It’s August 1st, and the Church traditionally dedicated this month to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The Holy Virgin means everything to me. My love for the Blessed Mother was renewed and supercharged by the book “The World’s First Love” by Bishop Fulton Sheen. I was practically obsessed with her after reading that book. Sheen’s theology, words, and sentiments for the Blessed Mother changed my life in many ways, most significantly, it brought me into a very deep love for the Blessed Mother and a desire to be very close to her. After having considered doing the consecration to Jesus through Mary for a couple of years, I was inspired through Sheen’s book to finally, with great desire and excitement, go forward with the consecration. My next book was Total Consecration to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, and I did the consecration on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 2017. During the preparation for the consecration, I experienced an ever more mysterious love for Mary that was strong and an awareness of her presence that was simultaneously clear and mysterious. My online apostolate here is the fruit of that consecration because I wanted to do this for Mary (and obviously for Jesus).
It was around the time of the start of this deep love for Mary that I discovered the video below. Like Fulton Sheen’s book, it affected me very deeply. The understanding that “There is no rose of such virtue” as the “rose” that bore Jesus opened my eyes even more to the greatness and beauty of the Holy Virgin and the greatness of the God who created Her to be the mother of His Son. (Plus, Sting’s performance is beautiful!)
I hope it moves and renews you as it did me.
The Song
Sting (yes…Sting!) performs “There is No Rose of Such Virtue.” A classical hymn that lauds the virtue and purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a powerful and moving performance in its simplicity and acoustic complexity. Simple, but not insignificant, much like our holy Mother. See below to learn about the art I used in this post.
Ave Maria, Virgo Fidelis!
About the Art
“Our Lady in a Garland of Roses”
A mid 17th century painting by Giovanni Battista Salvi de Sassoferrato (1609-1685)
