Bulletin Teaching

The Little House Of Prayer

		Apostolate of Prayer and Healing Through the Two Hearts: Jesus and Mary "If you cannot understand my silence, you will not understand my words."

Bulletin

May - June 2010

The Role Of Mother Mary In The Church

Our Blessed Lady’s position in the Church given by true theology is entirely too little known, and therefore greatly decreases devotion to The Blessed Mother of God.

I say given to Her by true theology, because it was the theology of Her Son Jesus when at the foot of the Cross, Jesus seeing His Mother there (John 19:26-27) with the Disciple whom He loved. Jesus said to His Mother: "Woman, there is your Son". In turn He said to the disciple, "there is Your Mother". He Himself made Her the Mother of the Church and The Queen of Heaven and earth, and no one can argue this one out because if you try, then the devotion to Mary is greatly decreased, even more. In other words, Jesus is loved less. If I say to you, "My Friend, I love you but I can’t stand your mother", what kind of a friend would you think I was?

We must be reverent to Our Blessed Mother. This is not because, as Catholics, we have chosen Her but because it was God The Father Himself who chose Her. She is the Daughter of God the Father. She is Jesus’ Mother and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.

No, we have no right to push her aside, no right at all. If we push her aside, we are also pushing aside The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.

No one, not a single person, not the greatest saints that ever existed, would ever come close to the Blessed Trinity as She has. She is so close that practically, there is revealed in Her, Their Light.

When you look at Mary, you see the face of Jesus. You see peace, tenderness and love. What comes out of Her Immaculate Heart are the rays from the Blessed Trinity itself. She bathes in the Trinity. She is in tune with all the works of the great God we have.

God is pressing for a greater, a wider, a stronger devotion to His Blessed Mother. If the world were to look at Mother Mary as their Heavenly Mother and given the honor due her, we would have a changed world.

If we do not revere the Mother, then certainly, we do not have reverence for Her Son Jesus. Those who are away from the Church must realize that if their love for Jesus is sincere, He would draw them in and let them know the place of Mother Mary in the role of our salvation.

He will let them know that Mother Mary’s Heart and His Heart are one. Her Heart is a spring of love that overflows into the Heart of Her Son Jesus.

Today in this world of ours, the act of praying to the Blessed Virgin is a stumbling block to the average non-Catholic. And, many of our lukewarm Catholics disregard the position of the Mother of Our Redeemer because in many of our Catholic homes we do not pray to Mary. In many of our Christian homes we do not pray at all.

You see, no one can be born without a mother, it cannot be done. We also need a Mother in our spiritual life. We need a Spiritual Mother who will direct us in the ways of Her Son Jesus who is one with the Father. It is a family affair. This is why the devil hates the Christian family and tries so hard to destroy the Christian family. It was the heart of the Christian family, the Mother, who crushed Satan’s head and she will do it again. Mary is the model of all mothers.

The most beautiful Doctrines of Practices of the Catholic Church are often misrepresented and made fun of by those who are outside the Church. A striking instance of this fact is presented to us in the attacks that are often made upon the devotions which Catholics show towards the Blessed Virgin Mary. Often indeed, as ignorance of the true nature of that devotion.

In the first place, Catholics do not adore the Blessed Virgin. We venerate Mother Mary as the one who was chosen among all women. (Luke 1:28-33) Upon arriving, the Angel Gabriel said to Her: "Rejoice O highly favored daughter! The Lord is with you. Blessed are You among women." The Angel went on to say to Her: "Do not fear, Mary, You have found favor with God. You shall conceive and bear a son and give Him the name of Jesus. Great will be His dignity and He will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of David, His father. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and His reign will be without end". But God alone do we adore and the Catholic Church teaches this.

God’s Commandments tells us that we must honor our parents. Yes, God himself has in fact positively commanded such honor.

Now if we must honor in a special manner, our parents, what must be said of our duty in regards to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose dignity by far transcends that of our earthly parents, as the Heavens excel far beyond the earth, whose Holiness be far surpasses that of the highest Seraphs, as the brightness of the sun surpasses that of the moon.

Mother Mary who God Himself has honored incomparably more than any other creature that He has brought forth from His Almighty hands. When we attempt to describe Mary’s wondrous dignity, words fail us. We cannot find the right words in this earthly vocabulary. God, The Father, predestined Her to become the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God’s only begotten Son. Simple words, indeed, but profound and mysterious beyond any earthly human intellect. We cannot conceive of a greater dignity for a created person than the Divine Motherhood.

