John 19:26-27 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
Thank you, Jesus, for giving us your Mother!! Mama Mary is very dear to my heart. Mary has always been a part of my life. Growing up we prayed the rosary on a regular basis. My fondest memory of praying the rosary was at my grandma’s house in Nebraska. Every night we knelt on the hardwood floor in front of the black leather sofa and prayed the rosary. We prayed the rosary in the car when we went on a vacation. These were beautiful moments with my family invoking Mary’s intercession and protection. So many times, when family, friends or relatives needed prayer the rosary beads ran through our fingers. We trusted Mary to help us! My mother, Georgina, taught us to pray “3 Hail Mary’s” before going to school, going to work, or going out with friends or anywhere we ventured off to. Mom would always tell us: say your “3 Hail Mary’s”. Such a gift of love from my mother.
Through the years I have come to love and know Mama Mary with the different titles she is known and loved by. Maybe you have a special devotion to Mary. I encourage you to take time and learn about Mary, our Mother.
08/22 – Queenship of Mary – Queen of Heaven and Earth
02/11 – Our Lady of Lourdes, 09/28 – Our Lady Undoer of Knots,
04/08 – Our Lady of Charity, 10/11 – Our Lady of La Leche,
04/26 – Our Lady of Good Counsel, 11/27 – Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal,
05/13 – Our Lady of Fatima, 11/28 – Our Lady of Kibeho,
06/27 – Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 12/08 – Our Lady of Guadeloupe,
08/15 – Our Lady of the Assumption, 12/10 – Our Lady of Loreto,
09/03 – Our Lady of Grace, 12/12 – Immaculate Conception,
09/15 – Our Lady of Sorrows. (This list is a small list of Mary’s titles.)
I had smoked since I was 16 years old and had tried to quit multiple times. I knew I wanted to quit for the final time. I set a date, August 15, 2009, the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Assumption. I knew I needed a powerful intercessor to accomplish my goal, so I asked Mama Mary to help me. Within two weeks of August 15th, I was healed of my addiction to cigarettes.
On November 27, 1830, Sister Catherine Laboure was praying hard to know her mission, of which Our Lady had spoken on the first occasion. During her prayer she heard the same rustle of silk over St Jospeh’s altar in the chapel, and there stood the Blessed Virgin clothed in white. She was standing on a globe, one foot crushing the head of a serpent on the top of the globe.
In her hands she held a smaller ball, a golden one surmounted by a Cross, which represented the world. Our Lady was offering this to God looking toward Heaven and praying its acceptance by the Almighty. On her fingers were many rings, filled with precious jewels and stones from which shining rays of light descended.
Our Lady said to Sister Catherine: “This ball you see is the world, France in particular, and each person individually. I am praying for it and everyone in the world. The rays which fall on this ball are the graces which I give to those who ask for them. But there are no rays from some of the stones. For many people fail to receive graces because they neglect to ask for them.”
There is no other person besides Jesus who knows us in our humanity. Mary walked every step with Jesus from the moment of his conception and until his death. Mary understands our joys and our sorrows. She is the perfect example of how to lead a virtuous life. Run to Mary, embrace her, and let her help you.
Author: Joan M Ferrer, 7/2023
Catechism of the Catholic Faith (CCC)
963 Since the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. "The Virgin Mary . . . is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer. . . . She is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christ' . . . since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head."502 "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church."503 Wholly united with her Son . . .
964 Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death";504 it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:
Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold your son."505
967 By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and . . . wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus)510 of the Church.
967 Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace."511
969"This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . . . . Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."512
970 "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it."513 "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source."514
971 "All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship."515 The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration."516 The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.517
972 After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her mystery on her own "pilgrimage of faith," and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey. There, "in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity," "in the communion of all the saints,"518 the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.
In the meantime, the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God.519
*Further reflection from the Catechism of the Catholic Church – CCC965, CCC721-726, CCC487, and CCC2043. Go to the CCC Index under Mary to find other references regarding Mary.
Book Suggetions: Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary, by Saint Loius de Monfort
Flame of Love – The Spiritual Diary of Elizabth Kindelmann
Mary’s Mantle Consecration, A Spiritual Retreat For Heavens Help (Purchase the workbook as well) by Christine Watkins
