The Mystical Rose, Tower of David, Tower of Ivory, House of God, Ark of the Covenant, Gate of Heaven, Morning Star, Queenof saints, and Queen of the angels, Queen of all hearts—all of these are beautiful and mystical and poetic expressions for the Blessed Virgin Mary, who St. Louis de Montfort also exalts as GOD’S MASTERPIECE OF CREATION.
Human, finite and limited human expressions cannot express the exalted and sublime nature of GOD’S MASTERPIECE OF CREATION: THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
If that were not enough, related to the Blessed Trinity, Mary is most intimately related. Mary is the Daughter of the Eternal Father; Mary is the Mother of God the Son; Mary is the Mystical Spouse of the Holy
Spirit. Her relationship to the Trinity
is unique and unrepeatable! Therefore,
by drawing close to Mary, praying to Mary and loving Mary, we enhance our
relationship with the Blessed Trinity.
PRAYERS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY— A POWERFUL CONNECTION!
Prayer is our power and our connection to the Almighty. Our prayer
to Mary should be faithful, frequent and fervent! What are the prayers that cause the
Immaculate Heart of Mary to rejoice? Following are the traditional and
classics!
1. MORNING OFFERING. We ought to start off our day on the right foot, with the right words and the right intentions. Upon awaking our first thoughts, intentions, movement of the heart and words should be to Jesus and
Mary. Therefore, start off your day with the ACT OF CONSECRATION of your day to Jesus through Mary. St. Louis de Montfort in his classic TRUE DEVOTION TO MARY gives us a wonderful analogy of how we can have access to the king. A poor man wants to offer the King a bruised apple. The King will never receive the apple directly from the pauper/poor man. HHowever, if the poor man knows the Queen and presents the apple to the Queen, then she
will polish the apple, place it on a golden platter, deposit the apple between
two flowers and present it to the King and His Majesty will receive it. Why?
Not because of the apple in itself, much less due to the poor man, but “yes”
due to the Queen who presents the apple to him. Our actions are poor, tainted with sin and concupiscence, but if placed in the hands of the Queen—the Blessed Virgin Mary—she purifies, polishes and perfects
them so that the King accepts them.Jesus rejoices in us, the more He sees Mary present in our lives and our hearts! Start off your day by giving all to Jesus through Mary! Great and quick path to
holiness! The motto Of Blessed Pope John Paul, the Great was TOTOS TUUS—from de
Montfort, meaning, “Jesus I am all yours through the hands of Mary.”
2. THE ANGELUS! A prayer that the Holy Father prays publicly every Sunday, before a crowd of people at 12 noon and then imparts his Papal blessing! This short but powerful prayer summarizes the two hinges of the Catholic faith— The incarnation of the Son of God, and the Paschal Mystery, “through His passion and death may we be come to the glory of the Resurrection. Traditionally it has been prayed at noon. However, why not start a new tradition and pray the Angelus three times: at 9:00 a.m., 12 noon as 6:00 p.m. Why these three times? To start three key
moments of the day with Mary who leads us to Jesus. Sanctify the morning (9), the afternoon (12 p.m.)
and the evening (6:00 p.m.)praying the Angelus. A renowned writer stated: “Where there is little success it is because there is little Mary.
3. MEMORARE. This beautiful prayer, attributed to
the “Mellifluous Doctor”, St. Bernard
has been cherished by Catholics for centuries.
A young man fell into deep depression, convinced that he could not be
saved. Sleepless nights, loss of appetite and perpetual worry, had transformed
him into a skeleton. His prayer was,
“Lord if I have to go to hell at least allow me to love you there.” Divine Providence has many surprises, such
that he wandered into the Church of Our of Lady of Victories, knelt down and
prayed the MEMORARE… “Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it know that anyone who fled to your protection was left unaided…..” Upon finishing the prayer, the young man arose
and the depression l was lifted from him like a dense cloud. He returned to his studies, got his degree in
Law and then turned to the priesthood dedicating himself to writing, missionary work, was elected Bishop, founder of a Congregation, and was praised by a friend saint of his (Saint Vincent de
Paul) as the most clear reflection of the Person of Jesus on earth. The name of this person, aided by Mary in the
recitation of the Memorare was none other than SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES! Therefore, in moments of temptation, why not call out to Mary and pray the MEMORARE!
She will never leave you in the lurch nor abandon you!
4. HAIL HOLY QUEEN! One of the greatest theologians and doctors
of the Church, known as the “Marian Doctor” for his great love for Mary is
SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI. His “Marian masterpiece” was THE GLORIES OF MARY.
This brilliant saint synthesized 1750 years of Mariology and condensed
it in the book THE GLORIES OF MARY. Concretely, the saint takes the HAIL HOLY
QUEEN , and word for word explains the prayer. He cites countless saints,
Marian writers, as well as giving colorful and easy to remember stories to manifest the powerful intercession of Mary, especially under the title as Queen. St. Ignatius,
teaching on prayer, suggests a method in which we take a well-known prayer and
say the words quietly and slowly, relishing each one of the words. Why not
start with the HAIL HOLY QUEEN, a beautiful prayer that we pray to conclude the
Rosary, as well as the 5th and last Mystery of the Holy Rosary. Mary is Queen of angels, confessors, martyrs,
virgins, and saints. May she also be the
“Queen of your heart!” By the way, purchase
and read Liguouri’s masterpiece, THE GLORIES OF MARY. Your knowledge and love for “The Queen of
Heaven and earth will skyrocket!!!!
5. HOLY ROSARY. Not to mention the HAIL MARY/ ROSARY would beremiss and all but complete in our tour of Marian devotion and our selection of
the most renowned of Marian prayers! In
the DIARY OF MERCY IN MY SOUL of St. Faustina Kowalska, the saint had great
devotion to Our Lady, Mother of mercy.
One of the practices that Saint Faustina persevered in was that of the
practice of NOVENAS, but especially Marian novenas. Shocked as you may be, before the Immaculate
Conception/ Assumption, Faustina made a novena in which she would pray 1000
HAIL MARYS every day for 9 days!
Wow! We struggle to pray a
Rosary a day! Mary revealed to the saint
that at the recitation of every HAIL MARY, her heart would leap with joy! May our love for Mary manifest itself by frequent, fervent, and fiery HAIL MARYS! This
indeed fills Mary’s heart with joy and will cause a torrential downpour of
graces upon us, our family, our community, our country and the whole world!
