Blessed Virgin Mary: November 2008 Archives

The Novena in Preparation for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary begins today and continues through December 7th.

Tota pulchra es, Maria,
et macula non est in te.
Tu gloria Jerusalem,
tu laetitia Israel,
tu honorificentia populi nostri.
Tu advocata peccatorum,
O Maria, Virgo prudentissima,
Mater clementissima,
ora pro nobis
ad Dominum Jesum Christum.

V. Sicut lilium inter spinas.
R. Sic Amica mea inter filias Adae.

Oremus.

Deus, qui per immaculatam Virginis Conceptionem
dignum Filio tuo habitaculum praeparasti:
quaesumus; ut qui ex morte ejusdem Filii tui praevisa,
eam ab omni labe praeservasti,
nos quoque mundos ejus intercessione
ad te pervenire concedas.
Per eundem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum,
Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat,
in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus:
per omnia saecula saeculorum.
Amen.

Thou art all-lovely, O Mary,
and in thee there is no stain.
Thou art the glory of Jerusalem,
Thou art the joy of Israel,
Thou art the honour of our people.
Thou art the advocate of sinners,
O Mary,Virgin most prudent,
Mother most clement,
pray for us
to our Lord Jesus Christ.

V. Like a lily among thorns.
R. So is my Beloved among Adam's daughters.

Let us pray.

O God, who by means of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin
didst prepare a worthy dwelling for Thy Son,
and foreseeing His death,
didst thereby preserve her from all stain,
grant that we too by her intercession
may come to Thee unstained by sin.
Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord,
Who is God, living and reigning with Thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Power of the Mother With the Son

For if "God heareth not sinners, but if a man be a worshipper of Him and do His will, him He heareth"; if "the continual prayer of a just man availeth much"; if faithful Abraham was required to pray for Abimelech, "for he was a prophet"; if patient Job was to "pray for his friends," for he had "spoken right things before God"; if meek Moses, by lifting up his hands, turned the battle in favour of Israel, against Amalec; why should we wonder at hearing that Mary, the only spotless child of Adam's seed, has a transcendent influence with the God of grace?

And if the Gentiles at Jerusalem sought Philip, because he was an apostle, when they desired access to Jesus, and Philip spoke to Andrew, as still more closely in our Lord's confidence, and then both came to Him, is it strange that the Mother should have power with the Son, distinct in kind from that of the purest angel and the most triumphant saint?

If we have faith to admit the Incarnation itself, we must admit it in its fullness; why then should we start at the gracious appointments which arise out of it, or are necessary to it, or are included in it? If the Creator comes on earth in the form of a servant and a creature, why may not his Mother on the other hand rise to be the Queen of heaven, and be clothed with the sun, and have the moon under her feet? (The Venerable Servant of God John Henry Cardinal Newman, "Discourses to Mixed Congregations")

Spiritual Rescue Operations

Priests caring for souls -- and others as well: parents, spouses, and friends -- may find themselves at times engaged in a kind of spiritual rescue operation on behalf of a particular person. In such situations it is crucial to recall two words of Our Lord from Saint John's Gospel: "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5), and "Behold your mother" (Jn 19:27).

The Name of Jesus

No human agent, however devoted to prayer and fasting he may be, can by his own power, restore a soul to health. It is by the name of Jesus, that is to say, by His adorable Person, that souls are delivered from bondage and oppression, healed, and raised to life.

Thus taught the Apostle Peter: "Here is a man you all know by sight, who has put his faith in that Name, and that Name has brought him strength; it is the faith which comes through Jesus that has restored him to full health in the sight of you all" (Ac 3:16).

Intercessory Prayer

When a soul, weakened by sin, hardened by impenitence, and sometimes blinded by the powers of darkness cannot invoke the Name of Jesus for herself, the consoling doctrine of the Mystical Body authorizes others to do this on her behalf. This is the mystery of intercessory prayer. In its simplest form, intercessory prayer is the invocation of the Name of Jesus.

The Immaculate Virgin Mary

That being affirmed, know that no creature in heaven or on earth can pronounce the saving Name of Jesus as can the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The name of Jesus in the Heart of Mary, and on her lips, is a remedy of boundess efficacy. For this reason the sacred liturgy applies to the Mother of God the psalmist's prophecy: Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis -- "Thy lips overflow with gracious utterance" (Ps 44:3).

