Somethings about Mary in March 2013
Many, many thanks to Père Alexandre Julien, Anne-Catherine, Father Anton, Barbora, Benjamin, Brandon, Bridget, Bridget, Carolyn, Chris, Christian, Clemence, Elienne, Ellie, Emma, Father Eric, Erin, Gerry, Hannah, Ivan, Father John, Joseph, Kafele, Letizia, Sister Lucia, Matthew, Maura, Ollie, Pierre, Rod, Ryan & Samuel for giving their 'something' about Mary.
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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 March - Feast of St David - Joseph
"It was amazing that we were all gathered there because our Holy Father was departing and we loved him, but we all in that moment of sadness appealed to our Mother as well. We all were so different - we had different backgrounds, we had different languages - but we shared a Holy Father and we shared a Blessed Mother and, in praying to her, I’ve never felt so close to the Church, I've never felt so powerfully the gift of brotherhood and sisterhood within the Church by virtue of our Baptism. We're united in the Church, we're united by having a father, both in heaven and at the Vatican, but we're also united by our mother, and in her love and her 'yes' that gives us the opportunity to be courageous and to say yes to our daily crosses and our daily sacrifices. It's been very hard saying goodbye to Pope Benedict XVI, but I look to Mary to give me the strength to get through it, but more than the strength to get through it, the strength to grow through it, and to grow towards Christ and closer to my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Joseph is 18 & from the States.
2nd March - Emma
"I love Mary, I especially love Our Lady of Lourdes and how much she has healed me. And I never really understood the rosary at all until I prayed it 100 times and then it just came alive. I think that’s like that with everything in our faith. It’s sometimes hard to understand the Eucharist or the Bible or the rosary or Mary, but it’s going through that struggle to make it come alive, but then once it comes alive it never goes away. So to never give up, never give up on making the things of the faith come alive because they'll be the only things you can hold onto when God calls you to do crazy things and everyone doesn't understand."
Emma is from America.
Our Lady's message to Mirjana Soldo, Medjugorje, 2nd March 2013:
"Dear children, anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent his Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for not yet having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayer and fasting, by His cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – your shepherds. Thank you."
3rd March - Père Alexandre
"For me, Mary is a model, she's the spouse of the Holy Spirit and she's a model for me of how to welcome completely the Holy Spirit in our soul. So thanks be to Mary, to teach us how to open our heart to the Holy Spirit.
Marie est vraiment celle qui nous aide à s'ouvrir à l'Esprit Saint, à son action. Et par elle, par Marie, en fait, on peut apprendre, nous aussi, a laisser Jésus prendre forme en nous, comme elle-même après son oui au Seigneur et à l'Esprit Saint. Et bien Jésus a pris chair en elle et bien Marie nous aide. Pour moi, je vois même dans ma vie, elle m'aide à laisser dire oui au Seigneur pour que Jésus soit tout entière en moi."
Père Alexandre is from Quebec in Canada & gives his quelque chose de Marie in English & French.
4th March - Erin
"Mary has a special place in my heart as my mother and she really brings me closer to Christ. I learn so much about loving Jesus just by loving her. And she lets me be little because I’m so unworthy and she’s so perfect that she always brings me to Jesus. And I’ve just learned always to hold her hand and she'll always lead me to Christ."
Erin is 19 & from Indianna in the United States.
5th March - Christian
"Per me Maria significa tutto.
Maria bedeutet für mich alles."
Christian is from Switzerland & gives his etwas über Maria in Italian & German.
6th March - Hannah
"For me Mary is the Mother of God and, especially as I write my thesis on the theology of Pope Benedict XVI, I ask for her guidance and I have commended all of my academic work to her, and I know that she leads me towards my vocation and sainthood."
Hannah is from California in the United States.
7th March - Kafele
"Mary is the mother of Jesus and mother of all the world. Like a mother, I love her like a mother, I love her so much. I love Jesus, I believe in Jesus."
Kafele is from Eritrea and gives his something about Mary in English & Tigrinya.
8th March - Father Eric
"I experience so many times that Mary is our mother when she is at the foot of the Cross. When we are in different pains or suffering we can really ask Mary to help us to find a peace and when we pray the rosary we experience each time a great peace and a great compassion given by Mary. She is the Mother of Compassion and she can help us to overcome all our suffering and difficulties.
J'ai expérimenté de nombreux fois la présence de Marie, Marie au pied de la Croix, qui nous rejoint à nos propres souffrances."
Père Eric is from France & gives his quelque chose de Marie in English & French.
