Mary's Feast Days October

Feast Days of Our Blessed Mother for Every Day of the Year

From

THE WOMAN IN ORBIT

Compiled by Sister Manetta Lamberty, S.C.C.

Click on today's date

OCTOBER

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Oct. 1: OUR LADY OF PROTECTION

Like a number of the other Marian feasts, this of Our Lady’s protection is first found in Spain, where it was granted in 1656 in thanksgiving for all the victories over the Moors. It spread to many other parts of the world on various dates, but has since been dropped from a number of calendars.

Among the Cistercians it has particular reference to St. Alberic’s vision of our Lady in which she assured him she would always watch over and protect that order of monks. The feast is especially observed with reference to the sanctuary of Chartres and Our Lady of Miracles at Lucca.

The word “patronage” is sometimes added to the name of a patronal feast, e.g. Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Help at Santiago de Guatemala.

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Oct. 2: OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION - NAPLES

On the second of October the people of Naples commemorate a special feast in honor of Mary’s passage into Heaven. Typical of their veneration of Mary in this mystery, is an art production from the eleventh century. The Morgan Library in New York now owns it. It is interesting, since it depicts the belief of our ancestors in that day when the dogma of the Assumption had not yet been declared.

Our Lady is shown in a mandorla, an almond-shaped device, signifying that she is in eternity in heaven, body and soul. She is shown at full length, frontally faced forward (somewhat stiffly and statically, in manner Byzantine to indicate the serenity and glory of eternity), large-eyed, filling out the mandorla with her noble form. It is noteworthy that only the Persons of the Trinity and the Blessed Virgin were surrounded by the mandorla in the earliest centuries of Christian art.

The crown on Our Lady’s head and the palm held upright in her hand signify victory – victory over sin, hell and death. Above Our Lady is a second almond-shaped device within which is the Hand of God the Father. The Hand represents the power of God, that power by which Mary was assumed, by which her soul and body were reunited. To God’s power, not to her own, is the Assumption due. At the base of the painting are two angels. They are: Michael, the Guardian Angel of the Church and Gabriel, the angel of the Incarnation. Legend says that Gabriel brought the news to Mary that she was to die and come bodily to her Son, even as the same angel had once announced the first coming of Christ to Mary, and that Michael took care of her departing soul.

Mary is body and soul in eternal glory; the ASSUMPTION OF MARY crowns her other privileges. The art of the Church is largely dogmatic, and what her doctors preach and teach, her artists paint accordingly. It is all so wonderful – art and religion help one another: God is the Lord of miracles and marvels; faith is the knowledge, and it comes from other sources than science and psychiatry. We have no official recording of the last days of Mary; the Gospels relate the life of Christ; there is no such life of Mary. The Evangelists give us few facts about her. Few facts – but what important ones! She is the Mother of Jesus and Jesus is God, Almighty God. He could choose His own Mother and He did so. He made her immaculate, made her glorious. From her body He came; her body must be with Him, always, appropriately, fittingly. To her He has delegated His power; she it is through whom all graces now flow to us, her children. What confidence this should invoke in our hearts. She, too, says to us as her Son did, “Ask and you shall receive”, receive of me, your Mother.

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Oct. 3: OUR LADY OF THE PLACE

What began almost 200 years ago as a small pueblo populated by eleven homesick families from Mexico, stands today as Los Angeles, the world’s largest city named in honor of Our Lady.

The only major United States city bearing a title of the Blessed Virgin, Los Angeles today, with its population of more than 2,000,000 and its monthly influx of 3,000 persons, is a far cry from the tiny farm town that was founded September 4, 1781, merely as “The Place.” And the church which bears the city’s name, Our Lady of the Pure Angels, is a far cry from the hut built so rudely in 1784, where Franciscan Friars were forbidden to say Holy Mass.

The site of the city originally centering near the Junction of the Los Angeles River and the Arreye Sece, was chosen August 2, 1769, the day after the great Franciscan feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula, and so was named in honor of that feast.

The eleven original families included some of Spanish, Indian and Negro blood. The city’s first real church was dedicated December 8, 1822. Its original is as great and as beautiful as the town it served. Still standing today and commonly known as the Plaza; Place Church, the first structure was built by Joseph Chapman, a shipbuilder – symbolic, since the church is the “bark” or the ship of St. Peter; and Joseph constructed the church named for St. Joseph’s Spouse, Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, who reigns as Queen in every place.

Los Angeles’ first church has grown with the city itself. To date, some 65,500 persons have been baptized in the almost 150-year old baptistery. But while all around it, has risen the steel and concrete giant that is a modern city, the Place (Plaza) Church has remained a center of Latin American religious and social culture; mixing the lives of peoples of many Places into one common blend of devotion to their Heavenly Mother, Mary.

Thy lovely features, Virgin sweet,

I see in pictures thousand-fold,

But none to match the vision bright

I in my inmost soul behold;

The world and all its panoply

Have vanished in it brilliant light,

In place a heavenly serenity

Now fills my heart with chaste delight.

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Oct. 4: OUR LADY OF VAUSSIVIERES

On the Mountains of Auvergne near Montd’Or, there is an image which has remained miraculously from the ruins of Vaussivieres, destroyed by the English about the year 1374. After the destruction, the image intact, was transferred to the Church of Besse, but miraculously returned to its former place at Vaussivieres.

This shrine, as well as others, are centers of devout pilgrimages, and the miracles wrought by Our Lady in answer to the devout and earnest petitions of her clients are innumerable.

Apparently as one pilgrim remarked, “Mary is a determined lady, and gets her way with her Divine Son”, even to the place of residence, as her “returns” to Vaussivieres, above mentioned prove.

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Oct. 5: OUR LADY OF BUCH

The shrine of Our Lady of Buch is in the Pine Mountains in Guinne. The sea cast the image upon the sands, while St. Thomas, of the order of St. Francis, was praying in behalf of two vessels which he saw in danger of perishing.

He respectfully received this image and deposited it in a small chapel which he built there. Many miracles have been wrought through devotion to Mary at the shrine.

