Virgo Potens

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 22nd Therefore blessed Albertus Magnus applies to Mary the words of wisdom: "She preventeth them that covet her, so that she first showeth herself unto them." So great is the love, says Richard of St. Laurence, which this good mother bears us, that when she perceives our necessities, she comes to relieve them. She hastens before she is invoked. If Mary, then, is so good to all, even to the ungrateful and negligent, who have but little love for her, and seldom have recourse to her, how much more loving must she not be to those who love her and often invoke her. "She is easily seen by them that love her." Oh, how easy it is, exclaims the same blessed Albertus, for those who love Mary to find her, and find her full of love and pity! "I love them that love me,” she assures us, and declares that she cannot but love those who love her. And although our most loving lady loves all men as her children, yet, says St. Bernard, she recognizes and loves especially those who most tenderly love her. Those happy lovers of Mary, as the Idiot, asserts, are not only loved, but served by her. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Star of the Sea Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 22nd It is certain that she is concerned for the whole human race, as St. Bernard affirms ; hence the practice of some devout servants of Mary is very useful, who, as Cornelius à Lapide relates, have the habit of praying our Lord to grant them the graces the blessed Virgin is seeking for them, using these words: "Oh Lord, give me what the most holy Virgin Mary is asking for me." And this is well, as à Lapide adds, for our mother desires greater things for us than we think of asking for ourselves. The devout Bernardine de Bustis says, that Mary is more desirous to do us good, and bestow favors upon us, than we are to receive them. (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 21st And from this follows another reason why we are so much beloved by Mary: because she knows that we have been purchased by the death of Jesus Christ. If a mother should see a servant redeemed by a beloved son of hers, by twenty years of imprisonment and suffering, for this reason alone how much would she esteem that servant! Mary well knows that her Son came upon earth solely to save us miserable sinners, as he himself declared: “I have come to save what was lost.” And to save us he consented to lay down his life for us: “Becoming obedient unto death.” If Mary, then, had little love for us, she would slightly value the blood of her Son, which was the price of our salvation. It was revealed to St. Elizabeth, the nun, that Mary, from the time she was in the temple, was always praying that God would quickly send his Son to save the world. Now, how much more certainly must we believe that she loves us, after she has seen us so greatly prized by her Son, that he deigned to purchase us at such a cost! And because all men have been redeemed by Jesus, Mary loves and favors all. She was seen by St. John clothed with the sun: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun.” She is said to be clothed with the sun, because, as “There is no one that can hide himself from his heat,” so there is no one living on the earth who is deprived of the love of Mary. From the heat of the sun, as it is explained by the venerable Raymond Jordan, who through humility called himself the Idiot, that is, from the love of Mary. And who, says St. Anthony, can comprehend the care which this loving mother has of us all? Therefore, to all she offers and dispenses her mercy. For our mother has desired the salvation of all, and has co-operated with her Son in the salvation of all. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 21st The Lord, indeed, rewarded Abraham for the sacrifice he was prepared to make to him of his son Isaac; but what can we render to Mary for the life of her Jesus, as she has given us a Son more noble and beloved than the son of Abraham? This love of Mary, says St. Bonaventure, greatly obliges us to love her, seeing that she has loved us more than any other created being loves us, since she has given for us her only Son, whom she loved more than herself. (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 20th Moreover, we are children extremely dear to Mary, because we cost her so much. Those children are much dearer to a mother whose lives she has preserved; we are those children, for whom, that we may have the life of grace, Mary suffered the pain of sacrificing the dear life of her Jesus; submitting, for our sake, to see him die before her eyes in cruel torments. By this great offering of Mary we were then born to the life of divine grace. So, then, we are children very dear to her, because we were redeemed at such a cost of suffering. Accordingly, as we read of the love which the eternal Father has manifested for men by giving his own Son to death for us, “God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son:” as St. Bonaventure remarks, it may be said of Mary also, that she so loved us as to give her only-begotten Son. And when did she give him to us? She gave him to us, says Father Nieremberg, when first she consented to his death; she gave him to us, when others deserted him through hatred or through fear, and she alone could have defended, before the judges, the life of her Son. We can easily believe that the words of so wise and tender a mother would have had a great power, at least with Pilate, to induce him to abstain from condemning to death a man whom he knew and declared innocent. But no, Mary would not utter even one word in favor of her Son, to prevent his death, upon which our salvation depended; finally, she gave him to us again at the foot of the cross, in those three hours when she was witnessing his death; because then, at every moment, she was offering up for us his life, with the deepest grief, and the greatest love for us, at the cost of great trouble and suffering, and with such firmness, that if executioners had been wanting, as St. Anselm and St. Antoninus tell us, she herself would have crucified him in obedience to the will of the Father, who had decreed he should die for our salvation. And if Abraham showed a similar fortitude in consenting to sacrifice his son with his own hands, we must believe that Mary would certainly have done the same, with more resolution, as she was holier and more obedient than Abraham. But to return to our subject. How grateful should we be to Mary, for an act of so much love! for the sacrifice she made of the life of her Son, in the midst of so much anguish, to obtain salvation for us all! ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Pray for us. Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 20th Moreover, our mother loves us much, because we have been commended to her as children by her beloved Jesus, when, before expiring, he said to her: “Woman, behold thy son;” signifying by the person of John, all men, as we have before remarked. These were the last words of her Son to her. The last remembrances left by beloved friends at the moment of their death are greatly valued, and the memory of them is never lost. (continued below)

