> home > The 2008 pilgrimage > Meditations
PROGRAMME OF SERMONS and MEDITATIONS
YOU ARE OUR QUEEN
Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance
WHY THIS THEME ?
In 1885 Our Lady appeared to a simple 14 year old French country girl. She said in Bernadette’s local language of Occitan, ‘Qué soy era Immaculada Councepciou’. ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’
150 years later, our modern media, with its own agenda and its own ideologies, prefers to disregard this moment when Heaven descended to Earth with a message for us of true joy. Today’s world is absorbed in a culture of unrestrained consumerism and the elimination of anything that troubles this consumerism. Today’s world is obsessed with unrestrained individual rights, scorning all moral constraint. At the same time all around us there is an ever diminishing cultural awareness and capacity to discern. The official representatives of our countries, be they elected or imposed, are forcing their agenda of normalising homosexuality, legalising euthanasia … we are in the throes of social engineering, the dictatorship of emotional consensus.
The Church is calling us to bear witness, by our words but above all by our example. This year we propose to let ourselves be guided by the virtues, the natural basis of true joy and happiness. They are summarised in four main moral virtues that we call the four cardinal virtues :
Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance
These virtues are paths that we cannot travel without effort. And as our walk is difficult, we take hold of Our Lady’s hand, under the titles of Our Lady of Lourdes, of Guadalupe and of Fatima. Our Lady is our example, she has a message for us, she is the mediatrix of all the graces that we have need of.
Last year we studied the three theologal virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity. This year we are going to pray and study the four Cardinal Virtues, by putting ourselves wholeheartedly under the protection of Our Lady.
Parallels can be drawn, the expectation of our final joy is like setting out on pilgrimage, the necessity of ridding ourselves of sin is the moment of the Mass. During the march the virtues can be dealt with in cycles of three meditations per virtue. Each virtue is to be presented and commented with a simple definition and plenty of examples, concluding each of the four cycles by meditating on how Our Lady is a living example of the virtue being studied. The final conclusion on Monday will bring us to Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception.
Saturday 10th May 2008
Sunday 11th May 2008
Monday 12th May 2008
Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance
WHY THIS THEME ?
In 1885 Our Lady appeared to a simple 14 year old French country girl. She said in Bernadette’s local language of Occitan, ‘Qué soy era Immaculada Councepciou’. ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’
150 years later, our modern media, with its own agenda and its own ideologies, prefers to disregard this moment when Heaven descended to Earth with a message for us of true joy. Today’s world is absorbed in a culture of unrestrained consumerism and the elimination of anything that troubles this consumerism. Today’s world is obsessed with unrestrained individual rights, scorning all moral constraint. At the same time all around us there is an ever diminishing cultural awareness and capacity to discern. The official representatives of our countries, be they elected or imposed, are forcing their agenda of normalising homosexuality, legalising euthanasia … we are in the throes of social engineering, the dictatorship of emotional consensus.
The Church is calling us to bear witness, by our words but above all by our example. This year we propose to let ourselves be guided by the virtues, the natural basis of true joy and happiness. They are summarised in four main moral virtues that we call the four cardinal virtues :
Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance
These virtues are paths that we cannot travel without effort. And as our walk is difficult, we take hold of Our Lady’s hand, under the titles of Our Lady of Lourdes, of Guadalupe and of Fatima. Our Lady is our example, she has a message for us, she is the mediatrix of all the graces that we have need of.
Last year we studied the three theologal virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity. This year we are going to pray and study the four Cardinal Virtues, by putting ourselves wholeheartedly under the protection of Our Lady.
Parallels can be drawn, the expectation of our final joy is like setting out on pilgrimage, the necessity of ridding ourselves of sin is the moment of the Mass. During the march the virtues can be dealt with in cycles of three meditations per virtue. Each virtue is to be presented and commented with a simple definition and plenty of examples, concluding each of the four cycles by meditating on how Our Lady is a living example of the virtue being studied. The final conclusion on Monday will bring us to Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception.
Saturday 10th May 2008Sunday 11th May 2008Monday 12th May 2008