Ave Maria purissima, sine labe concepta!
This website brings you authentic devotion to the Mother of God. The “age of Mary” refers to the age in which we live—begun by the Virgin’s gift of the Miraculous Medal in 1830, and which will come to fruition in the future with “the triumph of her immaculate heart”—the promise of Fatima. Please take to heart devotion to the Virgin. She is the most resplendant being God created. Demons fear her name, and all men and nations are under her dominion. Yet despite her exulted position, she is the most amiable and generous person—a queen and mother to each of us. Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata. Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos.
Revealing Mary
Glimpses of the Immaculate One, the Lady Most Amiable, Virgin Most Powerful, “fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array.”
Being Devoted
The principle practices of devotion to our Lady, explained by St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Louis de Montfort. Also, an explanation of authentic and false devotion.
Arsenal of Prayers
A collection of prayers and devotions to Mary. Indulgenced prayers from the 1910 Raccolta, traditional hymns, and more.
Catholic Media
A list of Catholic resources available on the internet, including video and audio samples, as well as links to some essential books on Catholic truth and spirituality.
It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that he must reign in the world.… The Holy Spirit formed Jesus only through her, and he forms the members of the Mystical Body and dispenses his gifts and his favours through her.… Jesus is still as much as ever the fruit of Mary, as heaven and earth repeat thousands of times a day: “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” It is therefore certain that Jesus is the fruit and gift of Mary for every single man who possesses him, just as truly as he is for all mankind. Consequently, if any of the faithful have Jesus formed in their heart they can boldly say, “It is thanks to Mary that what I possess is Jesus her fruit, and without her I would not have him….”
All true children of God have God for their father and Mary for their mother; anyone who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his father.… An infallible and unmistakable sign by which we can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemy of God, from one of God’s true friends is that the heretic and the hardened sinner show nothing but contempt and indifference for our Lady. He endeavours by word and example, openly or insidiously—sometimes under specious pretexts—to belittle the love and veneration shown to her.… (True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.)
Mary is the Mother of God.
Mary is truly the mother of God because Jesus Christ is truly God. Although Christ has two natures, true God and true Man, He is but one person—the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Word of God. Mary is the mother of that Person: Jesus, the God-Man: Emmanuel (meaning “God with us”). Her standing with God, so to speak, is that of immediate family. She is daughter of the Father who created her, mother of the Son who made Himself subject to her, and spouse of the Holy Ghost, of whom she conceived.
After Jesus Christ (Who is both God and man), Mary is the most exulted of all creatures. She is queen of all mankind. She is even queen of all those terrifying spirit-beings we call angels. Because of Mary’s dignity, we should kneel before her, pay her homage, and sing her praises. But we should go to her with perfect confidence, because her Divine Son never refuses any request she makes of Him, and she is our mother, too.
The Divine Motherhood of Mary is an integral part of the Christian faith—it is de fide, defined at the Council of Ephesus in the year 431 AD.
Mary is the Immaculate Conception.
This truth is so integral to who Mary is that she revealed herself at Lourdes with the words, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” as if it were her name.
Man is, by nature, both spirit and flesh. Sin deforms both, and its effects are passed on down the generations. When the head of the human race, Adam, sinned, he passed on the tendency to sin to his children, who filled the world with evil. But God can have no part with evil; He is all-Holy and all-Good. When God became Man, he would not receive his flesh from a woman who was in any way contaminated with sin. So when He created Mary, His own mother, he preserved her from the corruption of the descendents of Adam.
Pope Pius IX infallibly teaches this in Ineffabilis Deus: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is an integral part of the Christian faith—it is de fide—, so we must accept it as true in order to remain Catholic.
Mary is Ever-Virgin.
The miracle of the virgin birth is not difficult to believe. Christ, being God, is not constrained by the usual laws of nature—He is Master of His creation. It is the same Christ that walked through walls after His resurrection, disappeared from the midst of a crowd bent on killing him, and walked on water.