9th March - Ivan
"Mary is everything to me. She’s my mother who always protects me and guides me. She’s the one who leads me to Jesus, especially when I’m in most need. I am a seminarian preparing to be a priest and I know that it is thanks to her, through her intercession and thanks to her prayers, that I will make it until the end, till the ordination, and not only that but she's going to be the one that's going to help me to be a holy priest. ..
Para mí, María es todo. María es mi madre, que siempre me protege y siempre me guía."
Ivan is from Houston, Texas & gives his something about Mary in English & Spanish.
11th March - Anne-Catherine
"Marie est ma Maman."
Anne-Catherine is from Switzerland & gives her quelque chose de Marie in French.
12th March - Bridget
"Mary’s relationship has recently been growing with me, especially since this year because i decided to consecrate myself to Mary. And I never really thought too much about Mary, I always thought more of Jesus at the centre. But then this year someone told me about a new book that was a new consecration to Mary and it focuses on four saints, Maximilian Kolbe, John Paul II, Mother Teresa and Louis de Montfort, and it really taught me to appreciate Our Lady. Ever since then I just feel she's been watching over me and protecting me."
Bridget is 19 & from Long Island, New York.
13th March - Barbora
"I used to pray the rosary for a long time but in the past when I prayed the rosary I felt that the prayer was quite empty. But one day I really wanted to change it and I said to Mary, ‘Mary, please, please, please, I want to have a relationship with you.’ And since this moment, everything changed for me and this prayer to pray the rosary became very full for me and very alive."
Barbora is 20 & from the Czech Republic. She gives her něco o Marii in English & Czech.
14th March - Sister Lucia
"I’m really happy now and my Mary is always in my mind, my heart, my whole life. I love Mary."
Sister Lucia, from South Korea, is a sister of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
15th March - Matthew
"We're very excited that Pope Francis, Papa Francesco, expressed his love for Our Lady by going to visit an image of Our Lady in Santa Maria Maggiore, going to pray in front of the ancient image of Salus Populi Romani, the 'health of the people of Rome'. It's an image that so many people have turned to in times of sickness in the city, in times of plague, and Our Lady has always come through for them. .. By being a child in front of Our Lady and really asking for her help, asking for her prayers in front of Our Lord, that’s the way to go in so many different problems that arise in our lives."
Matthew is 23 & a seminarian from California in the United States.
16th March - Ryan
"Our Lady just has a really special place in my heart. I recently felt called to draw to her, to pray to her, and what I found is this mother who is so enriching of us and so generous to us. "
Ryan is 20 & from the United States.
17th March - Feast of Saint Patrick - Ollie & Bridget
Ollie: "Quite honestly, thanks be to God, I never lost my faith along the way and it’s still as strong as ever. 40 years of marriage we, myself and my good wife, still pray together. The rosary is very, very dear to me and if I didn’t say a rosary in the day, something would be wrong. ...
Bridget: "I pray to Mary every morning and night and I’ve done that with my husband for the last 40 years."
Ollie & Bridget are from Ireland and celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary today - many, many congratulations & blessings on this happy day!
18th March - Ellienne
"One thing that really sticks out to me about Mary is a year ago I was praying devotions to Mary at the same time as taking a psychology class and I really meditated on the role of motherhood in the development of the lives of children and particularly how Mary must have been an influence on Jesus, the Christ child. And that just really struck me as a really human understanding of the Holy Family."
Ellienne is 20 & from Conker, New Hampshire in the USA.
Our Lady's annual message to Mirjana in Medugorje, 18 March 2013:
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."
19th March - Feast of Saint Joseph - Benjamin
"Para mí, la Santísima Virgen María es la persona a quien he confiado mi vocación .. Ella es mi madre, mi amigo, en cierta manera mi esposo."
Benjamin is from Mexico & gives his algo acerca de María in Spanish.
20th March - Father Anton
"I remember my first meeting with Cardinal Bergoglio. When he came to our college one year ago and addressed us students, he said we should be always faithful to three ladies. First of all is the Virgin Mary, Our Lady, to be devoted and faithful to her. Then the Church: Mary is the Mother of the Church, and loving Mary, we love the Church. The third lady is our soul: we should love and care for our soul. He said loving one lady, we love both the others, so it's very linked together. I appreciate very much this simple and profound spiritually based on Mary, love for the Church and for one's soul. So this is what I remember of my very personal experience with Pope Francis."
Father Anton is from Latvia. (This was recorded after Pope Francis' inauguration Mass on the Feast of St Joseph ... hence the background noise/organ music.)
22nd March - Brandon
"For me Mary is my heavenly Mama. She’s everything to me. She helps me when I’m feeling bad and she loves me in a way that only a mother truly can."
