Novena for the Birth of Mary ( Maria Bambina novena ) ~~ September 8

The Feast of the Birth of Mary is a opportunity for everyone to reflect upon the moment of Divine Grace , in which God had dwelled within the Blessed Virgin Mary at the moment of her birth.
Secondly, we are provided with the opportunity to reflect upon the anticipation of the people who awaited the Incarnation and birth of the Divine Son of Mary.
Thirdly, we are provided with the opportunity to honour the mother of Our Lord and Saviour.
Mary was created to be a Channel of Mercies. When she came into the world, it was not only for her glory, but also for our good. Through the fullness of her grace, Mary intercedes on our behalf, dispensing to us the grace of God, so that we may be touched by her fullness .

Let us faithfully pray the Novena for the Feast of Birth of Mary , Mother of God ( novena for the birth and infancy of Mary , Maria Bambina Novena ):

Holy Child Mary of the royal house of David, Queen of the angels,
Mother of grace and love, I greet you with all my heart.
Obtain for me the grace to love the Lord faithfully during
all the days of my life. Obtain for me, too, a great devotion
to you, who are the first creature of God's love.
Pray the Hail Mary

O heavenly Child Mary, who like a pure dove was born
immaculate and beautiful, true prodigy of the wisdom of
God, my soul rejoices in you. Oh! Do help me to preserve
the angelic virtue of purity at the cost of any sacrifice.
Pray the Hail Mary

Hail, lovely and holy Child, spiritual garden of delight, where,
on the day of the Incarnation, the tree of life was planted,
assist me to avoid the poisonous fruit of vanity and pleasures of the world.
Help me to engraft into my soul the thoughts, feelings,
and virtues of your divine Son.
Pray the Hail Mary

Hail, admirable Child Mary, Mystical Rose, closed garden,
open only to the heavenly Spouse. O Lily of paradise,
make me love the humble and hidden life;
let the heavenly Spouse find the gate of my heart always open
to the loving calls of His graces and inspiration.
Pray the Hail Mary

Holy Child Mary, mystical dawn, gate of heaven,
you are my trust and hope.
O powerful advocate, from your cradle stretch out your hand,
support me on the path of life.
Make me serve God with ardor and
constancy until death and so reach an eternity with you.
Pray the Hail Mary

Prayer
Blessed Child Mary,
destined to be the Mother of God
and our loving Mother,
by the heavenly graces you lavish upon us,
mercifully listen to my supplications.
In the needs which press upon me from every side
and especially in my present tribulation,
I place all my trust in you.

O holy Child,
by the privileges granted to you alone
and by the merits which you have acquired,
show that the source of spiritual favours
and the continuous benefits
which you dispense are inexhaustible,
because your power with the Heart of God is unlimited.

Deign through the immense profusion of graces
with which the Most High has enriched you
from the first moment of your Immaculate Conception,
grant me, O Celestial Child, my petition,
and I shall eternally praise
the goodness of your Immaculate Heart. Amen

Aug 22 - Homily: The Perfect Queen

Blessed Feast of Queenship of Mary , Holy Mother of God ( August 22 )

Eight days ago, we were celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Today, we are commemorating another beautiful Marian Feast, that of the Queenship of Mary. This special Liturgical Feast was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on October 11, 1954 through his Encyclical Letter "Ad Caeli Reginam."
The Holy Catholic Church made this proclamation in view of the fact that throughout its history, whether in time of peace or in time of war, the faithful have continuously addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven.
"From early times Christians have believed, and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God. He 'will reign in the house of Jacob forever,' [Lk. 1:32] 'the Prince of Peace,' [Is. 9:6] the 'King of Kings and Lord of Lords.' [Rev. 19:16] And when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God." (Ad Caeli Reginam; # 8)
According to ancient tradition and the sacred liturgy the main principle on which the royal dignity of Mary rests is without doubt her Divine Motherhood. In Holy Writ, concerning the Son whom Mary will conceive, we read this sentence: 'He shall be called the Son of the most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end,' [Lk. 1:32-3] and in addition Mary is called 'Mother of the Lord'; [Lk. 1:43] from this it is easily concluded that she is a Queen, since she bore a son who, at the very moment of His conception, because of the hypostatic union of the human nature with the Word, was also as man King and Lord of all things. So with complete justice St. John Damascene could write: 'When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature.' [S. Ioannes Damascenus, De fide orthodoxa, 1. IV, c. 14; PL XCIV, 1158 s. B.] Likewise, it can be said that the heavenly voice of the Archangel Gabriel was the first to proclaim Mary's royal office." (Ad Caeli Reginam; # 34)
To understand the Queenship (queen mother) of Mary as the mother of Jesus as the eternal King, it is necessary to know Jewish history.
First of all, it must be shown that Jesus was born of royal family. This proof is found in the following Biblical passages. "And Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon." [Mt. 1:6] "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generation." [Mt. 1:17] "Jesus was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of Heli, [Lk. 3:23] son of David, [Lk. 3:31] son of Adam..."[Lk. 3:38] "These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David." [Rev. 3:7] "Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered..." [Rev. 5:5] "On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, 'King of kings and Lord of lords.'" [Rev. 19:16] "I am the root and descendant of David." [Rev. 22:16]
Reviewing Jewish history, it is learned that the institution of the "queen mother" was established during the reign of King Solomon. In the Old Testament, we find the following words, "King Solomon had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right." [1 Kgs 2:19] Many of the kings who succeeded King Solomon kept this practice. The mother of the king, through who the king received his throne, was trusted as a confident and advisor. So important was the function of the queen mothers in the days of the Old Testament that their names were listed in the succession records of the kings of Judah. [1 Kgs 14:21, 15:13; 2 Kgs. 12:1, 14:2, 15:2, etc...] In one instance of the Jewish history, we find that when the king died, the queen mother ruled for a time. [2 Kgs. 11:1-3]
Considering the fact that Jesus was a descendant of the House of David in which it was the practice of the mother of the king to sit at the right hand of the king as the Queen mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, being the mother of Jesus, is entitled by tradition to sit at the right hand of the Lord Jesus in His eternal Kingdom, she rightfully having inherited the honour and title of Queen Mother as the mother of Jesus who is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
This summarizes why we as Catholics proudly call the Blessed Virgin Mary our Queen and why the Holy Mother Church, in its inspired wisdom, has officially proclaimed this glorious honour.

