NEWS: The Blessed Virgin Mary designed the Medal of the Immaculate Conception—popularly known as the Miraculous Medal! No wonder, then, that it has such extraordinary graces for those who wear it and pray for Mary’s intercession and help. The story begins on the night of July 18-19, 1830. A child (perhaps her guardian angel) awakened Sister (now Saint) Catherine Labouré, a novice in the community of the Daughters of Charity in Paris, and summoned her to the chapel. There she met with the Virgin Mary and spoke with her for several hours. During the conversation, Mary said to her, “My child, I am going to give you a mission.” We all know what that mission was. Another significant date to the future of mankind was the year 1842. It was in this year that some monks discovered a manuscript amongst some books in an old chest. This Treatise we now know as “True Devotion To Mary”. The author, St. Louis De Monfort prophesied that it would disappear for sometime only to be rediscovered when the Reign, or Age of Mary, would begin. It is no coincidence that shortly after the discovery of this document it began to spread throughout the world. A few years later on September 19th, 1846 in the French Alps Mary appeared to two shepherd children. Through the children she gave her message of “Reconciliation” to the world. She insisted that this message be made known to all her people. On December 8, 1854 the Marian dogma of the Immaculate Conception was pronounced by Pope Pius IX. This infallibly defined dogma declared that the Blessed Virgin Mary, “from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.” One of the most famous apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary took place in southern France on February 11 1858 (Our Lady of Lourdes) This day a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous was out collecting firewood with her sister and another friend near a grotto when she saw a vision of a lovely lady. In the words of St. Bernadette, “I raised my head and looked towards the grotto. I saw a Lady dressed in white, wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot, the same color as the chain of her Rosary.” On March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation, the Lady appeared at the grotto again, this time identifying herself as the Immaculate Conception. “With her two arms hanging down, she raised her eyes and looked up at the sky, and it was then that she told me, joining her hands together now at the height of her breast, that she was the Immaculate Conception. Those were the last words she ever said to me.” St. Louis De Monfert died on April 28, 1716, a year and a half before the forming of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry on October 16th 1717, and 200 years before the first appearance of the Angel of peace in Fatima. It was also on this day of October in 1917 three days after the miracle of the sun in Fatima, that a young priest studying in Rome was walking through St. Peter’s Square when he stumbled across a protest He saw banners held by Freemasons which stated that “Satan must reign in the Vatican and the Pope will be his slave.” This inspired this young priest to form the Knights of the Immaculata; the young priest’s name was Maximilian Kolbe. This militia of spiritual warriors was to begin the century long battle with the forces of evil. St. Maximilian Kolbe like St. Louis De Monfort would devise a special consecration to the Mother of God, especially to her Immaculate Heart which was no coincidence what our Lady requested at Fatima.
Our Lady is calling her army together with a full battle array. It is time to unite! The battle plan is simple: defend the faith, bear witness to the truth. We can accomplish this by what Our Lady of Fatima asked of Sr. Lucia. The First Saturday of Reparation Devotion, would be the rallying cry, the Holy Rosary our weapon, and the Scapular our uniform. By fulfilling our daily duties as laymen and women, and incorporating in our daily routine some norms of piety we can fulfill this plan of life we have been called to. We as the Faithful have not been called to do extraordinary things, but by sanctifying our daily life we can achieve holiness, and hold the line until the great glorious day of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. A daily plan of life should consist of ; daily morning offering, Angelus, Rosary, examination of conscience, Spiritual reading, reading from the New Testament, at least 15 min of mental prayer, (preferably in front of the Blessed Sacrament),and the Mass is central. A monthly recollection, confession, acts of mortification. A yearly pilgrimage to a shrine of Our Lady in May or October, and a yearly retreat. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” 1Pt 3:15. There are many who feel that we are in the final stages of a centuries old conflict against the children of darkness and the children of light, let us not lose sight of our purpose, “ to make sacrifices for the salvation of souls”, to end with a passage from True Devotion: “Mary must be terrible to the devil and his crew, as an army ranged in battle, principally in these latter times, because the devil, knowing that he has but little time, and now less time than ever, to destroy souls, will everyday double his efforts and combats. He will presently raise up cruel persecutions and will put terrible snares before the faithful servants and true children of Mary, whom it gives him more trouble to conquer than it does to conquer others.” They shall be the true apostles in the latter times. Hold the line!!
July 1st: The First Saturday will be held at 9:00 am at the Fatima Shrine Boston. Following mass, we will recite the rosary, followed by coffee & doughnuts..
July 1st: 3:00 pm at the Fatima Shrine Boston the Spanish Rosary Community from St. Columbkilles will conduct their monthly First Saturday meeting with a rosary, music and fellowship.
July 13th: Thursday July 13th we will have our Candlelight Procession, with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and rosary procession ending with benediction.
July 15th: The Pro-life Mass will be held at 10:30 am at the Fatima Shrine Boston.
July 29th: The next Marian Movement of Priest prayer Cenacles will be held on Saturday July 29th at the shrine at 9:00 am. 8:30 am for confessions.
On all Sunday’s: The Crusaders of Fatima will meet at the shrine at 2:00 pm for the rosary for peace.
*Because the First Saturday comes so quickly this month we haven’t had a chance to get commitments from priest, that is why there are not any listed, but be assured that we will have someone to cover our devotions.
