Walk with Mary throughout the Year

Day 234: January 01 Holy Mother of God January 1 was the feast of the "Circumcision of the Lord", now it is a feast of Mary. The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is the first Marian feast to appear in the Western Church. The "Natale Sanctae Mariae " began to be celebrated in Rome around the sixth century, probably in conjunction with the dedication of one of the first Marian churches in Rome: Santa Maria Antiqua al Foro Romano, south of the church of the Beavers. The liturgy was linked to that of Christmas and the first of January was called "in octava Domini": in memory of the rite performed eight days after the birth of Jesus, the Gospel of circumcision was proclaimed, which also gave its name to the feast that inaugurated the new year. Liturgically, the feast was instituted by Pius XI, in 1931, in memory of the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus, fixing the celebration on October 11, the day on which the dogma was proclaimed in 431. With t...

Day 233: December 31 Queen of the Family (Litany of Loreto) On Sunday, December 31, 1995, at the request of Pope St John Paul II, the Vatican added to the Litany of Loreto: "Queen of the Family, pray for us." The Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship chose this date to make the announcement because it was the feast of the Holy Family, which falls between Christmas and New Year's Day. Pope St. John Paul II, on October 4, 1997, in Rio de Janeiro, invoked her in this way:  “… Mary, Queen of the Family, Seat of Wisdom, Servant of the Lord, pray for us. Pray for us, pray for young people, pray for families" Pope Benedict XVI also invoked it publicly on May 16, 2008 in Rome:  "Mary, Queen of the family, like a bright star of hope, guide the journey of all families of humanity." The oldest known formulary of litanies to Our Lady can be dated to the twelfth century and consists of 73 invocations. It contains uncommon eulogies such as flos virginitatis , forma san...

Day 232: December 30 Our Lady of the Cloud, Quito, Ecuador In 1696, Bishop Sancho of Andrade e Figueroa of Quito was very ill. All his faithful were particularly worried about him and feared his death, so they decided to turn to the Virgin Mary, organizing a novena to obtain his healing. While they were in procession through the streets of the city towards the cathedral reciting the Holy Rosary on December 30, 1696, suddenly the image of Mary appeared in the midst of the clouds. The Virgin wore a crown on her head and a bouquet of lilies were clasped in her right hand as if it were a sceptre . The left held the Child Jesus with his head slightly inclined. Her hair was covered by a light veil that seemed to be formed by a cloud itself. She wore a simple tunic that fell in white and wavy folds, half hidden by a mantle of majestic and regal width. A cloud served as her throne. About 500 people witnessed the marvellous event, while the bishop was suddenly healed at that moment. However, n...

Day 231: December 29 Madonna dei Fiori (Our Lady of the Flowers), Bra, Cuneo, Italy Between the old and the new Sanctuary of the "Madonna dei fiori " of Bra, at the end of a long avenue of elms and plane trees, there is a garden of wild plums that bloom every year in the middle of winter. Tradition dates this prodigy back to December 29, 1336, when the Virgin appeared in protection of a young bride Egidia Mathis, who was about to become a mother, threatened by two soldiers. They belonged to the mercenary companies that devastated Piedmont in that first half of the 14th century. They were two foreign captains, one English and one German, who competed in the Braidese region to see who proved to be the braver. The farmsteads were plundered mercilessly, the villages were constantly cut, the boys kidnapped to make them brigands and the girls often reduced to crying over their past. Every evening, towards dusk, Egidia went from her house to bring milk and eggs to a wealthy fami...

Day 230: December 28 Our Lady of Assumption of Elche, Valencia, Spain The Virgin of the Assumption has become the patron saint of the city of Elche since she was found in a wooden ark floating on the waters of the sea, near the beach of Tamarit by the soldier Guardia Francesc Cantó who, after notifying the City Council, discovered together with the statue depicting the Holy Virgin standing with her hands joined in prayer, manuscripts and documents that explained how it was the Assumption and how her feast was to be celebrated. On the lid of the ark there was indicated the destination of this crate or Alicante and Orihuela , who claimed to belong to it, so in order not to hurt anyone it was decided to place it on a cart pulled by oxen that were blindfolded at a crossroad. The cart, without any kind of hesitation, set off towards Elche and did not stop until it reached the door of the chapel of San Sebastiano, where the Marian figure was then placed. It was decided to take it to a lar...

