Topic: Confession & The Blessed Virgin Mary
Quote:
?Thus it often happened that, whilst the Divine Child was sheltered in the arms of His Mother and felt neither wind nor cold, she herself suffered severely from their effects.? – Ven. Mary of Agreda, The Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin, (Tan Books), 90.
Meditation:
Our Lady is always willing to sacrifice herself for Her Son. One could cite many examples from the time of the Our Lady?s Presentation in the Temple to the Lord?s Passion. The following meditation is from St. Alphonsus di Liguori describing the Flight into Egypt.
?Most authors agree that it was three hundred miles [to Egypt]; so that it was a journey of upwards of thirty days. The road was, according to saint Bonaventure?s description of it, ?rough, unknown, and little frequented.? It was in the winter season; so that they had to travel in snow, rain, and wind, through rough and dirty roads. Mary was then fifteen years of age?a delicate young woman, unaccustomed to such journeys. ?O God, what a touching sight must it have been to have beheld that tender Virgin with her new-born Babe in her arms, wandering through the world!? – St. Alphonsus di Liguori, The Glories of Mary, (Tan Books), 428.
Resolution:
How can I imitate the Holy Mother of God who was able to hold the Divine Child in Her arms? I can come closest to this experience in Holy Communion. This week, I will go to Confession and do my best to confess my sins, at any cost to myself, so that I can imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary?s desire to protect Jesus from pain. I will make every effort to receive Communion with a clean soul and thus protect Jesus.
Marian Vow:
?The Franciscan Tertiaries of the Immaculate should habitually approach the sacrament of penance each week (or at least twice a month), and seek to have a Spiritual Director to guide and support them on the road of evangelical perfection.
To purify themselves of sin let them daily examine their consciences with sincere repentance and firm purpose of amendment.? – Marian Seraphic Pathways, Constitutions, #36
I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Thanks be to God for graces received.
Ave Maria!
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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.
