Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Today, we celebrate another Marian Feast Day, the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is on this day that we honor Mary, as Queen of Heaven. As the Mother of God, and the spouse of the Holy Spirit, she holds a special place in the hearts of the faithful. It is only right that, as the Mother of God, she should be crowned as Queen of Heaven, as Christ is the King! As Catholics, when we pray the Rosary, on Wednesdays and Sundays, we recognize the crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, when we recite the fifth Glorious Mystery. This glorious event deserves some meditation, on our part. As Bishop Barron articulates in this video, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant, in that she is the pure vessel that gives birth to Christ. She is the crowned figure mentioned in Revelation 12:1-3.  Read more...

Image : The Annunciation by Philippe de Champaigne, 1644 The Annuciation of the Lord is celebrated on April 9 this year. On this solemnity, we commemorate the coming of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary to announce to her the special mission God had chosen for her in being the mother of His only son. This solemnity is also the first joyful mystery of the rosary and an event which should fill our hearts with joy and thanksgivng. The Franciscans tell us: “The Immaculate Virgin Mary joyfully conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit.” In doing so, they describe the annunciation as the Blessed Virgin Mary’s first joy.   Continue reading

This is the day Pope Francis asked Christians worldwide to fast and to pray for our brothers and sisters in Syria. It also is the feast day of Our Lady of Good Health (Vailankanni). Today, I traveled with our younger son and three of my CL friends from New Jersey to a Staten Island parish where we joined hundreds of others in fasting for Syria and feasting for Our Lady of Good Health. Keep Reading...

Inspired by the blogger at Feast of the Immaculate Conception : Family in Feast and Feria as well as this thread, my daughter Izzy and I made our own candle for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception back in 2009. Two years later, it's still holding up! I bought a simple white candle at Walmart. Izzy found a picture of Mary to color on line. Then we glued it to the candle and to set it- we melted wax and rolled our candle in the wax to give it a coating and protect it to the candle. I think it turned out pretty well for a first effort! We will light it tonight for dinner!

Besides the  Feast Day of Blessed Mother Teresa , there are a couple of other memorable events coming up this September, namely Mama Mary's birthday (or  Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary ) on September 8,  The Exaltation of the Holy Cross  on September 14 and The  Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows  on September 15. Exciting huh?! ;-)  Let's take a look at what two of my favorite Catholic mommy bloggers have posted with regard to ideas and activities for celebrating these feast days: First of all, may I just say that  Lacy  is really one of my favorite Catholic mommy bloggers?!! She is so blessed with creativity and resourcefulness, and I always refer to  her blog  for crafts and activities that highlight the beauty of the Catholic faith. Here is  her compilation of ideas  (from other amazing Catholic moms!) for celebrating Mama Mary's birthday: So the most obvious idea for celebrating this feast day is to make a birthday cake for Mary. Anything blue is a great idea si

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Blessed Sacrament Church, Paterson, NJ Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel! For years I have prayed the following prayer as my morning offering.  I wonder just how many brown scapulars I have gone through over these years.  This morning offering comes the World Apostolate of Fatima . Their beautiful shrine located in Washington, NJ is also known as the Blue Army Shrine. Morning Offering O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (here kiss the Brown Scapular), I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, joining with it my every thought, word and action of this day. O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can, and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate, that she may best apply them to the interests of Thy Most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Ame

By Jean M. Heimann, Cross-posted at Catholic Fire Today is the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which recalls Mary's visit with her cousin Elizabeth. This event is also the second joyful mystery of the rosary -- the first being the Annunciation. Elizabeth had been barren all her life, but in the Annunciation, Mary learned that her kinswoman was miraculously expecting a child in her old age. Upon hearing this good news, Mary fervently desired to share in Elizabeth's joy and serve her during the last part of her pregnancy. So she went "with haste" to visit Elizabeth and remained with her for three months. Mary's first action after God had come to dwell in her was one of self-denying charity. She undertook a troublesome journey in order to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Thus, she proclaimed charity to be the virtue which above all Christ brought with Him from heaven. God made Mary's visit the occasion of a wonderful miracle. On her entranc