Transcript for:
Cardinal Stafford: Marian Image Blessing Ceremony

Do you have any suggestions that how are we what what images we should have in the blessing? What? So, it's going to be in a place that will inspire lots of Catholic groups. There will be seminarians. There will be religious sisters, the Catholic Health Initiative, the people from the Augustine Institute when they were still here. Any Catholic group and it will be there for them. So it's going to inspire many many Catholics who are each contributing to the church in different ways. So if that helps. Okay. And how about Colorado? Well, our legislature here and our legislature here and the culture of death that we have, we need our lady's intercession here like she did in Mexico because the Aztecs were sacrificing their children like we do here in Colorado with abortion. So, we need her intercession for our legislature and for our citizens to vote for a culture of life. Okay. And and the child down here, what did you say? So, some think it's an angel. Some Some say it's an angel. An angel. who is holding her mantle which represents earth. I mean her her t her tunic and then her mantle with all the stars on it represent heaven and he's holding heaven and earth indicating she's the queen of heaven and earth. Okay. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, we give you thanks for the image, this renewal of our understanding of Mary, the mother of your only begotten son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you father for the beauty of this image of Mary your son's beloved mother. We thank you for keeping us through this image of Mary that our feet are rooted upon the earth upon the child. your son. His childlike innocence that is revealed in the beauty of his mother. So we have here father of rootedness upon the earth and the rootedness upon the skies so that we lift up our hearts as we meditate upon this image. Our feet rooted in the earth and our eyes gazing at the beauty of the sky. We thank you father for the image of her face which speak speaks of the simplicity of the Aztec peoples revealing the holy simplicity of your mother of your son's mother whom you chose from eternity to be the mother of our savior. Mary's face reveals to us something of Simeon's prophecy of her that her own heart will be pierced will be pierced by a sword. So her face recalls for us the mystery of the suffering and the passion and the death of her beloved son who is also your son forever and ever. You have revealed through Mary the immense love, Father, that you have for us. John said that you, Father, have so loved the world that you have given us your only son so that we might have life. And the life was the light that see see before us in the image that surrounds the mother of your only son. So we thank you for recalling through Mary the blessed among all women. Recalling through her the humanity of your son, the rootedness of Mary in the humility of Mary. And we thank you also, Father, in the mystery of the stars and of the heavens, that your son is not simply of the earth, but he is also within the very essence of you, Father. He is divine with the beauty that is inexpressable of any man or woman and that is in the love that you have given to us, revealed to us that you have handed over the son of Mary to evil men on the cross so that we may have life through him who was born of this beloved woman our mother. So we pray for those who have the grace of contemplation of this beautiful image of your daughter. May they perceive not only the suffering of her son of her son but also the glory of her son. And thus the glory that we have through her that allows us both to contemplate the mystery of her life on earth and her assumption into heaven. So I ask you father to bless this very beautiful image of Mary, your son's mother and our mother. And may we and whoever looks upon this image in the future be rooted in the reality of the earth and the humility that comes to Mary through her rootedness in the earth. And may we also lift up our eyes and receive the strength that is revealed to us by her glory that is your glory, Father, and that she has had from the very beginning of her life upon earth. her immaculate conception. So we ask you to bless this image, but also to bless all of those including ourselves who look upon the mysteries of Mary revealed here so that we may partake of the joy of the Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary and who by overshadowing brought forth your eternal son who is the revelation of your glory. We have seen his glory, the only the glory of the only begotten son of the father. So we ask your blessing, Father, for all of these graces through Christ our Lord. Amen. What a beautiful image. Thank you. Thank you so much for your beautiful blessing. There be many blessings coming to the arch dasis through this image. Thank you for the the grace that you made that available is Mimi. Yeah, Mimi's right over here. I will give it Mimi. Mimi, what do you think? Beautiful. What do you think? Isn't it magnificent? It really is. What God has given to us through this on the other side and we can that over there that painting is one of the it's done by an artist English artist. You can see his name on the Dawson. It's Dawson. Monteue Dawson. Yes. And it's is it the Merryweather? Mary Witrich. Mary Witrich. Yes. Goes before the storm. And if you want, take this and you can look at the people on the deck. Thank you. Eminence's family, his mother and father bought this in Europe. Was it in Europe? Eminence. Yes. English. Isn't that incredible? Yes. You see it? Yes. May the sky and the water, all the clouds are incredible. It's beautiful. understanding of our lady. Thank you for sharing that. It's beautiful. Could be a Tuesday. Well, thank you. Thank you. Mimi, I have a Oh, let me bring this over for you, Eminence. Thank you. Can we would it be possible for us to get a photo? Oh, Eminence, can can Lisa, Dr. Lisa, and Jacqueline, come over to you? Yeah, you stay where you are, and I'm going to take a photo of you.