Mary was a virgin before Christ’s birth, during it, and forever afterwards. In light of her supreme role in the history of the salvation of the world, it was fitting that Mary be a consecrated virgin, set apart for a divine purpose. Her virginity is a sign of purity of intention, purity of purpose, and supernatural strength. She is not just some ordinary woman, blown around by the winds of passion and human weaknesses; she did not bear the Creator of the world in her womb…and go on to have Fred and Charlie and Ramón. No, Mary was prepared from the foundation of the world for her purpose. She is “white as snow, more beautiful than the sun, full of grace, and blessed above all women” (Roman Breviary), “terrible as an army set in array” (Canticles 6:9).
The Perpetual Virginity of Mary is an integral part of the Christian faith—it is de fide—, so we must accept it as true in order to remain Catholic.
Mary Was Assumed into Heaven.
Before Christ, there were only two people who never died: Enoch and Elias. Since Christ, there has only been one: Mary. When Pope Pius XII formally defined the dogma in 1950, he did it in these terms: “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”
It is generally believed that Mary did die before departing, body and soul, to heaven. In fact Pope Pius XII never affirmed that she died, only that she “completed the course of her life.” Either way, what is certainly known is that Christ never let His most pure and holy mother’s body know corruption. By the same principle, many saints’ bodies have remained incorrupt after their death, bearing witness that in leading a holy life, God not only sanctifies your soul, but also your body.
The Assumption of Mary is an integral part of the Christian faith—it is de fide—, so we must accept it as true in order to remain Catholic.
Mary is Co-Redemptrix with Christ and the Mediatrix of All Graces.
Pope St. Pius X: “Owing to the union of suffering and purpose existing between Christ and Mary, she merited to become most worthily the reparatrix of the lost world, and for this reason, the dispenser of all the favors which Jesus acquired for us by his death and his blood.” (Ad diem illum, 1904).
Pope Pius XII: “It was she who, always most intimately united with her Son, like a New Eve, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father, together with the sacrifice of her maternal rights and love, on behalf of all the children of Adam, stained by the latter’s shameful fall” (Mystici Corporis, 1943).
“For having been associated with the King of Martyrs in the ineffable work of human redemption, as Mother and cooperatrix, she remains forever associated with Him, with an almost unlimited power, in the distribution of graces which flow from the Redemption” (Radio Broadcast to Pilgrims at Fatima, May, 1946).
This ancient and well-known doctrine has not yet been defined as de fide. When that is done, it will become the fifth Marian dogma.
Mary, the Hope of Sinners
The Glories of Mary, by St. Alphonsus Liguori:
St. John Damascene saluted thee as the “hope of those who have no hope.” St. Lawrence Justinian called thee “the hope of the condemned,” and St. Ephrem called thee “the protectress of the damned.” …
This kindest of Ladies demands only one thing: that sinners recommend themselves to her and be determined to change their ways. When she finds sinners at her feet imploring mercy, she does not fix her attention on their crimes, but she looks only at the motive that brings them to her. If the motive is good, and even though they have committed every conceivable sin, this most loving Mother takes them into her arms to heal the wounds of their souls.
It is absolutely certain that God will not condemn those sinners who have recourse to Mary and for whom she prays. For did He not Himself commend them to her as her children?
Mary has Appeared and Spoken to Us
Mary lives. She is bodily in heaven, united to God, in eternity and not bound by time. It should not be surprising that she has appeared and spoken to many people down through the centuries. Major apparitions, such as those at Mexico, Lourdes, La Salette, and Fatima have changed the course of history. These apparitions do not propose any new doctrine (all that is necessary for salvation is contained in the Deposit of Faith, which has remained unchanged since the death of the last apostle), but they do shed light on certain questions of the times.
