Mary Vitamin – October 5th – Our Lady and St. Faustina

Ave Maria!

Sorry, a day late but this is good!

Mary Vitamin for October 5th

Topic: Our Lady and St. Faustina
(St. Faustina’s feast day: October 5)

Quote:
Our Lady to St. Faustina
??My daughter, strive after silence and humility, so that Jesus, who dwells in your heart, continuously, may be able to rest ” He will be your strength.??
Sister Sophia Michalenko, C.M.G.T., The Life of Fasutina Kowalska, (Servant Books: 1987), 142.

Meditation:
In the steps of humility delineated by St. Benedict (and elaborated upon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux), St. Benedict proposes 12 steps in order to practice humility, three of them involve types of silence:
Quiet and restrained speech.
Reluctance to laugh (foolishly or mockingly).
Keeping silent unless asked to speak.
G.R. Evans, trans. Bernard of Clairvaux Selected Works, (Paulist Press: 1987), 100

St. Faustina considered herself a daughter of Our Lady and followed Our Lady’s advice. The Saint received extraordinary graces, but the ordinary Catholic can learn from her exceptional experiences:
St. Faustina
??Today I have come to understand many of God’s mysteries. I have come to know that Holy Communion remains in me until the next Holy Communion. A vivid and clearly felt presence of God continues in my soul. The awareness of this plunges me into deep recollection, without the slightest effort on my part. My heart is a living tabernacle in which the living Host is reserved. I have never sought God in some far-off place, but within myself. It is in the depths of my own being that I commune with God.??
Sister Sophia Michalenko, C.M.G.T., The Life of Fasutina Kowalska, (Servant Books: 1987), 199.

Resolution:
Our Lady teaches that the path to daily union with the Lord is through humility and silence. I will pray to practice humility and if I find a moment where I can chose silence, I will be silent and make a spiritual Communion.

Marian Vow:
Our Lady to St. Faustina on the eve of the Immaculate Conception
??My daughter, at God’s command I am to be, in a special and exclusive way, your Mother; but I desire that you, too, in a special way, be my child. I desire, my dearly beloved daughter, that you practice the three virtues that are dearest to me “and most pleasing to God. The first is humility, humility, and once again, humility; the second virtue, purity; the third virtue, love of God. As my daughter, you must radiate with these virtues.??
Sister Sophia Michalenko, C.M.G.T., The Life of Fasutina Kowalska, (Servant Books: 1987), 208.

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.