Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
[Pope Benedict XIV] “He hath not done in like manner to every nation.” (Psalm 147:20) “If my duties did not prevent me, I would make a pilgrimage to the New World Shrine, and approach the Holy Virgin as the other poor pilgrims do, i.e. Barefoot And On My Knees!” [Pope Leo XIII] “With complete satisfaction,…
Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[ Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Church] The virtue and the greatness of the Blessed and Glorious Mary ever Virgin were proclaimed in God’s own words by the Angel when he said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women.” For it was fitting that the Virgin should…
Feast Of All Saints Day
[A Sermon of Saint Bede the Venerable] Today, beloved brethren, we celebrate in one joyful solemnity the Feast day of all the Saints. In their society Heaven exults, in their protection earth rejoices, in their triumphs the Holy Church is crowned. The more endurance they showed in giving witness, the brighter is the glory of…
Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(Homily of Saint Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Church) I see here a joyful company of Christian men met together in ready response to the call of Mary, the Holy and ever-Virgin Mother of God. The great grief that weighed upon me is changed into joy by your presence, venerable Fathers….
Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
(Excerpts from the writings of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort) Ever since Saint Dominic established the devotion to the Holy Rosary (given to him by Our Lady in 1214) up until the time when Blessed Alan de la Roche re-established it in 1460, the Holy Rosary has always been called the Psalter of…
Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary
[Excerpts from the writings of Saint John Eudes] There are (special) qualities which the holy Doctors of the Church attribute to the Sacred Name of Mary, which are very consoling to us. Saint Epiphanius tells us that “Mary is the prodigious and admirable treasure of the Church.” “She is an inexhaustible treasure of grace and…
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
( A Sermon of Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Father and Doctor of the Church) The hoped-for day of the Blessed and Venerable Mary ever a Virgin has now come; therefore let our earth rejoice with great gladness, illuminated by the birth of so great a Virgin. For she is the flower of the field…
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
(Homily of Saint Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church) The Church both reverently and frequently celebrates Feasts of the Mother of God. For She knows with certainty that it is a work pleasing to God and worthy of the faithful to honor, among all the Saints, the most saintly Mother of Our Lord and God…
Feast Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[“The Liturgical Year” by the Right Rev. Dom Prosper Gueranger, Abbot of Solesmes] Uniting the blood of kings with that of pontiffs, the glory of Anne’s illustrious origin is far surpassed by that of her offspring, without compare among the daughters of Eve. The noblest of all, who have ever conceived by virtue of the…
Feast Of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel
(“Mary In Her Scapular Promise”, 1940) It is eight hundred and sixty years before Christ. A striking scene is being enacted in Palestine. The entire Jewish nation is assembled there on the summit of the Scripturally famous Mount Carmel. Within a circle formed by the thousands of Israelites, eight hundred and fifty pagan priests are…
Feast Of The Visitation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary
[Sermon of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] God, who is One, loves unity and union; and all that is not unified is displeasing to Him, as the great Apostle Paul says: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. [Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:5-6]. But if He…
Feast Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen
(Homily of Saint Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church) The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the great King by reason of a noble kind of Conception, according to the message given her by the Angel. “Behold,” he said, “thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and thou shalt bring forth a Son”; and again, “The…
Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[Sermon of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church] The martyrdom of the Virgin is set before us both in Simeon’s prophecy and in the narrative of the Lord’s Passion. “This Child is destined,” the holy elderly man said of the Child Jesus, “for a sign that shall be contradicted; and thine own soul,”…
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(Sermon of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church) Saint Thomas Aquinas calls the mystery of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, “the miracle of miracles”. What greater prodigy could the world behold, than a woman become the Mother of God, and a God clothed in human flesh. Let us therefore…
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[From a sermon of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] Our Lord comes to the Temple today to be offered to God His Father, subjecting Himself to the observance of the Law which He had formerly given to Moses, written on stone tablets [Exodus 24:12; 34:1; 2 Cor. 3:7]. In this…