Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
SATURDAY, March 13th Lk. 18: 9-14 “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Our Blessed Mother Mary is the model and perfection of humility. Let us strive to imitate her!
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.” (Lk. 1: 6-49)
Part`1: The Glories of Mary by Saint John Henry Newman
Part 2: TEN WAYS YOU CAN LOVE MOTHER MARY by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
PART 1: The Glories of Mary by Saint John Henry Newman
Mary’s glories are not only for the sake of her Son, they are for our sake also. Let us copy her faith, who received God’s message by the angel without a doubt; her patience, who endured Saint Joseph’s surprise without a word; her obedience, who went up to Bethlehem in the winter and bore our Lord in a stable; her meditative spirit, who pondered in her heart what she saw and heard about Him; her fortitude, whose heart the sword went through; her self-surrender, who gave Him up during His ministry and consented to His death…
What shall bring you forward in the narrow way, if you live in the world, but the thought and patronage of Mary? What shall seal your senses, what shall tranquilize your heart when sights and sounds of danger are around you, but Mary? What shall give you patience and endurance, when you are wearied out with the length of the conflict with evil, with the unceasing necessity of precautions, with the irksomeness of observing them, with the tediousness of their repetition, with the strain upon your mind, with your forlorn and cheerless condition, but a loving communion with her! She will comfort you in your discouragements, solace you in your fatigues, raise you after your falls, reward you for your successes. She will show you her Son, your God and your all.
When your spirit within you is excited, or relaxed, or depressed, when it loses its balance, when it is restless and wayward, when it is sick of what it has, and hankers after what it has not, when your eye is solicited with evil and your mortal frame trembles under the shadow of the Tempter, what will bring you to yourselves, to peace and to health, but the cool breath of the Immaculate and fragrance of the Rose of Sharon.
PART 2: TEN WAYS YOU CAN LOVE MOTHER MARY by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
We often discuss who might be the best athletes, the best artists, the best writers, the best musicians; also, it must be said, there are the best of mothers. By far—and in a class by herself—the Blessed Virgin Mary was, is and always will be the best of all mothers.
This being said, mothers should recognize the fact that Mary is the best of all mothers and contemplate Mary’s words, actions, gestures, looks, intentions and life to become better mothers.
For our great consolation Mary is the Mother of God and she is the Mother of the Church, but also Mary is our dearest Mother too! Let us try to please Mary our Mother and as a consequence, the many mothers in the world will make huge strides in becoming better mothers all the days of their lives!
Below we will present ten different ways that we can show Mary our Mother our great love for her and without a doubt, through her most powerful intercession, she will attain for us the most choice graces to help us become the saints that we are called to be, and many of us as mothers.
1. Talk to Her
We have to get into the habit of talking to Mary, our dearest Mother, very often. To confide in her, speak to her from our hearts, love her and entrust all of our lives to her is most pleasing to her, as well as to her Son Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is our Model, our Guide, our Friend and our dearest of Mothers. She loves us so much and desires to have frequent conversations with us.
Let us start today! Good friends think about each other and talk frequently! Mary is our Mother, but she is also our friend and confidant.
2. Start Your Day with Mary
Upon waking up every morning, our first action should be that of prayer, and what prayer? Why not start your day by giving yourself totally to Jesus, in all you say, do and think, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Give to Jesus through Mary your eyes, your ears, your mind, your heart, your body and even your intentions—in a word, give everything to Jesus through Mother Mary. How important it is to start our day well through the Heart of Mary!
3. Love Her
A Mother never gets tired of hearing her child say: “Mom, I really love you; you are the greatest!” The temptation might be to say the following: “Well she already knows it, why tell her something that she already knows.” True, a good Mother most likely already knows it. However, it should be expressed in words. By saying: “Mom, I really love you”, the heart of the mother will leap with joy. The same must be said about Mary our Mother. In the simplest of words when we say: “Mother Mary, I love you”, then Mary the Mother of God experiences great joy in her most pure and Immaculate Heart. Therefore, during the course of the day we should simply say: “Mother Mary, I love you!”
4. Walk With Her
There is a well-known song in both Spanish and Italian dedicated to Mary related to this topic with the title: Santa Maria del Camino—meaning, “Our Lady of the Way”. Therefore, when we travel, and it can be a short trip or a very long one, we should invite Mother Mary to come along with us. She is a good traveling companion and can protect us from many dangers in our travels, perils both physical and moral. How many accidents, both physical and moral, have surely been prevented by traveling with Mary—Santa Maria del Camino!
5. Imitate Mary
If we know somebody in a very deep way, that often leads to imitation, and imitation to following, and following to a deep love for that person. Saint Louis de Montfort highlights the ten principal virtues of Mary that we should strive to imitate: her deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, surpassing purity, ardent love, heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. (True Devotion to Mary, St. Louis de Montfort #108)
6. Trust and Entrust to Mary
If we truly have confidence in a person then we can entrust our cares to that person, knowing that this special person will care for us and protect us. God the Father entrusted His only begotten Son to the care of Mary. Therefore, we can entrust our lives totally to the care of Mary, our dearest and most loving Mother. “Never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection was left unaided.” (The Memorare, Saint Bernard)
7. Tell Mary of Your Sorrows and Failures
We could be tempted by the enemy, the devil, who truly hates Mary, to feel inhibited in telling Mother Mary our sorrows and deep sufferings. The contrary should be the case! The best of mothers, Mary knows very clearly that when a child is most hurt and wounded, that is when the child needs the most tender love and care. So it should be with us! When the days seem to be the most cloudy, bleak, gloomy and downright depressing in the depths of our souls, it is then that we really need to open up and talk to Mary our Mother! Mary is both refuge of sinners and health of the sick—two titles for Mary in her famous Litanies!
8. Call Upon Mary When Tempted
Our life is a constant battle; we are soldiers of both Jesus and Mother Mary. That means that we are on a constant battle-ground. Our enemies are three: the devil, the flesh, and the world. Aware of this intense reality of spiritual combat, we should call upon the Holy Name of Mary in the midst of the battle and the victory will be ours! The famous Battle of Lepanto proved a striking victory through invoking Mary and the recitation of the most Holy Rosary, at the insistence of Saint Pope Pius V. May we entrust our battles to Mary, who is more powerful than a whole army in battle array! The mere name of Mary causes terror and fear in all of hell!
9. Promote Love for Mary as Mother
If indeed we have truly experienced the love, care, and tenderness of Mary in our daily lives, then undoubtedly we will want to make Mother Mary known far and wide. Mary is not loved and honored due to one principal reason: she is not known! How can she be made known? In many ways! Encourage the reading of good books on Mary like The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, True Devotion to Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort, and Mater Redemptoris and The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary both by Saint Pope John Paul II.
Encourage recitation of the Holy Rosary and praying it daily, give out Rosaries with pamphlets on how to pray the Rosary, and finally, encourage the wearing of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
10. Die in the Arms of Mary
The most important moment in our lives is the very moment that we die. This moment will determine for all eternity our eternal destiny—either heaven or hell. Why not prepare to die in grace, to die a holy death, at least 50 times a day? How, you might ask? Simply by praying the most Holy Rosary. Every time we pray the Hail Mary, we are preparing ourselves for a holy and happy death with these words: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Therefore, let us rejoice with the keen awareness that we all have a heavenly Mother, Mary the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, and our dear Mother. She knows us, cares for us, protects us, but especially, she loves us! Indeed, in the midst of the trials, struggles, intense battles of life let us find our refuge in the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
