Mother Mary (Hail Mary, Gentle Woman) with lyrics

The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

September is the month we devote to the Our Lady of Sorrows as September 15 is her Feast Day. I wished to provide a brief introduction to Our Lady of Sorrows as we contemplate her suffering this upcoming month.

The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
I.    The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)
II.   The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13)
III.  The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:43-45)
IV.  Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary (Luke 23:26)
V.   Jesus Dies on the Cross (John 19:25)
VI. Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in her Arms (Matthew 27:57-59)
VII.The Body of Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb (John 19:40-42)

The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

Mother of Sorrows Prayer
Father,
As Your Son was raised on the cross, His Mother Mary stood by Him, sharing His suffereing. May she, who is also our spiritual Mother and Patroness in Heaven, help us to find renewed strength at the cross of Christ and so come to share in His rising to new life, where He lives and regns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Mary receives the dead body of Jesus in her arms 

The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Traditionally celebrated August 22nd

  

"...and a sword shall pierce thy heart."

The Immaculate Heart of Mary, originally the Sacred Heart of Mary, is a devotional name used to refer to the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God, her maternal love for her Son, Jesus, and her compassionate love for all people.

Traditionally, the heart is pierced with seven wounds or swords, in homage to the seven dolors of Mary. Consequently, seven Hail Marys are said daily in honor of the devotion. Also, roses or another type of flower may be wrapped around the heart.

The Immaculate Heart has also been involved in (and been depicted) in saintlyMarian apparitions such as those to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 and appears on the Miraculous Medal. On the Miraculous Medal, the Immaculate Heart is pierced by a sword. The Sacred Heart of Jesus also appears on the medal, next to the Immaculate Heart, but is crowned with thorns, rather than being pierced by a sword. The M on the medal signifies the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified.

Our Lady of Fatima asked that, in reparation for sins committed against her Immaculate Heart, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months the faithful:

1. Go to Confession (within 8 days before or after the first Saturday)
2. Receive Holy Communion
3. Recite five decades of the Rosary
4. Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary

She promised that, whoever would do this, would be given at the hour of his death, the graces necessary for salvation

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A New Rosary for Margie

Front of the St. Therese rosary center that Margie chose

I made this rosary for my friend Margie. Although not her patron saint, her favorite saint is Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897), also known as "The Little Flower of Jesus". She died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. The impact of The Story of a Soul, a collection of her autobiographical manuscripts, printed and distributed a year after her death to an initially very limited audience, was great, and she rapidly became one of the most popular saints of the twentieth century. She was beatified in 1923, and canonized in 1925. 

Back of the St. Therese Rosary Center

Back of the Five Way Cross

Front of the Five Way Cross

Cross to Center Drop

Margie's Rosary

Margie's Rosary

Margie's Rosary

Margie chose the vintage center of St. Therese and I took it from there knowing that her favorite color is green. The front of the silver center shows St. Therese holding a cross and a large bunch of roses, a very typical picture of St. Therese, and the word "Saint Theresa, Child of Jesus". On the back, there is the famous quote by her which states "I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth". Instead of a crucifix, I chose a five way medal cross in silver with green enamel. A five way religious medal is fashioned in the shape of a cross, also known as a cruciform.  The cruciform is adorned with the Sacred Heart on the top of the medal and Miraculous Mary on the bottom.  On the right side of the cruciform, you will find St. Christopher; St. Joseph appears on the left. In the center is the Holy Spirit dove. This cross is silver with green enamel, since I wanted something green for Margie. The Paters (Our Fathers) are vintage sea glass, shell-shaped beads in different shades of green. These are surrounded by round clear vintage cystals and sterling silver beads. The Aves (Hail Mary's) are small sage green glass pearls. Here are a number of pictures of the rosary and its parts.

  

Mary's Graces: Discussion: Treasury Challenges

Illustrated Ink

I would really like to make three specific treasuries and I will give a $5 Amazon gift certificate to the winner of each or a $10 donation in your name to the charity of your choice. The winner will be chosen by random number generator of any member who has an item in their store based on any or all of the three treasuries that I want to do. Even if you're not chosen for the treasury, you still can win, as long as you have an item listed in your store on the dates posted. Multiple items each get a number. Notice the dates are Sept. 1, Oct. 1, and Nov. 1.

I think you know by now that I prefer to include religious items in my treasuries, so please keep that in mind. Of course, to be entered into the drawing, you do not have to be chosen for the treasury. You just need to list an appropriate item and follow the rules below. Basically - include the treasury title at the beginning of the title of your item, include marysgraces as a tag and include the treasury title as a tag.

Do not be pornographic or sacrilegious in the choice of your item. I prefer religious items. Please consider that we are the team of Mary's Graces.

1. Day of the Dead - please research what it's about and what makes it unique and come up with a new or vintage handmade item that represents this celebration.

For examples, see today's treasury. Go to wikipedia and learn more about it. Talk to Hispanic friends. Anything you can do to learn about it and make an item to represent this holy celebration.

This treasury will be done on Nov. 1, so please list your item before then and let me know so that I can add it to my favorite as well as give you a number for the prize entry.

