Adoration of the Shepherds

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

c. 1668
Oil on canvas, 147 x 218 cm
Wallace Collection, London

Nativity (Adoration of the Shepherds)

Antonio da Correggio

1529-1530
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

The Coronation of the Virgin

Francesco di Giorgio Martini

1472-73
Tempera on wood, 337 x 200 cm
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena

A Christian Pilgrim

IN MARY’S WOMB, HEAVEN AND EARTH WERE UNITED

(A biblical refection on THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD – Tuesday, 1 January 2013)

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

Second Reading: Galatians 4:4-7

First Reading: Num 6:22-27; Psalms: Ps 67:2-3,5-6,8; Gospel Reading: Lk 2:16-21

The Scripture Text

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir (Gal 4:4-7 RSV).

“A light will shine on us this day, the Lord is born for us: He shall be called Wonderful God, Prince of peace, Father of the world to come; and His kingship will never end” (Entrance Antiphon I).

“Hail, holy Mother! The Child to whom you give birth is the King of heaven and earth for ever” (Entrance Antiphon II)

The Church speaks a word of hope in this first day of the new year. As we celebrate this new beginning, we are encouraged to submit our affairs to the King of heaven and earth who has come among us. The new year begins in the middle of the Christmas season and the Church would have us look at two people who play central roles during this season: Jesus and Mary.

Even as we look to Jesus, we honor Mary because through her “yes” (fiat), God’s plan to save His people moved decisively forward. God’s Son was “born of woman, born under the law …… so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4). This woman, Mary, is recognized by the Church as the “exalted Daughter of Zion” who “stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently await and receive salvation from Him” (Lumen Gentium, 55). As a faithful daughter of Zion, Mary cooperated with God and His plan was fulfilled through the fruit of her womb. She became the Mother of God and the first of the redeemed.

In Mary’s womb, heaven and earth were united so that the King of heaven and earth would come forth to redeem fallen man. She is the mother through whom the Son of God took on human flesh. The title Mother of God points to Jesus even as it speaks of Mary. On this day, we are reminded to be like Mary – to be instruments of God and allow Him to reign in our hearts.

The King of heaven and earth who came to us through her is the Prince of Peace announced by the prophet Isaiah (Is 9:6). Because her Son is the Prince of Peace, we know Mary as Queen of Peace. With this double association, the Church joins all of humanity today to pray for world peace. We ask Mary to intercede that the peace of God would reign in the hearts of all people everywhere.

Short Prayer: God our Father, we pray for peace. As we celebrate the first day of the new year, may the King of heaven and earth, who was born through Mary, the Mother of God and Queen of Peace, reign in our hearts and make us instruments of peace. Amen.

Vultus Christi

Something for which the heart has its reasons

By

Father Mark

on December 29, 2012 9:10 AM |

Reparation to the Mother of God

As I continue to study and pray over the the writings of Catherine-Mectilde de Bar (1614-1698), I am obliged to seek help from above so as to understand them rightly, translate them faithfully, and transmit their essential message humbly, that is, without allowing my own prejudices or presuppositions to interfere with the process. I could easily pass over certain expressions of devotion, or acquiesce to them, without sufficiently grasping their meaning and their value. One such practice would be that of making reparation to the Mother of God.

In her Constitutions on the Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 20, Mother Mectilde writes:

They shall make their Communions on Saturday in honour of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and of all her mysteries, especially that of her Immaculate Conception, and of her Divine Maternity. The love for the Most Holy Sacrament, which the Holy Spirit imprints in the hearts of those who offer themselves in sacrifice with our Divine Saviour, will also enkindle in them a zeal for the honour of His Most Holy Mother. For this reason, they will also, each one in turn, make honorable amendment at Holy Mass on her feast days and on all the Saturdays of the year, as indicated in the Ceremonial.

The Object of Universal Honour and Grateful Affection

How are we to understand the notion of reparation to the Mother of God? What is the theology behind such a practice? I would say, first of all, that it is fitting that the Immaculate Heart of Mary, overflowing with a most tender charity for the souls redeemed by her Divine Son, should be the object of universal honour and grateful affection. Mary is the New Eve, the Mother of the Living, immaculate and full of every perfection in view of her Divine Motherhood. The maternal solicitude of her most pure Heart, created sinless for the Only-Begotten Son of God, and as a fit dwelling-place for the Holy Ghost, extends to the vast multitude of those redeemed by the Blood of Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb.

