Sweetness and Light

The Visitation of the BVM to Elizabeth

I honor of this Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth, I would like to share the highlights of our Merry Month of May celebrations.  And I want to say a big thank you so much for sharing in our devotions all month long.  I hope you have enjoyed these Marian Meditations and devotions as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with all of you, my special visitors!!!  "My soul doth magnify the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..." 

A May Day picnic...

Scenes from our crowning...

Please excuse the horrendous grass and weeds in and amongst our statue, the ground is still trying to recover from our harsh winter and sadly looks like this for quite a long time (usually until mid-June) when the grass regains itself and the bulbs finally emerge.  Now about that weeding.....

Yummy Tea Cake baked by Violet of course for the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima...

A delightful birthday nature walk with my nature girl! (her brothers were all on a hike with daddy)...

May God Bless and keep you;

May the Lord make his face to shine upon you

and be gracious to you;

May the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.  ~Numbers 6:24-26

May God through His Blessed Mother continue to bless you and keep you.  Happiest wishes for this last day in our festive Merry Month of May!!

Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ Immaculate Heart of Mary

On this beautiful Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and tomorrow for the Immaculate Heart of Mary here is some music and prayer for you!!

Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing.
You reign now in Heaven with Jesus our King.

Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!

In Heaven the blessed your glory proclaim;
On earth we your children invoke your sweet name.

Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!

We pray for our Mother, the Church upon earth,
And bless, Holy Mary, the land of our birth.

Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!

You can download the midi file here too!

On this Feast of the Sacred Heart , we can gain a plenary indulgence by making an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart. From catholictradition.org:

O sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thy altar eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offences, but also for the sins of those, who straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their Baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.

We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offences against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behaviour, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violation of Sundays and holidays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Thy Divine love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and the teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.

Would, O Divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy Divine honour, the satisfaction Thou didst once make to Thy eternal Father on the Cross and which Thou dost continue to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make reparation, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where Thou with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen.

I wish you a lovely two days of Feasts in these final days of this Merry Month of May!

Our Lady, Our Treasury

A little more from Montfort's True Devotion today.  It just speaks to your heart and soul!

God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas (maria). He gathered all his graces together and called them Mary (Maria). The great God has a treasury or storehouse full of riches in which he has enclosed all that is beautiful, resplendent, rare, and precious, even his own Son. This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom the saints call the "treasury of the Lord". From her fullness all men are made rich.

Our Lady is the treasurer, won't you make a deposit into her heavenly account!!  Hail Mary, full of grace...

God bless you in this Merry Month of May!

Our Lady, Supreme Masterpiece

God chose Our Lady as his supreme masterpiece and creation above all other women.  She who would become the Mother of Our Lord, perfect in his sight.  Here is one of my favorite parts in the Introduction of St. Louis de Montfort's True Devotion, I highly recommend it for reading and meditation, it's purely divine!

Mary is the supreme masterpiece of Almighty God and he has reserved the knowledge and possession of her for himself. She is the glorious Mother of God the Son who chose to humble and conceal her during her lifetime in order to foster her humility. He called her "Woman" as if she were a stranger, although in his heart he esteemed and loved her above all men and angels. Mary is the sealed fountain and the faithful spouse of the Holy Spirit where only he may enter. She is the sanctuary and resting-place of the Blessed Trinity where God dwells in greater and more divine splendour than anywhere else in the universe, not excluding his dwelling above the cherubim and seraphim. No creature, however pure, may enter there without being specially privileged. (True Devotion ~Louis de Montfort)

May God and His Mother truly bless you in this Merry Month of May!  Have the best day!

Our Lady, Our Hope

I thought  this was a very lovely prayer by St. Alphonsus Liguori to Our Lady.  May she bring you peace and hope in your day!

Most holy Virgin Immaculate, my Mother Mary, to thee who art the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the universe, the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners, I who am the most miserable of all sinners, have recourse this day. I venerate thee, great Queen, and I thank thee for the many graces thou hast bestowed upon me even unto this day; in particular for having delivered me from the Hell which I have so often deserved by my sins. I love thee, most dear Lady; and for the love I bear thee, I promise to serve thee willingly for ever and to do what I can to make thee loved by others also. I place in thee all my hopes for salvation; accept me as thy servant and shelter me under thy mantle, thou who art the Mother of mercy. And since thou art so powerful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or at least obtain for me the strength to overcome them until death. From thee I implore a true love for Jesus Christ. Through thee I hope to die a holy death. My dear Mother, by the love thou bearest to Almighty God, I pray thee to assist me always, but most of all at the last moment of my life. Forsake me not then, until thou shalt see me safe in heaven, there to bless thee and sing of thy mercies through all eternity. Such is my hope. Amen. (catholictradition.org)

It is a delight to think of Mary as part of our salvation and our hope, may you be blessed by this beautiful prayer today in the Merry Month of May!

