Thanks St. Annes,
It is good to hear from you and to know of your love for Mary. Our Lady of Sorrows is not a “major Feast” of Mary, but is very important especially for our times. While the Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear in emphasizing Devotion to Mary as “intrinsic” to Christian worship ( cf CCC 970), the current culture seems bent on destroying her shrines and even some within the Church seem to be separating themselves from Mary. St. John Paul II saw this decline in devotion to Mary before most of us saw it.
I’ve quoted part of this address of St. John Paul II before, but I’m enlarging it to include a bit more about following the example of Mary, responding to your post. He was addressing a group of Legion of Mary Members, in October, 1982:
…With the spirit and solicitude of Mary
Yours is an eminently Marian spirituality, not only because the Legion glories in carrying Mary’s name as its unfurled banner, but above all because it bases its method of spirituality and apostolate on the dynamic principle of union with Mary, on the truth of the intimate participation of the Virgin Mary in the plan of salvation.
In other words, you intend to render your service to every person, who is the image of Christ, with the spirit and the solicitude of Mary.
If our one and only Mediator is the man Jesus Christ, as the Council states, “Mary’s motherly role towards men in no way dims or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ: on the contrary, it demonstrates it efficacy” (Lumin Gentium 60). So the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Perpetual Help, Mediatrix, Mother of the Church.
For its birth and growth, apostolic work looks to her who gave birth to Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Where the Mother is, there too is the Son. When one moves away from the Mother, sooner or later he ends up keeping distant from the Son as well. It is no wonder that today, in various sectors of secularized society, we note a widespread crisis of faith in God, preceded by a drop in devotion to the Virgin Mother…
I’ve underlined the words that amazed me when I first read the address. St. JPII saw the “signs of the times” earlier than most, by the power of the Holy Spirit, working in him for the Church and the world. ALL of us are called to holiness and we need to be praying to the Holy Spirit for one another and for the whole Church to shine in the darkness of our world. Mary is the “Star of the New Evangelization” and as Bl. Pope Paul VI wrote: “The Church exists to evangelize.” By our Baptism we are called and sent into the world to be His Light. Each of us is called to be a unique saint and no one can be that saint if we do not individually cooperate with the Graces God is giving us – and the Church also teaches all graces come to us through Mary - as Jesus came through her.
As a teenager, many, many years ago I joined the Legion of Mary and I will be eternally grateful to the Dominican Sister who invited us not only to join the Legion but to consecrate ourselves totally to Jesus through Mary by the method of St. Louis de Montfort in his little treatise,
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I’ve linked the online version to the title in case you or any readers of this thread have not read it.
The Legion of Mary was founded by a man who like St. JPII read De Montfort’s treatise, consecrated himself, and like St. JPII found it to be a “life-changing” experience. Legion Founder, Servant of God Frank Duff met with his parish priest and a small group who had likewise consecrated themselves and wanted to LIVE their consecration. From that first meeting on the vigil of the Feast of Mary’s Nativity (Sept. 7 1921), the Legion was “born” Perhaps you have read this little book by De Montfort. All the saints have loved Mary as Mother and some like St. JPII, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and Servant of God Frank Duff (Founder of the Legion of Mary) have been inspired by God to stress her importance even more than others, but all of us need to love her more in this age when she certainly is weeping with Jesus over the lack of Faith in this very dark world. Thanks again for your love and your efforts to follow Mary’s example. Please let us pray for one another, for the Church and for all those in most need of God’s Mercy.
