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Saints Alive! | The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

November 21st is the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or, as it is known in the East, The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos [God-Bearer] into the Temple. According to tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated to God as a young child; when she reached three years of age her holy parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim, presented her before God in the Jerusalem temple where she was to be educated and raised. This dedication was a result of a promise St. Anne made to God while she suffered from many years of infertility. The liturgical celebration honoring this event appeared in the East much earlier then it did in the West. In the late Middle Ages it was promoted as a feast day for the universal Church. For more about this saint, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Articles of Faith | All Saints Day: A Celebration of God’s Family

On November 1st the Church celebrates all her holy ones in heaven, known and unknown, with the feast of All Saints. The solemnity originally began in the 4th century to commemorate all the Christian martyrs killed during those centuries of brutal persecution before Christianity was legalized. There were so many martyrs that a separate feast day could not be given to each one individually, yet, the Church did not want to leave any martyr without proper veneration. A common feast day developed and was usually celebrated in the Easter season. In the 8th century Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all the saints and moved the feast day to November 1st. The feast of All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation. For more about this great feast - a celebration of God's family - please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Articles of Faith | All Saints Day: A Celebration of God’s Family

On November 1st the Church celebrates all her holy ones in heaven, known and unknown, with the feast of All Saints. The solemnity originally began in the 4th century to commemorate all the Christian martyrs killed during those centuries of brutal persecution before Christianity was legalized. There were so many martyrs that a separate feast day could not be given to each one individually, yet, the Church did not want to leave any martyr without proper veneration. A common feast day developed and was usually celebrated in the Easter season. In the 8th century Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all the saints and moved the feast day to November 1st. The feast of All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation. For more about this great feast - a celebration of God's family - please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Mary | Prayer of Consecration

Many saints through the ages have had a special devotion to the Blessed Mother and consecrated their lives to Jesus through Mary; most recent and notable: Saint Louis de Montfort, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Saint John Paul II, to name a few. In Catholic teachings, consecration to Mary does not diminish or substitute the love of God, but enhances it, for all consecration is ultimately made to God.

Throughout his pontificate Pope John Paul II taught us that such a devotion to Mary, in an act of Marian consecration, is to entrust all of one's being through, with, and in the Virgin Mother. His episcopal motto, Totus Tuus, from the Latin meaning "all yours," is the example of giving oneself to Jesus totally, wholeheartedly, and unreservedly through, with, and in his mother whose lifeblood he shared with her; and through the Paschal Mystery, in this Mystery of Faith - the Eucharist - he shares with the whole human race.

For the Reason2bCatholic Prayer of Consecration, to Jesus through Mary, on this Feast of the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, please click on the image.

Peace be with you!