August 16, 2016 Book: The Cross, Our Only Hope: Daily Reflections in the Holy Cross Tradition Edited by Andrew Gawrych, C.S.C. and Kevin Grove, C.S.C Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN. 2010 An Excerpt from the Jacket: Priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross offer an introduction to the rich, vibrant spiritual of the Congregation through a series of daily reflections on the themes of Holy Cross spirituality: trust in God, zeal, compassion, hope in the Cross, discipleship, and education in the faith. This revised edition includes a new foreward; new contributors; and quotations from St. Andre Bessette, the Holy Cross brother who was canonized in 2010. An Excerpt from the Book: December 12 Mary's praise went up to heaven like incense because her heart was humble and filled with gratitude and love. What love in Mary, who became the mediator of the grace of her divine son. Blessed Basil Moreau To go to Jesus through Mary --- ad Jesum per Mariam --- is what so many students at the University of Notre Dame do when they visit the Grotto. Modeled on the Grotto at Lourdes, this quiet place for prayer is never without students, lighting candles and asking for Our Lady's intercession. There, in spring blossoms and autumn leaves, in winter snow and summer heat, during the day and into the late hours of night, they are asking her to help them to follow Christ and to be good Christians. I myself have often prayed at the grotto. And each night I say the Litany of the Blessed Virgin before I go to bed. In that prayer we have a long list of what Mary means to us and how she can help us to grow more like her and her Son in all those qualities. Mary is the mediator between her Son and all men and women. The safest and bet way for all of us to approach her divine Son, to live our lives in imitation of him, is to receive advice from her. The imitation of Christ is the Christian life. And who knows Christ better than his mother? Who was more loyal to Christ than his mother, standing there at the foot of the Cross and, in a sense, undergoing the tortures he suffered for our salvation? She is also our Mother, and she leads all of her beloved children to a deeper understanding of her Son. That is the role she fulfills in all of our lives. She wants all people to take her Son as their Lord and Savior, to come close to him. Ted Hesburgh, C.S.C. Table of Contents: 365 meditations -- one for each day of the year.