B. Maria Sagrario of St. Aloysius Gonzaga (OCD), Virgin & Martyr (m)

Today the Carmelite Order commemorates Blessed Maria Sagrario of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Virgin and Martyr.

Blessed Maria was born in Lilo, Toledo, on January 8th, 1881. She was a pharmacist by trade, and was the first woman in Spain to be admitted to this profession. In 1915 she entered the Carmel of St. Anne and St. Joseph in Madrid. She had a great love for the Eucharist, and devoted much prayer and contemplation before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. She was prioress of her community when she was martyred on August 15th, 1936. This martyrdom was due to the fact of the Spanish Civil War and the persecution the Church was facing as a result of this Civil War.

On July 20th, 1936, the convent was attacked by a mob. Mother Maria Sagraria spirited her sisters to safety and sought shelter with one of them at the  home of that sister's parents.  She was arrested, along with the other sister, on August 14th.  Surviving testimony well documents her serenity and abandonment to God's will.  Under interrogation she staunchly refused to betray anyone, and was executed by being shot on the following day, August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In her writings, she says, "Blessed be God who gives us ways of offering ourselves up to his love!" Blessed Maria Sagrario was able to offer herself as a sacrifice out of love of God in order to protect those under her care. Christ was at the center of her decision, and as a result was able to die for the sake of Christ. She goes on to say in her writings, "Keep your gaze always on our most beloved Jesus, asking him in the depths of his heart what he desires for you, and never deny him anything even if means going strongly against the grain for you."

This is fortitude takes great strength, but if we remain faithful to Christ and His will for us, we will find the peace and contentment that can only come from Him. Each one of us has things in our lives that are a struggle for us to deal with, whether it's a job we don't like, a family member that may get on our nerves, or people in our lives that are difficult to get along with. We are called to find out what the will of God is for us in those situations. Our Lord will lead us to do what he Wills, we just need to be open to His promptings. We are to offer our sufferings, as Blessed Maria did, to the Will of God.

Then we can pray, as she prayed, "Blessed be he who arranges everything for our good! In possessing him, we possess everything."

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On August 15^th Holy Mother Church commemorates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.”

As a dogma of faith, we as Catholics are expected to believe that the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be true and real. In the Office of Readings for this feast, we read from Pope Pius XII, “In their homilies and sermons on this feast the holy fathers and great doctors spoke of the assumption of the Mother of God as something already familiar and accepted by the faithful.”

Why would Mary deserve such an honor as to be assumed body and soul into heaven? We see in scripture the kind of life that Mary lived and that she was chosen to be the Mother of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Pius XII goes on to say, quoting St. John Damescene, “It was necessary that she who had preserved her virginity inviolate in childbirth should also have her body kept free from all corruption after death. It was necessary that she who had carried the Creator as a child on her breast should dwell in the tabernacle of God.”

Mary’s whole life was centered on doing the Will of God. She not only said “yes” to the angel Gabriel in agreeing to be the Mother of the Savior, she was also part of His whole life, following Jesus throughout his ministry, and finally standing at the foot of the Cross watching Her Divine Son give His life for the salvation of the world. Her whole life centered on doing the Holy Will of God.

Mary is to be an example of how we are to live our lives. We are called to carry Jesus in a different way. Mary carried Jesus in her womb and gave birth to Him physically more than 2,000 years ago. We, as Catholics, carry Jesus in ourselves whenever we receive Holy Communion. As Catholics, we know that the Host we receive at Mass is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We are called, like Mary, to bring Jesus into a world that needs His presence.

One of the choices for dismissal at Mass is, “Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life.” We do this by bringing Jesus into the world! Let us, like Mary, attempt to do God’s will by bringing peace into a world that so desperately needs His peace.