Dec. 9th - St. Juan Diego

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Juan Diego. At the age of 50, he and his wife, María Lucía, were among the first to be baptized after the arrival of the main group of twelve Franciscan missionaries in Mexico in 1524. It is variously reported that after their baptism he and his wife were inspired by a sermon on chastity to live celibately. His wife died two years before the apparitions.

He worked as a farmer, laborer and weaver. He deeply loved the Eucharist and asked special permission to receive Holy Communion three times a week, which was unusual at that time. He walked 15 miles to go to Mass.

All of us know the story of Mary’s apparitions to him in Mexico. She left of Her glorious image on his tilma. This true miracle happened Dec. 9^th, 1531. Our Lady wanted a church to be built on the sight of the apparitions, and this miracle was the proof needed by the bishop of Mexico City, that Mary really appeared to Juan Diego. In addition to the miraculous image, Juan also had gathered Castilian roses on the top of the mountain, which are not native to Mexico and do not grow in the winter.

After the apparitions of Mary, Juan Diego received permission from the bishop to live as a hermit (as a monk that lives in isolation). He lived in a small hut near the chapel built on the hill of Tepeyac. He cared for the church and the pilgrims, who came to see the miraculous image and pray to the Mother of Jesus. Everyone was impressed with his holiness. Parents used to bless their children with the wish, “May God make you like Juan Diego.”

As we continue Advent preparation for Christmas, let us ask St. Juan Diego, to help us to turn Our Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, for our every concern. Our Lady touches us, by Her love, as we fly to Her protection, expressed in the beautiful hymn dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe: “You are the fountain of my life. Under the shadow of Your protection! I fear no evil, no pain, no worry! O Maria! O Most Merciful Mother! Gentle Virgin! With the name, Guadalupe. On a mountain, we find roses in winter. And all the world has been touched by your love.”

Dec. 8th - Mary's Immaculate Conception

 

On Dec. 8^th, 1854, Pope Pius IX, proclaimed Mary’s Immaculate Conception as a dogma of faith requiring all Catholics to believe. He said, “The Most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of Her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

After the fall, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God did not abandon man. God proclaimed the first announcement of the Messiah and Redeemer, when He said, “I will put enmity, between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring, she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for His heel.” The book of Genesis speaks of the battle between the serpent and the Woman and the final victory through Her descendant.

The Virgin Mary is the woman, who will be at enmity with the devil. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he said, “Hail Full of Grace!” The Greek word for “full of grace” means, She had been filled with grace, She is filled with grace and She will be filled with grace. To be at enmity means to have nothing to do with the devil. Mary had nothing to do with the devil because She was conceived without sin in the womb of her mother, Anne and because She would never sin in Her entire life.

Some statues of Mary show Her standing on the earth. Her foot is crushing the head of the serpent. Mary is woman promised in the book of Genesis, who will crush the head of the serpent.

Through St. Catherine Laboure, Mary gave us the miraculous medal with the words, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee!” are prayed by millions of Catholics everyday.

In Lourdes, France, when St. Bernadette asked Our Lady, what is Her name, The Virgin replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception”.

Since Mary was never touched by any sin whatsoever, She is a powerful aid to all of us sinners. We should call upon Mary often in time of temptation and we should ask Her for graces to help us overcome our sins and the sins of our nation.

As the Immaculate Conception, Mary is the patroness of the United States. A few years ago, the US bishops consecrated our country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so, we can trust we are under Her mantle and protection.

In the US there is a great spiritual battle occurring for the unborn. The conception of Mary we celebrate and the conception of Jesus remind us of the dignity of every unborn child.

Let us pray fervently to Our Blessed Mother, the Immaculate Conception, asking Her to help our nation respect life from the moment of conception, so each child may have the opportunity to have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, gifts bestowed upon us by our creator.

O Mary, you who are our Mother, and you who were conceived without sin, pray for us, our families and our nation, who have recourse to thee.

St. Nicholas, Dec. 6th

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Nicholas of Myra, the saint who slapped a heretic in the face. Nicholas lived 300 years after Jesus.