Mary, Our Mediatrix

 

(photo credit: Catholictradition.org)

Our Lady wants you to come to her for all your needs and prayers.  She takes them right to Our Lord and showers us with her divine abundances if only we ASK for them!!

Mary is our sovereign and our mediatrix, our Mother and our Mistress. Let us then endeavor to know the effects of this royalty, of this mediation, and of this maternity, as well as the grandeurs and preogatives which are the foundation or consequences thereof. Our mother is also a perfect mold wherein we are to be molded in order to make her intentions and dispositions ours. This we cannot achieve without studying the interior life of Mary; namely her virtues, her sentiments, her actions, her participation in the mysteries of Christ, and her union with Him. (St. Louis de Montfort)

Spend some time making acts of love and attempting to imitate Our Lady today.  I will humbly ask for her guidance and assurance when my mind turns to the trivial things of my day.  Our Lady, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!

I hope you are all having a blessed Memorial Day in this Merry Month of May!!

 

Celebrating May!

I wonder what other surprises I'll encounter today??? 

I hope you're having the BEST weekend in this Merry Month of May!!  May Our Lady bless you and keep you as she has my family and I!!

Our Lady's Generosity - Mimosa

This beautiful flower in honor of Our Lady's generosity is breathtaking!!  There appears to be many varieties and colors as well.

(Absolute stock photo)

I found this devotion to be particulary lovely!

The flower offered to our Blessed Mother is the whispy MIMOSA with the corresponding Virtue being GENEROSITY. God loves a generous heart and one who loves God and seeks to do His holy Will at all times cannot help but being generous in all things, illustrated in the stamen of the Mimosa flower, fanning out in ray-like fashion to receive the graces God grants to those who are open to them and practice the cardinal virtues as well as the various virtues illustrated in this, Mary's special month for she is the Queen of the May. It is only natural that everyone would want to be generous to the Queen for that brings great favor from the King Who is, of course, her divine Son Jesus Christ, to Whom we owe all allegiance, all fidelity, all our love and generosity. (dailycatholic.org)

I hope you are enjoying ththis fourth weekend in the Merry Month of May!

Our Lady and The Angelus

In so many countries the Angelus was, and is, particularly associated with peace arising in the tradition that the Annunciation took place in the peace of eveningtide.  From early times the ringing of the bells consisted of nine strokes in groups of three with a pause in between.  Maybe you could find a small bell to call your dear ones to come and bow their heads for the Angelus sometime during your busy days!  Here's a little poem to share with them today:

I hear the Angelus ring out
Each Morning, noon and night
And everything in life becomes /span>more beautiful and bright
The Angel of the Lord is there
And Mary bows her head
In humble recognition of the message that is said
Each day I listen to her words
And cherish every one
"Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
And may your will be done
"And so the miracle was wrought and there was born a Child
While king and shepherd knelt in awe
And holy Angels smiled.
I hear the Angelus ring out
And softly fade away
And in my heart I know the Lord
Has blessed another day. (Poem courtesy of A Wreath of Flowers:  Marian Activities for Children)

Happy weekend in this beautiful and Merry Month of May!

Our Lady's Fruitfulness

(Master from the Upper Rhine (1410-1420) Author of the Paradise Garden)

WILD STRAWBERRY – Designated as the fruit of the Virgin Mary and of

blessed souls in heaven. They are depicted growing in the grass beneath

Mary’s feet in paintings by Jan Van Eyck. The strawberry was also called

‘Fruitful Virgin’ because it has both flowers (white) and fruit on the plant

at the same time, representing the twin attributes of purity and

fruitfulness. (www.stmarydehaura.org.uk/gardens.html)

Strawberries are one of my dear children's most adored fruits of the season.  I am going to remind them to think of Mary' purity and fruitfulness next time they have some. 

Kimberlee just posted a delectable recipe for her Strawberry Shortcake, just perfect for the Merry Month of May!!