Somethings about Mary in July 2010
Many, many thanks to Anne, Anne, Anne-Marie, Benjamin, Benedict, Father Bosco, Catherine, Celine, Cherrie, Christel, Dan, Ella, Gabriel, Gavin Stewart Angelo, Geoff, Gina, Ivy, Josefina, Julie, Kyle, Marguerite, Maria, Mattia, Molly, Monica, Moses, Nora, Patrick, Sundari, Victoria & Tomas for giving their 'something' about Mary.
This image is of Our Lady of Montserrat whom St Ignatius visited to begin his new life as a Christian, leaving his weapons at her feet after an all night vigil.
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1st July - Ivy 
"Mary for me is an example of what we would need to be to be a Christian: to offer ourselves up to Christ the whole time with our yes. At the same she is our mother, so I run to her for everything and anything, I run to her for guidance and help, and she is very close to me."
Ivy is 35 and from the Philippines.
2nd July - Maria
"Mary is the Mother of God and our mother, and she loves each of us more than all the mothers in the world together, and she is the easiest way to get to heaven."
Maria is 17 and from Argentina.
3rd July - Anne
"Mary is just a cozy, wonderful, all-embracing, understanding woman, who suffers the same as all the rest of us, who happened to love God more than most of us, who had great faith and great love, & who has been sent to be our mum really… & she's the mother of us all."
Anne is from England.
4th July - Kyle
"Mary has a wonderful calm about her with an endless love, that nothing can surprise her."
Kyle is 23 and from Scotland.
5th July - Dan
"Mary is the first Christian; that's not something I made up, it's from the Gospels. And she was the first to say yes to Jesus, despite all the consequences and that is a model for both men and women. And she is the first apostle; she showed us that in order to bring Christ to others we have to bear Him within us, physically and spiritually. And she is also my mother and there's not much I can say about that because my affection for her is not just theological but it's also human and natural; and I thank God for the peace I have every day for being secure in my mother and my father."
Dan is 29 and from the United States.
6th July - Nora
"Mary is the one who holds the universe with the hope that she brought to us in Jesus."
Nora is from Nicaragua and gives her algo de María in English & Spanish.
7th July - Gavin Stewart Angelo
"It is far more important to have a strong, unified family and I think as an icon Mary represents that, but far deeper than that she is the mother of Jesus and therefore has a great, deep significant role in our faith and helps us through our many trials."
Gavin is from England.
8th July - Monica
"Our Lady for me means the first holy person I ever heard of. My mum taught me to pray to Mary when I was 2 or 3 years old. As I've grown up, I've continued to love her and look to her, and when I was very ill 3 or 4 years ago I was invited to go to Lourdes."
Monica is from Ireland.
9th July - Gabrielle
"Quite recently I painted an icon of Mary and, as I built up the layers of tempura on the gesso, I felt that I was going through every stage of her life. And it was very painful, it was very joyous, and there was such an incredible message that she gave me, and all the pain that I felt she gave me comfort every step of the way. And to show the icon to other people, it seems to reach them."
Gabriel is from England.
10th July - Cherrie
"I think Mary is the perfect example of obedience and what it means to be totally surrendered to God."
Cherrie is 24 and from the Philippines. She is a member of the band Ooberfuse, which is in today's finals at the O2 arena of 'Live and Unsigned 2010'. We wish them the best of luck on this hot, hot day.
11th July - Moses
"I think that the Virgin Mary is a light for me and she is kind."
Moses is 10 and from England.
12th July - Julie
"Mary is, was, a woman of courage, great courage and boldness, and that is because she said yes to God."
Julie is from England.
13th July - Father Bosco
"For me, Mary is a holy mother and also my protector."
Father Bosco is a Franciscan priest from Taiwan; he gives his something about Mary in English & Mandarin.
