Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest, offered to take the place of a man who had a family and stepped forward. Heroism is like that, a simple stepping forward. Colonel Travis at the Alamo drew a line in the sand and asked all who were with him to step over the line and join him. They did. Jim Bowie, on a stretcher was carried over. Men like Maximilian Kolbe shine forth like beacons during mankind's darkest moments.

"No one in the world can change truth.
What we can do and should do is seek it and serve it when it is found."

Maximilian Kolbe is remembered for his heroic actions during one of the cruelest periods of modern history.
Raymond Kolbe was born in Russian-occupied Poland on January 8, 1894 into a Catholic family and remained a devoted follower of Catholicism. In 1907 he joined an order of Friars in Austrian-occupied Poland and adopted the name Maximilian.


Father Kolbe became director of Poland's chief Catholic publishing complex, which published both a monthly magazine with a circulation of about one million and a daily paper with a circulation of about 125,000.

As Kolbe grew older, his health, which had never been strong, deteriorated. He was racked by violent headaches and covered with abscesses; but these were small problems when compared with what was yet to come.

In 1910, he entered the Conventual Franciscan Order. In 1912 Kolbe went to Rome, where he studied theology and philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1917 he founded the sodality (devotional association) of the Militia of Mary Immaculate, and was ordained a priest in 1918, taking the name Maximilian.

During the 1920’s Father Kolbe built a friary just west of Warsaw, the City of Mary Immaculate (Niepokalanów), which eventually housed 762 Franciscans. It became Poland’s chief Catholic publishing complex, printing eleven periodicals including a daily newspaper, The Little Daily, with a circulation of 230,000 and a monthly journal, The Knight of Mary Immaculate (Rycerz Niepokalanej), with a circulation of over one million. To better “win the world for the Immaculata,” the friars utilized the most modern printing and administrative techniques. This enabled them to publish countless catechetical and devotional tracts. Father Kolbe served both as superior of the City of Mary Immaculate and director of the publishing complex. Father Kolbe soon added a radio station and planned to build a movie studio.

After travel to Asia, where he founded similar friaries in Nagasaki and India, and envisioned similar missionary centers worldwide, Father Kolbe was recalled in 1936 to supervise the original friary near Warsaw. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, he knew that his monastery would be seized, and sent most of the friars home. The Gestapo ransacked the City of Mary Immaculate and arrested Father Kolbe with about 40 other friars. They were sent to a holding camp in Germany, then to one in Poland.

On December 8, 1939, the Gestapo released Father Kolbe. He returned to the City of Mary Immaculate, where he and the other friars began to organize a shelter for three thousand Polish refugees, including two thousand Jews. The friars shared everything they had with the refugees. They housed, fed and clothed them, and brought all their machinery into use in their service.

Father Kolbe’s sheltering of these two thousand Jews aroused the Nazis to full fury. To incriminate him, the Gestapo permitted one final printing of the “Knight of Mary Immaculate” in December of 1940. It was in this issue that Father Maximilian wrote: “The real conflict is inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of concentration camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are victories on the battle-field if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”

On February 17, 1941, Father Maximilian was again arrested, this time on charges of aiding Jews and the Polish underground. Gestapo officers who were shown around the whole monastery were astonished at the small amount of food prepared for the brothers. Father Maximilian was sent to the infamous Pawiak prison in German Occupied Warsaw, and was singled out for special ill-treatment.

On May 28, 1941 the Nazis closed the the City of Mary Immaculate and took Father Kolbe, with four of his companions, to Auschwitz, where he died.

Heroic Sacrifice
At Auschwitz, after a prisoner escaped, the Nazis chose ten men to be killed. When Franciszek Gajowniczek, protested that he had a wife and children, Father Kolbe stepped forward and offered to replace Gajowniczek among those killed. Father Kolbe was thrown into a starvation bunker, where he taught the Catholic faith to the others in the bunker and prayed with them as they died one by one. After two weeks, Father Kolbe remained alive. Finally, on August 14, 1941 the Nazis injected phenol into his veins, killing him at last. Franciszek Gajowniczek survived and told the story of Father Kolbe’s heroic sacrifice to everyone he could until his death in 1997.

Father Maximilian was a fervent advocate of devotion to the Virgin Mary and a ground-breaking theologian. His insights into the Immaculate Conception anticipated the Marian theology of the Second Vatican Council and further developed the Church’s understanding of Mary as “Mediatrix” of all the graces of the Trinity, and as “Advocate” for God’s people.

On Oct. 17, 1971, Father Kolbe was beatified by Pope Paul VI, the first Nazi victim to be proclaimed blessed by the Roman Catholic church. On October 10, 1982, Pope John Paul II canonized him, proclaiming also that he was to be venerated as a martyr.

St. Maximilian Kolbe is considered a patron of journalists, families, prisoners, the pro-life movement and the chemically addicted.


St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us !

Prayer to our Lady of the Assumption
By Pope Pius XII. Nov. /. 1950. address in st. Peter's Square

O Immaculate Virgin. Mother of God and Mother of men, we believe with all the fervor of our faith in Thy triumphal Assumption both in body and in soul into heaven where Thou are acclaimed as Queen by all the choirs of angels and all the legions of saints; we unite with them to praise and bless the Lord who has exalted Thee above all other pure creatures and to offer Thee the tribute of our devotion and our love.

We know that Thy gaze, which on earth watched over the humble and suffering humanity of Jesus, in heaven is filled with the vision of that humanity glorified and with the vision of uncreated Wisdom, and that the joy of Thy soul in the direct contemplation of the adorable Trinity causes Thy heart to throb with overwhelming tenderness; and we, poor sinners whose body weighs down the flight of the soul, beg Thee to purify our hearts so that while we remain below, we may learn to see God and God alone in the beauties of His creatures.

