I thought I would jot down a few thoughts on the role of Our Blessed Lady in our journey of prayer. But I have run out ot time!! There has been a lot of spammers joining lately as members and I spend a lot of time kicking them off!! I have restricted new members for a while to let things calm down. I'd be interested on others experiences with Our Lady as a teacher and Mother in the prayer journey. I think one of the dangers in writing about prayer is to assume that because one has gone down a particular path everyone else has. My own path has been very strongly Marian and I suppose its wrong to suppose that everyone else goes down the same route. But since God had given us MAry as Our Mother I suspect Mary adopts this role as Mother for everyone, wether or not it an in your face devotion or behind the scenes she is always there guiding us gently to the feet of Christ.
It was Jesus Himself who gave Mary to be Our Mother when He lay dying on the Cross. " When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!" John 19: 26 - 27 The easiest thing of all would be to expect that this would be just a remote title with little meaning , for how could one woman be Mother to all of us? To think of Mary as a remote figure far away in heaven far away from our everyday needs and concerns. But I have never yet read of a saint who had not experinced love and concerns in a very direct way, who had not gone through this Valley of Tears knowing Mary, first hand as a real Mother, loving, guiding, comforting, assisting guarding with the very deepest maternal warmth and care. "We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son." -Saint Louis Marie de Montfort "Mary has the authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven. As a reward for her great humility, God gave her the power and mission of assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels who fell away through pride. Such is the will of the almighty God who exalts the humble, that the powers of heaven, earth and hell, willingly or unwillingly, must obey the commands of the humble Virgin Mary. For God has made her queen of heaven and earth, leader of his armies, keeper of his treasure, dispenser of his graces, mediatrix on behalf of men, destroyer of his enemies, and faithful associate in his great works and triumphs." -Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin: Part 28 "All true children of God have God for their father and Mary for his mother; anyone who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his father." -Saint Louis Marie de Montfort "If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother." - Saint Maximilian Kolbe “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.” – Saint Maximilian Kolbe "Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son." -Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church “No matter how sinful one may have been, if he has devotion to Mary, it is impossible that he be lost." -Saint Hilary of Poitiers - Bishop, Father, and Doctor of the Church "Seek refuge in Mary because she is the city of refuge. We know that Moses set up three cities of refuge for anyone who inadvertently killed his neighbor. Now the Lord has established a refuge of mercy, Mary, even for those who deliberately commit evil. Mary provides shelter and strength for the sinner." -Saint Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church “If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, such a one is a stranger to the Godhead.” -Saint Gregory Nazianzen, Father and Doctor of the Church "Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata who is queen even of God's heart." -Saint Maximilian Kolbe "She is more Mother than Queen." -Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church “In that first ‘fusion’ with Jesus (holy communion), it was my Heavenly Mother again who accompanied me to the altar for it was she herself who placed her Jesus into my soul.” -Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church “In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.” -Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church “What a joy to remember that she is our Mother! Since she loves us and knows our weakness, what have we to fear?” - Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church "Mary seeks for those who approach her devoutly and with reverence, for such she loves, nourishes, and adopts as her children." - Saint Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church “Think of what the Saints have done for their neighbor because they loved God. But what Saint's love for God can match Mary's? She loved Him more in the first moment of her existence than all the Saints and angels ever loved Him or will love Him. Our Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire of her love was most extreme. If Heaven and earth were placed in it, they would be instantly consumed. And the ardors of the seraphim, compared with it, are like cool breezes. Just as there is not one among all the Blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary's love for even a single soul.” -Saint Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary "Do not marvel at the novelty of the thing, if a Virgin gives birth to God" -Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church “Even while living in the world, the heart of Mary was so filled with motherly tenderness and compassion for men that no-one ever suffered so much for their own pains, as Mary suffered for the pains of her children.” -Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church "The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, he gave his Son to Mary for the world to receive him from her." -Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church “As mariners are guided into port by the shining of a star, so Christians are guided to heaven by Mary" -Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church "In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal." - Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church “Let us then cast ourselves at the feet of this good Mother, and embracing them let us not depart until she blesses us, and accepts us for her children.” -Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church "Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary" -Saint Athanasius, Father and Doctor of the Church "That one woman is both mother and virgin, not in spirit only but even in body. In spirit she is mother, not of our head, who is our Savior himself—of whom all, even she herself, are rightly called children of the bridegroom—but plainly she is the mother of us who are his members, because by love she has cooperated so that the faithful, who are the members of that head, might be born in the Church. In body, indeed, she is the Mother of that very head" -Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church "The Virgin Mary, being obedient to his word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God" -Saint Irenaeus, Father of the Church “Let us run to her, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.” -Saint Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church "The day of the Nativity of the Mother of God is a day of universal joy, because through the Mother of God, the entire human race was renewed, and the sorrow of the first mother, Eve, was transformed into joy." -Saint John Damascene, Father and Doctor of the Church “There is no danger of exaggerating. We an never hope to fathom this inexpressible mystery nor will we ever be able to give sufficient thanks to our Mother for bringing us into such intimacy with the Blessed Trinity.” -Saint Josemaria Escriva "The heart of her husband, that is, the heart of Christ, trusts in her and he will have no need of spoils, because she, as it were, enriches him with spoils taken from the devil." -Richard of Saint Lawrence (this is and explanation of Prov 31:11) “May the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, always smile on your spirit, obtaining for it, from her Most Holy Son, every heavenly blessing.” -Saint Padre Pio “Always stay close to this Heavenly Mother, because she is the sea to be crossed to reach the shores of Eternal Splendour.” -Saint Padre Pio "Let us bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our Heavenly Mother and reflect on it's boundless grief and how precious is our soul." -Saint Padre Pio “Let the storm rage and the sky darken - not for that shall we be dismayed. If we trust as we should in Mary, we shall recognize in her, the Virgin Most Powerful ‘who with virginal foot did crush the head of the serpent’.” -Pope Saint Pius X "The reason why Christ is unknown today is because His Mother is unknown." -Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman ”Let those who think that the Church pays too much attention to Mary give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord Himself gave ten times as much of His life to her as He gave to His Apostles.” -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (The World’s First Love) "All my own perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded upon Our Lady." -J.R.R. Tolkien "I am not only the Queen of Heaven, but also the Mother of Mercy." -Our Lady to Saint Faustina
But, you know its one thing to talk of God as Our Father, or Mary as Our Mother or Jesus as Our Savious; for these are just words...its quite another to really, really believe this in our hearts as a reality. to believe, to really, really believe God loves us. In this I have a great deal of sympathy with our 'Born again' Protestant brothers and sisters when they talk of entering into a personal relationship with Jesus as Our Lord and Saviour'. Though I might put it a little differently by saying that we was must really believe in our hearts that God loves us. Easy to say, but not so easy to experience, to fully enter into. For its a grace a pure grace, a gift from God, not earned, not what we can do for God, but what God can do for us pure gift. And So I would say at the outset of real prayer we must undergo a real interior conversion , for how can we talk to a God we do not know? So, if you like prayer is relationship ,a friendship if you like, a deeply loving friendship and I believe all such friendships begin with this conversion, no matter how young we are, no matter how concious or unconcious we may be of this, we must reach a point of realizirng , 'Oh my goodness! !! God loves me , he really, really does. He loves ME!' 1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. So in a very real way we must become little children again , we must become very small, small enough that Jesus can bend down and pick us up. but if we are too heavy He cannot do so, for we are too heavy for us to hold in His arms. Matthew 18:3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
padraig, Great posts and thanks especially for the quotations. Coming from an evangelical Protestant background, it was nothing short of revolutionary for me to start praying to the Blessed Mother, but it was none other than her intercession - in the Advent season of 2009 - that sealed my conversion to the Catholic faith. In all honesty, many Protestants already love Mary and are seeking her even if they don't know it, and even if they're uncomfortable praying to anyone but God. In fact, one of the most popular songs at my former evangelical church was none other than a version of The Magnificat. The key to anyone's ultimate salvation, I think, is a full understanding of the Most Holy Trinity, which entails the understanding that Jesus Christ is fully God as well as fully human. As all-powerful God, Jesus chose to become human in space and time through His Mother - not only his physical body but even his human soul is the fruit of her womb, and every drop of sanctity that Jesus wanted to infuse into the human race He died to save was first poured without reservation into His Mother, even as she remained purely human, i.e. not a "God-Woman" like Jesus is God-Man. Although it's entirely conceivable that God could have redeemed the human race without giving such a central role to a humble virgin, this was in fact the way he chose: it's the universe we live in. So I'm rather excited to be part of Our Lady's spiritual army, spreading devotion to her Immaculate Heart via the Rosary and other Marian devotions: the Jesus revealed to us in both Scripture and Tradition can't help but point to His Mother with ever-sharper focus, especially now as we approach the end times.
