Wow… LOOK at this loving ALTAR… and meditate on these opening words… GOD is inviting us to spend QUALITY time with HIM!
DAY 39 – MARY, QUEEN OF PROPHETS, PRAY FOR US
ONE THING NECESSARY
Pope Benedict XVI said, “The heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind … the Evil One has power in this world, as we experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God.”
This brings us to the key to Pope John Paul II’s master plan for the new millennium, as he asks us to set aside our disconnected busy-ness, and to start fresh by contemplating the face of Christ. It is clear that the Holy Father was encouraging us to place our emphasis on reconnecting to the Divine Life of God, which is classically referred to as the unum necessarium, the one thing necessary.
The “one thing necessary” constitutes the essential foundation for the interior life and consists in hearing the word of God and living by it (I will serve!). It stems from the story of Martha and Mary (Lk 10:38-42), where we first see that, amazingly, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity was sitting right in their living room. Now, Martha remains busy with the good and noble protocol of hospitality while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, her eyes locked on his holy face, peering into his soul, hanging on his every word. Mary is actually in adoration, soaking in everything our Lord wants to give her. I like to say that she is “Mary-nating” – soaking in the gusher of God’s graces.
When Martha objects to Mary’s lack of activity, Jesus tells Martha that she remains anxious and upset about many things while Mary has chosen the better portion, the “one thing necessary” (unum necessarium). Mary was the one who was making the guest truly feel welcomed while Martha remained detached, going through the motions of the demands of protocol. God is light and love and truth who brings order and meaning and serenity to our lives. While we remain disconnected from our Source, we remain easily agitated and frustrated in our disordered and chaotic existence as we continue to walk in darkness. (Excerpt from Church Militant Field Manual).
PRAY A ROSARY
Choose either:
Rosary of the Day: Sorrowful Mysteries
Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Glorious Mysteries
PRAYERS FOR TRADITIONAL 54 DAY NOVENA
THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY
Prayer before the recitation: Sign of the cross. Hail Mary.
In petition (first 27 days): Hail, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, my Mother Mary, hail! At thy feet I humbly kneel to offer thee a Crown of Roses, full-blown white roses, tinged with the red of the passion, to remind thee of thy glories, fruits of the sufferings of thy Son and thee, each rose recalling to thee a holy mystery, each 10 bound together with my petition for a particular grace. O Holy Queen, dispenser of God’s graces, and Mother of all who invoke thee! Thou canst not look upon my gift and fail to see its binding. As thou receivest my gift, so wilt thou receive my petition; from thy bounty thou wilt give me the favor I so earnestly and trustingly seek. I despair of nothing that I ask of thee. Show thyself my Mother!
In thanksgiving (last 27 days):Hail, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, my Mother Mary, hail! At thy feet I gratefully kneel to offer thee a Crown of Roses full blown white roses, tinged with the red of the passion, to remind thee of thy glories, fruits of the sufferings of thy Son and thee each rose recalling to thee a holy mystery; each ten bound together with my petition for a particular grace. O Holy Queen, dispenser of God s graces, and Mother of all who invoke thee! thou canst not look upon my gift and fail to see its binding. As thou receivest my gift, so wilt thou receive my thanksgiving; from thy bounty thou bast given me the favor I so earnestly and trustingly sought. I despaired not of what I asked of thee, and thou hast truly shown thyself my Mother.
Say: The Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be.
For each of the following Mysteries, say: Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.
The Resurrection – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.
Concluding Prayer: I bind these full-blown roses with a petition for the virtue of faith and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.
The Ascension – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.
Concluding Prayer: I bind these full-blown roses with a petition for the virtue of hope and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.
The Descent of the Holy Spirit – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.
Concluding Prayer: I bind these full-blown roses with a petition for the virtue of charity and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.
The Assumption of Mary – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.
Concluding Prayer: I bind these full-blown roses with a petition for the virtue of union with Christ and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.
The Coronation of the Blessed Mother – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.
Concluding Prayer: I bind these full-blown roses with a petition for the virtue of union with thee and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.
