“Dear children! Today, my prayer with you is for peace. Good and evil are fighting and want to prevail in the world and in the hearts of people. You be people of hope and prayer and of great trust in God the Creator to Whom everything is possible. Little children, may peace prevail in you and around you. I am blessing you with my motherly blessing that you, little children, may be joy for all those whom you meet. Thank you for having responded to my call.” -Our Lady of Medjugorje, in private revelation given to Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, on August 25, 2024
An excerpt from “Ineffabilis Deus” by Blessed Pius IX:
The Fathers and writers of the Church, well versed in the heavenly Scriptures, had nothing more at heart than to vie with one another in preaching and teaching in many wonderful ways the Virgin’s supreme sanctity, dignity, and immunity from all stain of sin, and her renowned victory over the most foul enemy of the human race. This they did in the books they wrote to explain the Scriptures, to vindicate the dogmas, and to instruct the faithful. These ecclesiastical writers, in quoting the words by which at the beginning of the world God announced His merciful remedies prepared for the regeneration of mankind — words by which He crushed the audacity of the deceitful serpent and wondrously raised up the hope of our race, saying, “I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed” (Genesis 3:15) — taught that by this divine prophecy, the merciful Redeemer of mankind, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was clearly foretold: That His most Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, was prophetically indicated; and, at the same time, the very enmity of both against the evil one was significantly expressed. Hence, just as Christ, the Mediator between God and man, assumed human nature, blotted the handwriting of the decree that stood against us, and fastened it triumphantly to the Cross, so the most holy Virgin, united with Him by a most intimate and indissoluble bond, was, with Him and through Him, eternally at enmity with the evil serpent, and most completely triumphed over him, and thus crushed his head with her immaculate foot.
This sublime and singular privilege of the Blessed Virgin, together with her most excellent innocence, purity, holiness, and freedom from every stain of sin, as well as the unspeakable abundance and greatness of all heavenly graces, virtues, and privileges — these the Fathers beheld in that ark of Noah, which was built by divine command and escaped entirely safe and sound from the common shipwreck of the whole world (see Genesis 6-9); in the ladder which Jacob saw reaching from the earth to heaven, by whose rungs the angels of God ascended and descended, and on whose top the Lord Himself leaned (see Genesis 28:12); in that bush which Moses saw in the holy place burning on all sides, which was not consumed or injured in any way but grew green and blossomed beautifully (see Exodus 3:2); in that impregnable tower before the enemy, from which hung a thousand bucklers and all the armor of the strong (see Song of Songs 4:4); in that garden enclosed on all sides, which cannot be violated or corrupted by any deceitful plots (see Song of Songs 4:12); as in that resplendent city of God, which has its foundations on the holy mountains (see Psalm 87:1); in that most august temple of God, which, radiant with divine splendors, is full of the glory of God (see Isaiah 6:1-4); and in very many other biblical types of this kind. In such allusions, the Fathers taught that the exalted dignity of the Mother of God, her spotless innocence and her sanctity unstained by any fault, had been prophesied in a wonderful manner.
In like manner did they use the words of the prophets to describe this wondrous abundance of divine gifts and the original innocence of the Virgin of whom Jesus was born. They celebrated the august Virgin as the spotless dove, as the holy Jerusalem, as the exalted throne of God, as the ark and house of holiness which Eternal Wisdom built, and as that Queen who, abounding in delights and leaning on her Beloved, came forth from the mouth of the Most High, entirely perfect, beautiful, most dear to God, and never stained with the least blemish.
The Story of Our Lady of Good Help (from The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, Wisconsin):
While walking along a trail in the woods, Adele [Brise] saw a lady dressed in white, standing between two trees believed to be a maple and hemlock. Although the mysterious woman stayed silent, it left Adele wondering what sort of encounter it may have been. When Adele told her family, they believed her but thought perhaps it was a soul in purgatory visiting this earthly life asking for prayers.
A few days later, on what is believed to be Sunday, October 9, 1859, Adele walked to Mass with her sister and a friend. The church was 10 miles away from home, but Adele made the journey every Sunday, no matter the weather. Along the same path, Adele saw the mysterious lady standing in the same spot between the two trees. However, Adele being the only one to see her, she and her companions continued their journey to Mass.
After Mass, Adele spoke to her parish priest, and he instructed her that if the lady appeared to her again to ask the question, “In God’s Name, who are you and what do you want of me?”
On her journey home, Adele saw the lady for the third time. As she and her companions approached the hallowed spot, Adele could see the beautiful lady, clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist. Her dress fell to her feet in graceful folds. She had a crown of stars around her head, and her long golden wavy hair fell loosely over her shoulders. The lady had such a heavenly light around her that Adele could hardly look at her face. Overcome by the light, Adele fell to her knees and said, “In God’s Name, who are you, and what do you want of me?”
The lady replied, “I am the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them.”
Adele’s companions, unable to see Our Lady asked, “Adele, who is it? Why can’t we see her as you do?”
“Kneel,” said Adele, “the Lady says she is the Queen of Heaven.”
The Blessed Lady gazed kindly upon them, saying, “Blessed are they that believe without seeing.” Then, looking toward Adele, the Queen of Heaven asked, “What are you doing here in idleness while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?”
“What more can I do, dear Lady?” asked Adele, weeping.
“Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.”
“But how shall I teach them who know so little myself?” Adele said.
“Teach them,” replied her radiant visitor, “their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you.”
Then, wrapped as it were in a luminous atmosphere, our Lady lifted her hands as though she were beseeching a blessing for those at her feet. Slowly, she vanished from sight, leaving Adele overwhelmed and prostrated on the ground.
This was the simple beginning of Adele’s mission to become a teacher for the Lord and the Blessed Lady.
“If you are doing God’s work, how is it that you feel discouraged? The more difficult things become, the happier you should be, just as Peter and John were after they had been flogged: ‘They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name’ (Acts 5:41).” –Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
