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Thursday, September 15, 2016

AS WE COMMORATE "OUR LADY OF SORROWS" ON THE DAY AFTER THE "EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS", POPE FRANCIS DECLARES OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER TO BE A MARYTR! OF COURSE, WE KNOW THAT ALL ITALIAN MOTHERS ARE MARTYRS!

Pope Francis: Mary is our Mother, who defends us   

(Vatican Radio) In a “world that suffers the crisis of a great orphanhood,” we have a Mother that accompanies and defends us. That was the message of Pope Francis during the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The Gospel of the day brings us to Calvary. All the disciples had fled, except for St John and a few women. At the foot of the Cross is Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Everyone is looking at her, saying, “That’s the mother of this delinquent! That is the mother of this subversive!”

“And Mary heard these things. She suffered terrible humiliation. And she also heard the dignitaries, even some priests, whom she respected, because they were priests, [saying] “You who are so good, come down! Come down!” With her Son, naked, there [on the Cross]. And Mary had such great suffering, but she didn’t go away. She didn’t deny her Son! He was her flesh.”

Pope Francis recalled that, when he was in Buenos Aires and would visit prisoners in the jails, he always saw lines of women waiting to enter:

“They were moms. But they were not ashamed: their flesh was there inside. And these women suffered not only the shame of being there – “Look at her! What did her son do?” -- but they also suffer the ugly humiliation of the searches they had to undergo before entering. But they were mothers, and they went to find their own flesh. And so it was with Mary: she was there, with her Son, with that very great suffering.”

Jesus, the Pope said, has promised not to leave us orphans, and on the Cross he gives us His Mother as our Mother:

“We Christians have a Mother, Jesus’ [Mother]; we have a Father, Jesus’ [Father]. We are not orphans! And she gives birth to us in that moment with such great sorrow: She is truly a martyr. With a pierced heart, she accepts giving birth to all of us in that moment of sorrow. And from that moment she becomes our Mother, from that moment she is our Mother, the one who takes care of us and is not ashamed of us: she defends us.”

The mystics of the early centuries, Pope Francis said, counsel us to take refuge under the mantle of the Mother of God in moments of spiritual turbulence: “The devil can’t enter there.” He continued, explaining that Mary is a mother, and she will defend as a Mother. The West later took this advice to heart and composed the Latin version of the Marian antiphon: Sub tuum praesidium, “under your mantle, under your protection, O Mother!” We are safe there, he said.

“In a world we could call an orphan,” Pope Francis concluded, “in this world that suffers the crisis” of a great experience of being orphaned, “perhaps our help lies in saying ‘Look to your Mother!’” We have a mother “who defends us, teaches us, accompanies us; who is not ashamed of our sins. She is not ashamed, because she is our Mother. May the Holy Spirit, this friend, this companion along the way, this Paraclete or advocate Whom the Lord has sent, make us understand this very great mystery of the maternity of Mary.”

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"POPE FRANCIS DECLARES OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER TO BE A MARYTR!"

What a peculiar thing to say! As though Pope Francis were the last person alive, here in the 21st century AD, to discover the martyrdom of the BVM, which has been acknowledged in the Church since apostolic times.

As he would know, for instance, if he prayed his Divine Office this morning, where in the opening line of the 2nd reading in the Office of Readings for today, St. Bernard says:

"The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual of Our Lord's passion . . . And your own heart will be pierced by a sword."

Paul said...

Excuse me tonight if my words and memory are not 100% (I have had good reason to celebrate) thus I am not sure if it was Belloc or Chesterton once wrote words to the effect that any anti Mary statement from any source was really always a sort of hiss from hell.

Paul.

Paul said...

And while in vino veritas etc I can recall reading in mid 80s either E Waugh's letters or diaries in early mid 60s shortly before his death in 1966 that a man or woman would have to be foolish or simply wrong to prefer the new views of the latest elite theologians to those of a simple, humble and ordinary pre vat II educated parish priest.

Paul.

Paul said...

And before I say a Hail Mary for my wife and our marriage and fall asleep my postal script shall be that apparently Tolkien I think once said it was only damned Belfast bigotry that stopped C S Lewis choosing to be received into The Church.......