Say: The Hail Holy Queen.
In petition (first 27 days): Sweet Mother Mary, I offer thee this spiritual communion to bind my bouquets in a wreath to place upon thy brow. O my Mother! Look with favor upon my gift, and in thy love obtain for me (specify request). Hail Mary …
In thanksgiving (last 27 days): Sweet Mother Mary, I offer thee this Spiritual Communion to bind my bouquets in a wreath to place upon thy brow in thanksgiving for (specify request) which thou in thy love hast obtained for me. Hail, Mary, etc.
Order 54 Day Novena Prayers and Reflections in Book Form: HERE
Order 54 Day Novena Prayers and Reflections in Book Form (bundle of 20): HERE
Did you know that Muslims also venerate Mary? That they, too, believe in the Immaculate Conception? That the iconic Muslim prayer posture is connected to Mary? And most amazing of all, that it was no coincidence that Mary appeared at Fatima in Portugal?
What if the 100th Anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima marked the beginning of a change in Christian-Muslim relations? What if it marked the turn of tide in conversions to Christianity? Find out how all this might be possible as we go through the following topics:
How the iconic Muslim prayer posture is connected to Mary
The difficulty in converting from Islam to Christianity
The remarkable treatment of the Virgin Mary in the Quran and by Mohammed
How Fatima, Portugal received its name
The surprising top destinations of Muslim pilgrimages
The Heresy that Never Declined
Hilaire Belloc, the Anglo-French writer and historian, described Islam as a heresy. If this is true, Venerable Fulton Sheen writes, Islam is “the only heresy that has never declined.”(1) Sheen continues that:
“[Other heresies] have had a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally evaporated in a vague social movement. Islam, on the contrary, has only had its first phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its followers.”
We should definitely take note of this, especially given the decline of Christianity in Western Europe. Christianity’s attempts to convert Muslims — even Saints Francis of Assisi and Ignatius of Loyola were stymied in their attempts — must be largely considered failures. Why might this be?
Here’s part of the reason. A Muslim converting to Christianity, at least from the Muslim’s point of view, would be much like a Christian converting to Judaism. Muslims believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world, that Jesus was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of God’s real prophets. Though becoming Christian might seem like a step backward for them, Mohammed is merely a prophet of Allah and not Allah, himself. Jesus, however, is both God and man. Therefore, Islam is, in effect, a step backward from Jesus to John the Baptist, the last of the prophets.
Fulton Sheen firmly believes Islam will eventually be converted, but it will not be through the work of missionaries or the direct teaching of Christianity. It will be “through a summoning of the [Muslims] to a veneration of the Mother of God.”
The Quran and the Virgin Mary
Mary holds an exalted place in Islam as the only woman named in the entire Quran.(2) It refers to Mary seventy times and even names her as the greatest of all women.
Though rejected by many Protestants, especially those descended from John Calvin, Marian doctrines such as her Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, and Assumption(3) are wholeheartedly endorsed by the Quran. The nineteenth chapter of the Quran alone contains forty-one verses on Jesus and Mary. It makes such a robust defense of Mary’s virginity here that in the fourth book of the Quran, the condemnation of the Jews is attributed to their calumny against the Virgin Mary.
Specific passages and details included in the Quran hint that Mohammed’s source text might have been the apocryphal Gospel of Mary’s birth. Both texts described the old age and sterility of Saint Anne, while Saint Anne is not even mentioned in the Bible. The Quran even quotes Saint Anne as saying, upon the Immaculate Conception: “O Lord, I vow and I consecrate to you what is already within me. Accept it from me.” And further, upon the birth of Mary, Saint Anne exclaims, “And I consecrate her with all of her posterity under thy protection, O Lord against Satan!” This appears to be a reference to Genesis 3:15, in which God prophesies that a woman will come who will be, from her beginning, an enemy of Satan.
When Saint Joseph asks Mary how Jesus was conceived without a father, this is how Mary answered:
“Do you not know that God, when He created the wheat had no need of seed, and that God by His Power made the trees grow without the help of rain? All that God had to do was to say. ‘So be it, and it was done.”