Mary is particularly interested in seafarers and folk living near waters. She who was so familiar with the Sea of Galilee and the profession of the twelve pillars of her Son’s Church; still is vigilant for their welfare and happiness.

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Oct. 6: OUR LADY OF QUICK OR GOOD REMEDY

This shrine of Our Lady dates back to the year 1640, although the statue had been in the same abbey for probably two centuries before any miraculous occurrence. The statue was rather faded and was not thought stylish enough for the chapel. It was placed under a staircase near the infirmary, where its most frequent visitor was the old lay sister who had charge of sweeping the corridor. One day as she was busy about her work, the statue spoke to her, and told her to hurry up to the infirmary because one of the sisters needed her. The sister named was not a patient but the nurse. She had been perfectly well a short time before and the lay sister saw no particular reason to think that she was dying. However, she went and arrived just in time to summon the priest, for the sister was indeed dying.

Shortly after this a community benefactor whose son was at death’s door with fever, saw the boy instantly cured on invoking Our Lady before this statue. After this it was moved into the chapel where many miracles followed. One miracle was worked in favor of a sister who had been terribly burned; she was instantly cured. A priest, falsely accused of crime, was acquitted after special prayers to the “miracle lady”. The statue had had no name before this. They decided to call her Our Lady of All Help, Quick Help, Good Remedy.

At the time of the French Revolution the abbey was destroyed. A pious lady took the statue and safeguarded it until the trouble was over. After her death it was restored to the community. It has survived several wars since.

The statue is about two feet high and Mary is seated, with the sun for a background. Branches of brass lilies and tapers make a halo, and she holds a scepture.

There is a short and very lovely prayer which for centuries has been associated with this statue. It is, “Oh, Mother of All Help, say but one word in our behalf to thy Divine Son, for He cannot refuse thee any favor. Amen.”

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Oct. 7: OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY

In the year 1571 the Moslem Empire of Asia had reached a point of great power and military might. Spurred on by the desire of conquest, as well as by hatred of the Christian cross, the Moslem forces had attacked and overcome the outer bastions of the Christian world, and were now making threatening gestures at Italy and the Christian countries bordering the Western Mediterranean Sea. Information was at hand that a huge Moslem fleet stood poised and ready to attack.

Pope St. Pius V, recognizing the danger, organized a papal fleet and found a brave and brilliant commander, Don Juan of Austria, to take command. In the early days of October 1571, he sailed to meet the enemy and encountered then in the Bay of Lepanto. Although the Christian troops were outnumbered, skill in maneuvering, together with the bravery of the Christian troops, brought about a great victory and the Moslem fleet was all but destroyed.

Before and during the decisive battle, the Christian world lead by the Pope St. Pius V, invoked the Blessed Virgin in a special way for her assistance; and they were convinced that the victory at Lepanto was a result of Mary’s help. The Pope proclaimed a special feast in honor of Our Lady of Victory, to be celebrated on the first Sunday of October.

Two years later Pope Gregory XIII changed the name replacing it with the feast of The Holy Rosary – honoring the special devotion to which the victory at Lepanto was ascribed. The celebration of the feast is now observed on October 7, the date of the Battle of Lepanto. Out of this celebration arose the custom of dedicating the entire month of October to Mary and the Rosary, a custom highly sanctioned and approved by succeeding Pontiffs.

Pope Leo XIII, in modern times, added to the Litany of Loreto the following invocation: “Queen of the most holy rosary, pray for us”.

The weapons of war have changed drastically since the battle of Lepanto 400 years ago; but without doubt the spiritual weapon of the rosary remains as potent for winning the final victory; if only enough people will properly make use of it.

At Lourdes and at Fatima Mary appeared to the favored children holding in her hands, a rosary. She made it clear to them and through them to the world, that the frequent and devout recitation of the rosary was the means by which the world could be brought back to God and lasting peace could finally be achieved.

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Oct. 8: OUR LADY OF GIFTS

The story of Our Lady of Gifts, also known as Our Lady of Thanks and Our Lady of Grace, is intertwined with many legends. Like all the Pre-Reformation statues in Ireland, the actual records have been lost and one must depend on the memory of the Faithful.

According to the legends, an Italian youth of good family, who had been shipwrecked off the coast of Ireland, was admitted to the Dominican priory of the Holy Cross at Youghal, probably at some time during the early sixteenth century. The youth had had some training in sculpture; he had a fine piece of marble which by some miracle had been saved from shipwreck. This he planned to carve into a Madonna, but the prior insisted that he use it for a pedestal for a statue of the Prior’s favorite saint. The lad obeyed, though reluctantly. Some time later, a small piece of ivory drifted in with the tide. It was badly stained and had several bad flaws, but the prior told him to use it for the Madonna, as long as he was anxious to carve one. The young man decided to complete the Madonna for the Prior’s feast day, but the work was slow and by the eve of the feast it was still unfinished. He stayed up most of the night working on it, but still could not finish it satisfactorily, so finally went to bed.

In the morning he resolved to throw the piece away and ask for a new one, he was dissatisfied with it; but when he went to look at it, he realized that someone else had been working on it. It was beautiful, and it had some strange power to make his heart content. The statue was set up in the cloister hall, and soon the brothers began reporting miracles through the intercession of Our Lady. Eventually the statue was placed in the chapel, where outsiders could pray before it. The miracles continued until the only possible title for the little statue was Our Lady of Gifts.

In 1581, the soldiers of Elizabeth I raided the countryside, burning and looting monasteries. The brother who had carved the little statue was old by that time, too old to go to the rescue of the statue when the soldiers came. He gave it into the care of a novice and told him to hide it. The novice fled into the forest but was seen by a soldier and shot down. Dying he thrust the statue into the niche of a layer of trees. No one knew where it had gone and for many years the Dominicans like other religious were banished from Ireland.

