Reflection: Immaculate Heart of Mary "She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart."

Today is the Feast Day of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary came her "yes" to God. This was her response to the message sent through the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation. By her loving consent, Mary first conceived Christ in her heart and then in her womb.

"Jesus wishes to use you in order to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it; and these souls will be beloved of God like flowers arranged by me to adorn His throne." Our Lady of Fatima

In 1942, the twenty-fifth anniversary of Fatima, Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. That same year, he assigned the feast day to August 22, the octave of the Assumption. On May 4, 1944, he extended the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Universal Church. With the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council in 1969, the feast was given a more suitable place on the day following the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. That is the Saturday after the second Sunday after Pentecost.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The opening prayer for the liturgical celebration helps us focus on the important message of this feast day.  "God prepared the heart of Mary as a fitting home to the Holy Spirit. May we, His chosen people, become temples of His glory. We ask Mary to help us, her spiritual children, so dear to her heart, to stay ever united in friendship with her Son and never separate ourselves by sin."

Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Luke 2:19

Let us ask Mary the way to ponder things in our heart.  Mary had great joy and great suffering.  Mary did not always understand, but she said "yes" to the Lord, even when she did not know.  When we do not understand things in our lives, our human emotions can cover a wide range.  We can feel confused, upset, afraid, angry, agitated.  When we do as Mary did, ponder all things in her heart, she teaches us how to have peace in the midst of the storms of our lives.  Why?  It is because Mary always contemplated the Face of her Beloved Son.  Mary is our model.  When she gave her "Fiat", she did not know what it meant. We will not always know where the Lord is leading us, but when we seek His Face and His Will for our lives and say, "yes", we will have peace and He will lead us.

How can we ponder things in our heart like Mary did?  She has a pure Immaculate Heart.  We can only do as Mary did by falling in love with her Beloved Son.  When we fall in love with Jesus, He pours His love into our heart.  When we consecrate our life to Jesus through Mary, they come with the Holy Spirit, into our heart.  The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary are perfectly intertwined.  Love beats in unison in these two holy hearts.  When we invite them into our heart, they come and they transform our heart.  Love enters.  When we have a heart that loves, we can keep and ponder all things in our heart.

Saint Pope John Paul II, in his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, wrote "the mystery of Redemption was formed under the heart of the Virgin of Nazareth when she pronounced her fiat."  In her life of contemplation, Mary provides us with an example of one who sought tirelessly “the one thing” that is needed.

She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.”  The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.  Luke 10:39-42

Jesus invites us to come and sit beside Him at His feet and listen to Him speak.  He wants to speak a word to us.  He wants to loves us.  Come and sit with Him...

As Saint Pope John Paul II wrote in the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, “No one has ever devoted herself 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.  And in continuing to contemplate the Face of Christ throughout her life, Mary constantly discovered new depths of the Father’s love for the whole of creation, and she witnessed the grace of the Spirit being poured into the hearts of all who accepted her Son."

Immaculate Heart of Mary, give us a heart like yours.  Pray for us and all those we pray for through this ministry.

Corpus Christi

Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.



Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me." Luke 22:19

John 6:51-58
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." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

For we are members of His Body, of His flesh and of His bones. Ephesians 5:30

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.

Reflection: The Real Presence of Jesus - Eucharistic Adoration and Our Lady

"How I loved the feasts!.... I especially loved the processions in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. What a joy it was for me to throw flowers beneath the feet of God!... I was never so happy as when I saw my roses touch the sacred Monstrance..."  Saint Therese, the Little Flower  Autobiography: Story of A Soul

In 2006, Our Lady called me to Medjugorje. The call came to me through Eucharistic Adoration and through praying the rosary. There were so many miracles of grace for me during that pilgrimage. She called me there again in 2009. As I reflect over these years, I see her powerful presence in my life. She is the most loving, gentle Mother, but she is so much more. She has a powerful strength through her intercession. I picture her in both ways, gentle and strong, a Mother who comforts and a powerful warrior and protector of her children. I always knew and loved Mary, but in Medjugorje, she entered my heart in a new way through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our Lady is calling you. The way to hear her is to spend time in the presence of the Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. It is there, in the silence, where Jesus and Mary will speak to your heart.

