Monday, June 8, 2020

MARY MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACES

 

Daniel, Chapter 3, Verse 90

Bless the God of gods, all you who fear the Lord; praise and give thanks, for his mercy endures forever.

 

God gave the land of Israel to the Israelites as an eternal possession; land could be leased to pay debts, but it always reverted back to the family who owned it. In a similar way Christ has given the possession of your eternal soul back over to you through His mercy; after you leased it out to the evil one. Do not fear or be dismayed to take possession of it.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

 The way we take possession of our soul is by the way of purification. A man in possession of his soul seeks to live in such a way that he does not lose ownership of his soul. He strives to place first things first and he endeavors to follow God’s holy Will in his life. Conversion means turning to God (Beatitude Meditation) and keeping the four last things in our mind when we are tempted: Death, Judgment, Heaven and hell. Immediately after death we will be judged and our private judgment will be repeated on the Day of Judgment; when all men will know us for what we are. If we have done our best and followed Christ’s commandments (if you love me you will keep my commandments) we will join Him in Heaven but if we have ignored His commandments and refused to make use of His help (via the church sacraments) we shall be condemned to hell. [1].

 Therefore, strive to love God in your daily life and make use of His grace. When you fall, immediately make a prayer in honor of the Wound of His Holy Shoulder making use of His grace in the sacrament of confession at the earliest opportunity and receive Holy Communion only after confession. 

 

O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.

 

Imprimatur: Thomas D. Beven, Bishop of Springfield

It is related in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked our Lord which was His greatest unrecorded suffering, and Our Lord answered: "I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men. Honor this wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins."[2]

 Feast: Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces

Traditionally, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. All the graces which flow from the redemption of Jesus Christ are granted to the human family through the motherly intercession of Mary. Mary mediated Jesus Christ, the Author of all graces, to the world when she agreed to be the human mother of God made man (cf. Lk 1:38). And from the cross at Calvary (Jn 19:26) and as the final gift to humanity, Jesus gives Mary as a spiritual mother to us all: "Son, behold your mother" (cf. Jn 19:26). For this reason, Vatican II refers to Mary as a "mother to us in the order of grace " (Lumen Gentium, n. 62) and several twentieth century popes have officially taught the doctrine of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces, quoting the words of St Bernard: "It is the will of God that we obtain all favors through Mary." The Mediatrix performs this task in intimate union with the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, with whom she began the drama of our Lord's Redemption at the Annunciation (cf. Lk. 1:35).

 

Mary is our Advocate for people of God, in that she takes the petitions of her earthly children, especially in times of difficulties, and brings them through her maternal intercession before her Son and our Lord Jesus.

 

In the Old Testament, the Queen Mother brought the petitioned needs of the people of Israel to the throne of her son the king (cf. 1 Kings 2:19). Now Mary is the new Queen Mother and Advocate in the new Kingdom of her Son, who brings the petitioned needs of the people of God to the throne of her glorious Son, Christ the King, particularly in our present difficult times.

 

The universal mediation of the Mother of Jesus as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate for the people of God is already contained in the official and authoritative teachings of the Church's Magisterium. Now, at the summit of the Marian era, what remains is the final proclamation by the Church of this final Marian doctrine as Christian dogma revealed by God.

 

Things to Do:

 

·         Read this article by Fr. William G. Most.

·         Pray the Litany of The Blessed Virgin Mary Mediatrix of All Grace

 

Daily Devotions

·         Do not neglect interior mortifications. The power of sacrificial love evicts the enemy.

·         Ask for the Prayers and assistance of the Angels

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Rosary

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[1] Paone, Anthony J., S.J. My Daily Bread, Confraternity of the Precious Blood.

[2] http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=31