by
Fr. Peter Richard Kenrick
“And a great sign appeared in heaven. A
woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a
crown of twelve stars.” — Apocalypse xii.1
This is understood by some holy fathers
of the blessed Virgin. She is clothed with the sun, by her close relation to
Christ, the sun of Justice; she has the moon under her feet, for she is the
great channel of God's mercy to man; and on her head is a crown of twelve
stars, because those twelve great lights of the world, the apostles,
acknowledge her for their Queen, and encircle her head with a new wreath of
glory. How these chosen disciples of Jesus Christ must have loved Mary — the
mother of their dear Master! With what reverence they regarded her, who was the
Mother of Him, whose power they had seen so frequently and so wonderfully
displayed, and whose divine nature the Father revealed to them through Peter!
Mary was the teacher of the apostles; because they learned from her many of the
circumstances, which preceded and followed the birth of Christ, which they
could not otherwise have known, except by express revelation. She is especially
mentioned to have been united with them in prayer and retirement, after our
Lord's ascension, when they chose the apostle Mathias, and when the Holy Ghost
descended upon them. We may be assured that as the Divine Spirit communicates
himself in proportion to the dispositions of those whom he visits, Mary
received graces on this occasion, which made her the admiration of the
apostolic college, by the increased zeal and constancy she manifested. With
such an example before them, need we wonder that the apostles co-operated so
faithfully with the graces they then received; and that they went forth to
announce the glad tidings of salvation, without being intimidated by the dangers
to which they thus exposed themselves. If, now, they are bright and shining
stars in heaven, they owe much of their success to the influence of Mary's
example, and to the efficacy of her prayers.
Mary is the queen of those apostolic men,
whom God has raised up in every age and country, to be teachers in His church;
and who have defended it by their learning, while they edified its members by
their heroic sanctity, and enlarged its boundaries by their apostolic zeal.
They all have been the servants of Mary, whom they regarded as their most
powerful aid, in all that they undertook for the promotion of God's greater
glory. The founders of the different religious Orders have bequeathed this
devotion to their children, as the most precious portion of their inheritance;
and some among them have ordered their disciples to merit for themselves the
powerful protection of Mary by the daily recital of her office. They knew, that
as their only object was to promote the glory of God they could not employ a
more efficacious means for securing success, than the intercession of her who
desires, more than any other creature, that His kingdom should be established
in all hearts. Hence their confidence in her was unbounded, and their
sentiments, those of the great St. Cyril of Alexandria, who addressing the holy
Virgin, says: “By
thee the Trinity is glorified; by thee the precious cross is celebrated, and
adored throughout the whole world. By thee, heaven exults, the angels and
archangels rejoice, the demons are put to flight, and lost man is restored to
heaven. By thee, mankind, which was enslaved by the errors of idolatry, has
been converted to truth ; believers have been baptized and churches are erected
throughout the whole world. By thy aid, nations have done penance. What more
can be said? By thee, the only begotten Son of God, that true light, has shined
on those that were in darkness, and in the shadow of death. Who can worthily
celebrate thy praises, O Mother and Virgin!” (St. Cyril cont. Nestorium)
What more efficacious means of promoting
the diffusion of Catholic truth and Catholic piety can be employed, than to
accompany all our efforts for both, by carrying about Mary in our hearts, and
encouraging others to the practice of this devotion? The church, solemnly addressing
her, says: “Rejoice,
O Virgin Mary, because thou alone hast destroyed all heresies.” This was
the language of men who had practical experience of
its truth. This was the sentiment of those
faithful dispensers of God's mysteries, who, both in
ancient and modern times, not only
overcame the attacks made on their own souls, but
also made great inroads among God's enemies
either by bringing whole nations into the fold of
Christ, or by renewing the face of the earth
among degenerate Christians. If we wish that our
exertions should be crowned by equally
glorious results, we must use the same weapons
which rendered them successful. We shall find,
that devotion to Mary is the great bulwark of
Christian faith and morality: because it cannot be
practised, without imparting to those who
adopt it, a more accurate notion of the
incarnation of the Son of God, and a more feeling
sense of its immense advantages to us than can
otherwise be communicated.
EXAMPLE
The great apostle of India, St. Francis
Xavier, was
distinguished by his tender devotion to the Mother
of God. It was on the festival of her
Assumption that he made his first vows. When he visited
the church of Loretto, he felt, for the first
time, a great desire of devoting himself to the
propagation of the gospel in India. He was
accustomed to offer up all his petitions to God, through
the intercession of Mary; and, in his public
instructions, after begging the gift of a lively
faith for himself and his hearers, he addressed
himself to Mary, whom in the conclusion of his
discourse, he always saluted with the Salve
Regina — “Hail,
holy Queen.” He
undertook nothing without first recommending it to God
through Mary; and in the innumerable dangers to
which he was exposed, he had recourse to her
for protection. Far from being ashamed of
being called her servant, he gloried in this title,
and carried his beads about his neck, to manifest it
to all. In the performance of many of the
miracles recorded in his life, he made use of the
beads, thereby to induce others to practise
this devotion. On being asked for some token by a
merchant of Meliapore, who was about to
embark for Malacca, he gave him his beads,
saying: “They will
be of some use to
you, provided you have confidence in Mary.” The ship in
which he embarked, had scarcely got out of
port, when she was driven on the rocks by a furious tempest, and shattered to pieces. The
merchant, full of confidence in the Blessed
Virgin, applied to her, who is, not without
reason, called the “safety
of the ship wrecked.”
He held up the beads given him by Francis,
and suddenly found himself miraculously transported
to the shore.
St Francis had a particular devotion to
the immaculate conception of his dear Mother, and endeavoured on all occasions
to propagate it. When about to undertake the conversion of great sinner, he
never foiled to place his hope of success in Mary, by whose intercession be
also sought to obtain the remission of his own offences. In one of his letters
he says: “I have
taken the Queen of heaven for my protectress, that thus I may obtain the pardon
of my innumerable sins.” In his instructions, he always insisted much on
the greatness of the Mother of God, and spared no exertion to induce others to
place themselves under her protection. At the moment of his death — which
occurred in the island of Sancian, almost in sight of that China, to which this
most zealous servant of Mary so much desired to announce the gospel — he
appealed to her, by often repeating the beautiful and touching language of the
church: “Show
thyself a mother.”
PRAYER
O Mary! the Apostles left all things for
the promotion of God's glory; the confessors labored unceasingly for the same
glorious object. Thou hast surpassed the Apostles by the perfection of thy
sacrifice, and by the fervour of thy zeal; thou dost excel the confessors, by
the intrepidity with which thou didst confess Christ, when abandoned by all,
and expiring on the cross. O sacred Virgin! Obtain for me a portion of the
apostolic spirit, a zeal for my own salvation, and the salvation of my
brethren. Make me endeavour, by all means in my power, to extend the kingdom of
thy divine Son, and offer incessantly my prayer for the conversion of all who
are yet sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, or who are estranged
from the one fold of the one Shepherd, thy divine Son. Make me ever ready to
confess Jesus Christ both by word and work, that thus, through thy powerful
intercession, O Queen of Confessors! I may be acknowledged by Him, before His
Heavenly Father. Amen.
PRACTICE
Devoutly incite the Litany of the Blessed Virgin for the
propagation of the. Catholic faith.
ASPIRATION
Rejoice O Virgin Mary, thou alone, hast destroyed all
heresies in the whole world!
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