Podcasts about holy mary

THANKS Thanks to all you listeners, and to those who have supported me through the years and especially through this most recent hiatus. Also thanks to Marco of the Storia d'Italia podcast (https://italiastoria.com/) for giving authenticity to the Italian quote–which, incidentally, I believe I mistranslated somewhat: It's normally rendered as “when one Pope dies, we make another”, giving additional bluntness to the meaning. IMAGE CREDIT: By Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Photographer name), CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34828249 (Via Wikipedia) TRANSCRIPT Welcome to Popeular History: History through Pope Colored Glasses. My name is Gregg, and this is another special housekeeping episode. Vice-Pope Mrs Popeular History and I have a running joke about my superpower, namely that when I say something, it automatically becomes not true. Which, I know, isn't a great power for a fact-based podcaster to have, I mean, there's a reason I haven't told you about this ability of mine earlier. But you can see it at work here, with me announcing just days ago that Popeular History's hiatus would carry on through at least June, and now, well, I assume this isn't news to you since you're the sort of person to tune into this sort of show and it's been a day, but Pope Francis died early this morning. May he rest in peace, and may he find more mercy than anyone deserves in the Court of the Just Judge, as we would all hope to find for ourselves, and as we should all hope for others. In light of that, I'd like to announce that I am revoking my recent proclamation of continued hiatus, meaning yes, Popeular History is back, at least for the duration of the present Sede Vacante, as long as I can physically manage it and my efforts continue to receive both nihil obstats and imprimaturs from Vice-Pope Mrs Popeular History, who, as  it turns out, does *not* automatically succeed Francis as Pope. Apparently, there's a whole different process for that. Who knew? Anyways, here's what to expect. First, as much as I legitimately hate it, it is time to say goodbye to Pope Francis. You will be seeing an obituary on this feed soon, and there will be more tributes and reflections on his papacy coming now that it has concluded. Catholics do not pray only for the living, it's important to pray for the dead as well, so I would encourage you to pray for Pope Francis to find rest in God's merciful embrace if you're willing to pray. We'll conclude this episode with a brief Ave Maria–known in English as a Hail Mary, and I'll go ahead and do an English version as well–for that purpose, for Pope Francis' repose. After some appropriate reflection on Pope Francis and his legacy, there will be the matter of laying him to rest. Once I know when the funeral will be, information that will likely become available after the first General Congregation tomorrow morning, I will make every effort to plan for some form of livestream coverage, possibly as part of a larger group. The general expectation is that the funeral will be this weekend, I'll keep you all posted. As of now, Francis' body is already in an oak coffin in preparation for lying in state, and the Papal apartments have been sealed with wax as per custom. Within the next week, Pope Francis' remains will ultimately make their way to a storeroom in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, or in English, Saint Mary Major. And I just have to acknowledge that “when I go out, stick me in the closet” is *very* on brand for Pope Francis. Though it's also worth noting that it's not like there's you know, a lot of free space for dead popes in the highest tier of Rome's churches, so even if it weren't as on brand for him, well, needs must and all that. Anyways, after Pope Francis is laid to rest in an old closet, any reluctance to talk about the upcoming conclave on my part will vanish. Granted, lots of folks are already taking bets and asking for my lines and predictions, but, you know, I'm not planning to be focusing on that so much this week. This is the time for goodbyes. However, as the Italians say, “Morto un papa se ne fa un altro”: “when the Pope dies, we make a new one” (Marco recording). And so next week, after the funeral, I'll begin to look in earnest at the conclave process, including looking at the Cardinals to hopefully get a first glimpse of the new Pope. Ideally, of course, I'd love to be able to point to an existing episode on whoever is elected when the time comes. And I've got a decent chance of being able to do that thanks to Cardinal Numbers: so far we've talked about over 50 Cardinals on this feed, and I've got dozens more basically researched and scripted, who were awaiting just a bit of touching up before recording and editing closer to their release date. Which actually sounds REALLY promising when you consider the theoretical cap of 120 Cardinal-Electors you're going to hear more about soon in the context of the fact that there are currently more Cardinal Electors than that and no apparent provisions for dealing with that situation. Bottom line, of the 135 current Cardinal electors, I've only got about 30 that I haven't gone in-depth on in some fashion. To be clear, I'm not going to have every Cardinal elector covered in time. It's just not possible with work and family continuing apace. But you're going to see a lot from me in the coming weeks, especially once we're officially in Conclave mode after the funeral. Which brings us back to where started this chat. Let's close tonight by praying for Pope Francis' repose, first in Latin, then in English. I'll be doing both parts of the Hail Mary, since Vice-Pope Mrs Popeular History went to bed a while ago. In nomine Patri, et Filii, et Spiritui Sancti amen: Áve María, grátia pléna, Dóminus técum. Benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus frúctus véntris túi, Iésus. Sáncta María, Máter Déi, óra pro nóbis peccatóribus, nunc et in hóra mórtis nóstrae. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

"Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will." – Jesus to St. Faustina (Diary, 1731)The Rosary. The Divine Mercy Chaplet. Formal Prayer.I had resistance to praying in this way.I had resistance to even saying His Name for years.But the more I said It, the more I saw—I needed to say It.Whatever is keeping you from saying It,Or feeling It,Or believing It,Or knowing It—That's exactly why you have to say It.That dissolves.That lets you go.It frees you to move on,To forgive,And to share.Because that's all we're here to do.I love you,NikTHE DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET The Image - Look at it and then see it within!Opening Prayers (On the Crucifix):You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls,and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the world and empty Yourself out upon us.(3x) "O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You."Step-by-Step Instructions for the Chaplet:On the Our Father bead (large):"Eternal Father, I offer You the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."On each Hail Mary bead (small):"For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."Repeat the Our Father (large) and Hail Mary (small) prayers for all five decades of the rosary.Traditional Prayers:Our Father:Our Father, who art in Heaven,hallowed be Thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,on earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil. Amen.Hail Mary:Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.Blessed art thou among women,and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. ( I trust in you)Holy Mary, Mother of God,pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Apostle's Creed (On the Crucifix):I believe in God, the Father Almighty,Creator of heaven and earth;and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into hell;on the third day, He rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy Catholic Church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and life everlasting. Amen.Closing Prayers (After the Decades):(3x) Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.Final Prayer:Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible,look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us,that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent,but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will,which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.Take your time with these prayers. Say His Name. Start here. Trust your heart. You're held in His grace. Always.Send me your stories, reflections, or reviews. Wherever you are, you're not alone. I see you.I Love you,nik_________________________--Wake Up to Love, and pray the Holy Rosary, pray the LOVE with us LIVE every weekday morning at 4:44 am ET

3/19/25 - We'll recount St. Francis de Sales' teachings on patience, humility, and gentleness through his writings, especially his Introduction to the Devout Life, and examine his letters, including those to Jane de Chantal, a French-Catholic widow with whom St. Francis eventually co-founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. With a message that is more applicable than ever in our busy modern climate, he notably believed that holiness can be achieved amidst the daily responsibilities of family, work, and social life, emphasizing that a deep prayer life can coexist with an active, worldly vocation. St. Francis also offers practical advice on managing anger, cultivating humility, and practicing gentle correction in relationships, drawing from his own experiences while serving as Bishop of Geneva.

"State of Grace", un clàssic modern del 1990. En parlem apassionadament d'aquest policíac mafiós, amb espòilers. I la Holy Mary ens porta la peli "Tangerine" del 2015, que va donar la fama al Sean Baker ( Òscars per Anora)

In todays winter celebration of an episode we explore the glorious Welsh tradition of the Mari Lwyd.She is a skull covered in the ribbons of a bride, The Grey Mare, or Holy Mary. She is many things, she is neither dead nor alive, if you're cold then she's cold.Down the cold dark back streets of London's Kings Cross a warm welcome awaits. Every year to celebrate the end of winter the Mari Lwyd makes her rounds of the local pubs ready to sing and have a rap battle as only a horses skull in a shroud can do. Expect bad Welsh pronunciation, ale, singing, and hopefully the beginning of spring! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The more you love the Holy Spirit, the more you love the Mother of God.

The fantastic Father David Nix explains how the Blessed Mother is the created Immaculate Conception.

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the show

We welcome back to Saint Christopher's Dr. Jason C. Dykehouse. Dr. Dykehouse preached for us last year and we were very glad to welcome back to our pulpit. Here is his sermon for The Fourth Sunday of Advent.

Friends of the Rosary, Today, December 12, the Catholic Church in the USA celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In December 1531, Our Lady appeared three times to a Chichimeca Indian convert named Juan Diego, requesting that a church be built on Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City. Unable to convince the bishop and busy caring for his sick uncle, Juan missed a fourth meeting with the Blessed Virgin. Mary intercepted him the next day, saying: “Am I not here, your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? What else do you wish?” Our Lady instructed Juan to gather roses for the bishop in his cloak. When the roses tumbled out, a miraculous image appeared. She left a marvelous portrait of herself on Juan Diego's mantle. This image has proven ageless and is kept in the shrine built in her honor, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Virgin also appeared to Juan's uncle, healing him and revealing herself as the “Holy Mary of Guadalupe.” In 1910, Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared the Patroness of Latin America. In 1945, Pope Pius XII declared her the Empress of all the Americas. Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You! Come, Holy Spirit, come! To Jesus through Mary! + Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York • December 12, 2024, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

From the responsorial psalm: "Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the LORD God, the creator of heaven and earth. You are the highest honor of our race." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 1:26-38) But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." When the angel Gabriel visits Mary, she has been from the moment of her conception, full of grace. Mary is troubled to receive the message that she will bear a son, that she will name Jesus, and that he will be called Son of the Most High. A virgin, Mary questions how this can be, and Gabriel explains to her that the power of the Most High will overshadow her. In Mary's fiat, accepting God's will without fully understanding how his overshadowing will unfold, we have an example of one who is full of Grace and accepts God's will, letting it be done according to his word. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Mother, said this to Juan Diego and comes to all of us through his account of the apparitions: "Hear me and understand well, my little son, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother?" God, help me trust you through the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Troubles come, troubling events unfold. Yet, Mary shows me how to respond to all the troubles the world can mount upon me in full force. Because she trusts in you and is completely obedient to your will, she is confident in your love and able to say, "Let not your heart be disturbed." And so that I can ask her to intercede for me in full confidence, who does Mary say that she is? In her words, she is "in person, the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God." Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lectio-divina-daily/support

Bobby and Jared discus this year's NFL QB draft class, what makes a good draft, inching closer to WW3, angels moving Holy Mary's house to Italy, and why people don't like Market Basket.   Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the show to stay up to date on the latest releases! You can also find the video show on YouTube by clicking here.   Make sure you check out LMNT electrolyte drink mix at drinklmnt.com! Use the following link to get a FREE variety pack with your first purchase! http://elementallabs.refr.cc/jaredmello    Thank you to our sponsor MoonBrew! Go to www.noonbrew.com/jaredmello for 10% off your entire purchase!   Thank you to our sponsor The Ice Pod! Go to www.podcompany.com and use our promo code: JARED10093 for $10 off your entire purchase!   Make sure you sign up with MyBookie.com to get all of your bets in. Use our promo code: SARCASMPOD to double your first deposit up to $1000!

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the show

The Presentation of Holy Mary - Joy in Suffering *Presenting Ourselves for Service *The Ark Returns to the Temple *The Presentation of Mary in the Temple *Our Lady's Presentation

Cendrowsky ha triat un gran clàssic del Tim Burton i els tres Bojos gaudim amb aquesta fantàstica història d'històries. I la Holy Mary ens parla de la primera pel·li de l'Almodóvar en anglès. Salut i Metratge!

A meditation preached at Lancemore centre in Toronto on November 4, 2024. In 2017, the Prelate of Opus Dei said this: “the current situation of evangelization makes it more necessary than ever to give priority to personal contact with people. This relational aspect is at the heart of the mode of doing apostolate that Saint Josemaria found in the Gospel narratives.” (Pastoral Letter, 14 February 2017, no. 9.) Personal contact leads to friendship, and friendship is an expression of charity. That charity in Opus Dei gives us strong bonds. We live this charity through real fraternity. Like the phrase from Proverbs: Frater qui adiuvatur a fratre quasi civitas firma. A brother helped by his brother is like a strongly walled city. (Prov. 18, 19) Music: Choir of the Roman College of Holy Mary in Rome. Thumbnail: Nicaea in the Nuremberg chronicles.

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the show

Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this recollection at Hawthorn School in Toronto on October 23 2024. We are preparing the centennial of Opus Dei, founded on October 2, 1928. It was a shower of grace, that Saint Josemaria received on that day. We must ensure that we maintain the beauty of this charism, to ensure that it never go stale, or lose its vibrancy. Music: Choir of the Roman College of Holy Mary. Thumbnail: Cover of The Way published by Doubleday.

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the show

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the Show.