There is no man who has lived, or who is living, or who is yet to be born, who does not owe the Virgin Mary, the humble handmaid of the Lord, and the Mother of the Lamb, the filial honours of a grateful heart. To refuse Mary the unique place given her by God in his Holy Economy (the divine master-plan) is not only to scorn the priceless gift of a Virgin Mother; it is also to offend the munificent Creator and Giver of the gift. There is nothing sadder, nothing more tragic, even in purely human terms, than a mother by her children scorned.

I Want to Love You for All the Others

Consider a mother of many sons, utterly devoted to each one of them, who finds a response to her love only in the heart of her first-born. The last and littlest one of all, observing this, one day allows himself to be brought to the mother, having taken the hand of the eldest son. Inspired by love, and moved by a guileless candour, he says, "Mother, I want to love you for all the others, and I want to make up to you the love that my brothers refuse you or forget to give you."

Communion of Reparation

A matter of pious sentimentality? No -- a matter of the heart, and also of a humble submission to the plan of God, who wills that all generations should magnify the Mother of God, who, without loss to her virginity, gave birth to God the Word. Mother Mectilde understood the rightness of such an impulse of the heart towards the Heart of Mary, and she bequeathed to her spiritual progeny the practice of a communion of reparation, by which we, receiving the adorable mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, present ourselves to His Virgin Mother, enriched with all that His Sacred Heart holds in her regard. Thus united to the First-Born, do we, the littlest of her sons, tell her that we would love her with such tenderness and gratitude as to make up for the indifference and ingratitude of our brothers. Thus would we console her maternal Heart that never stops loving the many who have for her not so much as a word, a glance, or even an affectionate thought.

The heart has its order, the mind its own, which uses principles and demonstrations. The heart has a different one. We do not prove that we ought to be loved by setting out in order the causes of love; that would be absurd. Jesus Christ and St Paul possess the order of charity, not the order of the mind, for they wished to humble, not to teach. (Pascal, Blaise. Pensées. Translated by A. J. Krailsheimer. New York: Penguin Books, 1995. Fragment 298, p. 94)

A Filial Affection, Childlike and Simple

Reparation to the Mother of God belongs to Pascal's order of charity. The little and the poor grasp the rightness of it intuitively, while the sophisticated, and those whose inflated reason blinds them to higher things, bristle at the thought of it. Let us, then, concede -- no, let us embrace the rightness of offering the Mother of God a filial affection so childlike and so simple that it will, in some way -- known ultimately to God alone, and to Mary's Immaculate Heart -- make up for the impiety of those who, in neglecting the Mother, or in dishonouring her privileges, offend Him who wills that all generations should call her blessed and full of grace.

In a World Waiting to Hear the Gospel of Christmas

We monks of Silverstream Priory have no reason to shrink from the 17th century practice of making reparation to the Sacred and Maternal Heart of Mary by receiving the adorable Body and Blood of her Son, and by offering her the filial sentiments of His most loving Heart, united sacramentally to our own. We understand that the practice of offering the Mother of God honourable amendment on Saturday and on her feasts, is authorized by those reasons of the heart, that the heart alone understands. In a world waiting to hear the Gospel of Christmas, there are many who deny the great things that the Almighty has done for the Virgin Mary; there are those who make light of her incomparable privileges and scorn her lowliness. Let there be, also, a few who, like the shepherds, approach the Virgin Mother and, in offering her homage of their simple manly hearts, bring to the grotto that gave shelter to her, to Saint Joseph, and to the Divine Child, the warmth of grateful love and affection .

Vultus Christi

Adoring the Silence of the Word

By

Father Mark

on January 1, 2013 8:07 PM |

Mother Mectilde de Bar (1614-1698) belongs to the family of great mystics who, like Saint John of the Cross, are content to remain in darkness, and cast themselves into an adoring silence. Here is my translation of a chapter talk she gave in 1661.

Silence in the Presence of the Word

Who would dare speak, and what can be said in the presence of the Eternal Word, who keeps so profound a silence and, all the same, with His silent language, makes Himself understood of souls who remain immersed in that sacred and most intimate silence that spreads peace abroad in the soul?

Stillness Within and Without

What could a creature, who is but darkness and deep ignorance, ever say concerning the Eternal Wisdom, the Divine Intelligence that contains in Itself all that is? We should be put to confusion were we to speak while He utters not a word and, by His silence, teaches us to be still within ourselves and without. The Angels are struck silent at the sight of the Divine Infant, seeing how He is become so little upon the straw, and how He has emptied Himself in the Host. What see we among these blessed Spirits except a holy amazement that casts them into an abyss of silence and respect?

Dum medium silentium

I find the words: Dum medium silentium admirable. The God of majesty is born amidst darkness and in silence. Oh . . . if only I could say something about the birth of Jesus Christ in a soul! He comes to birth in silence and darkness: silence within us and silence without, in our dealings with creatures. In darkness: not the obscurity caused by the soul's imperfections, but the godly darkness that hides from us the sacred mysteries that He works within us: mysteries that we must adore and honour, and this, without having knowledge of them.

Mother Mectilde de Bar

Vultus Christi

Benedict XVI: The Pope of the Face of God

By

Father Mark

on January 1, 2013 9:40 PM |

There is no doubt about it: Benedict XVI is the Pope of the Face of God, of the Human Face of God, the Face of Jesus Christ upon which shines the glory of the Father. Here, with my subtitles, is the homily given by the Holy Father on this New Year's Day.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

"May God bless us and make his face to shine upon us." We proclaimed these words from Psalm 66 after hearing in the first reading the ancient priestly blessing upon the people of the covenant. It is especially significant that at the start of every new year God sheds upon us, his people, the light of his Holy Name, the Name pronounced three times in the solemn form of biblical blessing. Nor is it less significant that to the Word of God - who "became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14) as "the true light that enlightens every man" (1:9) - is given, as today's Gospel tells us, the Name of Jesus eight days after his birth (cf. Lk 2:21). It is in this Name that we are gathered here today.

I cordially greet all present, beginning with the Ambassadors of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. I greet with affection Cardinal Bertone, my Secretary of State, and Cardinal Turkson, with all the officials of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; I am particularly grateful to them for their effort to spread the Message for the World Day of Peace, which this year has as its theme "Blessed are the Peacemakers".

Mankind's Innate Vocation to Peace

Although the world is sadly marked by "hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism," as well as by various forms of terrorism and crime, I am convinced that "the many different efforts at peacemaking which abound in our world testify to mankind's innate vocation to peace. In every person the desire for peace is an essential aspiration which coincides in a certain way with the desire for a full, happy and successful human life. In other words, the desire for peace corresponds to a fundamental moral principle, namely, the duty and right to an integral social and communitarian development, which is part of God's plan for mankind.

Both a Messianic Gift and the Fruit of Human Effort

Man is made for the peace which is God's gift. All of this led me to draw inspiration for this Message from the words of Jesus Christ: 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God' (Mt 5:9)" (Message, 1). This beatitude "tells us that peace is both a messianic gift and the fruit of human effort ... It is peace with God through a life lived according to his will. It is interior peace with oneself, and exterior peace with our neighbours and all creation" (ibid., 2, 3). Indeed, peace is the supreme good to ask as a gift from God and, at the same time, that which is to be built with our every effort.

The Interior Peace of Mary

We may ask ourselves: what is the basis, the origin, the root of peace? How can we experience that peace within ourselves, in spite of problems, darkness and anxieties? The reply is given to us by the readings of today's liturgy. The biblical texts, especially the one just read from the Gospel of Luke, ask us to contemplate the interior peace of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. During the days in which "she gave birth to her first-born son" (Lk 2:7), many unexpected things occurred: not only the birth of the Son but, even before, the tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not finding room at the inn, the search for a chance place to stay for the night; then the song of the angels and the unexpected visit of the shepherds. In all this, however, Mary remains even tempered, she does not get agitated, she is not overcome by events greater than herself; in silence she considers what happens, keeping it in her mind and heart, and pondering it calmly and serenely. This is the interior peace which we ought to have amid the sometimes tumultuous and confusing events of history, events whose meaning we often do not grasp and which disconcert us.

Theotokos: Mother of God

The Gospel passage finishes with a mention of the circumcision of Jesus. According to the Law of Moses, eight days after birth, baby boys were to be circumcised and then given their name. Through his messenger, God himself had said to Mary - as well as to Joseph - that the Name to be given to the child was "Jesus" (cf. Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31); and so it came to be. The Name which God had already chosen, even before the child had been conceived, is now officially conferred upon him at the moment of circumcision. This also changes Mary's identity once and for all: she becomes "the mother of Jesus", that is the mother of the Saviour, of Christ, of the Lord. Jesus is not a man like any other, but the Word of God, one of the Divine Persons, the Son of God: therefore the Church has given Mary the title Theotokos or Mother of God.

The Splendour of the Face of God

The first reading reminds us that peace is a gift from God and is linked to the splendour of the face of God, according to the text from the Book of Numbers, which hands down the blessing used by the priests of the People of Israel in their liturgical assemblies. This blessing repeats three times the Holy Name of God, a Name not to be spoken, and each time it is linked to two words indicating an action in favour of man: "The Lord bless you and keep you: the Lord make his face to shine upon you: the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace" (6:24-26). So peace is the summit of these six actions of God in our favour, in which he turns towards us the splendour of his face.

Contemplating the Face of God Is the Greatest Happiness

For sacred Scripture, contemplating the face of God is the greatest happiness: "You gladden him with the joy of your face" (Ps 21:7). From the contemplation of the face of God are born joy, security and peace. But what does it mean concretely to contemplate the face of the Lord, as understood in the New Testament? It means knowing him directly, in so far as is possible in this life, through Jesus Christ in whom he is revealed. To rejoice in the splendour of God's face means penetrating the mystery of his Name made known to us in Jesus, understanding something of his interior life and of his will, so that we can live according to his plan of love for humanity.

The Hidden Face of the Father Revealed in the Visible Human Face of the Son

In the second reading, taken from the Letter to the Galatians (4:4-7), Saint Paul says as much as he describes the Spirit who, in our inmost hearts, cries: "Abba! Father!" It is the cry that rises from the contemplation of the true face of God, from the revelation of the mystery of his Name. Jesus declares, "I have manifested thy name to men" (Jn 17:6). God's Son made man has let us know the Father, he has let us know the hidden face of the Father through his visible human face; by the gift of the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts, he has led us to understand that, in him, we too are children of God, as Saint Paul says in the passage we have just heard: "The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, 'Abba, Father'" (Gal 4:6).

Jesus Christ, the Splendour of the Face of God the Father

Here, dear brothers and sisters, is the foundation of our peace: the certainty of contemplating in Jesus Christ the splendour of the face of God the Father, of being sons in the Son, and thus of having, on life's journey, the same security that a child feels in the arms of a loving and all-powerful Father. The splendour of the face of God, shining upon us and granting us peace, is the manifestation of his fatherhood: the Lord turns his face to us, he reveals himself as our Father and grants us peace. Here is the principle of that profound peace - "peace with God" - which is firmly linked to faith and grace, as Saint Paul tells the Christians of Rome (cf. Rom 5:2). Nothing can take this peace from believers, not even the difficulties and sufferings of life. Indeed, sufferings, trials and darkness do not undermine but build up our hope, a hope which does not deceive because "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (5:5).

Contemplate the Face of Jesus, the Prince of Peace

May the Virgin Mary, whom today we venerate with the title of Mother of God, help us to contemplate the face of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. May she sustain us and accompany us in this New Year: and may she obtain for us and for the whole world the gift of peace. Amen!

Regnum Christi

Our Mother Knows the Song of the Angels

| SPIRITUAL LIFE

Solemnity of Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of God

Luke 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are my friend, my Father, and my protector. I come to you on this new day confident in your presence. I renew my love for you, trusting in your guiding hand.

Petition: Lord, I want to hear the angels sing. Help me learn to listen.

1. Sometimes We Need a Little Help: Would the shepherds have been impressed to find Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus if the angels had not explained what was happening? They would have just thought it was a poor, vagabond family—unimpressive and unassuming like their own lives as shepherds. Yet the angels opened them to a reality that they would never have imagined or perceived. In my life God has also sent me angels who help me discover him: the faith of a parent or grandparent, the sweet, innocent faith of a child, the good example of a friend, a teacher, a priest or a nun, the example of our Holy Father. Mary also teaches me to discover God in her Son. Do I thank God for these angels that he has sent me? Do I follow their advice and look for Christ in the simple, ordinary circumstances of my life?

