Marian Devotion - the essence is love.  ~~ There are so many important reasons to be devoted to Our Lady ~ and they all boil down to love.  It can be likened to the honey bee!   A hive of bees has to fly 55,000 miles and visit TWO MILLION flowers in order to make ONE POUND of honey.  The nectar from all those different flowers are vital to make up the pound of honey.  Imagine!  All the nectar gathered boils down to one pound ~ similarly - all the reasons for being devoted to Mary boils down to just one - LOVE!
The more we love God, the more we love our neighbor.  If our love of neighbor grows, how much more will our love for the Holy Mother of God grow.  No one can love Her more than Her Divine Son, and no one wants her loved and honored more than He does.  Bl. William J. Chaminade said:  “The honor of Mary is so intimately connected with the honor and glory of Jesus that to deny the one is at the same time a denial of the other.”   After all, without Mary, there would be no Jesus, Savior.  As she is our spiritual mother, she is more our mother than our earthly mother.  All good earthly mothers nurture,  teach and love their children as they attend to all the details ~ helping them to grow in holiness and setting them on the path to heaven.  Children love and trust their mother.  As Our Lady is the most perfect, holy, tender and loving Mother, She leads us to closer union with Her Divine Son and ultimately to heaven.  She wants the best for us and gives us the best care and she will give us an over-abundance of graces.  When we trust Her and we turn to her, She will take us by the hand and help us through this valley of travails.  Trusting in this maternal cooperation, let us turn to Mary, imploring her help in all our needs.  Blessed be the moment when we shall meet Her in Heaven!

BLESSED BE GOD!  BLESSED BE JESUS CHRIST IN THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR!
We are truly blessed to be able to adore Our Lord exposed in the Blessed Sacrament every morning.  He is our Love, our Life, our Hope, our joy, our peace, our ALL!  We could not live without Him, our Most Holy Spouse.  Following Adoration, we proceed to Holy Mass, where we worship Him and receive Him into our lowly hearts.  He embraces us and reaches out to us as we receive Him ~ and we, in turn, reach out to Him, enfolding Him as He comes to our hearts, souls, mind - our whole being.  There is absolutely NOTHING on earth that is more wonderful, greater, more important, more necessary than this infinite Gift ~ God Himself.  Who else could devise such an ingenuous plan to keep close to His creatures?  WHAT GOD IS  GREAT LIKE OUR GOD?

"I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD; yea, I will remember thy wonders of old.
I will meditate on all thy work, and muse on thy mighty deeds.
Thy way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
Thou art the God who works wonders, who hast manifested thy might among the peoples.
Thou didst with thy arm redeem thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph." -  Psalm 77:11-15

CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD - HELPING THE CHILDREN TO EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF JESUS
We have an infinitely magnificent gift - The Infinite Love of Jesus.  We have been so blessed to be part of this program founded by Maria Montessori in Italy.  Her teaching method is unique in that she strove to help children learn through "hands on experience" ~ not using a lot of words.  After years of research and teaching, she devised a catechetical program wherein the  "teachers" are "helpers" - learning and experiencing with the children.   On each day, we begin with a gathering, followed by a few songs around the piano, then a small catechetical presentation which demonstrates one of the biblical prophesies,  parables, infancy narratives or Easter stories, followed with the children  working on "practical life" activities and we close the grace-filled day with a prayer.  Blessed be God!