And since we must honor persons in proportion to the greatness of their dignity, Mother Mary is worthy of greater love than any other mere creature. If we search the scriptures, we shall see that they positively teach us to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mother Mary.

God, The Father, sent unto the humble Virgin, a Glorious Archangel, one of those Blessed Spirits who ever stands before the great White Throne of God, who beats the inspired salutations with which He greets Mary. Hail Favored One. The Lord is with Thee. Blessed are thou among women. (Luke 1:28).

Mother Mary is full of Grace, rich in every virtue, pure and spotless in God’s sight. A woman blessed among all women. These words, which were spoken from the Archangel’s lips, is the same salutation which the Children of the Church use to address their Heavenly Mother when we pray The Most Holy Rosary.

Mary is truly a woman who has been graced with many gifts and she has been sent to us today, in many places. Mary is the Greatest Prophetess of our times; Return to My Son. Return to My Son! My Son is greatly offended. Come back to My Son! Are we listening? Are we?

We need expected faith. We need to be like Mother Mary. We need to concentrate on God’s words as Mary did when Mary was visited by the Word of God in the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel came to Her to tell Her that She would be the Mother of the Savior.

We read in Luke 2:19 And Mary kept all these things and reflecting on them in Her heart. What does it mean to reflect on the Word of God and to hear the Word of God? The objectives of my presentation today are twofold. The first will be to learn someway and places to hear God’s words as Mary did. The second is to learn how to move from hearing God’s Words to action. And that’s what Mary did so beautifully and so perfectly. She not only heard The Word of God, but she was able to act upon them. She became obedient to the Word.

How do we learn to hear God’s Words? Why do we need to hear God’s Words? And what do we need to Hear God’s words with? The first answer that I would say is we need expectant faith. If we never expect God to speak to us, more than likely, He won’t. We won’t hear Him.

We all know that Mary went to the Temple at a very young age, and She went to the Temple with her mother, St Anne and her father, St Joechim. There she learned to listen and to reflect on the Words of God. She must have had an expectant faith because She heard The Words of God so often that when the Archangel came to Her and asked Her if she would become the Mother of the Lord, the Savior, the Word of God was no stranger to Her. She had learned over the years how to hear the Words of God, and how to ponder them and to reflect on them in Her Heart.

We need to become like Mary. We need expectant faith. We need to understand that it is part of the Grace, as part of the instrument that we need in being a Christian. To be able to hear The Word of God and to put it to work in our lives, like Mary did.

Now there are many reasons why we do not expect to hear God’s Word and therefore do not listen for the Word of God, and that is because our minds are too full with things of this world. So, our minds are always on the go.

We do not have the time to hear God’s Words and we become skeptical people because, our minds are on the run. We become spiritually paralyzed and we think that God would nt talk to us. (Why would God speak to me??)

With that kind of thinking, you won’t hear God’s words when He speaks to you because you do not have expected faith like Mary did.

We become so worldly that we begin to think "Oh well, God doesn’t work that way any more. "That’s old fashion." We fail to remember that God works through all events and circumstances of our lives. If we are open and expect God to speak to us as He did to Mary, He will.

Not only have we become so worldly today that we forget our faith, we do not believe in the Supernatural anymore. We need to forget about the ways of the world and become people with expectant faith like Mary did.

Second, we need to have a listening heart. God does want to speak to us. He does speak to us, but we need to approach God as men and women who are spiritually hungry. Do we really hunger for the Word of God as Mary did? Do we really take time out of our busy schedule not only to read the Word of God and to sit quietly and ask God; "God, what do you want to tell me today?"

You see, Mary was good at this. She was a good listener that is why she was able to understand the Word when it came to Her through the Archangel Gabriel. Like I have told you before, there are many reasons why we do not listen to the Word of God.

Many times we are very busy doing many other things. There, where you spend your time, is where your heart is. We get caught up in our daily routines and we might think; "I do not have the time". (No Time For God) and we become over confident in our own abilities. (I do not need to listen to anybody else).

In Mary’s life, God was first on Her schedule. She was in love with Him and depended on God for everything. All that She did, She did for God (making beds, washing dishes, cooking or sweeping the tile floor). She was in love with God, just as we should all be, in love with God.