In this episode of Creations Paths, host Charlie, a non-binary sci-fi fantasy writer and practicing Druid, delves into the concepts of the queenship and motherhood of Mary. Charlie explores the significance of Mary in Christian tradition, explaining how she serves as a substitute and stand-in for humanity, emphasizing her role in salvation history and her embodiment of divine feminine power. From Mary's Fiat to her presence as the Queen of Heaven, this video examines her profound impact and importance. Charlie discusses the paradigm shifts in modern, post-modern, and metamodern perspectives on faith and how Mary's queenship counters patriarchal instincts. The episode also touches upon the personal devotional impacts of Mary and how she serves as a source of healing and balance in faith practice.Tips or Donations here: https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett patreon.com/cedorsett Substack: https://www.creationspaths.com/ For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com For all of the things we are doing at The Seraphic Grove go to Creation's Paths https://www.creationspaths.com/ Social Connections: BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/Transcript:[00:00:00] Charlie- New: Salve Regina. Hail holy queen mother and queen blessed Mary mother of God, mother of the church, mother of us all, queen of our hearts. Yes today, we're going to be talking about the queenship of Mary and the motherhood of Mary. Why would a metamodern anarchist like me be all down for calling anybody a queen. Let's talk about that. On today's Creations Paths. Intro. [00:00:27] Charlie- New: Hello everyone. My name is Charlie. I'm a non-binary scifi fantasy writer. I'm also a practicing Druid as is my husband, Brian. Today we're going to be talking about the motherhood, the queenship of Mary. This is I think a hard one for modern folk. Harder for post-modern folk and. I think dirt simple for Metta modern folk. [00:01:01] Brian - New: Ah, the progressions. [00:01:02] Charlie- New: The progression, how the paradigms do shift. So might be confused by those three labels and don't worry. it's fine. a Modernist is somebody who believes in grand unifying ideas. A post-modern is all about deconstruction and tearing those ideas back into there little bitty pieces in a Metamodernism, just kind of dances. Through it all. [00:01:24] Brian - New: about the journey or the dance. [00:01:26] Charlie- New: Its about the journey. It just oscillate back and forth between the grand idea and the deconstruction of it. Here I am sitting here. I pray the Salve Regina, I often. will call out to the queen of heaven, to the queen of our hearts, to the queen of mercy. There's so many wonderful titles that Mary, has. Yet, if you were to tell me that I had to bow to an actual earthly queen, I would laugh at you unless I was at some kind of a ball or something. [00:01:54] Brian - New: Then she going to have to prove herself. [00:01:56] Charlie- New: she going to have to make it work. Why does it matter to us? in this. Day and age to talk about the queenship of Mary. Well, one. As we've talked before and we'll probably always be talking about. When it comes to Mary, Mary is the substitute, the stand in for us in these stories. She is the first who gave that beautiful Fiat. When she said, yes. So that the son of God could be born into the world. She is the one who proclaimed the gospel that the high will be thrown down and their Thrones will be scattered and that the lowly will be brought up. She is the one who was there through all of the. Mysteries of Christ's life. She is the one who was taken into heaven. She is the one who became one. With the father, as Christ is with the father. And is the matrix from whom we are all formed. Mary is so central. To the heart of the faith. If you came from a Protestant upbringing, This may seem. Foreign to you. I know it was when Brian and I first got together because. I have been a Marianist since I was about 16. [00:03:07] Brian - New: When first exposed to these concepts, I was like, what's the point? Like. If you got God, you got Jesus. Aren't you good. Isn't it all? I think. you did two things. One. When you pointed out, that could be good and for some of them that is all they need. That is great and wonderful. But for others, they might not feel. Worthy or they might not feel deserving. Of grace. Of being in the presence of God. Sometimes it's easier to go to the mother. And to be cradled and held by the mother. mothers tend to be non-judging and accepting. And then you handed me saint Louis de Montfort's book and said, read this. Sent me on my way. Which was very fascinating. Read. Pretty fascinating time, but. Not for this episode. [00:03:54] Charlie- New: Well, and he called it right. He did call her a secret of Mary. Is the secret of Marry. Come to your faith. Faithful one. Let me tell you the secret of Mary. As hard as the secret known to, but a few right. Mary is so core to all of this because she is the one who formed Christ. She formed. Jesus. She is the mother. Of Christ. And as such, if we are the body of Christ, she is our mother. But also as the mother of Christ, she is the one who forms us. She is the one that makes us. Who and what we are is Paul. Says she's the heavenly Jerusalem. When thinking about her and her place in the economy of salvation, she is. The pinpoint she's the startup. Yeah. She brought. The holy one, she brought Christ into the world. With her queenship. why should that matter? [00:04:46] Charlie- New: Well, one. I think it's very important to highlight the queenship of Mary. Because it fights against the. Patriarchal instincts of the Imperial church. That even when they want to call her a queen. We'll try to sideline her in many, many ways. And that she. And we, they tried to take her family away. They tried to do all kinds of things. To try to keep her from living in the fullness. That she does. Mary's queenship. Reminds us. Of the power of the feminine. The absolute power, that is there. We often talk about the kingdom of God. I know that there've been people who have tried to move away from that term. Matthew Fox has tried to move away from the term, a lot of, uh, Christian leaders of. Tried realm or. Matthew Fox likes to say queendom. Of God, which. It's just a word that. I don't know. Jingles in my brain in a strange way. If we were to look at the way that these words have been traditionally used. Cause. I think it is important to have a sense of continuity. She is the queen of the kingdom. She stands there. To me. Mary is the answer to the question that the sons of Zebedee ask Jesus, who will sit at your right hand. Oh, Mary. And to me, Jesus answers this question, the first shall be last. And the last shall be first. The one who shall be first will be the servant of all. Mary does not have a prominent role throughout the gospels. And is. Absent. To the point where a lot of people forget that she was there. And you have to point out. No, she's right there. She's right there. Through the entire story, but in her humility, she is. Doing her job, everything. My son tells you do it. She's always pointing. To the Christ. It's only afterwards. Where she is able to take her real true and proper place. Where we see. The role that she plays. I'm not saying that all of us need to just fade into the background. Though, if you're going to be like, Uh, shadow broker. Who's bringing good about into the world. Fade into the background. Make the good things happen. But the story, at least at that time was not about her. Now it is. Like I said that. The story is about Mary start very, very early on. From the Purdue week, Ben gallium. Telium of James. That spends a lot of time on her childhood and her parents. Anne and Joachim. Through to the door mission of Mary that tells us about her assumption into heaven for the first time. Mary becomes the center of the story very quickly in Christian history. And has remained in this primacy. Place. It's because. We need. That mother. Because the Imperial church. Robbed us of a. Maternal God, which by the way, is found throughout the Christian tradition. And the. scriptural one as well. As just a side note. I love giving people the revelation of divine. Knowing. And of divine love for the first time. By Julian of Norwich because when they see the phrase of mother Christ, For the first time, it just kind of shatters their expectations. And when you remember that this woman is a Saint in the Episcopalian and Catholic, like every church claims her. She uses the phrase mother Christ. We had a lot in that book actually. Because the divine feminine has always been there. But it gets hidden. Like Mary. Was it. This pivotal person. In the history of our faith. She raised. The Christ child. She was there when they fled into Egypt and she was there when they came back. She's the one that would have instilled his morals and ethics and to him as he's growing up. And yet we don't get to see. Hardly any of that. In scripture. By stressing that this unseen. Character. Is our queen. Because Queens are. majestic. They're powerful. It reminds us one. When we think about our own families. How very often. It was our mother and sisters and whatnot who kept everything flowing. Moving smoothly. Unseen by our hands you just woke up and there was breakfast cause. I don't know. You were a child and didn't think about where the breakfast came from. It was just there on the table when you got up. Now your mom got up before you and made that breakfast. Maybe. not all mothers. But you get the gist of what I'm trying to say. Power. It's not always loud. This is the other thing I love about the idea of the queenship of Mary. When we think of the kingship of God. You get images of like a Cecil B DeMille movie, god on the top of the mountain. Moses. These are my 10 commandments. It was booming voice coming down from heaven. We forget that we're told that the voice of God is. A whisper. It's a still small voice. It's a Russel. Leaves in the wind. It's a subtle voice. It's not this. Booming voice. In fact, when we actually read the story in. Exodus of them receiving the 10 sayings. It says, the voice of God was on the mountain and the people saw it. Which is a very interesting turn of phrase. Because they saw the voice, they didn't hear it. They saw the voice. It was a powerful image. We give this very. Strong vocal voice. Then when we think about. The queen. Especially with Mary, like I said, with her seeming absence yet. Ever presence in the gospels. It reminds us to listen for that actual real voice of God. That quiet. Still small voice of God that. Like what the experience of Elijah. God, wasn't in the fire, God wasn't in the earthquake. God, wasn't in the wind. But after all these three things, There was a still small voice. That's where we find the voice of God. That's where we find it in Mary. Mary is such an ever pervading presence in our lives. Queen of the angels queen of our hearts. These are not just words that I say because they're written in the litany somewhere. This is my experience of Mary. When I say I became a Marianist when I was 16. That's because. I was raised Baptist. I've talked about this bit, but I didn't convert to Catholicism. adulthood. I wasn't raised with Mary. Mary. Wasn't a part of my childhood. I found her. I found the secret of Mary. It gave me meaning and purpose. Like St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. When I thought about her. My heart. Warmed up. It brought me to life in a way that very few other thoughts had. It gave me meaning and purpose. Gave me something to strive for. When we say in the prayers, our life, our sweetness here below. That's Mary. Now there are thousands of words and pages written. About her, but when you look at the scripture, she's here, she's there. She doesn't have that profound presence. But she's there in all of it. Throughout the whole thing. That loving presence of that sweet divine mother. Guiding us and leading us. Ever forward. I love calling out to. Our queen. [00:11:59] Brian - New: It's also through Mary that. I find. Healing in the imagery of the kingdom of heaven. I know a lot of people nowadays. Bristle. At that term, as you pointed out earlier, But it is through Mary. As queen. We realize it puts things back into balance. It moves away from the falsehoods of misogyny. The false hoods of the significant figure in history that the one person that does. Man. Man history. Falsehoods and Mary helps to heal that because then you realize it's a king and a queen. It is in a way, going back to the time of judges. Which the old Testament. God said was the better way to have things. Anyhow, it's a council. It's not just this one dictation on high. That's not voice. It's the loud voice and the quiet voice. It's both together. It's the. action that you see. And the action that you don't see. [00:12:56] Charlie- New: It brings us back to the Elohim to God and. Cause the truest sense that divine counsel, that. True unity that said, let us make man in our image. And then he made them. Male and female. in unity and harmony and altogether. In one. That really is. The heart of what's missing and a lot of modern faith and a lot of modern practice. I have a very strong devotion to Mary. It's rivaled only by my devotion with Bridget. And if you've ever studied the prayers. Of our ancestors. Mary and Bridgid are almost always. Invoked together. In fact. It said that Bridgid. They say, this is about the saint, but I feel like this is more true of the goddess. was the foster mother of Jesus that she was the handmade. She was the midwife. That helped. Mary give birth to Jesus. And of course St. Bridget of Kildare could not have done that. But Bridgette could have done that. It's Bridget has always been and always will be. Like all the faces of God. So we see them together. When you see them together. Something magical happens because it erodes this idea of competition. It erodes the site idea of there being anything. Any vine for the attention or affections of the king. Mary is there. Bridget is there? Jesus is there. We are there. we don't have to fight about it. We don't have to beg to be seen. Because we are. personally like the terms king and queen for God. And Mary, just for one other reason. Because that's where the kingdom is. The kingdom of God is not of this world. By remembering that my true queen, my true king is not of this world. It makes it easier not to set up a queen or king in this world. So on this day, when we're remembering the queenship of Mary. I recommend maybe. watch Sister Act again. Right before we started this podcast, I played the salvia Regina. From the sister act soundtrack to get us. Ready. For this episode. Maybe watch one of my favorite movies. the song of Bernadette, which is about. Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette Soubirous. When she had the visions of Mary. love that movie so much. It's also a good movie. If you've never seen Vincent Price play anything, but in a horror movie. He still plays kind of the villain of the movie, it's an interesting role. That is not what I've come to expect to see as a Vincent Price would be. He's very good at it. Go out and. Just listen to nature. The queenship of Mary is everywhere. When we think about may, which is the traditional month where we celebrate Mary. So many of the songs invoke the lilies of the field and the flowers and the birds and the butterflies. That nature, because. The love of our divine mother. Is the most natural thing. I think I should just take just a moment. Cause I keep saying our divine mother and I know people that are coming from Protestant. Upbringing may have a problem with that. Mary is the mother of God. If you believe that Jesus has God. Mary is Jesus's mother. They're four by the transit of property. Mary is the mother of God. It's in the book. Whether there was a god. Before. Is a stupid question that gets asked by people that aren't really thinking, and they're just wanting to cause problems. Of course there was a god before. But Mary. Made that God. Mary. Is the vehicle through which Christ. That same cosmic Christ. That. Created everything and holds the universe together. Through Mary, that Christ came into this world. We meet him in the form of Jesus Christ. [00:16:51] Brian - New: When going back there was the Shekinah. Kina Shekinah. There you go. Thank you. [00:16:57] Charlie- New: have feelings about how Mary relates to the Shekinah, but that's a whole bag of worms, Mary as the lost princess. I really in my heart of hearts, believe that. I don't believe that anyone else has to believe that, but yes, in my heart of hearts, Yeah, Mary is the presence of God. The sweet. Shekinah the. The tent that covers us and holds us and one family. I guess 100% in my heart of hearts. I believe that. And for that alone makes her the queen. [00:17:27] Brian - New: the wind that supports us by day and the. Pillar, flame that lights our way and protects us. Our path at night. In the darkness. [00:17:36] Charlie- New: If you're into. More traditional things. Open up a prayer book. Say a rosary. Say a litany. Beautiful lit news. Just say the Regina Caeli. [00:17:47] Brian - New: For the Druids out there just take a moment today. Go outside. Sit under a tree. Sit in the mother's embrace. No, that we're all worth it. Raul. We're all. Okay. No matter how dark we are. We're all good. Some level. Mom always gives us a hug no matter what. Or how filthy we come in from playing outside. [00:18:06] Charlie- New: She is. Like the prayer says our life, our sweetness here below. Oh, Maria. This is a much more devotional episode than I thought it was going to end up being. But. It's hard for me to talk about Mary and not just. Break out into just extolling her brilliance and her virtues and just my absolute love and admiration for her. She has answered our prayers. With felt her presence in our darkest times. She she is with us. She cares for us. She is our mother and our queen. And I hope that. If you've. You've had those experiences too. And if you haven't. We fly to your patronage. Holy Mary mother of God. Never hasn't been known that anyone. Who has flown. Two, your. Who has asked you if anything has ever been turned away, empty. It's an old prayer. And it's a prayer that is still in use today because it is still true today. So this, this has helped you and you think that, you know, somebody else who would like it, please share that helps us. Grow. If you haven't already like us or. Subscribe or follow or. Leave a review or whatever you could do on wherever you're listening to the sounds of our voice. It really does help us out a lot. If you have any questions instead of https://www.creationspaths.com/ and you can either put them in the chat over there, or you can. Comment them on the bottom of this episode. Let us know what you think. You can also comment over on YouTube or Spotify. We get to see those as well. If you have a few dollars that you can pass our way. You always sign up for a membership. Really helps us out a lot. Helps us keep. This podcast coming to you also. We're going to be doing some classes and not too distant future. And. The those who have. Joined the membership are going to get access to those early. So. Just so, you know, They're there. There's some treats coming. Anyhow. Yeah, wholly queen and thrown the ball. May the grace of Mary. Our queen and our mother. He with you now and forevermore. Amen. Amen. Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe

DR. TAYLOR MARSHALL PODCAST #catholic #catholicchurch 

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the Show.

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the Show.

n this episode, we jump ahead 15 years to 1915. Léonie is now a cloistered religious Sister Françoise-Thérèse of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in Caen.  She is doing her best to live the "little way" as described by her younger sister Thérèse, whose cause for canonization is rapidly moving forward.  This process graces her with an opportunity to visit with her three living sisters, Marie, Celine, and Pauline at the Carmel in Lisieux. Pauline, now Mother Agnes of Jesus and prioress of the Carmel, develops a close relationship with Léonie.  She will serve Léonie as a mother figure and spiritual director for the rest of her life.  Their correspondence speaks of Léonie's spiritual growth during this period. The post Ep. 13 – A Sister of St. Thérèse: Servant of God, Léonie Martin – Bearer of Hope with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the Show.

n this episode, we jump ahead 15 years to 1915. Léonie is now a cloistered religious Sister Françoise-Thérèse of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in Caen.  She is doing her best to live the "little way" as described by her younger sister Thérèse, whose cause for canonization is rapidly moving forward.  This process graces her with an opportunity to visit with her three living sisters, Marie, Celine, and Pauline at the Carmel in Lisieux. Pauline, now Mother Agnes of Jesus and prioress of the Carmel, develops a close relationship with Léonie.  She will serve Léonie as a mother figure and spiritual director for the rest of her life.  Their correspondence speaks of Léonie's spiritual growth during this period. The post Ep. 12 – A Sister of St. Thérèse: Servant of God, Léonie Martin – Bearer of Hope with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Hail Lady, Holy Queen, Holy Mary, Mother of God, who are the Virgin made Church and the one chosen by the Most Holy Father of Heaven, whom He consecrated with His Most Holy Beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete;  in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good.  Hail His Palace; Hail His Tabernacle; Hail His Home.  Hail His Vestment; Hail His Handmaid; Hail His Mother and hail all you holy virtues, which through the grace and illumination of the Holy Spirit are infused into the hearts of the faithful, so that from being unbelievers, you make them faithful to God.

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible intentions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the Show.

Homily on the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt Fr. Anthony compares the lives of the Theotokos and St. Mary of Egypt, noting that our path looks much more like that of the latter, especially given our culture's immersion in social media, consumerism, aggressive politics, and pornography.  Thank God that he has given us His Way of salvation despite all this!

Friends of the Rosary, Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the first Joyful Mystery. The Holy Spirit comes through the Archangel Gabriel to Mary and imparts to her the gift of all gifts, a divine Son. In humble acceptance, the Virgin Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). Having been conceived immaculately, Mary's body became the Living Tabernacle of the Lord. Accordingly, she answered in nearly the same words her Divine Son used on many occasions — thy will be done. The Annunciation can be thought of as a precursor to Pentecost. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us! Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You! To Jesus through Mary! Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will! + Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York • April 8, 2024, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

In this deeply personal and reflective episode of "The Chris Abraham Show," Chris shares his thoughts and experiences on a variety of topics, weaving together stories of faith, political observations, and family anecdotes. Recorded on Easter in the United States, Chris opens by discussing his recovery from a recent illness and his decision to spend the day watching the Netflix series "Messiah," developing an admiration for actress Michelle Monaghan. He delves into his spiritual journey, highlighting his struggles with maintaining traditional religious practices while embracing the diverse spiritual perspectives of his friends from different faith backgrounds. Chris discusses his lack of interest in discussing current political events, choosing instead to focus on the broader theme of populism and its misunderstood role in American politics. He reflects on Donald Trump's appeal to populist sentiments and the mainstream media's reluctance to address the populist movement's impact. The episode takes a more personal turn as Chris shares mystical and spiritual experiences within his family, particularly those of his mother, who had profound encounters that shaped her religious beliefs. He also touches on his own spiritual practices, including his relationship with Marianism and his respect for various deities and spiritual figures, stemming from his upbringing and education in Hawaii. As Chris navigates through these topics, he offers insights into his views on Catholicism, the influence of polytheism, and the significance of personal spiritual experiences. He concludes the episode with reflections on attending church, his thoughts on the current political landscape, and a light-hearted note on his eBay sales. Chillax: A colloquial term combining "chill" and "relax," used to describe the act of calming down or relaxing. Messiah (Netflix series): A controversial and thought-provoking Netflix drama series exploring the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East claiming to be the eschatological return of 'Isa (Jesus). Populism: A political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups. Marianism: A form of devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, prevalent within the Roman Catholic Church. It emphasizes Mary's role in the salvation process and often involves prayers and practices that honor her. Mystical Experiences: Personal, spiritual experiences that provide a direct and intimate connection to the divine or the supernatural. Polytheism: The belief in or worship of more than one god. Roman Catholicism: The largest Christian church, led by the Pope, characterized by its liturgical traditions and teachings on the sacraments and doctrines such as the Virgin Mary's Assumption. Marianismo: A cultural belief in Latin America idealizing female virtue and purity in emulation of the Virgin Mary. Conspiracy Theories: Beliefs that certain events or situations are the result of a secret plot by powerful conspirators. Bermuda Triangle: A region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where ships and aircraft are said to have mysteriously disappeared. Masonry: A fraternal organization that traces its origins to the local fraternities of stonemasons, which from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Our Father,Who art in Heaven,Hallowed be thy name.Thy Kingdom come.They Will be done,On Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.And, forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us.And, lead us not into temptation,But deliver us from evil.Amen. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chrisabraham/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chrisabraham/support

Say  3 Hail Holy Queen: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, andour hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary, Pray for us, oh holyMother of God.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Say three Prayer of Petition after each Hail Holy Queen:Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praisethee for thy joy when God was incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virginand Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God.*Remember the Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition is said three times for the three impossible petitions.After you say the the three Hail Holy Queen and Prayer of Petition say the Memorare one time: Remember, oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh, Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.The final prayer is said three times: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar inHeaven, on Earth, and Everywhere. AMEN.Then one HAIL MARY (For the person who propagated the devotion): Hail Mary, fullof grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Lastly,TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTThank you, thank you Lord for all the good that I receive from you every day.Thank you because you pour into my soul the infinite sweetness of your mercy.Thank you because you let me feel your forgiveness for my multiple faults.Thank you because with it you show me that you never abandon me.Thank you for all the joys you offer me.Thank you for the sorrows you send me.Thank you too, oh Lord because you preserve for my soul hope and faith.Thank you for your support. God bless all of you.If you would like to support me monetarily here is the link to Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.Support the show

In this beautiful Christmas special, we're learning from the most famous of all mothers: Mary, the Mother of God. My guest Christine Valters Paintner is the author of “Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal”. Christine has a PhD in Christian Spirituality, is an abbess and the author of over twenty books on spirituality. Christine tells us about her mother Susan, a United Nations employee, who struggled with rheumatoid arthritis but turned her suffering into a gift for others as she earned an MA in social studies to became an advocate for people with disabilities. Susan teaches us to empower other people, to not be victims but turn challenges into gifts for others, and to embrace the power that comes with older age. In the second part of the episode, we talked about Holy Mary and her lessons: to show up in the world, to accept the calling to create, to embrace the power of the sacred feminine (such as the intuition, creativity, dreams, gestation), and to be a loving and present witness both in birth and death, positive and negative. Susan also talked about one of the most important lessons for most women: that we're not responsible for everything, and that sometimes, we also need to be taken care of. Finally, she talked about healing our ancestors by healing ourselves. And I invite you to think about Mary and her presence, and what she represents to you, during these holidays. I wish you, dear listeners, blessed holidays and a happy 2024!  To learn more about Christine, please visit the Abbey of the Arts website. To subscribe to Ana's new "Mama Loves…” newsletter, please go here.  To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: info@thankyoumama.net For more about “Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net To connect with Ana on social media:  https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/  https://www.facebook.com/ana.tajder  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anatajder/  https://twitter.com/tajder       

Snuggle up in a sleeping bag and turn on your fairy lights because Natalie and Angela are together live in Little Rock once again talking about the current MAX series, “Love Has Won: the Cult of Mother God.” Plus, Natalie tells us about her DVD dealer from long ago - and reveals the word she hates the very most.     Watch the show on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@putyourbooksdown     Follow Put Your Books Down on social media:     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/putyourbooksdown     Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/putyourbooksdown/     Natalie on IG:  https://www.instagram.com/nataliesanderson/     Angela on IG:  https://www.instagram.com/angelabinghamofficial/     Podcast produced by http://clantoncreative.com