Many years later, the Irish Dominicans reorganized on the coast of Brittany. They were very poor. One day a great log floated in and lodged on the beach. After splitting it, they found, wrapped in a blood stained Dominican scapular, the tiny statue. With great rejoicing Our Lady was once more enthroned. In 1756 the Dominicans were back in Youghal, where they re-established their old ruined priory and set up the little ivory statue. We have on record the miracles worked at the shrine on the return of the Dominicans to Ireland. The priory was built up and enriched by several benefactors who had received help through the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Gifts.

The statue is now in the Dominican church at Cork, set into a magnificent shrine given by a happy client of the little Lady of Gifts and Graces. In thanksgiving, too, somebody named her the Lady of Thanks. The statue is very tiny, hardly three inches tall, carved of a very inferior piece of ivory. Our Lady is seated, and has the Holy Infant on her lap. It does not seem pretty to us now; which does not matter at all to the hundreds who have received gifts and graces from her hands.

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Oct. 9: OUR LADY OF EPHESUS

Early Christianity in Ephesus is associated with the name of St. Paul and St. Justin. St. Irenaus and others record that St. John the Evangelist lived for a time and died there; it is likewise believed that Mary, too, lived and died at Ephesus.

Mary is associated with Ephesus in another connection; for it was there in 431 that the third ecumenical council assembled and condemned the heresy called Nestorianism, which claimed that Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Man, not Jesus, the God-Man. The council of Ephesus was a critical point in the history of Christianity, and of the highest development in Mariology: when she conceived and gave birth to the God-Man, she became Mother of God; Mary was thus taken from the ordinary plane of holiness and given a place that no other creature could share. Mary’s divine Motherhood is the whole mystery of Mary – It is appropriate that the church of St. Mary at Ephesus in which the council was held was perhaps the first to bear that name, and it was perhaps the first place outside of Palestine to celebrate the feast of the Annunciation (500).

Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical “Lux viritatis”, at the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus in 1931 and gave the feast of the Motherhood of Our Lady to the whole Western Church – The Mother of God.

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Oct. 10: OUR LADY OF THE CLOISTER

A certain young man entered the Cistercian Monastery at Citreaux. He had been softly brought up, and found the religious life very hard, especially the coarse fare that was served in the refectory. He almost died of hunger, for he could not force himself to eat of it. He therefore prayed with great fervor to Our Blessed Lady to help him to overcome this weakness of the flesh.

One night, when he had prayed even more earnestly than usual, he fell asleep with the piece of bread that had been given him for his supper in his hand; it was so hard and sour that he could not eat it.

Our Lady, who is full of tenderness for those young souls who seek to follow her Son in the narrow way of religion, had compassion on him and came to him where he lay, and said “Come, little Son, rise up and follow me, and I will give you that food of which you stand in need. Now shall you eat and be satisfied, for the bread I will give you is the banquet which my Son had spread for his friends.”

He rose up, full of joy at her kind words. She took him to the place where the great Crucifix was hung, whereon Our Lord and Savior shows His Five Sacred Wounds.

“Look,” she said, “here is your feast made ready, for My Son died to make all things sweet to you. Take this crust of bread, which you so much dread, and dip it into His Wounded Side, which was pierced for you; thereby you shall know the savor of that food wherewith poverty is nourished for His sake.”

When with great awe and reverence he had dipped his crust in the Wound of Our Savior’s Side, Our Lady said to him: “Behold the Bread of Angels”, and when the novice ate of that crust, an exceeding great peace entered his soul, his hunger was stilled, and he was refreshed in body and mind. It seemed to him the sweetest food he had ever tasted. Kneeling down, he gave thanks to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, and was filled with love to endure the hardships of holy poverty, for He knew Our Lord would strengthen him through the virtue of His Most Sacred Passion.

This may be only a legend but it shows the prudence of Our Blessed Mother in a true manner. She chose this gentle and persuasive way to correct the monk of his weakness, when all other means might have failed.

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Oct. 11: MATERNITY OF OUR LADY

This feast, observed throughout the Western Church on October 11, honors Mary as Mother of God, and bears the same sort of relation to the Annunciation and to Christmas as does the Synaxis of Our Lady in the Byzantine rite. It was long known in Portugal and elsewhere, but was finally instituted in 1931 by Pope Pius XI in view of the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus.

At the same time the Pope ordered at his own cost the restoration of the Marian mosaics in St. Mary Major, much decayed through age. He issued an encyclical letter, “Lux veritatis.” In this, among the objects of the new festival, is named one truth that was particularly close to the heart of Pius XI, “…that Mary, who is loved and revered so warmly by the separated Christians of the East, would not suffer them to wander and be unhappily led further away from the unity of the Church, and therefore from her Son, whose vicar on earth we are.”

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Oct. 12: OUR LADY OF ZAPOPAN

October 12 may mean Columbus Day to the average American but to the good citizens of Mexico, October 12 is a day the “Traveling Lady of Zapopan” comes “home” to spend the fall and winter months in her own stately basilica.

South of the border, this crisp fall day is actually “The Day of the Race”, an important national holiday since it marks for these people the new flood of human blood which rose in New Spain as one of the conquest, Mexico became predominantly populated by “mestizos” or Spanish-Indians. To foretell the physical characteristics of the mestizo came the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531, when the portrait of the Blessed Virgin as a Spanish Indian woman appeared on the tilma of Juan Diego.

Guadalajara, capital and jewel of the state of Jalisco, celebrates “The Day of the Race” by rendering ecstatic homage to “The Little Virgin” as Our Lady of Zapopan. She is Spanish in origin but completely Mexican in the tradition of more than four hundred years that surround her cult. Brought to Zapopan by Father Antonio de Segovia in 1541, the “Little Virgin”, less than fourteen inches high, found herself in the heart of a territory, then called New Galicia, still groaning under the barbarous conquest of Nune de Guzman. The precious statue, which the warm heart of the Mexican personifies, was the instrument by which Heaven vouchsafed to turn the fears and animosities of the natives into a confidence and love which enabled the zealous Franciscan to gather then into the fold of the Good Shepherd. The story is told that, as he preached, the little statue of Our Lady which he always carried with him, emitted rays of light. The miraculous radiance seemed to penetrate the souls of the Indians and convert them into vessels ready for the waters of grace.

