Somethings about Mary in July 2014
Many, many thanks to Agnes, Sr Alakoka, Amanda, Andrea, Carol, Chris, Christoph, Christopher, David, Dermot, Elwira, Faustina, Helen, James, Johannes, John, John, Laura, Liam, Maria, Mario, Mary, Nicole, Patrick, Pauline, Pilar, Rosanna, Sherryl, Steven, Theresa & Wisam for giving their 'something' about Mary this month.
This photo was taken in the Basilica of St Anne, Altotting.
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If you'd like to give Our Lady a metaphorical bunch of flowers by saying your something about Mary, please, pretty please, contact the Totus2us team.
1st July - Chris 
"Mother Mary, I respect her and her courage for believing in God when the angel came to her and she trusted God's doing in having Jesus come to life and come to our presence."
Chris is 25 & from Newark, New York in the United States of America.
Our Lady's message to Mirjana Soldo, Medjugorje, 2nd July 2014:
"Dear children, I, the mother of all of you gathered here and the mother of the entire world, am blessing you with a motherly blessing and call you to set out on the way of humility. That way leads to coming to know the love of my Son. My Son is almighty, he is in everything. If you, my children, do not become cognizant of this, then darkness and blindness rule in your soul. Only humility can heal you. My children, I always lived humbly, courageously and in hope. I knew, I became cognizant that God is in us and we are in God. I am asking the same of you. I desire for all of you to be with me in eternity, because you are a part of me. I will help you on your way. My love will envelop you like a mantle and make of you apostles of my light – of God’s light. With the love that comes forth from humility you will bring light to where darkness and blindness rule. You will be bringing my Son who is the light of the world. I am always alongside your shepherds and I pray that they may always be an example of humility for you. Thank you."
2nd July - Rosanna 
"The Virgin Mary for me is someone very, very special. Always I believe in her from very little and she has always been with me in every moment I've needed."
Rosanna is from Peru and gives her algo de Maria in English & Spanish.
3rd July - Feast of St Thomas, the Apostle - John 
"Our Lady is the mother of Jesus Christ and she shows the way how I should accept the will of God and to be obedient to His guidance."
John, from Sri Lanka, gives his response in English & Tamil.
4th July - Sister Alakoka 
"Us, as Marists, we are called by Mary and she helps us to follow her spirit: her virtue of humility, because she is a very humble person, her simple simplicity and also her love, especially her hidden life, because she is always behind Jesus."
Sister Alakoka is a Marist Sister from Tonga.
5th July - David 
"I was an Anglican and I did not know Our Lady. I was invited to a pro-life protest a few years ago by a Catholic friend of mine and during that we prayed the rosary. This was the first time I'd ever prayed it and in doing so I remember being struck to my heart by having an awareness of Mary's humility, purity and love. In comparison to what I saw going on around me, her faith in holding onto the child, in her obedience in saying yes to God. That's what strikes me: her humility, her love, her purity and her faith."
David is 25 & from England.
6th July - Feast of St Maria Goretti - Pilar 
"To me the Virgin is basically the way to Christ. She’s our mother and by praying the rosary to her we get to Christ.
Nuestra Señora es la vía a Dios."
Pilar is from Spain.
7th July - Liam 
"Mother Mary is my life, my protector, my guide. She’s the one who shepherds me home to Jesus."
Liam is from Ireland.
8th July - Nicole 
"To me Mary is she who points the way. She’s the guide who points the way to Christ."
Nicole is originally from the US.
9th July - Feast of St Veronica Giuliani - Patrick 
"When I think about Our Lady I just think, in the universal context, of every single mother on earth, not just contemporary times but throughout history, and I think of the love and nurture that they bring through the babies. And then I think obviously to Our Lady, the Blessed Mary, bringing Jesus through his life."
Patrick is from London.
10th July - Amanda 
"I love her wisdom, I love her patience, and I love the fact that she’s a virgin. That’s what I love about Mary."
Amanda is from Nigeria.
11th July - Feast of St Benedict of Norcia - Christopher 
"Mary is very, very humble, to the extent that her greatest joy is just to continually point our eyes not to her but to her son, and we see this in iconography with her looking down at her son Jesus. And Mary's greatest joy came from pondering Jesus and the wonderful things she heard in her own heart, and she too wants us to ponder those things and to turn to Christ in all that we do. And that's why for me Mary is just so beautiful, because she is a perfect vessel for the divine beauty and the divine love which is her son Jesus."
Christopher is 27 & from England.
12th July - Wisam 
"For us Iraqis, Iraqi Christians, Mary means a lot to us . She’s our mother, our true mother. We love her so much. She’s the bridge to Jesus. We go always to her and through her to Jesus. She doesn’t keep anything for herself, she's very humble. So when you go to her she'll always lead you to Jesus and from Jesus in the Spirit to God the Father. "
Wisam is from Iraq.
15th July - Feast of Saint Bonaventure - Laura 
"The Lady Mary is the Mother of God, so for me she is my mother, my mother, and she does everything for me."
Laura is 30 & from Colombia; she gives her response in English & Spanish.
16th July - Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel - Pauline 
"Mother Mary is my mother. She’s a special mum to me."
Pauline is from the Cameroon & gives her response in English & her local language Aywondu (apologies about spelling!!).
17th July - John 
"Today is the feast of Our Lady of Humility and it’s very appropriate that such a feast day should be because it is chiefly because of her humility that she merited to receive all the graces and glory and grandeur that she received."
John is from Northern Ireland.
