FEAST OF THE DIVINE MATERNITY OF OUR LADY; SAINT JOHN XXIII, POPE AND SAINT TARACHUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Divine Maternity of Our Lady; Saint John XXIII and Saint Tarachus and his Companions, Martyrs. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast of the Divine Maternity of Our Lady, we humbly pray for all Mothers, for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏
THE DIVINE MATERNITY OF OUR LADY: By exalting the divine maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church celebrates the most perfect of Mothers, the model for all mothers. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1931, for the 15th centenary of the Council of Ephesus during which the dogma of Mary’s divine maternity was proclaimed. In the texts of the liturgy, the Church expresses how Mary is the Mother of Jesus, but also our Mother, since it is by her intercession that she obtains for us the grace that unites us supernaturally to her Divine Son. The virginal maternity of Mary applies through Christ, whom she truly engendered in her flesh, to all the members of the Mystical Body of the Son of God. This teaching was exposed by St. Pius X in his encyclical Ad Diem Illum (1904): For is not Mary the Mother of Christ? Then she is our Mother also. Therefore all we who are united to Christ, and as the Apostle says are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Eph. 5:30), have issued from the womb of Mary like a body united to its head. Hence, though in a spiritual and mystical fashion, we are all children of Mary, and she is Mother of us all. Mother, spiritually indeed, but truly Mother of the members of Christ.
The jubilee marking the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus in the year 1931 was celebrated to the great joy of the whole Catholic world. The fathers at that Council, under the guidance of Pope Celestine, formally condemned the errors of Nestorius and declared as Catholic faith the doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, was truly the Mother of God. Prompted by holy zeal, Pope Pius XI determined that the memory of so important an event should continue alive in the Church. Accordingly he ordered the renovation of Rome’s famous memorial to the Council of Ephesus, namely, the triumphal arch and transept in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the Esquiline. His predecessor Pope St. Sixtus III (432-440) had embellished that arch with a beautiful mosaic, but time had done it damage. In an encyclical Pius XI, moreover, underscored the principal teachings of the General Council at Ephesus, developing in detail and with loving affection the singular privilege of divine Motherhood granted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He believed that so sublime a mystery should ever become more firmly anchored in the hearts of the faithful. At the same time the Pope singled out Mary, the Mother of God and the one blessed among women together with the holy Family of Nazareth as the foremost model for the dignity and sanctity of chaste married life and for the religious education of youth.
HAIL MARY: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.🙏
THE MEMORARE: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen 🙏
Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏
SAINT JOHN XXIII, POPE: Pope St. John XXIII (1881–1963), was best known for convening the Second Vatican Council. His feast is assigned to the day on which the first session of Vatican II opened in 1962. St. born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, on November 25, 1881 at Sotto il Monte (Bergamo) of a family of sharecroppers. Angelo was the fourth child of 14, born to pious parents. His religious education was entrusted to his godfather, who instilled in him a deep love and admiration of the mystery of God. Desiring to serve God with his life, he entered the minor seminary in 1892 at the age of 11, became a Secular Francsican in 1896 and in 1901 he entered the Pontifical Roman Seminary. On being ordained in 1904, he was appointed secretary to the bishop of Bergamo and taught in the seminary. His great friends among the saints during this formative period were St. Charles Borromeo and St. Francis de Sales, two outstanding intellectuals and also formidable pastors. He served as a military chaplain during the First World War, served as spiritual director of a seminary, and in 1921 served as the Italian president of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. In 1925 Pius XI made him a bishop and sent him to Bulgaria as the Apostolic Visitator. For his Episcopal motto he chose Oboedientia et Pax. In 1935 he was assigned to Turkey and Greece where he ministered to the Catholic population and engaged in dialogue with Orthodox Christianity and with Islam.
During the Second World War he used his diplomatic means to save as many Jews as he could by obtaining safe passage for them. He was created cardinal and Patriarch of Venice in 1953 and was a much loved pastor, dedicating himself completely to the well being of his flock. Elected Pope on the death of Pope Pius XII, he was an example of a ‘pastoral’ Pope, a good shepherd who cared deeply for his sheep. He manifested this concern in his social enyclicals, especially Pacem in Terris, “On peace in the World.” His greatest act as Pope however was undoubtedly the inspiration to convoke the Second Vatican Council, which he opened on October 11, 1962. Pope John’s spirit of humble simplicity, profound goodness, and deep life of prayer radiated in all that he did, and inspired people to affectionately call him “Good Pope John.” In his first public address Pope John expressed his concern for reunion with separated Christians and for world peace. One of his first acts was to annul the regulation of Sixtus IV limiting the membership of the College of Cardinals to 70. He held a diocesan synod for Rome, convoked an ecumenical council for the universal Church, and revised the Code of Canon Law.
His encyclical, Mater et Magistra, was issued in 1961 to commemorate the anniversary of Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum. Pacem in terris, advocating human freedom and dignity as the basis for world order and peace. He elevated the Pontifical Commission for Cinema, Radio, and Television to curial status, approved a new code of rubrics for the Breviary and Missal, made notable advances in ecumenical relations by creating a new Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and by appointing the first representative to the Assembly of the World Council of Churches held in New Delhi (1961). The International Balzan Foundation awarded him its Peace Prize in 1962. Pope John XXIII was elected Pope on October 28, 1958. He died on June 3, 1963 in Rome and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000. He was canonized by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on April 27, 2014, alongside the man who beatified him, Pope St. John Paul II.
PRAYER: Almighty and eternal God, who in the Pope St. John, gave to the whole world the shining example of a good shepherd, grant that, through his intercession, we may with joy spread abroad the fullness of Christian charity. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen 🙏
SAINT TARACHUS AND HIS COMPANIONS: In the year 304, Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus, differing in age and nationality, but united in the bonds of faith, being denounced as Christians to Numerian, Governor of Cilicia, were arrested at Pompeiopolis, and conducted to Tharsis. They underwent a first examination in that town, after which their limbs were torn with iron hooks, and they were taken back to prison covered with wounds. Being afterwards led to Mopsuestia, they were submitted to a second examination, ending in a manner equally cruel as the first. They underwent a third examination at Anazarbis, followed by greater torments still. The governor, unable to shake their constancy, had them kept imprisoned that he might torture them further at the approaching games. They were borne to the amphitheatre, but the most ferocious animals, on being let loose on them, came crouching to their feet and licked their wounds. The judge, reproaching the jailers with connivance, ordered the martyrs to be dispatched by the gladiators.
Saint Tarachus and his Companions, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