“The Little Virgin” was at once installed in a place of honor at the Zapopan Church of the Franciscans which was replaced by the present stately basilica. If the “Day of the Race” is one of jubilation in Guadalajara, it is more than that in Zapopan, for on that day their cherished Lady comes home! For four months she has been in Guadalajara, where she has traveled from parish to parish, amid memorable scenes of piety and rejoicing. Zapopan’s history notes the fact that when its beloved queen started on her first trip to the neighboring city in 1734, the townfolk witnessed her departure with consternation, fearing that the proud “Sultana of the West”, as the Jaliscan capital has been called, would hold her captive.

But the Franciscans who had a friary at Zapopan since the sixteenth century, have kept faith with their parishioners, and each year the great lady has been brought home in triumph.

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Oct. 13: OUR LADY OF CLARVEAUX

Our Lady of Clairveaux’ shrine is in the diocese of Langres. St. Bernard’s great devotion to the Mother of God is universally known. He was the first abbot of this celebrated monastery, and died in the year 1153, at the age of sixty-three.

Alphonsus I, King of Portugal in the year 1143, bound himself and his successors to pay every year, as the vassal of Our Lady of Clairveaux, fifty gold maravedia for the upkeep of the shrine.

Bernard in his time was regarded as the apple of the Virgin’s eye. He placed all his churches under the special protection of Mary. To him Mary was the great mediator. Not even the weakest human frailty could fear to approach this Mother. Addressing Mary, Bernard says “Let him deny your mercy who can say that he has ever asked in vain.”

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Oct. 14: OUR LADY OF LAROCHELLE

In the Roman Office during the month of October the church chants with joy the victories of Mary, singing: “The Lord hath blessed thee by His power because through thee He hath brought our enemies to naught.”

And so, it was in the seventh century that Our Blessed Mother obtained a decisive victory for Catholic France against the heretics.

The Duke of Buckingham had been preparing a formidable invasion to help the French Huguenots. He appeared off the coast of France with a large fleet, landed in the isle of Rhe, occupied it and laid siege to the citadel of St. Martin. King Louis XIII, reigning monarch, placed all his trust in Mary – the Isle of Rhe was recaptured.

At the formal request of the King, of Anne of Austria and of Marie de Medici a rosary crusade in thanksgiving was organized. Father Louvet from the Dominican convent of Paris was called to preach the crusade. More than fifteen thousand rosaries were distributed among the troops. In the evening the troops carried Mary’s statue by torchlight around the city, recited the rosary and sang a hymn in her honor. Soon the enemy was obliged to lay down their arms. No one doubted, the king least of all, that Mary, Queen of the Rosary, had won the victory for them.

To commemorate the event, the King dedicated the church of Our Lady of Victories in Paris in honor of the rosary triumph of La Rochelle.

“O powerful Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, triumph over all our foes.”

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Oct. 15: OUR LADY OF SCHOOLS

The love of Our Lady is written into the record of our Catholic Educational System. The following numbers are a minimum. Two Universities: Notre Dame and St. Mary’s of San Antonio, bear her name. Six colleges for men are by their title dedicated to the Mother of Men; and four of these share the name St. Mary’s. Of the Catholic teachers’ colleges, developed in recent years nine are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.

When we come to the women’s colleges it is right in line with American love for Mary that there should be 39 of these dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Here again, the names are like a garland offered to Heaven’s Queen: Immaculate Heart, Marymount, Notre Dame, Rosary, Madonna, Our Lady of the Elms, Marygrove, St. Mary of the Springs, Mara Manse, Immaculata, Villa Maria, Marywood, Our Lady of the Lake, Mount Mary, Loretto Heights, Good Counsel, Ladycliff, and a score of others.

It would be impossible even to start listing the over 500 academies and high schools which are the tribute of Catholic Secondary Education to the Mother of God. The number of grammar schools runs well into the thousands.

The devotion to Our Lady of Schools began in France in 1894, when laws were being made to ruin Christian education. A priest of LaRoche asked for and was given the permission of his archbishop to build a sanctuary to Our Lady of Schools and opened its doors to crowds of French students. The government decreed that the school be closed at once and took such stern measures that the priest died of a broken heart. The idea was taken up in America, especially in Canada. Here in America, Mary shows us Jesus, that we may show Him to others.

Let us be faithful to make Jesus reign in our hearts and in our life, that He may from thence truly reign in our schools. We shall grow every day in the knowledge of God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ; and for the glory of Our Lady of the Schools, for the honor of Holy Church and for the salvation of our country, accomplish our duties as Christians.

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF SCHOOLS – O Immaculate Virgin, invoked by students under the name of Our Lady of Schools, we choose thee for our patroness and our beloved Queen. Preserve our school life from all that might hinder our intellectual, moral or religious training. Teach us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, our Divine Brother, by practicing the special virtues of: charity, obedience, purity, love of study and sacrifice, Christian and all conquering joy. Our Lady of Schools, shelter us under thy mantle and guide us by thy maternal protection, in order that Jesus may ever be the light of our minds and the love or our hearts. Amen.

Our Lady of Good Studies, pray for us!

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Oct. 16: MOTHER MOST PURE

The whole philosophy of Mary’s life is described when she went to the Temple for the rite of purification, bearing her God-child and two turtle doves. It never occurred to Our Lady to “put on airs” or to look down upon the common mass of humanity as beneath her dignity. So pure and humble, she kept her crown as Heaven’s Queen – invisible.

Through Mary’s most pure heart we learn the lesson of pity for those who have made failures of their lives and have pockmarked the beauty of their souls by sin and lust. From her, too, we learn the great lesson of charity that teaches us not only to pity those who have fallen but by prayer and kindness to bend down and help them up.

We need Mary in this sinful world, we need all the graces she can obtain for us. We know her great compassion for all of us; we know that in calling her Mother Most Pure, we are not placing her beyond the reach of the weakest and frailest of mankind; in fact, the opposite is true, because so pure, she can understand the need of all of us – weak and faltering as we are.