Episode 171 looks at "Hey Jude", the White Album, and the career of the Beatles from August 1967 through November 1968. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a fifty-seven-minute bonus episode available, on "I Love You" by People!. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Errata Not really an error, but at one point I refer to Ornette Coleman as a saxophonist. While he was, he plays trumpet on the track that is excerpted after that. Resources No Mixcloud this week due to the number of songs by the Beatles. I have read literally dozens of books on the Beatles, and used bits of information from many of them. All my Beatles episodes refer to: The Complete Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn, All The Songs: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michel Guesdon, And The Band Begins To Play: The Definitive Guide To The Songs of The Beatles by Steve Lambley, The Beatles By Ear by Kevin Moore, Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald, and The Beatles Anthology. For this episode, I also referred to Last Interview by David Sheff, a longform interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono from shortly before Lennon's death; Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, an authorised biography of Paul McCartney; and Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles by Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey. This time I also used Steve Turner's The Beatles: The Stories Behind the Songs 1967-1970. I referred to Philip Norman's biographies of John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney, to Graeme Thomson's biography of George Harrison, Take a Sad Song by James Campion, Yoko Ono: An Artful Life by Donald Brackett, Those Were the Days 2.0 by Stephan Granados, and Sound Pictures by Kenneth Womack. Sadly the only way to get the single mix of “Hey Jude” is on this ludicrously-expensive out-of-print box set, but a remixed stereo mix is easily available on the new reissue of the 1967-70 compilation. The original mixes of the White Album are also, shockingly, out of print, but this 2018 remix is available for the moment. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before I start, a quick note -- this episode deals, among other topics, with child abandonment, spousal neglect, suicide attempts, miscarriage, rape accusations, and heroin addiction. If any of those topics are likely to upset you, you might want to check the transcript rather than listening to this episode. It also, for once, contains a short excerpt of an expletive, but given that that expletive in that context has been regularly played on daytime radio without complaint for over fifty years, I suspect it can be excused. The use of mantra meditation is something that exists across religions, and which appears to have been independently invented multiple times, in multiple cultures. In the Western culture to which most of my listeners belong, it is now best known as an aspect of what is known as "mindfulness", a secularised version of Buddhism which aims to provide adherents with the benefits of the teachings of the Buddha but without the cosmology to which they are attached. But it turns up in almost every religious tradition I know of in one form or another. The idea of mantra meditation is a very simple one, and one that even has some basis in science. There is a mathematical principle in neurology and information science called the free energy principle which says our brains are wired to try to minimise how surprised we are --  our brain is constantly making predictions about the world, and then looking at the results from our senses to see if they match. If they do, that's great, and the brain will happily move on to its next prediction. If they don't, the brain has to update its model of the world to match the new information, make new predictions, and see if those new predictions are a better match. Every person has a different mental model of the world, and none of them match reality, but every brain tries to get as close as possible. This updating of the model to match the new information is called "thinking", and it uses up energy, and our bodies and brains have evolved to conserve energy as much as possible. This means that for many people, most of the time, thinking is unpleasant, and indeed much of the time that people have spent thinking, they've been thinking about how to stop themselves having to do it at all, and when they have managed to stop thinking, however briefly, they've experienced great bliss. Many more or less effective technologies have been created to bring about a more minimal-energy state, including alcohol, heroin, and barbituates, but many of these have unwanted side-effects, such as death, which people also tend to want to avoid, and so people have often turned to another technology. It turns out that for many people, they can avoid thinking by simply thinking about something that is utterly predictable. If they minimise the amount of sensory input, and concentrate on something that they can predict exactly, eventually they can turn off their mind, relax, and float downstream, without dying. One easy way to do this is to close your eyes, so you can't see anything, make your breath as regular as possible, and then concentrate on a sound that repeats over and over.  If you repeat a single phrase or word a few hundred times, that regular repetition eventually causes your mind to stop having to keep track of the world, and experience a peace that is, by all accounts, unlike any other experience. What word or phrase that is can depend very much on the tradition. In Transcendental Meditation, each person has their own individual phrase. In the Catholicism in which George Harrison and Paul McCartney were raised, popular phrases for this are "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" or "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." In some branches of Buddhism, a popular mantra is "_NAMU MYŌHŌ RENGE KYŌ_". In the Hinduism to which George Harrison later converted, you can use "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare", "Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya" or "Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha". Those last two start with the syllable "Om", and indeed some people prefer to just use that syllable, repeating a single syllable over and over again until they reach a state of transcendence. [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hey Jude" ("na na na na na na na")] We don't know much about how the Beatles first discovered Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, except that it was thanks to Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's then-wife. Unfortunately, her memory of how she first became involved in the Maharishi's Spiritual Regeneration Movement, as described in her autobiography, doesn't fully line up with other known facts. She talks about reading about the Maharishi in the paper with her friend Marie-Lise while George was away on tour, but she also places the date that this happened in February 1967, several months after the Beatles had stopped touring forever. We'll be seeing a lot more of these timing discrepancies as this story progresses, and people's memories increasingly don't match the events that happened to them. Either way, it's clear that Pattie became involved in the Spiritual Regeneration Movement a good length of time before her husband did. She got him to go along with her to one of the Maharishi's lectures, after she had already been converted to the practice of Transcendental Meditation, and they brought along John, Paul, and their partners (Ringo's wife Maureen had just given birth, so they didn't come). As we heard back in episode one hundred and fifty, that lecture was impressive enough that the group, plus their wives and girlfriends (with the exception of Maureen Starkey) and Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull, all went on a meditation retreat with the Maharishi at a holiday camp in Bangor, and it was there that they learned that Brian Epstein had been found dead. The death of the man who had guided the group's career could not have come at a worse time for the band's stability.  The group had only recorded one song in the preceding two months -- Paul's "Your Mother Should Know" -- and had basically been running on fumes since completing recording of Sgt Pepper many months earlier. John's drug intake had increased to the point that he was barely functional -- although with the enthusiasm of the newly converted he had decided to swear off LSD at the Maharishi's urging -- and his marriage was falling apart. Similarly, Paul McCartney's relationship with Jane Asher was in a bad state, though both men were trying to repair their damaged relationships, while both George and Ringo were having doubts about the band that had made them famous. In George's case, he was feeling marginalised by John and Paul, his songs ignored or paid cursory attention, and there was less for him to do on the records as the group moved away from making guitar-based rock and roll music into the stranger areas of psychedelia. And Ringo, whose main memory of the recording of Sgt Pepper was of learning to play chess while the others went through the extensive overdubs that characterised that album, was starting to feel like his playing was deteriorating, and that as the only non-writer in the band he was on the outside to an extent. On top of that, the group were in the middle of a major plan to restructure their business. As part of their contract renegotiations with EMI at the beginning of 1967, it had been agreed that they would receive two million pounds -- roughly fifteen million pounds in today's money -- in unpaid royalties as a lump sum. If that had been paid to them as individuals, or through the company they owned, the Beatles Ltd, they would have had to pay the full top rate of tax on it, which as George had complained the previous year was over ninety-five percent. (In fact, he'd been slightly exaggerating the generosity of the UK tax system to the rich, as at that point the top rate of income tax was somewhere around ninety-seven and a half percent). But happily for them, a couple of years earlier the UK had restructured its tax laws and introduced a corporation tax, which meant that the profits of corporations were no longer taxed at the same high rate as income. So a new company had been set up, The Beatles & Co, and all the group's non-songwriting income was paid into the company. Each Beatle owned five percent of the company, and the other eighty percent was owned by a new partnership, a corporation that was soon renamed Apple Corps -- a name inspired by a painting that McCartney had liked by the artist Rene Magritte. In the early stages of Apple, it was very entangled with Nems, the company that was owned by Brian and Clive Epstein, and which was in the process of being sold to Robert Stigwood, though that sale fell through after Brian's death. The first part of Apple, Apple Publishing, had been set up in the summer of 1967, and was run by Terry Doran, a friend of Epstein's who ran a motor dealership -- most of the Apple divisions would be run by friends of the group rather than by people with experience in the industries in question. As Apple was set up during the point that Stigwood was getting involved with NEMS, Apple Publishing's initial offices were in the same building with, and shared staff with, two publishing companies that Stigwood owned, Dratleaf Music, who published Cream's songs, and Abigail Music, the Bee Gees' publishers. And indeed the first two songs published by Apple were copyrights that were gifted to the company by Stigwood -- "Listen to the Sky", a B-side by an obscure band called Sands: [Excerpt: Sands, "Listen to the Sky"] And "Outside Woman Blues", an arrangement by Eric Clapton of an old blues song by Blind Joe Reynolds, which Cream had copyrighted separately and released on Disraeli Gears: [Excerpt: Cream, "Outside Woman Blues"] But Apple soon started signing outside songwriters -- once Mike Berry, a member of Apple Publishing's staff, had sat McCartney down and explained to him what music publishing actually was, something he had never actually understood even though he'd been a songwriter for five years. Those songwriters, given that this was 1967, were often also performers, and as Apple Records had not yet been set up, Apple would try to arrange recording contracts for them with other labels. They started with a group called Focal Point, who got signed by badgering Paul McCartney to listen to their songs until he gave them Doran's phone number to shut them up: [Excerpt: Focal Point, "Sycamore Sid"] But the big early hope for Apple Publishing was a songwriter called George Alexander. Alexander's birth name had been Alexander Young, and he was the brother of George Young, who was a member of the Australian beat group The Easybeats, who'd had a hit with "Friday on My Mind": [Excerpt: The Easybeats, "Friday on My Mind"] His younger brothers Malcolm and Angus would go on to have a few hits themselves, but AC/DC wouldn't be formed for another five years. Terry Doran thought that Alexander should be a member of a band, because bands were more popular than solo artists at the time, and so he was placed with three former members of Tony Rivers and the Castaways, a Beach Boys soundalike group that had had some minor success. John Lennon suggested that the group be named Grapefruit, after a book he was reading by a conceptual artist of his acquaintance named Yoko Ono, and as Doran was making arrangements with Terry Melcher for a reciprocal publishing deal by which Melcher's American company would publish Apple songs in the US while Apple published songs from Melcher's company in the UK, it made sense for Melcher to also produce Grapefruit's first single, "Dear Delilah": [Excerpt: Grapefruit, "Dear Delilah"] That made number twenty-one in the UK when it came out in early 1968, on the back of publicity about Grapefruit's connection with the Beatles, but future singles by the band were much less successful, and like several other acts involved with Apple, they found that they were more hampered by the Beatles connection than helped. A few other people were signed to Apple Publishing early on, of whom the most notable was Jackie Lomax. Lomax had been a member of a minor Merseybeat group, the Undertakers, and after they had split up, he'd been signed by Brian Epstein with a new group, the Lomax Alliance, who had released one single, "Try as You May": [Excerpt: The Lomax Alliance, "Try As You May"] After Epstein's death, Lomax had plans to join another band, being formed by another Merseybeat musician, Chris Curtis, the former drummer of the Searchers. But after going to the Beatles to talk with them about them helping the new group financially, Lomax was persuaded by John Lennon to go solo instead. He may later have regretted that decision, as by early 1968 the people that Curtis had recruited for his new band had ditched him and were making a name for themselves as Deep Purple. Lomax recorded one solo single with funding from Stigwood, a cover version of a song by an obscure singer-songwriter, Jake Holmes, "Genuine Imitation Life": [Excerpt: Jackie Lomax, "Genuine Imitation Life"] But he was also signed to Apple Publishing as a songwriter. The Beatles had only just started laying out plans for Apple when Epstein died, and other than the publishing company one of the few things they'd agreed on was that they were going to have a film company, which was to be run by Denis O'Dell, who had been an associate producer on A Hard Day's Night and on How I Won The War, the Richard Lester film Lennon had recently starred in. A few days after Epstein's death, they had a meeting, in which they agreed that the band needed to move forward quickly if they were going to recover from Epstein's death. They had originally been planning on going to India with the Maharishi to study meditation, but they decided to put that off until the new year, and to press forward with a film project Paul had been talking about, to be titled Magical Mystery Tour. And so, on the fifth of September 1967, they went back into the recording studio and started work on a song of John's that was earmarked for the film, "I am the Walrus": [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] Magical Mystery Tour, the film, has a mixed reputation which we will talk about shortly, but one defence that Paul McCartney has always made of it is that it's the only place where you can see the Beatles performing "I am the Walrus". While the song was eventually relegated to a B-side, it's possibly the finest B-side of the Beatles' career, and one of the best tracks the group ever made. As with many of Lennon's songs from this period, the song was a collage of many different elements pulled from his environment and surroundings, and turned into something that was rather more than the sum of its parts. For its musical inspiration, Lennon pulled from, of all things, a police siren going past his house. (For those who are unfamiliar with what old British police sirens sounded like, as opposed to the ones in use for most of my lifetime or in other countries, here's a recording of one): [Excerpt: British police siren ca 1968] That inspired Lennon to write a snatch of lyric to go with the sound of the siren, starting "Mister city policeman sitting pretty". He had two other song fragments, one about sitting in the garden, and one about sitting on a cornflake, and he told Hunter Davies, who was doing interviews for his authorised biography of the group, “I don't know how it will all end up. Perhaps they'll turn out to be different parts of the same song.” But the final element that made these three disparate sections into a song was a letter that came from Stephen Bayley, a pupil at Lennon's old school Quarry Bank, who told him that the teachers at the school -- who Lennon always thought of as having suppressed his creativity -- were now analysing Beatles lyrics in their lessons. Lennon decided to come up with some nonsense that they couldn't analyse -- though as nonsensical as the finished song is, there's an underlying anger to a lot of it that possibly comes from Lennon thinking of his school experiences. And so Lennon asked his old schoolfriend Pete Shotton to remind him of a disgusting playground chant that kids used to sing in schools in the North West of England (and which they still sang with very minor variations at my own school decades later -- childhood folklore has a remarkably long life). That rhyme went: Yellow matter custard, green snot pie All mixed up with a dead dog's eye Slap it on a butty, nice and thick, And drink it down with a cup of cold sick Lennon combined some parts of this with half-remembered fragments of Lewis Carrol's The Walrus and the Carpenter, and with some punning references to things that were going on in his own life and those of his friends -- though it's difficult to know exactly which of the stories attached to some of the more incomprehensible bits of the lyrics are accurate. The story that the line "I am the eggman" is about a sexual proclivity of Eric Burdon of the Animals seems plausible, while the contention by some that the phrase "semolina pilchard" is a reference to Sgt Pilcher, the corrupt policeman who had arrested three of the Rolling Stones, and would later arrest Lennon, on drugs charges, seems less likely. The track is a masterpiece of production, but the release of the basic take on Anthology 2 in 1996 showed that the underlying performance, before George Martin worked his magic with the overdubs, is still a remarkable piece of work: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus (Anthology 2 version)"] But Martin's arrangement and production turned the track from a merely very good track into a masterpiece. The string arrangement, very much in the same mould as that for "Strawberry Fields Forever" but giving a very different effect with its harsh cello glissandi, is the kind of thing one expects from Martin, but there's also the chanting of the Mike Sammes Singers, who were more normally booked for sessions like Englebert Humperdinck's "The Last Waltz": [Excerpt: Engelbert Humperdinck, "The Last Waltz"] But here were instead asked to imitate the sound of the strings, make grunting noises, and generally go very far out of their normal comfort zone: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] But the most fascinating piece of production in the entire track is an idea that seems to have been inspired by people like John Cage -- a live feed of a radio being tuned was played into the mono mix from about the halfway point, and whatever was on the radio at the time was captured: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] This is also why for many decades it was impossible to have a true stereo mix of the track -- the radio part was mixed directly into the mono mix, and it wasn't until the 1990s that someone thought to track down a copy of the original radio broadcasts and recreate the process. In one of those bits of synchronicity that happen more often than you would think when you're creating aleatory art, and which are why that kind of process can be so appealing, one bit of dialogue from the broadcast of King Lear that was on the radio as the mixing was happening was *perfectly* timed: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] After completing work on the basic track for "I am the Walrus", the group worked on two more songs for the film, George's "Blue Jay Way" and a group-composed twelve-bar blues instrumental called "Flying", before starting production. Magical Mystery Tour, as an idea, was inspired in equal parts by Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, the collective of people we talked about in the episode on the Grateful Dead who travelled across the US extolling the virtues of psychedelic drugs, and by mystery tours, a British working-class tradition that has rather fallen out of fashion in the intervening decades. A mystery tour would generally be put on by a coach-hire company, and would be a day trip to an unannounced location -- though the location would in fact be very predictable, and would be a seaside town within a couple of hours' drive of its starting point. In the case of the ones the Beatles remembered from their own childhoods, this would be to a coastal town in Lancashire or Wales, like Blackpool, Rhyl, or Prestatyn. A coachload of people would pay to be driven to this random location, get very drunk and have a singsong on the bus, and spend a day wherever they were taken. McCartney's plan was simple -- they would gather a group of passengers and replicate this experience over the course of several days, and film whatever went on, but intersperse that with more planned out sketches and musical numbers. For this reason, along with the Beatles and their associates, the cast included some actors found through Spotlight and some of the group's favourite performers, like the comedian Nat Jackley (whose comedy sequence directed by John was cut from the final film) and the surrealist poet/singer/comedian Ivor Cutler: [Excerpt: Ivor Cutler, "I'm Going in a Field"] The film also featured an appearance by a new band who would go on to have great success over the next year, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. They had recorded their first single in Abbey Road at the same time as the Beatles were recording Revolver, but rather than being progressive psychedelic rock, it had been a remake of a 1920s novelty song: [Excerpt: The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, "My Brother Makes the Noises For the Talkies"] Their performance in Magical Mystery Tour was very different though -- they played a fifties rock pastiche written by band leaders Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes while a stripper took off her clothes. While several other musical sequences were recorded for the film, including one by the band Traffic and one by Cutler, other than the Beatles tracks only the Bonzos' song made it into the finished film: [Excerpt: The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, "Death Cab for Cutie"] That song, thirty years later, would give its name to a prominent American alternative rock band. Incidentally the same night that Magical Mystery Tour was first broadcast was also the night that the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band first appeared on a TV show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, which featured three future members of the Monty Python troupe -- Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones. Over the years the careers of the Bonzos, the Pythons, and the Beatles would become increasingly intertwined, with George Harrison in particular striking up strong friendships and working relationships with Bonzos Neil Innes and "Legs" Larry Smith. The filming of Magical Mystery Tour went about as well as one might expect from a film made by four directors, none of whom had any previous filmmaking experience, and none of whom had any business knowledge. The Beatles were used to just turning up and having things magically done for them by other people, and had no real idea of the infrastructure challenges that making a film, even a low-budget one, actually presents, and ended up causing a great deal of stress to almost everyone involved. The completed film was shown on TV on Boxing Day 1967 to general confusion and bemusement. It didn't help that it was originally broadcast in black and white, and so for example the scene showing shifting landscapes (outtake footage from Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, tinted various psychedelic colours) over the "Flying" music, just looked like grey fuzz. But also, it just wasn't what people were expecting from a Beatles film. This was a ramshackle, plotless, thing more inspired by Andy Warhol's underground films than by the kind of thing the group had previously appeared in, and it was being presented as Christmas entertainment for all the family. And to be honest, it's not even a particularly good example of underground filmmaking -- though it looks like a masterpiece when placed next to something like the Bee Gees' similar effort, Cucumber Castle. But there are enough interesting sequences in there for the project not to be a complete failure -- and the deleted scenes on the DVD release, including the performances by Cutler and Traffic, and the fact that the film was edited down from ten hours to fifty-two minutes, makes one wonder if there's a better film that could be constructed from the original footage. Either way, the reaction to the film was so bad that McCartney actually appeared on David Frost's TV show the next day to defend it and, essentially, apologise. While they were editing the film, the group were also continuing to work in the studio, including on two new McCartney songs, "The Fool on the Hill", which was included in Magical Mystery Tour, and "Hello Goodbye", which wasn't included on the film's soundtrack but was released as the next single, with "I Am the Walrus" as the B-side: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"] Incidentally, in the UK the soundtrack to Magical Mystery Tour was released as a double-EP rather than as an album (in the US, the group's recent singles and B-sides were added to turn it into a full-length album, which is how it's now generally available). "I Am the Walrus" was on the double-EP as well as being on the single's B-side, and the double-EP got to number two on the singles charts, meaning "I am the Walrus" was on the records at number one and number two at the same time. Before it became obvious that the film, if not the soundtrack, was a disaster, the group held a launch party on the twenty-first of December, 1967. The band members went along in fancy dress, as did many of the cast and crew -- the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band performed at the party. Mike Love and Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys also turned up at the party, and apparently at one point jammed with the Bonzos, and according to some, but not all, reports, a couple of the Beatles joined in as well. Love and Johnston had both just met the Maharishi for the first time a couple of days earlier, and Love had been as impressed as the Beatles were, and it may have been at this party that the group mentioned to Love that they would soon be going on a retreat in India with the guru -- a retreat that was normally meant for training TM instructors, but this time seemed to be more about getting celebrities involved. Love would also end up going with them. That party was also the first time that Cynthia Lennon had an inkling that John might not be as faithful to her as she previously supposed. John had always "joked" about being attracted to George Harrison's wife, Patti, but this time he got a little more blatant about his attraction than he ever had previously, to the point that he made Cynthia cry, and Cynthia's friend, the pop star Lulu, decided to give Lennon a very public dressing-down for his cruelty to his wife, a dressing-down that must have been a sight to behold, as Lennon was dressed as a Teddy boy while Lulu was in a Shirley Temple costume. It's a sign of how bad the Lennons' marriage was at this point that this was the second time in a two-month period where Cynthia had ended up crying because of John at a film launch party and been comforted by a female pop star. In October, Cilla Black had held a party to celebrate the belated release of John's film How I Won the War, and during the party Georgie Fame had come up to Black and said, confused, "Cynthia Lennon is hiding in your wardrobe". Black went and had a look, and Cynthia explained to her “I'm waiting to see how long it is before John misses me and comes looking for me.” Black's response had been “You'd better face it, kid—he's never gonna come.” Also at the Magical Mystery Tour party was Lennon's father, now known as Freddie Lennon, and his new nineteen-year-old fiancee. While Hunter Davis had been researching the Beatles' biography, he'd come across some evidence that the version of Freddie's attitude towards John that his mother's side of the family had always told him -- that Freddie had been a cruel and uncaring husband who had not actually wanted to be around his son -- might not be the whole of the truth, and that the mother who he had thought of as saintly might also have had some part to play in their marriage breaking down and Freddie not seeing his son for twenty years. The two had made some tentative attempts at reconciliation, and indeed Freddie would even come and live with John for a while, though within a couple of years the younger Lennon's heart would fully harden against his father again. Of course, the things that John always resented his father for were pretty much exactly the kind of things that Lennon himself was about to do. It was around this time as well that Derek Taylor gave the Beatles copies of the debut album by a young singer/songwriter named Harry Nilsson. Nilsson will be getting his own episode down the line, but not for a couple of years at my current rates, so it's worth bringing that up here, because that album became a favourite of all the Beatles, and would have a huge influence on their songwriting for the next couple of years, and because one song on the album, "1941", must have resonated particularly deeply with Lennon right at this moment -- an autobiographical song by Nilsson about how his father had left him and his mother when he was a small boy, and about his own fear that, as his first marriage broke down, he was repeating the pattern with his stepson Scott: [Excerpt: Nilsson, "1941"] The other major event of December 1967, rather overshadowed by the Magical Mystery Tour disaster the next day, was that on Christmas Day Paul McCartney and Jane Asher announced their engagement. A few days later, George Harrison flew to India. After John and Paul had had their outside film projects -- John starring in How I Won The War and Paul doing the soundtrack for The Family Way -- the other two Beatles more or less simultaneously did their own side project films, and again one acted while the other did a soundtrack. Both of these projects were in the rather odd subgenre of psychedelic shambolic comedy