Day 229: December 27 Nossa  Senhora do  Rosário  ( Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks ), Atibaia , São Paulo, Brazil In 1763, slaves who could not attend the church of St John the Baptist, in Atibaia in Brazil, decided to build their own church where they could be free to enter, pray and receive the sacraments. It was completed only in 1817, the church was nicknamed Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos , Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks, precisely because of the role that this church had in society. This agricultural city is home to the oldest and most active Afro-Brazilian cultural and religious event called Congada . In the Congada there are Catholic religious elements such as devotion to St Benedict and the Virgin of the Rosary with typical elements of the dramatic dance celebrated during the coronation of the King of Congo and Queen Ginga of Angola with the presence of the court and its vassals. It is an event that brings together African themes with Iberian...

Day 228: December 26 Gua Maria (Mary's Grotto), Mojosongo , Jebres , Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia The sanctuary was born as a simple place of prayer where Catholics could gather to recite the Holy Rosary. In 1975, a shelter was added, since rainfall is very abundant in this area. In 1980, Mary Queen Parish in nearby Purbowardyan began holding Masses at the shrine. The parish priest therefore began a fundraiser to build the Grotto, which Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja , bishop of Semarang, blessed by inaugurating it on December 25, 1983. Before entering the Grotto there are two statues, one of the Virgin Mary and the other of St Joseph. Beyond the entrance you find yourself surrounded by a wall and trees surrounding the perimeter. Here pilgrims can gather in prayer and take water to bless and take home, through practical taps. In the main building there are several columns, each of which bears a copper representation of the seven sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist or Communion; Con...

Day 227: December 25 The Nativity of the Lord from the Virgin Mary CHRISTMAS IN THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE REVEALED BY THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY TO ST. BRIDGET "At Bethlehem , in front of the crib, I saw a beautiful young Virgin, who was pregnant. She was dressed in a white habit ... With her was a very respectable old man, and they had an ox and an ass. When they arrived in the cave, the old man tied the ox and the donkey to the manger, then went out and brought the Virgin a torch; he fixed it to the stones of the wall and went out again so as not to be personally present at the birth. Then the Virgin took off her shoes, the white cloak with which she was covered, and the veil she had on her head, from her feet, and placed it beside her. Now she was dressed only in her tunic, and her golden-blond hair fell over her shoulders. She took two small linen cloths and two other very thin and very clean woolen cloths, which she had with her to wrap the child that was to be born, and also two...

Day 226: December 24 St Mary's Mission, Stevensville, Montana, USA On the night of December 24, 1841, not long after Fr Pierre De Smet started the mission of St Mary's with the Salish or Flathead Indians in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana (USA), an orphan went to a conical Indian tent or "types" of an old woman in order to study the various Christian prayers in preparation for his baptism on Christmas Day. Little Paul, who is 11 years old, told Fr De Smet afterwards that he saw a wonderful person there:  "Her feet did not touch the earth, her garments were as white as snow, she had a star above her head, a serpent under her feet, and near the serpent there was a fruit that I did not recognize, I could see her heart, from which beams of light shone on me: when I saw all this for the first time it frightened me, But later the fear left me, my heart warmed, my mind became clear, and I don't know how it happened, but suddenly I knew my prayers." Uncertain w...

