Christians are very, very fortunate indeed to have the Most holy Mother of God interceding for them before the throne of God.

Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Triptychs by Polish painter Kazimierz Sichulski:

1. The Hutsul Madonna, 1909

2. Adoration of the Shepherds, 1938

3. Adoration of the Magi, 1913

4. Spring, 1909

(Pinterest)

12/22/2023

Hail-lelujah!

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: The angel Gabriel says, "Hail, Mary," when he meets Mary for the first time.  In the original Bible story, this phrase is a greeting ("hail" means "hello" or "salutations").  In this cartoon, however, Gabriel's signature catchphrase is instead used to answer Mary's question about the weather ("hail" can also mean "frozen rain").  You might be worried that Mary will get hit by more hail if she doesn't get inside, but I assure you that's nothing compared to the mix of compliments and life-changing revelations Gabriel's about to shower her with. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is yet another Tomics Resurrection, where I've taken an old cartoon -- so old that it was stored on a cassette tape -- and remastered it, quite masterfully.  See the original below.  You'll notice Gabriel is dressed in black, which I originally thought would contrast well with his wings.  I was technically correct, but not spiritually so.  Meanwhile, Mary has a veil that covers her whole head.  Ah'uh'nuh what kinda hats they had in the Bible days, but this one was hard to draw when she moved her head, so I destroyed it, as I do all things which displease me.

Your problems = your Patron

Parental issues- St. Eugene de Mazenod

Tired - St.Joseph

Mental illness - St. Dymphna

Victim of SA - St. Maria Goretti

Problems with sexual urges - St. Augustine

Loneliness - St. John the Apostale

Vision Problems - St. Lucy

Being ugly - St. Rose of Lima

Low grades - St. Joseph of Cupertino

Fealing far away from God - St. Mary

Financial issues - St. Joseph

Risky Situation - St. Katherine of Alexandria (pls lray to her for Motorcyclist!!)

Issues with your spouse - St. Valentine

Overeating - St Charles Borromeo

Undereating - St. Catherine of Sienna

Balding - St. Agnes of Rome

Being hexed - Saint Columba of Spain

The Church I attend from then week of the feast of the intercession of the Theotokos🩵 oh Queen of Heaven, pray for us!☦︎

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘬𝘰𝘴

Byzantine icon of the Madonna (Theotokos) and Child, of the type known as Hodegetria (Our Lady of the Way): Mary gestures toward the infant Christ, who in turn raises his hand in a sign of blessing. The type originated in a now lost icon from the Monastery of the Panagia Hodegetria in Constantinople that was said to have been painted by St. Luke. This example, by an unknown artist, dates to the 14th century and is in the MUZA, Valletta, Malta.

'The Annunciation; details' by Mikhail Nesterov

The Protecting Veil of the Theotokos

https://orthodoxwiki.org/Protection_of_the_Mother_of_God

"The humble soul is blessed. The Lord loves her. The Mother of God is higher than all in humility, and therefore all races bless her on earth, while the heavenly powers serve her. And the Lord has given us this blessed Mother of His as a defender and helper."

~St. Silouan the Athonite

Theotokos Nesting Dolls

𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑦 ☮︎

1: Find an Appiration you connect to

2: Read the story

3: Look at the details & associations (exp: Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego on December 15th when the Planets Venus,Mercury & Saturn where visible so you can offer things associated with that.) so by that i mean just really look at the detail.

4: Offer Roses (shes obsessed with them)

5: Shes very often associated with Plants so devote a Plant or aspects of Nature to her

6: Modify the Prayers and look at the details. (Exp: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy.) When you think Mother you think creator or protector. So by that i see Mary as the Saint who controls Mercy and where it goes)

7: Check how the people she appeared too reacted to her. (Juan Diego Bowed down immeditely and so you can do that when doing your Marian devotions)

8: Pray the Rosary (ik it turns a lot of people off bcuz we've been taught that its super complicated & shit but you can actually modify it to your liking. Connect to the Mysteries of her. No matter if their Biblical or not and really just do what you want with it)

9: Incorperate certain things into your practice.(exp: blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus) for me could indicate to femininity and thus, Devote thingd that have to do with that.

10: Meditate. Feel her presence and note what it feels like. Motherly? Loving? Like another Deity? All personal.

11: make a Visual represenation of what you picture her as. It could be a painting or a Moodboard. Really try capturing her energy with it.

12: GO TO THE SOURCE!!! pray to her, ask her for signs really go out there and try to connect to her & understand what SHE has to say to -> you <-.

𝐻𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠!! ❤︎

im not catholic and out of pure curiosity, you know how christians sometimes have discourse about calling jesus yeshua instead of jesus because that was his "real" name? do catholics ever say this about the virgin mary, like calling her maryam instead of mary because you should invoke her by her real name? also is there any "mary wasn't white" discourse in catholicism

Interesting question. No, there isn’t really a fight about Mary’s “true” name because we call her by so many different names already. “Our Lady of Lourdes” “Queen of Knots” “Blessed Mother” to name a few. If you’re talking to Mary, she’ll get the memo.

There’s not really that kind of discourse because it’s pretty well documented that many apparitions of Mary appear different. It’s interpreted as Mary wanting to appear motherly to whoever sees her. In Europe, her apparitions are white, in Africa she appears black, in Korea she’s depicted as Asian.

Again, I am on the fringes nowadays. I don’t get to hear the buckwild Catholic speak anymore since I go to a relatively normal parish. The Trad Caths may have other ideas.

Just as the rock which Moses struck bring forth the spring for the Israelites,

so too did the Virgin Maiden bring forth the Living Water for the salvation of the world.

+ Icon of the Life Giving Spring +