Part 14
O Virgin Mother most sorrowful, I detest my sins because they have offended God, and caused thee so much pain! I am sorry for them, and will be sorry for them as long as I live, and according to the best of my power will do penance for them. Forgive me, dear Lord, for Thy mercy’s sake; pardon me all that is past, and be Thou my keeper for the time to come, that I may nevermore offend Thee. Amen.
Fifteenth Day. Help of Christians.
“She hath opened her hand to the needy and stretched out her hand to the poor.”—Prov. xxxi. 20. The whole life of our blessed Mother shows how ever dear to her has been the alleviation of the miseries that surround us. Everything in her proves to us how justly the Church gives to her the title of Help of Christians. Mary’s desire to console us in our miseries is so immense, so vehement, that scarcely have we resolved to address ourselves to her mercy than she immediately flies to our relief. If Mary is already inclined and prompt to aid us, even when we do not pray to her, what may we not expect from her when we lay our miseries before her, to beseech her to deliver us from them? The Church urges us to apply unceasingly to her, to observe faithfully the pious practices which are authorized to be observed in her honor. With this view the Church has established a great number of feasts in the course of the year, to show her children that they cannot pay too much honor to the Mother of God. Happy is he whose love for Mary is ever growing; he is enjoying in time one of the choicest blessings of eternity. Let us then follow in the spirit of our holy Church, and have frequent recourse to the bounties of the divine Mother. If we would only remember how anxious our dear Mother is to assist and help us, how eagerly we would turn to her in all our sorrows and joys. O holy Virgin, Help of Christians, come to our aid in the midst of the miseries by which we are surrounded! We entreat thee, then, O Mother of goodness, to supply our insufficiency and to bless our labor. Imprint thy love in all hearts, so that having loved and honored thy Son upon earth, we may go to praise Him eternally in heaven.
Prayer.
Most loving Mother, no suppliant ever had recourse to thee in vain! Whatever our needs, thy ear is ever open to our cry. Thou art the Help of Christians! O good and powerful Mother, come to our aid, and deliver us from all our troubles. Show thyself our Mother, intercede for each one of us that we may lead a Christian life, and hereafter reign with Christ throughout eternity. Amen.
Sixteenth Day. Our Lady of Mercy.
Everything in Mary recalls the august character of mercy. It is her essence, so to speak; so that whoever names Mary names mercy, as Mary cannot be without mercy. What could we not say to prove that Mary is all mercy, and that everything she does tends to clemency? But it may be that the greatness or the sanctity of this powerful Queen alarms us, and makes us fear to present ourselves before her, we who are so guilty in the sight of God. Let us take courage, for the more holy and elevated Mary is, the more gentle and affable she shows herself to the sinner. Mary welcomes all mankind without exception; no one leaves her presence with a disconsolate or sorrowful heart. Let our confidence in Mary have no bounds, since we know that her power equals the extent of her mercy. That good Mother herself gave St. Bridget to understand as much when she told her, “I am the Queen of heaven, and the Mother of mercy. There is none on earth to whom I refuse my pity; not one who has not obtained some grace through my intercession.” Who can doubt that it is true to say that many who are now saved would have been lost except for Mary? If it is true to say that he is happy who loves Mary, so it is also true to say that there will be woe for all eternity to him who in this life is able to secure her mercy, but does not do so, and thus loses himself by his own fault. Flee then to Mary, O my soul; beseech her to take pity on thee, and secure thy salvation, which cost her Son so dear, and which is so priceless to her maternal heart. Be assured that all will be well with thee if thou art not lacking in true devotion and love to Mary.
Prayer.
O blessed Mother, thou art the Mother of God, the Mother of sinners, the Mother of the banished ones! Grant, O gracious Virgin, that I, thy sinful child, may not be condemned by thy divine Son; but do thou intercede for me, that He, the divine Judge, may at last welcome me, a poor exile, into His eternal home. Amen.
