Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Helen
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Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 10:43am | IP Logged Quote Helen

I was wondering if anyone would like to discuss celebrating the feast of Our Patroness, Our Lady of Altagracia?

I was hoping to discuss this early because January 21st is my due date and I might be a little uncomfortable or tied up around the actual day.

Last year there was a great thread about the Catholic Mosaic book, Gift of Gracias

Here's the link.

I'm looking forward to your responses!


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Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 12:08pm | IP Logged Quote Ruth

I'm looking forward to the responses. I just got the book last week and I love it! I like how the little girl's name is Maria I hope I recieve the image before the 21st.

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Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 1:12pm | IP Logged Quote Helen

Here's a novena in Spanish.

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Posted: Jan 02 2008 at 3:06pm | IP Logged Quote Helen

With a visit to the doctor today, I had some time to try my hand at translating the Novena to Our Lady of Altagracia.

I tried my best to translate and then I went back over it making it sound like English. I guess it is not an exact translation, but I do like the sentiments expressed, whether they were in the original or not.
Feel free to offer your suggestions for improving the Novena translation!

Novena Prayer
Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness.
Look at us here, prostrate in your presence, desiring to offer you this novena as a testimony of our love for you and in thanksgiving for the innumerable favors that we have received from your hands.

You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs.

You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life.

You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen

(Here ask for one of the graces you would like to obtain from the Holy Virgin of Altagracia)

Supplications
1. Oh sweetest Mother of Altagracia,
all pure and Immaculate from your Conception! We beseech you to bless us, your children, with the grace to love the purity you practiced and to preserve the innocence of our children.
Hail Mary…

2. Oh sweetest Mother of Altagracia,
admirable model of Christian mothers and wives in the humble house of Nazareth, we beseech you to bless our homes, making them flourish in the holiness of matrimony.
Hail Mary…

3. Oh sweetest Mother of Altagracia,
you received into your arms the Holy Infant who died for us on the Cross, we give you all of our sufferings, so that at the hour of our death we may die with the name of Jesus on our lips and in our hearts, and fly to heaven with the help of your maternal arms.
Hail Mary …

Final Prayer
Holy Virgin of Altagracia!

From your hands and your maternal heart we receive each day the sustenance that you give to us from Our Father in heaven.
You are our defense in danger,
our indispensable help in our necessities and
our hope in the sacrifices required of the Christian life.
Through your Immaculate Heart we desire to pay tribute to God with a hymn of thanksgiving for all the benefits you have distributed.
We promise you, Oh Mother, gratitude and fidelity.
You will always reign in our homes and in our town, where all venerate you as Our Lady and Mother, you who make all virtues increase and thrive.
We are honored to be called your children.

We hope to finish our lives serving God and you until we reach the highest grace possible, the grace you will help us to attain, the great gift of heaven itself.

Amen




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Posted: Jan 02 2008 at 3:14pm | IP Logged Quote aussieannie

Oh thank you Helen! This reads as a particularly beautiful novena prayer - I will be saying it in time for the feast.

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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 7:13am | IP Logged Quote Ruth

This is a beautiful prayer, Helen. As soon as I get a chance, I'll read them. I'm sure you did a great job translating it.

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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 12:34pm | IP Logged Quote Helen

Natalia just showed me her translation of the Novena -- why don't you post it Natalia? I was just hacking away!

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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 12:52pm | IP Logged Quote Natalia

Here is the translation of the original novena. As others have said, it is a beautiful prayer. If I have calculated correctly to end on Jan.21st I need to start by Sunday Jan. 13th.

Natalia

Novena in Honor of Our Lady of Altagracia

Preparatory Prayer

O Dear Mother, Most Sweet Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness! Look at us here, prostrated in your presence wishing to offer you this novena in testimony of our love, and in thanksgiving for the innumerable favors we have received from your hands. You are our Advocate and, like beggars, we come to present our needs to you. You are our Teacher, and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all the love of our hearts. Receive Dearest Mother, our praise and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

Supplications

1.- O Sweetest Mother of Altagracia, pure and immaculate since your conception! We beg you to bless our children, preserving their innocence and increasing their love for purity.

(Hail Mary…)

2.- O Sweetest Mother of Altagracia, Admirable Mother, who in your little house of Nazareth, served as a model for Christian mothers and wives. We ask you to bless our homes so that the sanctity and holiness of marriage will flourish in them.

(Hail Mary…)

3. O Sweetest Mother of Altagracia, you who had the joy of receiving in your arms the body of your Most Holy Son who died on the cross for us, we beg you to come to our aid at the our of our death, so that by dying with the name of Jesus on our lips and hearts, we can fly to the glory of your maternal arms.

Final Prayer

Most Holy Virgin of Altagracia, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for the continuous blessings your pour down on us. From your hands and from your maternal heart we receive, each day, the sustenance given to us by our Heavenly Father. You are our defender when we are in danger, our aid when we are in need and our hope in the sacrifices proper of our Christian life. Through your Immaculate Heart we want to sing a song of thanksgiving to God for all the blessings he has given us. We promise you, O Mother, gratitude and fidelity. You will reign forever in our homes and our town (our forum?) where we will venerate you as our Lady and Mother by growing in all your virtues. Make us worthy of being called your daughters so that serving God and you on this world, we will obtain the highest grace you bring to us: a holy death that will open to us the gates of heaven. Amen.
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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 12:55pm | IP Logged Quote Ruth

Beautiful!!!! Gracias, Natalia.