Message of July 25th 2011  "Dear children! May this time be for you a time of prayer and silence. Rest your body and spirit, may they be in God's love. Permit me, little children, to lead you, open your hearts to the Holy Spirit so that all the good that is in you may blossom and bear fruit one hundred fold. Begin and end the day with prayer with the heart. Thank you for having responded to my call."



Spending time in Eucharistic Adoration is such a great blessing in my life.  Something happens inside my soul when I sit with Jesus.  He speaks to me in the silence and He pours His love and grace into me.  I have often thought that I sit there gazing at Him, but it is really God gazing at me.

I heard a beautiful priest give a prescription for healing:

Listen to God's Word.
Know God is gazing at me.
Make an act of faith.

Come away and rest awhile and let God gaze at you.  He is waiting for you.  He will love you and heal you.

I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord. You have spread so much beauty over the earth and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, incomprehensible Beauty. And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You and my souls recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good, and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration.  Writings of Saint Faustina

Our Lady, Queen of Peace, draw us into the silence with Jesus in the Eucharist. O Mother of the Holy Eucharist, pray for us and all those we entrust to you.

Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

The gift of the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus. Let us pray for our priests who bring the Eucharist to us. Lord, bless them and keep them holy. Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of the Eucharist, keep our priests under your mantel of protection always.

Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, one of the greatest theologians of the 2nd century, is best known for refuting the Gnostic heresies in his writings, Against Heresies, 180 A.D He wrote teachings on the Eucharist:

"Christ has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own Blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own Body, from which he gives increase to our bodies."

"For just as the bread which comes from the earth, having received the invocation of God, is no longer ordinary bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly, so our bodies, having received the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, because they have the hope of the resurrection."

Totally yours
Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother. Live in me. Act in me. Speak in and through me. Think your thoughts in my mind. Love, through my heart. Give me your dispositions and feelings. Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus. Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior. Possess my soul. Take over my entire personality and life. Replace it with yourself. Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving. Pray in me and through me. Let me live in you and keep me in this union always. Pope Saint John Paul II

Our Blessed Mother is the Mother of the Eucharist.

Love of Our Lady and the Eucharist are central to the life of Catholics. This is symbolized powerfully by the great Polish Dominican Saint Hyacinth. When the Tartars invaded the city, he went forth to meet them, leading the procession of novices with the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. Our Lady called out from her alabaster statue, "Take me with you." Saint Hyacinth responded that the statue was heavy and Our Lady answered, "My Son will make it light." Saint Hyacinth was able to carry the statue of Our Lady. He was armed and he walked through the Tartar danger unscathed. And so will we if, armed with the love of Our Lord in the Eucharist and the love of His Mother, we will find that nothing can take us from God. We need the Eucharist. We need the Our Mother.

She is the tree of life to them that lay hold on her, and he that shall retain her is blessed. Proverbs 3:18

O Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, pray for us and stay with us always.

The Most Holy Trinity...In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and we also celebrate Father's Day.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.  John 3:16

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 2761
"The Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel." "Since the Lord...after handling over the practice of prayer, said elsewhere, 'Ask and you will receive,' and since everyone has petitions which are peculiar to his circumstances, the regular and appropriate prayer (the Lord's Prayer) is said first, as the foundation of further desires."

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.  The Angel Prayer of Fatima Prayer to the Holy Trinity was given by an angel to the children during the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. With the Blessed Sacrament suspended in the air, the Angel of Peace recited this prayer during the third apparition to the children in Fatima in 1916.

O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

O glorious Mother Mary, you were crowned Queen of heaven and earth by God the Father as his beloved daughter, by Jesus, the Son as his dearest mother and by the Holy Spirit as His chosen spouse. You became the most perfect adorer of the Blessed Trinity. You are our most powerful intercessor and merciful Mother. We entrust our prayers and petitions for all the names we receive through this ministry into your loving care.

We pray in the Name of our Heavenly Father, and of the Son Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit. Where the Holy Trinity dwells, our Blessed Mother Mary is in the center.

Saint Anthony of Padua, Miracle Worker

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church, Miracle Worker and Hammer of Heretics. He is renowned for his personal holiness. His sanctity and wisdom flowed from his profound, penetrating love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Heroically he followed Saint Francis of Assisi, whose tender love for the poor, humble Virgin was comparable only to that of Christ Himself. As a true friar minor Saint Anthony praised and glorified the Queen of the Angels from the pulpit, where with simple yet lofty doctrine he moved multitudes to savor the sweet name of Mary. Furthermore, he imitated Her with such perfection that he became, as it were, an extension of the Virgin Mother on earth.