St. Thomas Aquinas says it is not necessary to believe in apparitions and private revelations, but it would be reckless to completely disregard them because they are given to direct our actions or attention according to Christian principles. In other words, if our Queen and Mother comes to tell us something important, we should not ignore her on the pretext that we aren’t obligated to believe she’s really there. We should rather pay attention to what she has to say and comply with her requests. In all cases, we should carefully follow the judgments of the heirarchy. False apparitions can appear very similar to authentic ones, just as Satan himself can transform himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Only the bishops have the competency to carry out a thorough investigation and pronounce an apparition “worthy of belief” or not.
Mary is Our Lady of Guadalupe
Mexico City, Mexico. 1531.
Even after the Spanish had conquered Mexico in the 16th century, the native Mexicans continued in their human sacrifices and other pagan worship. The Franciscans who came with the conquistadors made little progress in the conversion of the people.
Our Lady’s apparition to the native convert Juan Diego was in answer to this grave problem. The fruit of the apparition was the precipitous conversion in Mexico of 8 million people in just 7 years. At this time, the Protestant Rebellion had been raging for over a decade in Old Europe, and would result in an estimated 5 million souls leaving the Church. These were more than replaced in the new christendom of the New World. To this day, the Mexican people are reknowned for their simplicity and devotion to the Christian Faith and to Our Lady.
The miraculous image given by Our Lady to Juan Diego continues to be one of the world’s greatest centers of pilgrimage, visited by millions of faithful every year. Our Lady of Guadalupe is “Queen of Mexico,” and in 1945 she was solemnly proclaimed by Pope Pius XII, “Empress of the Americas.”
Mary Gave Us the Miraculous Medal
Paris, France. 1830.
Mary appeared to St. Catherine and spoke of difficult times ahead for the world. She entrusted to her the mission of distributing the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, what is known as the “Miraculous Medal” because of the miracles given to countless people who have worn it.
The medal depicts Mary standing over the world, the Graces of God descending down through her. The Holy Cross is shown intertwined with the monogram of Mary, recalling her role as Co-Redemptrix. Her Immaculate Heart is depicted at the side of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, foreshadowing the purpose of the 1917 Fatima message—“to place the devotion to the Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart” (words of Christ). The medal is circumscribed by 12 stars, calling to mind the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse of St. John:
“A great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”
Mary is Our Lady of LaSalette
LaSalette, France. 1846.
The message of LaSalette was an urgent call to a de-christianized people to stop ignoring God. LaSalette shows: 1) Mary is a mother who pleads to a just God for mercy for her ungrateful children who deserve chastisement; 2) the gravity of the 2nd and 3rd commandments; and 3) that natural disasters are a chastisement for sin.
“If my people do not wish to submit themselves, I am forced to let go of the hand of my Son. It is so heavy and weighs me down so much I can no longer keep hold of it.
“I gave you six days to work, I kept the seventh for myself, and no one wishes to grant it to me…. Those who drive carts cannot speak without putting the name of my Son in the middle. These are the two things which weigh down the arm of my Son so much.
“If the harvest is spoiled, it is only because of the rest of you. I made you see this last year with the potatoes, you took little account of this. It was quite the opposite when you found bad potatoes, you swore oaths, and you included the name of my Son. They will continue to go bad, at Christmas there will be none left.”
Mary is Our Lady of Fatima
Fatima, Portugal.
1917, the beginning of the Modern Age.
Fatima is the most significant apparition of modern times. In it are comprehended the trials of the 20th century and today, particularly the rise of Marxism and the universal loss of faith. To confirm the veracity of her apparition, Mary produced one of the greatest public miracles in recorded history—the “miracle of the sun,” which was witnessed by 70,000 people in different locations.
Cardinal Manuel Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, said in 1942, “We believe that the apparitions of Fatima open a new era: that of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” This era will reach its fruition with the promised “triumph of the Immaculate Heart,” an era of general peace that will only be brought about in a way that makes it apparent to all that the cause was an intervention of the Blessed Virgin.
The Fatima message centers primarily on the devotions of the Rosary and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart, specifically, reparation for blasphemies perpetrated against Mary.
Marian Sacramentals.
