Catholic Motherhood: Two Souls; One Heart

A great article from CNA. It is absolutely a must read for Catholic mothers, and every Catholic should get something out of this:

"September is the month of Our Lady of Sorrows. In his fourth meditation on the "Seven Sorrows of Our Lady," St. Alphonsus Liguori describes the pain, horror, and pity that the Blessed Virgin Mary experienced as she anticipated Christ's crucifixion, and encountered him on his way to Calvary:

All mothers feel the sufferings of their children as their own. Hence, when the Canaanitish woman entreated our Saviour to deliver her daughter from the devil that tormented her, she asked Him rather to pity her, the mother, than her daughter: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil." But what mother ever loved her son as Mary loved Jesus?

Let us only imagine what a flame He must have enkindled in that pure heart of His holy Mother, void as it was of every earthly affection. In fine, the Blessed Virgin herself told Saint Bridget, "that love had rendered her heart and that of her Son but one." That blending together of Servant and Mother, of Son and God, created in the heart of Mary a fire composed of a thousand flames.

But the whole of this flame of love was afterwards, at the time of the Passion, ranged into a sea of grief, when Saint Bernardine declares, "that if all the sorrows of the world were united, they would not equal that of the glorious Virgin Mary." Yes, because, as Richard of St. Lawrence writes, "the more tenderly this Mother loved, so much the more deeply was she wounded." The greater was her love for Him, the greater was her grief at the sight of His sufferings; and especially when she met her Son, already condemned to death, and bearing His cross to the place of punishment.

The Blessed Virgin revealed to Saint Bridget, that when the time of the Passion of our Lord was approaching, her eyes were always filled with tears, as she thought of her beloved Son, whom she was about to lose on earth, and that the prospect of that approaching suffering caused her to be seized with fear, and a cold sweat to cover her whole body.

Saint Bonaventure, contemplating Mary on that night, says: "Thou didst spend it without sleep, and whilst others slept thou didst remain watching." In the morning the disciples of Jesus Christ came to this afflicted Mother, the one to bring her one account, the other another; but all were tidings of sorrow, verifying in her the prophecy of Jeremias: "Weeping, she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; there is none to comfort her of all them that were dear to her."

Mary goes with Saint John, and by the blood with which the way is sprinkled, she perceives that her Son has already passed. This she revealed to Saint Bridget: "By the footsteps of my Son, I knew where He had passed: for along the way the ground was marked with blood."

Alas, what a scene of sorrows then presented itself before her! the nails, the hammers, the cords, the fatal instruments of the death of her Son, all of which were borne before Him. And what a sword must the sound of that trumpet have been to her heart, which proclaimed the sentence pronounced against her Jesus! But behold, the instruments, the trumpeter, and the executioners, have already passed; she raised her eyes, and saw, O God ! a young man covered with blood and wounds from head to foot, a wreath of thorns on His head, and two heavy beams on His shoulders.

On the one hand she desired to behold Him, and on the other she dreaded so heart-rending a sight. At length they looked at each other. The Son wiped from His eyes the clotted blood, which, as it was revealed to Saint Bridget, prevented Him from seeing, and looked at His Mother, and the Mother looked at her Son. Ah, looks of bitter grief, which, as so many arrows, pierced through and through those two beautiful and loving souls.

The Mother would have embraced Him, as Saint Anselm says, but the guards thrust her aside with insults, and urged forward the suffering Lord; and Mary followed Him. Ah, holy Virgin, whither goest thou? To Calvary. And canst thou trust thyself to behold Him, who is thy life, hanging on a cross?

"We even pity wild beasts," as Saint John Chrysostom writes; and did we see a lioness following her cub to death, the sight would move us to compassion. And shall we not also be moved to compassion on seeing Mary follow her immaculate Lamb to death? Let us, then, pity her, and let us also accompany her Son and herself, by bearing with patience the cross which our Lord imposes on us.