Please have the title of your listing start with Day of the Dead and don't forget to include marysgraces (one word, no spaces) as a tag and Dad of the Dead as another tag.

Do not be pornographic or sacrilegious in the choice of your item. I am seeking creative items relating to this religious celebration.

2. Breast cancer - the ribbon color is pink. Please have your entry include this color. Other than being at least partially pink, the only requirements are in the title and tags. The date of this treasury will be September 1. So please have your items listed by that date.

Just a couple of examples: The patrons saints for breast cancer are St. Peregrine (all cancers), St. Aldegundis (breast cancer), and St. Agatha of Sicily (breast cancer). There may be others. Our Lady of Perpetual Help is often associated with cancer. Are there others?

Please have the title of your entry start with Breast Cancer and don't forget to include marysgraces (one word, no spaces) as a tag and breast cancer as another tag.

Do not be pornographic in the choice of your item. I am seeking creative pink items preferably religious.

3. Ovarian and Uterine cancer - the ribbon color is teal. Please have your entry include this color. Other than being at least partially teal, the only other requirements are in the title and tags (see below). The date for this treasury will be October 1. So please have your items listed by then.

For example, St Peregrine is the patron saint of all cancers. Our Lady of Perpetual Help is often associated with St. Peregrine and cancer. Are there others? Anything pink will be entered.

Please have the title of your entry start with Ovarian/Uterine Cancer and don't forget to include marysgraces (one word, no spaces) as a tag and ovarian uterine cancer as another tag.

Do not be pornographic in the choice of your item. I am seeking teal items, preferably religious.

Any questions, please post them here so that I can answer them here. If the questions are personal, please email me at stairwayheaven11@gmail.com.

The WoodWife Chronicles: Miraculous Medal Box Special Order

The WoodWife Chronicles: Miraculous Medal Box Special Order: "This box was really fun to make for Anna at Stairway Heaven Etsy Shop and a member of our Etsy team Mary's Graces. Anna wanted a special pi..."

Mary's Graces: Token of Love Give Away From Marie Segal

Mary's Graces: Token of Love Give Away From Marie Segal: "This next give away is a beaituful polymer clay cross created by Marie Segal from Art From My Heart. This is what Marie had to say about he..."

My New Tote Bag: The Madonna Tote

I just received a wonderful "gift" from Cross My Heart Handbags. I am thrilled with it. This was a custom tote that I ordered from Deb's Denim Faith Totes line. Deb does such wonderful work.

Of course, it has the painting of Our Lady of the Miraculous medal that I love so much, but don't know the artist. And it has a number of other wonderful paintings of Our Lady, including Our Lady of the Streets, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of the Rosary, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and others. It also has white lilies which represents the Madonna and are an important part of my store logo, Stairway Heaven. It has a fleur-de-lis which represents the Madonna and is part of my heritage living in southern Louisiana. It has two crucifixes, lots of pretty lace and embroidery, and a number of Bible verses including:

1 Corinthians  13:13 (one of my favorite verses)
Matthew 1:23
Luke 1: 16-18
Ephesians 2:8
John 19:26-27
Isaiah 7:14

It has two denim pockets inside and a nice long canvas strap so that I can use it to cross-over. Each of the different "denim patches" is separated using different little stitches. There are so many little wonderful details that I just love it. Deb truly is an artist. 

Even before she joined the Catholic Etsy Artists Guild, also known as CEAG, and also known as teamcatholic, she donated a totebag to the PIF promotion. The totebag, also in the denim faith tote line, is called "The Path of the Righteous Tote" and is very beautiful. A second line of religious totes, called the Hope and Faith totes line, is a bit more "hip" but just as wonderful. Deb is a lovely lady and a charitable Christian. We are lucky to have her as a member of our guild.

Evening Prayer

Someone has said that if Christians really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.

Did you know that during WWII there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England,its people and peace?

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (7:00 PM Mountain) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, pleasepass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.

How wonderful if we all would do this and also pass this message on. God would certainly have mercy on us and help us.

Review Time: Review Time! Hand-Crafted Prayer Beads by Stairway Heaven

Review Time: Review Time! Hand-Crafted Prayer Beads by Stairway Heaven

Help Please Identifying a Rosary Center - She's Our Lady of Sorrows!

Greetings All,

I would like some help please identifying the person depicted on this rosary center.  The picture is below. The  back of the center shows the Earth and has the words Terra Santa. I looked up the words and I think I know who she is, but I'd like a non-biased opinion so I'm not going to say anything. I'd appreciate any help you could give to me.

Update: Thank you for the help identifying her as Our Lady of Sorrows and the Terra Santa as the soil of the Holy Land from Jerusalem.

Blessings,

Mary's Graces: Art Page

Mary's Graces: Art Page: "Hi I will start off this page so you can see what maybe we can do. This is Guadalupe by me, Donna The Woodwife you can read how I was inspir..."

The second painting down on Mary's Graces blog: Art Page is a painting I had commissioned by the Etsy artist Nat Ewert called "Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal", copyright 2011.