Day 225: December 23 Our Lady of the Good News, Rennes, Brittany, France Jean de Montfort founded the Dominican convent of Our Lady of Good News in Rennes, following a vow made during the battle of Auray, in 1364, in which his victory made him Duke of Brittany. In the following century, a panel painting placed in the cloister of the convent was recognized as miraculous. Another vow was made to Our Lady of the Good News during the plague of 1632, which struck the city of Rennes but thanks to the intercession of the Most Holy Mary in a less heavy way than in the other surrounding areas. In thanksgiving, the city wanted to give the Blessed Virgin a solid silver model of the city and, since 1634, has celebrated her in a special way every year on September 8, the feast of the Nativity of Mary. Another miracle occurred during the great fire of December 23, 1720. On this occasion, the inhabitants of Rennes saw Our Lady of the Good News in heaven, looking down with a compassionate gaze. During...

Day 224: December 22 Our Lady of Consolation, Nereto , Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy In 1798, in late December, some citizens of Nerete , following a violence carried out by a handful of French soldiers on some women of the town, reacted by killing those who had carried out the insane gesture. The consequence was the decision by the Napoleonic officers to retaliate with the aim of sacking and destroying Nereto . The news of the imminent attack threw the country into total despair, the heads of families gathered in the square but perhaps more to gain strength by being together than for the development of a strategic plan, which seemed objectively impossible in the face of an organized army like that. The only defensive move that was prepared was the cutting of some large trees to be placed sideways on the access roads to the town in an attempt to hinder the advancement of the artillery. More could not be done: someone left the village, most of the population stayed back. On the night of Decemb...

Day 223: December 21 Mary of the Cross (Madonna di Roio ), Poggio di Roio , Aquila, Italy The statue of the Madonna di Roio , in gilded cedar wood, which came from Apulia and which does not seem to be a work of art from Abruzzo, is the work of a fine chisel and is characterized by the general harmonious line that makes it pleasant. It is a work attributed to the fourteenth century. The historian from L'Aquila Angelo Signorini , in his work "The Diocese of Aquila", on p. 314, reports the account of Fr Serafino di Montoro concerning the discovery of the venerated statue. "A simple shepherd named Felice Calcagno – he says – perhaps a native of the land of Lucoli , brought to winter, as was customary, in the pastures of Puglia in a wood called Ruo , one day had the misfortune of losing the flock entrusted to his care. Fearing a great punishment from his masters, he fervently begged the Virgin to help him in such a difficult situation. Moved by pity, the Queen of Heaven ...

Day 222: December 20 Our Lady of the Rockies, Butte, Montana, USA Our Lady of the Rockies is a monumental statue completed in 1985 and 90 feet (27 m) tall, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which sits atop the Continental Divide and overlooks the town of Butte, Montana. It is the third tallest statue in the United States, after the Statue of Liberty and the recent statue of Pegasus defeating the Dragon, placed in Gulfstream Park, on Hallandale Beach in Florida. The statue was built by volunteers using donated materials, in order to honor women around the world, especially mothers. The base is 8,510 feet above sea level and 3,500 feet above the city. The statue is illuminated and visible at night. Bob O'Bill , a resident of the area, had already developed the idea of making this statue of the Virgin in his mind, but he did not yet know how and where. In 1979, his wife Joyce became seriously ill with cancer. At that point he decided to make a vow to Our Lady; if his wife were hea...

Day 221: December 19 Our Lady of Carmen, Santiago, Chile The Marian devotion of Our Lady of Carmen is a Catholic tradition imported from Spain to America in 1595 by the Augustinian brothers, who brought the first image there. However, it took a few centuries before she obtained the recognition of "Patroness of Chile", which happened with the advent of the Chilean nationalist war, in which José de San Martin, commander of the Liberation Army, proclaimed her "Patroness of the Army of the Andes" and Bernardo O'Higgins "Patroness and General of the Chilean Armed Forces" on the eve of the Battle of Chacabuco. Towards the end of the War of Independence and after several victories, as the troops approached Santiago, prayers were raised in the city's cathedral, so that the victory would not abandon the Chilean troops. It was then that O'Higgins, the country's supreme director, promised to build a temple in honor of the Virgin on the site of the dec...