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Mary’s NotebookDecember ’08 – January ‘09 www.legionofmarytidewater.comSectionFront PageNews & EventsHandbook StudyDivine MysteriesLegion SpiritSpecial/ExtraPage123-45-67-910Issue 30The Christmas SpiritWhat is special about Christmas? Who is Santa Clause?What is the real meaning of the song the 12 days ofChristmas? What is the Icon of the Nativity? Find out inthis special Christmas Catechism. (Continued on page 7)Prayers eededSpecial – Legion RetreatPrayer is, among other things, aschool for hope. In a sense, evenwhen no one listens to a person’sneeds, God still listens. If you orsomeone you care about are inneed of prayers, e-mailwebmaster@legionofmarytidewater.com - we’ll add you to our prayerlist. (Continued on page 2)Legion of Mary Arlington Regia 2009 Annual Retreat forActive Legionaries will be held from February 13 – 15, 2009at the Washington Retreat House, 4000 Harewood Rd., N.E.,Washington, D.C. 20017-1595. The retreat master will be theReverend Fr. Thomas Collins, the spiritual director of theRichmond Curia. The retreat is open to active members of theLegion of Mary, and to "special" auxiliaries. Each praesidiumcan define "special". For more information, see page 10, or email webmaster@arlingtonregia.com. (Continued on page 10)Divine Mysteries: The RosaryAmong the 15 promises of the Rosary is that, “Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly reflecting onthe mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune. He will not experience the anger ofGod nor will he perish by an unprovided death. The sinner will be converted; the just willpersevere in grace and merit eternal life.”Rosary is a “weapon of mass salvation,” and we encourage our readers to pray the Rosary daily,and to encourage others to pray it as well.Servant of God Fulton Sheen was Archbishop of New York and host of the television show “lifeis worth living,” and “the Fulton Sheen Program,” as well as a writer. Here is an excerpt takenfrom "Roses and Prayers," in the book 'The World's First Love,' by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.(Continued on page 9)Mary’s NotebookIssue 30, December08 - January 2009page 1 of 10

News and EventsPlease Pray For:Pope’s Prayer IntentionsDecemberPope Benedict's general prayer intention is:That in the face of a spreading of a cultureof violence and death the Church throughher apostolic and missionary activity maypromote with courage the culture of life.Pope Benedict’s mission prayer intention is:That especially in mission countriesChristians may show with acts of fraternallove that the Child born in the stable atBethlehem is the luminous Hope of theworld.JanuaryPope Benedict's general prayer intention is:That the family may become more and morea place of training in charity, personalgrowth and transmission of the faith.Pope Benedict’s mission prayer intention is:That the different Christian confessions,aware of the need for a new evangelizationin this period of profound transformations,may be committed to announcing the GoodNews and moving towards the full unity ofall Christians in order to offer a morecredible testimony of the Gospel.Also Please Pray for:Mary’s NotebookBr. Mike Brown, president of the RichmondCuria, in your prayers. He has a medicalcondition which has caused him to ceaseLegion activities. Let's all pray for a cure.Keith Hoyt who relocated recently to MyrtleBeach SC and is having a difficult timefinding employment. Please pray that hefinds gainful employment.Joseph, my 6 months old who is havingtrouble gaining weight. He’s beendiagnosed “failure to thrive” and had toendure lots of doctor visits and nasty tastingfood. Please pray he is able to gain a gooddeal more weight.Retreat for ActiveLegionaries Feb. 13-15The retreat is open to active members of theLegion of Mary and to "special" auxiliaries.Each praesidium can define "special". Itwill be from February 13 – 15 and will beheld at the Washington Retreat House, 4000Harewood Rd., N.E., Washington, D.C.20017-1595. For more information, and aregistration form see page 10.‘09 Holy Days of Obligation SundaysJanuary 1, 2009 Feast of Mary the Mother of GodNovember 1, 2009 Feast of All SaintsDecember 8, 2009 Feast of the Immaculate ConceptionDecember 25, 2009 Feast of the Nativity of Our LordIssue 30, December08 - January 2009page 2 of 10

Handbook StudyMary Teaches UsThis month I would like to focus our attentionon Lourdes on the occasion of the 150thAnniversary of the apparitions of Our Ladythere.never absent from us. Her maternal heart isalways and everywhere focused on each one ofus. But Mary herself has made Lourdes extraspecial. She has made it a place of intenseeducation in the faith, of profound healing andconversion but above all a meeting place withJesus and involvement with the work ofredemption.Mary teaches us with signs and words and byher very presence. Today, following theexample of Pope Benedict at Lourdes, I wish toconcentrate on one of those signs. Youremember the scene. At the first sight of theapparition, Bernadette instinctively tries tomake the sign of the Cross but she couldn'traise her arm no matter how she tried. ThenMary blessed herself with the sign of the Crossand Bernadette was then able to make it too. Atthe beginning of all eighteen appearances ofOur Lady they begin the Rosary together withthis simple, yet profound, sign of our Faith.Bernadette was never to forget the way Marymade the sign of the Cross and this signbecame very precious to her. We too asLourdes is a sacred place, one of the greatlegionaries begin everything with the sign ofshrines in the Christian world, a place ofthe Cross. Five times we bless ourselves in thepilgrimage. It is a place that has manymemories for the Legion. But it is much more. course of every Legion meeting. It would beIt is a school and the principal teacher is Mary. good to reflect on its meaning and formativeIt is true that we do not have to go to Lourdes value.to meet and converse with Our Lady. We canmeet her anywhere and at any time simply by Let me quote Pope Benedict from one of hishomilies at Lourdes: 'This is the great mysterystopping where we are and quietly turning toher. Our relationship to Mary is not limited to that Mary also entrusts to us this morning,inviting us to turn towards her Son. In fact, it isany place or time. She is our Mother and isMary’s NotebookIssue 30, December08 - January 2009page 3 of 10

