Sept. 24 - Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Sunday is the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. There is much interesting information on the internet and I continue to ponder the decision of the English Bishops to re-dedicate England to Mary, as “Mary’s Dowry”

Personally, I wonder why they are waiting until 2020, since this Year 2017 is the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady’s Apparitions at Fatima – why wait? I’ll continue to research on why 2020 seemed best to the English Bishops, but in the meantime, I am going to begin a “triduum” i.e. a three day novena to Our Lady of Walsingham praying today, tomorrow and ending on Monday. This is an excerpt from the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England:

…What a blessing it is to prepare for Our Lady’s Feast by praying a novena!

The Novena presented for the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham involves some set Novena prayers with a different intention each day … The Novena may also be said at any time of the year for special intentions.

Walsingham for centuries has been the cradle of Marian Devotion in England. Praying to the Mother of God is an integral part of the Catholic Faith. It is one of the first ways we learn to pray as children. We turn to Mary, the Mother of Jesus for we are all her sons and daughters. Jesus’s last action on earth, in his dying breath, was to entrust/consecrate all people, of all time, into his Mother’s Maternal care. We pray to Mary to ask for her Maternal Intercession and her loving, motherly and protective gaze upon us. It is as natural as breathing that we turn to our Heavenly Mother in times of need, crisis, tears and temptation. Jesus always hears his Mother’s pleas on our behalf.

My “triduum” prayer is one I chose from the “other prayers” suggested at the Shrine. It is a prayer to the Holy Spirit. May we too be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and say, “Yes!”:

Holy Spirit, soul of my soul, I adore you; enlighten, guide, strengthen and console me; tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it. I promise to be submissive in everything that you ask of me and to accept all that you permit to happen to me, only show me what is your will.

Today is Saturday, “Mary’s day” and a good day to begin to pray for Grace for all.
Tomorrow is her Feast Day and a good day to rejoice in all God has done in Mary and is doing for us.
Monday is the day after her Feast and a good day to thank God for Mary and ask God to accomplish His Will in us as He did in Mary.

 

[patricius79]

I love what the site says about running to Mary being as natural as breathing. St. Louis said, longingly: “when will souls breathe Mary as the body breathes air?” Pope Leo XIII said that nothing is more natural or more desirable than to turn to our Blessed Mother.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear brother Pat,

Thanks for your reply; and that thought of running to Mary being “as natural as breathing” caught my eye too, (on the website of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham). It also reminded me of St. Louis de Montfort’s words in his treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. It reminded me, as well of the beautiful Poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, “Mary Compared to the Air we Breathe”.

 

[patricius79]

Dear sister MariaChristi,

Yes, Our Lady enfolds us constantly, without ever smothering us. She is perfectly affirming. As St. Alphonsus says in the Glories of Mary, quoting the Patriarch of Constantinople, St. Germanus: “Just as the body cannot live without breathing, so our souls cannot live without having recourse to Mary”.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks again!

Yes, dear brother Mary receives all from God. The Holy Spirit in overshadowing her, conceived in her the Word made Flesh. The breath of the Holy Spirit comes to us through Mary and we are a new creation in Baptism. We participate in Divine Life. I think I shared with you once before – somewhere I read – perhaps it was in the writings of one of the Fathers of the Church that the Baptismal Font is like Mary’s womb where we are born again in Christ.

Mary’s Love for us comes from God, and we are blessed in more ways than we can even imagine, because of His love for her and for us.