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Act of Consecration

by Filed Under: 03 March, Annunciation, Consecration, Marian, Total Consecration

In honor of my family’s recent renewal of our Total Consecration, I am sharing with you a printable Act of Consecration.

You are free to print and share this printable.

AD JESUM PER MARIAM

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Act of Consecration - Feast of the Annunciation 3.25 - full color

Full Color – Printable Act of Consecration

White – Printable Act of Consecration

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After Consecration

from Fish Eaters

Once you have consecrated yourself to Jesus through Mary, live that consecration. St. Louis-Marie de Montfort recommended the following:

  • Keep praying to develop a “great contempt” for the spirit of this world
  • Maintain a special devotion to the Mystery of the Incarnation (e.g., through meditation; spiritual reading; focusing on Feasts centering around the Incarnation, such as the Annunciation and the Nativity, etc.)
  • Frequently recite the Ave, Rosary, and the Magnificat
  • Recite, every day if it is not inconvenient, the “Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin” — a series of Paters, Aves, and Glorias — one Ave for each star in the Virgin’s Crown. St. Louis has a special way of praying the Little Crown, which is recommended.
  • Do everything through, with, in and for Mary for the sake of Jesus, with the prayer, “I am all thine Immaculate One, with all that I have: in time and in eternity” in your heart and on your lips
  • Associate yourself with Mary in a special way before, during, and after Communion (see Supplement of the book, “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary” above)
  • Wear a little iron chain (around the neck, arm, waist, or ankle) as an outward sign and reminder of holy slavery. This practice is optional, but very recommended by St. Louis. The appearance of this chain is not further specified.
  • Renew the consecration once a year on the same date chosen above, and by following the same 33-day period of exercises. If desired, also renew the consecration monthly with the prayer, “I am all thine and all I have is thine, O dear Jesus, through Mary, Thy holy Mother.”
  • Optional: Join the Confraternity of Mary, Queen of All Hearts. Their address:
    Director, Confraternity of Mary Queen of All Hearts
    26 South Saxon Avenue
    Bay Shore, NY 11706

Yes Day

by Filed Under: 03 March, Annunciation, Picture Recap

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a beautiful feast day that is also known as YES Day in our home.

We usually start the day with Mass and a renewal of our vows of Total Consecration to Mary.  Last year didn’t go as planned.  This year was almost a repeat.  Rose, Papi and Sparkles were all sick.  In addition, I was becoming preoccupied with prepping for a special dinner with Father M & Father Louis Baudon de Mony.  Dad was running on 3 hours of sleep.  The trials were building up.

Praise God that we did not let these very small obstacles steal our joy. 

We did not get to attend Mass but we did complete a renewal of vows in our home as a family. 

We were also able to keep our tradition — our simple way to celebrate the big feast day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Dad and I say yes all day to all reasonable requests.  The children are also encouraged to say a profound and JOYfilled yes to all requests asked of them.  In addition, the children must give all praise to God for the granting of their requests.

Let’s just say there was plenty of praise giving happening in our home.  Deo gratias!

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This was my yes to dad.  He asked me to turn my Marian ParFIAT into a Marian SmoothYES with whip cream on top, of course.  And If you give a dad some whip cream, he’ll find some kids to spray.

Notice that my littles already had a popsicle, a result of dad’s earlier yes.

ALL FOR!

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

by Filed Under: 03 March, Annunciation, Marian

"Ecce ancilla Domini; fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum." ~ Luke 1:38

Annunciation BVM  THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

New Calendar – Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
FIRST CLASS / WHITE
Every year this feast recalls anew Mary’s reply to God’s angelic messenger: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word." Every work of the Creator is called to perfection, and perfection consists in obedience. The heavens and the earth inevitably announce the glory of God, but to human beings alone God granted a free will to serve Him. At the Annunciation, the obedience of Mary brought Christ down on earth to save fallen humanity. we, too, are called upon to co-operate with the Creator. The glory of God awaits our human word of obedient consent.

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Colloquy:

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Not only is God the Son with you, to whom you gave your blood, but also God the Holy Spirit, by means of whose operation you conceived, and also God the Father, who generated from all eternity Him whom you conceived. The Father, who gives you His Son, is with you; the Son is with you, who, wishing to accomplish a prodigious mystery, conceals Himself in. your maternal bosom without violating your virginal integrity; the Holy Spirit is with you, who, together with the Father and the Son, sanctifies you. God is truly with you" (St. Bernard).  

