May, the Month of Mary This article consists of extracts taken from an Italian book of the same title written by Father Stefano Manelli. The book is written in Italian and we are working on making it available in English in the near future. Please ray that we shall be able to comlete this ro!ect soon. The Fatima "rusader first ublished# in English# Father Manelli$s book %&esus 'ur Eucharistic (ove% which has now gone into several hundred thousand coies. )e are sure you will also en!oy these beautiful writings of Father Manelli. By Father Stefano Manelli, O.F.M. Conv., S.T.D.
Padre Pio of Pietrelcina once wrote at the beginning of the month of May, "Finally, here comes the month of the beautiful Mother." As it has been for ages, the month of May is the month of Mary par excellence. It is the most beautiful month of the year because of its splendid springtime; thus, it is consecrated to er to whom the !hurch sings and praises as "All Fair". It is the month when fragrant roses bloom in the warmth of bright nature; and so it is consecrated to er whom the !hurch exalts as "Mystical ose". "#he month of May", says Pope Paul $I, "reminds us of our childhood %oy where we bring flowers before the altar of &ur 'ady. #he #he lamps, the songs, the prayers and the little flowers are %oyful expressions of our de(otion to Mary Most oly, who has become for us the )ueen of springtime, the spring of nature and the spring of souls."
The Most Imortant Thing... e who cares for the sal(ation of his soul is li*e Mary of +ethany at the feet of esus listening to the word of eternal life. Martha, instead, "worried about so many things", stands for those who busy themsel(es with earthly and secondary things and ha(e no time to care for their souls. -et the sal(ation of souls remains "the one thing necessary". '*. /0123.4 It would be foolishness on our part if amidst the dangers in the world we neglect to see the "one thing necessary"5
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#here6s a letter written by 7t. 8abriel of the Mother of 7orrows, to his friend in high school in which he wrote1 "-ou are right in saying that the world is full of dangers and troubles and that it is (ery difficult to sa(e our own soul; but this should not discourage us ... 9o you want to be sa(ed: A(oid bad companions and theaters where freuently you enter with the grace of 8od and come out losing it or putting it in great danger danger.. 9o you want to be sa(ed: A(oid useless con(ersations, bad boo*s that harm all ..." 'et us listen to the 7aints. 'et us use the means to safeguard our souls so as not to ruin them. #here is nothing of more (alue than the sal(ation of our soul. "
)hat *oes It Profit + Man... Is it possible that we don6t understand the primary importance of wor*ing first of all for the sal(ation of souls: Profit, study, wor*, recreation, business, family, career are things of secondary importance to the sal(ation of the soul. "For what doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul:" Matthew /=13=4 and again in parable1 "A rich man had land which bore good crops. e began to thin* of himself; 6I will tear my barns down and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods. #hen I will say to myself, 'uc*y man5 -ou -ou ha(e all the good things you need for many years. #a*e life easy, eat, drin*, and en%oy yourself56 +ut 8od said to him, 6-ou fool5 #his (ery night you will ha(e to gi(e up your life; and who will get all these things you ha(e *ept for yourself:6 7o is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards 8od." 'u*e /31/=>3/.4
%*oes It Profit Me ...,7t. +ernard said1 "Any time not spent for 8od is lost." For this reason 7t. Aloysius 8on?aga, li*e the other 7aints, suggests as*ing oneself before e(ery action1 "9oes this ser(e me for eternity ...:" And reflecting www.fatima.org
deeply, he understood well how worthy is the pain of renouncing the possession of power and earthly glory, to to consecrate oneself wholly to esus and to attain eternal glory by consuming oneself for the lo(e of 8od and neighbor. 7t. Alphonsus de 'iguori absolutely bound himself with a (ow1 the (ow of not wasting e(en a single moment, and he obser(ed it with great heroism. After writing for hours the pages of doctrine and piety which ha(e enlightened many souls, he would get headaches. #hen while pressing his forehead with one hand, he would continue to write with the other. If we are to examine the use of our time and the moti(e of our actions, we might find oursel(es scratching our heads. ow much time wasted5 Perhaps we are prompt to spea* of not ha(ing time e(en for the morning and e(ening prayers, to recite the osary for fifteen minutes4, or to perform good wor*s ...; then are we not aware of the time we waste e(ery day, spending spending our free time in front of the tele(ision or in the mo(ie house, in bars or in the streets or stadiums, on cigarettes, on popular music hits, or on gossip ... #his is how many !hristians waste their time5
I ather )hat I Sow...