2. Hints of a New Song: In a symphony, the first movement only hints at the central theme. Mary had first heard this theme from the angel Gabriel. Now the shepherds take up this theme—the hymn of the angels—and even though the shepherds play their part with great enthusiasm, it probably makes very little noise outside the little town of Bethlehem. Yet the song had begun, and it would grow to a crescendo as Christ lived out his mission. History unfolds God’s mysterious plan of salvation. I am part of that history, of that symphony. Do I do my best to continue Mary’s song, God’s song, by living my commitments and taking part in apostolate?

3. And His Name Shall Be “God Saves” Mary and Joseph take up the hymn. They know the secret: this child will save Israel and will save all mankind. They begin to explain to the world, using an ancient name, Joshua (Yeshua), a name that now becomes not just a promise but a person. This is God’s new name. This is Our God: God Saves. He is not merely a God who is the source of everything. Our God is intimately committed to us, and he puts himself “in the line of fire” to save us. Man had suspected that God was Creator, and the Jews had received the surprise of his friendship, but neither Gentile nor Jew dreamed that God was also this type of love. Do I dare to dream of God’s goodness? Do I let Christ give me peace and hope in the midst of this despairing world?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I have heard something new today. You remind me this Christmas that it is time for a new song, a song of confidence and hope. Mary teaches me this song, this good news. I want to bring this good news more deeply into my life. I know that you are helping me to discover you more each day. Help me also discover you to others.

Resolution: In Mary’s presence, I will strive to “sing this new song” (the Christian virtue I have determined to cultivate) today by making a special effort in one aspect of living this virtue.

Thankful for our Mother

by Food For Thought on January 1, 2013 ·

Today we celebrate newness as a new year begins. In particular, in our liturgy, we celebrate the role of Mary as the Mother of God incarnate, the mother of Jesus Christ, a woman chosen by God to help bring something very new into our world. When Mary said “yes” to the angel’s message from God that Mary was invited to give birth to a son, she really brought something extraordinary and new into our world. Certainly that is something for us to celebrate.

In a certain sense, when Mary gave birth to the Child Jesus a new era began, and for many in the world today that era is designated in our calendars in various ways. For many it is called the Christian Era. Often the years are called “Year of the Lord” with the initial ”A.D.” (Anno Domini) used to designate them as such. So, as we also celebrate the beginning of a New Year today, we can be thankful that Mary, the Mother of God, helped to us a certain newness of years. Mary is perhaps celebrating in heaven, in company with her Son, this New Year’s Day of 2013 A.D.

Our Gospel for this day brings us back to that day so many centuries ago when Mary’s child was just beginning to get used to the light of our world. The newborn baby, probably not yet aware of anything other than his baby hunger and thirst, was the center of wonder, not only of Mary and Joseph, but also of a group of adoring shepherds. The gospel tells us that these men rushed to the scene and on arriving they were so fascinated by the child. But did they have any insight into just who this Child was? Did they have even the least idea of how the mother gave birth to this baby, and just how special this baby was? They were lost in wonder, and although the gospel record tells us that they “understood what had been told them” by the angels, their understanding was probably not more than the fact that this child was somehow special.

But for the mother Mary together with Joseph, there was more to ponder. Following the usual custom of the time, on the eighth day (the first “octave of Christmas”) the child was circumcised and given the name Jesus, the name that the Lord’s messenger had told them to give the child. That name tells us not only who the child is but also what the child is, the one who is to save the people from their sins. As the name was being given to the child, Joseph must have remembered the dream he had when he was assured that Mary was graced by the Holy Spirit to be his wife and the mother of this special child, and that the name Jesus was to be the name of the Child. For so many of us today that name, that Holy Name, is so very special. This is the name that St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians says is “the name above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” Devotion to this name is kept alive by the members of the Holy Name Society in many parts of the world. St. Ignatius of Loyola felt that it was a divine inspiration that confirmed his insistence that the religious order he founded would be called the Society of Jesus, over the objections of many at the time.

And so it is today that we celebrate the newness that Mary, the Mother of God, brought into our world when Jesus was born. We recall that day when the child was given the holy name given by the angel to indicate that this child, the son of Mary, was the one who, as its savior, would make the world new.

On this New Year’s Day of the year 2013 A.D. we can, together with Mary the Mother of God, treasure in our hearts so many signs of God’s gracious love for us.

