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"I am the Virgin of the poor," Our Lady told 11 year-old Mariette Beco on the evening of January 19, 1933. It was the third of eight apparitions that Mariette would experience in the yard outside her home in Banneux, Belgium.

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"How did Mary become the Rosa Mystica, the choice, delicate, perfect flower of God's spiritual creation? It was by being born, nurtured and sheltered in the mystical garden or Paradise of God," Blessed John Henry Newman once explained.

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Mary's title "Star of the Sea" is thought to derive from the account in 1Kings 18:41-45 which refers to a little cloud appearing above the sea as a sign of hope that rain would soon come to water the parched earth.

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The story behind this title of the Blessed Mother seems to prove true the maxim, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Jules Chevalier, an assistant priest at Issoudun, France, had a burden on his heart. He desired to start a new religious order of missionaries who would make known and inspire devotion to the loving compassion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by exhibiting that love through acts of compassion, understanding and respect toward others. John 13:34 was his inspiration.  When Jules shared his dream with another priest, they prayed a novena asking God to give them a sign that they should move forward. The novena closed on December 8, 1854, and their prayer was soon answered. They received word that a person of good intention had donated twenty thousand francs for them to begin a charitable work.  With this confirmation, Jules and his priest friend sought approval of the new Order from the Archbishop who denied their request. He told the priests he would withhold approval until the priests were able to show they would have a continuing income. Undaunted, the priests sought the intercession of the Blessed Mother whose feast of her Immaculate Heart was nine days away. They promised her they would dedicate the new Order to the Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and make them known throughout the world.  Our Lady responded. At the end of the nine days, a charitable person pledged to give the priests one thousand francs per year for them to live on. Once again Jules and his priest friend approached the Archbishop. He was satisfied, but his Council was not. The Council said the two priests were too young to start such an Order and doubted they could make a go of it. Though he was told to drop the idea, Jules continued to seek the intercession of the Blessed Mother. And again, she responded. The Archbishop decided to reject the advice of his Council and authorized the two priests to begin the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.  In gratitude to Our Lady, Father Jules developed a devotion tying together the Sacred Heart of Jesus and our Blessed Lady under the title of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

For Reflection: 

How do I respond to disappointment? Do I demonstrate perseverance and hope or do I give in to discouragement and doubt? Why do you think God sometimes makes us wait for a desire to be fulfilled? Think of a time from your own history when something you felt you were called to do didn’t happen as quickly as you would have liked. What did you learn from the experience? How can this help you in the future?

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As we have seen, Our Blessed Mother is concerned with the spiritual and temporal well-being of her children. Her many titles and apparitions indicate that she desires the ultimate good for each of us – eternal salvation. And so, on September 19, 1846, she appeared to 14 year old Melanie Mathieu and 11 year old Maximin Giraud, two young cowherds from the parish of La Salette in the French Alps.  Our Lady appeared to them in a bright light, seated, with her head in her hands, and spoke to them beseechingly. She told them that if unless people repented, crops would fail, there would be a famine and much misery would enter the world. She beseeched the children to tell the people that she could not hold back the hand of her Son much longer. She appealed to all the people of God and delivered this message:   

"I make an urgent appeal to the earth. I call on the true disciples of the living God who reigns in Heaven; I call on the true followers of Christ made man, the only true Saviour of men; I call on my children, the true faithful, those who have given themselves to me so that I may lead them to my divine Son, those whom I carry in my arms, so to speak, those who have lived on my spirit. Finally, I call on the Apostles of the Last Days, the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who have lived in scorn for the world and for themselves, in poverty and in humility, in scorn and in silence, in prayer and in mortification, in chastity and in union with God, in suffering and unknown to the world. It is time they came out and filled the world with light. Go and reveal yourselves to be my cherished children. I am at your side and within you, provided that your faith is the light which shines upon you in these unhappy days. May your zeal make you famished for the glory and the honor of Jesus Christ. Fight, children of light, you, the few who can see. For now is the time of all times, the end of all ends."

The Basilica of La Salette was built on the site of Mary’s apparition in 1879.

For Reflection: 

Reread Mary’s message to the children. What suggests that it is a prophetic word? Do you consider yourself to be a “true follower of Christ,” and a child of Mary? If so, what instruction is Our Lady giving to you through these words? How can you begin to follow through? Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your heart and mind and journal your insights.

