Jun 07 - Homily - Fr Dominic: Climbing the Mountain of God

Fr. Dominic preaches on the need, with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to be always climbing the mountain of God. Ave Maria!

Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart

Solemnity of Annunciation of our Lord

Today is the beginning of our salvation,
And the revelation of the eternal mystery!
The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin
As Gabriel announces the coming of Grace.
Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos:
"Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!"

The Annunciation is a Solemnity, the highest-ranking type of Feast in the Catholic Liturgical calendar.
During this season of Great and Holy Lent, we are blessed with the joyful celebration of the Feast of the Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. It is an occasion for joy, as this Feast comes during a time of intense reflection and prayer and offers a witness of the power of faith through the life of a uniquely holy woman who was committed to the will of God.

Every year this great Solemnity recalls anew Mary's reply to God's angelic messenger: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word." Every work of the Creator is called to perfection, and perfection consists in obedience. The heavens and the earth inevitably announce the glory of God, but to human beings alone God granted a free will to serve Him. At the Annunciation, the obedience of Mary brought Christ down on earth to save fallen humanity. we, too, are called upon to co-operate with the Creator. The glory of God awaits our human word of obedient consent.

Feast of Annunciation it is a special day worth commemorating because this day in human history marks the Incarnation of the promised Redeemer, Jesus Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) It was in relation to the date of the Savior’s birth on December 25 that the Church selected March 25 (exactly nine months before) as the day when the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took place, the same day that the great news was announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

When the fullness of time had come, as prophesied by Daniel the Prophet, and when God was pleased to fulfill His promise to the banished Adam and to the Prophets, the great Archangel Gabriel appeared in the chamber of the All-Holy Virgin and, as some priestly writers wrote, precisely at that same moment when she held open the book of the Prophet Isaiah and was contemplating his great prophecy: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son!" (Isaiah 7:13). Gabriel appeared in all of his angelic brightness and saluted her: "Rejoice, highly favored one! The Lord is with you" (St. Luke 1:28), and the rest in order as it is written in the Gospel of the saintly Luke. With this angelic annunciation and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin, the salvation of mankind and restoration of all creation began. The history of the New Testament was opened by the words of the Archangel Gabriel: "Rejoice, highly favored one" This is to imply that the New Testament was to signify joy to mankind and to all created things. It is from this that the Annunciation is considered not only a great feast, but a joyful feast as well.

The Annunciation highlights what we admire most in our Mother Mary: her humility, submission, and obedience to God’s will. Her example clearly defines the meaning of discipleship, which all followers of her Son should strive to emulate.
We thank You, Father for the example of our Mother Mary, providing a beacon for us in times of darkness and trials, for no woman ever felt the pains that she had. Amen.

Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Venerable Pope Pius XII

Most Holy Virgin Mary,
Tender Mother of men,
To fulfill the desires
Of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
And the request of the Vicar
Of Your Son on earth,
We consecrate ourselves and our families
To your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart,
O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary,
And we recommend to You,
All the people of our country
And all the world.

Please accept our consecration,
Dearest Mother,
And use us as You wish
To accomplish Your designs in the world.
O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary,
And Queen of the World, rule over us,
Together with
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King

Save us from the spreading flood
Of modern paganism;
Kindle in our hearts
And homes the love of purity,
The practice of a virtuous life,
An ardent zeal for souls,
And a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully.

We come with confidence to You,
O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love.
Inflame us with the same Divine Fire
Which has inflamed
Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart.
Make our hearts and homes Your shrine,
And through us, make the Heart of Jesus,
Together with your rule,
Triumph in every heart and home.
Amen.

Our Lady of Rosary , our Lady of Victory !

Feast of Our Lady of Holy Rosary

7 October, one of the most significant days in history.
On this day in 1571, near the Greek town of Lepanto, a joint navy of Christian states dealt a crushing defeat to the Turkish navy, preventing an invasion of Europe. The defeat was so crushing that it was considered miraculous. This miraculous defeat broke the back of Muslim domination of the Mediterranean and was attributed to the prayers and processions of the Rosary confraternity in Rome

The victory was attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, Pope St. Pius V having urged all the Catholics in Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. Pope St. Pius V was a Dominican, and the Dominicans had long been the special custodians and propagators of the Rosary. Tradition says that the Rosary was given to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin herself, as a special weapon against heresy and other dangers. The victory at Lepanto reaffirmed the Rosary’s power. This feast day has also been known as the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.

Let us remember that the Holy Rosary is a positive, definite form of armor against evil. It is not only the armor, but it is the best weapon anyone can use. It is even more than the weapon, it is the driving force that repels all evil. First, the Crucifix on the Rosary is of the utmost importance. It depicts how The
Son of God freed man. It also depicts God's Great Love for man. It also shows the truth of Christianity. It also portrays, without a doubt, the Final Consummation that was left with Holy Mother Church, the True Body and Blood of Christ.

This Crucifix also says many things to God's and man's enemy. The prayer in its very essence Honors God, tells about God, and commits the one who says it to sound belief in God, Our Heavenly Mother, the Virgin Birth, and all the important issues that the enemy of God and man, envies, hates, and fights against.

The Rosary is a powerful prayer, more powerful than people realize, for it is, in its continuity, in its content, that satan is cast aside and cannot enter. The power of the Rosary must be seen by all people throughout the world. It is a shield, it is a weapon, it is the greatest act of prayer man has. The Rosary is prayer in action, for every prayer in the Holy Rosary speaks of the Importance of God, the Greatness of God, and of course, the Magnitude in which Our Heavenly Mother stands.




Our Heavenly Mother, God's Mother, our Blessed Mother from the sorrowful moment of the Cross , Our Heavenly Queen , Our Lady of Rosary is Purity beyond what we can understand, what we know purity can be, and She has the Power to stomp out evil with a mere thought,and when Her children pay Honor to Her, She protects Her
children from the enemy.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!