Fourth Sunday of Easter
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
SUNDAY, May 8th Jn 10: 27-30 Alleluia Verse: “I am the Good Shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.”
We honor Mary in the month of May! Today is Part Two of a Two Part Meditation honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary—the Mother of Jesus and our own dear Mother in God’s Plan of Salvation. Mary always leads us to Jesus, the Good Shepherd of our soul!
MARIAN DEVOTION—LIVING IT TO THE FULL! By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV (Part Two —11 thru 20)
ELEVENTH, RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION ON MARY’S FEAST DAYS. One of the actions that causes Our Lady to rejoice exultantly is when we receive her Son Jesus in Holy Communion, but especially on Marian feast days. Mary always desires our union with Jesus. By far the most intimate union that exists in the whole created world is the union of our body, mind, heart and soul with the Eucharistic Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in the moment of our reception of Holy Communion! One more step to upgrade your reception of Holy Communion: beg Our Lady to give you her Immaculate Heart so as to receive the Sacred Heart of Jesus with burning love in Holy Communion! Indeed Our Lady’s YES in the Annunciation was in a certain sense her first Holy Communion, because she received Jesus into the very depths of her body, mind, heart and soul. Then, after receiving Holy Communion, follow the advice of Saint Louis de Montfort and render thanks to Jesus through the “Magnificat” of Our Lady: “My soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior…” (Lk. 1:46-55)
TWELFTH, ENTRUST YOUR LIFE AND DEATH TO OUR LADY. By far the most important moment for us on earth is the moment we die and how we die. This moment will determine for all eternity our eternal destiny—either salvation or damnation, either heaven or hell! If we stay close to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, thinking of her constantly and loving her fervently, then she will indeed help us in this most critical moment to breathe forth our soul in the state of grace. The other day, I actually prepared myself for death 200 times in one day! You might ask how??? Very simple: I prayed four Rosaries in one day in which I prayed 200 times to Our Lady for the grace of a holy death with these words: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Indeed, if we are in the habit of praying the Rosary every day (better yet, more than one Rosary) then Our Lady will be present in our dying moments to help us breathe forth our soul in repentance, trust and love into the hands of our loving Father and heavenly Mother. There is nothing more important in life than this: to die in the state of sanctifying grace! May Our Lady, the FULL OF GRACE, obtain for us the grace of all graces—to die in the state of grace! Amen.
THIRTEENTH, CONSECRATE YOUR TOTAL BEING TO MARY. Consecrate your whole being to Mary and renew this consecration every year. There are various forms of consecration: Saint Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion to Mary”; Kolbe’s Consecration to the Immaculate; Father Michael Gaitley’s “33 Days to Morning Glory”. Once this consecration takes place, in which you no longer belong to yourself but are the property of Our Lady, the fruits are incredible. However, one fruit is worthy of note and a source of great consolation and it is this: trust in Our Lady’s constant presence and intercession brings interior peace of heart, mind, and soul with freedom from anxiety and worries. Why? We belong to Our Lady, the best of Mothers, and she will watch over us, guide us, and protect us, as well as our loved ones, all the days of our lives! Saint Vincent Palette spurs us on with these fiery words of love for Mary: “Those who have great devotion to Mary not only will be saved but also will, through her intercession, become great saints. Furthermore, their holiness will grow from day to day.”
FOURTEENTH, FALL INTO SIN—RUN TO MARY AND JESUS. Due to Original Sin, which Our Lady—the Immaculate Conception—never had, we are sinners from conception until death. Moreover, we have a strong tendency toward sin and indeed we do fall into sin! We should never give in to discouragement, much less despair. On the contrary, our love, trust and confidence in God’s mercy should abound all the more. When we fall into sin, let us run to Mary, and then run to Jesus who is present in a special way in the Sacrament of Confession. Mothers have all experienced a time when their little toddler fell down, possibly into the mud, getting bruised and sullied. The Mother rushed to pick up their crying child, wiping off the mud and kissing the bruises. It is exactly the same when we fall down into the grimy mud of our sins: Our Lady, good Mother that she is, rushes to help us get out of the mud and return to Jesus through a good confession. “In his eagerness to show you mercy, God has given His Son as your Advocate. And then to make your confidence even stronger, He has given you another Advocate, who obtains through her prayers whatever she asks. Go to Mary, and you will see salvation.” (Saint Alphonsus Liguori)
FIFTEENTH, NAME YOUR CHILD AFTER MARY. One of the most important duties of parents is to give their children a noble Christian name. Mothers and Fathers will never fail by naming their girls after Mary. In concrete, this means that the child named after Mary has a special protection from the one who has the most holy and powerful name, after the holy name of Jesus! All the devils take flight at the simple name of Mary! In the Divine Comedy, Dante depicts a devil ready to drag a soul into hell where the place of torture is already prepared for this specific soul. However, Jesus intervenes, thwarting and frustrating the plans of the devil, for the simple reason that once this soul invoked the HOLY NAME OF MARY! Names for Mary are many: Mary, Maria, Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Mary-Anne, Mary Therese, Conception, Maria Rosa, Rosario, etc. As a priest, what a beautiful moment I experience when I baptize a little child with the name MARY! Get in the habit, also, of praying the DIVINE PRAISES, in which we pray: “Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy. Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception. Blessed be her Glorious Assumption. Blessed be the NAME OF MARY, Virgin and Mother.” By the way, the Liturgical Feast Day of the Holy Name of Mary is September 12th every year, four days after the Feast Day of her Birth on September 8th.
