Vigil of the Immaculata's Assumption (and feast of St. Max and Tree!)

"Let us let ourselves be carried by the Immaculata; she will think of everything and take care of all our needs, of the soul and of the body. Let us give every difficulty, every sorrow to her, and have confidence that she will take care of it better than we could. Peace then, peace, much peace in an unlimited confidence in her . . . above all, never let yourselves be troubled, never be frightened, never fear anything." - St. Maximilian Kolbe

I've been reading a fabulous book lately:
The Miraculous Medal: Pendant of Power by Christine Watkins

Wow, this woman can write, and WOW, God has given her something worthy to write about. The quote from St. Maximilian came from this book, and I'm so grateful. We here at Miss Marcel's Musings take as our motto Jesus' words, "Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid," from the 14th chapter of St. John's gospel. But we love hearing others echo these words, starting with Mary herself in her appearance as Our Lady of Guadalupe to little Juanito Diegito, the littlest of her sons. Do you remember her words?

Hear and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little one:
Let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you.
Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance.
Am I not here who am your Mother?
Are you not under my shadow and protection?
Am I not your fountain of life?
Are you not in the folds of my mantle?
In the crossing of my arms?
Is there anything else that you need?
Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain.

Learning about St. Max lately, I've been enjoying his insane trust in Our Lady and his absolute confidence in the wonders she will work through the gift of her Miraculous Medal. And this is where Tree comes in, and her little secretary, Hope. For the story of the Miraculous Medal, go to this link:

St. Catherine Laboure: Saint of the Miraculous Medal

And then for Tree's story, go here:

St. Catherine Laboure, the Miraculous Medal, and Me

Both are by the lovely Hope Schneir, and I'm so grateful she wrote to tell us of Tree's life, as well as her own and St. Catherine's.

If you have a chance to read Hope's articles, you'll likely next need this link:

MIraculous Medals (to get blessed by a priest once they arrive tomorrow)

I also have the joy of announcing that while we're finishing a 54 day Rosary novena tomorrow on the Assumption, I'm also planning to start another! Because . . . (drum roll please) . . . if you start a 54 day Rosary Novena on the Feast of the Assumption, you will finish on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of Victory for her many victories through the Rosary!

Meanwhile, let's end with something from Marcel. He's such a love, such a faithful little apostle for Jesus and Mary (and silent St. Joseph) that we can't resist pondering the words he so sweetly left us in Conversations:

Jesus: Little child of my love, do you know why Magdalene was spellbound at my feet and found so much happiness close to me that she even forgot to come to the assistance of her sister Martha? Listen my child. The reason is that at that particular moment I was speaking only words of love to her as I am actually doing now with you. Magdalene was so enchanted that she even forgot the reproaches of her sister. But, supposing that she had not then been full of joy, she would have quarreled immediately with her sister. However, because my words had taken her outside herself, she did not realize what her sister was saying to her and she satisfied herself by smiling, as you did yourself my child when I asked you if you wished to be my spouse.

My dear child, your role is to be the apostle of my love. For that you must not be happy simply to hear my words but you must also write them down for the good of souls. It is true it will be necessary to cause you a little pain, but since you love me, sacrifice yourself completely for my love . . . If Magdalene at the time when she was listening to me had written down what I was saying to her, what words of love would have been shown to the world. My child, it is for this that I have said to your holy sister, "It is not all at once that all my love reveals itself, but little by little." Yes, my child, it is good that way. In the manifestations of my love to man I must observe a certain moderation; if I go much beyond this restraint, man will understand nothing. . . My child, my love is limitless but a great number of souls do not believe this . . . My child, you know how much I suffer because of such an attitude . . . After all the signs of love I have given to them, men have not yet understood; they have even dared to doubt my love . . . My child, my love is always limitless; tell this to souls . . . Yes, contrary to what people think, my love is always without limits. Little child of my love, if my love for souls ever ceased to exist, that would be the sign that I myself had ceased to exist. I have recalled this truth already many times, but each time I see those who doubt my love. . .My child, comfort me... If you do not know what to say to me, listen, I am going to teach you a short prayer that you will be able to repeat to me just as it is: 'Dear Jesus, my love, even if no one wished to believe the truth of Your words of love that You are here dictating to me, I will gladly sacrifice my life to bear witness to the truth of these words."

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How good our Jesus is, and how He loves to tell us Himself, to tell us the Truth!
Little by little, one manifestation or surprise at a time, He tells us of His love, His limitless love, and He shares this love with us through HIs Mother Mary. 

St. Maximilian wrote this about the manifestation of HIs limitless love that Jesus has ahead for us:

"Blessed Catherine Laboure - the fortunate nun to whom the Immaculata chose to appear in Paris, in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity and who, as an instrument of the Immaculata, has served to introduce and spread the Miraculous Medal everywhere - predicting the veneration with which the Immaculata would one day be recognized, exclaimed: 'Oh, how nice it will be, how nice it will be to hear: Mary is Queen of all the world!' And all her children repeat: She is the Queen of each one of us. 

"And what can we do to make this moment occur sooner? . . . Distribute her Medal wherever possible, even to children, so that they may always wear it round their necks, to the elderly and young people in particular, that under her protection they may have sufficient strength to reject the countless temptations and pitfalls that beset them in our times. Even to those who never come to church, who are afraid to go to Confession, who make a mockery of religious practices, who laugh at the truths of faith, who have immersed themselves in the mud of immorality, or who live in heresy outside the Church. Oh! to these it is absolutely essential to offer the Medal of the Immaculata and make them want to wear it, and at the same time pray fervently to the Immaculata for their conversion."

I have a few intentions to commend to you and especially with your help to Our Lady. There is our dear Bosco and his mother, still carrying a heavy cross that we need Jesus to lift, to send a Simon of Cyrene to lift, so that they may go forward in joy and peace and His love to spread Miraculous Medals and the gifts He has given them. There is a kind neighbor, Al, who died this past week, and we pray that Our Lady has already welcomed him into Heaven and the eternal embrace of the Savior whom Al embraced in his conversion to the Faith some years ago. There is a little boy who will have emergency heart surgery, a young man recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and a wedding coming up to unite a beautiful couple in holy matrimony - but oh, how many details there are to attend to by this Saturday, the day of their happy union. Finally, there is the little matter of Marcel curing my non-painful little cancer so that he can advance his cause (if he isn't too busy playing hide and seek in Heaven with the Holy Innocents, Jesus, Mary, and St. Therese!)! Oh! and don't let me forget all your intentions too!

With a fervent heart, then, we pray simply:

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

And to Marcel:

Infinitely good Father,
You have given Marcel Van the mission of changing suffering into joy.
Inspired by the saints and comforted by the maternal solicitude of the Blessed Mother,
he totally surrendered himself to Your Love.

O sweet Jesus, grant that we may be inspired by Marcel, joyful through love, to follow him along St Therese's Little Way with simplicity and an unshakeable confidence in Your Love.

Holy Spirit of Love, attracted by Marcel's weakness, You set him on fire with Love.
Grant, we pray, that the Church may one day soon proclaim his sanctity, and please give us the grace we ask of You through his intercession, namely Suzie's complete, instantaneous, and lasting cure from cancer.

We ask this through Jesus' adorable and powerful name. Amen.

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Draw me, we will run!!!

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HAPPY FEASTS!!!!