Saint John Chrysostom asks why Jesus Christ, in His other sufferings, was pleased to endure them alone, but in carrying His cross was assisted by the Cyrenean? He replies, that it was "that thou mayest understand that the cross of Christ is not sufficient without thine."

The Blessed Mother: The Ark of the New Covenant

Today is the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist.

My favorite story involving this saint happened when the Blessed Mother traveled to visit her expecting cousin, Elisabeth. Elisabeth's child, John the Baptist, leaped in uetero upon being in the presence of the Christ child in Mary’s womb.

Many biblical scholars tie this story to King David’s experience with being exposed to the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament. For example, here are some passages from 2 Samuel 6:

A) 6:9 says, "And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?"
B) 6:16 states, "And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD;"
C) 6:11 adds, "And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months:"

Now lets parallel St. Luke’s account of Mary visiting Elisabeth with the accounts of 2 Samuel:

A) 1:43 Elisabeth says. "And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
B) 1:41 "And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb."
C) 1:56 "And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house."

What St. Luke is saying is that just as the Ark of the Covenant served as the holding place of God’s initial promise (The 10 Commandments) with the Israelites in the Old Testament, the Virgin Mother served as the Ark (meaning shelter or refuge) of the New Covenant holding God’s fulfillment of His new and everlasting Covenant within her.

Why do Catholics Pray to the Blessed Mother Mary?

Many non-Catholic Christians have such difficulty in understanding and accepting why Catholics pray to our Blessed Mother instead of going directly with our needs to Christ.

To facilitate some understanding and shed some insight to non-Catholics, I would like to reference a passage in scripture, specifically the Wedding Feast of Cana.

I always felt if Catholics were asked to rank the 10 most important Scriptural Events (ex: Resurrection, Incarnation, Crucifixion, Beatitudes, Transfiguration, Passion, etc…), this event would most likely be left off their list. It would not be left off mine. This sacred text has so many different levels of importance and reflection. It is the official starting point of Christ’s public ministry. The passage also has strong contemporary and spiritual value in the fact that Christ chose a wedding as the place of his first recorded miracle when considering the tremendous hostility that the sacrament of marriage faces today in our society. With all of this being stated, most importantly it also shows us the way to present a petition to Christ that can not be refused.

As the sacred scripture tells us, the Blessed Mother asked her Son to help with a wine shortage that the embarrassed wedding hosts were experiencing by performing a miracle. Christ replied:

"Woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come." (John 2:4)

It is two small sentences… but it tells us everything of the Blessed Mother’s relationship with Christ.

First, the phrase "Woman" used by Jesus to address the Virgin Mother, was a title of respect. Christ did not use the term, "Mother" when addressing her as you would think he might, He elevated her beyond this relationship title (Mother) with an all encompassing title (Woman). It would be similar to calling Tiger Woods, "Golfer", or Michael Jordan "Basketball Player". It was her essence and her perfection.

Biblical scholars also would say this title of "Woman" reflects back to Eve in Genesis. The "Woman" that turned her back on God at the time of creation was now being replaced by a "Woman" who would never disobey or disappoint Him. The "New Eve."

Secondly, in this one line of scripture, Christ’s words validate that Mary had an intimacy with Christ and prior knowledge of His planned ministry. She was His close confidant. Christ is not saying, "Sorry Mom, I have to inform you now…it’s not My time yet to start My ministry yet." He takes the tone, "What does this have to do with Me, Mom… you know My plan... and you know it is not My time."

Catholics give Mary the title, "Co-Redemptress" because of the supporting role she played in Christ’s redemption of the world. She was there every step of the way. Mel Gibson has a very powerful scene in The Passion of the Christ, where, while being tortured, Christ locks eyes with His Mother from a distance and they rise to their feet together, she providing strength for Him to complete His mission. Now this is not based in Scripture, but it is reflective of the relationship they had. What is in Scripture was the support she gave her Son during His Passion. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that when every human word is written and spoken, the saddest of words in human history will be, "There was no room at the inn." In this quote, I propose the saddest event of human history was the Crucifixion, a creation destroying their loving God, and this event could have even been more sorrowful if Christ had died alone by Himself up on Calvary. Like an unloved dog in an alleyway. Mary’s presence prevented this from happening. Our Lady of Perpetual Help (left) is a holy image of Our Blessed Mother that depicts Christ as a young boy having a premonition of His Passion and in fear running into the comfort of His mother’s arms. She served this same purpose though His Passion. She was the loving presence at the foot of the cross that served as a comforting focus point for Him in a sea of hatred and torture. We should never underestimate the eternal gratitude Christ must have towards His Mother.