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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 2:33pm | IP Logged Quote MaryM

We are having OL of ALtagracia be our focus for the monthly story time with our homeschool group. We'll read the book and Gwen is bringing orange snowball cookies. I'm still needing to decide on a craft - will post when I get that.

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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 4:36pm | IP Logged Quote MaryM

I found a website with this description of the image and the symbols that are part of it.

The Image of our Lady of Altagracia represents the Nativity scene of Jesus in the manger in Bethlehem, where the maternity of the Virgin is highlighted.

The first thing that attracts your attention, is Mary's face in a prayerful attitude; her hands joined together, forming an arc. On her bosom, you notice a kind of white ray, triangular shaped, that rises up from the crib, almost up to the Mother's shoulders, expression of the virginal birth of Jesus.

Mary's face shows serenity, her eyes lowered, without indicating seriousness nor sadness but rather joy and peace, in a meditative attitude. Her head is covered with a dark blue veil and a crown of pearls, symbol of her queen's status, for being the Mother of the KING and surrounding her, are twelve stars, which represents the Church, founded on the Apostles. To the Virgin's left, a big star with a trail, the same that accompanied the Three Wise Men to reveal to them the Savior. Scattered over her gown are sixteen stars.

In front of the Mother, we find the child Jesus, in swaddling clothes, sleeping on straw and behind her, Saint Joseph, dressed in a red cape and holding a candle in his left hand.

Taken from the book Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, Pastoral edition, by Mgr. Ramón de la Rosa, Bishop of the diocese of the Altagracia, Dominican Republic, 1997.)




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Posted: Jan 04 2008 at 3:17am | IP Logged Quote aussieannie

Thank you Mary!

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Posted: Jan 04 2008 at 10:47am | IP Logged Quote trish

What a beautiful prayer!

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Posted: Jan 04 2008 at 12:14pm | IP Logged Quote Helen

Thanks Mary for the fantastic link and translation!

I agree Trish, this is a very beautiful prayer.

I'm amazed how well the title of Our Lady of Altagracia fits in with Real Learning and Catholic homeschooling families.
The image even includes St. Joseph!
The novena includes praying for strong marriages and to be good wives and mothers.
Even Catholic Mosaic included a picture book with this title of Our Lady.

Our Lady chose this for us. Does anyone else find this ... what's the right word? uncanny?

No, that's not the right word. It causes me to marvel.

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Posted: Jan 12 2008 at 8:48am | IP Logged Quote Helen

There are some interesting topics about Our Lady of Altagracia at the University of Dayton's Mary Pages.

Dominican Republic Stamps

Scroll down a little for
Our Lady of Altagracia

(The board is closing tomorrow. I posted a reminder that if you would like to pray the novena, the starting day is tomorrow.)

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Posted: Jan 12 2008 at 9:14am | IP Logged Quote aussieannie

This is just a blessed novena prayer, one I really look forward to praying through to the feast day - I love the supplication for the children's purity - for preserving it and desiring it..

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Posted: Jan 12 2008 at 9:59am | IP Logged Quote Natalia

As a Dominican, I can hardly believe that this is happening. It blesses me immensely to now that OLA is the patroness of the forum. It makes so much more special to me!

Blessings,

Natalia

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Posted: Jan 21 2008 at 7:58am | IP Logged Quote Helen

Alice posted a tea party in honor of Our Lady of Altagracia. I love Alice's tea parties.

(She also very kindly included me in the dedication.)

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Posted: Jan 16 2009 at 12:13am | IP Logged Quote MaryM

Bumping this thread for the upcoming feast (Jan. 21) since she is the patroness of our forums under this title. The first post in this thread has a link to lots of great ideas based on the book, Gift of Gracias.

In the fall when I was helping Cay with the Author Fiesta for Leo Politi, I ran across a book he had illustrated, Stories from the Americas (by Frank Henius). It is a collection of short stories from Central and South American countries - one for each country. The story for the Dominican Republic is Our Lady of Alta Gracia. It's lovely and of course accompanied by one of his special illustrations. The book is oop but worth finding if you can get from library, etc.

Suzanne and Colleen just mentioned cloved oranges (and orange clove porcupines) in the centerpiece thread as a tie in to the feast.

What else do you have in mind?

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Posted: Jan 16 2009 at 12:30am | IP Logged Quote SuzanneG

We have 3 little girls coming over for a tea party next Wed...plus our 4.   I did end up getting the big size picture of OL-Altagracia from Milwaukee last year, so the girls are busy decorating a frame for her.

We're going to read The Gift of Gracias, and make cloved-oranges. Maybe we'll have an "Grateful-Orange-Throwing-Contest" (but first I need to come up with a better name for it ). Stand in circle, throw orange to someone, and name things you're grateful for. Sort of a take-off from Joann's Grateful-Collage.

Menu: Orange Tea, Orange Muffins, and, ORANGES, of course!!!

On the table will be millions of confetti-like-orange-circles and gold stars.      

This is one of my favorite Mosaic books!!!

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