With Mary and St. Joseph
A week of short meditations on Mary’s humility, love, faith, hope, chastity, poverty and obedience, each with the prayers of St. Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal invocation.
From the Community’s prayer book.
Mary remembered that all that was in her was a gift from God. She kept, even from her husband, the heavenly favours she was granted. She referred to God the praise she received. She took pleasure in helping others and in remaining in the background. She did not fear scorn: she was not seen in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, when the people welcomed her Son with so much praise, but she was not afraid to appear on Calvary, where she was recognized as the mother of the condemned man.
Saint Catherine, you kept secret the wonderful grace of having seen the Blessed Virgin. Pray for me when I put myself before others.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, you who dislike pride, bathe me in your humility.
Christ gave us this commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbour as yourself. Mary fully accomplished this double precept. According to St. Bernard, the love of Jesus entered Mary’s heart like a spear and pierced it right through, so that no part of it remained untouched by the wound of love.
Mary’s heart therefore became fire and flame: fire because of the love that burned within her, flame by glowing outward in her charity. When Mary carried Jesus in her arms, we can say that it was “the fire carrying the fire.”
Saint Catherine, may the two hearts on the reverse of the Medal remind me of the love of God when my fervour for Him diminishes, and of love for my neighbour when I am filled with too much self-love.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, as at Cana, speak to your Son for me; tell Him, “They have no love,” and obtain for me the grace to love and serve as you did.
It is because of her faith that Mary was proclaimed blessed by Elizabeth. In Jesus’ Passion, when the disciples were plunged into doubt, only the Blessed Virgin remained steady in her faith, says St. Albert the Great.
Faith is both a gift and a virtue. It is a gift from God, in as much as it is the light with which He fills our soul. It is a virtue in that the soul puts it into practice. A true Christian lives according to his faith. This is how the Blessed Virgin lived.
Saint Catherine, you welcomed with faith the apparitions of the Mother of God. Pray for me when I am in doubt.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, obtain for me the sight that contemplates everything by the light of faith.
Hope is born of faith. The Blessed Virgin showed how great her trust in God was, first by keeping secret her miraculous motherhood, completely reassured that God would defend her innocence, her honour and her life; again when she was turned away from the inn and had to take shelter in a stable; again in the flight to a foreign country; and especially at the wedding at Cana, where, though her request at first seemed turned down by Jesus, Mary was sure that her Son would grant her the favour she asked.
Saint Catherine, the mission announced to you was filled with obstacles, but your Mother gave you advice on how to meet these difficulties, and you trusted her. Pray for me, who worries too quickly.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, you who are, after Jesus, all our hope, teach me to trust in God’s Providence.
In Mary, God gave us the perfect model of transparency to His love. Mary devoted herself totally to God, opening the way for many others.
The Gospel’s call to chastity is addressed to all Christians, whatever their state of life. It is a call not to use another for one’s own pleasure. Chastity is a way to live free, respecting the other as other, and resisting what in us always dreams of possessing and of overstepping the limits that mark our humanity.
Saint Catherine, all your life you served the poor with great respect, communicating to them the love God has for them. Pray for me in difficult moments.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, may your name, said with confidence, be my recourse when I must renounce the passions of the spirit and of the flesh, so as to let God in.
Mary went to the Temple not with a lamb, the offering of the wealthy, but with two doves, the offering of the poor. She agreed to marry Joseph, who worked hard with his hands. She went to Egypt to save her Child, leaving her home, family and friends. When poverty makes itself felt, what a source of consolation the poverty of Mary and Joseph can be!
Saint Catherine, you gave yourself to God to serve the poor. Pray for me when I place money too high among my priorities instead of giving priority to God.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in your Magnificat you sang, “My soul glorifies the Lord.” Obtain for me the grace to desire nothing other than God.
The Blessed Virgin was so attached to God that she called herself His servant. Humbly, Mary lived all her life according to God’s will. When a woman in the Gospel called out, “Blessed is the womb that bore You!”, Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” In this way Mary is the first disciple of her Son.
Saint Catherine, you who patiently persevered in your mission despite the difficulties, pray for me.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, obtain for us that we may faithfully obey God’s will, bear our crosses in peace, and always love more.
And remember my special intentions.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin,
Allpray for us who have recourse to thee.
