As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Rosary, the Marists invite you to reflect on the song Holy Mary, Mother of God performed by musicians of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Atlanta, GA.

Lyrics – Holy Mary, Mother Of God

Verse 1
Full of grace, O virgin ever blest,
Purest heart that beats within your breast,
Be for us a guide,
Teach us to abide
In faithful charity, in faithful charity.

Refrain
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us,
Now and at the hour of our death.

Verse 2
Mother of God ’twas all our hope you bore,
Promised King, His people to restore.
By your holiness,
By your humble “Yes,”
Is God revealed to us, is God revealed to us.

Verse 3
Morning star, bestowed with heaven’s light,
Shining down upon this world’s dark night.
With courage our hearts fill,
Beacon for us still,
And lead us to your Son, and lead us to your Son.

Verse 4
Faithful flow’r whose sorrows none could know,
Lend thine aid where doubt and anguish grow.
Hear us in our need,
For us intercede
That we may not lose hope, that we may not lose hope.

Verse 5
Queen of Peace, O Sov’reign Mother crowned,
Reign on high from whence all joys abound.
Unworthy though we be,
Pray that we may see
Our Father’s kingdom come, our Father’s kingdom come.  

Holy Mary,  Mother of God, pray for us!

For the Synod

Let us pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a style of life at every level, allowing herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit towards the world’s peripheries.

Mission is at the heart of the Church. And even more when a Church is in Synod. This synodal dynamic alone carries its missionary vocation forward – that is, her response to Jesus’ mandate to proclaim the Gospel.
I would like to recall that nothing ends here. Rather, we are continuing an ecclesial journey here.
This is a journey we will travel, like the disciples of Emmaus, listening to the Lord who always comes to meet us.
He is the Lord of surprises.
Through prayer and discernment, the Holy Spirit helps us carry out the “apostolate of the ear,” that is, listening with God’s ears in order to speak with the word of God.
And thus, we draw near to the heart of Christ. Our mission and the voice that draws us to him spring from him.
This voice reveals to us that the heart of mission is to reach out to everyone, to seek everyone, to welcome everyone, to involve everyone, without excluding anyone.

View the October Prayer Intention Pope Video – a global initiative to disseminate the Holy Father’s monthly intentions (Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network).

Please join the Marists in celebrating the Feast of St. Francis and the close of the Season of Creation by participating in “A Prayer for the Earth by Pope Francis, published in Laudato Si.'”

St. Francis of Assisi pray for us!

Father Jean-Claude Colin was elected Superior General of the Society of Mary (The Marists) on September 24, 1836, and on that same day the first Marist religious professions took place. Along with Fr. Colin the first professed included two individuals who would become saints: Saint Peter Chanel, SM, martyred on the island of Futuna, and Saint Marcellin Champagnat, SM, founder of the Marist Brothers of the Schools.

In the Marists Constitutions, it states: “When they make profession, Marists declare before the Church and one another their intention to live out their baptism more fully. They choose to follow Christ more closely by a radial commitment to the spirt of the Beatitudes in community that has one heart and mind.” (Marist Constitutions, 93)

As we remember this anniversary, may the gentle sprit and compassion of Fr. Colin continue to guide the Society of Mary!