The Sayyida
The Quran also describes the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Nativity. Angels are depicted as addressing the Blessed Mother and saying:
“O Mary, God has chosen you, and purified you; He has chosen you above all the women of creation.” (Quran 3:42)(4)
Above all the women of the earth! This is similar to Elizabeth’s address of Mary, “blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” It also reinforces (and in effect proves) Mary’s own statement: “All generations will call me blessed.” When Mary said “all generations,” isn’t it amazing that her statement should extend beyond Christianity? To two world religions?
To the Muslims, the Blessed Mother is the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only serious rivals to Mary would be Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima, and his wife, both of whom are numbered along with Mary as the four greatest women in Islamic history – interestingly, Mohammed’s mother is not on this list.
Nevertheless, after the death of Fatima, Mohammed wrote, “Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary.”(5) Fatima, herself, is even known to have said, “I surpass all women, except Mary.”
Sayyida is not the Blessed Mother’s only title in Islam. She also bears the titles Qānitah(6) and Siddiqah. Twice in the Quran Mary is called Siddiqah, which means “She who confirms the truth” or “She who has faith.”(7)
At least two more Marian titles derive from the beautiful gesture of prayer. These are Rāki’ah, which means “She who bows down to God in worship”, and Sājidah, “She who prostrates to Allaah (God Almighty) in worship.” The Quran states: “O Mary, you shall submit to your Lord, and prostrate and bow down with those who bow down.”(8) According to some Islamic scholars, Ruku’ (bowing down) in Salaah (Muslim prayer) during prayer has been derived from Mary’s practice. In this motion, the hands, knees and the forehead of the worshipper touch the ground together. This is the humblest position one can be in before his Lord, the sincerest sign of humility and surrender to the Creator.
Isn’t that amazing? The very posture of prayer and supplication, which so defines our conception of Muslims, is actually derived from the Virgin Mary!
Certain of Mary’s titles emphasis the purity of Mary from sin including Tāhirah (“She who was purified”), Sa’imah(“She who fasts”), and Mustafia (“She who was chosen”). Some Muslim traditions record that Mary Sa’imah fasted for half a year. The journalist Samir Khalil Samir records the following concerning devotion to Mary Sa’imah (9):
“When I was in Morocco, I found that many women, during pregnancy and after childbirth, continued the so-called “fast of Our Lady,” inspired by the Koran, which speaks of this fast.”
With regard to the title Mustafia, the Quran records the angels as singing: “O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.”(10) It makes you wonder why Allah preferred Mary above all other mothers, even Mohammed’s.
Why Did Our Lady Come to “Fatima”?
This brings us to a very important question: why the Blessed Mother should have revealed herself in 1917 in the insignificant little village of Fatima, so that to all future generations she would be known as “Our Lady of Fatima”? As discussed above, Fatima was the highly esteemed daughter of Mohammed, who said of herself, “I surpass all women, except Mary.”
Fulton Sheen answers the question this way:
“Since nothing ever happens out of heaven except with a finesse of all details, I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known as “Our Lady of Fatima” as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her Divine Son, too.”
Sheen cites the auspicious history of the village of Fatima as evidence for Mary’s “pledge”.
Muslims, specifically the Moors, had occupied the Iberian peninsula of Portugal and Spain for centuries. The Umayyad Caliphate completed its conquest of Iberia in AD 711. Christians began the long slog of reconquering the peninsula with the Battle of Covadonga in 718 and would not retake their lands for another 700 years, when Ferdinand and Isabella completed the Reconquista in 1492, the year of Columbus.
At the time when the Muslims were finally driven out of Portugal, the last Muslim chief had a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. The story of how the village of Fatima received its name is retold by Friar Bernardino de Brito in his Chronicle of the Order of Cister (1602):
“In a surprise attack on Saint John’s Day in 1158, a Christian knight, Gonçalo Hermigues and his companions kidnapped a Moorish princess with the famous Arab name of Fatima. The knight took Fatima to a small village of the recently created Kingdom of Portugal, in the Serra de Aire hills. The princess fell in love with the Christian knight and decided to become herself a Catholic, taking the name of Oureana.”(11)
The young husband was so much in love with his wife that he changed the name of the town where he lived to Fatima. Thus, the very place where Our Lady appeared in 1917 bears a historical connection to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed.
