As September in the year 2023 progresses, and the leaves are beginning to turn to yellow, the Roman Catholic Church commemorates the Most Holy Name of Mary. The Church’s liturgy for today is a veritable feast which delights in the contemplation of this holy name as seen here. Dom Prosper Gueranger (b. 1805- d. 1875) in his book The Liturgical Year had much to say about this day; and it is worth a read. Here is Dom Prosper’s writing on the Most Holy Name of Mary: “And the Virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke i. 27). Let us speak a little about this name which signifies star of the sea, and which so well befits the Virgin Mother. Rightly is she likened to a star: for as a star emits its ray without being dimmed so the Virgin brought forth her Son without receiving any injury. The ray takes nought from the brightness of the star, nor the Son from His Mother’s integrity. This is the noble star risen out of Jacob, whose ray illumines the whole world, whose splendour shines…
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Hail to Mary, Our Blessed Virgin Mother, on Her Nativity
~September the eighth is the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. The world was changed at the birth of Our Lady as described by Dom Prosper Gueranger in the following (refreshed for today) 2018 Marian Room post (for further reading, you might open the linked items in the post): Today is the celebration of the Nativity of Mary. It is a joyous day in the Roman Catholic Church, and in the world. If we tried to imagine a creature given to us as the Mother of Our Savior, I do not expect that we could have imagined one as good and kind, sweet and loving, perfect in every manner, as the Most Holy Mother, Mary; the Immaculate Conception, our Mother and Queen. On her birthday, we particularly remember Mary in her babyhood. Mary has been known traditionally in her babyhood under the title of Maria Bambina. Catholics have had a great love for Our Lady in her babyhood for centuries. In Dom Prosper Gueranger’s The Liturgical Year, Dom Gueranger treats of the Nativity of Mary in the following: “Let us celebrate the…
Fr. Lasance Collected Quotes
Today, The Marian Room is posting another quote from Fr. Francis X. Lasance’s prayer book, My Prayer Book. This quote is on the effect of Catholic pictures in a home. I think you will find it to be thought provoking: “A Room with good Catholic pictures in it and a room without such pictures differ as much as a room with windows and one without these necessities. Pictures, and I mean only good, pure pictures, are consolers of loneliness, and a relief to the troubled mind. They are windows to the imprisoned heart, books, histories, sermons which we can read without the trouble of turning over the leaves or straining the eyes. They make up for the want of many other enjoyments to those whose life is mostly passed amid the smoke and din, the bustle and noise of a large city. Pictures of Our Lord and His saints inspire us, give us courage and induce us to bear our cross with Christian resignation.” ~31 My Catholic Prayer-Book “Pictures of Our Lord and His saints inspire us, give us courage…
Fr. Lasance’s Quote on the Love of Flowers
The prolific Catholic writer, the Reverend Francis Xavier Lasance (b. 1860- d. 1946), published an interesting prayer book in 1908 which has been quite popular since its first printing. This book is titled My Prayer Book, Happiness in Goodness, and I find it interesting because it is not only filled with Catholic prayers, but it also contains many quotes from various Catholic writers of which Fr. Lasance collected. So, I am going to start a new little thread of posts sharing these quotes. Today, I am sharing one which Father printed regarding what the love of flowers tells us about a person: “I have always noticed that wherever you find flowers, no matter whether in a garret or in palace, it is a pretty sure sign that there is an inner refinement of which the world is not cognizant. I have seen flowers cultivated and cherished by some of the lowest and poorest of our people. Where these emblems of purity are found, you may rest assured that they represent a hope, and speak of a goodness of heart not…
The Mirth of God Redux
A post in The Marian Room from January 18th, 2018 covered G.K. Chesterton‘s notion of the “youthfulness of God” as evidenced in creation. G.K. Chesterton also spoke of another aspect of God which is often overlooked: the idea of “God’s mirth.” This topic was broached this morning between myself and a friend, and I recalled the notion of God’s mirth which Chesterton discussed in his book, Orthodoxy. I wrote about it, too, in 2018, and that bit of writing starts now, beginning with the pertinent Chesterton quote: “Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. And as I close this chaotic volume I open again the strange small book from which all Christianity came; and I am again haunted by a kind of confirmation. The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly…