❝All the saints have a great devotion to Our Lady.❞
— St. John Vianney
❝If you consider all the saints, you will see that all of them had a devotion to the Blessed Virgin; Her intercession is most powerful, She is the mother of God and the Mother of men.❞
— St. Brother Andre Bessette
❝Every saint is a little looking-glass of God: a facet of the jewel which constitutes the Catholic Church❞
— Drew
❝The saints did not all begin well, but they all ended well.❞
— St. John Vianney
❝All the angels and saints are engaged in trying to prevent us from committing sins.❞
— St. John Vianney
❝What a sacred ignorance it is that loses sight of the wisdom and prudence of this age in order to learn the science and wisdom of the saints in the school of the Holy Spirit!❞
— St. Paul of the Cross
❝Here learn the science of the saints: All is to be found in the passion of Jesus.❞
— St. Paul of the Cross
❝The whole science of the saints consists in knowing and following the will of God.❞
— St. Isidore of Seville, Doctor of the Church
❝Make up your mind to become a saint.❞
— St. Mary Mazzarello
❝He will be a saint if he be truly mortified.❞
— St. Francis Borgia
❝Nothing else but our own resistance prevents the Holy Ghost from making saints of us.❞
— Liturgical Year
❝We can, if we will, become a saint, for God will never refuse to help us to do so.❞
— St. John Vianney
❝To be a saint, you must be beside yourself. You must lose your head.❞
—St. John Vianney
❝If you embrace all things in life as coming from the hands of God, and even embrace death to fulfill His holy will, assuredly you will die a saint.❞
— St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church
❝Oh, how much are worldlings deceived that rejoice in the time of weeping, and make their place of imprisonment a place of pleasure; that consider the examples of the saints as follies, and their end as dishonorable; that think to go to heaven by the wide way that only leadeth to perdition!❞
— St. Robert Southwell
❝The true Christian does not renounce the activities of this life, he does not stunt his natural faculties; but he develops and perfects them, by coordinating them with the supernatural. He thus ennobles what is merely natural in life and secures for it new strength in the material and temporal order, no less then in the spiritual and eternal. This fact is proved by the whole history of Christianity and its institutions, which is nothing else but the history of true civilization and progress up to the present day. It stands out conspicuously in the lives of the numerous Saints, whom the Church, and she alone, produces, in whom is perfectly realized the purpose of Christian education, and who have in every way ennobled and benefited human society. Indeed, the Saints have ever been, are, and ever will be the greatest benefactors of society, and perfect models for every class and profession, for every state and condition of life, from the simple and uncultured peasant to the master of sciences and letters, from the humble artisan to the commander of armies, from the father of a family to the ruler of peoples and nations, from simple maidens and matrons of the domestic hearth to queens and empresses. What shall we say of the immense work which has been accomplished even for the temporal well-being of men by missionaries of the Gospel, who have brought and still bring to barbarous tribes the benefits of civilization together with the light of the Faith? What of the founders of so many social and charitable institutions, of the vast numbers of saintly educators, men and women, who have perpetuated and multiplied their life work, by leaving after them prolific institutions of Christian education, in aid of families and for the inestimable advantage of nations?❞
— Pope Pius XI, "Divini Illius Magistri", 1929 A.D.
❝How much good have the saints not done, how many admirable deeds have they not performed by their kindness even in circumstances and in environments penetrated by lies and degraded by vice?❞
— Pope Pius XII, "Menti Nostrae", 1950 A.D.
Maria, Reyna ng lahat ng mga Banal
Matapos ang kabanal-banalang pamumuhay dito sa lupa, ang Mahal na Birheng Maria ay maluwalhating iniakyat sa langit, kaluluwa't katawan at kinoronahan ng Kanyang Anak na si Hesus bilang Reyna ng Langit at lupa.