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost : Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of God. Blessed Feast of Pentecost! May the Holy Ghost shower you with His gifts and may He dwell eternally in your soul. ~ Virgo Potens, Defende nos in peœlio, Chantbird’s Garden of Song

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 19th Hence what have the saints not done for love of the neighbor, because they have loved God so much? They have gone so far as to expose and lose liberty and even life for his salvation. Let us read what St. Francis Xavier did in India, where, for the sake of the souls of those barbarians, he climbed mountains, and exposed himself to in numerable dangers to find those wretched beings, in the caverns where they dwelt like wild beasts, and to lead them to God. St. Francis de Sales, to convert the heretics of the province of Chablais, risked his life by crossing a river every day for a year, on his hands and knees, upon a frozen beam, that he might go to the other side to preach to those stubborn men. St. Paulinus became a slave, to obtain liberty for the son of a poor widow. St. Fidelis, to bring the heretics of a certain place back to God, willingly consented, in preaching to them, to lose his life. The saints, then, because they have loved God so much, have done much for love of the neighbor. But who has loved God more than Mary? She loved God more, in the first moment of her life, than all the saints and angels have loved him in the whole course of theirs; as we shall consider at length, when we speak of the virtues of Mary. She herself revealed to sister Mary of the Crucifixion, that the fire of love with which she burned for God was so great, that it would in a moment inflame heaven and earth; and that, in comparison to it, all the flames of the burning love of the seraphim were as cool breezes. Therefore, as there is none among the blessed spirits who loves God more than Mary; so there is, and can be none, except God, who loves us more than this our most loving mother. If the love of all mothers for their children, of all husbands for their wives, and of all saints and angels for their devoted servants, were united, it would not be so great as the love that Mary bears to one soul alone. Father Nierembergh says that the love which all mothers have borne to their children is a shadow when compared with the love which Mary bears to any one of us. Truly she alone loves us more, he adds, than all the angels and saints united. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 19th But let us consider the reasons of this love, for thus we shall better understand how this good mother loves us. The first reason of the great love that Mary bears to men, is the great love she bears to God. Love to God and man is contained in the same precept, as St. John has written: “This commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God, love also his brother;” so that one increases as the other increases. (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 18th It is said that even tigers, hearing the cry of their whelps when they are taken by the hunters, will plunge into the sea to swim after the vessels where they are confined. If, then, says our most loving mother Mary, even tigers cannot forget their young, how can I forget to love you, my children ? And, she adds, even if it should happen that a mother could forget her child, it is not possible that I can forget a soul which is my child. Mary is our mother, not according to the flesh, but by love: “I am the mother of fair love.” Hence she becomes our mother only on account of the love she bears us; and she glories, says a certain author, in being the mother of love; because, having taken us for her children, she is all love towards us. Who can describe the love of Mary for us miserable creatures? Arnold of Carnotensis says that, at the death of Jesus Christ, she ardently desired to die with her Son for our sake. So that, as St. Ambrose adds, when her Son hung dying on the cross, Mary offered herself to his murderers, that she might give her life for us. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 18th SECTION III HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE OF OUR MOTHER FOR US IF, then, Mary is our mother, let us consider how much she loves us. The love of parents for their children is a necessary love, and for this reason, as St. Thomas observes, children are commanded in the divine law to love their parents; but there is no command, on the other hand, given to parents to love their children, for love towards one’s own offspring is a love so deeply planted in the heart by nature herself that even the wild beasts, as St. Ambrose says, never fail to love their young. (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 17th Yes, I am content, but do not forbid me to call thee my mother. This name wholly consoles me, melts me, and reminds me of my obligation to love thee. This name encourages me to confide in thee. When I am the most terrified at the thought of my sins and of the divine justice, I feel myself comforted by the remembrance that thou art my mother. Permit me, then, to call thee my mother, my sweetest mother. Thus I call thee, and thus I will ever call thee. Thou, next to God, shalt always be my hope, my refuge, and my love, in this valley of tears. And thus I hope to die, commending my soul, at the last moment, into thy sacred hands, saying: ”My mother, my mother Mary, help me, have pity on me.” Amen. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Hail Star of the Sea Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 17th PRAYER Oh, my most holy mother, how is it possible that, having so holy a mother, I should be so wicked? A mother so inflamed with love to God, and that I should so love creatures? A mother so rich in virtue, and that I should be so poor? Oh, my most amiable mother! I no longer deserve, it is true, to be thy son, because by my bad life I have rendered myself unworthy. I am content if thou wilt accept me as thy servant. I am ready to renounce all the kingdoms of the earth, to be admitted among the lowest of thy servants. (continued below)