Omnipotentia Supplex

Guided by a sure instinct coming from the Holy Spirit, Christians have, from the earliest centuries, besought the Mother of God to invoke the Name of Jesus on their behalf. Instructed by experience, the Church acclaims her as omnipotentia supplex, all-powerful in her supplication. There are critical situations in which the wisest and most efficacious course of action is to entrust or consecrate the person or persons concerned to the all-holy Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception. Saved in advance by the Precious Blood of the Lamb, and full of grace at the very instant of her conception in the womb of her mother Saint Anne, the Immaculata crushes the head of the ancient serpent beneath the weight of the grace that fills her.

A Prayer

Last year I served a fortnight as interim chaplain to the Benedictines du Saint-Sacrement at the Sanctuary of Notre Dame d'Orient in the Aveyron, France. (This particular title of the Mother of God refers not to the Orient (East), but rather to Our Lady's readiness to tend her ear to us at every moment: auriens.) While at Notre-Dame d'Orient I was inspired to write a prayer of intercessory consecration to Immaculate Virgin Mary.

This prayer of consecration may be helpful when one experiences a need to entrust particular souls in difficulty to the Immaculate Conception. When a priest prays it, he may want to don the stole and pray it before a blessed image of the Most Holy Virgin. This intercessory consecration is appropriate for the unbinding and healing of situations marked by habitual sin and moral suffering. The Immaculate Virgin Mary is ever-ready to intervene in the lives of her children. She is the Mother of Mercy and the Mediatrix of All Graces. Here is the prayer, first in English, and then in the original French.

In the name of the Father, + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Most holy Virgin Mary.
-- thou whom the FATHER didst preserve from the first instant of thy conception
from all evil and from the least shadow of sin,
-- thou whom the Precious Blood of JESUS didst render immaculate and all-beautiful, even before that same Blood was formed in thy virginal womb and poured out upon the altar of the Cross,
-- thou whom the HOLY SPIRIT didst fill full with every grace in view of the glorious motherhood of the Son of God for which thou wast created,
-- thou art she who crusheth the head of the ancient serpent,
thou art she who alone overcometh the evil that is in us and around us.

To thee, O Mary,
thy Son hath entrusted the liberation of souls enchained by sin,
the healing of wounded souls,
and the sanctification of souls who have suffered evil's worst ravages.

Thou hast only to open thy immaculate hands over them,
and they are shot through with the rays of thy purity.
Through thee, entereth the light to shine in the darkest places.
Through thee, souls are washed in a downpour of graces.
Through thee, the Holy Spirit succoureth the weakest souls
and giveth to the sterile a wonderful fecundity.

Thou, O Mary, art the only hope of thy children scarred by sin
and poisoned by its venom.
To those whom the enemy hath made to go astray in bitterness and in fear,
thou openest the path of life and of beatitude.

This is why, impelled today by the boldness that cometh of the Holy Spirit,
and by a confidence that is altogether that of a son,
[and when the consecration is made by a priest:
and in virtue of my priesthood,]
I entrust to thee N. and N.,
in consecrating them to thy pierced and immaculate Heart.

Show thyself the Mother of mercy.
Show thyself our all-powerful Queen,
for there is nothing that resisteth thy supplication
in the presence of Jesus, the King of Love.

Mediatrix of all graces,
save these souls from the tentacles of evil.
Heal them, even in those secret and painful wounds,
that only thy most gentle motherly hand can touch
without adding to their pain.

From this moment on,
these souls are consecrated entirely to thee.
Do thou for them whatsoever thy maternal Heart will suggest to thee.
Purify them in the Precious Blood of thy Jesus, the Lamb without stain,
so that now, and even unto the ages of ages,
they may live for the praise of the glory
of the Father + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Lady in the Temple

The solemn dedication of the Church of the Mother of God near the Temple in Jerusalem took place on November 21, 543; this felicitous association of the Mother of God with the Temple supports the ancient tradition of the Blessed Virgin Mary's presentation in the Temple as a child. Saint John Damascene -- interpreting the Holy Name of Mary as "Lady" -- tells us that the "Lady of every creature and the Mother of the Creator . . . first saw the light in Joachim's house, hard by the Pool of Bethesda, at Jerusalem, and was carried to the Temple."

Secundum Verbum Tuum

In the hidden recesses of the old Temple, the Holy Spirit prepares the new Temple, the all-holy Virgin, to become the Mother of God . She who is destined to be the living Temple of the Word dwells in the Temple of the Old Dispensation. She hears the chanting of the psalms, the prophets, and the Law. Was it there that she learned Psalm 118, the long litany of loving surrender to the Word? And was it from Psalm 118, held in her heart from so tender an age, that she drew her response to the message of the Angel, "Be it done unto me according to Thy Word" (Lk 1:38)?

