Following the way of Mary

Imaging the story:

  It is March 25, with in a few years of the year we call 1, and a 14-year old named Mary or Myriam in Hebrew goes out to graze a small flock of goats on a rocky hillside in Galilee. A typical Jewish girl of her time, she wears a straight sun-bleached dress, is deeply tanned, and has dark brown hair woven into a braid that swings across her back as she runs happily up the hill. She is thinking about Joseph, a local woodworker to whom she is engaged.
 Mary is as ordinary as her name and expectations. Marriage and motherhood lie ahead, and the hard life of the very poor. After the ceremony she will wear a long veil and move to a shabby one-room house just like her parents', made of stone with an earthen floor and high-placed air vents admitting a bit of light. Like her ancestors for may centuries, Mary will cook over an open fire, sit on the ground to eat, and sleep on a thin mat. Her mother and grandmother have trained her well in women's ways of nurturing a family, tending to the sick and dying with home-grown herbal medicines, and helping in childbirth.
  Picture Mary in you imagination as she finds a patch of dusty land with just enough grass to feed her small flock for the day. Already thirsty, she takes a small drink of water from her wineskin when something alarming happens, something too amazing to be real, and she is shaken to her core. An angel has appeared right in front of her. Imagine your self in her place. What would you be feeling and thinking?
  Mary is afraid, but the angel is beautiful, and he speaks to her in a soothing, tender voice. Quickly, she calms herself. The message is curious, inappropriate, as though it were meant for someone else, and she struggles with herself before she speaks. What is it like for you to be there with Mary, listing to her conversation with Gabriel? If you could speak to Mary, what would you say? What would she reply? Continue your conversation with her if you wish. What did you learn from your conversation with Mary?

The Way of Mary, Following Her footsteps Toward God ~ Mary Ford-Grabowsky, pg 51,52

Presentation of Mary

Let us give thanks to God for the gift of Mary as our mother.

As Mary was brought to the Temple we are called to do the same. We follow the wonderful and perfect example of Mary. She offered her whole life to God and we are to follow in her footsteps.

What is our offering that we present to God on the altar of are heart each day?

Let, then, the life of Mary be as it were virginity itself, set forth in a likeness, from which, as from a mirror, the appearance of chastity and the form of virtue is reflected. From this you may take your pattern of life, showing, as an example, the clear rules of virtue: what you have to correct, to effect, and to hold fast. The first thing which kindles ardour in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God?

~ Saint Ambrose

The Obedience of Mary

The humility of our Divine Savior and His most blessed Mother was always accompanied by a perfect obedience.  Obedience had such a power over both of them that they would rather have died, and even by death on a cross, than fail to obey.  Our Lord died the Cross through obedience.  And Our Lady -- what remarkable acts of obedience did she not make at the very hour of the death of her Son, who was the Heart of her heart?  In no way whatever did she resist the will of the Heavenly Father, but rather remained firm and constant at the foot of the Cross, completely submissive to the divine pleasure.  We can use the words of St. Paul for obedience as we have for humility:  Our Lord became obedient to death, even to death on a Cross.  He never did anything throughout His entire life except through obedience, which He Himself made know to us when He said:  It is not My own will that I have come down from Heaven, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.  Therefore, always and in order to follow it, and not for a time, but always and even unto death.

As to Our Lady, examine and consider the whole course of her life.  You will find there nothing but obedience.  She so esteemed this virtue that, although she had made a vow of virginity, she nevertheless submitted herself to the command that was given her to marry.  Ever afterwards she persevered in obedience, as we see today, since she comes to the Temple to obey the law of purification, even though there was no necessity for her to observe it, nor her Son either, as we have already mentioned in the first point.  Her obedience was purely voluntary.  It was not less for being voluntary and unnecessary.  She so dearly loved this virtue, which her sacred Son had engrafted as a divine graft on the trunk of holy humility, that she recommended no other...  This virtue is the inseparable companion of humility.  One is never found without the other, for humility makes us submit to obedience.

In The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales on Our Lady

Praying with Our Lady at the Foot of the Cross

 

O my Son,

to see you thus breaks my heart,

yet I know that the Father's ways

are known to your heart.

 

The love You have,

the compassion You show,

can only be of mirror

of the love You know.

 

Placed under the tender care of John,

and becoming the Mother of the Church

are but small consolations

in the midst of so great a hurt.

 

Yet, with You

the Father's will I embrace

that all will come to pass

in its proper time and place.

 

 Jesus, my joy and my delight,

my Son and my Lord,

I can't help but remember You

as the small child I bore. 





Sequence for the Virgin

A royal scepter and a crown

of purple, a fortress

strong as mail!  O fortress

of maidenhood, scepter

all verdant:

The way you bloomed would have startled

the grandsire of us all,

for the life father Adam

stripped from his sons (praise

to you!) slid from your loins.

You never sprang from the dew,

my bloosom, nor from the rain --

that was no wind that swept

over you -- for God's

radiance opened you

on a regal bough.  On the morn

of the universe he saw you

blossoming, and he made you

a golden matrix, O maid

beyond praise, for his word.