The Rosary. The supreme Christian prayer, given in it’s present form to St. Dominic by Mary in 1214. It is also called “Mary’s Psalter” for the 150 Hail Marys that make it up like the 150 Psalms making up the Davidic Psalter. The seer of Fatima, Sr. Lucia, has stated, “The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, … that cannot be solved by the Rosary.”
The Brown Scapular. “Whosoever dies in this garment shall not suffer eternal fire” (promise of Our Lady to St. Simon Stock on July 16, 1251). Wearing this scapular is an outward sign of interior devotion to the Virgin. The indulgences and miracles associated with this scapular are too numerous to relate.
The Miraculous Medal. St. Maximilian Kolbe called these Our Lady’s “silver bullets.” It has also become the classic symbol of one’s “total consecration to Mary.” Our Lady gave the design to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830 and a mandate to have medals struck. Countless miracles of conversion and protection against disease have been recorded ever since.
most holy Virgin Mary!
oh queen of angels! how complete and perfect heaven has created you! Oh, that I might appear in the eyes of God as you appear to me! You are so beautiful and lovely that with your beauty you ravish hearts. When you appear, every other thing appears deformed, every beauty is eclipsed, every grace disappears, precisely as the stars disappear at the rising of the sun.
Your great servant, St. John Damascene, contemplated you; and when he saw you so lovely, it appeared to him that you had taken the flower and the best of every creature, and therefore he called you: The loveliness of nature: “Naturse venustatem;” the grace and loveliness of all creatures. St. Augustine, the brightest light of the Doctors, gazed upon you, and you appeared to him so beautiful and lovely, that he called you the form and countenance of God, and it did not seem to him excessive: You are worthy of being called the form of God: “Si formam Dei te appellem digna existis.” Your devout servant, Albertus Magnus, contemplated you, and it seemed to him that all the graces and gifts that were found in the most celebrated women of the old dispensation were all surpassed in you. The golden mouth of Sara, when with your smile you make heaven and earth joyful; the tender and sweet glance of the fruitful Lia, with which you soften the heart of God, inexorable to sinners; the splendor of the countenance of the beautiful Rachel, as you obscure the sun by your radiant beauty; the grace and the loveliness of the discreet Abigail, with which you appease the wrath of an angry God; the fire and strength of the brave Judith, when you powerfully and graciously subdue the proudest hearts.
In a word, sovereign princess, from the vast ocean of your beauty flowed forth, like streams, the beauty and grace of all creatures. The sea learned to curl its waves, and wave its crystals, from the golden locks of your head, which, curling gracefully, floated upon your shoulders and ivory neck. The crystal fountains, and their clear depths, learned their quiet and steady flow from the serenity of your beautiful brow and your peaceful countenance. The graceful rainbow, when it is most beautiful, has carefully learned from your eyebrow to arch itself gracefully, that it may better dart forth its rays of light. The morning star and the evening star are flashes from your radiant eyes. The white lily and the ruddy rose have stolen their colors from your cheeks. The envious purple and coral sigh for the ruby of your lips. The purest milk and sweetest honey are distillations from the sweet honeycomb of your mouth. The odorous jasmine and the fragrant rose of Damascus have stolen their perfumes from your breath. The loftiest cedar and the finest and most upright cypress esteem themselves happy when they see that they are the image of your straight and lofty neck, and the palm-tree enviously, and in emulation, imitates your stately stature. And thus, oh Lady, every created beauty is the shadow and copy of your beauty. Therefore I do not wonder, oh sovereign princess, that heaven and earth are placed under your feet; for they are so small and you so great, that when your feet only rest upon them they are enriched, and they deem themselves happy and blessed when they can kiss them: so the moon when St. John the Evangelist saw her at your feet. And the splendor of the sun was increased, when you clothed yourself with his rays. The Evangelist, blinded by the greatness of your light, was lost in wonder and beside himself at the sight of so stupendous a miracle of beauty, in which the beauty of heaven and earth was contained, and he said: And there appeared a great sign in heaven: “Signum magnum apparuit in coelo.” There appeared a great wonder in heaven, that amazed the angels and terrified the earth. And that miracle was a woman clothed from head to foot with light and splendor, whom the resplendent Sun chose for his mother, and he placed himself in her womb, and to her the fair moon serves as a robe encircled with silver, and innumerable stars crown her temples, and are emulous of encircling her locks, and adorn her head with a wreath of precious gems: And on her head a crown of twelve stars: “Et in capite ejus corona duodecim stellarum.”