There planted in the Lord, the dew of His Spirit made her flourish in the courts of her God, and like a green olive she became a tree, so that all the doves of grace came and lodged in her branches. (Saint John Damscene, Upon the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, ch. 15)

Virgin Mother of the Lamb

There she smells the fragrance of incense and burnt offerings. There she observes the faithful of Israel streaming towards Zion, filling the Temple, seeking the Face of the Lord. Priest, altar, and oblation are not unfamiliar to the Virgin who, gazing upon her Son, will recognize in Him the Eternal priest, the Altar of the New Covenant, the pure Victim, the holy Victim, the spotless Victim offered in unending sacrifice.

To Belong to God

In the seventeenth century -- the age of France's "mystical invasion" -- the mystery of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple captivated the hearts of Monsieur Olier and of others on fire with zeal for the holiness of the priesthood, for the beauty of the consecrated life, and for the worthy praise of God. The so-called French School of spirituality, marked above all by the imperative of adoration and the virtue of religion, gravitated to the feast of November 21st as to the pure expression of the desire to be offered to God, to belong to God, and to abide in God's house.

Virgo Sacerdos

When, in 1641, Jean-Jacques Olier (1608 - 1657) established the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, he placed it under the patronage of the Virgin Mary in the mystery of her Presentation in the Temple. The Child Mary, hidden in the Temple, learns the meaning of sacrifice and oblation; she is the sacerdotal Virgin, prepared by the Holy Spirit to stand at the altar of the Cross united to her Son, High Priest and immolated Lamb. Under the influence of the French Sulpicians, many religious congregations, established after the horrors of the French revolution, chose the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary as their foundation day, the day of religious profession, and of the renewal of vows.

In Domum Regis

Today's proper liturgical texts lead us after the Holy Child Mary into the mystery of the Temple. "The daughter of the King is clothed with splendour; she is led to the king with her maiden companions" (Ps 44:14-15). Holy Mary fills her eyes with the splendours of the Temple and there discovers the beauty of belonging to God alone in the splendour of holiness. Even today, she draws others after her. "Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words. . . . So will the King desire your beauty" (Ps 44:11-12).

Lovely and Pure in the Sight of God

In all her beauty and innocence the Child Mary stands before us to tell us that we, like her, are called to be lovely and pure in the sight of God. We are the object of His desire. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ: As he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity" (Eph 1:3-4). The Father would have us abide in the Temple of the Mystical Body of His Son, listening to His Word, and singing His praises in the sweetness of the Holy Spirit.

Measuring Time Eucharistically

The Italian expression for one's anniversary of ordination to the priesthood is so many years "di Messa". Today I am giving thanks to Our Lord Jesus Christ for 22 "years of Mass." I find the Italian way of saying it very beautiful: the life of a priest is measured eucharistically. What matters, above all else, is his time before the altar, offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

An Unexpected Gift

Yesterday, after I spoke on spiritual maternity in favour of priests to a rather large group of Catholic ladies, one of them approached me saying that she felt compelled to give me a woven image of the Blessed Virgin Mary adoring the Most Holy Eucharist that had been entrusted to her. She drove to her home to get the image and returned with it in less than a half hour. Woven in black and white silk, and beautifully framed, it was produced by the Maison Neyret Frères early in the last century. At the bottom of the picture is a single word: Adoratio.

The woven image is an interpretation of the Vierge à l'hostie painted by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in 1841. One can see the original painting in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, in Moscow.

That this particular image should be given me for the Cenacle of the Eucharistic Face of Jesus on the eve of begining my 23rd year as a priest is significant, encouraging me in my "vocation within a vocation" to adore the Blessed Sacrament on behalf of all priests everywhere.

In Solitude and Adoration

I celebrated my 22 anni di Messa in solitude and adoration, adding at Holy Mass the orations provided "for the priest himself" on this occasion:

Collect

Almighty and merciful God,
listen graciously to my humble prayers.
Not for any deserts of my own,
but because Thy mercy knows no bounds,
Thou hast appointed me to serve Thy heavenly mysteries.
Make me a worthy minister of Thy sacred altars,
and let the words I utter
be hallowed and ratified by Thee.
Through our Lord.

Secret

By virtue of this sacrament, Lord,
wash away the sins that stain my soul,
and grant that Thy grace may render me worthy
to fulfil the duties of my priestly office.
Through our Lord.

