Volume V, Issue 17, June 14, 2008

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- The Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
- Haurietis Aquas - On Devotion to the Sacred Heart by Pope Pius XII
- Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Jean Bainvel
- If Downhearted, Come Quickly to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts by "Anne," a Lay Apostle
- Marian Coredemption: Synthesized History; Developmental Parallels with the Immaculate Conception, Part II by Mark Miravalle
- The Dogma "Will Only Make the Church Stronger and More Powerful" by the Lady of All Nations
- Blessed Aren't Thou Among Women: Mary Co-redemptrix and Catholic Feminist Theology by Kristen Willard
- The Blessed Virgin Mary and Communio by Amy Farrell

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- The Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

In recognition that June is the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we present to you the twelve promises given by Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque concerning the graces he would bestow on any soul who practiced the First Fridays devotion to his Sacred Heart.

On May 31, 1899, Pope Leo XIII officially approved the devotion and the twelve promises when he sent a document of papal approbation to Philip Kemper, an Ohio businessman who had been distributing the list of promises all over the world. The Pope’s blessing for Mr. Kemper’s "pious" and "useful" work is a sure guarantee of the legitimacy of the devotion and the twelve promises attached to it.

Our Lord told St. Margaret Mary, "My Divine Heart is so passionately fond of the human race… that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer. They must burst out through you and reveal my Heart to the world, so as to enrich mankind with my precious treasures" (December 27, 1673). Let us not return such love with indifference or ingratitude, but let us practice this devotion with all our hearts, in reparation for the sins committed against the Sacred Heart and in order to console Our Lord who loves us so much and yet receives so little love in return. – Asst. Ed.

The Twelve Promises

1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state in life.

2. I will establish peace in their homes.

3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.

4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death

5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.

6. Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.

8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.

9. I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.

12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving the Sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

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- Haurietis Aquas - On Devotion to the Sacred Heart by Pope Pius XII

Venerable Brethren: Health and Apostolic Benediction.

1. "You shall draw waters with joy out of the Savior’s fountain" (1). These words by which the prophet Isaiah, using highly significant imagery, foretold the manifold and abundant gifts of God which the Christian era was to bring forth, come naturally to our mind when we reflect on the centenary of that year when our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, gladly yielding to the prayers from the whole Catholic world, ordered the celebration of the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Universal Church.

2. It is altogether impossible to enumerate the heavenly gifts which devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has poured out on the souls of the faithful, purifying them, offering them heavenly strength, rousing them to the attainment of all virtues. Therefore, recalling those wise words of the Apostle St. James, "Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights" (2), we are perfectly justified in seeing in this same devotion, which flourishes with increasing fervor throughout the world, a gift without price which our divine Savior the Incarnate Word, as the one Mediator of grace and truth between the heavenly Father and the human race imparted to the Church, His mystical Spouse, in recent centuries when she had to endure such trials and surmount so many difficulties.

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- Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Jean Bainvel

The treatment of this subject is divided into two parts:

I. Doctrinal Explanations
II. Historical Ideas

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is but a special form of devotion to Jesus. We shall know just what it is and what distinguishes it when we ascertain its object, its foundations, and its proper act.

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- If Downhearted, Come Quickly to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts by "Anne," a Lay Apostle

The following presents the messages from Jesus to Anne regarding the value of suffering in His instructions to His Lay Apostles (Volume X: Jesus Speaks to His Apostles). The messages are both sublime and powerful, and we share them with you. Anne, a visionary from Ireland, has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O’Reilly, for the distribution of messages which she receives from Jesus, God the Father, Our Blessed Mother, the angels and saints (see article, "Discernment of Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King," Marian Private Revelation section).– Ed.

September 30, 2004

Jesus

From now on, I will think of you as My apostles. As I prepared My original apostles to begin My beautiful church on earth, I now commission you to reclaim My beautiful church. You have such great heavenly assistance. When I speak of My Church, I am speaking of the body of the Church, comprised of its people. You are to call them back to the safety of the family of God. I send you out as I sent out the first group. You are to speak freely of Me. If a soul rejects Me, hold no malice for that soul. Simply pray for them and move along, seeking out another. Often you are like a farmer sowing seeds. I, Myself, must reap the harvest. This should not concern you because to insist on reaping what you have sown in this instance is not appropriate. Sometimes God is needed to ignite the Divine. Use My words, dear little apostles. Spread them everywhere. Keep your words limited and allow Me to claim the soul. You will soften the soul by loving the person. Your love and your example can predispose a soul so that I can find the opening I need. What joy is there in this work! How satisfying is a Rescue Mission when souls are saved. And they will be saved, do not fear. You will be successful but only I can measure your success. You are successful now are you not? You are following My will. You are working for the Kingdom. You are preparing to go out into the world on the greatest work of mercy ever known to your world. Children, dear apostles, there is great kinship between you. Support each other and encourage each other. Do not judge, but neither withhold heavenly obtained wisdom if a fellow apostle is in error. I am your guide. Ask Me if I want you to correct someone. All is well. We begin.