Pius XII states in the constitution "Munificentissimus Deus," which defined belief in the Assumption as a matter of faith:

"All the arguments and considerations of the Fathers and theologians rest on Sacred Scripture for their ultimate foundation. The Scriptures present the beloved Mother of God as most intimately united with her divine Son as ever sharing in his lot. Hence, it seems all but impossible to see her who conceived Christ. . .as separated from him, if not in soul, yet in body, after her life on earth was over. . .Seeing that by preserving her from the corruption of the tomb he could give her such great honor, we must believe that he actually did so."

St. John Damascene (d. 749) called the Doctor of the Assumption, writes, "On this day the sacred and life-filled ark of the living God, she who conceived her Creator in her womb, rests in the Temple of the Lord that is not made with hands. David, her ancestor, leaps, and with him the angels lead the dance."
Documentation testifies that the feast was celebrated first in the Eastern Church in the second half of the sixth century. Pope Sergius I (687-701) ordered its observance in Rome. At first it was kept as a memorial of Mary's death, her falling asleep (dormition), and it gradually came to be a commemoration of her Assumption as such.

Blessed Feast of Assumption ( August 15 )

This is the most ancient and solemn of the Blessed Virgin Mary's feasts. After a most blessed death Our Lady was triumphantly assumed into Heaven with her immaculate soul and pure body, and was crowned Queen of Heaven by Her own Divine Son.

Let us unite our joy and gratitude with that of the angels and saints in Heaven, as well as that of the Church upon earth, for it is our Heavenly Mother's Assumption Day.

How well did she deserve this immortal crown!

She crushed the serpent's head; she offered herself and her beloved Son unto death for the Redemption of mankind.

She triumphed over the world and the evil.

Let us pray that the Immaculate Virgin Mary may reign as Queen in our hearts, and in the hearts of all mankind. Let us pray to her for the grace of final perseverance in good and a happy death , also let us faithfully pray :
Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast taken up the Immaculate Virgin Mother of Thy Son, with Body and Soul into the heavenly Glory, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may, always intent on higher things, deserve to be partakers of Her Glory.
Through the same Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, One God, forever, unto ages of ages. Amen.

Hymn

Thou Guide of virgin hosts, Fair Mother of the Lord,
Who gavest back what Adam lost, earth's Hope and Heaven's Reward.

Thou Lily'mid the thorns, thou snowy-plumed Dove,
Thou budding Rod that God adorns with healing fruit of love.

Thou unassailed Tower, thou Star that breakest night,
From evil shield us by Thy power, and lead us by Thy light.

The shades of sin dispel, the hidden snares remove,
And midst the ocean's surging swell, a saving pathway prove.

Be praise and honor meet to Jesus, Virgin-born,
To Father and to Paraclete, throughout the endless morn. Amen.

V. Pray for us, O Queen of the Heavens,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promise of Christ.

May the offering of our devotion ascend to Thee, O Lord, and through the intercession of the most blessed Virgin Mary, who was taken up into Heaven, may our hearts be inflamed with the fire of Love, and continually long for Thee.

Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, One God, forever, unto ages of ages. Amen.

Daily meditation in preparation for the Feast the Assumption ( Dormition )

The Catechism, quoting the Byzantine Liturgy, states, "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians: 'In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death'" (No. 966).
We firmly believe that from the first moment of her conception, Mary was free of all sin including original sin by a special favor of Almighty God. The Archangel Gabriel recognized her as "full of grace," "blessed among women," and "one with the Lord." Mary had been chosen to be the mother of our Savior. By the power of the Holy Spirit, she conceived our Lord, Jesus Christ, and through her, true God became also true man: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." During her lifetime, although the Gospel citations are limited, Mary always presented our Lord to others: to Elizabeth and her son, John the Baptist, who leapt for joy in the womb at the presence of the Lord still in His own mother's womb; to the simple shepherds as well as the wise Magi; and to the people at Cana when our Lord acquiesced to His mother's wish and performed the first miracle. Mary also stood at the foot of the cross with her Son, supporting Him and sharing in His suffering through her love as only a mother could do; moreover, as the exemplary disciple, she stood there courageously with the hope of the resurrection. Finally, she was with the apostles at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended and the Church was born. Therefore, each of us can step back and see Mary as the faithful servant of God who shared intimately in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
For these reasons, we believe that the promises our Lord has given to each of us of sharing eternal life, including a resurrection of the body, were fulfilled in Mary. Since Mary was free of original sin and its effects (one of which is corruption of the body at death), since she shared intimately in the life of the Lord and in His passion, death and resurrection, and since she was present at Pentecost, this model disciple appropriately shared in the bodily resurrection and glorification of the Lord at the end of her life.
( taken from Catholic Education Resource Center ~~ Father William Saunders )