The Virgin Mother of Purity, given to us as a model, her place in history is as secure as her place in Heaven. We cannot add anything to her purity nor take anything away from it no matter what we do. In imitating her we can only help ourselves and the age in which we live. There is a place beside her at the foot of the cross for all of us; the place where Mary Magdalene knelt. We pray that all may find her, Mother Most Pure, and find all that is required to be pure and the contribution of our age will be a life dedicated to purity, and reparation for all who are too blind to see that her way is the only way that leads to peace and happiness.

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Oct. 17: OUR LADY OF CHARTRES

During the Middle Ages a movement was afoot in Europe, known as the Rosary of Churches. Cities, small towns and even villages vied with one another to rear cathedrals to Mary. Many of these churches have faded into oblivion; some still stand in all their untouched glory, treasure houses of ancient masterpieces of art, sculpture, glasswork and architecture. Their erection was entirely voluntary, a labor of love. Those who had means and riches gave of them; others gave their labor.

The oldest of these is Our Lady’s Cathedral at Chartres. Even before the Apostles arrived, there was a Celtic shrine at Chartres, dedicated to the Virgin who would bear a great King. A Church was built over this pagan shrine and in the church was enshrined the tunic which the Blessed Virgin supposedly wore while on earth, the gift of the Emperor Constantine. It was at Chartres, too, that St. Bernard pleaded in 1148 for crusaders to rescue the Holy Land. The Cathedral was destroyed many times, but in the eleventh century the real and lasting church was built with a forest of columns and a treasury of art, jewels and glass. It remains a “must” on the list of every pilgrim traveling to Europe.

A medieval bishop named Gulbert chose to build his city’s cathedral of Our Lady on top of the highest hill for miles around. He didn’t have much luck and three times his cathedral burned down. One of his successors began rebuilding the cathedral in 1250, when it was entirely completed in dressed stone it “needed to fear nothing from the world’s fire until Judgment Day”. It is the most important of the eighty cathedrals and nearly 500 cathedral-size churches the French people, with single-mindedness unparalleled in Church history, built in that fantastically artistic century 1170 to 1270. To these peasants, priests and poets in stone, the Cathedral was the House of God, the Bible in picture and image, and a canticle of praise. The Cathedral of Chartres stands out in unequalled significance, spelling in delicately carved detail and magnificently balanced volumes what the Christian faith meant to twelve centuries of Europeans.

Chartres contains the most famous stained glass window in the world; its predominant, unique, remarkable blue has defied the skill to describe of writers everywhere. The sacred figures come alive in the glass and the whole nave of the church is suffused with sifted light. Everything seen after this is an anticlimax; just as the Mother of God to whom this “other world” art is dedicated, is the epitome of virginity, Motherhood and womanhood, as all others of her sex pale into oblivion in the glorious light of her sanctity. This cathedral has a majesty and a magic about it that can still evoke memories of past unity and stir the imagination of an even larger vision. American and African, as well as European pilgrims can say “Our Chartres” and somehow feel that it is really theirs, just as the Mother of God is the Mother of ALL Mankind.

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Oct. 18: OUR LADY OF RHEIMS

The shrine to Our Lady of Rheims was built by St. Nicasius, Archbishop of Rheims in the year 605. The church, having fallen into decay, was rebuilt by Ebo and Hincmar. It was finished in the year 645 and still remains a place of pilgrimage to the Mother of God.

At one time, enemies of the cathedral chapter set fire to a monastery of Rheims. Among the relics which the sacristan tried to save was an ivory statue of the Virgin, containing some of her hair. The sacristan prayed fervently to the Virgin that she would preserve this relic. The abbot entering the ruins of the church found the statue upright and unharmed as if placed there reverently.

From thence forward, the image was believed to be miraculous.

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Oct. 19: OUR LADY OF VALENCIA

In the year 1380 ten very pious and holy men of Valencia consecrated their lives to the care of unfortunate children. They decided at the same time to give their fortunes to this good cause. Their little community was dedicated to Our Lady of Valencia as Our Lady of the Forsaken.

Naturally they desired a statue of Our Lady for their Monastery. The King of Aragon was enlisted to aid their cause. Before he could take action three young men came to the monastery. They asked for lodging, and said they were sculptors. They were given a room, a block of marble and some food.

For three days they worked. No sound emanated from the room. On the fourth day the monks opened the door. To their complete astonishment they found a beautiful statue of Our Blessed Lady. The food was still there; the block of marble intact; but the young men had disappeared.

Before investigating the room, the monks of the monastery had asked an elderly blind lady, who had a reputation for sanctity, what they should do. She told them she would pray, and in a short time give them an answer.

When they returned to find her answer, she told them to break open the door and they would find the statue but no young men. They were from heaven she said.

It was very fitting indeed, that the first of many miracles wrought through the intercession of Our Lady of Valencia or Our Lady of the Forsaken should be the return of her sight to the pious, old blind lady.

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Oct. 20: MOTHER MOST ADMIRABLE

Just as the Arc of the Covenant going into the Promised Land, found the waters of the Jordan withdrawing at its approach, so did original sin retreat before the advent of the most pure Mary.

In the Canticle of Canticles it is said of Mary: “Thou art all fair, O my Love, and there is no spot in thee”.

Esther, symbol of Mary, coming into the forbidden presence of the king, was received by these words of her Lord, “What is the matter, Esther? I am thy brother, fear not. Thou shalt not die; for this law is not made for thee but for all others.”

Mary is the enclosed garden, the sealed fountain. The Lord gave her the strength of His Right Arm that she be not moved even in that wonderful moment when the devil would have liked most to disturb her, at the moment of Our Lord’s conception.

“He loved me,” she says, “in the beginning of His ways” – as is stated in the Book of Proverbs. He who made her in the Holy Ghost saw and numbered and measured her – as we read in the moment of her birth. She was the living temple foreshadowed by Solomon’s temple, in which God the Son should come to us in human form and go forth as a priest to give sacrifice to God the Father as a maker-at-one with God for us, our Atoner.