Strong rib of Adam!  Out of you

Gold scupted woman:  the mirror

of all his charms, the cares

of his whole creation.  So voices

chime in heaven and the whole

earth marvels at Mary

beloved beyond measure.

Cry, aloud!  A serpent

hissed and a sea of grief

seeped through his forked

words into woman.  The mother

of us all miscarried.

With ignorant hands she

plucked at her womb and bore

woe without bounds.

But the sunrise from your thighs

burnt the whole of her guilt away.

More than all that Eve lost

is the blessing you won.

Mary, savior,

mother of light:

may the limbs of your son be the chords of the song

the angels chant above.

~ Hildegard of Bingen

in Praying with the Benedictines,

a Window on the Cloister



The Mystery of Woman

The Church would like to thank the Most Holy Trinity for the "mystery of woman," and, for every woman -- for what constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity, and for the "great works of "God" which throughout human history have been accomplished through her.  After all, wasn't the greatest event in human history -- the incarnation of God himself -- accomplished in her and through her?

Mulieris Dignitatem, 1988

John Paul II

Mary's Consent

Salvation would be God's gift, but it had to be accepted.  It had been lost by the first parents of the human race, mysteriously described in the event of the Book of Genesis, and it would be recovered by the free consent of the human being who would accept the absolute salvation of God.

It is fruitful to meditate on the fact that this event took place in the most silent of ways.  Just as no one had ever head the explosion that was the "big bang," just as no one hear the cosmic events in the sky because they go on in a world where there are no ears to hear them, so also the event that would be the re-creation of the world took place in the absolute silence of the inner being of a single human.

The Gospel of St. Luke describes this event which is the second creation of the world.  It is as mysterious and spell-binding, as utterly overpowering to the human intellect as the great explosion at the beginning of creation.  But this time it includes the freedom of the human will.  The human will had once chosen evil, now it would choose good.

from Quiet Moments with Benedict Groeschel, 120 Readings

Have recourse to Mary

In your trials,

have recourse to May,

and she will remedy them.

~ St. Paul of the Cross

My soul proclaims the greatness of God...

Divine love so penetrated and filled the soul of Mary

that no part of her was left untouched,

so that she loved with her whole heart,

with her whole mind,

and her whole strength,

and was full of grace.

~ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Fiat!

The passage in St. Luke's Gospel announcing the Birth of Jesus is well known -- and every time we pray the Hail Mary we recall this wondrous event. 

Mary's response is one that we all need to make regarding God's will -- Fiat!  Yes, be it done unto to me!  Mary's fiat made her the mother of God.  What will our fiat mean? 

It may be that our fiat will see us becoming vowed religious.  Or it might make us a dedicated single or married and open to the gift of children that God may have in store for your future.  Regardless of the outcome, the only thing important is being open to God's will -- and following where He leads.

May we have the grace to answer as Mary, "Fiat!  Be it done unto me according to Thy will!"

The Sorrows of Mary, Part IV

The Burial of Jesus

Dear Mary, loving hands carefully remove Jesus from the cross and reverently prepare him for burial.  One last time you hold and behold your beloved Son.  To lose someone through illness or accident is difficult, but Jesus suffered a brutal execution and nothing on earth can console your heart.

Gently, tenderly, lovingly the last rites are accomplished and you must say your final farewell to your Son. 

Mary, when we face loss and suffering, be with us.

The Sorrows of Mary, Part III

Jesus' Heart Is Pierced

Dear Mary, Jesus' head is bowed in death.  His limp body hangs lifeless from the cross.  And yet, the soldiers are not finished, and one of them thrusts a spear into his side.  And immediately blood and water gush forth -- and your motherly heart absorbs the pain, as if you yourself had received the wound.

All is poured out.  Nothing has been held back.  And still you stand by Him.  Still you pour forth your love.  What else can you do? 

Mary, help us pour forth charity and understanding to those we encounter as freely as the water and blood flowed from Jesus' side.  Mary, help us to love and show mercy just as Jesus does from his cross.

The Sorrows of Mary, Part II

Mary at the Foot of the Cross

Dear Mary, that heavy cross that you watched you Son carry, is now his next instrument of torture -- and death.  His hands and feet have so cruelly been nailed to its wood. 

Little by little, you see his life ebb away.  And hear those words that tear at your heart even more, "There is your mother.  Woman, there is your son."  Another is given to you in Jesus' place, but could anyone ever take His place in your heart?  The baby you carried beneath your heart for nine months and then cared for and raised is now dying before your eyes -- and you are helpless now to help Him, except to stay with Him to the end and let Him know that you love Him.

Mary, help us to not be afraid to be present to others in their pain and suffering.  Mary, help us to see Jesus -- and his cross -- in their pain.

The Sorrows of Mary, Part I

Mary's first three sorrows happened when Jesus was a child.  The last four of her sorrows are tied intimately to Jesus' passion and death.  Over the next several days, we would like to reflect with you on those four.

Meeting Jesus as He Carried His Cross

How your heart must have wrenched in pain at seeing your beloved Son.  The wounds so new and raw from the scouraging, the thorns tearing his brow, and the weight of the cross resting heavily on his shoulders.

