Today, September 8th, the Catholic Church celebrates the birthday of the Blessed Mother, which is exactly 9 months after the celebration of Mary's Immaculate Conception. What a joyous day! Personally, I wish it was celebrated by the whole world with as much joy as Christmas; after all, Mary had (and continues to have) such an important role in the history of salvation, but there I go being a crazy Catholic again! :} It is on feast days like today that I just love being Catholic because I am reminded of the blessings God continues to give us through the saints---especially His Blessed Mother who intercedes for us constantly, loves us unconditionally, and longs to guide us closer to her Son so that all will be saved. How I wish the whole world knew how much she loves us! I am reminded of one of Mary's messages in Medjugorje when she said: "If you knew how much I, your mother, love you, you would cry for joy." And this message was confirmed in my heart when I was able to watch the visionary Mirijana have her apparition in Medjugorje in July... As soon as the Blessed Mother appeared, Mirajana's whole countenance changed. She was completely overcome with pure joy and tears silently slipped down her cheeks as she gazed at Our Lady and conversed with her. Just seeing Mirijana's joy made me start to cry for joy! How blessed we are to be loved so much by God our Father and Mary our heavenly Mother! I pray for the grace to be able to love them back as much as my little heart is capable of!
Happy Birthday, Blessed Mother!
Thank you for loving us so much, for constantly praying for us, for protecting us under your mantle, and for giving us the graces we need to grow closer to God. I love you so much! You are my hope in this valley of tears, and I long to see your loving face someday in Heaven. I hope your heart is filled with joy today at all the people who are celebrating your Birthday!
*As a side note, some Catholics celebrate Mary's birthday on August 5th because Mary revealed that to be her real birthday during one of her apparitions in Medjugorje. I think it's fun to celebrate her birthday twice! :) The picture above is the first sneek-peek of our Medjugoje pictures. This is Paul and I standing in front of the visionary Jakov's house, where we were blessed to stay for part of our pilgrimage.
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