Yay! I love to hear these things! You know, God understands what human beings need. He understood what Mary needed, and what Elizabeth needed, when they were anxious, and worried about being with child, and perhaps feeling a little scared too. Who could they talk to, who would really understand their situation? He gave them each other - to comfort, to help, to encourage, to "mother" each other! As women, both in a delicate state, they really needed that, and God provided it! Sometimes it is just easier to go to mom...you know? Those who do not have a relationship with Mary are missing this most tender and loving prayer experience. She will hold you, and comfort you, give you that motherly hug, and take your prayers into her heart, and make them glow, and help you with them. I try to follow her example, as a mother with my own children. I try to comfort them, and to take their dreams and aspirations into my heart, and make them glow, and help them to make them happen! I love you, Mary!
Love the quotations, Padraig - simply profound and most of them are Doctors of the Church! We are so fortunate to have the gift of our Lady who understands the human condition so well. It is advisable to render devotion to her because this is the quickest and surest path to sanctity for she can mould us to be like Christ, our hope of Glory.
I had been thinking of what P. posted and it got me thinking about my own mother. She brought up ten children and I recalled what she used to say to us when we were growing up and getting argumentative; she used to say , 'Wait till you have your own children, then you'll understand!' Well ,I never did get to understand that way as I never had any children myself!! But as I get older I do more and more appreciate what she did for me, even if I am only starting to. I think P. its like that with Our Lady. She is like a Mystical Doorway and we spend our whole lives learning and learnig and learning to appreciate her more and more. Its the same pathway for the Church as a whole adding title after title to her as the Church grows in appreciation of its Mother. I would say false or wrong devotion to MAry is a bit like this. My Abbot one time noticed me during the mass genuflecting in front of the tabernacle as I passed it. He said I shouldn't do this as it drew attention away from what was taking place on the altar..and I always thought this so wise. I think false devotion to Mary is like this in that it draws away from her Son, Jesus Christ. But, to be honest, I have to say here in Ireland I have never witnessed such false devotion, I think most devotion leads naturally to Jesus and thats were Mary takes us, to her Son. I think too that Mary being a great Mystery, the reall eyes to see her with are the eyes of the heart, the eyes of love, the gaze of prayer. Come to that its the smae with our earthly mothers, the true eyes to see them with are the eyes of our hearts. The eyes of love.
You know Connie, the last few years I cannot look at the moon with out thinking of Mary. The sun, its true is glorious, what could compete with its light? But down here, were we go through so many dark nights we need to the moon, the perfect reflection of the sun's light to guide our way home.
Idrew the quotations from elsewhere, Bobby. But its true there is no better prayer ladder to heaven than the Rosary.
Padraig, that is a beautiful thought! It made me thingk of this - Mary guides us like a moonbeam through the dark night, into the light of day which is the SON!!!