“This,” says St. John Damascene,” is that earth of which Isaias sings, it shall germinate mercy, and bud forth a Savior. This is that Tabernacle which is manifest unto the God of Jacob.”

Man was placed in the Garden of Eden after the creation of the world as in a school of virtue.

Adam and Eve sinned, and destruction set in. But to prevent everything from becoming corrupt, God intervened and made a new heaven and a new earth and a new sea. Mary is that new heaven and that new earth and that new sea.

Heaven, because from her shone forth the Sun of Justice; “And you shall see the sun, my Son, by Substance, come to convince the world of the day’s end and of the night, smile to the lovers of the day in smiles of Blood; for through my love, He’ll be their Brother, my Light – the Lamb of their Apocalypse.”

Earth, for from that soil came the wheat of life: “Mary, the maiden, walked out into the country, telling the wheat what the Angel had told her; the bees tumbled out of the flag-flowers to listen; the birds stopped their fledglings and told them to heed her. A woman in blue with wheat to her knees, ‘mid a silence of birds and a stillness of bees, singing, ‘Golden, ah golden, with seedsprays unfurled ripen within me, O Wheat of the World!”

Sea from whose deep womb came the Great Pearl: “And behold two great dragons came forth ready to fight one against another. And that was a day of darkness and danger, of tribulation and distress, a day of great fear upon the earth. The nation of the Just was troubled fearing their own hurt, and was prepared for death and they cried out to God. And at their cry behold a little fountain grew and a very great river and abounded into many rivers. The Light and the sun rose up, and the humble were exalted, and they devoured the glorious.”

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Oct. 21: OUR LADY OF GIFTS

Mary is the Most Generous of Mothers – Can Our Spiritual Mother, Mary, understand all needs individually? As the Mother of Sorrows, there is no pain we can suffer that is beyond her comprehension, for she has herself endured far more – poverty, cold, scanty means of sustenance, exile, anxiety, temporary loss of her Son in the temple, and the final parting in the pain-filled night of Golgotha. But as Cause of Our Joy, she can exult with us too, for if her pains surpass the comprehension of any other creature, so too did her joys.

But we may ask the question in another sense, that is: Is it possible for Mary, who in spite of her greatness, to remain a mere creature, to know and to care for the many detailed needs of so great a multitude of her children? Is not this almost attributing divinity to her?

The answer is: By no means does this surpass her ability to know or her love and desire to care for us, to help us; for she is truly Our Lady of Gifts.

The Great St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, “No blessed intellect fails to know…all the things that pertain to it.” For in that great heavenly vision – of which St. Paul says “Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what things God has prepared for those who love Him” – there is contained all knowledge’ then since all individual needs do pertain to Mary, our Spiritual Mother, she must be able to see all.

Nor is this too much for a mere creature; for although we her children are very numerous, yet our number is still limited; and her mind in Heaven is illuminated by a degree of the light of glory so great as to be literally beyond our comprehension. Pope Pius IX tells us that her holiness, even at the start of her life on earth, was so great that “none greater under God can be thought of, and no one, except God, can comprehend it.” But we must still add that that continued to increase constantly throughout all her life – for every soul must either go forward or backward in the spiritual life. What then must it have been at the moment of her entrance into the vision of God!

But the light of glory of any soul is precisely of the same degree of holiness which that soul possessed on leaving this world. Hence in so dazzling a light, Mary can most readily know all our individual needs; and she will give us all the GIFTS we ask of her.

Nor are our needs too extensive for her love. For in every soul, love of God and love of neighbor grow together; so that, although these loves are not equal, they are proportional. If then her love of God at the start was so great that no creature can comprehend it; and if that love grew steadily through so wonderfully generous a life as was hers – and if her love of us, her children, is in proportion to that incomprehensible love; it is best simply to concede that her love for us is also beyond all created ability to comprehend.

And, according to her love for us, will be the GIFTS she showers upon us her children!

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Oct. 22: OUR LADY OF THE ROCK

The legend that accounts for the name of Our Lady of the Rock of Amadour, says that Amadour was a servant of the Blessed Virgin; he came to Gaul and in the remote part of Quercy built the first chapel of Mary on French soil.

The shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour can be traced back to the twelfth century; its roll of famous pilgrims includes St. Dominic and St. Louis IX of France. It was the occasion of much devotion to Mary from numerous pilgrimages in the middle ages, and again in recent times.

The situation of the sanctuary is extraordinary, amid medieval fortifications giddily perched on a precipice, surrounded by a waste of barren spectacular country. The venerated statue is equally remarkable. Our Lady appears to be resting her weight in her hands, which are supported on the arms of her chair; the Child is balanced on her left knee. Those people to whom “modern” church art seem an innovation, should take a look at this very ancient image.

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Oct. 23: OUR LADY OF COMFORT

Suffering is the portion of those God loves. It is the seal of His special favor, the badge of glory of those who would follow His Divine Son. Of all who could lay claim to such intimate association with Christ, there was none with greater right than Mary, the Mother of Sorrows.

Hers was a martyrdom of the spirit, far worse than any physical suffering imaginable, piercing – the most piercing of all. It was made even more intolerable because she could do so little to help the one she loved so dearly. There was but the silent service of her tears. No mother could watch the death throes of her child, as Mary did, without the deepest grief of a human heart. Only a mother’s strength could hold her up as she stood at the foot of the Cross, as strong in her grief as she was strong in her love; the Queen of Martyrs, the Mother of Sorrows.

Because she has suffered as she did, Mary has earned for herself as well, the lovely title of Comfort of the Afflicted. Only those who know pain and the need for human consolation can help others in their need. The spiritual Mother of mankind learned compassion for the trials of her earthly children because she had experienced them herself. Mary had indeed chosen the better part, a portion of sorrow made even more poignant for what she knew they would do to her Son. So she takes her place above all others as the Comfort of those who mourn or suffer pain; of you, of me, of all who see her loving aid.

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Oct. 24: OUR LADY OF HERMITS

It is interesting to note that quite a number of the more celebrated shrines of Our Lady had their origins in such simple practices as the enshrinement of some picture or image of Mary near some familiar landmark, in more remote regions, as a farmer in 1427 set up near Viterbo.

About fifty years later, a hermit who lived in a cave on a crag in the nearby forest, formed the habit of coming almost daily to pray there. One day according to the story he decided to enshrine the picture in the oratory of his hermitage. Next morning he was astonished to find that it had been taken back to the oak tree by means unknown.

Taking that for a sign that Our Lady wished to be honored at the original site, the hermit moved to the shrine. Others followed and the landmark formed the nucleus of a hermitage, to which pilgrims came in great numbers. The shrine proved miraculous.

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Oct. 25: OUR LADY OF TOLEDO

There are so many masterpieces of art and beautiful shrines in the city of Toledo, Spain, that a visitor may easily miss the White Virgin; for she is hidden away inside the grilled choir of Toledo’s magnificent cathedral.

The sacred image of Our Lady is a woodcarving of the fourteenth century. Both Mother and Child are clothed in white, their garments bordered with jeweled gold. Their faces darkened by time are framed with curly, strawberry-blond hair.

The statue has also been called the “smiling Virgin of Toledo”; for the Child’s right hand caresses His Mother’s face. She responds with a smile that gives this image its popular name.

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Oct. 26: QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS

After a long list of titles in the Litany of Loreto, we invoke Our Lady as “Queen of All Saints”. It is a kind of summing up, including them all, the martyrs and confessors, virgins – all the battalions of Heaven swing past, each claiming Mary as its leader, then we take them all as one great army and we call upon Mary as their Queen – “Saint of Saints”. Why? Whatever it is that makes a saint, she possessed it in a pre-eminent degree.

But what does make a saint? What do we mean when we say that anyone is “holy”, when we say that Mary is the “holiest” of them all?

We find holiness first of all in God Himself. It is a perfection of God. Two men have seen the heavens open and they told us what they saw. Hundreds of years separated us from John and Isais, but each has the same tale to tell. Each saw God in His glory, heard the choirs of angels praising Him. His mercy? No. Justice? Power? No, none of these things – His Holiness: “Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus!” is the song of the angels. “Holy, Holy, Holy” into this world.

Then, how can we call Mary Immaculate, Holy; holiness is a perfection of God Himsef! Hers is the holiness of a creature – a reflection of God’s Holiness; it is composed of a double element – a kind of “plus” and “minus”. The “minus” is the separation from sin; the “plus” is union with god. We find these two in every man, woman and child who deserves the name of “Saint”, the adjective “holy”. We find them most clearly in Mary.

The Immaculate Conception is the embodiment of living purity! Of absolute removal from sin, from stain! That is the “minus” of Mary’s holiness – surely she has the crown of saintliness for all time! And the “plus”? THE COMPLIMENTS OF GOD – They made a strange group – he, Gabriel, a very prince of heaven, was on his knees before this unknown girl in her early “teens”. He had a message from God. “Hail! Full of Grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!” God Himself had proclaimed her union with Him, had named her “blessed”.

“Full of Grace!” “Grace” is the life of God Himself by which we are made His children. To possess it means to live by His life. “The Lord is with thee!” – here was the core of the mystery beginning at that instant – incarnation; God with us, man’s union with God; his God, holiness. Here at the over-shadowing of the Holy Spirit, the life of God and the life of Mary, of humanity, are bound together in one Person in her womb.

Mary, first of the First Communicants received her God. She was united to God as no one else ever can be and that union never ends. It continued through the months when she was the living tabernacle of the Most High; to Bethlehem where the shepherds “found the Child with Mary, His Mother”; to Nazareth where “He was subject to her”; to Calvary, where the tragic silhouette of pain included Mary’s bent head by the bleeding feet of God – even to her own death; where there was no separation, but body and soul, she is, high in Heaven.

That is what makes Mary, Queen, greatest of Saints. It is her holiness and because hers is the holiness of a creature, it becomes, with its “plus” and “minus” the model of our holiness. Our holiness? Yes, it is the purpose, the meaning of human life to reflect the perfection of god. “This is the will of God, your holiness” – mine! He has made us that our life might write a brief word to His glory across the pages of time. “Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus!”

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Oct. 27: OUR LADY OF THE BASILICA

The vast and magnificent basilica of Our Lady in Turin, Italy, built by St. John Bosco between 1863 and 1868 was inspired by a dream-vision which he had in October 1844. The Blessed Virgin showed Don Bosco a vast and lofty church and said, “This is my house; from it my glory shines forth. You will understand everything when, with your material eyes, you will see in actual fact what you now see with the eyes of your mind.”

After nineteen years, Don Bosco set to work; he chose the spot (instructed by Our Lady in a second vision) of the martyrdom of St. Adventer Solutor and St. Octavius, soldiers under Maximianus in the fourth century. When the first foundation of the church was laid, Don Bosco went to the contractor, Charles Buzzetti and said, “I want to pay you at once for this fine work; I don’t know if it will be much, but it is all I have.” He then took out his little purse and emptied the contents into the hand of the contractor, expecting a handful of gold coins. His jaw dropped in dismay when he saw in his hand only eight cents.

“Don’t be alarmed”, Don Bosco quickly added with a smile, “the Madonna will see to the payment of her church. I am just the instrument, the cashier”. And to those standing by he concluded, “You will see!”

“The whole church was put up by means of graces granted by Mary”, Don Bosco often said. One sixth of the cost, about one million lire in those days, was borne by the generous contributors, devout persons; the rest came from the small offerings of those who had been aided by Mary either in health, in business, in family matters or in some other way.

“Every stone, every ornament represents one of her graces.” insisted Don Bosco. The original contractor, who first received eight cents, later testified that, “The Church was paid for to the last cent.”

Among the monuments of the Church, the most splendid is the painting above the main altar; it measures more than 33 yards square, bordered with gold; Our Blessed Lady Help of Christians, occupies the central position and is surrounded by symbols: God the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Apostles and Evangelists.

There was much opposition regarding the dedication to Our Lady Help of Christians, but Don Bosco insisted, with supernatural knowledge that the future of his own congregation and that of the whole world in the not too distant future depended on the powerful protection of Mary Help of Christians; just as it had needed and obtained that protection at Lepante on October 7, 1571, and at Vienna on September 12, 1683.

Don Bosco won out and the vast church was consecrated and dedicated on June 9, 1868. The dedication festivities lasted nine days and on each day a Bishop preached while another took part in the religious ceremonies.

By the turn of the nineteenth century the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians in Turin had become famous, and in 1911 Saint Pius X gave it the crowning glory by raising it to the rank of a Basilica—THE BASILICA OF MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS.

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Oct. 28: OUR LADY OF VIVONNE

In Savoy, France, the miraculous image of Our Lady of Vivonne is venerated. It was found by a

ploughman while preparing his field for the spring planting.

The good man took the statue to the church, after having cleaned it, and gave it to the pastor of the parish, who placed it in the church later in the day. The next morning the statue was gone, and the farmer found it again in his field. This happened three times, when it was decided to build a shrine in the field. The strange phenomenon brought people from near and far to the shrine. Soon the image proved to be miraculous and pilgrimages were formed.

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Oct. 29: OUR LADY OF OROPA

The sanctuary of the black Virgin of Oropa, high in the Alps north of Biella, is traditionally associated with St. Eusebius of Vercelli, who died in 371; but the circumstances of the story are anachronistic. Yet the shrine is certainly an old one, and throughout the Middle Ages was associated with a Community of Canon Regulars.

The vast range of buildings there today was begun by the dukes of Savoy, early in the seventeenth century, and forms one of the most complete pilgrimage centers in the world (there is even a cinema theatre). It is recorded that here in 1895, contemplating the space and beauty of the mountains, Marconi heard the first call to his life’s work.

The black painted cedar-wood statue has been crowned four times, the last in 1920; the three superimposed diadems (the fourth is represented by a halo of twelve stars) can hardly be said to add to the beauty of the image.

St. Eusebius who had been exiled into Syria because of his differences with the Arians, died in the year 370. While in exile, the Emperor Constantine permitted him some freedom. Eusebius discovered among some ruins in Jerusalem three statues of Our Lady. On his triumphant return after the Arians had been temporarily overthrown, he gave two of the statues away. The third he kept for himself, placing it in a little hermitage at Oropa which he often visited.

In the 5th and 6th centuries when Arianism again reared its ugly head, the faithful Catholics took refuge at the shrine of Our Lady of Oropa.

At one time it was decided to transport the statue to another place. As the procession marched along, the statue became so heavy that the men who carried it could not move on. Only when they decided to take Our Lady back to her original shrine at Oropa were they able to move.

The chapel of Our Lady of Oropa is a beautiful one and thousands of pilgrims today make their way there as they have done over the centuries.

The Holy See asked the authorities in 1856 to make a list of the miracles recorded at the shrine. It is long and impressive. Then as now, Our Lady of Oropa has a way with her Divine Son.

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Oct. 30: OUR LADY OF MONDEVI

Originally, the image of this Piedmontese shrine is said to have been depicted on a pillar by a charcoal burner of Vicoforte, about the year 1540. The sanctuary of Madonna del Pilone is outside the city; it was completed about 1730.

The charcoal burners formed what was known as the Carbonari; at first an organization similar to the medieval guilds, whose prime purpose was efficiency and spirituality. However, the group ended in becoming a secret organization, political, particularly.

The said image was drawn on a pillar during the days of great devotion to Our Lady. It contains so much art, that painters try to emulate it, but in vain. The peasant folk especially venerated Our Lady at this shrine, and obtained numerous favors from her.

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Oct. 31: MADONNA OF THE WORLD

Mary is the earthly principle of love that leads to the Heavenly Principle of Love. The relation between her and God is something like the relation between rain and the earth. Rain falls from heaven but the earth produces it. Divinity comes from Heaven, but the human nature of God the Son comes from her. If we speak of Mother Earth since it gives life through Heaven’s gift of the sun, then why not also recognize the Madonna of the World, since she gives us Eternal Light, the Eternal Light of God.

Mary, Madonna of the World, exists where Christ is not yet, where the Mystical Body is not yet visible. For the people who suffer from fear – the fear of the evil spirits and for modern man who lives in dread, the dread that comes from loss of faith, the answer must ever be, “Look at the Woman”; look at the Woman she will lead you to God.

There are over 220,000,000 people to whom the Gospel of Jesus Christ is forbidden to be preached; no missionaries are allowed in their lands. Thirty seven or more out of every hundred people in the world are under the tyranny of Communism. These people along with the Buddhists and pagans in general cannot say: “Our Father,” because God is not a Father unless He has a Son. But they can say “Hail Mary”, because they believe in an ideal woman. Jesus may not yet be given an inn in Bethlehem but Mary is among them preparing them for grace. She is grace where there is no grace. She is the Advent where there is no Christmas. In all lands where virgins are venerated, or where one lady is set above all other ladies, the ground is fertile for accepting the Woman as the prelude for embracing Christ. Where there is the presence of Jesus, there is also the presence of His Mother, as there is among us who have faith; but where there is the absence of Jesus, either through ignorance or wickedness, there is still the presence of Mary. As she filled up the gap between the Ascension and Pentecost, so she is filling up the gap between the ethical systems of the East and their incorporation into the Mystical Body of her Divine Son. Mary is the fertile soil from which, in God’s appointed time, the faith will flourish and bloom in the East, and all over the world.

Though, compared to the total population, there are few tabernacle lamps in certain lands, yet, Mary is there. Mary is, too, among millions in our own land, and to all who are fearful, sad and frustrated – we beg all – pray to HER. Never was it known that anyone, who fled to her protection or sought her intercession, was left unaided.

Though she is the Madonna of the World, she still is My Lady! Our Lady! If there is war again, it will be because we have not called on THAT Lady to whom God gave power to crush the Red Cobras of the night. Mary! Mother of Peace! Madonna of the World! Pray for us!

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