SIXTEENTH, BECOME A MARIAN APOSTLE. It is inevitable that if you really love someone, you want to make that person known and loved. This most clearly applies to our love for both Jesus and Mary. Proclaim them from the rooftops! A suggestion, following in the footsteps of the saints, in particular, St. Maximilian Kolbe! One of the specific manners in which Kolbe would spread devotion to Our Lady, whom he most ardently called THE IMMACULATE, was to give out freely and abundantly medals of the Immaculate Conception, commonly known as the Miraculous Medal. Actually, Kolbe called the medals his “Spiritual Bullets”—spiritual ammunition to kill the enemy, the devil and his army. Be practical now! Purchase a bundle of medals—maybe 500!!!— study the image and its most beautiful symbolism and then give the medals freely and abundantly whenever God opens up a door, and there may be many doors if we have our spiritual eyes open! One of the most famous conversions was that of the Jew, Alphonse Ratisbonne, who to placate his Catholic friend, wore the Miraculous Medal. After which, Our Lady appeared to him in a church in Rome and he was eventually converted; then his brother was converted also. Alphonse went on to become a priest and founded an order for Jewish converts to the faith—all as a result of the presence of Mary, mediated through the Miraculous Medal! Let us lift our eyes and heart to Mary, inspired by the words of the Mellifluous Doctor of the Church, Saint Bernard, who wrote one of the most beautiful Marian poems, “Stella Maris”—Our Lady, Star of the Sea. “In danger, anguish or doubt, think of Mary and call upon Mary. Following her you will never lose your way. Praying to her you will never sink into despair. Contemplating her, you will never go wrong.”
SEVENTEENTH, SHORT PRAYERS TO MARY! Get in the habit of offering short but fervent prayers to Mary. The saints call these aspirations: “Fiery darts that pierce the heavens.” There are many, but we will offer a few: “Mary, pray for me.” “Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” “Hail, holy Queen!” “Mary, come to my aid, make haste to help me!” Short prayers said often as a fiery dart of love and plea for help can enkindle our love for Mary into a burning flame! Saint Bonaventure encourages us with this short but powerful ornament to Mary: “Blessed are those who abandon themselves into our Lady’s hands. Their names are written in the Book of life.”
EIGHTEENTH, PROMOTE MARIAN-EUCHARISTIC PROCESSIONS. A very curious fact about Lourdes, France! It is well-known that many miracles have occurred in Lourdes where Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous 18 times in 1858. During these apparitions, Our Lady asked the little girl to dig in the ground and as a consequence the miraculous waters of Lourdes began to flow, and they flow to this very day. With great trust in Our Lady’s intercession, many have been healed. However, of paramount importance is the following: most miracles have occurred at dusk when the priest walks in the courtyard outside the Basilica in procession with the Blessed Sacrament! There in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord Jesus, the Son of Mary, many have been healed. It stands to reason: Jesus is the DIVINE PHYSICIAN. One of the titles for Our Lady is HEALTH OF THE SICK! Therefore, let us promote and attend processions in honor of Our Lady and her Eucharistic Son, and healings will come about in the body, but even more important, in the souls of sinners!!! Let us listen to the words of Saint Pope Leo the Great about the power of Mary over the devil: “The devil is always looking for someone to devour. In the same way, Mary is always looking for someone she can help in any way.”
NINETEENTH, MAY AND OCTOBER—MONTHS OF MARY. In her infinite wisdom, the Church has set apart two special months to honor Mary: May is the month of Mary and October is the month of the most holy Rosary. In the month of May, let us strive to offer some concrete action every day to show Mary our great love for her: prayers, sacrifices, acts of charity, readings, etc. In October, let us pray the Rosary every day, or more than one, with great fervor. Let us unite our families to pray the Rosary and sing to Our Lady hymns of great joy. Let us bring our children to the feet and Heart of Mary. “Mary is more prompt than all the saints in coming to our aid. She has a great desire to comfort us. The moment she is invoked, she welcomes our prayers and grants us her assistance.” (Saint Alphonsus Liguori)
TWENTIETH, THE ROSARY, THE ROSARY, AND THE ROSARY. The prayer that Our Lady loves most is the most Holy Rosary. Let us get in the habit of praying it often and with much attention and love, and our Lady will shower us with countless blessings! Every Hail Mary prayed well is a kiss that we send up to heaven. Our Lady of Fatima appeared six times to the children—Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia—and at every appearance she insisted that the Rosary be prayed. Actually the official name of our Lady of Fatima is OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY. Saint Pope John Paul II in his document “The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary” warmly exhorted the whole world to pray the Rosary and for two specific intentions: for the family and for world peace. The Rosary priest, Father Patrick Peyton, encourages us with these words: “The family that prays together stays together.” And, “A world at prayer is a world at peace.”