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The story of Our Lady of the Snows dates back to the city of Rome in 352 A.D. A generous nobleman and his wife, blessed with much wealth but childless, chose to leave their wealth to the Mother of God. Though the sentiment of their heart was lively, their desire was difficult to achieve. How would they do such a thing? They prayed to the Blessed Mother asking for her to make known to them some means by which they could leave their wealth to her. They even asked her for a sign so they could be certain she had heard their prayers.  In answer to their petition, during the night of August 5, Our Lady appeared to the nobleman, his wife, and also to the Holy Father, Pope Liberius. She had a solution for their dilemma. She instructed them to build a church in her honor on the top of Esquiline Hill. As an extra means of confirmation, she told them snow would cover the hill’s crest.  And snow it did! Snow in Rome in August! Flakes fell steadily through the night covering the hill in a blanket of white. When the townspeople found out that the snow was a sign from the Blessed Mother, they named her “Our Lady of the Snows.”  Per Our Lady’s instructions, the nobleman and his wife built the Church and it became known as the Basilica of Liberius as well as Our Lady of the Snows. In time, the basilica was given another name to distinguish it from the many other churches in Rome dedicated to the Mother of God which had been established. It became known as St. Mary Major, the first and greatest of all church’s under the patronage of Our Lady. 

Queen St. Helena and her son, Emperor St. Constantine, brought to the Basilica from the Holy Land a great Marian treasure – an image of the Madonna and Child known as the “Salus Populi, Romani” (The Protectress of the People of Rome) . It is attributed to St. Luke, the apostle and evangelist. Many healings and deliverances from oppressors have been credited to its miraculous intervention. The Basilica of St. Mary Major has celebrated the Divine Motherhood of Mary since the Council of Ephesus in 432 A.D. when Mary was first proclaimed “Theotokos,” Mother of God. On the Feast Day, August 5, beautiful white roses are released from the ceiling in the Basilica showering the sanctuary in remembrance of the snowfall that led to the building of Our Lady’s first church. 

For Reflection:  

Our Blessed Mother has a beautiful way of making her intentions known. Read the account of the Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1-11). How did she make her desires known to Jesus? To the servants? Why did she make these requests? In light of this, why do you think Mary would ask that a church be built in her honor? What is she asking of you today? For what purpose?

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This title of Our Lady is associated with the house where Mary was born and where the Annunciation occurred. Tradition tells us that this house was moved from the Holy Land to Dalmatia to Reananti, Italy to Loreto, Italy – by means of the angels.                    

It was in Dalmatia that shepherds first discovered the sudden appearance of a little house in one of their fields. They sought out the local priest, a cripple, who visited the house. While there, he received a vision about the house and was cured of his physical handicap. He was told that St. Peter put the altar in the house and the figure of Mary (now known as Our Lady of Loreto) was carved by St. Luke.  A delegation sent to the Holy Land discovered that the house of Mary had, indeed, disappeared, and the foundation left behind measured exactly the length and width of the house in Dalmatia which had amazingly appeared out of nowhere.        

The house was transported by angels two other times to protect it from pillagers and ne’er do-wells. The house stands to this day, intact, and with no foundation.                       

Many miracles are associated with Our Lady of Loreto. A famous one involves Pope Pius IX, born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, who was beatified along with Pope John XXIII in the year 2,000. Each year he made a pilgrimage with his mother to Loreto.  As a wee child he fell into a stream and became subject to chronic fatigue, fever, and epileptic seizures causing him to leave seminary. Pope Pius VII, a close friend, counseled him with these words: "God is mysterious. He throws down to raise up. He throws into the gutter the ones He wants to lift to the stars. Above the wildest storms gleams the Star of the Sea. Renounce yourself and place yourself in the hands of the Madonna. Call out to her 'save me!' The Virgin of Nazareth is your future."  With these words in his heart, he journeyed again to Loreto. There he prayed: "Mother, behold your child-----sick, miserable, useless. I am the shame of my family and disgust to myself. I dedicate myself to you-----save me. Immaculata, make me clean!"  He was cured, returned to seminary, and was ordained. In 1846, the conclave elevated him, now Cardinal of Imola, to the papacy. He chose the name, Pius IX. In 1854, he proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, thus officially inaugurating the Marian Era. As Pope he visited Loreto seven times.  

For Reflection: 

Read again the words Pope Pius VII spoke to Giovanni. How were they prophetic? Why do you think God “throws down to raise up?” Think of some canonized saints who had this experience. What do you consider to be your “gutter” experience? How can God use it to lift you “to the stars?” Call out to Our Lady, too, for her maternal help and assistance.

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Find me other men like yourself, an army of brave, generous, unselfish men, and send them into lands where the children of the Faith are suffering. So said Our Blessed Lady to St. Peter Nolasco, a tireless worker for Our Lord ransoming Christians from the hands of their Muslim enslavers – the Moors and the Sarasens. Dressed in white with a shield of the Order imprinted on her scapular, Our Lady asked St. Peter, along with St. Raymond of Pennafort and King James of Aragon to establish a religious order dedicated to visiting Christians in captivity and working to free them from their bondage. The order was founded, The Mercedarians, and Pope Gregory approved it in 1235. St. Peter was the first superior. An ancillary group of the Order were knights who bought back slaves or traded places with them to secure their release.  The Mercedarian Order continues to this day seeking to help God’s people be released from the physical and spiritual chains that hold them back from the abundant life of Jesus Christ. This apparition of Our Lady is also known as Our Lady of Ransom.