Her littleness, for "in the word of humility, 'Behold, the handmaid of the Lord' (Luke 1:38), She became the Queen of Heaven." As a result of Her "humility of body and heart... She is brilliant in Her heavenly splendor." She is "exalted above the choirs of angels" and "sits upon a starry throne," crowned by Her divine Son, precisely because She humbled Herself below any other creature.

The Queen of the Angels is also our Queen and Mother. Saint Anthony declares that "the Blessed Mother will not run away from any sinner. She is appropriately called the Mother of Mercy since She welcomes any sinner who approaches Her, offering solace to the afflicted and hope to the despairing." When approaching this tender Mother and sovereign Queen with confidence "we are filled with every good thing, we have everything, we are blessed." Therefore he exclaims: "Through You, Paradise has entered our world!"

Eucharistic Miracle
In the region of Tolosa blessed Anthony, having vehemently argued with a hardened heretic about the redeeming sacrament of the Eucharist, had nearly convinced and attracted him to the Catholic faith, except that, after many arguments in which he tried to back out, he added these words:

"Let's cut the chat and come to the facts. If you, Anthony, can prove with a miracle that in the Eucharist of believers there is, however hidden it may be, the true body of Christ, I will renounce every heresy and submit myself to the Catholic faith".

The Lord's servant replied with great faith: "I trust in my saviour Jesus Christ that, for your conversion and for that of others, thanks to His mercy I will obtain what you ask". The heretic stood up and, asking for silence with a gesture of his hand, said: "I'll keep my beast of burden locked up for three days and I will starve him. After three days, in the presence of other people, I'll let him out and I'll show him some prepared fodder. You, on the other hand will show him what you believe to be the body of Christ. If the starving animal, ignoring the fodder, rushes to adore his God, I will sincerely believe in the faith of the Church". The saint agreed straight away. The heretic then exclaimed: "Listen well, everyone!".

Why delay with many words? The day of the challenge arrived. people arrived from far and wide and filled up the square. Christ's servant, Anthony, was present surrounded by a crowd of faithful. The heretic too, with a number of his accomplices. God's servant entered a nearby chapel, to perform the rites of the Mass with great devotion. Once finished, he exited where the people were waiting, carrying reverently the body of the Lord. The hungry mule was led out of the stall, and shown appetizing food.

Finally, asking for silence the man of God said to the animal with great faith: "In the name of virtue and the Creator, who I, although unworthy, am carrying in my hands, I ask you, o beast, and I order to come closer quickly and with humility and to show just veneration, so that the malevolent heretics will learn from this gesture that every creature is subject to the Lord, as held in the hands with priestly dignity on the altar". God's servant had hardly finished speaking, when the animal, ignoring the fodder, knelt down and lowered his head to the floor, thus genuflecting before the living sacrament of the body of Christ.

The faithful were filled with uncontrollable joy, the heretics and non-believers were filled with sadness and humiliation. God was praised and blessed, the Catholic faith was honored and exalted; heretical depravity was shamed and condemned with everlasting insults. The heretic, renounced the his doctrine in front of all present, and from then on was obedient to the precepts of the holy Church.

Saint Anthony, glorious saint and Doctor of the Church, found great delight and strength in invoking the "sweet name of Mary," the "New Eve" and "Star of the Sea," with all Her sacred privileges. However, his devotion to the poor, humble Virgin led him to perfectly imitate and mirror Her in Her poverty, littleness and purity of Heart. He became, as it were, the presence of Mary in the world by his holy life.

Saint Anthony, pray for us and all the intentions we receive through the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary.

A Pentecost Meditation: Veni Sancte Spiritus! Come Holy Spirit!

Let us enter the Upper Room with Mary.  The disciples are filled with fear.  Mary is standing in their midst, comforting them.  Let her comfort you.  Invite Mary into your heart. Suddenly, a noise came from the sky like a strong driving wind.  As we stood there, tongues of fire appeared, which parted and came to rest on everyone. All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues.  We were no longer afraid.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and pour out His gifts that we may proclaim the love of Jesus!  