Postcommunion

Almighty, everlasting God,
by whose will, I, a sinner,
serve at Thy sacred altars and extol the power of Thy Holy Name,
have mercy,
and through this sacramental rite forgive my sins,
making me fit to serve Thy majesty.
Through our Lord.

Maria Sieler

Almost a year ago I wrote an entry entitled, Maria Sieler: A Life Offered for Priests. Recently I finished reading a presentation of Maria Siedler's life and mission: Un nouveau printemps pour l'Eglise, Maria Sieler: vie et mission (Éditions du Parvis, Hauteville, Suisse, 1995), by the Reverend Father Josef Fiedler, S.J. I intend, little by little, to translate excerpts from the book and make them available here. Given that tomorrow morning I will be addressing a group of Catholic women on the mission of spiritual maternity in favour of priests, I decided to translate this passage tonight:

Spiritual Mother to the Clergy

The Redeemer made me a precious but strange promise today: he put me at the disposal of His Church as "spiritual mother" to the clergy. All my sacrifices and all my sorrows, all that I have acquired in hard struggle and borne for good, all moral perfection, my extraordinary spiritual mission in conformity with my union with Jesus, all of that -- He made me understand -- constitutes a spiritual treasury for the priesthood. All my inner conquests show themselves to be, in some way, fruitful for the consecrated ones. [Maria Sieler often refers to priests as "the consecrated ones."]

All the graces of my interior life are, so to speak, the property of the clergy. Priests can draw from them: each one will obtain from the Lord that for which he implores Him; for this treasure is offered through me, in Christ, who won it in advance. . . . Just as a mother transmits her dispositions to her descendants, in the same way, my interior life and all the inherent graces -- in particular the communion established with Christ -- will be passed on, like a heritage, and will act efficaciously in the Church. . . . To back up His promise, the Saviour said to me: "I give you my Word in pledge of that." (14 July 1944)

All for Priests

A woman called to spiritual maternity in favour of priests keeps nothing for herself. All that she has received from Christ -- all that she has acquired by His grace in the way of victories over sin, virtues, and merits; all her prayers, her penances; and, above all, her confident surrender to Divine Providence in the little things of daily life -- all of these things belong no longer to her, but rather to the souls of priests.

A Kind of Dispensary

The spiritual mother of priests becomes a kind of dispensary wherein Christ places whatever remedies His priests may need in their spiritual infirmities and weaknesses. She offers her heart, in imitation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, to Our Lord, saying, "Use me, O Lord, as Thou wilt for the healing and sanctification of Thy priests. Unite the offering of myself to Thine own Offering on the Altar of the Cross and, then, let the all the fruits of our union be dispensed to Thy priests, especially to the weakest and most wounded among them."

Our Lady's Day

Every Saturday of the Blessed Virgin Mary brings with it a fresh infusion of grace. One cannot commemorate the Immaculate Mother of God without experiencing her nearness, without inhaling the fragrance of her purity, without entering into communion with the joys, the sorrows, and the glories of her heart. I have long loved the Office and Mass de Beata (of the Blessed Virgin) on Saturday.

Ave Maria, Gratia Plena

The traditional invitatory antiphon at Matins is -- unlike other invitatory antiphons of the Divine Office -- addressed directly to the Mother of God. It is a jubilant renewal of the Angel's salutation: Ave Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum; Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee. Repeated after each strophe of Psalm 94, the Venite, it becomes a kind of meditatio: the loving repetition of a message from heaven, one of inexhaustible meaning and sweetness.

Waiting, She Waited

Saturday is Our Lady's day. Ever since, waiting, she waited, -- Expectans expectavi Dominum (Psalm 39:1) -- in the awful silence of that first Great Sabbath, with all the faith and hope of the saints in ages to come like a little flame held in her heart, the Church has remembered her on Saturday.

Retrieving the Treasure

The disappearance of Saturday morning Masses in so many places and, by consequence, the loss of the weekly commemoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a terrible impoverishment of the Church's inner life. Even those who celebrate the Divine Office are affected; the Saturday Office of Our Lady is often neglected or forgotten. It is vital that Catholics everywhere reconnect with this age-old custom and retrieve its treasures.

A Joy that Rises like the Dawn

The particular forma vitae, or pattern of life, given me by my Bishop when I began this new mission in the Diocese of Tulsa last August 21st, reminds me that I am to live every Saturday as the Great Sabbath of Christ's resting in the tomb, united with Mary in her solitude and hope. Hidden in this is the secret of a joy that rises like the dawn.

P.S. I did not forget the commemoration of the Four Crowned Martyrs! How could I? When I lived in Rome their basilica was the preferred destination of many a passeggiata