Here at our Lady’s Shrine our Rosary Octave of Prayer will begin on Wednesday, October 7. AMM staff will pray the Rosary daily through next Wednesday, October 14. We hope you, too, will pray the rosary each of the eight days of this octave of prayer. Send us your intentions and the names of your loved ones to be remembered during the eight days of prayer. You may also burn Votive Lights for your special intentions. Pope Francis has urged all Catholics to pray the Rosary daily to unite us as one spiritual family and to help the Church in its time of trial. Saint Pope John Paul II taught that through this ancient prayer, we receive abundant grace, “as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.” 

You are invited to join the Association’s octave of Masses, February 11-18, honoring Our Lady of Lourdes. Send us your intentions now to be remembered and burn Votive Lights.  Mary, under her titles of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and Our Lady of Lourdes, is always ready to help her children. So many miracles are attributed to water coming from a spring at Lourdes, France. These miracles testify to the fact that Mary intercedes for us! This close connection between Lourdes and the Miraculous Medal is why we celebrate an octave of Masses here at the National Shrine of the Miraculous Medal honoring Our Lady of Lourdes. Read Fr. Kevin’s letter about the story of young Yvonne Fournier who was blessed with an instant and complete restoration of injuries she sustained in a work-related accident after a single bath in the waters of Lourdes.

Our Blessed Mother was conceived without sin, a fact we celebrate annually on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8. Because the second Sunday of Advent is celebrated on December 8 this year, the feast of the Immaculate Conception is transferred to December 9. By God’s grace, Mary kept her heart immaculate – free of sin and full of love for God. Here at our Lady’s Shrine, we honor Mary’s holy innocence by celebrating the Immaculate Conception Octave of Masses beginning on Monday, December 9. Submit your petitions to our Lady’s Shrine today to have them remembered during the eight days of Masses, and request Votive Lights as a sign of your prayer. During each day of the octave, say this prayer to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.

Here at our Lady’s Shrine our Rosary Octave of Prayer will begin on Monday, October 7.  The rosary will be recited at the Shrine Church each day of the octave for your special intentions on Monday at 6:45 p.m., CT, Tuesday through Friday at 7:45 a.m., CT, and on Sunday at 10:45 a.m., CT.  Send us your intentions and the names of your loved ones to be remembered in the Masses and prayers during the eight days of prayer. You may also burn Votive Lights for your special needs. During the eight days of the octave, please meditate on the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious  and Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, and prayerfully consider the actions of Jesus and Mary to better imitate their holiness in your life. We hope you will join us in person or in spirit.

Please send me your intentions for our Annunciation Octave of Masses and request Votive Lights to burn at our Lady’s Shrine. The octave begins Monday, March 25, and we want to remember you and your prayer requests throughout the eight days. On the feast of the Annunciation, March 25, the Church celebrates Mary’s “yes” to God to become the Mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We hope you will come, in person or in spirit, to our Lady’s Shrine in prayer during our Annunciation Octave of Masses, and give your “yes” to God, just as Mary did.