His parents died when he was a young man. Very much saddened by their death, he decided to wisely use the money he had inherited to perform works of charity.

For example, St. Nicholas heard about a man who lost all his money. Not knowing what to do, the man made a bad decision and decided to sell his three daughters for money. When St. Nicholas heard about this, he was shocked and saddened that a man would sell his own daughters. In order to prevent this from happening, on three different occasions, St. Nicholas went out in the dark night and threw bags of gold threw a window of the man’s home to help the poor man and his three daughters. The last time he threw a bag of gold in the window, the father of the three girls saw Nicholas and thanked him for his generosity and came to understand how wrong it was to try to sell his daughters.

Later in his life, St. Nicholas was unjustly put into prison for proclaiming the Catholic faith. While in prison he was chained and tortured along with the other Christians. However, once the emperor Constantine permitted Christians to freely practice their faith, St. Nicholas was freed from prison.

He later became a monk and then became an abbot of a monastery. When there was a vacancy in the diocese of Myra, he was chosen bishop.

At the Church council of Nicea, St. Nicholas spoke against Bishop Arius. Arius denied that Jesus was God. Nicholas became angry and slapped Arius in the face. Due to this event, the other bishops decided to take away his office as bishop. They forced him to wear ordinary clothes, rather than the clothes of a bishop. Some of the bishops put Nicholas into prison-- for his bad example.

However, Jesus wanted everyone to know He was pleased with St. Nicholas, so Our Divine Lord and His Blessed Mother appeared to him while he was in prison, restored his freedom, and reinstated his office as bishop.

Once freed from prison, he heard about three innocent men, who were to be executed. St. Nicholas spoke up against their accuser, until the accuser confessed he knew the three men were innocent, and so, were set free.

After his death, some sailors were going through a very rough storm at sea, and prayed to St. Nicholas for help, and they miraculously reached the harbor safely.

Today, let us pray to St. Nicholas, that through his intercession, we will try to be holy and do acts of charity. And may the Blessed Virgin Mary prepare us for the celebration of the birth of Her Son!

2nd Sunday of Advent - Signs Preceding 2nd Coming

 

In the Gospel today, John the Baptist goes around “proclaiming a baptism of repentance.” He is the “Voice crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.”

What does John the Baptist have to do with preparing for Christmas? During Advent, the Church wants us to focus on the First Coming of Jesus (Christmas) and the Second Coming of Jesus and prepare for these by repenting of our sins (going to Confession).

Jesus wants people to think He will come on the clouds of heaven in their own lifetime so we are vigilant and ready for His Coming. St. Paul and some of the early Christians thought Jesus was going to come in their time. But some Christians even quit their work because they thought it was imminent, but St. Paul told them to go back to work. (1 Thess. 4:11-12)

In 4^th century St. Ephrem explains why Jesus wants us to think He coming is soon. He said,“(Jesus) described the signs of His coming…. Therefore, He used these words to increase respect for the signs of His coming, so that from that day forward all generations and ages might think He would come again in their own day.”

With regard to signs, in last week’s Gospel Jesus gave some signs that will precede His Second Coming. Our Lord said, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die in fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.”

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia 9 signs will precede the General Judgment. Not the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The signs in the sun, moon, roaring of the seas, earthquakes, famines, wars and stars falling, etc. is one sign.

2^nd sign according St. Matthew, “And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come" (Matthew 24:14).

The 3rd sign is the Great Apostasy spoken about by St. Paul in Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Apostasy means many Christians will no longer believe and will give up their faith.

The 4th sign -In Matthew 24:30, “And then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then will all tribes of the earth mourn and then they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty.” Jesus told St. Faustina, “There will be a great darkness over the whole earth. Then a great sign of the cross will appear in the sky. From the openings from where the hands and feet of the savior were nailed will come forth great lights..”