We trust that Thy merciful eyes may deign to gaze down upon our miseries and anguish, upon our struggles and our weaknesses; that Thy countenance may smile upon our joys and our victories; that Thou may hear the voice of Jesus saying to Thee of each one of us, as He once said to Thee of His Beloved Disciple: "Behold Thy son," and we who call upon Thee as our Mother, we, like John, take Thee as the guide, strength and consolation of our mortal life.

We are inspired by the certainty that Thy eyes, which wept over the earth crimsoned by the blood of Jesus, are yet turned toward this world racked by wars and persecutions, the oppression of the just and the weak. From the shadows of this vale of tears, we seek in Thee heavenly assistance, tender mercy, comfort for our aching hearts, and help in the trials of Church and country.

We believe finally that in the glory where Thou reign, clothed with the sun and crowned with stars, Thou are, after Jesus, the joy and gladness of all the angels and the saints, and from this earth, over which we tread as pilgrims, comforted by our faith in the future resurrection, we look to Thee our life, our sweetness, our hope; draw us onward with the sweetness of Thy voice, so that one day, after our exile, Thou may show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of Thy womb.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary .

Amen

AUGUST 13ST. PONTIAN and ST. HIPPOLYTUS

A man named Maximinus became the emperor of Rome in 235. Almost immediately, he began a persecution of the Christians. One of the frequent punishments of bishops and priests was to be sent into exile to the dangerous and unhealthy mine fields in Sardinia, Italy. It was this very persecution that joined the two martyrs celebrated today.
St. Pontian became pope after the death of Urban I in the year 230. When Maximinus became emperor, Pontian served the Church with his sufferings in the mines of Sardinia.
The other saint on today's calendar is St. Hippolytus. He was a priest and a scholar in the church of Rome. He wrote many excellent works of theology and was a great teacher. Hippolytus had become frustrated with Pope St. Zephyrinus, who had been martyred in the year 217. Hippolytus felt that the pope had not been quick enough to stop people who were teaching errors. St. Zephyrinus' successor had been St. Callistus I. Hippolytus had not been pleased with the choice of the new pope. Hippolytus himself had a large following, and he gave in to their suggestion that he be appointed pope. So he agreed. He broke ties with the Church and became a false pope. When the persecution began, he was arrested and sent to Sardinia. There in that sad environment, while the enemies of Christianity laughed, a miracle of healing took place.Pope Pontian and Hippolytus met in exile. The priest was touched by the humility of the pope. He asked to return to the Church and felt the anger lifted from his heart.
Pope Pontian understood the priest and loved him. He realized their need to help and encourage each other in their love for Jesus. Both became martyrs and remain for all time witnesses of forgiveness and Christian hope.
Let us pray today for healing and reconciliation between all people.

All who listen with humility and an open heart to the prophets and the Father will be drawn by the Father’s love to Jesus.

John 6:41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," and they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ´I have come down from heaven´?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

Prayer:
Give me ears to hear your voice, Lord, and open my heart to receive your word of life. Renew in my soul a spirit of faith to grasp all that you say to me today. Let me embrace it without reserve

Lord, give me faith to believe that you are the Bread of Life, that in your word and in your body are my hope of eternal life. May I never waver in my hope and let me never be parted from you .

1. Faith Is Free for the Pure of Heart.
Sometimes we think that had we only lived in Jesus’ day it would have been so much easier to believe. But this passage makes it clear not only that is faith a gift, but that to believe we must have certain dispositions of the heart. Those who murmur against Jesus are closing themselves off to the gift of faith since the Father does not force our freedom. But all who listen with humility and an open heart to the prophets and the Father will be drawn by the Father’s love to Jesus. Today we need these same dispositions. Without them, what God reveals will seem too difficult to accept or live out. It may even appear absurd to our human way of reasoning. We need to be less sure of ourselves and more dependent on listening to what God is saying to us in order to receive the gift of faith.

2. Bread That Was Less Filling.
The manna which sustained the Israelites in the desert was a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. God fed his people with manna throughout their long journey to the Promised Land. Yet that bread did not give eternal life; indeed the Israelites rebelled and complained and fell into sin again and again. They were looking more for their material comfort and satisfaction in this world than for the hope and joy that comes from being led by God to a new life. In the Eucharist, God feeds us with the Bread of Eternal Life, leading us through the journey of this life to an entirely new life in him. Let us renew our faith in the True Bread that gives us life.


3. I’m Gonna Live Forever.
Eternal life begins now for those who believe that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Through faith in the Eucharist, we enter into a new life that is qualitatively different than a life seeking only pleasure and comfort within the material confines of our limited existence. Ultimately, human life -- even the richest, most successful, and most powerful -- becomes a gray monotony unless there is hope in something new and greater than this existence here below. To live forever is not simply to go on endlessly in time. It is to enter into a new dimension, into a life in God, who is our true fulfillment and peace.

This day thought to Jesus : Lord, give me always this Bread of Life. Open my heart and soul to long for the new life that only you can bring me through the Eucharist. Give me the humility and simplicity to listen to you and to believe that you have the words of eternal life.

Resolution: I will spend time before the Blessed Sacrament to read over all of Chapter Six of St John’s Gospel (Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of Life). I will ask the Holy Spirit to deepen my faith in the Eucharist as the center of my life.

Best wishes for all passing through this journal .
God bless each one of you !