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke of the great things God had done, alleluia. Acts 2:4, 11

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." John 20:19-22

In the musical treasure of Gregorian chant, there are some compositions that stand out for their exceptional beauty. The Sequence for Pentecost Sunday, Veni Sancte Spiritus, a prayer to the Holy Spirit, is a melody of unusual beauty. The words and melody blend together so well that it is a fine example of Saint Augustine's observation that one prays twice through song. The melody reflects supplication to the Holy Spirit, revealing a desire for His Love to fill us. Alleluias are not always joyous acclamations, but are often humble interior prayers as is this one. It has become the customary prayer to the Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit. Come through Mary.



Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, send now Your Spirit over all the names we have received through this ministry.  Let the Holy Spirit live in their hearts.  May Our Blessed Virgin Mary be our Advocate.  God of Spirit and Truth, today we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Like the Apostles and Mary in the Upper Room, we are, at times, afraid and need to be assured that You are with us. As Your Spirit enlightened them, may Your Spirit give us the gifts we so desire.  Like the Apostles and Mary, may we go out into the world to proclaim Your words.

Reflection: Two Holy Hearts, The Sacred Heart of Jesus and The Immaculate Heart of Mary

The heart of a precious baby

This prayer ministry began praying for an unborn baby, Lily Grace. Before she was born, doctors discovered she would need heart surgery. So many prayers were offered for her during the pregnancy and after her birth. The heart surgery was performed when she was three months old and she weighed about five pounds. She was born with only two chambers in her heart. Four chambers are needed in a human heart. Doctors placed a little plastic wall between each chamber, creating four chambers out of two. They literally created a new heart in her. These doctors are truly the Hands of God, performing such miraculous surgery on the heart of such a tiny baby.

The human heart was created "to know love" and "to live by love." This is a love that gives life. Of all creation, only the human heart can love. We can love because we are "of God" and we can freely choose to live according to our dignity in the image and likeness of God.

"In this is love. 1 John 4:10

When we love, our heart expands and we become more like God.  When we pray, the Lord draws us close to His Sacred Heart.  The story of Saint Philip Neri is a love story.  As a young layman in Rome, Philip spent his days visiting the sick in the hospitals, teaching children catechism, serving men and women who had come to Rome on pilgrimage, and promoting the Forty Hour Devotion in the churches of the city. He spent his nights praying deep down in the catacombs of Saint Sebastian. During one of these prayer vigils, Philip experienced a personal Pentecost. He saw the Holy Spirit coming toward him as fire, a fire that found its way into his heart. This experience led Philip to a priestly vocation.  He had a profound love for the Eucharist and for the Mother of God and a deep, interior life of contemplation.  Every day, he prayed for hours and he held his spiritual children in his heart.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

"One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a lance, and at once there flowed out blood and water." John 19:34

The Heart of Jesus is pure love. The revelation of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque showed the mark of the piercing and the purifying flame of love with the cross within it, which crowns the Divine Heart. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is surrounded by the crown of thorns to signify the entire Passion by which He poured out His life for us.

Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart." Luke 2:19

It was the Heart of Mary which expressed her "yes" to God. This was her response to the message sent through the angel at the Annunciation. By her loving consent, Mary first conceived Christ in her heart and then in her womb.

"Jesus wishes to use you in order to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it; and these souls will be beloved of God like flowers arranged by me to adorn His throne." Our Lady of Fatima
















Prayer of Consecration to “Two Hearts”

Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, I consecrate my entire self to the Most Holy Love of Your Two Hearts. I wish to make reparation for all the sins of the world including my own. I offer these things for the love of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

I will keep my mind on beauty and turn my thoughts from evil things. I will hold my temper and bear the mistakes of others with love and a forgiving heart. I will admit when I am wrong and ask others to forgive me. I will not show off but remain humble. I will offer up all my sufferings, sickness and hurts. I will seek God’s will not my own. I will show appreciation for all the kindness, the blessings that I receive, and thank God for all things. I will do everything in my life for love of God. And I will love others as God has loved me.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, receive the offering and consecration I now make of my self to You. Keep me faithful unto death. Bring me one day to the happy home in heaven. I desire to live forever with God the Father and the Most Holy Spirit and You my Jesus together with your Most Immaculate Mother Amen.

Let us consecrate ourselves and all the names we receive through this prayer ministry to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.