film that sprang up in the mid sixties, a subgenre that produced a lot of fascinating films, though rather fewer good ones. Indeed, both of them were in the subsubgenre of shambolic psychedelic *sex* comedies. In Ringo's case, he had a small role in the film Candy, which was based on the novel we mentioned in the last episode, co-written by Terry Southern, which was in itself a loose modern rewriting of Voltaire's Candide. Unfortunately, like such other classics of this subgenre as Anthony Newley's Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, Candy has dated *extremely* badly, and unless you find repeated scenes of sexual assault and rape, ethnic stereotypes, and jokes about deformity and disfigurement to be an absolute laugh riot, it's not a film that's worth seeking out, and Starr's part in it is not a major one. Harrison's film was of the same basic genre -- a film called Wonderwall about a mad scientist who discovers a way to see through the walls of his apartment, and gets to see a photographer taking sexy photographs of a young woman named Penny Lane, played by Jane Birkin: [Excerpt: Some Wonderwall film dialogue ripped from the Blu-Ray] Wonderwall would, of course, later inspire the title of a song by Oasis, and that's what the film is now best known for, but it's a less-unwatchable film than Candy, and while still problematic it's less so. Which is something. Harrison had been the Beatle with least involvement in Magical Mystery Tour -- McCartney had been the de facto director, Starr had been the lead character and the only one with much in the way of any acting to do, and Lennon had written the film's standout scene and its best song, and had done a little voiceover narration. Harrison, by contrast, barely has anything to do in the film apart from the one song he contributed, "Blue Jay Way", and he said of the project “I had no idea what was happening and maybe I didn't pay enough attention because my problem, basically, was that I was in another world, I didn't really belong; I was just an appendage.” He'd expressed his discomfort to his friend Joe Massot, who was about to make his first feature film. Massot had got to know Harrison during the making of his previous film, Reflections on Love, a mostly-silent short which had starred Harrison's sister-in-law Jenny Boyd, and which had been photographed by Robert Freeman, who had been the photographer for the Beatles' album covers from With the Beatles through Rubber Soul, and who had taken most of the photos that Klaus Voorman incorporated into the cover of Revolver (and whose professional association with the Beatles seemed to come to an end around the same time he discovered that Lennon had been having an affair with his wife). Massot asked Harrison to write the music for the film, and told Harrison he would have complete free rein to make whatever music he wanted, so long as it fit the timing of the film, and so Harrison decided to create a mixture of Western rock music and the Indian music he loved. Harrison started recording the music at the tail end of 1967, with sessions with several London-based Indian musicians and John Barham, an orchestrator who had worked with Ravi Shankar on Shankar's collaborations with Western musicians, including the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack we talked about in the "All You Need is Love" episode. For the Western music, he used the Remo Four, a Merseybeat group who had been on the scene even before the Beatles, and which contained a couple of classmates of Paul McCartney, but who had mostly acted as backing musicians for other artists. They'd backed Johnny Sandon, the former singer with the Searchers, on a couple of singles, before becoming the backing band for Tommy Quickly, a NEMS artist who was unsuccessful despite starting his career with a Lennon/McCartney song, "Tip of My Tongue": [Excerpt: Tommy Quickly, "Tip of My Tongue"] The Remo Four would later, after a lineup change, become Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, who would become one-hit wonders in the seventies, and during the Wonderwall sessions they recorded a song that went unreleased at the time, and which would later go on to be rerecorded by Ashton, Gardner, and Dyke. "In the First Place" also features Harrison on backing vocals and possibly guitar, and was not submitted for the film because Harrison didn't believe that Massot wanted any vocal tracks, but the recording was later discovered and used in a revised director's cut of the film in the nineties: [Excerpt: The Remo Four, "In the First Place"] But for the most part the Remo Four were performing instrumentals written by Harrison. They weren't the only Western musicians performing on the sessions though -- Peter Tork of the Monkees dropped by these sessions and recorded several short banjo solos, which were used in the film soundtrack but not in the soundtrack album (presumably because Tork was contracted to another label): [Excerpt: Peter Tork, "Wonderwall banjo solo"] Another musician who was under contract to another label was Eric Clapton, who at the time was playing with The Cream, and who vaguely knew Harrison and so joined in for the track "Ski-ing", playing lead guitar under the cunning, impenetrable, pseudonym "Eddie Clayton", with Harrison on sitar, Starr on drums, and session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan on bass: [Excerpt: George Harrison, "Ski-ing"] But the bulk of the album was recorded in EMI's studios in the city that is now known as Mumbai but at the time was called Bombay. The studio facilities in India had up to that point only had a mono tape recorder, and Bhaskar Menon, one of the top executives at EMI's Indian division and later the head of EMI music worldwide, personally brought the first stereo tape recorder to the studio to aid in Harrison's recording. The music was all composed by Harrison and performed by the Indian musicians, and while Harrison was composing in an Indian mode, the musicians were apparently fascinated by how Western it sounded to them: [Excerpt: George Harrison, "Microbes"] While he was there, Harrison also got the instrumentalists to record another instrumental track, which wasn't to be used for the film: [Excerpt: George Harrison, "The Inner Light (instrumental)"] That track would, instead, become part of what was to be Harrison's first composition to make a side of a Beatles single. After John and George had appeared on the David Frost show talking about the Maharishi, in September 1967, George had met a lecturer in Sanskrit named Juan Mascaró, who wrote to Harrison enclosing a book he'd compiled of translations of religious texts, telling him he'd admired "Within You Without You" and thought it would be interesting if Harrison set something from the Tao Te Ching to music. He suggested a text that, in his translation, read: "Without going out of my door I can know all things on Earth Without looking out of my window I can know the ways of heaven For the farther one travels, the less one knows The sage, therefore Arrives without travelling Sees all without looking Does all without doing" Harrison took that text almost verbatim, though he created a second verse by repeating the first few lines with "you" replacing "I" -- concerned that listeners might think he was just talking about himself, and wouldn't realise it was a more general statement -- and he removed the "the sage, therefore" and turned the last few lines into imperative commands rather than declarative statements: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "The Inner Light"] The song has come in for some criticism over the years as being a little Orientalist, because in critics' eyes it combines Chinese philosophy with Indian music, as if all these things are equally "Eastern" and so all the same really. On the other hand there's a good argument that an English songwriter taking a piece of writing written in Chinese and translated into English by a Spanish man and setting it to music inspired by Indian musical modes is a wonderful example of cultural cross-pollination. As someone who's neither Chinese nor Indian I wouldn't want to take a stance on it, but clearly the other Beatles were impressed by it -- they put it out as the B-side to their next single, even though the only Beatles on it are Harrison and McCartney, with the latter adding a small amount of harmony vocal: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "The Inner Light"] And it wasn't because the group were out of material. They were planning on going to Rishikesh to study with the Maharishi, and wanted to get a single out for release while they were away, and so in one week they completed the vocal overdubs on "The Inner Light" and recorded three other songs, two by John and one by Paul. All three of the group's songwriters brought in songs that were among their best. John's first contribution was a song whose lyrics he later described as possibly the best he ever wrote, "Across the Universe". He said the lyrics were “purely inspirational and were given to me as boom! I don't own it, you know; it came through like that … Such an extraordinary meter and I can never repeat it! It's not a matter of craftsmanship, it wrote itself. It drove me out of bed. I didn't want to write it … It's like being possessed, like a psychic or a medium.” But while Lennon liked the song, he was never happy with the recording of it. They tried all sorts of things to get the sound he heard in his head, including bringing in some fans who were hanging around outside to sing backing vocals. He said of the track "I was singing out of tune and instead of getting a decent choir, we got fans from outside, Apple Scruffs or whatever you call them. They came in and were singing all off-key. Nobody was interested in doing the tune originally.” [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Across the Universe"] The "jai guru deva" chorus there is the first reference to the teachings of the Maharishi in one of the Beatles' records -- Guru Dev was the Maharishi's teacher, and the phrase "Jai guru dev" is a Sanskrit one which I've seen variously translated as "victory to the great teacher", and "hail to the greatness within you". Lennon would say shortly before his death “The Beatles didn't make a good record out of it. I think subconsciously sometimes we – I say ‘we' though I think Paul did it more than the rest of us – Paul would sort of subconsciously try and destroy a great song … Usually we'd spend hours doing little detailed cleaning-ups of Paul's songs, when it came to mine, especially if it was a great song like ‘Strawberry Fields' or ‘Across The Universe', somehow this atmosphere of looseness and casualness and experimentation would creep in … It was a _lousy_ track of a great song and I was so disappointed by it …The guitars are out of tune and I'm singing out of tune because I'm psychologically destroyed and nobody's supporting me or helping me with it, and the song was never done properly.” Of course, this is only Lennon's perception, and it's one that the other participants would disagree with. George Martin, in particular, was always rather hurt by the implication that Lennon's songs had less attention paid to them, and he would always say that the problem was that Lennon in the studio would always say "yes, that's great", and only later complain that it hadn't been what he wanted. No doubt McCartney did put in more effort on his own songs than on Lennon's -- everyone has a bias towards their own work, and McCartney's only human -- but personally I suspect that a lot of the problem comes down to the two men having very different personalities. McCartney had very strong ideas about his own work and would drive the others insane with his nitpicky attention to detail. Lennon had similarly strong ideas, but didn't have the attention span to put the time and effort in to force his vision on others, and didn't have the technical knowledge to express his ideas in words they'd understand. He expected Martin and the other Beatles to work miracles, and they did -- but not the miracles he would have worked. That track was, rather than being chosen for the next single, given to Spike Milligan, who happened to be visiting the studio and was putting together an album for the environmental charity the World Wildlife Fund. The album was titled "No One's Gonna Change Our World": [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Across the Universe"] That track is historic in another way -- it would be the last time that George Harrison would play sitar on a Beatles record, and it effectively marks the end of the period of psychedelia and Indian influence that had started with "Norwegian Wood" three years earlier, and which many fans consider their most creative period. Indeed, shortly after the recording, Harrison would give up the sitar altogether and stop playing it. He loved sitar music as much as he ever had, and he still thought that Indian classical music spoke to him in ways he couldn't express, and he continued to be friends with Ravi Shankar for the rest of his life, and would only become more interested in Indian religious thought. But as he spent time with Shankar he realised he would never be as good on the sitar as he hoped. He said later "I thought, 'Well, maybe I'm better off being a pop singer-guitar-player-songwriter – whatever-I'm-supposed-to-be' because I've seen a thousand sitar-players in India who are twice as better as I'll ever be. And only one of them Ravi thought was going to be a good player." We don't have a precise date for when it happened -- I suspect it was in June 1968, so a few months after the "Across the Universe" recording -- but Shankar told Harrison that rather than try to become a master of a music that he hadn't encountered until his twenties, perhaps he should be making the music that was his own background. And as Harrison put it "I realised that was riding my bike down a street in Liverpool and hearing 'Heartbreak Hotel' coming out of someone's house.": [Excerpt: Elvis Presley, "Heartbreak Hotel"] In early 1968 a lot of people seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as if Christmas 1967 had been the flick of a switch and instead of whimsy and ornamentation, the thing to do was to make music that was influenced by early rock and roll. In the US the Band and Bob Dylan were making music that was consciously shorn of all studio experimentation, while in the UK there was a revival of fifties rock and roll. In April 1968 both "Peggy Sue" and "Rock Around the Clock" reentered the top forty in the UK, and the Who were regularly including "Summertime Blues" in their sets. Fifties nostalgia, which would make occasional comebacks for at least the next forty years, was in its first height, and so it's not surprising that Paul McCartney's song, "Lady Madonna", which became the A-side of the next single, has more than a little of the fifties about it. Of course, the track isn't *completely* fifties in its origins -- one of the inspirations for the track seems to have been the Rolling Stones' then-recent hit "Let's Spend The Night Together": [Excerpt: The Rolling Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together"] But the main source for the song's music -- and for the sound of the finished record -- seems to have been Johnny Parker's piano part on Humphrey Lyttleton's "Bad Penny Blues", a hit single engineered by Joe Meek in the fifties: [Excerpt: Humphrey Lyttleton, "Bad Penny Blues"] That song seems to have been on the group's mind for a while, as a working title for "With a Little Help From My Friends" had at one point been "Bad Finger Blues" -- a title that would later give the name to a band on Apple. McCartney took Parker's piano part as his inspiration, and as he later put it “‘Lady Madonna' was me sitting down at the piano trying to write a bluesy boogie-woogie thing. I got my left hand doing an arpeggio thing with the chord, an ascending boogie-woogie left hand, then a descending right hand. I always liked that, the  juxtaposition of a line going down meeting a line going up." [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Lady Madonna"] That idea, incidentally, is an interesting reversal of what McCartney had done on "Hello, Goodbye", where the bass line goes down while the guitar moves up -- the two lines moving away from each other: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"] Though that isn't to say there's no descending bass in "Lady Madonna" -- the bridge has a wonderful sequence where the bass just *keeps* *descending*: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Lady Madonna"] Lyrically, McCartney was inspired by a photo in National Geographic of a woman in Malaysia, captioned “Mountain Madonna: with one child at her breast and another laughing into her face, sees her quality of life threatened.” But as he put it “The people I was brought up amongst were often Catholic; there are lots of Catholics in Liverpool because of the Irish connection and they are often religious. When they have a baby I think they see a big connection between themselves and the Virgin Mary with her baby. So the original concept was the Virgin Mary but it quickly became symbolic of every woman; the Madonna image but as applied to ordinary working class woman. It's really a tribute to the mother figure, it's a tribute to women.” Musically though, the song was more a tribute to the fifties -- while the inspiration had been a skiffle hit by Humphrey Lyttleton, as soon as McCartney started playing it he'd thought of Fats Domino, and the lyric reflects that to an extent -- just as Domino's "Blue Monday" details the days of the week for a weary working man who only gets to enjoy himself on Saturday night, "Lady Madonna"'s lyrics similarly look at the work a mother has to do every day -- though as McCartney later noted  "I was writing the words out to learn it for an American TV show and I realised I missed out Saturday ... So I figured it must have been a real night out." The vocal was very much McCartney doing a Domino impression -- something that wasn't lost on Fats, who cut his own version of the track later that year: [Excerpt: Fats Domino, "Lady Madonna"] The group were so productive at this point, right before the journey to India, that they actually cut another song *while they were making a video for "Lady Madonna"*. They were booked into Abbey Road to film themselves performing the song so it could be played on Top of the Pops while they were away, but instead they decided to use the time to cut a new song -- John had a partially-written song, "Hey Bullfrog", which was roughly the same tempo as "Lady Madonna", so they could finish that up and then re-edit the footage to match the record. The song was quickly finished and became "Hey Bulldog": [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hey Bulldog"] One of Lennon's best songs from this period, "Hey Bulldog" was oddly chosen only to go on the soundtrack of Yellow Submarine. Either the band didn't think much of it because it had come so easily, or it was just assigned to the film because they were planning on being away for several months and didn't have any other projects they were working on. The extent of the group's contribution to the film was minimal – they were not very hands-on, and the film, which was mostly done as an attempt to provide a third feature film for their United Artists contract without them having to do any work, was made by the team that had done the Beatles cartoon on American TV. There's some evidence that they had a small amount of input in the early story stages, but in general they saw the cartoon as an irrelevance to them -- the only things they contributed were the four songs "All Together Now", "It's All Too Much", "Hey Bulldog" and "Only a Northern Song", and a brief filmed appearance for the very end of the film, recorded in January: [Excerpt: Yellow Submarine film end] McCartney also took part in yet another session in early February 1968, one produced by Peter Asher, his fiancee's brother, and former singer with Peter and Gordon. Asher had given up on being a pop star and was trying to get into the business side of music, and he was starting out as a producer, producing a single by Paul Jones, the former lead singer of Manfred Mann. The A-side of the single, "And the Sun Will Shine", was written by the Bee Gees, the band that Robert Stigwood was managing: [Excerpt: Paul Jones, "And the Sun Will Shine"] While the B-side was an original by Jones, "The Dog Presides": [Excerpt: Paul Jones, "The Dog Presides"] Those tracks featured two former members of the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck and Paul Samwell-Smith, on guitar and bass, and Nicky Hopkins on piano. Asher asked McCartney to play drums on both sides of the single, saying later "I always thought he was a great, underrated drummer." McCartney was impressed by Asher's production, and asked him to get involved with the new Apple Records label that would be set up when the group returned from India. Asher eventually became head of A&R for the label. And even before "Lady Madonna" was mixed, the Beatles were off to India. Mal Evans, their roadie, went ahead with all their luggage on the fourteenth of February, so he could sort out transport for them on the other end, and then John and George followed on the fifteenth, with their wives Pattie and Cynthia and Pattie's sister Jenny (John and Cynthia's son Julian had been left with his grandmother while they went -- normally Cynthia wouldn't abandon Julian for an extended period of time, but she saw the trip as a way to repair their strained marriage). Paul and Ringo followed four days later, with Ringo's wife Maureen and Paul's fiancee Jane Asher. The retreat in Rishikesh was to become something of a celebrity affair. Along with the Beatles came their friend the singer-songwriter Donovan, and Donovan's friend and songwriting partner, whose name I'm not going to say here because it's a slur for Romani people, but will be known to any Donovan fans. Donovan at this point was also going through changes. Like the Beatles, he was largely turning away from drug use and towards meditation, and had recently written his hit single "There is a Mountain" based around a saying from Zen Buddhism: [Excerpt: Donovan, "There is a Mountain"] That was from his double-album A Gift From a Flower to a Garden, which had come out in December 1967. But also like John and Paul he was in the middle of the breakdown of a long-term relationship, and while he would remain with his then-partner until 1970, and even have another child with her, he was secretly in love with another woman. In fact he was secretly in love with two other women. One of them, Brian Jones' ex-girlfriend Linda, had moved to LA, become the partner of the singer Gram Parsons, and had appeared in the documentary You Are What You Eat with the Band and Tiny Tim. She had fallen out of touch with Donovan, though she would later become his wife. Incidentally, she had a son to Brian Jones who had been abandoned by his rock-star father -- the son's name is Julian. The other woman with whom Donovan was in love was Jenny Boyd, the sister of George Harrison's wife Pattie.  Jenny at the time was in a relationship with Alexis Mardas, a TV repairman and huckster who presented himself as an electronics genius to the Beatles, who nicknamed him Magic Alex, and so she was unavailable, but Donovan had written a song about her, released as a single just before they all went to Rishikesh: [Excerpt: Donovan, "Jennifer Juniper"] Donovan considered himself and George Harrison to be on similar spiritual paths and called Harrison his "spirit-brother", though Donovan was more interested in Buddhism, which Harrison considered a corruption of the more ancient Hinduism, and Harrison encouraged Donovan to read Autobiography of a Yogi. It's perhaps worth noting that Donovan's father had a different take on the subject though, saying "You're not going to study meditation in India, son, you're following that wee lassie Jenny" Donovan and his friend weren't the only other celebrities to come to Rishikesh. The actor Mia Farrow, who had just been through a painful divorce from Frank Sinatra, and had just made Rosemary's Baby, a horror film directed by Roman Polanski with exteriors shot at the Dakota building in New York, arrived with her sister Prudence. Also on the trip was Paul Horn, a jazz saxophonist who had played with many of the greats of jazz, not least of them Duke Ellington, whose Sweet Thursday Horn had played alto sax on: [Excerpt: Duke Ellington, "Zweet Zursday"] Horn was another musician who had been inspired to investigate Indian spirituality and music simultaneously, and the previous year he had recorded an album, "In India," of adaptations of ragas, with Ravi Shankar and Alauddin Khan: [Excerpt: Paul Horn, "Raga Vibhas"] Horn would go on to become one of the pioneers of what would later be termed "New Age" music, combining jazz with music from various non-Western traditions. Horn had also worked as a session musician, and one of the tracks he'd played on was "I Know There's an Answer" from the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "I Know There's an Answer"] Mike Love, who co-wrote that track and is one of the lead singers on it, was also in Rishikesh. While as we'll see not all of the celebrities on the trip would remain practitioners of Transcendental Meditation, Love would be profoundly affected by the trip, and remains a vocal proponent of TM to this day. Indeed, his whole band at the time were heavily into TM. While Love was in India, the other Beach Boys were working on the Friends album without him -- Love only appears on four tracks on that album -- and one of the tracks they recorded in his absence was titled "Transcendental Meditation": [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Transcendental Meditation"] But the trip would affect Love's songwriting, as it would affect all of the musicians there. One of the few songs on the Friends album on which Love appears is "Anna Lee, the Healer", a song which is lyrically inspired by the trip in the most literal sense, as it's about a masseuse Love met in Rishikesh: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Anna Lee, the Healer"] The musicians in the group all influenced and inspired each other as is likely to happen in such circumstances. Sometimes, it would be a matter of trivial joking, as when the Beatles decided to perform an off-the-cuff song about Guru Dev, and did it in the Beach Boys style: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Spiritual Regeneration"] And that turned partway through into a celebration of Love for his birthday: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Spiritual Regeneration"] Decades later, Love would return the favour, writing a song about Harrison and their time together in Rishikesh. Like Donovan, Love seems to have considered Harrison his "spiritual brother", and he titled the song "Pisces Brothers": [Excerpt: Mike Love, "Pisces Brothers"] The musicians on the trip were also often making suggestions to each other about songs that would become famous for them. The musicians had all brought acoustic guitars, apart obviously from Ringo, who got a set of tabla drums when George ordered some Indian instruments to be delivered. George got a sitar, as at this point he hadn't quite given up on the instrument, and he gave Donovan a tamboura. Donovan started playing a melody on the tamboura, which is normally a drone instrument, inspired by the Scottish folk music he had grown up with, and that became his "Hurdy-Gurdy Man": [Excerpt: Donovan, "Hurdy Gurdy Man"] Harrison actually helped him with the song, writing a final verse inspired by the Maharishi's teachings, but in the studio Donovan's producer Mickie Most told him to cut the verse because the song was overlong, which apparently annoyed Harrison. Donovan includes that verse in his live performances of the song though -- usually while doing a fairly terrible impersonation of Harrison: [Excerpt: Donovan, "Hurdy Gurdy Man (live)"] And similarly, while McCartney was working on a song pastiching Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys, but singing about the USSR rather than the USA, Love suggested to him that for a middle-eight he might want to sing about the girls in the various Soviet regions: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Back in the USSR"] As all the guitarists on the retreat only had acoustic instruments, they were very keen to improve their acoustic playing, and they turned to Donovan, who unlike the rest of them was primarily an acoustic player, and one from a folk background. Donovan taught them the rudiments of Travis picking, the guitar style we talked about way back in the episodes on the Everly Brothers, as well as some of the tunings that had been introduced to British folk music by Davey Graham, giving them a basic grounding in the principles of English folk-baroque guitar, a style that had developed over the previous few years. Donovan has said in his autobiography that Lennon picked the technique up quickly (and that Harrison had already learned Travis picking from Chet Atkins records) but that McCartney didn't have the application to learn the style, though he picked up bits. That seems very unlike anything else I've read anywhere about Lennon and McCartney -- no-one has ever accused Lennon of having a surfeit of application -- and reading Donovan's book he seems to dislike McCartney and like Lennon and Harrison, so possibly that enters into it. But also, it may just be that Lennon was more receptive to Donovan's style at the time. According to McCartney, even before going to Rishikesh Lennon had been in a vaguely folk-music and country mode, and the small number of tapes he'd brought with him to Rishikesh included Buddy Holly, Dylan, and the progressive folk band The Incredible String Band, whose music would be a big influence on both Lennon and McCartney for the next year: [Excerpt: The Incredible String Band, "First Girl I Loved"] According to McCartney Lennon also brought "a tape the singer Jake Thackray had done for him... He was one of the people we bumped into at Abbey Road. John liked his stuff, which he'd heard on television. Lots of wordplay and very suggestive, so very much up John's alley. I was fascinated by his unusual guitar style. John did ‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun' as a Jake Thackray thing at one point, as I recall.” Thackray was a British chansonnier, who sang sweetly poignant but also often filthy songs about Yorkshire life, and his humour in particular will have appealed to Lennon. There's a story of Lennon meeting Thackray in Abbey Road and singing the whole of Thackray's song "The Statues", about two drunk men fighting a male statue to defend the honour of a female statue, to him: [Excerpt: Jake Thackray, "The Statues"] Given this was the music that Lennon was listening to, it's unsurprising that he was more receptive to Donovan's lessons, and the new guitar style he learned allowed him to expand his songwriting, at precisely the same time he was largely clean of drugs for the first time in several years, and he started writing some of the best songs he would ever write, often using these new styles: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Julia"] That song is about Lennon's dead mother -- the first time he ever addressed her directly in a song, though  it would be far from the last -- but it's also about someone else. That phrase "Ocean child" is a direct translation of the Japanese name "Yoko". We've talked about Yoko Ono a bit in recent episodes, and even briefly in a previous Beatles episode, but it's here that she really enters the story of the Beatles. Unfortunately, exactly *how* her relationship with John Lennon, which was to become one of the great legendary love stories in rock and roll history, actually started is the subject of some debate. Both of them were married when they first got together, and there have also been suggestions that Ono was more interested in McCartney than in Lennon at first -- suggestions which everyone involved has denied, and those denials have the ring of truth about them, but if that was the case it would also explain some of Lennon's more perplexing behaviour over the next year. By all accounts there was a certain amount of finessing of the story th