Brandon is 21 & from the United States of America.
23rd March - Maura
"I wasn’t so very close to Mary before and going on this pilgrimage made me realise like just being able to trust her more and more, because she is our mother and she loves us so much and she wants to bring us to her our Lord Jesus. And her mantle, she just wraps you around. So this whole pilgrimage I've just been learning more about her and just to trust her more, and it's helped me to trust Jesus even more. So, trust."
Maura is 19 & from the US.
24th March - Palm Sunday & the 28th World Youth Day - Chris
"The Blessed Mother is always there for us, she’s always watching out for us, and she wants nothing more than for you to be like John, to just take her into your home. What other better thing can we do than to do what he said on the Cross: ''Behold your mother. Mother, behold your son.' So I encourage you at every step of the way: if you're having trouble, if you're enthused, if you just don't know what to do, go to Our Lady, always stay close to Our Lady, because she'll do nothing more than point you towards her son."
Chris is 30 & a seminarian from the United States.
25th March - (as we're in Holy Week, Feast of Annunciation has been moved to 8 April) - Rod
"I just love Our Lady, she’s wonderful and she always helps me just to put Jesus in the first place, which needs a lot of hard work where she’s concerned but I’m so grateful to her for everything."
Rod is from England.
Happy Birthday to you, dear Rod ... here's wishing you a very blessed, joyfilled year ahead ♥
Our Lady of Medjugorje's message to Marija Pavlović, 25 March 2013:
“Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
“¡Queridos hijos! En este tiempo de gracia, los invito a tomar en sus manos la cruz de mi amado Hijo Jesús y a meditar acerca de Su Pasión y Muerte. Que vuestros sufrimientos estén unidos a Su sufrimiento y así vencerá el amor, porque El, que es el amor, por amor se dio a sí mismo para salvar a cada uno de ustedes. Oren, oren, oren hasta que el amor y la paz reinen en sus corazones. Gracias por haber respondido a mi llamado."
"Cari figli! In questo tempo di grazia vi invito a prendere fra le mani la croce del mio amato Figlio Gesù e a contemplare la Sua passione e morte. Le vostre sofferenze siano unite alla Sua sofferenza e l’amore vincerà, perché, Lui che è l’Amore, ha dato se stesso per amore per salvare ciascuno di voi. Pregate, pregate, pregate affinché l’amore e la pace comincino a regnare nei vostri cuori. Grazie per aver risposto alla mia chiamata.”
26th March - Clemence
"Pour moi, la Sainte Vierge c'est l’Étoile de la mer, celle que l'on regard pendant la tempête, à qui l'on s'addresse dans la tempête. Elle ne fait pas de bruit, c'est le silence mais qui permet de rentrer en soi-même et de se tourner vers elle au moment de la tempête. Donc, l'Étoile de la mer, guide de notre chemin."
Clemence is from France & gives her quelque chose de Marie in French.
27th March - Father John
"I’m in love with the Blessed Virgin because she loves us so much and leads us to her son, who cares for us and wants us to go closer to her."
Father John is 27 & from the United States.
28th March - Holy Thursday - Ellie
"I look to Mary to bring me close to Jesus, especially during the Mass and at Eucharist my friends told me that praying a Hail Mary on the way to the altar we can ask Mary to enter into our hearts so that Jesus will come and live in them as a home with Mary as his mother. "
Ellie is from the United States.
29th March - Good Friday - Pierre
"Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâces, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes, et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs, maintenant, et à l'heure de notre mort. Amen."
Pierre is from Versailles in France & for his quelque chose de Marie he sings the Ave Maria in French.
30th March - Holy Saturday - Gerry
"There is a wonderful old Marian hymn that I used to sing when I was a young boy growing up, 'O Mary, We Crown Thee With Blossoms Today' .. It was a hymn that I'd forgotten over many years until about 10 years ago I heard it played and there was a verse that really struck me deeply and it goes: 'How dark without Mary, life's journey would be.' And that's exactly the way I felt because I'd pretty much stopped my devotion to Our Lady for 20 or 30 years, and that just struck me and I said 'it's time to turn back to Our Lady, to pray to her to lead me to Jesus again.' And it sure worked and for that I'm eternally grateful because it is so true how dark without Mary life's journey would be."
Gerry is from Vermont in the USA.
31st March - Easter Sunday - Carolyn
"I think Our Lady brought me to the Church ... I knew instinctively that I needed to be able to be her friend, that I needed to be able to pray with her and to her, and so I think she has been very important to me. I came to the Church when I was 18 through her intercession and she has been my treasured companion ever since. So, I love her."
Carolyn is from Vermont in the United States.