The 5th sign- The Reign of the Antichrist will last 3 ½ years. (Rev. 11:2) He will claim to be the messiah. Jews will accept him as such. He will claim to be God, work false miracles, persecute Christians, make Jerusalem the capital of the world, abolish the Mass, set up idols of himself to be adored. No one will be able to buy or sell anything unless they have the mark of the beast on their hand or forehead. (Rev. 13:16-17)

The 6th sign according to the book of Revelation Enoch and Elijah will come down from heaven and perform miracles and battle the Antichrist. (Revelation 11)

The 7th sign is the entire conversion of the Jewish people. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans said, "And so all Israel should be saved.…” (11:25-26)

The 8th sign is the Universal Conflagration. St. Peter said, the entire earth will be “burned by fire.” (2 Peter 3:10-13; 1).

The 9th sign is the trumpet of the resurrection. An angel will blow a trumpet announcing the resurrection of the Dead, then the final judgment. “Then all will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.(Matthew 24:30)

Another sign not mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia, but located in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #677, “The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, . . . only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of evil, . . . God’s triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.” The Catholic Church will appear to die in imitation of Jesus, who died on the Cross. But the gates of hell shall not prevail. These nine signs and the sign of the Church’s passover Catholics should believe will happen.

There are two additional events: the illumination of conscience and the three days of darkness, some saints speak about, but they are private revelation, and we are not required to believe.

St. Edmond Campion said, "I pronounce a great day... the Terrible Judge, should reveal all men's consciences and try every man of each kind of religion. This is the day of change." Blessed Anna Maria Taigi said, "A great purification will come upon the world, preceded by an "Illumination of conscience" in which everyone will see themselves as God sees them." If this happens we don’t want to have very many sins on our soul because it will be horrifying to see the consequences of our sins towards God, others and our own soul.

About the three days of darkness, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi said, “There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during the universal darkness... The air will be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.”

Jesus also spoke to St. Padre Pio saying, “Keep your windows well covered. Do not look out. Do not go outside the house. Provide for yourself so sufficient food. The powers of nature shall be moved and a rain of fire shall make people tremble with fear. Have courage! I am in the midst of you!” Storms, bad weather, thunderbolts and earthquakes will cover the earth for two days. Those who hope in me and believe in my words have nothing to fear because I will not forsake them nor those who spread my message. No harm will come to those who are in the state of grace and who seek my Mother’s protection.”

Could the Second Coming of Jesus be near? Is the Antichrist about to come in the world? Will people be forbidden to buy or sell anything without getting the mark of the beast? Will there soon be a world wide persecution, earthquakes, tidal waves, famines and war? What about the illumination of conscience and the three days of darkness? Will all this happen in our life time?

With regard to the Second Coming of Jesus, St. Ephrem said, “(Jesus) described the signs of His coming…. Therefore, He used these words to increase respect for the signs of His coming, so that from that day forward all generations and ages might think He would come again in their own day.” But he also said, “When the Lord commanded us to be vigilant, He meant vigilance in both parts of man: in the body, against the tendency to sleep; in the soul, against lethargy and timidity. As Scripture says, “Wake up, you just and I have risen, and am still with you; and again, Do not lose heart.”

Jesus wants us to believe these things will happen in our life time, therefore we are to be vigilant and not lose heart. Even if these events occur in our lifetime, we should not be afraid, except for our sins on our soul.

By adoring Jesus every week during your Holy Hour, by confessing your sins monthly, by staying in the state of grace, by daily praying the Rosary and daily reading the Bible, you are being vigilant. You will not lose heart, because your faith and your love of Jesus gives you hope. Jesus is with us so we have nothing to fear.

John the Baptist is a reminder to repent before Christmas and before His Second Coming. And this way, we will be ready for both. In the meantime, we have confidence in God’s mercy and we trust Jesus, our loving God. As St. Padre Pio said, “If we are in the state of grace and seek Mary’s Motherly protection, no harm will come to us.”

Urgent - Pray & Fast Friday for the Unborn

 

Pray & Fast Friday, Dec. 3rd for the Supreme Court- The day they share with each other their vote on Dobbs on how it will affect Roe vs Wade.

 

 

Grave Sin for Priests & Bishops to Prevent Sacraments

 

Cardinal Mueller COVID-Related Sacrament Restrictions ‘Grave Sin’

Roe vs Wade (Abortion) Has Got to Go!