George said...


Our Lady of Sorrows

Just as the rain, the water from above, comes down to replenish the earth to produce an abundance of growth in properly prepared soil, and in doing so then returns to the firmament to fall again , so too Our Lady's tears of sorrow fall down to water our human estate and to return again to her Mystical estate. In doing so, this water of her tears serves to re-vivify lifeless souls, and to engender a proper spiritual disposition to help produce an abundance of holiness. For whom is the Blessed Virgin sorrowful and for whom did she shed tears if not for sinners and those with little or no faith? This is especially so of those Catholics for whom God has provided and given so many gifts and spiritual resources, but who persist in sin, and negect to avail themselves of the spiritual graces He provides in great abundance through His Holy Church.
Just as the currency we use, while not having great intrinsic worth, is assigned value which is backed by our country's treasury, the Blessed Virgin's tears, sufferings, and sorrows have been given great value from the Divine Treasury filled by the merits of Christ's Suffering and Death. Unlike our currency though, this value does not decrease. In her co-operation with the Holy Spirit, the rain of the Blessed Virgin's sorrows, tears and suffering aid us in corresponding with the sunlight of God's grace in producing the fruit of holiness in our souls. In this way, by the Mercy and grace of God, the effect of the tears and sorrows of Blessed Virgin, not imprisoned in time, produce continuing benefit for us in co-operating with the Will of God to help secure our salvation. So it can be to a lessor degree with our own tears, sorrows, and sufferings. Through the Mercy and Goodness of God, something which in our human nature and estate we find painful and unpleasant, becomes that which can produce great spiritual benefit, because God has provided that by accepting our sorrows,tribulations and sufferings with the proper spiritual disposition and intention, and by offering them up to Him, we can use it to provide for such.
As it says in our Catechism:" In the Christian life, the Holy Spirit himself accomplishes his work by mobilizing the whole being, with all its sorrows, fears and sadness, as is visible in the Lord’s agony and passion. In Christ human feelings are able to reach their consummation in charity and divine beatitude."

Anonymous said...

"POPE FRANCIS DECLARES OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER TO BE A MARYTR!"

What a peculiar thing to say! As though Pope Francis were the last person alive, here in the 21st century AD, to discover the martyrdom of the BVM, which has been acknowledged in the Church since apostolic times.

As he would know, for instance, if he prayed his Divine Office this morning, where in the opening line of the 2nd reading in the Office of Readings for today, St. Bernard says:

"The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual of Our Lord's passion . . . And your own heart will be pierced by a sword."

UPDATE:
And when Francis got to Vespers today in his apparently well-worn Latin office book, he saw in the responsory to the reading:

Felix est illa, quae sine morte meruit palmam martyrii.
Happy is she, who without dying, has won the martyr's crown.

Thereby corroborating his "discovery" (if it was that) announced at Mass this morning.

Gene said...

And, in other news, the Pope is kissing up to Muslims again at the Vatican...yawn.

Anonymous said...

Did Francis also repeat what he said last year about Our Lady at the foot of the Cross that "she doubted and felt abandoned by God". I know that statement he made is denying the defined de fine dogma of the Immaculate Conception which must be accepted by every Catholic but when you have a man who is trying to make active adultery into a venial sin that's what you get.

rcg said...

Paul C, I always marvel that abuddhists are not more drawn by Our Holy Mother Mary and her simple act of humility that physically brought God into our world.

Paul said...

A message to my wife's son:
You will soon be 16.
Sorry I probably can't see you this weekend.
I and others have noticed how good it is how you love and respect your mother....
That makes you less a boy than a young man....
Keep that way at 18 and 21 etc and you will find
You make a lot less mistakes
Than other young men.
Me? I am very proud of you already and have been since you were 9 or 10.....
See you soon, mate.

I have told you before:
When you are older you will understand more.....but I promise, though me and your mum are apart at times I will never leave or divorce your mum.
But already, at times it blows me away the wisdom you have, beyond your years......
I pray for you almost daily.

Paul.