Holy Day: Queenship of Mary

This feast of Queenship of Mother Mary was established by Pope Pius-XII by his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam dated October 11, 1954. Mother Mary was proclaimed as "Theotokos" meaning "one who gives birth to God" or "God bearer" in the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century A.D.. Jesus is always the king of humanity and naturally His mother must have a share in the Kingship of Jesus. She is the Heavenly Queen and is referred as the woman clothed with sun and having a crown with twelve bright stars, in the book of Revelation. God has given to Mother Mary a great role to play in the eternal salvation of humanity, when she became the mother of the God’s only Son, Jesus. She was conceived without any original sin that became a religious dogma in the year 1854 (Immaculate Conception). Mother Mary is the gate to the Heaven, and through Her only mankind can enter the Heaven. Holy Virgin Mother Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, have mercy on us.

Feast Day: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 16th July

This name is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as the patron of the Carmelite Order. This feast is also known as the 'Scapular feast' because the Carmelite Order is using the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. A tradition says that the Holy Virgin Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Prior General of the Carmelite Order on July 16, 1251 and gave the brown scapular to him and that became part of the Carmelite Order. Carmelites believe the Holy Virgin Mary is a model of virtue and is also a perfect model of interior life of prayer. This feast was instituted by the Carmelite Order between the years 1376-1386, to celebrate their victory over their enemies, on obtaining the approbation of its name and constitution from Pope Honorius-III on January 30, 1226. The scapular is a modified version of Holy Mary’s own garment and it gives special protection to those who wear it. St. John of the Cross credited Holy Mary with saving him from drowning as a child, leading him to Carmel and helping him from prison. The Carmelites say that this Order was first founded by prophets Elijah and Elisha on the Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel is in Israel (District Haifa). During the apparition of Holy Mary at Fatima on October 13, 1917, when the Miracle of the Sun happened (Sun became red and rotated like a wheel) the children saw the visions of Jesus, Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Carmel. The feast was extended to the entire Latin Church by Pope Benedict-XIII on September 24, 1726.

Baptism of Jesus (Feast)

                                               JESUS BAPTISM - OUR BAPTISM

The baptism of Jesus is the public presentation by the Father that Jesus is the one who is going to teach us what 
                      LIFE   &  LIVING
                      LOVE &  LOVING
                      SERVICE & SERVING
                      DEATH & DYING       is all about.

The Personal Presentation by Jesus Himself that
He is the one who is going to give 
                                                  MEANING & PURPOSE
                                                  DIRECTION & DESTINY
                                                  GRACE & GLORY             to our lives.

The baptism of Jesus was the beginning of His public ministry. He got baptized by St.john the baptist at the Jordan river. The place of baptism as found out by UNESCO- sponsored excavations is the bank of Jordan at Al-Maghtar. St.john was preaching among the people in Jerusalem and Judea to prepare for the coming Messiah and was giving baptism to people for repentance (Matthew3:11). When Jesus toward St.john to get baptism, St.John to,d Jesus 'I need to be baptized by you and you are coming to me?. For this Jesus replied to St.John 'it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness' (Matthew 3:14-15).

Jesus was sinless and hence He need not get baptism like others. During the baptism the entire Holy Trinity worked together and the Trinitarian nature of the God was proved there. When Jesus, the son of God was baptized the Holy Spirit descended from heaven like a dove and God the Father spoke from the Heaven saying 'This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. All the three, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were present there when Jesus was baptized . St,John also attested to the fact of the descending of the Holy Spirit on Jesus during Hid baptism. St.John also told once to others when Jesus approached St.john and his group 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes a way the sins of the world' Jesus said 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God' (John3:5). Baptism is a basic requirement to enter into Kingdom of God.