The Holy Father Pope Francis announced the start of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year on March 19, 2021, the fifth anniversary of his signing of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia (“The Joy of Love”), which centers on the love in the family. The 15-month celebration, which encourages “each person to be a witness of family love” (Catholic News Agency, 2021), will end on June 26, 2022 at the 10th edition of the World Meeting of Families in Rome.
In celebration of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, Universitas will republish the texts of the “Executive Summaries,” one-page evangelization flyers initiated by Dr. Raul Nidoy, faculty member of UA&P, Director of Formation of Parents for Education Foundation (PAREF) and author of Jesus-Centered: Guide to the Happiest Life. The leaflets, which have been printed and shared thousands of times here and abroad, contain key points of Catholic doctrine on topics such as family and chastity, social responsibility, the foundations of the faith, and encountering Jesus. Schools, parishes, and organizations have used the leaflets as a tool for promoting Church teachings. The Executive Summaries can be downloaded here.
Mary is our loving mother. Behold your mother. (Jesus) Am I not here, your mother? Are you not under my protection? Are you not happily under my mantle? (Our Lady of Guadalupe) Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. (St. Irenaeus) There is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Put together all the love of mothers for their children, all the love of husbands for their wives, and all the love of the Angels and Saints for the people under their care, it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul! (St. Alphonsus de Liguori) She loves you as if you were her only child in this world. Treat her accordingly: tell her about everything that happens to you, honour her and love her…. Love the Mother of God madly, for she is our Mother too. (St. Josemaría) What a joy to remember that she is our Mother! (St.Therese of Lisieux)
Our help in difficulties and in sin. The greater sinners we are, the more tenderness and compassion she feels for us. (St. John Mary Vianney) Love for our Mother will be the breath that kindles into a living flame the embers of virtue hidden in the ashes of your indifference… To Jesus we go and to him we ‘return’ through Mary… In the darkness of the night, when a little child is afraid, it cries out: “Mommy!” That is what I have to do, to cry out many times with my heart: “Mother! Mommy! Don’t leave me.” (St. Josemaría) If the winds of temptation blow, look to the star of the sea by calling out to Mary. If you are disturbed by the memory of your sin, think of Mary. In every danger, moment of anguish, or doubt, invoke Mary. You will never be lost if you think about her. (St. Bernard)
If you ever feel distressed, just say this simple prayer: “Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a mother to me now.” I must admit — this prayer has never failed me. (Bl. Mother Teresa)
She is the easy path to God. The Madonna is the shortcut to get to God. (St. Padre Pio) The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, he gave his Son to Mary for the world to receive him from her. (St. Augustine) When the Holy Spirit finds Mary in a soul, He enters that soul completely and communicates Himself completely to that soul. (St. Louis de Montfort) Before, by yourself, you couldn’t. Now, you’ve turned to our Lady, and with her, how easy! (St. Josemaría)
Her great dignity, beauty and power. God could make a greater world and a greater heaven, but He cannot exalt a creature more than by making her His Mother. (St. Bonaventure) From the fact that she is the Mother of God, she has a certain infinite dignity. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Mary is the most beautiful of God’s creatures. (Ven. Pope Pius XII) She is omnipotent in supplication. (Tradition) The Son never refuses the Mother anything she seeks. (St. Alphonsus)
Loving Mary like her child, Jesus. Become little. Look at the way your kids look at you, hug you, and think that you can do the same with our Blessed Lady…A mother’s greatest desire for her children is to have them close to her. (St. Josemaría) Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did. (St. Maximilian Kolbe). You can never love her enough. And Jesus will be very happy, because the Blessed Virgin is His Mother. (St. Therese) After God, our greatest glory and greatest joy is Mary. (St. Bonaventure)
Having devotion to Mary. Devotion to Mary is delicious, sweet and nourishing. (St. John Vianney) Devotion to you, O Mary, is a pledge of salvation which God grants to those whom He wills to save. (St. John Damascene)
Greeting Mary. When you ‘hail’ Mary, she immediately greets you! If you greet her, she will answer you right away and converse with you! (St. Bernardine) O Mary, what must you yourself be, since your very name is so loving and gracious. (Bl Henry Suso) The Angelus makes us relive in a way that great event in human history, the Incarnation, to which every “Hail Mary” refers. (St. John Paul II)
St. Bernard used to say to her, “I salute you Mary.” One day she replied to him, “I salute you my son, Bernard.” (St. John Mary Vianney)
Praying and spreading her rosary. It is Our Lady’s favorite prayer. (Bl. Paul VI) It is to contemplate with Mary the beauty of the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love (St. John Paul II) Saying the rosary is the most pure joy of my heart! (St. Francis de Sales) Pray the rosary every day. Our Lady has repeated that in all her apparitions. (Sr. Lucia) One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved. (Our Lady to Bl. Bartolo)
Praying the family rosary. There is no surer means of calling down God’s blessings upon the family… than the daily recitation of the Rosary. (Pope Pius XII) Making the rosary a family prayer is very pleasing to me. I ask that all families strive to do so. But be careful to say the Rosary with great devotion, meditating on each mystery and striving to imitate in your daily lives the virtues depicted. (Our Lady of America) How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening! (St. John Paul II)
Accompanying Mary at Jesus’ sacrifice. The first Marian devotion is the Holy Mass…we recall the silence and recollection with which Mary accompanied her Son to Calvary. (St. Josemaría) The Passion of Christ was as it were mirrored in the heart of the Virgin, in which might be seen faithfully reflected, the spitting, the blows, and all that he suffered. (St. Lawrence Justinian) The heart of Mary was so filled with motherly tenderness and compassion for men that no one ever suffered so much for their own pains, as Mary suffered for the pains of her children. (St. Jerome)
Consecrating oneself to Mary. Since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother. This devotion consists in giving ourselves entirely to the Blessed Virgin, in order to belong entirely to Jesus. (St. Louis de Montfort)
Saying short prayers to Mary. Let us not be shy about repeating short prayers to her throughout the day. (St. Josemaría) O Mary, I want to be always your child. (St. Dominic Savio) Totus tuus, I am all yours. (St Louis de Montfort and St. John Paul II)
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Banner photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.
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