Q. What is the meaning of the term ‘Whit-Sunday’? A. Whitsunday, an English term, is another name for Pentecost, the Feast of the universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Our Lord, on the ancient Jewish festival called the "feast of weeks". The feast dates from Apostolic times. Pentecost is the Greek for “fiftieth day”. Whitsunday comes from the Middle English Whitsonday, and from the Old English hwīta sunnandæg, literally, white Sunday. It is also called Whitsun or Whit-Sunday. In prior times, those catechumens who remained from Easter were baptized on the Vigil of Pentecost, also called Whitsun Eve, in ceremonies similar to those on Holy Saturday. Whitsunday derives it’s name (White Sunday) from the white albs worn by the newly baptized catechumens. Don’t you love Church History? 💗

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 16th He went afterwards to Rome, where a friend of his found him one day very much afflicted, and weeping. He asked him the cause, and he answered, that in the night his mother had appeared to him and said : " My son, it is well for thee that thou hast entered the true Church; I am already lost, because I died in heresy." From that time he became more fervent in his devotion to Mary, chose her for his mother, and by her was inspired to become a religious. He made a vow to do so, but being ill, he went to Naples to restore his health by a change of air. But the Lord ordered it so that he should die in Naples, and die a religious ; for, having become dangerously ill soon after his arrival there, he by prayers and tears obtained from the superiors admittance, and when about receiving the viaticum, he made his vows in presence of the blessed sacrament, and was enrolled in the society. After this, in the tenderness of his feelings, he gave thanks to his mother Mary for having rescued him from heresy, and brought him to die in the true Church, and in a religious house in the midst of his brethren. Therefore, he exclaimed: "Oh! how glorious it is to die in the midst of so many angels!" Being exhorted to take a little rest, he answered : "Ah, this is not the time to rest when the end of my life is drawing near." Before dying, he said to the persons present: "Brethren, do you not see the angels of heaven around me?" One of the religious having heard him murmuring something to himself, asked him what he had said. He answered, that his angel-guardian had revealed to him that he should be in purgatory but a short time, and would soon enter paradise. Then he began again to talk with his sweet mother Mary, and repeating the word, mother, mother, he tranquilly expired, like a child falling asleep in the arms of its mother. Soon after, it was revealed to a devout religious that he had already entered paradise. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 16th EXAMPLE In the history of the foundations of the Company of Jesus, in the kingdom of Naples, is related the following story of a noble youth of Scotland, named William Elphinstone. He was a relation of King James. Born a heretic, he followed the false sect to which he belonged ; but enlightened by divine grace, whicn showed him his errors, he went to France, where, with the assistance of a good Jesuit father, who was like himself a Scotchman, and still more by the intercession of the blessed Virgin, he at length saw the truth, abjured heresy, and became a Catholic. (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 15th Thus says St. Bonaventure : Every one who loves this good mother and trusts in her protection, should take courage and repeat: What do you fear, oh my soul? The cause of thy eternal salvation will not be lost, as the final sentence depends upon Jesus, who is thy brother, and upon Mary, who is thy mother. And St. Anselm, full of joy at this thought, exclaims, in order to encourage us: Oh, blessed confidence! Oh, secure refuge! The mother of God is my mother also. With what certainty may we hope, since our salvation depends upon the sentence of a good brother and of a kind mother! Hear, then, ou rmother who calls us, and says to us : " Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me." Little children have always on their lips the word mother, and in all the dangers to which they are exposed, and in all their fears, they cry, mother, mother ! Ah, most sweet Mary ! Ah, most loving mother ! this is exactly what thou dost desire ; that we become little children, and always call upon thee in our dangers, and always have recourse to thee, for thou wishest to aid and save us, as thou hast saved all thy children who have had recourse to thee. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.

Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 15th Be joyful, then, all ye children of Mary; remember that she adopts as her children all those who wish her for their mother. Joyful; for what fear have you of being lost when this mother defends and protects you? (continued below)

SUB TUUM PRAESIDIUM (We Fly to Thy Patronage) WE FLY to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despise not thou our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin (Roman Breviary). ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ SUB tuum præsídium confúgimus, sancta Dei Génetrix; nostras deprecatiónes ne despícias in necessitátibus nostris, sed a perículis cunctis líbera nos semper, Virgo gloriósa et benedócta (ex Breviario Romano). (The Raccolta, 1957) The Raccolta, 1910 adds the following after this prayer: [℣.] Make me worthy to praise thee, O Holy Virgin. [℟.] Give me strength against thine enemies. [℣.] Blessed be God in his saints. [℟.] Amen. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ [℣.] Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata. [℟.] Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos. [℣.] Benedictus Deus in Sanctis suis. [℟.] Amen.

2 of 2 Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ May 14th Oh, happy those who live under the protection of a mother so loving and so powerful! The prophet David, although Mary was not yet born, besought of God salvation, by dedicating himself to Mary as her son, and thus prayed: "Save the son of thy handmaid." "Whose handmaid?" asks St. Augustine: "she who says : Behold the handmaid of the Lord." And who, says the Cardinal Bellarmine, who would dare to snatch these children from the bosom of Mary, where they have taken refuge from their enemies? What fury of hell or of passion can conquer them, if they place their trust in the protection of this great mother? It is narrated of the whale, that when she sees her young in peril, from the tempest or their pursuers, she opens her mouth and receives them into her bowels. Just so, says Novarino, does this compassionate mother of the faithful, when the tempest of the passions is raging. She then, with maternal affection, protects them as it were in her own bowels, and continues to shelter them until she has placed them in the secure haven of paradise. Oh most loving mother! Oh, most compassionate mother, be ever blessed! and may that God be ever blessed, who has given us thee as a mother, and as a secure refuge in all the dangers of this life. The blessed Virgin herself revealed this to St. Bridget, saying: "As a mother who sees her son exposed to the sword of the enemy, makes every effort to save him, thus do I, and will I ever do for my children, sinful though they be, if they come to me for help." Behold, then, how in every battle with hell we shall always conquer, and certainly conquer, if we have recourse to the mother of God and our mother, always repeating: "We fly to thy protection, oh holy mother of God ; we fly to thy protection, oh holy mother of God." Oh, how many victories have the faithful obtained over hell, by having recourse to Mary with this short but powerful prayer ! That great servant of God, sister Mary of the Crucifixion, a Benedictine nun, by this means always conquered the evil spirits. ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1852) First American Edition.