From Season to Season

On the 13th day of May, we celebrate the Virgin Mary who appeared to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917. In these encounters, Mary identified herself as “Our Lady of the Rosary” and urged the practice of penance, daily recitation of the Rosary, and devotion to the Immaculate Heart for the conversion of sinners and of Russia.   On May 13, 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Jacinta and Francisco Marto , two of the visionaries. The commemoration of Our Lady of Fatima was extended to the Universal Church in 2002. Although there are many who focus on the signs and wonders associated with the apparitions at Fatima, Mary’s message to the children—and to us—is very simple: Pray! And our commitment to prayer—for the Church, for those entrusted to our care, for the poor and forgotten—are the greatest acts of devotion we can show to the Mother of God. Take time today to pray the rosary for those who have no o...

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. —Luke 2:16-19 To honor Mary as the Theotokos , the Mother of God, is to celebrate the unique role that she has played (and continues to play) in God’s plan of salvation. Today, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the Octave Day of Christmas, we also recall the circumcision and naming of Jesus on the eighth day after his birth (cf. Luke 2:21). In a special way, on New Year’s Day, the Church invites us to pray for peace: “It is Our desire that, every year, this commemoration [of “The Day of Peace”] be repeated as a hope and as a promise… that Peace with its just and beneficent equilibrium may dominate the development of events to come” (Blessed ...

On this New Year's Day, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and the World Day of Peace , I want to share with you these wonderful words from Henri Nouwen's Behold the Beauty of the Lord : The icon of the Virgin of Vladmir has gradually become for me a strong yet gentle invitation to leave the compulsive and divisive milieu of the world, and to enter the liberating and uniting milieu of God... Her eyes look inward and outward at once. They look inward to the heart of God and outward to the heart of the world, thus revealing the unfathomable unity between the Creator and the creation. They see the eternal in the temporal, the lasting in the passing, the divine in the human. Her eyes gaze upon the infinite spaces of the heart where joy and sorrow are no longer contrasting emotions, but are transcended in spiritual unity. The meaning of Mary's gaze is further accentuated by the bright stars on her forehead and shoulders (only two are visible; one is covered...

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is honored by many titles and in countless places by Christians around the world. These various names of Mary often tell us something about her role in the story of salvation, such as “Mother of God,” “Cause of our Joy,” and “Ark of the Covenant.” Other titles of Mary tell us something of the unique role she plays in the life of the Church and of individual Christians: “Comforter of the Afflicted,” “Help of Christians,” “Mother of Good Counsel,” and “Queen of All Saints.” Finally, there are those titles of Mary that are associated with specific places like Guadalupe, Lourdes , Fatima , or La Salette . Each of these titles, in its own way, expresses a faith and devotion that was first voiced by the woman who cried out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you” (Luke 11:27).   I have three titles of Mary that are especially meaningful for me and seem to capture my own devotion to the Mother of God. They are “Mother of...