Sept. 12, 2013 Thursday: Most Holy Name of Virgin Mary

Most chaste virgin Mary,
by the spotless purity
with which you prepared for the Son of God
a dwelling of delight in your virginal womb,
I beg of you to intercede for me
that I may be cleansed from every stain.
Most humble virgin
by that most profound humility
by which you deserved to be raised high
above all the choirs of angels and saints,
I beg of you to intercede for me
that all my sins may be forgiven.
Most amiable Mary,
by that indescribable love
that united you so closely
and inseparably to God,
I beg of you to intercede for me
that I may obtain
an abundance of all merits. Amen.
— St. Gertrude the Great

“Stay very close to Our Lady. If you do this, you can do great things for God and the good of people.” –Mother Teresa of Calcutta

As it was for Mother Teresa, so it can be for the rest of us. By standing close to Our Lady we can find the grace and courage to overcome our own personal trials and crosses. Summon the same powerful presence and aid of Our Lady by following the example of Mother Teresa. From dawn to dusk, decade to decade, Mother Teresa’s life had been spent, in every sense of the word, in the shadow of Our Lady. Our Lady helps us, as Mother Teresa found in her vision, to become contemplatives at the foot of the cross–to discover God’s presence and love, even in the midst of our trials and dark nights. Nothing was impossible for Mother Teresa while she clung to Our Lady, and as Mother Teresa tells us, “nothing is impossible for all who call Mary mother.”

“Sitting with Mother Teresa, watching her tend to the sick and the dying, feeling the aura of holiness around her person, seeing her bent in prayer, lost in God–how often I asked myself if I was notseeing something of Our Lady, experiencing a glimpse of the Virgin of Nazareth”
-Author and co-founder of Mother Teresa’s priests’ community, Joseph Langford, MC