A Little Litany

When earth and sky changed places for an hour 
 And heaven looked upwards in a human face.  
          http://www.jeankeatonart.com/store/color-collection/mary-and-baby-jesus/  A Little Litany - G.K.Chesterton
When God turned back eternity and was young,
Ancient of Days, grown little for your mirth
(As under the low arch the land is bright)
Peered through you, gate of heaven--and saw the earth.

Or shutting out his shining skies awhile 
 Built you about him for a house of gold 
 To see in pictured walls his storied world 
 Return upon him as a tale is told. 

Or found his mirror there; the only glass 
 That would not break with that unbearable light 
 Till in a corner of the high dark house 
 God looked on God, as ghosts meet in the night.  

Star of his morning; that unfallen star 
 In that strange starry overturn of space

 When earth and sky changed places for an hour 
 And heaven looked upwards in a human face.  

Or young on your strong knees and lifted up 
 Wisdom cried out, whose voice is in the street, 
 And more than twilight of twiformed cherubim 
 Made of his throne indeed a mercy-seat.  

Or risen from play at your pale raiment’s hem 
 God, grown adventurous from all time’s repose,
 Or your tall body climbed the ivory tower 
 And kissed upon your mouth the mystic rose.

                

http://restoredtraditions.com/products/virgin-child-embracing-sassoferrato    https://vhoagland.wordpress.com/tag/the-mother-of-jesus/

Lovely Lady dressed in blue...........

Mary Dixon Thayer who wrote more than one poem for Our Lady, is the author.
This prayer-poem was popularized in the 1950s by Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/lady-card.htm



By Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

Just at the turn of the century, there was a woman married in Paris, just a good, ordinary Catholic girl, to an atheist doctor, Dr. Felix Leseur. He attempted to break down the faith of his wife and she reacted and began studying her faith. In 1905, she was taken ill and tossed on a bed of constant pain until August 1914. When she was dying, she said to her husband, "Felix, when I am dead, you will become a Catholic and a Dominican priest."

"Elizabeth, you know my sentiments. I've sworn hatred of God, I shall live in the hatred and I shall die in it."

She repeated her words and passed away. She died in her husband's arms at the early age of 47.

Rummaging through her papers, Felix found her will. She wrote:

"In 1905, I asked almighty God to send me sufficient sufferings to purchase your soul. On the day that I die, the price will have been paid. Greater love than this no woman has than she who lay down her life for her husband."

Dr. Leseur, the atheist, dismissed her will as the fancies of a pious woman. He decided to write a book against Lourdes. He went down to Lourdes to write against Our Lady.

However, as he looked up into the face of the statue of Mary, he received the great gift of faith. So total, so complete was it, that he never had to go through the process of juxtaposition and say, "how will I answer this or that difficulty?"

He saw it all. At once.

The then reigning pontiff was Benedict XV. Then came World War I. Hearing of the conversion of Dr. Leseur, Pope Benedict XV sent for him. Dr. Leseur went in the company of Fr. Jon Vinnea, orator of Notre Dame. Dr. Leseur recounted his conversion and said that he wanted to become a Dominican priest. Holy Father said, "I forbid you. You must remain in the world and repair the harm which you have done."

The Holy Father then talked to Fr. Vinnea and then again to Dr. Leseur and said:

"I revoke my decision. Whatever Fr. Vinnea tells you to do, you may do."

In the year 1924, during Lent, I, Fulton J. Sheen, made my retreat in the Dominican monastery in Belgium. Four times each day, and 45 minutes in length, I made my retreat under the spiritual guidance of Father Felix Leseur of the Order of Preachers, Catholic Dominican priest, who told me this story.[12]

Nota Bene: The cause of Elisabeth Leseur's canonization is proceeding in Rome. Fr. Leseur died a priest in 1950. [13]
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kralis/040802

Plate No: XVII

Mystical Ascent

of the Mountain of Perfection

by the Way of Love

and Spiritual Childhood

of Therese of the Child Jesus

Text by Mother Agnes of Jesus - illustrations by Charles Jouvenot - 1919

31 allegoric pictures in color

http://www.archives-carmel-lisieux.fr/english/carmel/index.php/apres-1897/ha/les-versions-light/the-little-way

The Mysteries of Light

         

The Church has always attributed particular efficacy to this prayer, entrusting to the Rosary… the most difficult problems. At times when Christianity itself seemed under threat, its deliverance was attributed to the power of this prayer, and Our Lady of the Rosary was acclaimed as the one whose intercession brought salvation.
Today I willingly entrust to the power of this prayer… the cause of peace in the world and the cause of the family. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, n. 39 

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae_en.html 

“Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain linking us to God”

From POPE JOHN PAUL II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 

The Mysteries of Light

21. Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way “mysteries of light”. Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments – “luminous” mysteries – during this phase of Christ's life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.

Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus.The Baptism in the Jordan is first of all a mystery of light. Here, as Christ descends into the waters, the innocent one who became “sin” for our sake (cf. 2Cor 5:21), the heavens open wide and the voice of the Father declares him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:17 and parallels), while the Spirit descends on him to invest him with the mission which he is to carry out. Another mystery of light is the first of the signs, given at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1- 12), when Christ changes water into wine and opens the hearts of the disciples to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the first among believers. Another mystery of light is the preaching by which Jesus proclaims the coming of the Kingdom of God, calls to conversion (cf. Mk 1:15) and forgives the sins of all who draw near to him in humble trust (cf. Mk 2:3-13; Lk 7:47- 48): the inauguration of that ministry of mercy which he continues to exercise until the end of the world, particularly through the Sacrament of Reconciliation which he has entrusted to his Church (cf. Jn 20:22-23). The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration, traditionally believed to have taken place on Mount Tabor. The glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished Apostles to “listen to him” (cf. Lk 9:35 and parallels) and to prepare to experience with him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with him to the joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit. A final mystery of light is the institution of the Eucharist, in which Christ offers his body and blood as food under the signs of bread and wine, and testifies “to the end” his love for humanity (Jn13:1), for whose salvation he will offer himself in sacrifice.

In these mysteries, apart from the miracle at Cana, the presence of Mary remains in the background. The Gospels make only the briefest reference to her occasional presence at one moment or other during the preaching of Jesus (cf. Mk 3:31-5; Jn 2:12), and they give no indication that she was present at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Yet the role she assumed at Cana in some way accompanies Christ throughout his ministry. The revelation made directly by the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan and echoed by John the Baptist is placed upon Mary's lips at Cana, and it becomes the great maternal counsel which Mary addresses to the Church of every age: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). This counsel is a fitting introduction to the words and signs of Christ's public ministry and it forms the Marian foundation of all the “mysteries of light”.

Zion , the Heavenly Jerusalem

THE NEW JERUSALEM-Two Jerusalems mentioned in Scripture(Galations 4:25-26;Hebrews 12:22). One is the earthly home of believers during the millennium.The other is heavenly-New Jerusalem, celestial city, which hovers over the earth for 1000 yrs. Christ has been preparing this New Jerusalem for 2000 yrs(John 14:2). This magnificent masterpiece descending toward earth reminds of the elegant beauty of a bride on wedding day(Rev.21:2). Verses 9-27 & Chapter 22:1-15 present description.

qol: sound, voice
http://www.catholic-pages.com/bvm/hahn.asp

The word in Hebrew for sound is qol. Now, what kind of noise does the qol of the Lord make? Well you can find out by reading Psalm 29. Keep your finger on Genesis 3 and take a look at Psalm 29 because there we discover an entire psalm devoted to describing what Adam and Eve must have heard when they heard the qol of the Lord, the sound of the Lord.

Verse 1 of Psalm 29, "Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings or sons of God. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name and worship the Lord in holy array. The qol of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord upon many waters. The qol of the Lord is powerful. The qol of the Lord is full of majesty." Verse 5, "The qol of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf in Sirion, like a young wild ox. The qol of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The qol of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The qol of the Lord makes the oak trees to whirl and strips the forest bare and all in his temple cry, 'glory'!"

What do you think they heard? It wasn't the snapping of little twigs and the crunching, you know, of leaves. They heard a thunder and shattering roar, and they hid themselves. Quite understandably. Goes on, "They heard the qol of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day." That word in Hebrew, cool, is ruah, normally translated spirit or wind, and that phrase could easily be translated as scholars have argued, "They heard the thundering, shattering roar of Yahweh Eloheim as he was coming into the garden as the spirit of the day!" What day? The day of judgment. We've got a primo parousia on our hands. The second coming in advance in a sense.

So they flee from the sound that they hear. They hide from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. "But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'" Now he doesn't talk about geographical location. The deity here, in order to meet the job description of the divinity is omniscient. He knows where they are. He's asking, "Where are you in terms of your covenant standing before me. Where are you? "He answered, ' I heard you in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked and so I hid. Who told you that you were naked?" What does the man say? "The woman! Have you eaten of the fruit that I told you not to eat?" And what does he say? He immediately starts passing the buck. Verse 12, "The man said, 'The woman.'" But it gets worse, "The woman you gave me."

One Month with the Mother of God -quotes

It  is Mary's style to have absolute faith, without creating problems for herself or asking for an explanation, but abandoning herself entirely into the hands of the Lord. (p.19).

The candor of Mary is enchanting. The secret lies in her obedience to the call of the Holy Spirit : with humility and courage she challenged the ways of the world , fear of being misunderstood and despised, along with other difficulties which may have seemed to he insurmountable. But this is what Jesus wanted of His Mother. Those who are preoccupied with pleasing God put their faith in His help and receive the grace they need to overcome obstacles which seems insuperable. (p. 20) 

      - Fr. Gabriel Amorth, SSP -  in 'The Gospel of Mary - One Month with the Mother of God'

Iconographers of all times tried to show in the image of Theotokos as much beauty, gentleness, dignity and grandeur as they could imagine. They sometimes paint grief, and sometimes sorrowful, but always filled with spiritual strength and wisdom.

The Most Pure Lady is always shown with her head covered with a veil, which drops to her shoulders, according to the tradition of Jewish women of that time. This veil or head covering is usually colored red to show her suffering and her acquired holiness. Under her veil her clothing is blue, symbolizing the humanity of the Theotokos.

Mosaic from Kykkos Monastery depicting the Theotokos asking St. Luke to paint the first icons of her and Christ, along with the Archangel Gabriel (who according to another tradition gave him three boards on which to paint icons) (taken from:http://www.chrissihart.com/node/376)http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.in/2008/10/st-luke-evangelist.html

There are three golden stars, one on the forehead and one on each shoulder of the Most Holy Theotokos. These stars symbols of her virginity. She was a virgin before, during, and after the Nativity of Christ. The three stars are also a symbol of the Holy Trinity. Sometimes the third star is covered by the figure of the Christ Child the second person of the Holy Trinity.

A fairly elaborate Orthodox Christianicon corner as would be found in a private home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon#Luke.27s_portrait_of_Mary

2501 Created "in the image of God," man also expresses the truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. Indeed, art is a distinctively human form of expression; beyond the search for the necessities of life which is common to all living creatures, art is a freely given superabundance of the human being's inner riches. Arising from talent given by the Creator and from man's own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man. 
CCC - Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Immaculate Heart of Mary - An inexhaustible Fountain of Graces.

                            Engraving by the renowned Augsburg artist, Josef Sebastian Klauber 

Mary whose half image is placed on top of a three-tiered fountain  is identified as the one who "contains all grace" ("In me gratia omnis," Sirach 24).  This is confirmed by the Annunciation angel, "Gratia plena" (full of grace), and by the three rays of light emanating from the triangular symbol of the Trinity.  In turn, the rays are transformed into three well- springs springing from Mary's heart, symbol of Trinitarian grace, and the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.  Thus, Mary is a fountain of life.

"Let us proceed to and approach the throne of grace"
 (Hebrews 4).

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/matergratiae.html

The Marian Library has in its possession rare books of the eighteenth century with engravings by the renowned Augsburg artist, Josef Sebastian Klauber (ca. 1700-1768). The highly symbolic and illustrative reproductions are typical of the Baroque period. Their message is of great spiritual riches. Mary's profile is that of the exalted Mother, Virgin, and Queen, as suits the period. We limited ourselves to the illustrations of the Marian titles. The reader needs to keep in mind that the titles introduced in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, obviously, are not included in Klauber's illustrations.

Mary’s Heart, the Inexhaustible Fountain 

St. John Eudes in Classic Mariological Excerpts

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/2005/07/marys-heart-the-inexhaustible-fountain/

Our Lady’s most blessed Heart is the wonderful fountain that God caused to spring from the ground at the beginning of the world, as described in the second chapter of Genesis. “A spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth” (Gen 2:6). St. Bonaventure tells us that this fountain was a figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary. “She was prefigured in the fountain that sprang from the earth.” (1) But we have equal reason to say that this represented her Heart, which is truly a living fountain whose heavenly waters irrigate not only the whole earth, but every created thing in Heaven as well as on earth.

Mary is the sealed fountain of the holy Spouse, which her divine Bridegroom calls “a fountain sealed up” (Cant. 4:12), for it remained sealed not only against the world, the devil and every kind of sin, but it was closed even to the Cherubim and Seraphim, who could not penetrate the marvelous secrets or comprehend the inestimable treasures hidden by God in Our Lady’s pure Heart.

Sacred Scripture states that the heart of man is evil and inscrutable (Jer. 17:9). But the Heart of the Queen of Heaven inspires these words: “God created her in the Holy Spirit, and saw her, and numbered her, and measured her” (Ecclus. 1:9). In other words, so holy and impenetrable is the Heart of Mary that only God Who enclosed within His treasures of grace and put His seal upon it, can know the quality, quantity and price of the graces hidden in this sealed fountain. All we can say is that Mary’s Immaculate Heart is a fountain of light, a fountain of holy and blessed water, a fountain of living and life-giving water, a fountain of milk and honey and a fountain of wine. It is the source of a great river, nay, of four miraculous streams, and finally, it is the source of an infinity of blessings and goodness.

For more on this, check this link  http://www.liberius.net/livres/The_admirable_Heart_of_Mary_000000374.pdf