May, month of Mary: meditation on the first day
MARY IS MOTHER
1 DAY
Holy Mary.
Invocation. - Mary, Mother of mercy, pray for us!
MARIA IS MOTHER
The Church, inviting to greet the Madonna, after the invocation «Salve Regina! »He adds« Mother of mercy! »
There is no sweeter name on earth than that of a mother, an expression of kindness, tenderness and comfort. To earthly mothers God the Creator gives a big heart, capable of loving and sacrificing himself for his children.
The Blessed Virgin is the Mother par excellence; the depth of her Heart cannot be fathomed, since God endowed her with exceptional gifts, having to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word and also of all the redeemed.
In the act in which Redemption was about to take place. Jesus dying aimed humanity in need and loving it to the extreme, he left her the most dear on earth, her Mother: «Here is your Mother! And turning to Mary, he exclaimed: "Woman, here is your son!" ».
With these divine words the Madonna was constituted common Mother, adoptive Mother of the redeemed, title that she deserved with the maternal pains suffered at the foot of the Cross.
The beloved Apostle, Saint John, kept the Holy Virgin at his home as a mother; the Apostles and the primitive Christians considered her as such, and the countless hosts of her devoted children invoke her and love her.
Our Lady, standing in Heaven near the throne of the Most High, continually and admirably exercises the role of Mother, mindful of each of her children, who are the fruit of the Blood of her Jesus and her pains.
The mother loves and consequently follows the children, understands and understands their needs, has pity for pity, takes a lively part in their pains and their joys and is all for each of them.
The Blessed Virgin loves all creatures with a supernatural love and especially those regenerated to grace with Baptism; awaits them anxiously in eternal glory.
But knowing that in this valley of tears they are in danger of getting lost, she implores grace and mercy from Jesus, so that they do not fall into sin or immediately rise after guilt, so that they have the strength to bear the travails of earthly life and have the necessary also for the body.
Our Lady is Mother, but more than anything else is Mother of mercy. We resort to her in all our needs, both spiritual and temporal; let's invoke her with confidence, put ourselves in her hands with serenity and rest under her mantle with confidence, as the baby gently rests in her mother's arms.
EXAMPLE
One day a talented but incredulous doctor came to D. Bosco and said to him: People say that you recover from any illness.
- I? No!
- Yet they assured me, also citing the names of the people and the genus of the diseases.
- You deceive yourself! Many introduce themselves to me for graces and healings; but I recommend praying to Our Lady and making some promises. Graces are obtained through the intercession of Mary, who is a loving Mother.
- Well, heal me too and I too will believe in miracles.
- What illness are you troubled by? -
From transient evil; I'm epileptic. The assaults of evil are frequent and I cannot go out without being accompanied. The cures are worth nothing.
"Then," added Don Bosco, "do the same as the others." Get on your knees, recite some prayers with me, prepare to purify your soul with Confession and Communion and you will see that Our Lady will console you.
- Tell me more, because what he tells me I can't do it.
- Because?
- Because it would be hypocrisy for me. I don't believe in God, in Our Lady, in prayers or in miracles. - Don Bosco was dismayed. Yet he did so much that he induced the unbeliever to kneel and to mark himself with the Cross. Getting up, the doctor said: I marvel at being able to make the sign of the Cross again, which I haven't done for forty years. -
The sinner began to receive the light of grace, promised to confess and, after not long, kept his promise. As soon as he was absolved of sins, he felt healed; thereafter attacks of epilepsy ceased. Grateful and moved he went to the Church of Maria Ausiliatrice, in Turin, and here he wanted to communicate, showing his satisfaction for having obtained the health of his soul and body from the Madonna.
Foil. - Heartly forgive those who have offended us.
Ejaculation. - Lord, forgive my sins, as I forgive those who have offended me!