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- Marian Coredemption: Synthesized History; Developmental Parallels with the Immaculate Conception, Part II by Mark Miravalle

The first half of this article ran in the previous Mother of All Peoples Bi-Monthly Issue. This article was delivered at the 2008 Mariological Society of America meeting in May.—Asst. Ed.

12. Newman and Faber

By the middle of the nineteenth century, we have the corroboration of Ven. Cardinal John Henry Newman (†1890). Newman defends the Co-redemptrix title in his dialogue with the Anglican clergyman Pusey by reason of the title’s relation to the other glorious patristic titles granted to Christ’s Mother:

"When they found you with the Fathers calling her Mother of God, Second Eve, and Mother of all Living, the Mother of Life, the Morning Star, the Mystical New Heaven, the Sceptre of Orthodoxy, the All-undefiled Mother of Holiness, and the like, they would have deemed it a poor compensation for such language, that you protested against her being called a Co-redemptrix …" (90).

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- The Dogma "Will Only Make the Church Stronger and More Powerful" by the Lady of All Nations

In the August 15, 1951, message from the Lady of All Nations (Church approval May 31, 2002, see "Church Approves Apparitions of the Lady of All Nations," Marian Private Revelation Category) Our Lady refers to "the dogma" that will become the "last and greatest dogma." She calls theologians to be informed that "I wish to be and shall be the Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate." The Lady further prophesies, "Disasters will come, disasters of nature… I will and can obtain grace, redemption and peace for all who ask… Make all nations of one mind, let all people be one in Jesus Christ." – Ed.

I see the Lady. She says, "Today I come as the Lady of All Nations."

Then the Lady points around herself. She looks at me and says,

I crushed the snake with my foot. I became united with the Son, just as I was always united with Him. In the history of the Church, this, the dogma, preceded. (1) As Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate I stand here now in this time, in Our time. The dogma of the Assumption had to precede. The last and greatest dogma is to follow. The Sacrifice is present and shall be present in the midst of the world, in this time.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1376

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- Blessed Aren't Thou Among Women: Mary Co-redemptrix and Catholic Feminist Theology by Kristen Willard

As the doctrine of Mary Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate comes closer to being dogmatically defined, one naturally considers the implication of such a definition. Throughout the ages, Marian dogmas have come at times when certain aspects of the faith needed to be clearly defined and understood for the good of the entire Church. They have also enabled Mary to work in the ways in which she is known – for instance, she did not call herself the "Immaculate Conception" until Lourdes, after the dogma had already been defined.

The definition of Mary as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate and Queen is significant for many reasons, but especially because this dogma would define Mary’s relationship to us. The others define aspects of her life and being, but this one has implications that might hit closer to home for many. For this reason, consider what it means to have a mother and model woman for the world. What can all mankind learn from her? How can her role and very being actually change our lives? Specifically as a woman, Mary’s life should be a real example for Catholic women (and women of the world) about true womanhood and femininity.

With the rise of feminism in the past century, many women’s concepts of femininity have become twisted and skewed. It is even more unsettling to see it popping up in Catholic feminism, ultimately creating division in the Church and confusing the sexes. This article will examine the aspects of this Catholic feminism, and how Mary as Co-redemptrix answers and corrects those aspects – what her example means for womanhood, femininity and the Church and her preservation. A brief examination of the doctrine of Mary’s coredemption will begin the essay, followed by a survey of Catholic feminism, followed by another look at feminism in light of Mary, arriving at a truer understanding of womanhood.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1375

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- The Blessed Virgin Mary and Communio by Amy Farrell

At the 1985 Extraordinary Synod, the bishops synthesized the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, adopting the concept of communio. This concept is integral for an understanding of the Church, who she is and her role in God’s divine plan of salvation. Likewise, in order to understand the Church and enter into the reality of her mystery, an understanding of maternal mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is essential. The words of Pope Benedict XVI, in his role as prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, convey the importance of the central relationship between Mary and the Church:

…the Church is not an apparatus, nor a social institution, nor one social institution among many others. It is a person. It is a woman. It is a Mother. It is alive. A Marian understanding of the Church is totally opposed to the concept of the Church as a bureaucracy or a simple organization. We cannot make the Church, we must be the Church. We are the Church, the Church is in us only to the extent that our faith more than action forges our being. Only by being Marian, can we become the Church. At its very beginning the Church was not made, but given birth. She existed in the soul of Mary from the moment she uttered her Fiat. This is the most profound will of the Council: the Church should be awakened in our souls. Mary shows us the way (1).

Mary’s preeminence in the Church, necessitates a thorough exploration of how she is integrally related to this significant concept of the Council: communio. In his statement regarding the Church, Benedict emphasizes that the "most profound will of the Council" is that "the Church should be awakened in our souls…." He points singularly to Mary to show us the way. In developing an understanding of how the Blessed Virgin Mary is related to communio, her universal and maternal mediation is brought to light. For it is through the maternal mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the Church will "be awakened in our souls" and the Church will come to understand and live out the reality of communio.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1374

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