We live in a world where we think we have all the questions and answers and we do not have to hear or to learn from anyone else and so we let our hearts become filled with pride and our hearts become dull with material desires.

My Brothers and Sisters, we need expectant faith. We need a listening heart. We need to become more like Mother Mary. When the Archangel of God came to Her, She became filled with the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit as our companion and as our teacher to guide us in this life. We also need a Spiritual Mother so She can teach us how to have expectant faith.

We need three things for a good Spiritual Foundation: Expectant Faith, a listening heart and the Holy Spirit as our companion. If we ask for all of these needs in daily prayer, then we can begin listening to the Word of God. That is a foundation for everything else, as Mary did. She was so open to the Word of God and open to the power of God in Her and around Her. She was so open to the Holy Spirit that the Spirit of God made His dwelling not only in Her womb but also in Her heart. They are of one Spirit.

Mary is the greatest Evangelist because She gives us the power and the love and the strength and the glory of Her Son Jesus Christ. And, She experiences the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and uses these gifts to build up the Body of Jesus Christ.

As soon as the Archangel Gabriel came to Her, She was overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit, filled with the Spirit of God. What did Mary do? She used the gift to go help Her cousin Elizabeth. Mary is the model of discipleship to all Christians.

Mother Mary is the Mother of God the Son and Spouse of God the Holy Spirit. Humanly speaking, Jesus received His very first drops of blood out of the veins of Mary.

She also was the first Tabernacle of the adorable Blessed Trinity, the first Tabernacle to hold the body and blood of Jesus Christ, instituted by God the Father Himself. She is very obedient to the will of God the Father in Her life.

Mary is also the Model of Mystery. Mary was the first disciple of Her Son, Jesus. Mary was the first disciple of Her Son, Jesus. Our inheritance from the cross when Jesus said, "John, Behold Your Mother." She was not the mother of John only, but all of us.

The great gift of Mary is Her "Yes" to the will of God without questioning of why this or why that. She said "Yes" at the moment of the incarnation. She did not think "I am not married, what will that make me look like? What will they say?" No, She did not.

The Angel said to Her, that She was to be the Mother of the Redeemer. This was the will of God, "the will of God", a mystery. She said "Yes". I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done unto Me according to His Will. It was a Mystery. Mary is the new Eve. She accepted God’s plan though She did not understand. She said "Yes" in Bethlehem when in the middle of the night an Angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said to take the child and flee to Egypt to save the child’s life from King Herod.

Mary did not understand. It was a mystery. She embraced the mystery. She did not say, "can it wait till morning?" She said "Yes" to the will of God, another mystery.

When the child Jesus was missing and they were looking for Him, they found out that He was not with family or friends. Not finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem in search of Him. On the third day they came upon Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. (Luke 2:45-46) She said to Him, "Son, why have you done this to us? You see that your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow." He said to them, "Why did you search for me? Did you not know I had to be in my Father’s house? (Like 2:48-49) Mary did not understand, but She said "Yes" to the will of God. She said "Yes" when He was no longer understood amongst His peers and His family. She said "Yes" when He was dying upon the cross at Calvary. She said "Yes" time and time again to mysteries. Although She did not understand, She said "Yes" to the will of God in Her life. She said "Yes".

Mary was placed at the center of the pilgrim church, and all of our Popes have said this. When at the wedding in Cana, at a certain point the wine ran out and She told Jesus, "they have no more wine." She was showing her concern for others. Jesus replied, "Woman, how does this concern of yours involve me? My hour has not yet come." His Mother instructed those waiting on tables "Do whatever He tells you." (John 2:3-6) See the power Mary has with Her Son?

Mary was with Him from the moment of incarnation. She was with Him from the womb to the tomb. She knows the mind of Her Son. She knows the mercy of Her Son, the mercy He has for us. Mary took care of Him. She lived under the same roof with Him. She nurtured Him. She is the way to the heart of Her Son Jesus.

Mary is the perfect model of discipleship. Her heart is like a spring of love that overflows into the heart of Her Son Jesus. Mary can do nothing for us on Her own, except to intercede for us to Her Son Jesus and She Herself says this. And, She certainly does a good job to intercede for all her children who ask for Her intercession.

By the fruits you shall know them (Matthew 7). By Jesus you will know Mary because Jesus is the fruit of Mary’s womb. So in coming to know Jesus, we also come to know something of the human beauty and goodness and Holiness of His Mother Mary.