The Blessed Mother and Muslims Today
For further evidence of Mary’s purpose in choosing Fatima, one need look no further than the faces of the pilgrims to Fatima, themselves.
Samir Khalil Samir writes for the Asian News Agency PIME about the pilgrims visiting Our Lady of Fatima and other Marian holy sites: (12)
“For years now plane loads of Muslim women from Iran have been landing at Fatima, Portugal. They come to pray before Our Lady who appeared to three shepherd children. The reason is that the Madonna was named after the daughter of Muhammad and wife of Ali Ibn Abi Talib.”
Samir also writes about Muslim families flocking to other Marian shrines, especially that of Our Lady of Lebanon:
“In Harissa, Lebanon, Iranian women constantly come to pray to Our Lady, to the point that the rector of the shrine has a chapel prepared especially for them, with icons, signs and prayers to the Virgin in Persian, to facilitate their devotion.
“Last year, during the month of May, as I waited for evening Mass to begin in Harissa, I saw hundreds of Muslim families – probably Shiite – who stopped to listen to the hymns before Mass and who only left at the end.”
Popular devotion to these appearances of Our Lady, as well as to Saint Charbel Makhlouf of Lebanon, is growing among Muslims, much to the chagrin of radical Islamists. This is why ISIS and groups such as these destroy pilgrimage sites whenever possible.
Pray for the conversion of Muslims!
End Notes
(1) Sheen, Fulton, The World’s First Love, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York (1952): 205-6.
(2) The Quran (sometimes spelled Koran) is the bible of Islam.
(3) Lings, Martin, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, Inner Traditions (rev. ed. October 6, 2006, orig. 1983), p. 101; an example of an Islamic scholar which accepts the Assumption of Mary as an historical fact.
(4) cf. trans. Arberry and Pickthall; Stowasser, Barbara Freyer, “Mary”, in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.
(5) Sheen, 208.
(6) Mary is called this in sura 66:12. The Arabic term means constant submission to God and absorption in prayer. These meanings coincide with Mary spending her childhood in the temple of prayer. This is likely based on a reference to apocryphal texts, but it is amazing how it supports her being the New Ark in the Temple of God.
(7) Sura 5 (Al-Ma’ida), ayat 73–75 and 66:12
(8) Quran 3.43
(9) Samir, Samir Khalil, “Millions of Muslims devoted to Our Lady and eager forexorcism,” July 26, 2013
(10) Quran 3.42
(11) Following her marriage, the princess received as prize the town which she called Ourém, after her name. Ourém remains the name of the municipality which contains the cities of both Ourém and Fatima.
(12) Samir, 2013.
NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HARVEY AND FOR OUR NATIONAL RESPONSE AND RECOVERY EFFORTS
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Hurricane Harvey first made landfall as a Category 4 storm near Rockport, Texas, on the evening of August 25, 2017. The storm has since devastated communities in both Texas and Louisiana, claiming many lives, inflicting countless injuries, destroying or damaging tens of thousands of homes, and causing billions of dollars in damage. The entire Nation grieves with Texas and Louisiana. We are deeply grateful for those performing acts of service, and we pray for healing and comfort for those in need.
Americans have always come to the aid of their fellow countrymen — friend helping friend, neighbor helping neighbor, and stranger helping stranger — and we vow to do so in response to Hurricane Harvey. From the beginning of our Nation, Americans have joined together in prayer during times of great need, to ask for God’s blessings and guidance. This tradition dates to June 12, 1775, when the Continental Congress proclaimed a day of prayer following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and April 30, 1789, when President George Washington, during the Nation’s first Presidential inauguration, asked Americans to pray for God’s protection and favor.
