This issue of our Lady’s Bulletin is dedicated to Thanksgiving and Advent as we prepare for the great feast of Christmas.  Our feature article is about our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of North and South America.  In this first apparition of the New World in 1530, Mary came to give the indigenous people hope and a gift, her Son, Jesus Christ.

This year we celebrate the 350th anniversary of the deaths of Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac, I would like to share some thoughts about the impact these two saints had on others through their lives and works.

Join Our Christmas Novena
I invite you to join us during our Christmas Novena by lighting a Votive Light and sending your intentions to be remembered in the nine days before Christmas. Our novena begins on December 16 and concludes on Christmas Eve, just before Midnight Mass.

My Christmas Gift to You
My gift for you is to burn a Votive Light for you during the nine days of the beautiful Christmas Novena. Why do I want to remember you in a special way at Christmas? You and I are partners in bringing Mary’s motherly care to the world.

Would you also like your own individual prayer intentions to be at our Lady's Shrine too? If you send them to me right away, I will place them at our Lady’s Altar in time for the Christmas Novena. You may also wish to burn your own Votive Light at our Lady's Shrine during Advent and the Christmas season.

It can happen at the end of the calendar year that you might be in a position to consider a larger gift to the Association than what was possible during the year. If you are this fortunate, please consider making a Year-End Gift to our Lady’s Association. The poor and abandoned that we serve will be extremely grateful to you for your generosity.

Harold and Virginia (Carron) Werner grew up near each other in Southeast Missouri. They were married for 63 years and lived on the family farm where Harold grew up.  They were long-time members of the Association.  They listed our Lady’s Association as a beneficiary in their living trust. I invite you to read about their final gift to the Association through their estate.

I will be leading a pilgrimage to various cities in Italy, especially Rome and Sicily, next April 12-23.

One of the highlights of the pilgrimage will be a papal audience with his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, if his schedule permits at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. April is a beautiful time of the year in Italy. Please contact me for a brochure and further details if you are interested in joining me.

Online Gift Shop

I have two wonderful gifts to offer you. The first is our ever-popular album of Christmas Prelude Music. It is a CD with about an hour of the Shrine Choir’s Christmas music.  These are not typical Christmas carols; rather, they are sacred musical pieces suited to the Advent and Christmas seasons, usually sung without instrumental accompaniment.

Our second gift is a delightful Ruby Rosary. The brilliant red crystalline plastic beads of this exquisite rosary tell the story of our Redemption. We have many more resources at our online Gift Shop.

Please consider making a monthly gift to our Lady’s Association to help keep the Association’s administrative costs to a minimum. Our Monthly Giving Program makes it possible for you to add an automatic charge to your credit card, or a debit to your bank account on the 10th of each month. This allows more of your donation to go directly to the works of our Lady’s Association.

The leadership of the Associations of the Miraculous Medal in various countries throughout the world gathered in Paris from November 16-20 to study our statutes and constitutions and see how we can be more effective in spreading devotion to Mary, conceived without original sin.

The meetings were very productive, and I will provide you withl a more detailed report in a future newsletter.  I remembered you and your intentions in my prayers at the Shrine of the Apparitions while I was in Paris.