May, month of Mary: meditation on the sixth day

MOTHER OF THE POOR

6 DAY
Holy Mary.

Invocation. - Mary, Mother of mercy, pray for us!

MOTHER OF THE POOR
The world is looking for pleasures and needs money to get them. We tire, fight, even trample justice, in order to accumulate wealth.
Jesus teaches that i. true goods are the heavenly ones, because they are eternal, and that the wealth of this world is false and passing, a source of concern and responsibility.
Jesus, infinite wealth, becoming man, wanted to be poor and wanted his Holy Mother and the Putative Father, St. Joseph, to be this way.
One day he exclaimed: "Woe to you, O rich people, because you already have your consolation! »(S. Luke, VI, 24). «Blessed are you, O poor people, because the kingdom of God is yours! Blessed are you who are now in need, because you will be satisfied! »(S. Luke, VI, 20).
The followers of Jesus should appreciate poverty and, if they had wealth, they should be detached and make good use of it.
How many waste money and how many lack the necessary! There are poor people who cannot feed themselves, do not have clothes to cover themselves and in case of illness they do not have the means to cure themselves.
Our Lady, like Jesus, loves these poor and wants to be their mother; if prayed, she comes to help, making use of the generosity of the good.
Even when you are not really poor, in certain periods of life you can find yourself in the straits, either through a reversal of luck or a lack of work. So let's remember that Our Lady is the Mother of the needy. The pleading voice of the children always penetrates the mother's heart.
When expectation of providence, it is not enough to pray to Our Lady; you have to live in God's grace if you want God to assist. In this regard, Jesus Christ says: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all the other things will be given to you more" (St. Matthew, VI, 33).
At the conclusion of what has been said, let the poor learn not to be ashamed of their state, because they resemble the Madonna more, and not to be discouraged in their needs, invoking the assistance of the Heavenly Mother with lively faith.
Learn the rich and wealthy not to be proud and not to despise the needy; they love to do charity, especially to those who do not have the courage to stretch out their hand; avoid unnecessary expenses, to have more opportunities to help others and remember that whoever gives to the poor,
lends to Jesus Christ and pays homage to Mary Most Holy, Mother of the poor.

EXAMPLE

Pallavicino in his distinguished writings reports an episode, where he appears as the Madonna loves and helps the poor, when they are sincerely devoted to her.
A priest was invited to lend the last comforts of religion to a dying woman. Went to church and taken the Viaticum, he walked towards the home of the sick. What was not his pain to see the poor woman in a miserable little room, devoid of everything, lying on a little straw!
The dying woman had been very devoted to the Madonna, had tried many times her protection in extreme needs and now at the end of her life an extraordinary grace was given to her.
As soon as the Priest entered this house, a chorus of virgins appeared, who stood by the dying woman to give her help and comfort; among the virgins was the Madonna.
At such a spectacle the Priest did not dare approach the dying man; then the Blessed Virgin looked at him benignly and knelt, bowing her forehead to the ground to adore her Sacramental Son. Once this was done, the Madonna and the other virgins got up and withdrew separately to leave the way to the Priest free.
The woman asked to confess and later communicated. What joy, when the soul expired, he could go to eternal joy in the company of the Queen of Heaven!

Foil. - To deprive yourself of something, for the love of Our Lady, and to give it to the poor. Not being able to do this, at least recite five Salve Regina for those who are in extreme need.

Ejaculation. - My mother, my trust!