This year, August 5 is a very special holy day for 2 reasons: 1. It happens to be the first Sunday of August, which God the Father had requested to be the feast day in honor of Him as The Father of All Mankind. http://www.sdbv.org/html/god_the_father.html 2. August 5 is also the real birthday of Our Lady, as revealed to some visionaries, including the seers in Medjugorje. Let us spend this day in adoration, reparation and thanksgiving. Abundant graces are waiting to be showered from God's throne through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, if we only ask.
And it's the Dedication of St. Mary Major in Rome, my favorite Basilica. Sunday, August 05, 2012Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica First raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the Liberian basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431. Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the largest church in the world honoring God through Mary. Standing atop one of Rome’s seven hills, the Esquiline, it has survived many restorations without losing its character as an early Roman basilica. Its interior retains three naves divided by colonnades in the style of Constantine’s era. Fifth-century mosaics on its walls testify to its antiquity.St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centers of the Church. St. John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter; St. Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided over by Mark; St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople; and St. Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most of her life.One legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every August 5.Comment:Theological debate over Christ’s nature as God and man reached fever pitch in Constantinople in the early fifth century. The chaplain of Bishop Nestorius began preaching against the title Theotokos, “Mother of God,” insisting that the Virgin was mother only of the human Jesus. Nestorius agreed, decreeing that Mary would henceforth be named “Mother of Christ” in his see. The people of Constantinople virtually revolted against their bishop’s refutation of a cherished belief. When the Council of Ephesus refuted Nestorius, believers took to the streets, enthusiastically chanting, “Theotokos! Theotokos!”Quote:“From the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the title of Mother of God, in whose protection the faithful take refuge together in prayer in all their perils and needs. Accordingly, following the Council of Ephesus, there was a remarkable growth in the cult of the People of God towards Mary, in veneration and love, in invocation and imitation...” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 66).
Thanks, Lee. More on God the Father... St. Andrew’s Publications is now offering a free downloadable ebook version of Seeing with The Eyes of the Soul: Revelations of God the Father to All Mankind. (6-volume set with consecration, 769 pages) The book is Barbara Rose Centilli’s journal of her locutions and other religious experiences. Just create an account to download the book. https://www.saintandrew.com/product...-Soul:-Six-Volume-Set-with-Consecration-EBOOK Although I’ve just read the foreword, I couldn’t wait to share the book with all of you. In the publisher’s foreword, Dr.Thomas Petrisko predicts that the book “will become a landmark, spiritual classic for generations to come.” The other foreword was written by Fr. Richard Foley, S.J. Below are excerpts from Fr. Foley’s foreword for Volume 1 of the book: Barbara Rose records [God the Father] as saying on different occasions: “My children are precious to My Heart…They are My true desire…I long for them.” What the Father likewise wants us to treasure as we should is His further gift of Mary, “The Mother of all mankind.” He assures Barbara Rose that the Triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart will be ushered in by the recognition of her privileged status in the meriting and mediation of grace. The Mother of God has told Barbara Rose that she is preparing us for the “Era of the return of the Father’s children” into His Paternal embrace. We have good reason to believe and hope that we are already standing on the very threshold of that longed-for era. Our Lady herself confirmed this happy expectation in another locution to Barbara Rose: “Soon the Father will come to you and the world in a new way.”