Si Maria ay Reyna, dahil ang kanyang Anak na si Hesus, ating Panginoon, ay Hari. Si Kristo ay Diyos ng sangnilikha. Si Hesus ay Hari dahil tinubos Niya tayong lahat sa pamamagitan ng pagpapakahirap at pagkamatay sa Krus. Ang Mahal na Birhen ay ating Reyna dahil Siya ay natatanging bahagi sa ating kaligtasan. Hindi Niya kinailangang sumagot ng "Oo." nag Siya ay hilinging maging Ina ni Hesus.
Si Maria ngayon ay tumutulong sa pamamagitan upang ibahagi sa ating lahat ang mga biyayang pinagigindapat ng kanyang Anak na si Hesus. Gaya ng sinabi ni San Bernardo, "Kalooban ng Diyos na ating tanggapin ang lahat ng biyaya sa pamamagitan ni Maria." Ang lahat ng mga banal ay tumanggap din ng mga natatanging biyayang kailangan upang maging mga banal sa pamamagitan ng Kanyang mga panalangin. Siya ay tunay na Reyna ng lahat ng mga banal. Noong Oktubre 11, 1954, kapistahan ng Mahal na Birhen ng Gatas, inumpisahan ni Papa Pio XII ang kapistahan ng Mahal na Ina bilang Reyna ng lahat ng mga Banal.
Si Maria ay Reyna, dahil ang kanyang Anak na si Hesus, ating Panginoon, ay Hari. Si Kristo ay Diyos ng sangnilikha. Si Hesus ay Hari dahil tinubos Niya tayong lahat sa pamamagitan ng pagpapakahirap at pagkamatay sa Krus. Ang Mahal na Birhen ay ating Reyna dahil Siya ay natatanging bahagi sa ating kaligtasan. Hindi Niya kinailangang sumagot ng "Oo." nag Siya ay hilinging maging Ina ni Hesus.
Si Maria ngayon ay tumutulong sa pamamagitan upang ibahagi sa ating lahat ang mga biyayang pinagigindapat ng kanyang Anak na si Hesus. Gaya ng sinabi ni San Bernardo, "Kalooban ng Diyos na ating tanggapin ang lahat ng biyaya sa pamamagitan ni Maria." Ang lahat ng mga banal ay tumanggap din ng mga natatanging biyayang kailangan upang maging mga banal sa pamamagitan ng Kanyang mga panalangin. Siya ay tunay na Reyna ng lahat ng mga banal. Noong Oktubre 11, 1954, kapistahan ng Mahal na Birhen ng Gatas, inumpisahan ni Papa Pio XII ang kapistahan ng Mahal na Ina bilang Reyna ng lahat ng mga Banal.
Queen Of All Saints
by Fr. Cornelius Joseph O' Connell, 1914
by Fr. Cornelius Joseph O' Connell, 1914
"Be ye therefore, perfect, as also your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. V--48). God Himself, according to the words of the Evangelist, is the great model of sanctity. That we may be saints, He encourages us to imitate Him, to follow His Divine Son, Jesus Christ. "Be ye holy, because I, the Lord, your God am holy" (Levit. XIX--2). Created to the image of God and restored to His friendship through the redemption effected by the Savior, we should have God constantly before us, and aim to cultivate, as far as is in our power, His holiness.
To be a saint is to live in conformity to the will of God, for His will being one with His divine spirit, is necessarily conformable to the eternal law that governs all things and establishes the measure and rule of all sanctity. In God this conformity is infinite, hence His holiness is infinite.
Sanctity is the love of God and a close union with Him, who Himself is the plenitude of sanctity. In serving God with all the powers of mind, heart and soul we approach daily closer to Him, and become more like unto Him.
"Be ye, therefore, perfect, as also your Heavenly Father is perfect." From the moment of the Blessed Virgin's creation, she was possessed of greater virtues, of more intense love for God than all the saints and angels. Her holiness as far surpasses their combined sanctity as the waters of the ocean surpass those of a rivulet.
