It was Pope Pius XII who in 1954 wrote this prayer in honour of the 100th anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception:
Enraptured by the splendour of your heavenly beauty, and impelled by the anxieties of the world, we cast ourselves into your arms, O Immaculate Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Mary, confident of finding in your most loving heart appeasement of our ardent desires, and a safe harbour from the tempests which beset us on every side.
Though degraded by our faults and overwhelmed by infinite misery, we admire and praise the peerless richness of sublime gifts with which God has filled you, above every other mere creature, from the first moment of your conception until the day on which, after your assumption into heaven, He crowned you Queen of the Universe.
O crystal fountain of faith, bathe our minds with the eternal truths! O fragrant Lily of all holiness, captivate our hearts with your heavenly perfume! O Conqueress of evil and death, inspire in us a deep horror of sin, which makes the soul detestable to God and a slave of hell!
O well-beloved of God, hear the ardent cry which rises up from every heart. Bend tenderly over our aching wounds. Convert the wicked, dry the tears of the afflicted and oppressed, comfort the poor and humble, quench hatreds, sweeten harshness, safeguard the flower of purity in youth, protect the holy Church, make all men feel the attraction of Christian goodness. In your name, resounding harmoniously in heaven, may they recognize that they are brothers, and that the nations are members of one family, upon which may there shine forth the sun of a universal and sincere peace.
Receive, O most sweet Mother, our humble supplications, and above all obtain for us that, one day, happy with you, we may repeat before your throne that hymn which today is sung on earth around your altars: You are all-beautiful, O Mary! You are the glory, you are the joy, you are the honour of our people! Amen.
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
One might think that tose with a veneration for the Virgin Mother might be offended at the sight of her balancing on a ball like a performing seal. On her way up through the ionisphere, no doubt.
The ways of Catholics are passing strange, at times.
Welcome back, Godlen! Toad has been pining.
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For “tose,” read “those” Thanks, wordpress edit!
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Toad,
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A little more clarity, please:
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That’s cousin Cyril, Godlen.
I aked him what he was up to, and he said, “Just having a ball!”
(No, seriously, he was just waitng for Tiger Woods to dive him miraculously straight up to Heaven, non-stop.)
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the sight of her balancing on a ball
Well, it is sort of biblical, Toad.
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
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Well, Godlen, Toad was not aware that it was sort of biblical or he’d have stayed “schtum” as you, and the Dutch Street Slang speakers, are commonly wont to say. Kept ‘is little green gob shut, in other words.
The crown of twelve stars is particularly convincing.
Something to do with the imminent collapse of the Euro, no doubt?
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Splendid Toad, funny you should say that. The crown of twelve stars on the European flag has not passed unremarked in many circles, such as this, whatever it is:
http://www.mother-god.com/flag-of-european-union.html
I’m also convinced that the ‘ball’ is in fact intended to be the moon and that the dark patches there are not the Dark Continent of Afrique, but rather lunar maria or seas. I heard a lecture on them two weeks ago.
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That’s cousin Cyril, Godlen.
Yes, Toad, I can see the family resemblance
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“Splendid Toad, funny you should say that.”
Well, Godlen, had it not been “funny,” there would have been scant point in Toad saying it, would there.
Because, like everything on CP&S (and, to be sure, the rest of the universe) if it’s not funny – then it’s just silly, innit?
Toad is a voice in the wildernes, he suspects. But this “funny business” is his “mantra” as Golden would put it.
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(Forgot to say that Cyril says he’s flattered.)
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This article reminds me of another press article yesterday which reported that in Oztralia they have advised nuns to take the contraceptive pill. But hold on a bit! Hold on!
The reason they advise this is that such a pill acts against ovarian diseases, one of which can be fatal. Nothing to do with contraception. It seems that because they are celibate they are more likely to contract ailments of the ovaries.
I am (clearly) no expert in these areas but I don’t see any probs with Church teaching here.
PS Is Godlen recommending that Taod use a mantra? Like yoga this is forbidden and could lead him into danger (church says).
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