Abortion Videos Below

Pray for the Supreme Court & Our Country

 

 

The Horror of Abortion

Warning Graphic! Lord Have Mercy on the USA!

 Click on this Link: 2nd Trimester Abortion

Click on this Link: Dilation & Suction Abortion

 Hope After Abortion - Project Rachel 

1-888-456-HOPE (4673)

If God can forgive Bernard Nathanson, an abortionist who did 75,000 abortions and Abby Johnson, Director of Planned Parenthood, who had two abortions, He can forgive anyone has had an abortion. Trust in the infinite Mercy of Jesus. Abortion Clinic Worker who wants out? AbortionWorker.com see Video.

 

Pray the Chaplet of Tears: Chaplet Video

Rosary of Seven Sorrows: Seven Sorrows Rosary Video

Chaplet of Divine Mercy: Chaplet of Divine Mercy Video

Pray Litany of the Saints: Litany of the Saints

  

  

 

Nov. 30th - St. Andrew

 

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew!

St. Andrew was born in Bethsaida in Galilee. When Jesus began His public ministry, Andrew was living with his brother, Peter at Capharnaum, which was an important town on the western shore of the Lake of Genezareth, where the two earned their living as fisherman. They were business partners with the brothers James and John, who would also become followers of Jesus. Before they met Jesus, Andrew and John were disciples of John the Baptist. It was Andrew, who first discovered Jesus and then went to tell his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah”.

Peter and his brother Andrew must have thought they were having an ordinary day, as they were casting their net into the sea. But on this particular day, Jesus called out to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately, they left their boat, and followed the Lord, and so became disciples and fishers of men.

Later they would learn to “catch men” by preaching about Jesus and His teachings.

St. Paul said, “How can anyone believe in Him if they had not heard about Jesus”. “How can anyone hear without someone to preach?” Therefore, Peter and Andrew went about preaching everywhere, so they could get as many as possible to believe in Jesus, because they knew no one could hear about Him and come to know about Him, unless someone preached about Him.

St. Andrew went about preaching Jesus in the countries of Turkey, Greece and Russia. Andrew was captured in the city of Patras in western Greece. He was imprisoned, and then severely scourged and then was bound to an X shaped cross and from the cross, he preached for two days. Just before his death by Crucifixion, he was enveloped in a great light from heaven, and when the light faded, he gave up his spirit and died. Because he brought the faith to Russia he is venerated as their patron saint.

All of us are called to proclaim the Gospel. Our actions are the strongest proclamation of the Gospel. Who would believe us, if we failed to put into action, what we preached?

The Blessed Virgin Mary was the perfect follower of Jesus, and by Her prayers many have come and will follow Her Divine Son.

On this feast of St. Andrew, let us implore his prayers and with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, others will come to know, to believe, to love, and to follow Her Divine Son.

Ivermectin Approved by National Institute of Health

 

 Ivermectin Now Approved by the National Institute of Health

 https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/tables/table-2e/

 As soon as you have any Covid symptoms immediately get a prescription from your doctor and tell him or her that it is now approved for the use of Covid.

 Covid Presentation and Discussion

 

 

1st Monday of Advent

 

In the Gospel today, Jesus helps us to see how the centurion is a witness to faith. Despite the fact that the centurion is a gentile and not a Jew, he believes the Lord needs to only say the word and his servant shall be healed.
Back then it was known by everyone gentiles were not permitted to enter the houses of Jews nor could they enter into the temple otherwise their home or the temple would be defiled by a pagan. The centurion’s words, “Lord I am not worthy that thou should enter under my roof”, shows the centurion’s respect for Jewish beliefs, but also his humility in his belief that Jesus is someone of great importance and can do whatever He pleases. He only needs to say the word and it will be done.

And so that is why the Church desires Catholics to say the words of the centurion before receiving Holy Communion. For truly as sinners we are defiled by our sins (and cannot even receive Jesus in Holy Communion if we have committed a mortal sin, unless we first go to Confession). Yet the Lord God comes under the roof of our mouth and into the home of our heart, though unworthy we may be for even having venial sins on their soul. Our faith is like that of the centurion, we believe that the Lord can and will heal our soul paralyzed by sin, but also heal others who are unable to come to Mass and receive Holy Communion.