It's Chriiiiiiiistmaaaaaas! And it's the inaugural LTO Christmas Special! Featuring a Christmas chat; a Christmas quiz; FOUR Christmas sketches; two giddy hosts; one amazing guest; and a partridge in a pear tree. Joining Esther and Susie for the Christmas Special is actress and comedian, Janice Connolly. Janice is a familiar face on television as Holy Mary in Phoenix Nights with Peter Kay; Rosie Colton in BBC 1's Doctors; and as her comedy alter ego, Mrs Barbara Nice who had the Britain's Got Talent judges in stitches in 2019. Janice has just stepped down from her role as Artistic Director of Women & Theatre - the award-winning Birmingham theatre company she co-founded. Janice chats to S&E about the company's pioneering work over the last 40 years; how her career in comedy started; what it's like  appearing in BGT; and she generously guest stars as the Ghost of Christmas Past in the Dickens' themed sketches! Thank you so much, Janice! It's a bumper episode packed full of Christmas surprises. And if you fancy playing a game while listening, you could drink every time you hear the word 'sherry' - just try and keep up with Esther! Susie & Esther wish you a very Happy Christmas full of music, mirth and...sherry. (There's one to get you started!) xx Links to explore: Women & Theatre Sweet Theatre - great for Christmas pressies! Beth Kempton - author of 'Calm Christmas' In other news LTO now has a Patreon page which means you can become an LTO Patron. Patrons get a raft of lush stuff including exclusive bonus content and access to exclusive LTO live events online and in-person. The next Patron-only LTO Live Online event is in January. Details on Patreon! Sign up to be an LTO Patron now at: Patreon.com/LimitedTimeOnlyPodcast Susie & Esther are thrilled to be back in your ears. And over on Patreon too! Limited Time Only. A pick-me-up in podcast form. Instagram @limitedtimeonlypodcast Twitter @limitedtimepod Facebook Limited Time Only Podcast Email: limitedtimepodcast@gmail.com   Music by Joel White aka Small Plates Listen to his music on Soundcloud Other sound effects from https://freesound.org and Vlatko Blažek