Mary had a great deal to do in forming Jesus. It is such a beautiful mystery that we can meditate on this forever and ever.

LET US PRAY:

MEMORARE

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored Your help or sought Your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to You, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to You I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petition, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

BLESSING

May God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, bless each and every one of you and your loved ones, and may He give you His love and peace, always. Amen!

Peace Be With You

Bernadette Cyr, T.O.P.

Bulletin

March - April 2010

From Darkness to Light

His love will see you from darkness to light, each morning we experience a resurrection from darkness to light, when daylight comes.

In life there are many precious moments from darkness to light … I think the sweetest joy in life is when one finally realizes that "Yes, I believe God is real." Realizing, not only in mind but in the heart, those precious moments are those more felt than seen. Yes God is real and no matter what, He is there for me. He cares for me .... these are moments that we come from darkness to light.

Moments of sweetest joys are when we start to trust Him, really and truly trust Him. Oh, those precious moments .... though we really trust Him does not mean it will be smooth sailing from now on.

One loses a loved one, like a spouse, there again we experience darkness. It seems that life has come to an end ... especially if one has had a good marriage. Then comes from what seems to be darkness, light in our life once again because He Cares. And, He walks with us at these precious moments. We realize that we have been carried in His arms through calm from stressful waters. His love was always there. God keeps in touch with His child.

Jesus - Carrying His sheep.jpg (58076 bytes)

Through every pain God shows Himself a bit each day. When life spoils the plans that we have made, we must ask ourselves "Have we included Him in our plans? Were our plans His plans?" We must be content in the knowledge that God knows best and that trouble and sorrow are only a test. We must not let them disturb our trust in Him.

In the shadow of our sorrow you can draw on the light of God. It is at these times we can experience from darkness to light. His light is always with us. But, we need to trust in His love for us and that He cares for us. At these moments we need to trust Him and know that He is the light of our life. He is the captain of our ship in life. We need Him to steer our ship. For many a soul is steering his ship toward a worldly goal, give me, give me more. A child who steers his ship for worldly goal will be lost in the ocean of this world. A child who lets Him be the captain of his ship shall be called a child of God and will be counted in the choir of angels praising His name forever and ever.

When we meet Him face to face we will see it was so sweet to have gone to God in all things and to leave our burdens there and let Him help us carry the load for we are not alone in our journey. The Spirit of the Living God lives in our hearts. Let us learn to always trust Him when dark moments come our way and let Him bring us from darkness to light. God puts a light in every heart.

A Good Daily Prayer:

O God of infinite goodness, I believe in you. Please help my non belief, make me know you.

Peace Be With You
Bernadette G. Cyr, T.O.P.

Make Prayer A Habit

The Lord be with you, and may He move you to prayer. If you don't make it a habit, you will never increase your prayer life, never, because it will not grow by itself. Jesus Christ Himself was a man of prayer. He got His guidance in prayer, just as we all should do. If you put prayer in practice, it will become a habit. After a while it will no longer be a habit, you will turn to God in everything.

Jesus prayed with His disciples. When you pray, always invite Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, the Archangels, our Guardian Angels and all the Angels and Saints to pray with you. This way you are more than one in prayer and the Lord will send His Holy Spirit to pray with you, because He said: "When two or more are gathered in My name, I will be among them."

Make a practice of prayer. It can make praying a habit and pretty soon You'll live and breathe prayer. It has been known that the Spirit will ignite the fire of His love in the souls who pray.

A life with little prayer, causes starving of the soul. The soul needs strength, just like the body. You don't fail to eat three meals a day do you? If you do, you'll get weak. So does the soul without prayer. The wisdom that you should be given is not there for we get wisdom through prayer. You can give what is your own thought but without prayer it will not be Spirit-filled. And the Spirit does not push himself on people.

Your prayer life: In prayer you'll become healthy and determined. You will need prayer to fight between good and evil. If the Church is now faced with frightful needs, we must pray harder. In each parish you need a river of people, who pray for the needs of the parish and it starts by examples. We all must give the example of prayer, penance and fasting, to the best of our abilities.

Jesus has shown and taught us by His examples. Your example as a Christian will do more than talking about it. Yes, our Beloved, has shown us much. Prayer, is the school of all Christians, that leads to the heart of Jesus.