14th July - Anne-Marie
"Mary to me is a lot of bright colours and smiles, and always thanking and praising people who do good. And she is like a light to me, and full of goodness. And she is like a bunch of flowers that won't ever dry up or wilt or die because she keeps on shining and spreading the word of God to everyone."
Anne-Marie is 10 and from Great Britain.
16th July - Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel - Mattia
"I want with all my heart to love the Virgin Mary, especially recently, because in the past I have been really far away from her love and the love of Jesus and the Father. I hope that through her I may be saved and she can guide me to do what the Father wants us to do in this life, to live as Jesus Christ said we should live. I pray to her and I ask Mary that I can always live full of life, full of joy and it's a lot for me. And I want to love her very, very much."
Mattia is 28 and from Italy.
17th July - Catherine
"I see Mary as someone with the biggest heart ever, stretching her hands out to us, trying to guide us along that correct road to heaven."
Catherine is from England.
18th July - Anne
"Mary to me gives me strength, she gives me hope, I trust in her, I pray to her every day and I offer up to her my children into her loving care because she is the mother of us all."
Anne is from Grenada.
19th July - Benjamin
"I started to get into the life of St John Bosco and he spoke a lot about how he was taught to salute Mary 3 times a day and how his faith was tied to the Eucharist and to Mary. So I started to gain a lot more respect to Mary and started to read into the prayers myself."
Benjamin is 30 and from England.
21st July - Josefina
"I think that Mary is our mother, so we have to tell her our problems, ask her favours, because we are her children and we have to thank her also for a lot of things."
Josefina is 18 and from Argentina; she gives her algo de María in English & Spanish.
22nd July - Ella
"For me, our Holy Mother is the mother of the Church and the mother of everyone who goes to Church and who prays in the Church; and she is a symbol of femininity and she looks out for women in the Church; and I think that it's important for us to know where we belong in relation to Christ and our role in relation to Christ, and for me Mary symbolises that - she's meek, mild, but she's a strong woman who does what God wants."
Ella is 18 and from London.
23rd July - Christel
"Mary brought the life that I thought I had lost back to me so she is my mother, she is my confident.. It doesn't happen that there is one day when I don't pray to her, or I don't thank her. She is my life, she is everything to me."
Christel is from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
24th July - Marguerite
"The Virgin Mary is a mother, she is a woman, she is a friend, she is somebody you can trust and she answers prayer, and she can take our prayers to her son any time."
Marguerite is from the Cameroon.
25th July - Feast of St James - Gina
"When I went to Medjugorje I had quite a conversion in my relationship with our Blessed Mother Mary. It was when I came to the Station of the Cross and I saw Jesus looking at his mother that I realised if Jesus needed her as his mother, then so did I."
Gina is from the UK.
26th July - Geoff
"The more I understand the relationship between Jesus and his mother, the more I can understand how important it is that I recognise her as my mother spiritually."
Geoff is from England.
27th July - Celine
"When I am feeling very low and despair, so I pray, I pray the rosary, I pray through Mother Mary and I say Hail, Holy Queen. It helps me a lot and it lifts me up and it cools me down and gives me strength, and it gives me hope, a big hope that Mother Mary is helping me and she is there, so I have nothing to fear for anything."
Celine is from India.
28th July - Patrick
"The thing that always strikes me about the Hail Mary - the first part is authentic biblical text from what Elizabeth says; the second half I think should be shouted because I think it's such a sensational thing to say .. Mother of God."
Patrick is from England.
29th July - Tomas
"What Saint Mary means to me - mainly the protector of health and my family, as I've experienced every time I pray."
Tomas is 16 and from the Czech Republic; he gives his something about Mary in English & Czech.
30th July - Victoria
"In our school play I was chosen to be Mary, which was quite special to me, and I think that her journey was pretty amazing and she must have been quite frightened when she saw the angel."
Victoria is 10 and from England.
31st July - Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola - Benedict
"I think Mary is special because she is the mother of Jesus, Son of God."
Benedict is 8 and from England.