Our Lady of The Fountain

Beads of Joy 09-06-10

Our Lady of The Fountain
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

Today is Labor Day in America, so for starters, I'd just like to say, "Party, party, party, bbq, bbq, party. lol" Ok, now that that's out of my system. But let me share a rather interesting slogan from the early days of Labor Day, "A common slogan: "Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest," illustrated the desire for leisure time and freedom from punishing shifts that could last from early dawn till dusk – it is estimated that the average 1880s workweek in manufacturing was over 60 hours.", that's a quote from an article by Skyla Freedom, talking about why we celebrate Labor Day. I thought the slogan was rather interesting to share. Today is also a day to celebrate our Lady. Did you know that every single day of the year has some sort of a Marian celebration to it? I've known that for some time now, but lately in my research I have found it to be more and more true, with all the in-depth information I have come across. Well today we can observe Our Lady of the Fountain, which occurred near Valenciennes, France. The year is kinda sketchy, it seems to be somewhere between 1001-1016. It's always wonderful learning how Our Lady has touched so many souls throughout time, and across the globe. Today's celebration is no different, here check this out.

Our Lady of The Fountain: It was a hermit that Mary appeared to near Valenciennes, France; it was there that Our Blessed Mother entrusted him to call everyone to fasting and prayer to stop the plague. The response was overwhelming and many of the people of Valenciennes came out and appeared in public the next day and surrounded the statue. That evening our Blessed Mother and some angels were seen to appear surrounding the city to stop the plague and prove the security of the city. Through Mary's encouragement the residence of Valenciennes held the vigil till the next day. I hope this is all making some sort of sense. The details to some of these unknown Marian celebrations are difficult to put together. I just thought it would be wonderful to start sharing them every once in a while. As a result of this vigil and Our Blessed Mothers appearance, the plague immediately stopped. On this day in Valenciennes, there is a procession every year celebrating this event. I am working on trying to assemble all the apparitions of Our Lady, an incredibly daunting task I must admit. But I do it with such vigor and excitement that I just know one day it'll be all done, so I can share it with everyone.

I think from time to time as my research continues, I will share different Marian feast days around the world. I thought it to be interesting to share many of these apparitions that aren't widely spoken about. In our Marian observances, the month of September is known as the "Month of Our Lady of Sorrows". Here is a quick overview of the month ahead.

SEPTEMBER

1. Collection of all the Feasts of Our Lady, celebrated at Louvain
2. Our Lady of Helbron, Germany (1441)
3. Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd, France
4. Our Lady of Haut, Restores Young Woman, Belgium (1419)
5. Our Lady of the Woods, Galloro (1621)
6. Our Lady of the Fountain, Valenciennes, France
7. Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lady, instituted in (722)
8. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 B.C.)
9. Our Lady of Le Puy, France (221)
10. Our Lady of Trut, Cologne, Germany, St. Heribert (10th C.)
11. Our Lady of Hildesheim, Germany (11th C.)
12. The Holy Name of Mary
13. Our Lady of Zell (Mariazell), Austria
14. Our Lady of Einsiedeln, Switzerland
15. Feast of the 7 Sorrows of Mary
16. Our Lady of Good News, Sicily
17. Our Lady of the Candles, (15th C.)
18. Our Lady of Smelcem, Flanders
19. Our Lady of La Salette, France (1846)
20. Our Lady of the Silver Foot, at Toul in Lorraine, France (1284)
21. Our Lady of Pucha, Valentia (1223)
22. The Giving of the Name of Mary to Our Lady, via. St Ann
23. Our Lady of Valvenere, Spain
24. Our Lady of Ransom, Spain (1218)
25. Madonna, Divine Shepherdess, Spain (1703)
26. Our Lady of Victory at Tourney (1340)
27. Our Lady of Happy Assemby, Le Laus, France (1664)
28. Our Lady of Cambron, France (1322)
29. Our Lady of Tongres, France (1081)
30. Our Lady of Beaumont, Lorraine, France (12th C.)

On another reflection of today, there is something in today's gospel I thought I'd like to share. Today's gospel is, Matthew 6:31-34, and verses 33-34 sum up so much for so many of us as we all walk together towards Jesus in our lives, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." We all are under some sort of anxiety or stress or duress. And scripture has this way of helping console us, as we all take this most spectacular "Journey Home" to our Lord. We can't allow ourselves to be divided and depressed by the ways of this world. Nothing is this world really has anything to do with our eternity. Yes, we have to be here and obey God's laws and love Him to get to our eternity with Him; but the anxiety and stress and sorrow here in its wholeness are really separate and completely not a part of our eternity. All these things here are pretty much that, "here" and that's where they will stay when we are long gone. We must stay focused on Jesus. Here is an encouraging scripture that I love, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17. It's scripture like that that has me all wound up and giddy with with God's Joy. Praise Jesus for loving us so much to share such wisdom with us. God's word is a treasure, sink your teeth into the bible and spend all of your days reading it, your heart with be overflowing with Joy. And of cause you knew I'd say this: Pray every chance you get, "Jesus, I trust in You."


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO