Somethings about Mary in December 2010
Many, many thanks to Alicja, Bruno, Ciara, Daniel, Donata, Emily, Gabriel, Gina, Gregoire, John, Joseph, Josephine, Lisette, Luisa, Margaret, Marianne, Marie, Monica, Noreen, Patricia, Rebeca, Samuel, Shannon, Stefania & Wilbert for giving their 'Something about Mary' in December.
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1st December - Marie
"I discovered Mary more last year during a year I spent in a school of mission in Rome where we really learned how to live with Mary and how to deepen our faith with her. She is the one who really leads us to Jesus - that is why in some of the mysteries of the rosary we meditate to Jesus through Mary and I am quite conscious of this: Mary is really the way to Jesus, who is the way to the Father. So Mary for me is very important; I pray to her through the rosary, I ask her for her help especially in times of difficulty for prayer, in difficulties. She is also a great help for purity, purity of heart, for humility and she is my model of how to grow in faith, how to grow in acceptance of the will of God for me in my life."
Marie is 26 & from France; she gives her quelque chose de Marie in English & French.
2nd December - John
"What Mary means to me is obviously the Mother of God, but somebody who was very down to earth, not aristocracy just a normal girl who answered God's call."
John is from England.
3rd December - Feast of St Francis Xavier - Patricia
"Our Lady for me basically is always there. Our Lady of Perpetual Help is my daily prayer and also my rosary is my daily prayer. I think especially in these difficult times, without her, without the gift of the rosary and the beautiful prayers that surround Our Lady, I think my life would be very difficult to deal with on a day to day basis. However, in saying that, I have a very wonderful life and I think I am truly blessed and I think a lot of my blessings come through her."
4th December - Margaret
"Really for me, Our Lady is a great role model as a mother."
Margaret is 29 & from England.
5th December - Samuel
"Mary is really the one I can trust when I am facing difficulties and I am struggling. She is the one I can call for help and she will answer...
Marie est la personne en qui je peux avoir totale confiance et au moment je rencontre des difficultés c'est à elle que je fais appel et elle répond."
Samuel is 23 & from France.
6th December - Luisa
"Our Lady is a great intercessor. Whenever I feel sad and despair and I feel I don't deserve mercy, I can always go to Our Lady because I know she knows how to plead my case to God. And I know that she sees how little and pathetic we can sometimes be and yet that doesn't stop her from wanting to implore Our Lord with all the love and the devotion of a mother."
Luisa is 26 & from London.
7th December - Stefania
"As an adult now I think of the Virgin Mary as my spiritual mother … she seems to be always there and she is a beautiful image to relate to, as a woman to woman as well."
Stefania is from Italy; she gives her qualcosa su Maria in English & Italian.
8th December - Feast of the Immaculate Conception - Emily
"Mary is one of my closest friends; she is so close to my heart, I turn to her for all the things I feel sad about and happy about. She is truly a mother to me and I feel her presence all of the time, all of the time. She is sometimes more there than Jesus is, so yeh, she is my connection to him."
Emily is 19 and half Chilean; she gives her algo de María in English & Spanish.
9th December - Ciara
"Mary to me is a symbol of love and strength, particularly in motherhood."
Ciara is 32 and from Ireland.
10th December - Gabriel
"I believe that Mary is the mother of all. She is the one who inspires us and if you want to get to the Lord, you go through Mary and pray through her."
Gabriel is from Kenya.
11th December - Gregoire
"Mary is our mother who prays for us, intercedes for us, who is our example. Her yes is an example to us in our lives and, in all of this, she points us to Jesus."
Gregoire is from London.
12th December - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Rebeca
"I feel so close to Mary and now I am really happy because I am getting married on 12th December, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And I believe that Mary brought into my life my fiance because he is a gift from God to me. So I just can say that Mary is my mother, she is always with me, I love her and I am really happy because I am Catholic and I have this precious mother in my life."
Rebeca is 29 & from Brazil; she gives her 'algo sobre Maria' in English & Portuguese.
13th December - Marianne
"Mary, saint mother and saint queen of heaven and earth, my saint mother and my saint queen, I adore you, I trust in you and I thank you deeply for you being in my life and the life of my family.
