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We added a couple of new books to the All the Saint's story for Mary and her own special month, May! We were reading the intro to this one and just had to share, it was so edifying! Also there is a special sale for the month of May on all the Marian titles, get 10% off by using the coupon code MONTHMARY2013.

Month of Mary- Conceived Without Sin
Translated from the French of: A. Gratry,  Priest of the Oratory of the Immaculate Conception, with and Introduction by the Very Rev. E. W. Faber, D.D. of the London Oratory

With the Approbation of the Most Rev. F. P. Kenrick,
Archbishop of Baltimore.

From the Introduction:  ...To all the faithful, therefore, devotion to our Blessed Mother is of supreme importance.  It is not a mere beauty of Catholic worship, a graceful accessory, an exquisite adornment, or a lawful consolation.  It is an essential element in all Christian piety.  Without it, holiness is simply impossible.  But to us in an un-catholic country devotion to Mary assumes a very peculiar importance.  We are surrounded on all sides by monuments of falsehood.  The air is impregnated with its poison.  The daily intercourse of life becomes almost contagion of evil.  Measures, weights, and standards, which are quite opposed to those of the sanctuary of God, are implied and acknowledged in the common language which we use, so that it is difficult to avoid making a material profession of an unholy faith, even when we have not such intention.  The literature of our country is perpetually imbuing us with unchristian principles, the more insidiously the more the subject of it is apparently removed from religion altogether.  The habitual perusal of the Protestant newspapers is itself as nearly as possible incompatible with the existence of the spirit of prayer, or with the preservation of intelligent Catholic sympathies.  The very sweetest and kindliest parts of our nature are perpetually alluring us to an easy and indulgent view of that deadliest of all sins, the sin of heresy, and thus to an acquiescence in that which ought, both morally and intellectually, to be the most repulsive of all things to us, falsehood about God.

Now, devotion to Mary has been in all ages, as an historical fact, the guardian of the doctrine about Jesus...

The month of Mary devotion "is itself a visible monument of that endless development of devotion to our Blessed Lady which characterizes the life of the Church.  It belongs almost to our own times.  Although it is not recognized either in the Breviary or in the Missal, it has become as acknowledged a season of the Christian year as Advent or Lent.  The Church has enriched it with indulgences."  The venerable Grignon de Montfort tells us that the most remarkable development of devotion to our Blessed Lady is that it " is reserved for the last age of the Church, when her sufferings will have reached their height, and the triumph of the world will seem to be most complete.  He tells us that God has reserved for those days saints of almost unparalleled grandeur, whose distinguishing characteristic will be their devouring zeal for Mary's honor."  

This devotional book is composed of 31 meditations that are profound and sure to inspire new love of our Blessed Mother.

TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY OF MONTH OF MARY AND SEE MORE WONDERFUL BOOKS ON OUR LADY FOR THE MONTH OF MAY VISIT ALL THE SAINTS BOOKS!

 
 

For the Month of May

Children, 'tis the month of Mary,
Strew her altar-steps with flowers,
And your guileless witness bear
What a genial faith is ours!
To our Blessed Lady offer
Joyous hymns of love and praise;
Make atonement for the scoffer,
For he knows not what he says.
May for you is doubly blooming,
Life itself is in its Spring,
No dark clouds o'er you looming,
All seems fair and promising.

Therefore, to most holy Mary
Consecrate your hearts and live,
She will not forget her servants
When their trial-hour arrives.

Wait then for not more to-morrows,
Cast ourselves before her feet,
She will soften all your sorrows;
She who is with grace replete,
In affliction will not leave you,
But, when life has passed away,
Will with open arms receive you
Into everlasting May.

In this blessed month of Mary
Heavenly Father, grant to me
True devotion to that Mother
Who alone was worthy thee;
Grief for every thing that grieved her,
Joy for all that gave her joy;
And in those who've not believed her
Worthy of our love, destroy
Whatso'er it is that blinds them,
Through her suffering Son, we pray
Till at length Thy mercy find them,
And they, too, to Mary pray.

Poems for Catholics & Convents and Plays for Catholic Schools
By: The Sisters of Mercy
Permissu Superiorum
Copyright 1873

Celebrate the Crowning of Mary today with some of the resources listed below:

Visit our Holy Rosary page

Visit our Assumption Page for more ideas!

If you haven't already download this month's St. Catherine Academy's Newsletter for coloring pages, activities, more reading and other treasures!