Who is it you want the Lord to heal of their physical or spiritual ailment today? Offer your Communion for them, though Jesus may not physically go there, at His word, they can be healed.

1st Sunday of Advent - Roaring of the Seas

 

Today begins Advent a time for preparation for Christmas, but also a time in preparation for Our Lord’s Second Coming.

The second coming Jesus will come glory and majesty on the clouds of heaven for all to see. He will be escorted by an army of angels, and come as judge - the Lord our Justice.

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about what will happen prior to His judgment. He said, “there will be signs in the sun, moon and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves”.

In other places in scripture, Jesus also mentions earthquakes, wars, famines and stars falling from the sky?

Are all of these literal events or not?

Scott Hahn in his St. Ignatius New Testament Bible commentary states the words: the sun being darkened, the moon not shedding it light etc.. are not to be taken as literal events, but rather events causing great shock in the world.

However, what are we to think about 1917 when the sun a zig zaged and then appeared to fall from the sky at Fatima? Or the comet that struck Jupiter in July 0f 1994. Or people who saw the sun dance in Medjugorje? And what about the tidal wave in Asia in 2004 that killed over a hundred thousand people or hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans in 2005? Or the earthquake that killed 10,000 in Iran in 2003? Are these signs that Jesus is coming to judge the world soon? And what about future prophecies?

Are these events indicating the Second Coming is near and in our life time?

Some saints take the words of Jesus as literal. For example, St. Patrick said 7 years before the day of judgment Ireland will be destroyed in the sea, because he said the people of Ireland will never be under the dominion of the Antichrist.

And Our Lady told Sister Sasagawa in 1973, at Akita Japan, “Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead.”

A small booklet called the Antichrist written by a priest who taught in the seminary in France in the late 1800’s is at odds with Scott Hahn. He describes these events prior to the second coming as both literal and symbolic. With regard to symbolism, he said, The earth represents the kingdom of Satan. The sun represents the Catholic Church the vehicle of God’s supernatural light. The moon symbolizes lawful civil government, which has as its light a reflection of the sun (the Church). Stars represent bishops of the Church. The fallen stars represent the apostasy of bishops. A diminution of the sun and moon would mean the Church would lose Her influence over the mankind. The government would become agents of the Antichrist and therefore not reflect the truth.” pg. 39 Antichrist. Fr. P. Huchede

Has not the Church lost her influence over mankind? For example, the body of US bishops failed to confront Catholic government leaders, who receive Holy Communion sacrilegiously due to their public support of abortion, embryonic stem research and same sex unions?

And throughout the world, is not apostasy (the loss of faith) spreading everywhere especially in Germany? Is not the moon, representing the civil government no longer reflecting the sun (the teachings of the Church), when government leaders are unwilling to live by and proclaim their faith publicly.

In another words, one source says we are to take these events as literal and symbolic and another source says we should take these events as only literal. The Church does not have a definitive statement one way or the other, so we can believe which ever we want. As symbolic only or both symbolic and literal.

But what matters is Our Lord wants us to be prepared when He will come on the clouds of heaven because no one knows the day nor the hour. Jesus said what we are to do, He said, “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man?” “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.”

Even worse then fire falling from the sky or earthquakes, tidal waves, famines and war, is the state of our soul, if we are not prepared to die. We don’t want to have a mortal sin on our soul when we die or when Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead.

It would be horrible to hear of thousands of people dying by natural calamities, but not be afraid of what kills the body only what can kill the soul. We should be afraid of the state of our soul when we die or when at the Second Coming of Jesus.

Its natural to be afraid to die or afraid of pain that comes with dying, and especially the anguish of leaving loved ones behind. Most people would be afraid. But we are called to a supernatural way of viewing death.

The saints show us the way. The young girl, St. Agnes, was a Christian condemned to death for merely being Christian. When she was about to die, she guided the executioner’s hand to help him to cut her head off, which caused him to tremble at her faith in Jesus.

When St. Lawrence was being burned to death on a grid iron, he joked to the killers they could turn him over on the other side.