To /eaven# To /eaven with /er #he popular song "I will see er one day", gi(es strength to desire ea(en, to see &ur 'ady and be always with er. www.fatima.org
7t. +ernadette confided that &ur 'ady is (ery beautiful and she expressed the desire to die a thousand times %ust to be able to see er again. &ne time 7aint Maximilian M. Colbe recei(ed well wishes from friends that he die a uic* death so that he would soon be with the Immaculata in ea(en. And the 7aint, deeply mo(ed, than*ed them. 7t. 'eonard of Porto Mauri?io, an ardent apostle ga(e a homily and as*ed for prayers from the faithful for the grace to die so that he could be with the Immaculate $irgin soon. &nce from the pulpit he said to the faithful, "I want to die to li(e with Mary, so recite one ail Mary for me. &btain for me the grace to die now on this pulpit ... I want to see Mary."
)e 0eed 'ur (ady &ne thing, howe(er, must console us. If it is true that one does not go to ea(en without doing penance, it is also true that to go there by the most secure and easy road, we must go there with Mary. &nce a bishop went to Padre Pio with a friend who was a mediocre !hristian. e presented him to Father Pio saying, "Father, this friend of mine would li*e to be assured of his entrance to ea(en. It is not easy, what would you ad(ise him, Father:" Pondering while nodding his head, Father Pio answered smilingly, "Ah, he needs &ur 'ady, he needs &ur 'ady." #his happened also to 7t. +ernard. &nce a great sinner confessed to him that he was already full of despair because of his terrible sins. 7t. +ernard spo*e to him of the di(ine mercy and he opened a passage of the 8ospel of the Annunciation, where the Angel says1 "Fear not, Mary, for #hou hast found grace with 8od." '*. /104 And 7t. +ernard commented saying that Mary "full of grace" has found grace for us sinners. #hat poor sinner was enlightened. After his confession he went immediately to the altar of &ur 'ady and found perfect peace.
The *awn That 1ises owe(er, another stupendous scene appears to us from the beginning of owe(er, man*ind, subdued by satan and oppressed by sin.
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A sublime 'ady with er 7on "crushes the head of the serpent" 8en. 1/E4. #he Immaculate $irgin, who conuered satan, shines through the dar*ness of sin, with er 9i(ine 7on. #he Immaculate $irgin is the defeat of satan. #he Immaculate $irgin is li*ened to a dawn that rises in the dar*ness of man*ind6s sinfulness as 8od imself presents er in the pages of 8enesis. #he inspired author of the !anticle of !anticles thus exclaims1 "
She "rushes satan$s /ead
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7aint Maximilian M. Colbe wrote that today "the serpent raises its head on the whole world, but the Immaculate $irgin crushed its head (ictoriously". #o beat the de(il in a more humiliating way we need to ha(e recourse to the Immaculate $irgin. As 7t. 'ouis de Montfort explains in his #rue #rue 9e(otion Go. E0 > E34 the de(il is primarily afraid of er who is as "terrible as an army in battle array" 7ong of 7ongs =14.
She )ho "on2uered /eresy
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grace. #hey attac* the forms of Marian de(otion, e(en the most (enerable li*e that of the holy osary and the month of May.
In The Immaculate /eart At Fatima the osary was the gift of the Immaculate eart of Mary.
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