"0 Mary, my sweet love, you opened to the eternal Divinity the door of your will, and the Word immediately became incarnate within you. BY THIS YOU TEACH ME THAT GOD,  WHO CREATED ME WITHOUT MY HELP, WILL NOT SAVE ME WITHOUT IT…but knocks at the door of my will and waits for me to open it to Him.  (St. Catherine of Siena) 

O Mother Mary, I beg you to teach me and help me always to open wide the door of my soul to every divine appeal, to every solicitation of grace. At each manifestation of the divine will, may I repeat with you a humble, prompt, " Ecce, fiat!"

~ Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen OCD (Divine Intimacy)

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"Like Mary, let us be full of zeal to go in haste to give Jesus to others. She was full of grace when, at the annunciation, she received Jesus. Like her, we too become full of grace every time we receive Holy Communion. It is the same Jesus whom she received and whom we receive at Mass. As soon as we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let us go in haste to give Him to our sisters, to our poor, to the sick, to the dying, to the lepers, to the unwanted, and the unloved. By this we make Jesus present in the world today." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

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RESOURCES:

 

 

 

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"O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen" (Memorare).

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

by Filed Under: Annunciation, Marian, The Annunciation

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“A servant of Him who is Love, will never ask why? Mary did not ask this question, neither during the Annunciation, nor at the foot of the Cross of her Son.”  (In the Arms of Mary, pg. 148)

On this day we have a tradition of saying “YES” as often as possible to the requests in our home.  The little children find such JOY in this practice.  They cherish this opportunity and are certain to be thoughtful about their requests.

They in turn are to work on their “YES.”

Below is some brief info on this Solemnity taken from Catholic Culture.

This feast is very important in the defense of the life of unborn children. Even with small children, this is a good day to begin teaching about the high value God places on human life. He loved us so much that he became one of us, took on our human nature and became an innocent, completely dependent infant.

The children and I will view baby G’s sonogram pictures and discuss the gift of life, all life.

This is a Solemnity, so when this feast falls during the Lenten season, our Lenten penance obligations are lifted. We should celebrate by some special food or dinner. This feast day forecasts the blessed event of Christmas, and illustrates how the liturgical year is an endless circle of days…..A perfect symbolic food would be an angel food cake for the archangel Gabriel, baked in a tube pan for the endless circle, decorated with the frosting highlighted with blue for Mary.
 
We will make our favorite blueberry muffins found at Catholic Cuisine and may have waffles for dinner.

Fra Angelico – The Annunciation. Fresco. San Marco, Florence (detail)

Last year’s post on the Annunciation
Annunciation & Consecration

Consecrated to Jesus, Through Mary, so that we might live for the Glory of God alone.

by Filed Under: Annunciation, Consecration, Mary Garden, The Annunciation

Mary’s Days are always a JOYous time for us. The Solemnity of the Annunciation is most special to our family. It is our renewal day of our Total Consecration. We attended Mass in the morning and renewed our consecration. Later, Sparkles and Sweetie acted out the Annunciation for their Nana & Papa. Rose made Angel food cupcakes topped with heaven’s clouds (whip cream) and strawberries. (YUMMY!) We also had goodies given to us from Father D. He is so generous with his gifts. May God Bless him and all our priests.
Later, we started our new Mary’s garden. For Sparkle’s 4th birthday we had a Mary party and all guests helped us plant a flower in our Mary garden. It was a sad farewell when we moved. Now at our new home, we’ve decided to add one flower for each Marian feast day. For the Annunciation we planted Marigolds (Mary’s bud) in a container. Yes, sadly the Mary’s garden will be in planters due to our lovely miniature yard that is not landscaped. We couldn’t wait another year! WE LOVE MARY!!!

Sparkle’s 4th Birthday – Mary Garden Party



The Our Lady of Guadalupe was found at Wal-Mart for $40.00!!!

A Mary Garden Prayer
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,As our hearts are raised to you in love and thanksgiving through the light, grace, fragrance and symbolism of these pure, blest, transfigured flowers of Our Lady – your direct creations, showing forth and sharing with us your divine goodness, beauty and truth – we commune with you in awe and rapture and pray that we and all our brothers and sisters may be opened to the fullness of the divine love of God and Neighbor, through which we are to transform the fallen world into the culminating earthly Peaceable Kingdom and Paradise, that all may be lifted up resplendent in the eternal New Heaven and New Earth of our Crucified and Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

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