Finally, getting back to the Wedding Feast scripture and the point of this post, after stating it is not His time to perform a miracle, Christ actually does grant the wish of his Beloved Mother. So there was a historical destiny that was planned out for His all-important ministry that should have taken its course, but a request from The Blessed Mother to Christ changed this historic destiny. It altered human history.

The Marian shrines throughout the world are littered with piles of crutches from people who had an inescapable human destiny of suffering and sickness that was altered by a request from the Virgin Mother on their behalf to Jesus. Christ could not refuse the request because of who was asking it from Him. It was the mother who caressed Him inutero for 9 months. The mother who smothered His face with kisses when He was a baby. The mother who held Him in the middle of the night when He had nightmares as a little boy. The mother who taught Him how to walk and to laugh. The mother who kissed His face as an adult. The mother whose presence was always just a few footsteps behind Him while He was carrying His cross and who sanctified His wake with her tears. The mother whose kind eyes looked up at Him hanging on the cross to meet His blood-dripping, swollen eyes looking down on her sharing in His suffering. The mother who must have given Him a non-ending embrace after the Resurrection for all they had been through together.

This is why Catholics ask the Blessed Mother to intercede for us. It is a realization that Christ would never refuse her anything she requests on our behalf and many times we are in desperate need to change what is our human destiny.

The Temperaments of God

I often noted, and very much over the years tried to reconcile, the difference in temperaments between the God in the Old Testament (Yaweh), and the same God in the New Testament (God the Father).

Yaweh was a very stern God who would strike down your enemies down and let you wander 40 years in the desert if you made a mistake. The kind God in the New Testament - - who was the same exact God -- was a loving Father, and through his Son told us to love our enemies. He was a God who allowed what was most dear to Him to be sacraficed for our mistakes.

I once had a college professor try to offer an explanation. He said that in the Old Testament we were in our infancy stage with God and he treated us as such, like toddlers. Don’t touch the outlet, don’t go in the street, you will be severely punished and have to sit on the couch if you do what you are thinking. He said by the time the New Testament came along, we had grown up and our relationship with God advanced lovingly to where our parent became more of a trusted friend and confidant.

This made somewhat sense to me, but once again the words of St. Jean Vianney brought me closer to what was the true answer. He directed me to the exact beginning of the New Testament for the time when God’s temperament changed.

He said God’s anger was "hanging over our heads like a sword ready to strike us down, [but] as soon as the Holy Virgin appeared upon this earth, his anger was appeased." He saw the level of perfection that his creation could achieve, a creature than would never disobey, betray or disappoint Him; there the Virgin Mother stood in front of Him. Once again, His anger was "appeased." His temperament was changed.

Vianney tells of the special relationship that the Trinity has with this perfect human creation:

God views the Blessed Mother as the masterpiece of his creation that He made with his own hands. He takes great pride in her because it is His work done to absolute perfection.

The Son takes pleasure in the heart of Mary, from which He drew his mortal blood (the Blessed Mother provided the mortal makeup to Christ). He used this blood He received from her to "ransom" it for us so that we might be reconciled to the Father.

And The Holy Spirit considers the Blessed Mother His temple, a place of His dwelling, because He conceived with in her.

These beautiful insights from St. Jean Vianney really reinforces why we venerate the Blessed Mother, and why she will never be refuse any request she makes on our behalf in the presence of God.

So the next time you are watching The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston and see Yaweh striking down Israel’s enemies in the Red Sea, venerate Our Blessed Mother. Because of her we were not next.