On the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis released a letter for the Year of Consecrated Life. The Year of Consecrated Life begins on November 30, 2014 and ends February 2, 2016. Find the full text of the letter below: Dear Brothers and Sisters in Consecrated Life, I am writing ...read more

On December 31, 2013, Pope Francis prayed year-end Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica. Vespers began at 5 PM  with Pope Francis presiding over the prayers that constitute the Church’s official, public praise of God in the evening of the last day of the year, to be followed by the singing of the great hymn of ...read more

Yesterday, Saturday October 12, the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima arrived in Rome where it was part of various celebrations commemorating Marian Day for the Year of Faith, including a prayer service with a catechesis and a vigil with a video message to Marian Shrines all over the world. The statue has only ...read more

At the end of today’s event on Marian Day – Year of Faith, October 12, 2013, the Pope addressed Marian shrines around the world with a video message: Dear Brothers and Sisters, I greet all the pilgrims present in this Shrine of Divine Love, and all those who join us from the Marian shrines of ...read more

Pope Francis led a Marian prayer vigil on Saturday, Saturday October 12, 2013 in St. Peter’s Square. During the vigil, Pope Francis gave a special catechesis. Here is the text of the Holy Father’s message: Dear Brothers and Sisters, We are all gathered for this event of the Year of Faith devoted to Mary, Mother ...read more

Yesterday, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, explained in a press conference that at the beginning of the Year of Faith it was decided that it would be fundamental to retrace the history of our faith, and for this reason Benedict XVI placed in the foreground the figure ...read more

Homily of Pope Francis for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Castel Gandolfo, August 15, 2013 Dear Brothers and Sisters! At the end of its Constitution on the Church, the Second Vatican Council left us a very beautiful meditation on Mary Most Holy. Let me just recall the words referring ...read more

At the 131st Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus, Most. Rev. Gerard Cyprien Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, inaugurated the Marian Prayer Program in honour of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of the Basilica Cathedral of Notre-­Dame de Quebec. Below are his remarks presenting the Prayer Program, August 7, 2013 Bonjour ...read more

“In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are ...read more

This post was submitted by Warren Schmidt, CSB. As October draws to a close, I offer a few reflections on the association of the month of October with Mary. The historical roots of October as a month of Mary are unclear. Some attribute the association between October and Mary to the devotion to Our Lady ...read more