I was privileged the other day to lead the Fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary (Mary’s Assumption into Heaven) at the beginning of the “Is the Pope Catholic?” online conference. Fruit of the mystery is the grace of a well-provided death. The following popped up in my timeline this morning:
Prayer to Mary Most Holy to obtain a Good Death ~ St Alphonsus
The Glories Of Mary
by ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI
TUESDAY
Prayer to Mary most holy to obtain a good death
OH Mary, what will be my death? I tremble and am confounded when I now consider my sins, and think of that great, decisive moment of my salvation or eternal damnation, when I shall die and be judged. Oh my most sweet mother, my hopes are in the blood of Jesus Christ, and in thy intercession. Oh consoler of the afflicted, do not abandon me then; do not cease consoling me in that great affliction. If now I am tormented with remorse on account of past sins, the uncertainty of pardon, the danger of relapse, and the rigor of divine justice, what will become of me then? If thou dost not aid me, I am lost. Ah, my Lady, before my death arrives, obtain for me a great sorrow for my sins, a true amendment, and fidelity to God for the life that remains to me. And when the last moment of my life comes, oh Mary my hope, aid me then in my great distress, and encourage me then that I may not despair at the sight of my sins which the demon will present to me. Obtain for me the grace to invoke thee then more constantly, that I may expire with thy sweet name, and that of thy most holy Son, upon my lips. And now, oh Lady, pardon my boldness: before I expire come thyself to console me by thy presence. This grace thou hast granted to so many of thy servants, I also wish and hope for it. I am, indeed, a sinner, and I do not merit it; but I am thy servant, who loves thee, and has great confidence in thee. Oh Mary, I wait for thee, do not leave me disconsolate. At least, if I am not worthy of so great a favor, assist me from heaven, that I may die in the love of God and of thee, and come to love God and thee eternally in paradise.
As for the conference, Supernerd has cleaned up the video and removed all of the breaks/dead air. Revised timestamps are below, and the links to each “chapter” should be live.
Chapters:
Maybe our Blessed Mother’s Assumption into heaven was a direct outcome of her being conceived without original sin. If original sin (disobedience) brought physical death into the world (did they actually eat something that poisoned them? and we inherit that?), then without original sin, she would not have died. Our Lord certainly died on the cross — but since he also had no original sin and therefore no corrupted DNA– his body rose from death? He did really die — because he submitted himself to death as a perfect offering? I need to find some authorities on this.
The Church has not pronounced on whether Mary actually died on earth or not, only that she was immediately Assumed at the moment her earthly life came to an end. Deborah, I would urge you not to stray into morbid curiosity on this DNA stuff.
Great DVD available at Ignatius Press or EWTN. Adriano Braidotti acting is “spell binding”…at least for me.
As John Duns Scotus he speaks directly to Our Lady’s “final disposition” and says, “Make no mistake, she did die, but not as a result of original sin, she was preserved from our fate since she was not stained by original sin, however, she chose to die to follow more closely the path of her Son.”
I’ve watched this presentation 20 – 30 times and always come with having learned something new.
BLESSED DUNS SCOTUS – DVD
The inspiring true story of the holy Franciscan priest and theologian who won a famous debate against the Dominicans in the 13th century in which he defended Our Lady’s great privilege of her Immaculate Conception, laying the groundwork for the Church to later define that as a dogma of the Catholic faith. This acclaimed feature film stars Italian actor Adriano Braidotti in an award-winning performance as Blessed John Duns Scotus, who was Beatified by Pope John Paul II.
Filmed in Italian with English and Spanish subtitles. 85 minutes.
https://www.amicidomenicani.it/en/does-the-intact-human-nature-of-the-virgin-mary-differ-in-anything-from-the-intact-human-nature-possessed-by-adam-and-eve/
Sort of agree into going into some areas… I still think it’s a good thing to look at both science (we didn’t even know the role of ova until 1810) and revelation (and by that of course the Gospels and Acts and epistles). When this leads to thoughts about the Resurrection….that is terrifying … still, our faith gives us freedom to look at everything, with reverence (that is what disturbs me — if this is wrong, it’s horrific) — even so, as Pope Benedict once said — the faithful may ask any question. It’s your site — you decide.
I remember reading, I believe it was in the City of God, dictated to Mary of Agreda by the Blessed Virgin, that at Christ’s ascension the Blessed Virgin was bilocated to heaven and was offered by the Trinity to remain and not return to Earth. She refused, saying that if her Son died, she too needed to die.
He did really die on the cross.
You can ponder these things personally, maybe even ask God during prayer the things you ponder (did He will to die before He died at the cross?), but dogmas never err. The apostle’s creed mentions that he died.
We are free to study science, but most people forget that this is human knowledge. Human knowledge can err, but God cannot lie. For centuries we’ve been told to “trust the science”, which means nothing more than accept what they say because they say it, and not because of the reasons they say it (because if they had good reasons, they would state them, instead of asking you to trust them).
Mark, please feel free not to publish/delete my previous content. What you said was better, and I don’t want to scandalize her. Curiosity can be bad.
Been saying that intention long time, and for family, and priests also. God bless us all.
I like this account of the teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux on Purgatory: “One does not need to go to Purgatory,” by Father Dr. Hubert van Dijk, ORC.
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/St%20Theresa%20on%20Purgatory.pdf
Thank you for sharing this link.