Ava Maria...

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Before I go any further, let me explain to you what that is…you may also be thing about the Sacred Heart of Christ. It is a devotional name used to refer to the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God, her maternal love for her Son, Jesus, and her compassionate love for all people.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Senior Leadership Team (IHM) was created 5 years ago at SEAS by a former youth minister, Kevin. I was on the first IHM Team. It is for the recently Confirmed juniors who wish to return to help with the LifeTeen program. You are assigned to work with a small group leader, usually Confirmation. You also get the privilege of going on the Confirmation retreat(s) to help out with your small group, skits, or whatever they may need you for.

You are modeling Mary’s simple way of loving and serving other’s quietly with a servant’s heart.  She is the perfect example of how one should serve and love others.

Being a part of the team my senior year, I learned so much! Leadership kills, organizational, and how to love and serve like her. There are just some things that seem to mean more when you learn them though. Now, granted they all did serve me well, but somehow the ability to love and serve come first, then everything else will fall into place if you can do those things first.  Funny how when you center you life around Christ, it seems to flow smoother, choices don’t seem as hard, and what is done, is what He wants done.

The teens that have gone through after my team have been great. It amazing to see how it has transformed and grown over the past years. Each team makes it their own. I was able to go on retreat with this coming year’s IHM. It was awesome to see them come together over the week and put aside their differences and come together for one common purpose.

It makes me happy to see such a wonderful tradition carried on at St. Elizabeth despite all of the changes they have been through.

“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:28

Ave Ave Ave Maria… Ave Ave Ave Maria
Ave Ave Ave Maria… Ave Ave Ave Maria

Hail, Holy Queen

Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae. Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te Suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.