Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Welcome to our intercessory prayer ministry for families, babies, little ones and those who love them.

In our prayers for families, we pray for the sanctity of all life and for vocations to marriage, the priesthood and consecrated life, which are born and nurtured in families.

The Prayer of Entrustment to Mary was prayed for this ministry at the icon of the Madonna Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the Roman People, Our Lady of Good Health) in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Mary Major) in Rome, Italy, in Nossa Senhora do Rosario da Fatima (Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary) in Fatima, Portugal, in Eglise du Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart Parish Church), the site of St. Bernadette's baptismal font, in Lourdes, France and at The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents before Our Lady of Guadalupe and at Basilica Papale de San Pietro in Vaticano (St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City) at the Tomb of St. John Paul II in Rome, Italy and at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Mexico City, Mexico.

This ministry is consecrated to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary and dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. In our prayers to Mary, we honor and worship her Son Jesus. When He was on the Cross, He gave His Mother to John and she became our Mother as well. "Behold, your Mother." John 19:27

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
For the greater glory of God

June 28, 2018

Saint Irenaeus: Mary as the New Eve

Saint Irenaeus was one of the most important Church Fathers of the second century AD. Today we celebrate his feast day. Irenaeus was bishop of Lyons, in Southern France, though may have grown up in Smyrna, which is modern day Turkey. There, he had personal contact with Saint Polycarp, one of the Apostolic Fathers who knew the Apostle John, son of Zebedee. He was a pastor and a missionary. Before becoming bishop, Irenaeus studied in Rome where he was influenced by Saint Justin Martyr.

 His major work, Against Heresies, written around the year 185 AD, exposed the Gnostic cults of the day and strongly defended of Catholic Christianity. His writings were a heroic defense of the church and cost him his life. He received the martyr's crown around the year 200. In giving up his life for the Lord, He upheld the truth and always sought unity and peace.

 Excerpt from Saint Irenaeus' classic work, Against Heresies. 
"The Lord, coming into his own creation in visible form, was sustained by his own creation which he himself sustains in being. His obedience on the tree of the cross reversed the disobedience at the tree in Eden; the good news of the truth announced by an angel to Mary, a virgin subject to a husband, undid the evil lie that seduced Eve, a virgin espoused to a husband."

 "The knot of Eve's disobedience was united by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith...:Death through Eve, life through Mary."  Catechism of the Catholic Church 494

 Eve was tempted by a fallen angel, turned away from the Lord and sinned. Mary was visited by Saint Gabriel, the Archangel, and said yes to the Lord. Eve, by her disobedience, brought sin and death to the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, brought salvation and new life to all humanity.

 O Mother Mary, you are the New Eve, the Sanctuary of God, the first Tabernacle of Jesus. Pray for us.


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1 comment:

  1. KCJune 28, 2018 at 11:36 AM

    Beautiful reflection! We always need to turn towards and re-turn if we falter.

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