Mary's Catholics

Deuteronomy 4: 15-19 -  You saw no form at all on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire.  Be strictly on your guard, therefore, not to degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or a woman, of any animal on the earth or of any bird that flies in the sky, of anything that crawls on the ground or of any fish in the waters under the earth. And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or any star among the heavenly hosts, do not be led astray into adoring them and serving them.  These the Lord, your God, has let fall to the lot of all other nations under the heavens. Why were the Jews forbidden in Deuteronomy to make images? Because being corrupt and stiff-necked, they had a strong tendency to worship the idol rather than God.  Looking up at the sky, they were easily enticed to worship the stars.  God's prohibition is like forbidding an alcoholic to touch w...

The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus  which means "coming or arrival". Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas.  It is composed of four Sundays in which the fourth and last Sunday is the Sunday before Christmas.   Advent  has a penitential spirit similar to that of Lent.   The liturgical theme during Advent is the preparation for Christ's Second Coming which is called the Parousia.    Advent is symbolized by an Advent Wreath, which is made of evergreen branches formed into a circle or any green leaves (in the absence of evergreen branches) that can be formed into a circle, and four candles - three violet or purple  candles and one pink candle which are inserted into the branches.  A candle is lit every Sunday until all four candles are lit on the fourth Sunday of Advent.  The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, which is also called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word which means "Rejoice"....

It is said that the devil, first, attacked the early church from without through persecution.  But failing in this he changed his strategy.  This time he attacked from within through heresies.  The saints fought the heresies; while Holy Mother church protected her flock through Ecumenical Councils. By the 3rd century, the church existed in relative calm and in some parts, even in luxury.  There was much time for everything specially for speculative theology.  Instead of being concerned with how to live holy lives, people were speculating on the nature of God.  The Hierarchy begun to enter into politics and Emperors begun to manipulate the hierarchy. The church became splintered into several groups. St. Jerome observed: that one day the whole world woke up to find itself Arian, a heresy propagated by the priest, Arius, and backed up by a bishop, Eusebius. Before the church could win her battle against the heresy of the priest Arius, a bishop, Ne...

What is genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary? 1.  True devotion to Mary is interior - it comes from within the heart and mind and follows from the love we bear her. 2.  True devotion to Mary is trustful - it fills us with confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary, just like the confidence of a child for its mother. 3.  True devotion to Mary is holy - it leads us to avoid sin and to imitate the virtues of Mary. 4.  True devotion to Mary is constant - it is guided by faith and not by feelings.  It strengthens our desire to lead good Christian lives. 5.  True devotion to Mary is disinterested - it inspires us to seek God in His Blessed Mother and not ourselves.  Mary's true devotees serve her out of love and not for selfish gain. Source: From the book  True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary             Author:  St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Do you have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary?  If so, what kind of devotion do you have?  According to St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his book True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary , there are seven kinds of false devotions. 1.  Critical devotees - are those who do not have a clear devotion to Mary.  They criticize all those forms of Marian devotions and practices that do not appeal to them.  They hardly believe or question the truths of the miracles that are attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 2.  Scrupulous devotees - are those who consider devotion to Mary as separate from devotion to Jesus.  They consider devotion to Mary as an offense to Jesus. 3.  Superficial devotees - are devotees who do not have an interior devotion to Mary.  Their devotion consists only of the external practices. 4. Presumptuous devotees - are devotees who continue to live in sin thinking that God will accept t...

One may think that I'm as meek as a lamb or as innocent as a dove just because I have this religious blog dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Two years ago, I attended a seminar on how to make a blog. After the seminar, I was excited and planned to create a music blog which will talk about my favorite songs, favorite music videos and favorite artists. For many months, I read and reread the guidelines that were given to us during the seminar.  But every time I pray and told the Lord that I'm planning to create a music blog, there's always a voice inside me telling me to create a religious blog instead of a music blog.  I always refused, "No, I'm not worthy to create a religious blog, it's not for me, and what would I write, I'm not fluent in English."   But then, something inside me argued, "If you're not fluent in English, then why would you create a music blog?"   Yes, God speaks deep within our consciences, but I'm always ash...

St. Catherine of Genoa's vision of Purgatory - By Joe Tremblay There are three divisions of the church, namely:  1. Church Militant - composed of Christians here on earth who are struggling against the devil, sin, the world and the flesh.  We, the living, belong to this Church. 2.  Church Suffering - means the souls in purgatory, and 3.  Church Triumphant - comprised of the saints in heaven. The Church Suffering cannot help themselves but we, the Church Militant can help them by praying for them and by offering sacrifices for them. I read so many books about the souls in purgatory, and I found out how badly they need our help.  So let's pray for them or better yet have a mass said for them.