Ave Maria Meditations
Taken from talks by Fr. Chad Ripperger:
Our Lady’s Power In Revealing Secrets:
“The first sorrow is the prophesy of Simeon. We read in scripture (Luke 2:34): ‘When Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His Mother, ‘Behold this child is set for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.’”
“Our Lord is revealing that Our Lady is the one to go to for secret knowledge. ‘Your souls shall be pierced so that the thoughts of many shall be laid bare.’
“What Our Lord is revealing to Simeon is that if there is something that you need to know that is hidden, you go to her specifically under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows, and she will reveal it to you.
“It works like clockwork. I do it all the time. You don’t do it to find out what our neighbor is doing. But if you have a son or a daughter and you’re concerned about them and you think that there is something wrong there, you can ask, ‘What are we dealing with?’
“Or even in your own life. It’s very helpful to pray Our Lady of Sorrows to reveal your own defects, because a lot of times, the predominant defect is not the one that is the most seen.”
Our Lady’s Power In Converting Hearts:
“Our Lady is the one to go to for the conversion of family members by blocking demons.”
“When you’re trying to get someone to convert, or you’re trying to start leading a better life, there’s two sides. There’s a positive and a negative.
“The negative side is that you’ve got to get the demons out of their lives so that they don’t block the operations of grace and influence the individual. You also have to pray for the grace for them to start leading a moral life. But Our Lady under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows is the one to go to for those kinds of graces.”