And thus the saints, oh most sacred Virgin, marvelling at so great splendor which surpasses the brightness of the sun, and the graceful loveliness of the moon, though they be the perfect flower and ideal of all beauty, and considering the acclamations that burst forth from the heavens, never ceased to admire your beauty, and do nothing but exclaim, and extol you also, with acclamations of wonder and amazement. St. Peter Damian, paying to you his homage, says: “Oh holy, and most holy of all the saints, and the richest treasure of all sanctity!” And St. Bernard: “Oh admirable Virgin! Oh woman, the glory of all other women! The best and greatest that the world has ever possessed!” St. Epiphanius: “Oh heaven more vast and extended than the empyrean! Virgin truly full of grace!” And the Catholic Church, in the name of all, sings: “Oh most clement, most merciful, oh always sweet Virgin Mary!”
And I also, oh heavenly princess, with your leave, although I am the least of your servants, I also wish to make my acclamations of wonder and amazement. Oh gracious and beautiful heaven, more vast than the empyrean! since in this the immensity of God is not contained, but he was even concealed in thy womb. Oh richest treasure, in which was deposited the most rich jewel of our redemption! Oh mother of sinners, beneath your mantle we are protected! Oh consolation of the world, in whom all the afflicted, sick, and disconsolate find comfort! Oh beautiful eyes, that ravish hearts! Oh coral lips, that take souls captive! Oh beneficent hands, filled with hyacinths, that are always dispensing graces. Oh pure creature, who appears so like God, and whom I should have esteemed God, if faith had not taught me that you are not God, although you have a splendor and—I know not what—of supreme Deity! Oh great Lady, empress of heaven, enjoy for a thousand eternities the grandeur of your state, the immensity of your graces, and the happiness of your glory. Only I beg you, oh compassionate mother, that you will not forget us, who beg to be your servants and children. And because you are the depositary of all graces, and the best and most privileged of all created things, obtain for us your servants, oh Lady, that we may be favored far more than any others in the world. And may all the world know that the dear children of Mary are the best of heaven and earth; the beloved children who are tenderly cared for, and enjoy the best that such a mother has to give; the well-beloved, who are caressed in the bosom of the queen of heaven, and are doubly favored and doubly caressed by your majesty. Thus I hope, oh most beautiful Rachel! and thus I trust you will do, oh sovereign princess! In the name of all that you are, do it; for all heaven prostrate at your feet, is supplicating and praying to you for this. Consent; utter but one loving fiat; fiat; fiat; be it done, be it done.
O man, what are you doing? How can you love the creatures of the earth, deceitful and lying creatures, who betray and make you lose your soul and body, paradise and God? And why not love Mary, the most loving, the most amiable, and the most faithful, who, after enriching you with consolations and graces in this life, will obtain for you from her divine Son, the eternal glory of paradise? Oh Mary, Mary, beautiful above all creatures! lovely, next to Jesus, above all loves! dearer than all created things! more graceful than all graces! have pity on my miserable heart. Miserable because it ought to love you and does not love you. You can kindle it with your holy love. Turn, oh Mary, your loving eyes upon me, look upon me, draw me to you, and obtain that, next to God, I may love none but you, oh most gracious, most amiable Mary, mother of Jesus, and my mother.
(“Acclamations in Praise of Mary,” by St. Alphonsus Liguori, from The Glories of Mary, edited for 21st century English parlance.)
