Ave Maria, Gratia plena!

This blog is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is my hope that all Christians who visit this site - Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant or evangelical - will be encouraged, filled with joy but also challenged by the fact that they have not just a Father, but a Mother in Heaven.

For all who are seeking the deepest possible intimacy with God, with our Lord Jesus Christ, may we look nowhere else, in the end, than the one human being who has, since the Incarnation of Christ, experienced the most superlative closeness - physically and spiritually - to God-in-human-flesh. She is the Immaculate Conception, the Mother of Jesus Christ herself: the Daughter of God the Father, the Spouse of God the Holy Spirit, and the Mother of God the Son.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Give me the gift of. . . incessant prayer

My Blessed Virgin Mother,

Grant that I may have one of your cardinal virtues - incessant prayer. May I become more worthy to draw down your intercession, that my spare time will be spent offering up the incense of petitions that draw myself and others close to your Divine Son.

Give me the spirit of self-denial, physical and spiritual alike, to make my prayers more constant and effective. May I, like so many of your sons and daughters have over the generations, discover the joys of penance, fasting and mortification of the senses, and a deep brokeness of spirit marked by pure contrition.

Have mercy on me, for your Son's sake - for the sake of His sorrowful Passion.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Holy Mary, pray for your children. . .

Especially those who do not yet know the tender love of a Heavenly Mother, who do not yet know that they need intimate contact with your Divine Son in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Draw them close, Blessed Mother of God, to give glory to your Son and bring honor to your Immaculate Heart. . .