Our Lady’s Love for Souls in Purgatory
If there is anyone who is interested in releasing souls from Purgatory, it is the Blessed Virgin Mary. When her Son went to “preach to the souls in prison” (1 Peter 3:19) immediately after His [...]
The Assumption Releases Us from Worldliness
The Mother of Jesus, after assisting the Apostles at the birth of the Church, was released from her mortal life at the Assumption and given a greater ability to help her children from Heaven. Mary’s [...]
Undoing the Knot of Clerical Scandals
The Catholic priesthood is undoubtedly experiencing a profound crisis at this moment. The vast majority of good priests are tainted by the scandals, but Our Lady, Mother of Priests, does not give up hope for [...]
The Church’s First Novena
Ascension Thursday begins what we may call the Church’s first novena. It is the nine-day period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday in which the disciples were locked in the Upper Room, united in prayer [...]
Unraveling Our Personal History
While the Blessed Virgin Mary has a very visible role to play in the season of Advent, she is less prominent in Lent. She acts behind the scenes, so to speak, accompanying us on our [...]
Our Lady as Spiritual Vessel
For many years I struggled to understand the “vessel” images applied to the Virgin Mary in the Litany of Loreto. In the Litany she is described variously as a “spiritual vessel,” a “vessel of honor,” [...]