Somethings about Mary in September 2016
Many, many thanks to ... for giving their 'something' about Mary this month.
This painting of the Madonna and child is in the Church of St Stanislaus in Dulverton, England.
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1st September - Rachel 
"Today I’m thinking particularly of Mary as Mother of a son who died because today is the day that my own son died a year ago. So I go to her for consolation and realise that in his case it had such a glorious outcome, and I try and work out how any kind of good outcome can come from my own marvellous, brillilant son's death."
Rachel is from London.
Our Lady's message to Mirjana Soldo, Medjugorje, 2nd September 2016:
"Dear children, according to the will of my Son and my motherly love, I am coming to you, my children, but especially to those who have not yet come to know the love of my Son. I am coming to you who think of me and who invoke me. To you, I am giving my motherly love and I am carrying the blessing of my Son. Do you have pure and open hearts, and do you see the gifts, the signs of my presence and love? My children, in your earthly life, be led by my example. My life was pain, silence and immeasurable faith and trust in the Heavenly Father. Nothing is by chance: neither pain, nor joy, nor suffering, nor love. All of these are graces which my Son grants to you and which lead you to eternal life. Of you, my Son asks for love and prayer in Him. As a mother I will teach you: to love and to pray in Him means to pray in the silence of your soul and not only reciting with your lips; it is even the least beautiful gesture done in the name of my Son - it is patience, mercy, the acceptance of pain and sacrifice done for the sake of another. My children, my Son is looking at you. Pray that you also may see His face and that it may be revealed to you. My children, I am revealing to you the only and real truth. Pray that you may comprehend it and be able to spread love and hope; that you may be able to be apostles of my love. In a special way, my motherly heart loves the shepherds. Pray for their blessed hands. Thank you."
2nd September - Mary 
"Our Blessed Lady keeps us going, Our Lady helps keeps us going, keeps us on our feet at all times. So without her we wouldn't be able to go anywhere, would we? Strong!"
Mary is from England.
3rd September - Feast of St Gregory the Great - Albert 
"I do see Our Lady as our MUM, Mum in capital letters. She is actually the one that looks after us, she's the one who is always providing the daily things that we need, and also I see her as a direct connection with Our Lord. Whenever we need something for our day to day life, if we ask her she is the one coming back to her son and saying 'Jesus, this person needs that, this person needs that.' And she's insisting as a Mum with her son and eventually the son, because he loves so much his mum, the son ends up providing. So in this respect the Lord really listens to his mum. "
Albert is a seminarian from Spain & gives his response in English & Catalan.
4th September - Visitation 
"Mary for me primarily is the Mother of God and she is a big part of my life and my faith journey, because she's been very crucial in bringing me closer to God through praying to her through the rosary and also she is such a role model in the fact that she willingly said yes to everything that God ever wanted of her."
Visitation is 19, lives in England & is of Sri Lankan ethnicity.
5th September - Feast of St Teresa of Calcutta - Andrew 
"Our Lady is a short cut to Jesus for me."
Andrew is from England.
6th September - Suzanne 
"Mary for me is our mother, our heavenly mother. She's also a protector. I find for me personally when you're in distress, when you're in the darkest, darkest hour, she's always there, guiding you and leading you back to Jesus her son, whom she loves very, very much."
Suzanne is 33 & from Scotland.
7th September - Rosie 
"I feel privileged to say something about Our Lady, who means everything to me, her and her son. She has blessed our family so much and I guess in a lot of ways through my daughter, who's now become a nun. When she was young we came to Youth 2000 and after it, she loved saying the rosary so much, she knew it was so special, she got us as a family to say it every night and I think as a result it kept our family on track (not that we're perfect in any way). But I have Our Lady to thank for our many blessings."
Rosie is from Wales.
8th September - Our Lady's birthday - Sr Rebekah-Marie 
"Our Lady is the queen of my heart, the Queen of heaven and earth."
Sister Rebekah-Marie is 30 & from the UK; she is in the community of the Sisters of Mary Morning Star.