Seventeenth Day. Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
It is impossible to study the history of Jesus and Mary without perceiving a uniform law of Providence uniting them in the great events of their lives. Unless Mary had consented to become His Mother, Jesus would not have been born. Divine grace, no doubt, disposed her to give assent, but the act was not the less one of her own free will. As certain as man has been redeemed by the incarnation and Passion of Jesus, so surely did God make the whole depend in the first instance on the co‐operation of Mary. If, therefore, you believe that Jesus Christ came to us through Mary, believe also that the graces which He merited for us must come to us through His Mother. If you believe that without her you were not redeemed, believe also that without her you will not be saved. God wished that Mary should be looked upon and honored as the perpetual help of sinners, to obtain their conversion. O Mother of perpetual help! thou art the dispenser of all those gifts which God granted to us wretched sinners. He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so beautiful, in order that thou mayest succor us in our misery. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I consign my soul. I wish to be remembered among thy devoted servants.
Prayer.
O Mother of perpetual help, take me under thy protection and I shall be secure! I shall not fear Jesus Christ, my eternal Judge, for by one prayer of thine He will be appeased. What I fear is that in the hour of temptation, I may neglect to have recourse to thee, and thus be lost. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, final perseverance, and the priceless gift to love Jesus Christ and to have recourse to thee, O Mother of perpetual help. Amen.
Eighteenth Day. Confidence in Mary.
Let our veneration for Mary be full of confidence. Our first parents had drawn upon us the greatest of miseries, but through the divine mercy a new Adam and Eve have more than repaired our misfortunes. God could have performed the work of redemption by other means; but He preferred the very way by which man had lost his innocence. That is to say, that as Satan first deceived the woman, and through her means deceived all men, so by a woman Satan in his turn should be confounded, and men be saved. Of course Our Lord is the true mediator between God and man, yet it is also true that after having sinned, we dare not appear before God. His presence fills us with fear, so we have need of a mediatrix—and this we have in Mary. If you desire an intercessor with God, have recourse to Mary, all pure, all powerful, and full of mercy. Oh, then, all you who are exposed to the temptations of the world, raise your eyes to this Star of the sea. Call on Mary, and you will soon experience the powerful effects of her intercession. Conducted by her, you will securely reach the port of a blessed eternity.
Prayer.
Sweet and kind Virgin, full of dignity and bounty, Virgin sanctified in the womb, Virgin powerful as thou art pure, most glorious Mother of God, Mother most chaste, and Lady most reverently honored, I pray thee of thy goodness to preserve my body and my soul from all sin, and take them both into thy holy keeping. Amen.
Nineteenth Day. The Love of Mary.
O Mary most amiable, who can name thee and not be inflamed with love? What Mother so worthy of love, so kind and generous to us as Mary? To her heaven is indebted for the countless number of the elect redeemed by the blood of her dear Son. As Mother of Our Redeemer, Mary regards us as her own possession. She knows how costly was the ransom paid for us, therefore she never ceases to intercede that none may be lost. How then could we help loving this Daughter of the King, who interests herself so much in our behalf? If we love God we must love His holy Mother. It is our daily task to love Jesus more and more, and experience tells us that we never advance more rapidly in love of God than when we are accompanied by His Mother. There is no time lost in seeking Jesus if we go at once to Mary. She is the short road to Him, and speedy and full are the answers to the petitions which her hand presents. O Mary most admirable, obtain that we may love thee with all the powers of our soul, with all the tenderness of our heart, and with all our strength.
Prayer.
O Mother most amiable and admirable! O wondrous Mother, thou art all lovely and glorious! Thou art the most blessed and most perfect of all! Kind and gracious Mother, pray for us, win us grace to love thee with a most tender love, that we may thereby grow in love for Jesus, thy Son. Amen.
Twentieth Day. Imitation of Mary.