St Perpetua was ready and willing to be thrown to the wild beasts even though she was nursing her son, because she valued being with Jesus more than her child, her family and her life. The saints knew by their martyrdom, they had a straight shot to heaven and God is more important than everything else.

How many good deeds have we done for the poor? Have we given our time, talent and treasure for others? Have we read the bible to learn about who God is and what He has done for us? How often have we gone to confession? Do we pray the Rosary everyday? How many times did we receive Jesus in Holy Communion? How often do we pray? Did we pray for those who depend upon our prayers? Have we forgiven every one who has hurt us?

Many of you do very well with regard to prayer as you come to adore Jesus during your weekly Holy Hour. You pray the Rosary, read scripture and pray to Jesus for others.

But during Advent we reflect upon how we could do things even better such as not just going to confession twice a year, but rather monthly. Not to just pray the Rosary once a week, but to pray it daily. To use our time, talent and gifts for others especially our family and community and also the Church.

In a nutshell, we should do everything we can-- to be holy and to live a life of virtue and love? Even though we all fall short, God is merciful. Let us keep our heart and mind on heaven and not worry or be afraid of the signs preceding the 2^nd Coming. What do we have to fear if we have Jesus in this life and long to be with Him forever in heaven?

As St. Paul said, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones. Amen.”

Nov. 27th - Miraculous Medal

 

Today is the feast day of the Miraculous Medal. It was the second apparition of Mary to St. Catherine Laboure when she gave her the miraculous medal. It was Saturday November 27, 1830, the eve of the First Sunday of Advent, St Catherine saw our Lady with an aureole around her, on which was written in golden letters “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Our Lady’s command was: “Have a medal struck on this model. Those who wear the medal around their neck will receive great graces; my graces will be very abundant for all those who trust in me.”

Sr Catherine with the help of her Spiritual director got the medal produced and it was originally called the "Medal of the Immaculate Conception". Since there was a plague in France at the time and there was many cures through the medal the people of France just called it the "Miraculous Medal".

On the front of the medal we see Mary standing with her heel crushing the head of the serpent, Satan who is on top of the world. Mary is showing us that she is the immaculate "New Eve" who was never conquered by Satan to sin. During the apparition Catherine could see rays coming from Mary's hands down onto the world. These are the graces that Mary obtains for us from her Divine Son Jesus to help us conquer Satan and his temptations for us to sin. This helps us to know that Mary is the "Mediatrix of all Graces".

Catherine saw gaps in the rays coming from Mary's hands and she asked Mary the reason for that and Mary told her the missing rays were to symbolize the graces she could get for people but they do not ask her to get them. Around the border of the medal during the apparition Sr Catherine saw the prayer "O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee" which again shows that Mary is the sinless New Eve.

Around the border of the back of the medal we see 12 stars which symbolize the Church which Jesus founded on the 12 Apostles. It also represents Mary’s Queenship as we see in the book of Revelation in which Mary is crowned with 12 stars.

The center of the medal we see a Cross on top of an Altar with a large M underneath. The Cross reminds us of Our Lord’s suffering and death which brought about our redemption. The "M" beneath the Cross symbolizes Mary our Mother who stood and suffered at the foot of the Cross at Calvary as her Divine Son suffered for our sins. It symbolizes Mary’s co-redemption and this large "M" beneath the Cross also symbolizes Mary’s spiritual motherhood.

Underneath the large M there are two hearts burning with Love for mankind. On the left is the Sacred and Divine Heart of Jesus which is on fire with so much Love for mankind that he died on the Cross for all of us. His Heart is crowned with thorns by our sins but also by the pain He suffers because so many of us do not really believe that He loves us even though He suffered so much to prove that to us.

The Heart of Mary is also on fire with love for us because She became our Mother, when She became the Mother of Jesus. Her heart is pierced with the tremendous Sword of suffering and Sorrow of Calvary which was predicted to her by Saint Simeon when Jesus was presented as a child in the Temple. Mary loves us so much because Jesus Loves us so much.

Today, may we repeat the words of the miraculous medal often, seeking Mary’s intercession, “O Mary, Conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.”