FATIMA CELL PROGRAM FOR DECEMBER

THEMES:

ADVENT. The Liturgical Year opens with the holy Season of Advent. This period of preparation for the great solemnity celebrating the coming of the Son of God among men represents the long centuries of eager waiting which preceded the appearance of our Redeemer. It is a time of hope, full of the longings and aspirations of the Prophets who foretold the promised Messiah. But in particular Advent is the season of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the new Ark of the Covenant, who awaits the fulfillment, in Her own sacred Person, of the message brought by the Archangel Gabriel. Holy Mother Church wishes us to be filled with the spirit of Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God, and those interior dispositions in which the Just among the Chosen People lived before the coming of the Messiah. We shall thus prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ into our souls by faith and Divine charity, as well as for His final Coming, on the Day of Judgment. In union with the Prophets, and especially in union with Our Lady, we should yield ourselves up to a joyful and fervent preparation of our hearts for Him Who is to come. As St. John the Baptist preached a gospel of repentance to "prepare the way of the Lord," let our hearts be truly humbled, meek and contrite, that the graces of our Savior's Nativity may be brought to us in abundance, and Jesus may be truly born anew in our hearts.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a lowly Aztec Indian, Juan Diego, in Mexico in 1531. As a proof of Her identity, she caused Her image to miraculously appear on the poor Indian's cloak, or tilma. Although executed on poor material that should have perished after 20 to 30 years, Her beautiful image remains intact to this very day. More important than the picture, however, is the manifestation which Our Lady gave to us all of Her loving and maternal heart through Her words to Juan Diego: “I urgently desire a temple to be built here... to bear witness to My love and compassion, my assistance, and protection. For I am a merciful Mother to all who love Me and trust Me and invoke My help. I will hear their weepings and supplications that I may give them consolation and relief... Am I not here, who am your Mother?" Our own beloved country, America, is dedicated to Our Lady under the glorious title of Her Immaculate Conception, and when She appeared on this continent, the symbols of Her Immaculate Conception were included in the apparition. Our Lady of Guadalupe, "She who crushes the head of the serpent," symbolizes Her triumph over Satan's seduction of Eve and the resultant original sin, Her triumph over the serpent-god of the pagan Indians, and the ultimate triumph of Her Immaculate Heart over the legions of Hell and the forces of Anti-Christ. "Let us gather round Her altar, let us raise Her banner high." Let us implore the Immaculate Virgin of Guadalupe to protect our homes, our families, and our country, against the raging tide of Protestantism, Liberalism, Materialism and moral decay, which are all too rapidly suffocating the light of Faith in so many souls and the fire of Charity in men's hearts.

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OPENING PRAYERS: * Come Holy Ghost * The Rosary with meditation on each mystery

* The Litany of Our Lady of Loreto * Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

* Prayer to St. Joseph after the Rosary * Hymn to Our Lady

* Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

MEDITATION: * from "My Imitation of Christ"; or The Glories of Mary on the Immaculate Conception.

STUDY & DISCUSS: * Officer's reports; Cell Memos; reading of the Salve Maria Regina Bulletin.

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First Meeting:

  1. THE TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC LITURGY: Review the articles on The Holy Season of Advent and The First Sunday of Advent (10 min. report; 5 min. discussion). Reference: See links above..
  2. MARY IN DOCTRINE AND DEVOTION: The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – discuss this wonderful prerogative of our Immaculate Queen, especially the power which She thus exercises over Satan and the legions of Hell as the "Woman who crushes the head of the Serpent;" discuss the solemn definition of the dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854, and the affirmation given by Our Lady at Lourdes to St. Bernadette. (10 min. report; 5 min. discussion). Reference: The Glories of Mary; excerpt from "Ineffabilis Deus" of Pope Pius IX, defining the Immaculate Conception.
  3. THE COURT OF OUR HEAVENLY QUEEN: Discuss the life of St. Ambrose (Feast – Dec. 7; 10-15 minute report and discussion). Reference: See link above.

Second Meeting:

  1. THE TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC LITURGY: Review the article on The Feast of the Immaculate Conception 10 min. report; 5 min. discussion). Reference: See link above.
  2. MARY IN DOCTRINE AND DEVOTION: Review Our Lady of Loreto (Dec. 10); Our Lady of Guadalupe, Madonna of the Americas (Dec. 12); Maria in der Tanne (Our Lady of Triberg – Dec. 20). (10 min. report; 5 min. discussion). Reference: Article: Translation of the Holy House of Loreto; articles on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Salve Maria Regina No. 96, No. 128, and No. 159; article on Our Lady of Triberg in Reign of Mary No. 52.
  3. THE COURT OF OUR HEAVENLY QUEEN: We cannot hope to dwell one day in the Heavenly Court of Our Immaculate Queen unless we strive diligently in the pursuit of holiness. Our Divine Master commands us all, "Be ye therefore perfect..." The Blessed who already dwell in Her Heavenly Court are inspirations for us in this pursuit of that life of holiness to which Jesus calls us. Among them: St. Francis Xavier; St. Peter Chrysologus; St. Barbara, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers; St. Nicholas of Myra; St. Damasus I; St. Frances Xavier Cabrini; St. John the Evangelist; and St. Thomas á Becket. (10 min. report and discussion). Reference: See links above; The Fourteen Holy Helpers by Fr. Bonaventure.

Third Meeting:

  1. THE TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC LITURGY: In preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, review the articles: The Liturgy of Christmas – First Vespers and Matins. (10 min. report; 5 min. discussion). Reference: See links above.
  2. EXPECTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY: Review the Liturgical Feast of the Expectation – Dec. 18 (10 min. report; 5 min. discussion). Reference: Salve Maria Regina No. 117; Salve Maria Regina No. 158; The Glories of Mary and The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Our Lord Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori.
  3. THE LITURGY OF ADVENT: Review the articles: The Ember Days of December and The Great Antiphons of Advent. (10 min. report and discussion). Reference: See links above.

Fourth Meeting:

  1. THE TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC LITURGY: In preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, review the article: The Liturgy of Christmas – Midnight Mass and Lauds. (10 min. report, 5 min. discussion). Reference: See link above.
  2. JESUS LIVING IN MARY: The Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary helps us to prepare for the Nativity of Our Divine Lord in the best possible way—in union with Mary. (10 min. report; 5 min. discussion). Reference: Salve Maria Regina No. 135.
  3. VIGIL OF THE NATIVITY: Review the article on The Vigil of the Nativity (10 min. report and discussion). Reference: See link above.

CLOSING PRAYERS: Advent Psalms and Prayers
Hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel or O Come Divine Messias
The Fatima Prayers

LEAFLETS OF THE MONTH: Peace be to You; And His Own Received Him Not

CELL PLAN OF APOSTOLIC ACTION FOR DECEMBER

* Make an act of love and reparation to your Blessed Mother Mary in Her Expectation at every hour, especially by recitation of the prayer,
"Hail and blessed be the hour..." (below).

* To promote the Message of Fatima * Sanctification of self, family, neighbor

* Conversion of sinners, salvation of souls * Adoration, reparation, total consecration

"HAIL AND BLESSED BE THE HOUR AND THE MOMENT IN WHICH THE SON OF GOD WAS BORN OF THE MOST PURE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, AT MIDNIGHT, IN BETHLEHEM, IN THE PIERCING COLD. IN THAT HOUR VOUCHSAFE, O MY GOD, TO HEAR MY PRAYER AND GRANT MY PETITIONS, THROUGH THE MERITS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. AMEN."

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