18th July - Andrea 
"When I’m feeling a bit down or wound up, I ask “Jesus, Mercy. Mary, help me.”"
Andrea is from London.
19th July - Theresa 
"Mary is my mother and my dearest friend and my chief confidante. And Mother Mary has helped me, especially when coming here to Our Lady of Willesden."
Theresa is from India.
20th July - Dermot 
"I’m devoted to The Immaculate Conception, and I go to Lourdes. And when you go to Lourdes and you see Our Blessed Lady it’s actually tangible."
Dermot is from Ireland.
21st July - Johannes 
"Mary will be the one that leads me towards Jesus and in my faith towards him. .. It's really interesting how my love towards her grows as I pray more and more to her. Also, I think what I've learned as well, during the rosary, I try to see the life of Jesus in the eyes of Mary and what that means for me."
Johannes is 27 & from New Zealand.
22nd July - Maria 
"Mary has been a mother. I love her so much, like my very own. .. She's there in my heart, because she's always there when I need her, when I want her. While all I have to say is 'Mary, help me' and she's there. I love her. That's it!"
Maria is from London.
23rd July - Feast of St Bridget of Sweden, Patron of Europe - Helen 
"For me, Mary is my role model. From that very first moment of the annunciation where Mary gave her fiat, from her faithfulness, from the fact that she was the mother of the Church, the Church in Christ was formed in her womb. The way she followed Christ on his way. She was there, she shared all of his sufferings, she shared all of his joys. And she was there at the foot of the Cross and she held the body of Jesus in her arms."
Helen is from England.
24th July - Elwira 
"For me, Our Lady is the symbol of the Church because through baptism we are given birth into Christ. Mary gave birth to her son Jesus. Our Lady, just like the Church, is holy and pure. And we should always remember her words 'Do whatever he tells you'. We should always keep this in our minds and ponder it in our hearts."
Elwira is from Poland & gives her response in English & Polish.
25th July - Feast of St James (Santiago) - Mario 
in Italian
"The Virgin is strictly connected to St James and to the pilgrims. In Spain and the Hispanic world she is called Our Lady of the Pilar (pilar meaning pillar, column). She is the Patroness of Spain. She appeared in early Christianity about the year 40 AD when James was preaching for the evangelisation of the Roman province of Hispagna, the present Spain and Portugal. He was having a difficult time, discouraged for the progress of his mission. Mary appeared to St James in that particular difficult time in a vision. She was standing on a pillar, accompanied by angels, and she assured James that eventually the land would be converted to the faith, a faith as strong as the column she was standing on. For us pilgrims this image is very present, particularly when we are walking the Way of Santiago, experiencing spiritual and physical difficulty. The Lady of Pillar has become a companion, walking with us and looking after us with the same care and dedication as she has been looking after St James in distress. .. What is interesting here is to remember that when the Virgin appeared to James in Zaragoza, she was still alive in Palestine. So here in this bilocation, we can see clearly how early Our Lady started to care for us."
Mario is from Venice.
Our Lady of Medjugorje's message to Marija Pavlović on 25 July 2014:
“Dear children! You are not aware of the graces that you are living at this time in which the Most High is giving you signs for you to open and convert. Return to God and to prayer, and may prayer begin to reign in your hearts, families and communities, so that the Holy Spirit may lead and inspire you to every day be more open to God’s will and to His plan for each of you. I am with you and with the saints and angels intercede for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
“¡Queridos hijos! Ustedes no son conscientes de las gracias que viven en este tiempo, en que el Altísimo les da señales para que se abran y se conviertan. Regresen a Dios y a la oración, y que en sus corazones, familias y comunidades reine la oración, para que el Espíritu Santo los guíe y los anime a estar cada día más abiertos a la voluntad de Dios y a Su plan para cada uno de ustedes. Yo estoy con ustedes, y con los santos y los ángeles intercedo por ustedes. Gracias por haber respondido a mi llamado."
"Cari figli! Voi non siete coscienti di quali grazie vivete in questo tempo in cui l’Altissimo vi dona i segni perché vi apriate e vi convertiate. Ritornate a Dio ed alla preghiera; nei vostri cuori, famiglie e comunità regni la preghiera perché lo Spirito Santo vi guidi e vi esorti ad essere ogni giorno, aperti sempre di più alla volontà di Dio ed al Suo piano su ciascuno di voi. Io sono con voi, e con i santi e gli angeli intercedo per voi. Grazie per aver risposto alla mia chiamata.”
26th July - Agnes 
"Our Lady, the heavenly queen, earthly glory, I love her. She is the joy of my life."
Agnes is from Ghana.
27th July - Carol 
"Relatively recently I came to a deeper understanding of Our Lady. I was praying about a particular situation and I felt the Lord saying, 'Take my mother. She is embracing you at the foot of the Cross.' So, whenever life gets problematic, I feel her embrace at the foot of the Cross. Amen."
Carol is from England.
28th July - James 
"To me Mary is the ultimate mother of mothers and she is someone who, as we bring our own child into the world, we will look to more and more for guidance."
James is from England.
29th July - Sherryl 
"Mary is my light and she intercedes for me when I pray to Jesus and our holy Father."
Sherryl is 35 & from the Philippines; she gives her response in English & Tagalog.
30th July - Faustina 
"Our Lady’s the mother of Jesus. She’s our mother who brought the Saviour to the world."
Faustina is from Ghana.
31st July - Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola - Christoph 
"Mary is for me an image of a mother and Mary is a great example of faith - she had very strong faith and she believed in God."
Christoph is 28 & from Germany; he gives his response in English & German.