All true love consists in the imitation of what we honor. If we love the immaculate Mary, if we desire to please her, endeavor to imitate her virtues, we must first imitate her in her life of prayer. To lead a life of prayer it is not necessary to spend hours on our knees in the church, for every‐day duties would not admit of that. We find that Our Lady always left her prayer to spend an allotted time at work. We should let the thought of God be the first object of our waking love, and the love of God be the absorbing feeling of our heart. During the day we should every now and then cast a loving glance towards heaven, and make acts of love and gratitude. “If you imitate and follow Mary,” says St. Bernard, “you cannot wander from the road. Our Blessed Lady will fill you with great confidence in God and in herself, because you will not be approaching to Jesus by yourself, but always by that good Mother.” O Mary, Mother of the divine Saviour, Who from the height of His cross, seeing each one of us in the person of the beloved disciple, pronounced the memorable words, “Behold thy son!” “Behold thy Mother,” obtain that we may love and imitate thee with all the tenderness and strength of our will.
Prayer.
Glory and honor be to thee, O Mary! Thy throne is in the highest heavens! Be thou our loving Mother; from the throne of thy glory cast a glance on us, who are encircled with so many dangers and trials. Pray to thy Son Jesus for us, that we may emulate the purity of the angels, so that we too may one day enjoy the “beatific vision,” and praise Our Creator throughout eternity. Amen.
Twenty‐first Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Faith.
The Blessed Virgin has left us examples of faith which are full of instruction and consolation. She believed the mystery of the Trinity, that she should conceive and bring forth a child; the words of the angel announced this mystery to her. She believed that the Son of God the Father was to take the form of man, thereby making Himself like unto us. She believed herself to be the Virgin chosen by God in whom this mystery was to be accomplished. The apostles had faith in Jesus Christ and acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, but in the hour of Our Lord’s Passion they abandoned their divine Master. It was not so with our blessed Mother; she followed Him even to Calvary. O Mary, may we understand well the excellence of this fundamental virtue, without which it is impossible to please God. It is by faith that Jesus Christ comes into our hearts. By faith we resist the devil, and put him to flight. Let us then love and value more and more the precious gift of faith, and endeavor, after the example of Mary, our Mother, to be animated by its spirit. But the faith of the Blessed Virgin teaches us another lesson: namely, that after her example we should make an open profession of our faith, even though by it we should lose goods, fortune, honor, even life itself.
Prayer.
O Mary, thou art the Queen of heaven and Mistress of all created things! Obtain for us the lively faith that animated thee, so that we may grow in love, persevere to the end, and hereafter, in company with patriarchs, prophets, and all the elect of God, glorify thee, together with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost through all eternity. Amen.
Twenty‐second Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Piety.
According to universal opinion, the Blessed Virgin dwelt in the Temple till she was about twelve years of age. During those tender years of her life she passed the greater portion of the night in the contemplation of heavenly things, giving but a very short time to repose. Chosen by the Lord, adorned and enriched with His most signal favors, the immaculate Virgin corresponded thereto with constant and generous fidelity. The devotion of Mary is worthy of imitation, especially in this, that she gave herself up to it from her early youth. Alas! how many souls have perished because they have not followed this example? On the other side how happy those who have imitated the early devotion of the Blessed Virgin! Oh, how strong and mighty we are with Jesus Christ, when we are armed with the worthy merits and intercession of the Mother of God! O Mary, vessel of singular devotion, obtain for us that, after thy example, we may be entirely devoted to God!
Prayer.
Most loving Mother, no suppliant ever had recourse to thee in vain! Whatever our needs, thy ear is ever open to our cry. Thou art the comforter of the afflicted, O good and powerful Mother. Come to our aid and deliver us from all our troubles; intercede for each one of us that we may lead a Christian life, and hereafter reign with Christ throughout eternity. Amen.
Twenty‐third Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Hope.