(Our Lady of Guadalupe - December 12)La Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: Patroness of the AmericasYou are definitely going to want to read this post all the way to the end.What a crazy ride!In 1946, Pope Pius XII declared Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the Patroness of the Americas. In 1961, Pope St. John XXIII prayed to Our Lady as the Mother of the Americas, calling her the Mother and Teacher of the Faith to the peoples of the Americas.In 1979, shortly after the dedication of the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, four miles from Mexico City, Pope St. John Paul II celebrated Holy Mass in the sanctuary. This was his first international pilgrimage. In 1990, the Pope returned to the Basilica to preside over the beatification ceremony of Juan Diego. Then, he returned to Mexico City in 2002 to preside over the canonization of St. Juan Diego of Cuauhtlatoatzin (Feast Day: December 9)St. Juan Diego of CuauhtlatoatzinSt. Juan Diego was born in 1474 in what is now Mexico City, Mexico. At the time, Columbus had not yet set sail on his first voyage from Portugal. Juan, also called “Talking Eagle,” was a member of the Chichimeca people. There are a LOT of sources, including Britannica, that refer to Juan Diego as an “Aztec.” To be clear: he was not. His people were not the rulers of Tenochtitlan, nor did they practice human sacrifice, as the “Aztecs” did. Why do I keep putting “Aztec” in quotes? It is because the term “Aztec” was first used three hundred years later by the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt. I suppose, in an anachronistic way, we could call St. Juan Diego an “Aztec,” but he was certainly not a member of the Mexica tribe that were the dominant ethnic group in the Triple Alliance. As a Nahua, Juan Diego did share cultural and linguistic affiliations with the Mexica, but the Chichimeca had a varied history with the Mexica.Anyway… the Vatican accounts what happened next!When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego, asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was true. On 12 December, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as "proof". When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac.With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus. (Vatican.va)The Image of Our LadyThe miraculous image that appeared on the tilma of St. Juan Diego is absolutely incredible and we continue to learn new things about it. First, a description is worthwhile. The Vatican describes it thusly:The miraculous image, which is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shows a woman with native features and dress. She is supported by an angel whose wings are reminiscent of one of the major gods of the traditional religion of that area. The moon is beneath her feet and her blue mantle is covered with gold stars. The black girdle about her waist signifies that she is pregnant. Thus, the image graphically depicts the fact that Christ is to be "born" again among the peoples of the New World, and is a message as relevant to the "New World" today as it was during the lifetime of Juan Diego. (Vatican.va)Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Battle of LepantoThere are significant miracles associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1571, Admiral Doria carried a copy of the image aboard his ship during the Battle of Lepanto. He said that it was the Virgin of Guadalupe's intercession which carried them to victory over the fleet of the Ottoman Turks, though they were outmanned and outgunned.Good Distinctions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Subscribed17th - 19th CenturiesIn 1647, the image was covered with glass for the first time. In 1648, Luis Lasso de la Vega published a telling of the story of St. Juan Diego and the Virgin of Guadalupe in the Nahuatl language. Our Lady continued to convert the peoples of the Americas.In 1667, Pope Clement IX instituted the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, the date it is still observed.In 1746, Our Lady of Guadalupe was made the patroness of all of New Spain, which at the time reached from northern California to El Salvador. This patronage was fully approved by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754 and he granted a Mass and Office proper to the December 12 feast.Bombing of the Image!On November 14, 1921, a bomb was placed beneath the image of the tilma! The bomb caused a lot of damage to the basilica, but despite going off just below the image did not do any damage to it!The Eyes of the VirginA photographer, Alfonso Marcue, in 1929, made the discovery of the reflection of a man's head in the right eye of the Virgin Mary in the image on the tilma. This was further confirmed by the investigations of a man named Carlos Salinas in 1951. Dr. Javier Torroella Bueno, an opthalmologist, also examined the eyes of the Virgin on the tilma and said that he too confirmed the reflections of human beings in the eyes.In 1958, Dr. Rafael Torija Lavoignet publishes a study of the Purkinje-Sanson effect which states that the reflection of images are inverted in the inner surface of the eyes' lens. This effect is present in the image of Guadalupe.Using modern techniques and magnification, in 1962, Dr. Charles Wahlig, O.D. discovered two images reflected in the eyes of the Virgin when studying a 25x enlarged photograph. In 1979, engineer Dr. Jose Aste Tönsmann found that at least four human figures are reflected in both eyes - including an image of a man who appears to be Bishop Zumarraga.The Tilma ItselfThe eyes of the Virgin in the tilma are spectacularly miraculous, but check this out…For 115 years, the tilma was displayed without protective glass. This means it was exposed to soot, candle wax, people touching it, and incense used nearby. And despite a bomb going off underneath it… the material of the tilma has maintained chemical and structural integrity for almost 500 years! The same composition used for these sorts of tilmas normally only lasted for fifteen years, not five hundred.The moon under the Virgin's feet, the angel holding the cloth, and rays coming from the image were are painted cloth that have been added over the years. But the original image of the Virgin herself was not painted. There is no sketch underneath it, no brush strokes, and it seems to have been produced in a single step. Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, a NASA consultant and biophysicist at the University of Florida made these discoveries as he studied the tilma under infrared radiation. That paper from 1981 can be found here.Our Lady Loves Her ChildrenLa Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is the mother of us all. She is the Mother of Jesus. But she is also Mother to all the children entrusted to her care, whether native American, Spaniard, or otherwise.Pope Benedict XVI reminded listeners in Brazil in 2007 of the words recorded to have been said to St. Juan Diego by our Blessed Mother. She said:“Am I not your mother? Are you not under my shadow and my gaze? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not sheltered underneath my mantle, under the embrace of my arms?” (Nican Mopohua, nos. 118-119).Our Lady of Guadalupe, wrap us in your mantle of love. Hold us close and draw us nearer to your Blessed Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. Amen.Good Distinctions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Good Distinctions at www.gooddistinctions.com/subscribe

Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe – Day 9 Day Nine Mother of our Savior, the conversion of your Aztec children brought an end to infant sacrifice in Mexico. Holy Mary, we implore your help to end the infant sacrifice by abortion throughout the Americas. Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be … Please ... Read more The post Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe – Day 9 – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Marian SaturdayJoin us for a meditation from the perspective of St. Catherine Laboure as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on 11/27.HERE is the video that is referenced all about the apparitions of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.HERE is the link to get your free Miraculous Medal from the Association of the Miraculous Medal.MusicSalve Regina - 450 Voces Canticle of Zechariah - Sr. Mary GemmaDURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER Our Lady promised to Servant of God Elizabeth Kindelmann that each time a "Flame of Love Hail Mary" is prayed, 10 souls will be released from Purgatory. Flame of Love Hail Mary: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, spread the effect of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Learn More about the Flame of Love HERE.

Marian SaturdayToday we pray our fourth and final full rosary for the year. This one will be the Luminous Mysteries and the intention of each mystery is for a type of vocation. Click HERE to watch the Rosary video for this rosary.MusicLord of All Hopefulness (Instrumental)All the Glory (Instrumental)DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER Our Lady promised to Servant of God Elizabeth Kindelmann that each time a "Flame of Love Hail Mary" is prayed, 10 souls will be released from Purgatory.Flame of Love Hail Mary: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, spread the effect of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Learn More about the Flame of Love HERE.

Marian Saturday A reflection from Lauren on her personal experiences with the 5th Joyful Mystery.MusicAve Maria (Instrumental)Lord I Need You (Instrumental) - Chris TomlinCanticle of Zechariah - Sr. Mary GemmaDURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER Our Lady promised to Servant of God Elizabeth Kindelmann that each time a "Flame of Love Hail Mary" is prayed, 10 souls will be released from Purgatory.Flame of Love Hail Mary: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, spread the effect of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Learn More about the Flame of Love HERE.

Marian SaturdayJoin us for our next Marian Devotion "pray-along" as we pray the Beads for the Dead together for the souls of those who have gone before us. HERE is the link to follow along with the words of the devotion. MusicAve Maria (Instrumental)On Eagles Wings (Instrumental)DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER Our Lady promised to Servant of God Elizabeth Kindelmann that each time a "Flame of Love Hail Mary" is prayed, 10 souls will be released from Purgatory.Flame of Love Hail Mary: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, spread the effect of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Learn More about the Flame of Love HERE.

Chaplet of Divine Mercy for October 7. We come to gather every day to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy here on Rosary Minded, honoring Jesus' message of mercy and love. Let's all pray together the Chaplet of Divine Mercy -- making the Light of Christ burn so brightly that it continues to conquer the kingdom of darkness.  Experience the divine power of this beautiful traditional Catholic prayer and celebrate God's love for us! #divinemercychaplet #Rosary #DivineMercy  How to Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet: SIGN OF THE CROSS  OPENING PRAYERS You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.  (Repeat three times) O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You!  OUR FATHER Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.  HAIL MARY Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.  THE APOSTLE'S CREED I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.  THE ETERNAL FATHER Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.  ON THE 10 SMALL BEADS OF EACH DECADE: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.  REPEAT FOR THE REMAINING DECADES Saying the "Eternal Father" on the "Our Father" bead and then 10 "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion" on the following "Hail Mary" beads.  CONCLUDE WITH HOLY GOD (Repeat three times) Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.  OPTIONAL CLOSING PRAYER Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Credits: Music & Art: Zapsplat --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rosary-minded/support

Marian Saturday August Mini-Series: Titles of MaryLitany of LoretoSr. Carol's CartoonMusicAve Maris Stella - VOCES8Ave Maris Stella (Instrumental)

It's double the fun on this weeks episode of Hey Sis, Eat This with identical twin sisters, Mary and Emily Bishea. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago this duo gave Momma Mary Rita a run for her money from day one! With their heartbeats in synch for the entire pregnancy, the doctors were not even aware that Mary Rita was pregnant with twins until she screamed “there's another one coming!!” 10 minutes later and without a name picked out, Mary Margaret was born.   We learn how a young Momma Mary Rita navigated parenthood with unexpected twins. From painting pinky nails with nail polish to tell them apart to dressing them alike for way too long, Mary Rita did her best to keep these two in line. When little brother Spike came along a few years later, Mary Rita was really put to the test, when a hot dog chocking incident almost ended with a tracheotomy.   Despite the drama, she always had dinner on the table whether it was her famous lasagna or the kids most dreaded dish, chicken baked in milk. The twins recall how an over protective Mary Rita got out of giving the sex talk, sheltered them from dirty movies, and generously gave them her famous white Ford Windstar that became the backdrop for many teenage tales.   Twins Emily and Mary share it all including the times they used their identical looks to get up to some pretty elaborate pranks. Most importantly, they share their love and appreciation for Mary Rita and for all she has done and still does for them today. We promise you will laugh twice as hard and have double the fun on this special episode!

"...Holy Mary, Mother of God..."We are unpacking the Hail Mary prayer, and reflecting on one line at a time.MUSICHail MaryAve Maria by Daniel KantorCanticle of ZechariahRESPONSES"Lord, make haste to help me.""As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.""May Your Mother intercede for us, Lord.""Oh Sacred Virgin, hear the song of my praise."If you'd like the pdf of the full outline, that can be accessed HERE.

Today we prepare for the upcoming feast of St. Brigid of Ireland by looking at her history and traditional customs for both the Eve and Feast Day. Prayer to St. Brigid on Christian Perfection O Glorious St. Bridget, Patroness of Ireland, protect the Catholic Church and preserve the true Faith in every heart, at home and abroad. Obtain for us the grace to walk faithfully in the path of Christian perfection during life, and so to secure a holy and happy death, with life everlasting, in your blessed company, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Litany to St. Brigid of Ireland Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us. Holy Mary, Queen of virgins, Pray for us. Saint Brigid, Pray for us. Mary of the Gael, Pray for us. St. Brigid, Patroness of Ireland, Pray for us. St. Brigid, shining light of virtue and sanctity, Pray for us. St. Brigid, consecrated spouse of Jesus Christ, Pray for us. St. Brigid, foundress of Kildare, Pray for us. St. Brigid, cornerstone of the monastic institute in the Isle of Saints, Pray for us. St. Brigid, great model of Irish virgins, Pray for us. St. Brigid, mother of religious, Pray for us. St. Brigid, pattern of religious perfection, Pray for us. St. Brigid, intercessor for the Irish Church, Pray for us. St. Brigid, mediatrix for the Irish race, Pray for us. St. Brigid, protectress of the holy faith planted by Saint Padrig, Pray for us. St. Brigid, enjoying with him the clear vision of God, Pray for us. St. Brigid, whose one desire was to satisfy the poor, drive out hardship, and spare every miserable man, Pray for us. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Spare us, O Lord. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Have mercy on us, O Lord. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. V. Pray for us, O glorious Saint Brigid: R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. O God, Who dost rejoice with the memory of the blessed Saint Brigid, Thy virgin and abbess, mercifully grant that we may be assisted by her merits, by whose chastity we are illumined. Through Jesus Christ Thy Son Our Lord. R. Amen. How to make a St. Brigid Cross: https://scoil-bhride.com/how-to-make-a-st-brigids-cross/ The Latin Prayer Podcast is on Patreon -  for those of you who are able to financially support the podcast please Click Here (https://www.patreon.com/thelatinprayerpodcast). A huge thank you to my patrons! Please check out our Resources, Gift Ideas & Affiliate Links page: https://dylandrego.podbean.com/p/resources-gift-ideas-affiliate-links Join me and others in praying the Holy Rosary every day; here are the Spotify quick links to the Rosary: Joyful Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yhnGJNSl67psg94j3si3s?si=7IjqIg2wQQaZTJTiDm-Dhw Sorrowful Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/3P0nIdaLuEjesHRMklwfoj?si=6qF7JBYpRiG0ylwuOohFwA Glorious Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/3t7lCF7nFQDR3py1jjTAE1?si=hBb_5Ne5Rwu-993nUUqHqg Luminous Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vlAjEGgWPCI79K7Eylh31?si=Hue9USzkTf-L3wrXrK79MQ 15 Decade Rosary https://open.spotify.com/episode/2q33PXMrinZi6fkaV6X7vn?si=Jy_d2xLlTVihD5qa4fSH9g To follow me on other platforms Click on my LinkTree below. linktr.ee/dylandrego If you have any prayers you'd like to request, or comments and/or suggestions - please email me at latinprayerpodcast@gmail.com. Know that if you are listening to this, I am praying for you. Please continue to pray with me and for me and my family. May everything you do be Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. God Love You! Valete (Goodbye)    

Please visit the Discerning Hearts Our Lady of Guadalupe page for the text and audio for the remaining days. Day Nine Mother of our Savior, the conversion of your Aztec children brought an end to infant sacrifice in Mexico. Holy Mary, we implore your help to end the infant sacrifice by abortion throughout the Americas. ... Read more The post Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe Day 9 – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.