The Catholic Nook: Chaplet of Our Lady of the Snows

Happy Catholic Nook Wednesday everybody. :) These posts can really be about any sort of Catholic devotion or practice, but I notice that I've devoted quite a few of them to chaplets. The reason for this is, well...I love chaplets. And I own quite a few of them. :0 OK, a LOT of them, if you must know. I have several small pouches that I keep in my purse loaded up with all of them, you know, in case of emergency and I need to whip one of them out and pray. My mom has always had the biggest purses of anyone I've ever known. She carries things around in there like snacks for the kids, water bottles, tissues, and hand sanitizer. I have chaplets. It's my contribution to the world. ;-)

I received a few new chaplets this month, and so this Nook and the next will be devoted to them. I love chaplets because they're usually small and quick to pray, but they pack a powerful punch. They also are tied to a specific saint, title of Our Lady, or devotion (the sacred heart, that sort of thing) and so in my experience, chaplets help me to focus my prayer. What do I have in store for you this month? Settle in with your tea or coffee. :)

In December, I wrote about my devotion to Our Lady of the Snows. Our Lady under this title is credited with a miraculous summer snowfall in Rome. I love asking for the intercession of Our Lady, and the reminder that prayer can work miracles is so soothing to me. I'm also a lover of beautiful snowfalls (generally :)) and so this devotion just really speaks to me. After I wrote that post, I started wondering if there was a specific chaplet devoted to Our Lady of the Snows. Hum...

*librarian zooms in!*

Why yes, there is! And you can see one pictured above, that Allison crafted for me. (and pssst! She has another one just like it listed in her shop. #ChapletEnabler ;-)). The fact that the beads are Snowflake Lapis and Snow Quartz, with a snowflake centerpiece, just adds to the perfection, in my opinion. So how do you pray this chaplet?

This chaplet configuration is very similar to a traditional rosary with five segments of prayers (albeit shorter segments), but with some customizations. To begin:

• Make the Sign of the Cross on the Crucifix.
• On the three beads of the "drop," pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.
• At the centerpiece, pray the Memorare:

  Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer them. Amen.

• On the white beads, pray five Hail Marys.
• On the blue beads, pray:

  Our Lady of the Snows, pray for us.
  St. Joseph, pray for us.
  St. Therese of the Child Jesus, pray for us.
  St. Eugene de Mazenod, pray for us.

• Repeat that for each of the five segments. Then, back at the centerpiece, pray the beginning of the Magnificat:

  My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on His lowly servant. From this day, all generations shall call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me, and Holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.

• Pray a Glory Be.
• Make the Sign of the Cross, and you're done!

I've used my chaplet several times since I received it, and absolutely love it. The Memorare is one of my favorite prayers, there is something about the lilting Marian phrases that really draw me in. The beads on my particular chaplet are a bit heavier than most of my rosaries, and very smooth, and they feel so solid and comforting moving through my fingers. I just love it.

This isn't a very well known chaplet, at least it seems that way to me. Has anybody else prayed this chaplet before? Do leave a comment. :)

The Catholic Nook: Our Lady of the Snows & the Christmas Novena...

Happy Tuesday everybody! I'm so excited about our post for today. Before I talk about Our Lady of the Snows, it seemed perfect that today is day 1 of the Christmas Novena. I have a page at the top of the blog for those of you interested in praying along with me. There is a link to sign up for the daily email reminders. The Christmas Novena begins each year on December 16th and runs through Christmas Eve as a spiritual preparation for the big day. So get your intentions squared away and get started!

Ok, so Our Lady of the Snows. This has become my new obsession. :) And the image in this post? I LOVE IT. I've been searching for a similar prayer card, but no luck so far. At any rate, let's learn more about her, shall we?

This title for Mary developed from a tradition involving a Roman couple in the year 352. Both husband and wife had a dream in which Mary appeared to them and told them that she wanted a church built in a place on which snow would fall to mark the spot. Given that they lived in Rome, you can imagine that the couple was a bit curious. :) Snow doesn't fall all that often there, especially in August. :0 Well, sure enough, on August 5th snow covered Esquiline Hill in Rome. All of Rome proclaimed this a miracle, and a church was built on the hill in 358. Through the years, the church has undergone a lot of restoring and refurbishing, and is the modern day Basilica of St. Mary Major. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who honor Our Lady of the Snows as their patroness, run an American shrine to Mary under this title in Belleville, Illinois, which features a Way of Light at Advent and Christmas and multiple small shrines to Mary under her various titles (Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes). Her feast is celebrated on August 5th. A special prayer for her intercession is below:

Our Lady of the Snows, Immaculate Queen of the Universe, from this privileged sanctuary, Thou has bestowed so many countless graces and pledges of love upon the hearts and souls of millions. O Mother, from this cradle of Christianity, this Mother Church of all churches, deign to shower forth the graces of thine Immaculate Heart upon the remnant Faithful throughout the world, wherever they may be, and grant them the graces of a childlike love and unwavering fidelity to the holy truths of our Faith. Grant, good Mother, to the faithful Bishops of the Church the grace to defend Her Sacred Teachings, and to persevere courageously against all the enemies of the Holy Church. Amen.

 Cool, huh?

I just absolutely love the image of Mary under this title, it just gives me such a cozy feeling. Our Lady of the Snows isn't a very well known title for her, and finding gift items bearing this image are difficult to come by.  I had her in mind when I recently asked the fabulous Allison to craft matching rosaries for me (for me and Anne) with a Frozen colorway theme. Our Lady of the Snows rosary centers are nonexistent as far as I know, so I asked her to use Our Lady of Lourdes:

Isn't it stunning? The colors are just so evocative to me of Our Lady of the Snows. The bead mix is called "Glacier," and has sparkly blue shades and Aurora Borealis crystal. The Paters are silver pearls. I LOVE IT. It's a perfect winter rosary. :) And she'll custom make you one too if you ask her!

I also see that Our Lady of the Snows has a novena that you can pray each year from July 27th through August 4th, leading to her feast day, so let's do that in 2015, yes? I'll create a page with the prayers so that we can pray along together for her intercession.

Does anybody else have familiarity with Our Lady of the Snows? I'd love to hear from you!

P.S., don't forget that book club is tomorrow! We'll be talking about Advent of a Mystery. See you then!