The salvation of the just (as well of the body as of the soul) is from the Lord. He is their help in time of tribulation, He will uphold them lest they fall, He will bring them out of danger, deliver them from the hands of sinners, and will save them in the end. And why will God bestow such honors on the just? Because, replies the Psalmist, they have hoped in Him, and put all their confidence in Him. At the marriage of Cana, Mary saw the sudden failing of the wine, and her tender charity caused her to have recourse to the omnipotent power of her Son. Our Lord up to that period had not worked any miracles, but knowing His tender Heart Mary hesitated not to have recourse to Him, and her hope was not unfounded. Let us then, like Mary, expose our wants to Jesus, and we shall obtain strength and courage to aid us in the accomplishment of our duties. Let us labor by every possible means to obtain this great gift of confidence by frequent prayer, almsdeeds, and penitential works, as well as by great purity of life. “Whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, I will grant it to you.”
Prayer.
Mother most amiable! By thy beauty and unsullied purity thou wast ever attractive in the divine sight. Entreat Jesus that He would grant us grace to love Him more and more fervently, and that by our purity and innocence of life we may spread abroad the sweet odor of Jesus Christ, and daily become more acceptable in His sight. Amen.
Twenty‐fourth Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Humility.
The Blessed Virgin possessed the spirit of humility in a perfect degree. Not that she failed to know the gifts which God had bestowed upon her; on the contrary she ever remembered that God had drawn her out of nothing, and she returned Him incessant thanks for the favors which He had given her. This virtue is most essential, since without it there is no grace for us, no recompense in heaven; while with it there is pardon, every blessing, and eternal salvation. Let us often meditate on these words of our blessed Mother when she went to visit St. Elizabeth: “The Lord hath regarded the humility of His handmaid.” The archangel Gabriel had saluted her full of grace and blessed among women, but the holy Virgin only humbles herself more and more, confessing aloud that she is but the handmaid of the Lord. What a contrast to our pride and self‐sufficiency! If, on account of some appearance of good, we are charged with some duty of importance, do we not immediately begin to consider ourselves something? while in reality we are but nothingness, misery, and sin. St. Basil says there are three things which will establish humility in the heart. First, a perfect conviction of our own nothingness. Second, the constant consideration of the conduct of the good, who are better than ourselves. Third, persevering obedience to those to whom we owe submission.
Prayer.
O tender Mother! despise not our petitions, receive our homage, veneration, and love. Be thou our Queen; in thee do we place our whole trust, for thou art our gracious Mother. To thee do we commit ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, with all we have and are. Show thyself our Mother both in life and death, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.
Twenty‐fifth Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Charity.
It is truly Mary, who, after her divine Son, has given us the most touching example of charity. Everywhere she appears full of grace, of meekness, consideration, goodness, mildness, and tenderness. Her charity was as boundless as her love of God. But now that she enjoys the clear vision of her Beloved, how great must be the increase of her love towards Him, and consequently of her charity towards mankind. All her person, her looks, her actions, her movements, her whole life breathe nothing but charity. In going to visit her cousin Elizabeth, the charity of Mary was manifested. This charity caused her to leave her home to undertake a long and painful journey under circumstances that unfitted her for fatigue. The same virtue shone forth at the marriage of Cana, when she saved the bride and bridegroom the mortification of telling their guests that the wine had given out. Her heart was one with her divine Son, Who loved His enemies so much that He gave Himself up for their salvation. Alas, how we shrink from forgiving the slightest offence that is offered to us! O my Mother, why am I not inflamed by at least a spark of the love of God! Then I would not find it so hard to forgive all who have offended me.
Prayer.
With deep humility do we exclaim, Pray for us, O holy Mother of God! Thou art the Mother of Him Who is Our Redeemer and Our God, but thou art also the Mother of sinners, for whom thy divine Son shed His blood. Intercede for us with Jesus, and beg for grace that we may love Him with all our heart and all our strength. Amen.
Twenty‐sixth Day. The Virgin Mary the Model of Advancement in Virtue.