9th September - Patrick 
"I see Our Lady as the most beautiful woman, always in mind that she is the Mother of God and that she is the only person besides Our Lord who was without sin. And I always look to her as a loving child and I always ask her for advice and guidance, that she guides me to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
Patrick is 28 & from Germany; he gives his response in English & German.
10th September - Heather 
"Mary is for me my loving, heavenly mother, and someone who guides and leads you back to her son Jesus when you're maybe a bit lost in your ways. And she brings a lot of peace in my life, through the holy rosary through which she gives me personally a lot of grace."
Heather is 28 & from Scotland.
14th September - Feat of the Triumph of the Cross - Sr Mary Magdalen 
"Our Lady is my mother and I chose her as my mother when I was 17 and since that time she has guided all of my life. I try to consecrate everything to her and she has led me in very many wonderful and mysterious ways, in a way that my life has turned out that I could never have imagined. And it's really thanks to her at every moment of my life. She's the one who showed me Jesus, she taught me to pray and she's leading me to heaven every day."
Sister Mary Magdalen, from England, is in the community of the Sisters of Mary Morning Star.
15th September - Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows - Maggie 
"My most favourite title of Our Lady is 'Our Lady of Sorrows' because I think Our Lady at the foot of the Cross was so fully herself as a servant and a mother. And as she contemplated the sufferings of her son she suffered an interior martyrdom - she didn't shed her blood but she had to shed every attachment that she had, for our sake she had to give her son up so that we could have life. And I think in that profound generosity and humility she is such a model for us. She did that gladly, she didn't hold back, she didn't say 'well, this is unjust' or 'what will I get in return?' At that moment, she is the model of surrender and the model of total acceptance of God's will and willingness to really have faith in the dark, because she believed in God's Word. Christ had said that he would arise on the third day. Like the disciples, she perhaps did not know exactly how that would happen but her faith was firm and sure, and her perseverance at that moment helped Jesus to persevere in his own sufferings because when he looked down upon her and saw her total love for him he was given courage to persevere in his own mission. So there we see mother and son in perfect love, in perfect generosity, in perfect surrender of themselves."
Maggie is from the north of England.
20th September - Matthew 
"I think of Mary every time I pray because she's the mother of Jesus."
Matthew, from Derbyshire, was 10 when he gave his something about Mary but is now 11, as today is his birthday. Wishing you a very, very happy, blessed birthday Matthew!
24th September - Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham - Beatrice 
"I feel that Mary was so forgiving and gave her life up for everyone and everything. And we've all got something to learn from Mary."
Beatrice, from England, was 24 when she gave her something about Mary but it's her birthday today so she's now a quarter century :o) Wishing you a very, very happy, blessed birthday, darling Beatrice!
Our Lady's message to Marija Pavlović, Medjugorje, 25 September 2016:
"Dear children! Today, I am calling you to prayer. May prayer be life to you. Only in this way will your heart be filled with peace and joy. God will be near you and you will feel Him in your heart as a friend. You will speak with Him as with someone whom you know and, little children, you will have a need to witness, because Jesus will be in your heart and you, united in Him. I am with you and love all of you with my motherly love. Thank you for having responded to my call."
“Queridos hijos! Hoy los invito a la oración. Que la oración sea vida para ustedes. Solamente así su corazón se llenará de paz y alegría. Dios estará cerca de ustedes, y ustedes lo sentirán en su corazón como un amigo. Hablarán con Él como con alguien que ya conocen e, hijitos, sentirán la necesidad de testimoniar, porque Jesús estará en vuestro corazón y ustedes estarán unidos en Él. Yo estoy con ustedes y los amo a todos con mi amor materno. Gracias por haber respondido a mi llamado."
"Cari figli! Oggi vi invito alla preghiera. La preghiera sia per voi vita. Soltanto così il vostro cuore si riempirà di pace e di gioia. Dio vi sarà vicino e voi lo sentirete nel vostro cuore come un amico. Parlerete con Lui come con qualcuno che conoscete e, figlioli, sentirete il bisogno di testimoniare perché Gesù sarà nel vostro cuore e voi sarete uniti in Lui. Io sono con voi e vi amo tutti con il mio amore materno. Grazie per aver risposto alla mia chiamata.”