 | †Saint Quote of the Day
"Love Mary! She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her."
–St. Gabriel Possenti †Today's Meditation
"Let us say boldly with St. Bernard that we have need of a mediator with the Mediator Himself, and that it is the divine Mary who is the most capable of filling that charitable office. It was through her that Jesus Christ came to us, and it is through her that we must go to Him. If we fear to go directly to Jesus Christ, our God, whether because of His infinite greatness or because of our vileness or because of our sins, let us boldly implore the aid and intercession of Mary, our Mother. She is good, she is tender, she has nothing in her austere and forbidding, nothing too sublime and too brilliant. In seeing her, we see our pure nature."
—St. Louis de Montfort, p. 42 An Excerpt From
True Devotion to Mary †Daily Verse
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us."
–Romans 5:1-5 | Solemnity of the Assumption August 15th is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a Holy Day of Obligation. It is an ancient feast of the Church, celebrated universally by at least the 6th century. According to tradition, all of the Apostles were present when Our Lady came to the end of her earthly life and peacefully went to be with Christ in Heaven, an event also known as the "Dormition of Mary." The tomb where her body was laid was found empty, her body being taken up into heaven a short time after she passed into eternal life. The Church's historic belief that the Virgin Mary is presently in heaven reigning as the Queen of Heaven and Earth, in body and soul, next to her Divine Son, was pronounced as infallible dogma in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. The bodily Assumption of Jesus' mother into heaven is a foretaste of our own bodily resurrection at the end of time.
See More About Today's Feast |  click to read more | | St. Tarcisius St. Tarcisius (3rd c.) was a boy who lived during the persecution of Roman Emperor Valerian. When the Christians would secretly celebrate daily Mass in the catacombs, a deacon would be sent to carry the Holy Eucharist to the Christians waiting in prison to be executed. At one point there was no deacon to send, and so St. Tarcisius, a twelve-year-old acolyte, was sent to carry the "Holy Mysteries" to the prisoners. One day, on his way, he was stopped by pagan boys his own age with whom he would sometimes play games. They asked him to play, but Tarcisius declined because of the holy mission on which he had been sent. The crowd of boys became curious about what he was carrying, and soon discovered that he was a Christian. In their profane desire to see the holy secret he so carefully guarded, they descended on him as a mob and beat him. Tarcisius was courageous and refused to surrender the Blessed Sacrament. A fellow Christian came to his rescue and carried his bloodied body back to the catacombs. Tarcisius died from his injuries along the way. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Callistus, and his relics are kept in the church of San Silvestro. Legend has it that the consecrated Host disappeared during the attack. St. Tarcisius is the patron of altar boys and first communicants. His feast day is August 15th. | Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr • Readings for the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr Reading 1 Dt 10:12-22 Moses said to the people:
"And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you
but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly,
to love and serve the LORD, your God,
with all your heart and all your soul,
to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD
which I enjoin on you today for your own good?
Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens,
belong to the LORD, your God,
as well as the earth and everything on it.
Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them
as to choose you, their descendants,
in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked.
For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods,
the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;
who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,
and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.
So you too must befriend the alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
The LORD, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve;
hold fast to him and swear by his name.
He is your glory, he, your God,
who has done for you those great and terrible things
which your own eyes have seen.
Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy strong,
and now the LORD, your God,
has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky." Responsorial Psalm Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. Alleluia See 2 Thes 2:14 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called you through the Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 17:22-27 As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
"The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day."
And they were overwhelmed with grief. When they came to Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said,
"Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?"
"Yes," he said.
When he came into the house, before he had time to speak,
Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?"
When he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him,
"Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you."
| Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 RV 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB God's temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One." Responsorial Psalm PS 45:10, 11, 12, 16 R. (10bc) The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father's house.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold. Reading 2 1 COR 15:20-27 Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for "he subjected everything under his feet." Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Mary is taken up to heaven;
a chorus of angels exults.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 1:39-56 Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."
And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."
Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.
|  click to hear 2cents | https://drive.google.com/file/d/178JasxXNOTECIPuN3eCJyMEmichW3bh8/view?usp=drive_link
Reflections with Brother Adrian: | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"God's temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars......." end of verse. A woman appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico in the year 1531. She appeared in the sky. She came proclaiming the message of our Lord Jesus. She was a woman, clothed with the sun, the sun rays shown all around her countenance, her figure, she was enveloped then, so to speak, enveloped in light rights of life and warmth. Under her feet was the moon, and she is queen, as the Indians would tell you. And we know her crown was the very 12 stars that God chose to propagate His Kingdom on earth, the foundation of a new Kingdom that would be forever, and here we are, living it thousands of years later. We have a queen mother, and today we celebrate her assumption. | We pray today:
"The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir......"_ end of Psalm. | In the Gospel today we heard:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name......" end of Gospel verse. | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The dogma of the Assumption of Mary describes the full salvation of this prime disciple of Jesus.
