One week after Christmas, on 1st January, the Church invites us to start the New Year by contemplating Mary, Mother of God.
In Lourdes we pray to Mary, Mother of God
Since 11th February 1858, the date of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous, the people of God have been praying unceasingly to the Mother of God.
The Church took more than three centuries to finalise these words and to make them the heart of her faith concerning Mary: Mary, Mother of God.
The second part of the Hail Mary continues the prayer to Mary, expressing the prayer of the Church. It opens with a true profession of faith: Holy Mary, Mother of God... In a few words, addressed in prayer to Mary, it repeats the most profound content of the angel’s greeting to Mary, and that of Elisabeth, who were at the heart of the prayer and contemplation of the first part of the Hail Mary:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee
Blessèd 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
It is this profession of faith, born at the Council of Ephesus in 431, matured and borne by centuries of faith, that the Hail Mary takes up, like a cry from the heart, like the cry of faith: Holy Mary, Mother of God!
Follow the rosary at the Grotto of Massabielle every day:
In English at 3:00 p.m.
In French at 3:30 p.m.
In Spanish at 4:15 p.m.
In Italian at 6:00 p.m.
And during the pilgrimage season you can also follow it in Polish, German, Portuguese…
The whole world comes together to pray to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, at the Grotto of Massabielle or through our channels TV Lourdes, Radio Présence, KTO, TV 2000, EWTN, and our social networks; facebook, Twitter, etc.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, and World Day of Peace
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace” (Is 52:7)… May more and more men and women strive daily, with quiet humility and courage, to be artisans of peace. (Pope Francis 55th world day of Peace, 2022)
A New Year’s evening concert at the Sanctuary on 1st January, broadcast by Cnews and performed by the Little Singers of the Wooden Cross. The concert was recorded on Monday, 19th December at 4:30 p.m., in the Rosary Basilica at of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
