“Mama, I’m just so cold.” Standing on a sandbar in Lake Superior, my young daughter, face white, turned to look at me and promptly fell, fainting, into my arms.
Tag: blessed mother
Prayers answered through the Catholic Herald and Mother Mary
MCFARLAND — Just as Jesus multiplied five barley loaves and two fish to feed the multitude, so too, through Mother Mary’s intercession, he has multiplied the efforts of Mary’s Rosary Assemblers of Christ the King Parish in McFarland to answer many prayers.
In the March 9, 2017, issue of the Catholic Herald, Mary’s Rosary Assemblers announced its 10-year anniversary in an article entitled “Touching Lives — One Bead at a Time.” The article reported accomplishments to date, including distribution of over 24,000 mission Rosaries and efforts to promote a devotion to the Holy Rosary.
Mary’s assumption invites us to follow her
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On August 15, we celebrate Mary’s assumption into heaven.
In no. 966 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church it says, “The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.”
Shows us how to love
Mary’s assumption can motivate us to reflect upon events that led to her being assumed into heaven as a reward for her faithfulness.
Our Lady has shown us what to do to save ourselves
To the editor:
Thank you for your pictorial report on the Fatima rallies attended on Saturday, May 13, in some diocesan parishes. Thank you to all the parishioners who attended these rallies.
How is it that we can spend money, large parts of our days on sports events, TV, and electronic devices, but only 50 or fewer individuals could find an hour or less to honor Our Lady on the 100th anniversary of her first apparition at Fatima?
Bishop Morlino consecrates diocese to Our Lady of Fatima
“Jesus, we now want to imitate you and entrust ourselves to your mother. Mary, Mother of Mercy, we entrust to you all the faithful in Wisconsin, especially those in the Diocese of Madison.”
Meditate on Mary during month of May and special Fatima year
Dear Friends,
This month of May is, as always, a month for honoring and devoting ourselves to Mary, the Mother of God.
And in a particular way, as was marked by Pope Francis last week during his Apostolic visit to Portugal, we commemorate 100 years since the Blessed Virgin appeared several times to the three “shepherd children.” The two of those children who died in their youth are now Saint Jacinta and Saint Francisco Marto, having been canonized by Pope Francis on Saturday, and the third, Servant of God Sr. Maria Lucia, who only passed from this life in 2005, has her cause for canonization underway.
Fatima at 100: Story of apparitions continues to attract attention
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| This postcard, set for release by the Vatican May 4, marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary to the three shepherd children in Fatima May 13, 1917. (CNS photo/courtesy of Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office) |
While conversion and prayer are at the heart of Mary’s messages at Fatima, Portugal, the miracles and unexplained phenomenon that accompanied the events 100 years ago continue to intrigue believers and nonbelievers alike.
The apparitions of Mary at Fatima in 1917 were not the first supernatural events reported there.
Two years before Mary appeared to the three shepherd children — Lucia dos Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto — they saw a strange sight while praying the Rosary in the field, according to the memoirs of Sister Lucia, who had become a Carmelite nun.
“We had hardly begun when, there before our eyes, we saw a figure poised in the air above the trees; it looked like a statue made of snow, rendered almost transparent by the rays of the sun,” she wrote, describing what they saw in 1915.
The next year, Francisco and Jacinta received permission to tend their family’s flocks and Lucia decided to join her cousins in a field owned by their families.
It was 1916 when the mysterious figure appeared again, this time approaching close enough “to distinguish its features.”
Devotion to Mary continues

When I was growing up in La Crosse, I used to attend Our Mother of Perpetual Help novenas every Tuesday evening with my family at Blessed Sacrament Parish.
I liked attending the novenas, but I never learned much about this Marian devotion. It wasn’t until recently that I found out how it developed.
I discovered that the icon of the Blessed Mother with her divine son (pictured here) has helped provide strength, comfort, and even miracles to the faithful for centuries.
It seems appropriate during May — the month dedicated to Mary — that we learn more about Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
The Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
We are right in the middle of the month of May and this past Sunday we celebrated the great Feast of Pentecost, so what better time to say something about the Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit?
The Blessed Mother’s relationship with the Holy Spirit is powerful and unique.
This is made very clear by some of the most pivotal moments in Scripture and in all of human history.
In the first place, we know that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Our Lady when Jesus was conceived.
Parishioners honor Blessed Mother in Lancaster
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| Parishioners of St. Clement Parish in Lancaster, with Pastor Fr. John Sasse, process down S. Madison St. with a statue and image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sunday, May 1. The procession was held to ask for Mary’s intercession for good weather, a good harvest, and other intercessions. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
LANCASTER — Sunday, May 1.
The first day of the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
May 1 was a chance for one Catholic community in the Diocese of Madison to honor the Blessed Mother, give thanks for her intercession, and pray for the year ahead.
The prayers to Jesus through Mary started that day at St. Clement Church in Lancaster, the county seat of Grant County in southwestern Wisconsin.
Enrollment in the Brown Scapular
The first special event of the day began at the 9 a.m. Mass. Following his homily, Pastor Fr. John Sasse enrolled the recent parish second grade First Communicants into the Brown Scapular.
In what was a display of family faith togetherness, parents of First Communicants were also enrolled into the scapular at the same time.
The Brown Scapular is worn as a sign of devotion to the Blessed Mother.
A promise made by Mary is that those who wear the scapular when they die will not suffer the pains of hell.