I'm reminded of the John Steinbeck novel East of Eden, which was adapted into a famous film starring James Dean in the 1950s. In it, the rivalry between the two brothers Caleb and Aron (supposed to mirror Cain and Abel) is settled when Caleb takes Aron to see their mother, who their father had told them was dead and had gone to Heaven, but who in reality was a prostitute-turned-madame, a power- and money-hungry femme fatale who abandoned her baby sons. Caleb had discovered the truth about her first and came to accept that he inherited his mother's cunning, rebellious streak, but Aron - the good boy - had continued to hold the illusion. Needless to say, when he found out the truth Aron went insane. This story shows me how important motherhood is and how much it can be taken for granted. I can relate to this myself: I am the firstborn son and only child of my mother, a troubled woman who developed mental problems and who lost control of her life when I was 8. My father took me when they divorced and remarried a few years later, and I did not see my biological mother for nearly a decade - she went back to my native China to live with my grandmother. Even after I started visiting her again once very few years, I had very little positive feeling for her, because I must've blocked out everything over the years. In hindsight, all my personal problems as an adult can be traced to my broken relationship with my mother. Having essentially lost her for 20 years, I've only begun to rebuild this part of my life, and I accept now that it will be a central part of my lifelong salvation. I can see why the Devil targeted Eve in the Garden: he knew all along that the surest way to inflict disaster on the human race was to destroy man's relationship with woman, because in a very real if hidden way, man is led by his pursuit of woman. It's just the way God made things: when He took the rib out of Adam it was inevitable that Adam would feel the need to recover it. Everything is under God's direction and works for His purposes only: and because God Himself takes delight first and foremost in a woman - the Blessed Virgin Mary - it means that the restoration of Eve's daughters is in many ways the key to mankind's salvation. Again, God could've made things another way but this is the way He chose.
Yes P. < I think Devotion to Our Lady is a two way thing, the love of my Mother taught me to love Our Lady (in whom I saw Our Lady) and love for Our Lady ( in whom I see my mother) has taught me to love my mother. I think one of the wonderful things about prayer is its long term healing effect, healing wounds so deep we don't even know they're there. I have long noticed that when you take your [problems to other people they can often catch fire, the person who is supposed to help you can often make things worse and the more people you tell about them the worse they get, especially if it is a petty grievance or grudge uncharitaby expressed. But when we go before God, especially in a nice long visit to the Blessed Sacrament its like cool water, the Waters of the Spirit dousing the falmes and bringing deep, deep peace and healing. Its one of the reasons I love the time before I go to sleep at nights that peaceful time when you can go before the good Lord with all your heart and get the knots in my heart untied. In this we are like little bees that rest in the heart of God and eat of the Honey of His love. While those little bees that do not pray fly from flower to flower and do not even see the honey and so buzz about restlessly and ever more angry and agitated never bring the Pollen of peace back to the Hive of the World. So to meet a person of Peace is to encounter a Person of Prayer is to a still pool in the Storm that is our sinful world....
I grieve over your difficult relationship with your Mom. Perhaps this Cross is the key on your path to sanctity. As parents, my beautiful wife, Geralyn, and I, have emphasized how man and woman complement and complete each other. Pope John Paul II's teaching on Theology of the Body articulates so well the idea of self-sacrificing that spouses must offer to each other and their children. We have not allowed dating before 18 and upheld a model of courtship for our children to consider. We've tried. It is up to the Holy Spirit to bear fruit. The fact that two of our boys have entered religious life certainly lowers the chances of a failure rate! Genesis1...in the divine image God created him, male and female he created them. Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for the children of all the parents on the Forum!