Our spiritual advancement consists, as we have often heard, in being well persuaded that we are far from the height to which we aspire, and on that account we should make constant efforts to become better—because not to advance is to go back. Persons who are aiming ever so little at perfection are the choice portion of God’s creation, and are dear to Him as the apple of His eye. Oh, that we could imitate Mary, who, full of grace from the first moment of her conception, corresponded thereto with such fidelity that the angels exclaimed, “Who is she that cometh forth as the morning, rising fair as the moon, bright as the sun?” The most exact observance, not only of precepts but of the lightest counsels, was the fruit of the love that burned in the heart of Mary, so that she was never guilty of the least imperfection. Ah, would that I too could speed more rapidly onwards in the heavenly road! How many graces would God then lavish upon me! O Mary, my tender Mother, aid me to imitate thee in thy advancement in virtue. O Mother most sweet, draw us more and more by the sweet odor of thy virtues to be a perfect disciple, imitator, and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ, thy Son.
Prayer.
O Mary, by thy example thou didst animate confessors and virgins, sustaining them in the dangerous struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Aid us, too, O mighty Queen, so that we may live as becomes the faithful disciples of thyself and thy divine Son. Amen.
Twenty‐seventh Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Patience.
Of the virtue of perfect patience, the Blessed Virgin has left us many bright examples. We have meditated on her dolors and we have seen with what wonderful patience she endured them. How patient and firm she stood at the foot of the cross, on which her Son was fastened, covered with wounds and loaded with ignominy! Mary maintained an entire resignation to the divine will, which she loved more than her own, but this perfect conformity did not render her less sensible to her martyrdom. She loved to suffer because it was God’s will that she should do so. We are encouraged, by the example left us of the invincible patience of Mary, to imitate it to the best of our power and according to our degree of grace. We shall follow, though distantly, in the footsteps of this perfect model, if we bear with patience the trials that overtake us, whether they be loss of fortune, health, or reputation. If we feel that we are getting angry let us overcome ourselves by silence; for then it is that we have the most need to be silent, because even the most prudent man when roused to anger can with difficulty restrain himself from angry words, which later he will regret heartily. O my Mother, obtain for us from Jesus the gift of patience, by means of which we shall acquire all other virtues and be enabled to persevere in holiness to the end of our lives. Amen.
Prayer.
O blessed Mother! Look graciously on thy children; behold how we, by our sins, have forfeited all claim to grace. Compassionate our misery, aid us from the abundance of thy fulness, and entreat thy Son Jesus that He would grant us grace to be pleasing in His sight and thine, and to remain faithful unto death. Amen.
Twenty‐eighth Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Poverty.
True and perfect poverty, says Albert the Great, consists in voluntary renouncing all temporal things for God’s sake, in having but what is absolutely necessary, and in sometimes retrenching even in that for God; for where there is full provision against necessity, there is no poverty. Throughout her entire life Mary’s perfect love of poverty is manifest. It was evident in the obscure city of Nazareth where this young virgin espoused to a poor carpenter dwelt, and afterwards when she set forth with Joseph for Bethlehem in obedience to the edict of Augustus. On her arrival where does she find shelter? There is no place at the inns for one so poor, so they are obliged to take refuge in a deserted stable, and there, exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather, the Queen of angels brings forth the Son of the Most High. Let every one, according to his state in life, imitate the poverty of the Blessed Virgin. Those who possess temporal goods should imitate her by despising them, and by not loving them too much, by estimating them at their true value, since they pass away so quickly. Those who are poor from necessity should imitate the example of the Blessed Virgin, and freely embrace and be contented with the state in which God has placed them.
Prayer.
My most sweet, most compassionate, most amiable Queen! Oh, how great is the confidence with which St. Bernard inspires me when I have recourse to thee! I am a poor sinner, deserving of a thousand hells; I wish to change my life; I wish to love my God, Whom I have so greatly offended. My Lady, dost thou understand me? Yes, I trust that thou hast understood me, and graciously heard my prayer. Amen.
Twenty‐ninth Day. The Blessed Virgin the Model of Obedience.