Marie, très sainte mère et sainte reine du ciel et de la terre, ma très sainte mère et ma très sainte reine, je vous adore, j'ai confiance en vous et je vous remercie énormément pour toutes les choses que vous faites pour moi, pour être dans ma vie et dans la vie de ma famille."
Marianne is 34 & originally from Togo.
14th December - Joseph
"From that day on I've looked at Mary as a very living being rather than just as an icon or a way into praying. So for me, Mary is certainly a very living person and always will be."
Joseph is from the UK.
15th December - Monica
"For me Mary is my company, my mother, my help, my true everything in my life."
Monica is from Colombia; she gives her "algo de María" in English & Spanish.
16th December - Bruno
"For me Mary is the one who has taught me how to pray through the rosary and how to meditate different mysteries of Christ's life.
Pour moi Marie, c'est celle qui m'a appris à prier à travers le rosaire parce qu'en méditant le rosaire on découvre différents mystères de la vie du Christ"
Bruno is 26 & from France.
17th December - Wilbert
"I love Mama Mary, I am utterly devoted to Mama Mary. I always pray the holy rosary because she is the mother of all."
Wilbert is from the Philippines.
18th December - Gina
"I am very devoted to Mother Mary because I believe she is the Immaculate Conception and she is the purest Mother and she is the mother of our Jesus Christ. So I believe that if I pray with her, to her, all my prayers will be answered because she is the closest to Jesus."
Gina is from the Philippines.
19th December - Josephine
"I love Our Lady: she is the Queen of Heaven and at the same time she has the most complete humility, she never pushes herself forward. In fact I think some women in our day have trouble with this because they've been taught that if women aren't up there shouting with everybody else, they're not doing anything, and Our Lady is the perfect refutation of that. She did everything she did quietly, she noticed everything, she looked at everything and she pondered in her heart. We can only thank God for the grace of having Mary as our mother."
Josephine is from England.
20th December - Daniel
"For me, Mary is a model of discipleship. She is the first disciple of Jesus and she was with him all the time - since the very beginning until his death and resurrection. So that pushes me to be as Mary: a disciple of Jesus. Also to bring the Gospel to all the people as Mary did: at Cana, to her cousin Elizabeth, or to be available for the faith as she was at Cana, or to be with the Church, the new born Church at Pentecost, to be with the suffering as Mary was at the foot of the Cross. And also to approach people with mercy, simplicity and humility."
Daniel is from Spain; he gives his algo de María in English & Spanish.
21st December - Noreen
"Our Blessed Mother took me by the hand and led me to her son Jesus and my life has never been the same since … Since that time, with the grace of Our Blessed Mother always with me and in my heart, I've been given the strength and the courage to do things I never thought would be possible in my whole life and now my greatest joy is saving souls. I just want to work for Jesus and Mary to bring people back to our heavenly Father."
Noreen is from the United Kingdom.
22nd December - Alicja
"Holy Mary, she is my lady, she is my queen and she is the Immaculate Conception. If I stay with her so close, I won't be afraid of anything, anything."
Alicja is from Poland and gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.
23rd December - Donata
"For me, Mary was a woman who sacrificed, who was innocent, who was dedicated to her son."
Donata is 29 and from Lithuania.
24th December - Lisette
"Our Lady, she's a mother to me, she's a teacher, she's a friend, she's my counsellor, she's my protectrice. She's my advocate because, without her, I don't know what I would have been; without her in my life, I don't think I would have had Jesus in my life. She is always there for me."
Lisette is from Cameroon.
25th December - Christmas Day - Shannon
"The role of Mary in my life has become more and more important. I think too often she is seen as a passive character, somebody who sits behind Jesus or just holds him as a small child until he is old enough to go off and do his own ministry and then she gets forgotten about. But Mary actually has a very active role in the Church and if you ask her to come and have an active role in your life, she will, and she is amazing at looking after you and looking after those things that you can't cope with. Offer it up to her, ask her for her guidance and intercession, and she will look after you and she will go above and beyond your expectation. She is such a wonderful mother to have - so if you haven't already, start praying to Mary because it is something that you are never going to regret. And even if you are unsure, just try it, because there is no harm in trying it - just try trusting her because she is an awesome mother."
Shannon is 19 and from England.