Yes, his Passion was your passion, too.  In your motherly heart, you felt his pain, knew his grief.  Knowing that you shared it with him, must have strengthened him.  Knowing that you, too, understood on a very deep level that the He had to follow his Father's will regardless of the cost, consoled him.

Mary, help us to assist others as they bear their crosses -- crosses they did not choose -- but carry nonetheless.  Mary, help us to see Jesus -- and his cross -- in them.

Salutation to Mary

Hail Mary! Daughter of God the Father,

Hail Mary! Mother of God the Son,

Hail Mary! Spouse of God the Holy Ghost,

Hail Mary! Temple of the Most Blessed Trinity,

Hail Mary! Celestial Rose of the ineffable love of God,

Hail Mary! Virgin pure and humble,

      of whom the King of Heaven willed to be born

      and with thy milk to be nourished,

Hail Mary! Virgin of Virgins,

Hail Mary! Queen of Martyrs, whose soul a sword transfixed,

Hail Mary! Lady most Blessed,

     unto whom all power in Heaven and earth is given,

Hail Mary! My Queen and my Mother, my life,

     my sweetness and my hope,

Hail Mary! Mother most Amiable,

Hail Mary! Mother most Admirable,

Hail Mary! Mother of Divine Love,

Hail Mary! Immaculate; conceived without sin,

Hail Mary! Full of grace, the Lord is with thee,

     blessed art thou among women and

     blessed the fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

Blessed be thy Spouse, St. Joseph,

Blessed be thy Father, St. Joachim,

Blessed be thy Mother, St. Anne,

Blessed be thy Guardian, St. John,

Blessed be thy Holy Angel, St. Gabriel,

Glory be to God the Father, who chose thee,

Glory be to God the Son, who loved thee,

Glory be to God the Holy Ghost, who espoused thee,

O Glorious Virgin Mary, may all men love and praise Thee.

Holy Mary, Mother of God! Pray for us and bless us,

     now and at death in the name of Jesus, thy Divine Son!

Let us pray:

accept the sincere homage of my filial affection.

Into thy heart, pierced by so many swords,

do thou welcome my poor soul.

Receive it as the companion of thy sorrows

at the foot of the Cross,

on which Jesus died for the redemption of the world.

With thee, O sorrowful Virgin,

I will gladly suffer all the trials,

contradictions, and infirmities

which it shall please our Lord to send me.

I offer them all to thee in memory of thy sorrows,

so that every thought of my mind,

and every beat of my heart

may be an act of compassion and of love for thee.

And do thou, sweet Mother,

have pity on me in my last agony,

so that I may be able to meet thee in heaven

and sing thy glories.

Amen.

Sweet Heart of Mary, by my salvation!

by St. John Eudes

Mary, most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs,

At the Cross Her Station Keeping

At the cross, her station keeping,
Stood the mournful mother weeping,
Where He hung, the dying Lord;
For her soul of joy bereaved,
Bowed with anguish, deeply grieved,
Felt the sharp and piercing sword.

Oh, how sad and sore distressed
Now was she, that mother blessed
Of the sole begotten One;
Deep the woe of her affliction,
When she saw the crucifixion
Of her ever glorious Son.

Who, on Christ’s dear mother gazing
Pierced by anguish so amazing
Born of woman, would not weep?
Who, on Christ’s dear mother thinking
Such a cup of sorrow drinking
Would not share her sorrows deep?

For His people’s sins chastised,
She beheld her Son despised,
Scourged, and crowned with thorns entwined;
Saw Him then from judgment taken,
And in death by all forsaken,
Till His Spirit He resigned.

Jesu, may her deep devotion
Stir in me the same emotion,
Fount of love, Redeemer kind,
That my heart fresh ardor gaining,
And a purer love attaining,
May with Thee acceptance find.

Commemorating Mary on Saturday

During Ordinary Time, the option is given in the Liturgy to commemorate the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturdays.  Here at the monastery, we do this once a month, usually on the First Saturday, unless another saint's feast day falls on that day.

Why do we do this?  Mary was the first person who "got it right."  Unlike Eve and Adam who wanted to become gods themselves, Mary humbled herself before God.  She said "Yes!" to God's will and became the Mother of Jesus.  Where would we be today without Mary's yes?

Today, take a few minutes to ask Mary to intercede for you before the throne of her Son, and ask her to help you to be open to God's will for your life.  May you be able to say fiat to God just like Mary did.

My Queen! My Mother!

Today in The Liturgy of the Hours and at Mass, we commorate the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We hope you find this prayer, by St. Gertrude the Great, one that you will want to turn to again and again...

My Queen! My Mother!

I give thee all myself,

and to show my devotion to thee,

I consecrate to thee my eyes,

my ears,

my mouth,

my heart,

my entire self.

Wherefore, O loving Mother,

 as I am thine own,

keep me,

defend me,

as thy property and possession.

Happy Birthday Mary

May we always look to Mary

as our helper and guide to her Son Jesus Christ.

We wish you a very happy Birthday!