One Bread, One Body

<< Tuesday, January 1, 2013 >>

Mary, Mother of God

Numbers 6:22-27
Galatians 4:4-7
View Readings

Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8
Luke 2:16-21

"HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF GOD"

"They went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in the manger; once they saw, they understood what had been told them concerning this Child." —Luke 2:16-17

For a moment, put aside the centuries of religious interpretation of the Nativity, and picture the scenario through the lens of 21st century Western culture. A modern couple denied civil conditions for birth might well be furious over this injustice. They would likely be planning a lawsuit against the "hospital" that sent them away (see Lk 2:7). The visitors at the manger might well be eager lawyers rather than humble shepherds!

Scripture tells us that Mary reflected in her heart about the injustices she, Joseph, and her Child were required to endure (Lk 2:19). Such reflection can sometimes lead people to self-pity, anger toward God, or bitterness. However, Mary embraced her situation and humbly "treasured" these events (Lk 2:19).

Mary's holiness led her to strive to see all things from God's perspective instead of a human one. Mary thereby proved herself a member of God's family, for God the Father also embraced His Son's lowly birth into the human condition (Gal 4:4).

Many crosses await us in 2013. Right now, make a New Year's resolution to "treasure" all the crosses that come into your life and see how the Lord will use them to transform your world.

Prayer: Father, look kindly on us and grant us peace (Nm 6:26).

Promise: "You are no longer a slave but a son!" —Gal 4:7

Praise: Alleluia! The Word became flesh in the womb of Mary! (Jn 1:14) Alleluia!

Protect the babies and the mothers!

Say "NO" to Planned Parenthood!

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for January 1, 2013:

(New Year’s Day) “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Lk 2:19) It’s a new year – a chance to start over. What’s one change you’d like to make for the better? Tell your spouse. He/she can keep you honest and accountable.

Vultus Christi

Mary is the Mother of Our Peace

By

Father Mark

on January 2, 2013 7:34 AM |

In reading and meditating the Holy Father's homily for January 1st, I was moved to discover that he spoke so eloquently and so simply of Our Lady's peace. This was one of themes that I addressed in my Advent Letter to our Oblates. For those of you who may have missed it, here again is the relevant section.

Pax: Mary

There was never moment when the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary was not established in peace. Her Immaculate Heart is a haven of peace for poor sinners, a refuge from the attacks of the enemy who seeks to destroy all peace in our souls and on the face of the earth. In the Vespers hymn for feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ave Maris Stella, we ask Our Blessed Lady to establish us in peace: funda nos in pace. The closer we are to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the closer we are to peace, that is, the absence of sin.

Sin Destroys Peace

Sin is what disturbs true peace; sin is what destroys peace. If you would have peace, avoid sin, and should you fall into sin, confess it without delay, so that peace may be restored to your soul. Mary, being sinless from the first instant of her conception, is, of all creatures, the most peaceful. She is utterly tranquil and perfectly serene.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady's Heart

God created the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be the single most peaceful place in the universe. Mary is the living temple prepared by God for God; her Heart is a sanctuary untouched by the violence and wickedness of a world seduced by Satan. Even when, as a mother full of pity for her wayward children, Mary presses sinners to her Heart, nothing of sin's contagion taints her. The Immaculate is not soiled by the filth of her fallen children, even as she stoops to lift us out of the mire of our miseries.

If you would be apt for the advent of the Lord, seek peace where it is to be found: in the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God. The closer you are to Mary, the more will you experience a peace that the world cannot give. Mary will teach you to discern the things that make for peace and avoid those that threaten to destroy it.

The peace of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is not diminished by suffering; it flourishes in the midst of thorns. The old Benedictine motif depicting the word PAX surrounded by a crown of thorns -- pax inter spinas -- is a kind of monogram of the Heart of the Mother of God. Did she not appear at Fatima with her Immaculate Heart surrounded by thorns?

The inviolable peace of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was purchased at a great price, that is, with the Precious Blood of her Son, the immolated Lamb. If, in making our way to the sanctuary of the maternal Heart of Mary, we must pass through the thorns that encircle it, it is so that we might be associated with the redeeming Passion of her Son, and so that a few drops of our blood might be mingled with the torrent of that flood so copiously from His head, His hands, His feet, and His side.

The Rosary

Those of you who have come to love the rosary know that it produces peace in the soul of one who perseveres in praying it. The rosary leads one directly into the refuge of Mary's sinless heart, into a sanctuary of peace that cannot be threatened, troubled, or assailed by powers visible or invisible. Peace, being the absence of sin, is rightly in the giving of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. If you pray her rosary, she will give you her peace.