For Reflection: 

Consider the words Our Lady spoke to St. Peter Nolasco. To what extent do you see yourself as brave, generous and unselfish? To which “lands” might she be sending you? Who might the “captives” be that she is asking you to release? Where, in your own midst, are the “children of the Faith suffering?” What is your response to Our Lady’s call?

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Devotion to Our Lady of Hope is one of the oldest Marian devotions, dating back to the first shrine erected to her in France in the year 930.  Centuries later, on January 17, 1871, Our Lady of Hope appeared in the French village of Pontmain when it was threatened by Prussian armies during the War of 1870.  Around 6:00 that evening, two small boys named Eugene and Joseph Barbedette saw Our Lady in the sky above a barn. Dressed in a dark blue robe sprinkled with stars, with a gold crown on her head, our Heavenly Mother lowered her hands in a gesture of welcome and smiled. The boys' called their parents, the parish priest and a convent full of sisters, but only they and two young girls could see the apparition.  The pastor called the whole town together to pray the Rosary with the children and as the villagers prayed, the apparition grew steadily larger. When they finished the Rosary and began singing the Magnificat, a white banner suddenly appeared in the sky with large gold letters slowly forming the words: 

"PRAY, MY CHILDREN.  GOD WILL ANSWER BEFORE LONG.  MY SON LETS HIMSELF BE MOVED." 

At about the same time as the apparition was occurring in Pontmain, the Prussian troops stopped dead in their tracks as they came in sight of the tiny village. The Prussian General was reportedly unable to advance and told his troops: "We cannot go farther. Yonder, in the direction of Brittany, there is an invisible Madonna barring the way."  Three days later, he surrendered his army.  What message could be more consoling to hearts in the midst of hardship and tribulation than the tender promise of Our Lady of Hope: “Pray, my children; God will soon answer your prayers.”   

For Reflection: 

Our Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Divine Love and Our Lady of Hope prevented devastating events from happening. Can you remember a time when you received her intercession in this way? Look at Our Lady’s words to the people of Pontmain. How is she speaking to you today through them? Journal your thoughts, insights and reflections.

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Nestled in Rome among the 700+ chapels and churches found there is the Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love. Like so many of the religious places in the city, its history reflects the abundant graces which come to us through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.  In 1570 a painted image of the “Mother of Divine Love” was given to a charitable organization and was positioned on a gate tower of the Castel di Leva on the outskirts of town.  Two centuries later, a solitary pilgrim was walking on the Appian Way toward Rome and lost his way. He spotted some farm buildings in the distance and began to make his way in that direction when suddenly a pack of wild sheepdogs saw him and bolted towards him. He began to run but was about to be overcome by the vicious dogs when he saw the image of Our Lady on the gate tower. “Madonna, help me!” he cried out in panic.  Instantly, the dogs halted as though held by an invisible force. They soon calmed down and peacefully retreated. This was the first of many miraculous interventions by the Madonna of Divine Love.  In 1745, a church was erected to enshrine this miraculous image in honor of Our Lady under this title. Popularity of the Shrine began to grow and the Blessed Mother was beseeched under the title of Our Lady of Divine Love by countless numbers of pilgrims and Italians.  And miracles continued to be recorded; here are two from contemporary times:

In 1935, 3,000 Italian soldiers leaving for the Ethiopian War entrusted themselves to Our Lady under this title at the Shrine. All 3,000 of them returned home unharmed in spite of the tremendous casualties that war produced.

During WWII, the city of Rome was in grave danger of destruction. Pope Pius XII ordered that the Image of the Mother of Divine Love be moved into the city and carried in pilgrimage to various churches. On June 4, 1944, the people of Rome converged at the Church of St. Ignatius and prayed to Our Lady under this title begging her to deliver their city and to keep them safe. They promised to erect a new shrine as a sign of their gratitude should their prayer be answered. It was. Rome was spared.  On June 11, just one week later, the Holy Father made pilgrimage to the Shrine and conferred on Our Lady the title of “Savior of the City,” adding it to her title of Mother of Divine Love. The new shrine was completed in 1991.  Like the lone pilgrim who traveled the Appian Way, we too, have need of Our Lady’s intercession as we journey in this alien land. May his cry never be far from our own lips, “Madonna, help me!”

For Reflection: 

On May 1, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love. He said, “Today too, there is a need to convert to God, to God who is Love, so that the world may be freed from war and terrorism…Dear brothers and sisters, from this Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love, I therefore renew the invitation I expressed in the encyclical "Deus Caritas Est": "To practice love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world" (No. 39). Amen!  Today, how is God asking me to be His light in the world? Beseech Our Lady under her title of Mother of Divine Love to show you the way in which you should go.

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