I admire, Terry the way you study the writings of the Popes, it reminds me to do the same. When I was young we had no central heating and I recall early in very,very cold mornings getting up to light the coal fire. Such a struggle... :shock: though it was wonderful when the fire was lit and the fire spread through the house.... I have found Our Blessed Lady is so like this in the hearts of souls, she, Saint of Saints is the good Lady who rises early in the morning to light the fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We can see this role of Mary in lighting the fire of holiness in the hearts of her children in so many ways ; culturally for instance..so many paintings, poems, music, books written about her, we only have to glance for instance at a painting of Mary for our hearts to be set on fire.... “Think of what the Saints have done for their neighbor because they loved God. But what Saint's love for God can match Mary's? She loved Him more in the first moment of her existence than all the Saints and angels ever loved Him or will love Him. Our Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire of her love was most extreme. If Heaven and earth were placed in it, they would be instantly consumed. And the ardors of the seraphim, compared with it, are like cool breezes. Just as there is not one among all the Blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary's love for even a single soul.” -Saint Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary But I think we see this more than anywhere in Scripture for if you look at al Mary says it is simply a tissue of Scriptural quotations. Mary was and is so full of the Holy Spirit that everything she is, does, says is on fire with the Spirit and so much on fire that she sets the hearts of al who gaze on her on fire too. So to love Mary is to have a heart constantly set on fire....
This is a side request but very related to motherhood, so I'm adding it here. I talked to a woman this past week who is not in love with her child. She is "faking it". I can't imagine how she is feeling- obviously she has been tortured by this greatly. She is a deep Christian, has been seeing a non-practicing Jew psychologist for therapy, and has not seen any relief- no wonder! (I of course gave her some good advice regarding finding a new counselor who will support her within her faith immediately!) When I talk to Protestants and non-believers as well, I feel a great sense of sadness for their loss. They don't understand what Our Lady brings to us everday if we just choose to develop our relationship with her. I have been so blessed. Please take a moment to pray for this woman with me and for all those who need Mary but don't know her yet. I am awaiting this Warning with my heart on fire. Pray, pray, pray Kath
I am awaiting this Warning with my heart on fire. You have a positive attitude Kathleen and I think that is the right thing. Its too easy to concentrate on the physical things we will loose and not on the spiritual/material things we will gain, including that those who do not know Mary will find her. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:18-23)
Our priest, who has been really trying to "wake up" our parish, said something today that I thought was great, and I want to remember it and use it next time the opportunity arises. It is not about our relationship with Mary, but our relationship with Jesus. He said, "When one of our protestant brothers or sisters asks me, "Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?" I say to them, "No, I have an INTIMATE relationship with Jesus Christ, because I get to receive him in me every time I go to Holy Mass!" Imagine the conversation this may spark about the Eucharist with your Protestant friend!
I love it when people like this find the right words to use, I suppose if we were really close to the Holy SPirit we would always find the right words. There are saints that have converted entire countries, though more than the right words, I suspect it what they are rather than what they say. We have a lot of folks from our parish who come from Kirala in India, a very,very Catholic place indeed. They are so good and devout, I often wonder what on earth kind of saint St Francis Xavier was to convert them so well. One thing I notice about the Kiralese Catholics is they can..I don't know how to put it better...a mystical quality we in the West do not have...they are open to 'seeing 'the spiritual world around them I think this is a very Indian thing. Its as though they have one foot in this world and one in the next , if you see what I mean... :lol: :lol: I am rambling again..................
Your ramblings are food for thought though so keep them coming! Hey that's a great thing to remember "No, I have an intimate relationship..." I love it! Kath
Padraig, I find it so interesting that you have Parishoners from India. My Husband is from that same area of India, actually GOA. When we were first married (almost 23 years ago) we went back to GOA were we visited his relatives. His Father took us to see Francis Xavier's Incorrupt remains (sp?) Unfortunately, at the time, I was not that impressed (I was young Immature, and not at all strong in my faith). Looking back now at this time, I see so many graces that we were given, through this encounter of being in the presence of this Saint. That same trip we stopped in Rome on our way back to the States and had an audience with the Pope. Again, this was an incredible encounter ( and at the time, didn't appreciate it). My husband was close enough to the Pope and was able to kiss his ring. I was standing just behind him, and I will never forget the "look" that Pope John Paul gave me! Two years after he died, he came to me in a dream and gave me the Eucharist on the tounge. God Bless, Meg
