Mar. 11 [B]Wk 2[/B] - Day 1 - Seeking understanding of Mary

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Saturday is “Mary’s Day” - for centuries the Catholic Church has honored Mary especially as the Mother of Faith who believing Jesus’s words of Resurrection, waited in loving trust on Holy Saturday. The final words in today’s Gospel also give us great incentive for this week of seeking to understand Mary better, for Jesus said:

…be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Mt 6:48)

and dying on His Cross, Jesus said:

Behold your Mother (Jn 19: 27)

Mary is the perfect icon of the Church; she is both Mother and Model for us. Mary is, as the Church teaches, all that we are called to be, as human persons (cf CCC 967). So this week is my “favorite” in the 33 Day Journey of Preparation. When I consecrate myself totally to Jesus through Mary – I am grateful to be coming to Him as He came to all of us, through Mary. St. Louis writes in True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

1. Each day of the second week they should endeavour in all their prayers and works to acquire an understanding of the Blessed Virgin and ask the Holy Spirit for this grace. They may read and meditate upon what we have already said about her. They should recite daily the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella as during the first week. In addition they will say at least five decades of the Rosary for greater understanding of Mary.

Gratefully and with confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit to grant us grace to understand Mary better,
let us pray, joyfully this week:

Litany of the Holy Spirit ewtn.com/devotionals/pentecost/pent13.htm
Ave Maris Stella HERE
Five decades of the Holy Rosary (during Lent I prefer the Sorrowful mysteries, but …your choice)

 

[patricius79]

Thanks big sister, MariaChristi,

This reminds me of a quotation from JRR Tolkien, that goes something like “All that I know of beauty both in simplicity and majesty, comes from the Blessed Virgin”.

I’m an idealist by nature. I have, as Lincoln said, “dreams of Elysium” which make life difficult and lead me into the destructive traps of perfectionism.

But I don’t need to find perfection in this world now. I know I’m broken. My ideal is Mary, the perfect Lady who leads me to Christ.

May the Holy Spirit guide us all to glimpse the unspeakable beauty and goodness of Our Mother, who loves us so much, and always leads us to Jesus Christ, our God.

May we look to her and call on her constantly, as St. Louis prescribes!

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks big sister, MariaChristi,

This reminds me of a quotation from JRR Tolkien, that goes something like “All that I know of beauty both in simplicity and majesty, comes from the Blessed Virgin”.

I’m an idealist by nature. I have, as Lincoln said, “dreams of Elysium” which make life difficult and lead me into the destructive traps of perfectionism.

But I don’t need to find perfection in this world now. I know I’m broken. My ideal is Mary, the perfect Lady who leads me to Christ.

May the Holy Spirit guide us all to glimpse the unspeakable beauty and goodness of Our Mother, who loves us so much, and always leads us to Jesus Christ, our God.

May we look to her and call on her constantly, as St. Louis prescribes!

Thanks for your reply, dear brother Pat,

Jesus’ words: “Behold your Mother” are so precious. Simply “beholding” Mary at the foot of the Cross as I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, today, gave me such strength – her strength. Interesting that you should mention JRR Tolkien, I was recently thinking of that scene when Frodo was in danger of death and Arwen was asking that whatever gifts she had would pass over to Frodo that he might live; it seems so like Mary sharing her gifts in a mysterious way with us, as St. Louis de Montfort wrote:

1. Mary will share her faith with you. Her faith on earth was stronger than that of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles and saints. Now that she is reigning in heaven she nolonger has this faith, since she sees everything clearly in God by the light of glory. However, with the consent of almighty God she did not lose it when entering heaven. She has preserved it for her faithful servants in the Church militant. Therefore the more you gain the friendship of this noble Queen and faithful Virgin the more you will be inspired by faith in your daily life. It will cause you to depend less upon sensible and extraordinary feelings. For it is a lively faith animated by love enabling you to do everything from no other motive than that of pure love. It is a firm faith, unshakable as a rock, prompting you to remain firm and steadfast in the midst of storms and tempests. It is an active and probing faith which like some mysterious pass-key admits you into the mysteries of Jesus Christ and of man’s final destiny and into the very heart of God himself. It is a courageous faith which inspires you to undertake and carry out without hesitation great things for God and the salvation of souls. Lastly, this faith will be your flaming torch, your very life with God, your secret fund of divine Wisdom, and an all-powerful weapon for you to enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. It inflames those who are lukewarm and need the gold of fervent love. It restores life to those who are dead through sin. It moves and transforms hearts of marble and cedars of Lebanon by gentle and convincing argument. Finally, this faith will strengthen you to resist the devil and the other enemies of salvation.

It’s hard not to underline every word – it is so beautiful!

 

[patricius79]

Thanks for your reply, dear brother Pat,

Jesus’ words: “Behold your Mother” are so precious. Simply “beholding” Mary at the foot of the Cross as I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, today, gave me such strength – her strength. Interesting that you should mention JRR Tolkien, I was recently thinking of that scene when Frodo was in danger of death and Arwen was asking that whatever gifts she had would pass over to Frodo that he might live; it seems so like Mary sharing her gifts in a mysterious way with us…

MariaChristi,

I forgot about that scene, which had to be inspired by Tolkien’s insight into the mystery of Our Lady!

That is such a beautiful scene!

Praise be to God for our Mother!