significant that, during the first apparition toBernadette, Mary begins the encounter with thesign of the Cross. More than a simple sign, it isan initiation into the mysteries of the faith thatBernadette receives from Mary. The sign of theCross is a kind of synthesis of our faith, for ittells how much God loves us; it tells us thatthere is a love in this world that is strongerthan death, stronger than our weaknesses andsins. The power of love is stronger than theevil which threatens us. It is this mystery of theuniversality of God's love for men that Marycame to reveal here, in Lourdes. She invites allpeople of good will, all those who suffer inheart or body, to raise their eyes towards theCross of Jesus, so as to discover there thesource of life, the source of salvation.' One ofthe great truths that Mary teaches us at Lourdesis the centrality of the Cross of Christ in ourlives. Everything is given to us on the Cross.There is nothing more to give. The sign of theCross is the sign of our redemption. Thissimple sign tells us that the infinite treasures ofthe Heart of Christ are offered to us.sovereign majesty, he reveals to us that he isexalted in glory. Yes, "Come, let us adorehim!" In our midst is he who loved us even togiving his life for us, he who invites everyhuman being to draw near to him with trust.The Cross of Christ is central to our prayer lifethrough the Mass and the Sacrament ofPenance, the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosaryand the Stations of the Cross and the frequentblessing of ourselves. But it is also aninstrument in our work of evangelization. Weremember the little story that our Founder tellsin several articles and letters: 'A Protestant hadbeen attending some of our functions for a longtime. One day Bro Hanratty said to him: "Is itnot a peculiarity that a good man like youshould refuse to make the Sign of the Crosswhich has always been the acknowledgedsymbol of our Redemption". The next timethey met, the other solemnly blessed himselfand said: "You made a point there, John. It istime I step into the Church". Sequel: a dailyCommunicant who valued his new faithsupremely. God makes use of every littleLike the Church as a whole so the Legion, in circumstance to lead people into the Church,but we must provide those circumstances.particular, must be riveted on the Cross ofOperation must enter in somewhere.' MaryChrist. "In order to be healed from sin, gazestood by the Cross and she wanted the wholeupon Christ crucified!" said Saint Augustine(Treatise on Saint John XII, II). By raising our world to look to the sign of the Cross ateyes towards the Crucified one, we adore him Lourdes and surely this is a major part of thewho came to take upon himself the sin of the apostolate of the Legion. We need to be able toexplain the meaning of the Cross to those weworld and to give us eternal life. And themeet especially the non-Christian person andChurch invites us proudly to lift up thisglorious Cross so that the world can see the full we must enable them one day to blessthemselves with the sign of the Cross.extent of the love of the Crucified one formankind, for every man and woman. Sheinvites us to give thanks to God because from a Concilium Allocutio September 2008tree, which brought death, life has burst outby Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.anew. On this wood Jesus reveals to us hisSpiritual Director to the Legion of MaryMary’s NotebookIssue 30, December08 - January 2009page 4 of 10

Divine MysteriesPraying the Rosaryby By Bishop Fulton J. Sheentelephone book is chained, too, but it s moreconsulted than any book in moderncivilization!The people who could not read one hundredand fifty Psalms wanted to do something tomake up for it. Therefore, they substituted onehundred and fifty Hail Marys. They broke upthese one hundred and fifty, in the manner ofthe Akathist, into fifteen decades, or series often. Each part was to be said while meditatingon a different aspect of the Life of Our Lord.To keep the decades separate, each one of thembegan with the Our Father and ended with theDoxology of Praise to the Trinity.From the earliest days, the Church asked itsfaithful to recite the one hundred and fiftyPsalms of David. This custom still prevailsamong priests, who recite some of thesePsalms every day. However, it was not easy foranyone to memorize the one hundred and fiftyPsalms. Then, too, before the invention ofprinting, it was difficult to procure a book ofthe Psalms. That is why certain importantbooks like the Bible had to be chained liketelephone books are today; otherwise peoplewould have run off with them.St. Dominic, who died in 1221, received fromthe Blessed Mother the command to preachand to popularize this devotion for the good ofsouls, for conquest over evil, and for theprosperity of Holy Mother Church and thusgave us the Rosary in its present classical form.The Black Death, which ravaged all Europeand wiped out one-third of its population,prompted the faithful to cry out to the Motherof Our Lord to protect them, at a time when thepresent moment and death were almost one.The Black Death has ended. But now the RedDeath of Communism is sweeping the earthIncidentally, this gave rise to the stupid lie that (circa 1950). I find it interesting that, when thethe Church would not allow anyone to read the Blessed Mother appeared at Fatima in 1917because of the great decline in morals and theBible, because it was chained. The fact is, itwas chained just so people could read it. The advent of godlessness, she asked that, after theMary’s NotebookIssue 30, December08 - January 2009page 5 of 10