"He that is holy, let him be sanctified still" (Apoc. XXII--11). "For the lawgiver shall give a blessing; they shall go from virtue to virtue, the God of gods shall be seen in Sion" (Psal. LXXXIII--7). Who can, considering these words of the Apocalypse and of the Psalmist, fathom the sanctity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, in each moment of her long and saintly life, increased in grace and favor before God?
Who, like her, could say with the Apostle: "For me, to live is Christ" (Philip. I -21). "And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 11--20). Because of the loveliness of her soul, Christ did really tabernacle in her, for she is the most holy, the most perfect, the queen of all saints and angels.
Noe, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Josue, all the patriarchs and prophets are venerated; the Apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, holy doctors, all the saints of all times and places are held in benediction.
Of Tobias and his family, the Scripture narrates: "All his kindred and all his generation continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land" (Tobias XIV--17). But who of all these holy men and women is as acceptable and near to God as Mary? Who among them has uttered a prophecy like unto hers: "All generations shall call me blessed?"
Saint John writes in the Apocalypse: "I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, tribes and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands: And they cried with a loud voice, saying: 'Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. Benediction, and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength to our God forever and ever" (Apoc. VII--9, 10, 12).
This acclamation of joy will not stop here. They will verify the prophecy of their Queen, "all generations shall call me blessed," by singing her praises also and honoring her, the Mother of God, the Mother of their Savior and Redeemer, through whose merits they now enjoy the blessings of Heaven. They shall bless God because He showed the might of His arm in creating immaculate His Virgin Mother, their Queen.
"Benediction, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor, and power, and strength to our God forever and ever," through Jesus Christ our Lord and His holy Mother, the Queen of the Angels and the Queen of Saints.
To be a saint is to live in conformity to the will of God, for His will being one with His divine spirit, is necessarily conformable to the eternal law that governs all things and establishes the measure and rule of all sanctity. In God this conformity is infinite, hence His holiness is infinite.
Sanctity is the love of God and a close union with Him, who Himself is the plenitude of sanctity. In serving God with all the powers of mind, heart and soul we approach daily closer to Him, and become more like unto Him.
"Be ye, therefore, perfect, as also your Heavenly Father is perfect." From the moment of the Blessed Virgin's creation, she was possessed of greater virtues, of more intense love for God than all the saints and angels. Her holiness as far surpasses their combined sanctity as the waters of the ocean surpass those of a rivulet.
"He that is holy, let him be sanctified still" (Apoc. XXII--11). "For the lawgiver shall give a blessing; they shall go from virtue to virtue, the God of gods shall be seen in Sion" (Psal. LXXXIII--7). Who can, considering these words of the Apocalypse and of the Psalmist, fathom the sanctity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, in each moment of her long and saintly life, increased in grace and favor before God?
Who, like her, could say with the Apostle: "For me, to live is Christ" (Philip. I -21). "And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 11--20). Because of the loveliness of her soul, Christ did really tabernacle in her, for she is the most holy, the most perfect, the queen of all saints and angels.
Noe, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Josue, all the patriarchs and prophets are venerated; the Apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, holy doctors, all the saints of all times and places are held in benediction.
Of Tobias and his family, the Scripture narrates: "All his kindred and all his generation continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land" (Tobias XIV--17). But who of all these holy men and women is as acceptable and near to God as Mary? Who among them has uttered a prophecy like unto hers: "All generations shall call me blessed?"
Saint John writes in the Apocalypse: "I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, tribes and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands: And they cried with a loud voice, saying: 'Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. Benediction, and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength to our God forever and ever" (Apoc. VII--9, 10, 12).
This acclamation of joy will not stop here. They will verify the prophecy of their Queen, "all generations shall call me blessed," by singing her praises also and honoring her, the Mother of God, the Mother of their Savior and Redeemer, through whose merits they now enjoy the blessings of Heaven. They shall bless God because He showed the might of His arm in creating immaculate His Virgin Mother, their Queen.
"Benediction, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor, and power, and strength to our God forever and ever," through Jesus Christ our Lord and His holy Mother, the Queen of the Angels and the Queen of Saints.