Blessed Virgin Mary: September 2012 Archives

September 24th is the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. She has had greater recognition in the past few years by Catholics in the USA due to an increased interest in ecumenism and the establishment of the personal ordinariats that offer Anglicans to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. The prayer, though, is prayer not just for ecumenism but for Our Lady to be present to us in mercy. We pray...

O blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon us, our parish [our monastery], our country, our homes, and our families, and upon all who greatly hope and trust in your prayers, (especially...). By you it was that Jesus, our Savior and Hope, was given to the world; and He has given you to us that we may hope still more. Plead for us your children, whom you did receive and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our separated brother and sisters, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of your Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we may be made worthy to see and praise God, together with you in our heavenly home. Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you do we cry poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, O most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.

O clement! O loving! O sweet Virgin Mary!

The narrative of this feast of Our Lady has its origin in the devotion of Saint Peter Nolasco in the late 12th century France. Father Paul Haffner tells us more here.

The feast of Our Lady of Mercy is close to the heart of the Sisters of Mercy of Alma, and those who have an awareness of the role of Mercy in life.

May Our Lady of Mercy be with us, pray for us.

The Virgin Mary, who believed in the word of the Lord, did not lose her faith in God when she saw her Son rejected, abused and crucified. Rather she remained beside Jesus, suffering and praying, until the end. And she saw the radiant dawn of His Resurrection. Let us learn from her to witness to our faith with a life of humble service, ready to personally pay the price of staying faithful to the Gospel of love and truth, certain that nothing that we do will be lost. 

The Church has offered us a "Marian sandwich." Let me explain. This week we are honoring the Mother of God with three distinct memorials: The Nativity of Mary (Sept. 8) and Our Lady of Sorrows (Sept 15) and today the commemoration of the Holy Name of Mary. In liturgical history this feast has been observed on various days before settling on this day. The feast was reintroduced to our Roman Missal by Pope John Paul II.

Let us celebrate with joy the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for from her arose the sun of justice, Christ our God. (antiphon)

Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace, that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin may bring deeper peace to those for whom the birth of her Son was the dawning of salvation.

Several things to pray for today,

• the Most Rev. Edoardo Aldo Cerrrato, CO, on the day of his episcopal ordination in Rome;
• the Cistercian Order;
• those who professed vows today;
• the Benedictines of Saint Mary's Monastery (Petersham, MA);
• Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM, Cap, on the first anniversary of being the archbishop of Philadelphia;
• Michael Maggiore who is healing.

Keeping in mind what Saint Thomas of Villanova reflected upon for today's feast,

"What joy, what happiness there is in heaven! The shoot for the root of Jesse, sown so long ago in the patriarchs, has today sprung up and began  to grow, and will bear a Flower which is destined to heal the world; a Flower whose scent revives the dead, whose taste heals the sick, whose beauty delights the angels; a Flower both white and red, which the angels long to see."