Pope John Paul II had a good prayer life and was doing a very good job in teaching and guiding us. It is by prayer that one learns how to pray. After a while, prayer becomes a restful time. There is a thread from on high which supports the web of existence. If that breaks, all of life weakens and decays, loses its meaning, its wonderful value. That thread, is our rapport with God. Religion and Prayer. That broken thread makes up the spiritual drama.

Another aspect of prayer to consider is the Rosary. How beautiful it would be if we all prayed the rosary daily. Think about it, your love and understanding for our Heavenly Mother can grow as you strive to try to understand the Sacred Mysteries of our Blessed Lord's life. No, you will never fully understand the Sacred Mysteries, for that is what they are, mysteries. But if you meditate on them daily, they will change your life. You will become closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His Sacred Wounds and also become closer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Do not expect a change overnight, but perseverance is what you will need as in the fifth sorrowful mystery, the crucifixion of Jesus. In this mystery, we can receive the virtue of perseverance. You will not notice the change in that part of your life immediately. But the first to notice the changes will be those around you. Day by day, after a while, you will sin less and start to detest sin, as you never did before. Your heart will change. You will see people as you never did before because, Jesus Himself will transform your heart through His Most Precious Wounds. The power of the Holy Rosary is priceless. You cannot put a price on all the Graces of God that one receives through praying the Holy Rosary. It is written, "Ask and it shall be given unto you".

If you give thirty minutes of your time daily in reciting five decades of the Rosary and meditating on the mysteries of His sacred life, it will be given unto you. Now if you gave something to your enemy each day, would He not become your friend after a while? When you pray the Hail Mary, please think of all the words you are saying: "Hail Mary". You salute your Heavenly Mother fifty three times when you pray five mysteries, or two hundred and twelve times when you pray the whole Rosary, the twenty mysteries.

The fourth Commandment of God was to Honor your Father and your Mother. The prayers that you pray in the Rosary gives Honor to your Heavenly Father, through the Our Father. You profess your faith in God through the I believe in God, you express your belief in The Holy Trinity; "The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit." through the Glory Be..., and to our Heavenly Mother (The One who was and is highly favored and was chosen among all women, to be the Mother of Jesus and Spouse of The Holy Spirit), by God The Father, Himself.

If you cannot say five mysteries of the Rosary a day, say one Our Father, twenty Hail Mary’s (one for each mystery), and One Glory be..., and soon you will want to say more. "Hail Mary full of Grace, The Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among Woman". Do you realize that you are saying the words once said by the Angel Gabriel to Mother Mary in the Annunciation? Those words are not just plain every day words. The Blessed Mother is our friend, you can make Her your best friend. She is the route to the Heart of Jesus, and Jesus will bring you to the Father.

The Father said; "No one comes to Me but through My Son Jesus". And those words are the truth. For God the Father, said this. Jesus Himself said; "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one will come to the Father, except through Me".

Many people regard the Rosary, as something of little importance (as one person said "The Rosary is old hat"), and that is very sad. St. Louis de Montfort calls the Rosary "The Mystical rose tree of Jesus and Mary in life, death and eternity." He says that; "The roses of your Rosary will never wilt or die, and that they will be just as exquisite thousands of years from now, as they are today". Can you imagine saying prayers that will be with you in this life day after day, and after you pass on to God, those prayers will still be with you?

St Louis de Montfort says; "The Rosary, is a priceless treasure which is inspired by God". Parents, protect your family by making The Rosary a family prayer. Your children will grow up this way and they will use The Rosary as their family prayer once they are out of your home and have homes and families of their own. For world peace, for family peace, as a means of preserving the Christian home, for added courage in times of stress, for more faith, pray The Rosary daily. Parents explain the importance of The Rosary to your children and pray it by using the mysteries and meditation on them.

Your Sister In Jesus Christ,

Bernadette Cyr, T.O.P.

Let Us Pray For Our Priests
		O my Jesus, I beg you on behalf of the whole Church; Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit, and give power to the words of priests so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to You, O Lord. Lord, give us holy priests; You yourself maintain them in holiness. O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil's traps and snares which are continually being set for the souls of priests. May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests, for You can do all things. Amen From the Diary of Sister Faustina (Page 1042)

Food For Thought

The first tabernacle to hold the Body & Blood of Jesus Christ was in Mary's womb ... instituted by the Heavenly Father himself when He sent Hist Holy Spirit to incarnate Jesus in Mary's womb.