The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

For the Poor Souls in Purgatory

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 43:1-12 Tardiness at the Work of God or at Table

Mass: Rev 14:1-3, 4b-5; Resp Ps 24; Lk 21:1-4

The Lord's are the earth and its fullness.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

OUR LADY OF MONTILGEON,

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT OF HELFTA,

SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Holy Mother of God, Mary ever-virgin, you are the temple of the Lord and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Beyond all others you were pleasing to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

(The Liturgy of the Hours, Evening Prayer, Canticle of Mary, Antiphon)

Welcome to Monday and the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a day when we commemorate the presentation of the Blessed Virgin as a child by her parents Joachim and Anne in the Temple in Jerusalem. It was then that Mary was consecrated to the Lord. After being introduced by the Byzantine Catholic Church to the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th century, the feast was removed from the liturgical calendar, and thankfully reestablished by Pope Sixtus V in 1585. We rejoice then in God Our Savior as we commemorate the faith of Joachim and Anne and the purity of Mary (see Catholic News Agency).

Pope Saint John Paul II canonized many saints during his 26-year pontificate from 1978 to 2005 - 482 of them! It so happens that the Pope Saint beatified my patron for the new liturgical year, but it was our current pontiff, Pope Francis, who canonized my patron Saint Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad on June 5, 2016. And I just read that Pope Francis has canonized 898 saints so far. Dear, Lord. Saint Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad (1850-1957), was a beautiful woman who radiated God's love. Swedish by birth, baptized Lutheran, off to the United States around the age of 18, she was a nurse who encountered many Catholic families, including workers injured while building Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Elizabeth was eventually received into the Roman Catholic Church, went back to Europe, was confirmed in Rome, then founded a new branch of Brigittine nuns (see Magnificat, November 2022, "Saint Who?", p. 167). All in a day's work. As one faithful reader said about her new patron for the year, Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, "I plan to get to know her better." Another faithful reader has Saint Rose of Lima as her new patron. And another one Saint John Bosco, also known as Don Bosco. For all the saints ...

We turn now to honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

O Full of Grace

you I congratulate and praise.

You gave birth

to the Loving-kindness I received.

You gave shape

to the candle I accepted.

You prepared the wax

for the touch of the light.

O Virgin,

Virgin of Virgins

when

as the unblemished mother

you clothed in unblemished flesh

the unblemished Word.

(Guerric of Igny, 1070/80-1157)

SAINT MARY ELIZABETH HESSELBLAD,

SAINT ROSE OF LIMA,

SAINT ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY,

SAINT JOHN BOSCO,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: The way I found it; this is a peaceful scene. Peaceful. Just like Our Lady, whose heart is clean.

© Gertrude Feick 2022