In dangers, in distress, in anxieties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let her name not depart from your mouth, let it not depart from your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, do not abandon the example of her life.
Gospel Reading : Luke 1:39-47
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour
What do the Fathers say?
She is indeed most fittingly compared to a star; for as a star emits its ray without any decay of itself, so the Virgin brought forth her Son without injury to her virginity. Neither does the ray diminish the brightness of the star, nor the Son the integrity of the Virgin.
She is that noble star risen from Jacob, whose ray illuminates the whole world, whose splendour shines in the heavens, penetrates the underworld, and, warming the earth rather than bodies, fosters virtues and burns away vices. She, I say, is the magnificent and radiant star lifted above this great and wide sea, gleaming with merits, shining with examples.
O whoever you are that perceive yourself in the ebb and flow of this world to be tossing among storms and tempests rather than walking on solid ground, do not turn your eyes away from the brightness of this star, if you would not be overwhelmed by the tempest!
If the winds of temptations rise, if you run upon the rocks of tribulations, look to the star, call upon Mary.
If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of detraction, of jealousy, look to the star, call upon Mary.
If anger or avarice or the allurements of the flesh assault the light vessel of your soul, look to Mary.
If, troubled by the magnitude of your sins, confounded by the defilement of your conscience, terrified by the dread of judgment, you begin to be swallowed up in the abyss of sadness and despair, think of Mary.
In dangers, in distress, in anxieties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let her name not depart from your mouth, let it not depart from your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, do not abandon the example of her life.
Following her, you do not stray;
Praying to her, you do not despair;
Thinking of her, you do not err.
If she holds you, you do not fall;
If she protects you, you need not fear;
If she guides you, you do not grow weary;
If she is propitious, you reach your goal.
And so you will experience in yourself how deservedly it was said: “And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
St ANSELM of Canterbury. “O woman uniquely full, overflowing with grace, the abundance of which waters all creation so that it is made new!
All nature is created by God, and God is born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary brought forth God. God who made all things made Himself from Mary; and thus He restored everything He had made…
God, then, is the Father of all created things, and Mary is the mother of all re-created things. God is the Father of the constitution of all things, and Mary is the mother of the restitution of all things. For God begot Him through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to Him through whom all things were saved.”
ORIGEN. For Jesus who was in her womb hastened to sanctify John, still in the womb of his mother.
St AMBROSE. When Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. Mark the distinction and propriety of each word. Elisabeth first heard the word, but John first experienced the grace. She heard by the order of nature, he leaped by reason of the mystery. She perceived the coming of Mary, he the coming of the Lord.
St EPHREM. “The voice of Mary became a key that opened the womb of Elizabeth and unlocked the spirit of John… Fire and the Spirit entered into Elizabeth through the ears that heard Mary’s greeting.”
GREEK EXPOSITOR. (Geometer.) For the Prophet sees and hears more acutely than his mother, and salutes the chief of Prophets; but as he could not do this in words, he leaps in the womb, which was the greatest token of his joy. Who ever heard of leaping at a time previous to birth? Grace introduced things to which nature was a stranger. Shut up in the womb, the soldier acknowledged his Lord and King soon to be born, the womb’s covering being no obstacle to the mystical sight.
The Venerable BEDE. Mary is blessed by Elisabeth with the same words as before by Gabriel, to show that she was to be reverenced both by men and angels.
Nor is it to be wondered at, that our Lord, about to redeem the world, commenced His mighty works with His mother, that she, through whom the salvation of all men was prepared, should herself be the first to reap the fruit of salvation from her pledge.
Sources:
Bible readings from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Second Catholic Edition, copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Quotes of the Fathers from :
Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea Translated by St John Henry Newman
Saint Anselm’s book of Prayers and Meditations
St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s In Laudibus Virginis Matris (In Praise of the Virgin Mother)
Artwork ex Wikimedia Commons