When we look across Texas and Louisiana, we see the American spirit of service embodied by countless men and women. Brave first responders have rescued those stranded in drowning cars and rising water. Families have given food and shelter to those in need. Houses of worship have organized efforts to clean up communities and repair damaged homes. Individuals of every background are striving for the same goal — to aid and comfort people facing devastating losses. As Americans, we know that no challenge is too great for us to overcome.
As response and recovery efforts continue, and as Americans provide much needed relief to the people of Texas and Louisiana, we are reminded of Scripture’s promise that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Melania and I are grateful to everyone devoting time, effort, and resources to the ongoing response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. We invite all Americans to join us as we continue to pray for those who have lost family members or friends, and for those who are suffering in this time of crisis.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 3, 2017, as a National Day of Prayer for the Victims of Hurricane Harvey and for our National Response and Recovery Efforts. We give thanks for the generosity and goodness of all those who have responded to the needs of their fellow Americans. I urge Americans of all faiths and religious traditions and backgrounds to offer prayers today for all those harmed by Hurricane Harvey, including people who have lost family members or been injured, those who have lost homes or other property, and our first responders, law enforcement officers, military personnel, and medical professionals leading the response and recovery efforts. Each of us, in our own way, may call upon our God for strength and comfort during this difficult time. I call on all Americans and houses of worship throughout the Nation to join in one voice of prayer, as we seek to uplift one another and assist those suffering from the consequences of this terrible storm.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
I was thinking of the sorrows of my Celestial Mama, and my lovable Jesus, moving in my interior, told me: “My daughter, I was the first King of sorrows, and being Man and God, I had to centralize everything within Me in order to have primacy over everything, even over sorrows. Those of my Mama were nothing other than the reverberations of mine which, being reflected in Her, made Her share in all my sorrows which, piercing Her, filled Her with such bitterness and pain that She felt Herself dying at each reverberation of my sorrows. But love sustained Her and gave Her life again. Therefore, not only for honor, but also by right of justice, She was the first Queen of the immense sea of Her sorrows.” While He was saying this, I seemed to see my Mama in front of Jesus, and everything that Jesus contained, the sorrows and the piercings of that Most Holy Heart, were reflected in the Heart of the sorrowful Queen. At those reflections, many swords formed in the Heart of the pierced Mama; and these swords were marked by a Fiat of light, in which She was circumfused, in the midst of so many Fiats of most refulgent light which gave Her so much glory that there are no words to narrate it.
Then, Jesus continued, saying: “It was not the sorrows that constituted my Mama as Queen and made Her shine with so much glory, but it was my omnipotent Fiat, which was braided to Her every act and sorrow, and constituted Itself life of each of Her sorrows. So, my Fiat was the first act that formed the sword, giving Her the intensity of pain It wanted. My Fiat could place all the sorrows It wanted in that pierced Heart, adding piercings upon piercings, pains upon pains, without a shadow of the slightest resistance. On the contrary, She felt honored that my Fiat would constitute Itself life of even a heartbeat of Hers; and my Fiat gave Her complete glory and constituted Her true and legitimate Queen.
Now, who will be the souls in whom I can reflect the reverberations of my sorrows and of my very Life? Those who will have my Fiat as life. This Fiat will make them absorb my reflections, and I will be generous in sharing with them that which my Will operates in Me. Therefore, in my Will do I await souls, to give them the true dominion and the complete glory of each act and pain that they may suffer. The operating and suffering outside of my Will I do not recognize; I could say: ‘I have nothing to give you; what is the will that animated you in doing and suffering this? Get your reward from that one.’ Many times, doing good or suffering, if my Will is not present in them, can be miserable slaveries which degenerate into passions, while it is my Will alone that gives true dominion, true virtues, true glory, such as to transform the human into divine.”
Joy is clearly the unerring criterion, the spiritual barometer that directs us concerning our spiritual life. A Carthusian monk understood this perfectly:
“Sadness is looking at oneself; Joy is looking at God.”
***
Above excerpt is from Jean-Charles Nault, O.S.B., The Noonday Devil, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press 2015), 143
