Episode Transcript  

One

St. Mary Major – Our Lady of the Snows

Today the Church celebrates the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, built on the site where, according to ancient tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared. In A.D. 352, a wealthy Roman couple, John and his wife, had no children. They prayed to Mary to show them how to use their fortune for God's glory. Consecrating themselves and all they possessed to her, they asked, "Mary, what do you want us to do?"

That night Mary appeared in a dream to both John and Pope Liberius, telling them to build a church where they would find snow the next morning. On August 5th, in the heat of the Roman summer, snow miraculously covered the Esquiline Hill. Pope Liberius traced the outline of the church in the snow, and John and his wife financed its construction. This became the original Liberian Basilica.

Nearly eighty years later, in A.D. 431, the Council of Ephesus solemnly proclaimed Mary as Theotokos, the Mother of God. To celebrate this great doctrine, Pope Sixtus III enlarged the earlier church into the magnificent Basilica of St. Mary Major, the first and greatest Marian church in the West. This miracle reveals something remarkable about God. Throughout the history of the Church, God sends His Mother Mary to help us do His will.

Two

Mary Continues to Come

There is a long history of Mary appearing to people and letting us know what the Father wants us to do! I’m sure you are familiar with Mary appearing in Mexico City in 1531 as Our Lady of Guadalupe, and at Lourdes in 1858 and Fatima in 1917. But did you know that Mary appeared in 1968 in Zeitoun, Egypt, where over one million people saw her at the same time and it was captured by Egyptian national T.V? In 1973 in Akita, Japan Mary gave a striking message to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa for the whole world. Then Mary appeared in Betania, Venezuela in 1976, in then in 1980 in Capua Nicaragua. Then from 1981-83 in Kibeho, Rwanda. Then San Nicolas, Argentina in 1983. And from 1981 to the Present Mary has been appearing every day in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The most important questions should be: “Why is Mary appearing with a greater frequency? And even more important, what is her message? Like Giovanni and his wife, we need to ask, “Mary, what do you want us to do?”

Three

Why Does Mary Keep Coming?

Why is Mary appearing all over the world with a greater frequency and urgency? Her message at Fatima gives us the answer. In fact, at Medjugorje Mary said, “What I began at Fatima I will complete in Medjugorje.” During the July 13th, 1917 apparition in Fatima, after showing the three children a vision of hell, Mary said, "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace."

Then she made this extraordinary promise, "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

Mary comes because the world has forgotten God and turned away from Him. She comes because souls are in danger of being lost forever. She comes to call us back to her Son. And she is calling us to get into the game with her.

Four

What does it mean to repent?

Our Lady is calling us first to turn back to God. To repent and believe. To repent means to remove our sinful behaviors and we even need to cut off and pluck out the situations, the triggers that lead us into our sins. And the only way to do this is to do a courageous and honest examination of conscience and then go to Confession. Mary has asked us to go to keep the process up and go to Confession at least once a month.

But I know from experience that if I don’t do an examination of conscience as a daily habit, then when that month rolls around I wont go because I haven’t prepared. I may not even think I need to go because I am not aware of my sin because I have not though about them. You know, out of sight out of mind. But everyone else sees them and they probably wish I would go to confession more often. I might be better to live with…

Our Lady also calls us to believe. Faith comes from prayer. It comes from daily meditation where we read or listen to the teaching of Jesus, think about what he said and apply it to your life asking, “Am I living this or not?”

Make the choice to do what Jesus is saying. This is how we turn back to God, how we repent and how we grow in faith and do what the Father is asking.

Five

Helping Our Loved Ones

Our Lady has come to call us to turn back to God and to get into the game. We all have people in our lives who are distant from God. We want more than anything to be in Heaven with them. And we all want to do something to help them but often lack competence and confidence.

That is what we can help you with. We have developed a process. The Daily Rosary Podcast which helps you with daily meditation and a resolution. The practice we can give you to develop the skills to help your loved ones. We can help you help your loved ones. But we can’t help you if you don’t take part.

Click here and join the Movement of the Holy Family.

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