Spiritual Bouquet in Honor of 100 Years
St. Mary’s Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes
St. Mary’s Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was constructed in 1916 in thanksgiving for the miraculous healing of baby Helen Ahmann in 1914. In honor of Our Lady of Lourdes and her healing presence among us, we will be gathering spiritual bouquets to present to her on her Feast Day, February 11, 2017. All are invited to pray and honor our Blessed Mother by gathering a spiritual bouquet for her. View the suggestions below and participate as you are able. At Sunday Masses February 11 and 12, 2017, we will present our bouquet to Our Lady of Lourdes.
If you are not able to attend one of the suggested daily Masses, you can certainly honor Our Lady of Lourdes in another way on that day and mark the opportunity as accomplished! For information on any event, contact Dn. Rick Roder, 712.540.3100.
____ May 10/11:Attend Virtual Lourdes Pilgrimage May 10 (at Remsen) or May 11 (at Queen of Peace, Sioux City)
____ May 13: Attend Friday daily Mass to honor Our Lady of Fatima
____ May 19: Attend Mass in honor of Our Lady of Luxembourg, Thursday May 19, 6:00 PM at St. Donatus historic site outside Alton (weather backup plan: St. James, Le Mars at 6:30).
____ May 29: Honor Our Lady of Lourdes by participating in the Oyens St. Catherine’s annual Corpus Christi procession
____ May 31: Attend daily Mass in honor of the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
____ June 4/5: Lift up Andrew Galles in prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes as he is ordained a deacon, Cathedral of Epiphany, Sioux City. Attend Mass of ordination June 4, 10 AM at Cathedral and/or his first preaching Masses, June 5, 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM at St. Mary’s
____ Take a summer retreat at St. Benedict Center (Schuyler NE) Broomtree Retreat Center (Irene SD), another retreat center, or even plan a retreat at home
____ July 26: Attend daily Mass to honor Mary’s parents Sts. Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus
____ August 15: Attend Mass of the Assumption at the Grotto, hear Msgr. Mangan’s homily, and enjoy ice cream social
____ August 22: Attend daily Mass to honor the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
____ September 8: Attend daily Mass to celebrate Our Blessed Mother’s birth
____ September 9: Attend daily Mass in honor of Mary, the patroness and namesake of our church, school and parish, on the Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary’s Church, Remsen (112th year)
____ September 12: Attend daily Mass in honor of the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary
____ September 15: Attend daily Mass to console Our Lady of Sorrows on her feast
____ October 7: Attend daily Mass to honor Our Lady of the Rosary, and say a rosary on this day in her honor
____ November 21: Attend daily Mass in commemoration of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by her parents in the Temple
____ December 8: Attend obligatory Mass of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pray to Mary for our nation as this is the Patronal Feast Day of the United States of America.
____ December 12: Attend daily Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Consider traveling to a Hispanic Mass or celebration; Sioux Center, Storm Lake, etc. Our Lady is patroness of our diocese under this title
____ December 30: Attend obligatory Mass for Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
____ January 1: Attend obligatory Mass of Mary’s great high feast, the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
____ January 7: At First Saturday Mass for the Immaculate Heart of Mary, remember St. Bernadette on her birthday (her feast day is April 16, so is not available for this spiritual bouquet). Mary appeared to Bernadette at Lourdes. View them both in the stained glass window and in the statue at the grotto.
____ February 2: Attend daily Mass to honor Mary and Joseph’s Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple
____ Rosaries said in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes and asking her intercession: ______(total)
____ First Saturday Masses attended (preferably with Confession) to honor Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart: ______(total)
____ Watch a Lourdes movie (in order of preference): Song of Bernadette (1943, a classic), Bernadette (1988, Ascension Press) or The Passion of Bernadette (1989). All are good. Also you can find some documentaries online. Movies/documentaries viewed: ______(total)
____ Read a book on Lourdes or St. Bernadette (search on Amazon, many good ones available; also books/movies are available from the media center of the Diocese of Sioux City, scdiocese.org)
____ Family, group, or personal pilgrimage to Queen of Peace in Sioux City
____ Spend some time in Eucharistic Adoration in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes (Adoration available @ SM Fridays, 8:15 to 4:00). Amount of time spent in Adoration: ______
____ Pray with people using Lourdes water: ______(total number of people)
____ February 11: In some special way, celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes; perhaps include a prayerful visit to our Grotto. Use this day to thank our Lady for her graces granted to you in gathering this spiritual bouquet.
____ February 11/12: Attend one of the Sunday Masses at St. Mary’s and present your spiritual bouquet to Our Lady of Lourdes! Instructions/reminder will be provided closer to the date.
Additional ways I honored Our Lady of Lourdes (use added piece of paper if necessary):