Holy Spirit, inspire me. Love of God consume me. Along the true road, lead me. Mary, my good mother, look down upon me. With Jesus, bless me. From all evil, all illusion, all danger, preserve me.
Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified (1846-1878), Feast Day August 26
Let all, therefore, try to approach with greater trust the throne of grace and mercy of our Queen and Mother, and beg for strength in adversity, light in darkness, consolation in sorrow; above all let them strive to free themselves from the slavery of sin and offer an unceasing homage, filled with filial loyalty, to their Queenly Mother.
Venerable Pope Pius XII (1876-1958), On the Queenship of Mary, Feast Day August 22
Christopher Haas is a good gentleman who posts “A Word From The Desert,” part of a series which I happily reblog to spread the word. This particular post is not related to that series, but came from Chris. It is a link to the oldest prayer to the Virgin Mary (“Theotokos” or Birth-giver of God, in Greek). It’s a fascinating piece of history worth peeking at. Read the link here, and also take a look at a similar post from the New Liturgical Movement here.
I find it very interesting that a Protestant mega-church pastor like Joel Osteen would do a film of a woman whose place of importance has been denigrated by his fellow parishioners. It is my hope that Osteen’s crew spoke to scholars from the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches about the Virgin Mary’s real place in Christianity. I look forward to seeing the fruits of this film, but I cannot say I hold high hopes for its quality. We’ll see, though. I’d love to be surprised.