In the Apostles' Creed, we speak of our hope for "the resurrection of the body." Mary, assumed body and soul into heaven, has experienced precisely this resurrection and hence becomes a sign of hope for the rest of the human race.
When we speak of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother's body, we are not envisioning a journey through space, as though Mary moved up into the sky. The "heavens" are a rich and consistent biblical symbol for the transcendent, for a manner of existence that lies beyond our familiar dimensions of space and time.
The Assumption of Mary means that the Blessed Mother was "translated," in the totality of her being, from this dimensional system to the higher one for which we use the term "heaven." Mary, who exists now in this other world, is not so much somewhere else as somehow else, and this helps to explain why we can speak of her, especially in her heavenly state, interceding, helping us, and praying for us." end quote Bishop Barron.
Blessed Anne Catherine describes the separation of Mary's soul from her body.
"Afterwards I saw the Apostles and disciples once more standing round
the Blessed Virgin's bed and praying. Mary's face was radiant with smiles as in her youth. Her eyes were raised towards heaven in holy joy. Then I saw a wonderfully moving vision. The ceiling of Our Lady's room disappeared, the lamp hung in the open air, and I saw through the sky into the heavenly Jerusalem. Two radiant clouds of light sank down, out of which appeared the faces of many angels. Between these clouds a path of light poured down upon
Mary, and I saw a shining mountain leading up from her into the heavenly Jerusalem. She stretched out her arms towards it in infinite longing, and I saw her body, all wrapped up, rise so high above her couch that one could see right under it. ... I saw her soul leave her body like a little figure of infinitely pure light, soaring with outstretched arms up the shining mountain to heaven. The two angel-choirs in the clouds met beneath her soul and separated it from her holy body, which in the moment of separation sank back on the couch with arms crossed on the breast. My gaze followed her soul and saw it enter the heavenly Jerusalem by that shining path and go up to the throne of the most
Holy Trinity. I saw many souls coming forward to meet her in joy and
reverence; amongst them I recognized many patriarchs, as well as Joachim,
Anna, Joseph, Elisabeth, Zacharias, and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin soared through them all to the Throne of God and of her Son, whose wounds shone with a light transcending even the light irradiating His whole Presence.
He received her with His Divine Love, and placed in her hands a scepter with a
gesture towards the earth as though indicating the power which He gave her.
(Emmerich, Pg. 371.)
Then Blessed Anne Catherine turned her gaze back to Mary's body on the bed
around which the apostles and women and disciples were still kneeling in prayer. She
describes Our Lady's death as at the ninth hour, the same as Our Lord's, and tells
how the women bathed Mary's body and prepared it for burial, much like Mary and the holy
women had done with the body of Jesus. Some locks of Mary's hair were cut to be kept in
remembrance. So reverently the apostles then carried Mary's body along her self-made
Way of the Cross to her final resting place in the cave at the end of that sorrowful path.
When all had departed from the tomb, a great light shone all around it. Blessed Anne Catherine then describes Mary's glorious assumption into heaven.
A broad shaft of light came down from heaven to the rock, and I saw
descending in it a triple-ringed glory of angels and spirits surrounding the
appearance of Our Lord and of the shining soul of Mary. The appearance of Our Lord, whose wound-marks were streaming with light, moved down in front of her soul. Round the soul of Mary, in the innermost circle of the glory, I saw only little figures of children; in the midmost circle they appeared as six-year old children; and in the outer-most circle as grown-up youths. I could see only the faces clearly, all the rest I saw as shimmering figures of light. As this vision, becoming ever clearer, streamed down upon the rock, I saw a shining path opened and leading up to the heavenly Jerusalem. Then I saw the soul of the Blessed Virgin, which had been following the appearance of Our Lord, pass in front of Him and float down into the tomb. Soon afterwards I saw her soul,
united to her transfigured body, rising out of the tomb far brighter and clearer, and ascending into the heavenly Jerusalem with Our Lord and with the whole glory. Thereupon all the radiance faded again, and the quiet starry sky covered the land." - (Emmerich, Pg. 377.)
The bible says that our Lord is the first fruits of what is to come.
He died. Yes. But then we hear about He rose and was transfigured.
And His body arose three days later.
Why ascend and descend? It's as if there is a return for the body. The second coming. Then this means something. We are His body.
He is coming back for it, for you, and for me. And in the meantime, we have saints and angels in between the ascending and descending of the second coming. My friend, this is amazing. He hides in light. He wraps Himself in light. And He wraps Himself around Mother Mary.
Let us pray.
Mother of God, assumed into Heaven, pray for us, poor lonely children that belong to God, help us be one beautiful family of light shining forever. |  Click To Hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Hebrews 4:12 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
