My mother adored Mary. When mom prayed, she talked to Mary as if she were her best friend and neighbor. It was highly appropriate that she died on the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She was an organist and singer. Her soprano voice was the most beautiful voice I ever heard and that includes all famous sopranos. She played and sang many weddings and always counseled the brides to choose the Ave Maria for one of the songs at the wedding.
Her grandmother was named Immaculata after the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She also adored Mar,y, and she died at the moment of The Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary. My mother went to sing for the crowning, and when she returned, she found my great grandmother sitting up straight in a chair, with a rose on top of her head, dead. It was some kind of miracle because also great grandma knew and often said that she would die in the month of May, the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
When mom was 3 years old, she used to play the organ and sing for her Immaculata’s rosary group. They all clapped for her as if she was an absolute maestro, but she was just plunking on the keys and pretending to sing something. Regardless, it inspired my mother to be an organist and singer, and she made her living, along with my father, who also had a beautiful tenor voice, as a church musician. All their lives, my mother and father played and sang for Mass – so many Ave Marias. – On my mom’s gravestone is: “I will trust in the covert of thy wings” and on Dad’s gravestone, right next to her’s, is: Alleluia, Amen.
This year the feast of the Blessed Trinity occurred on June 7, 2020. It so happened that my twins were baptized on the Feast of the Blessed Trinity entirely without my instigation some years ago, now. But before launching into that story, let me say what I know and have heard in the Catholic world from priests and the catechism about the Blessed Trinity and Mother Mary. There are 3 persons in 1 God. They are one God. Picture a 3 leaf clover. Other than that, it is a mystery to us. Each person, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all contain the infinite virtues: almighty, all loving, eternal, all-knowing, all-present, among others. Is the Father God? Yes. Is the Son God? Yes. Is the Holy Ghost God? Yes. Are there three Gods? No. There are three persons in one God. Also, the title of Mother of God has its roots in the Counsel of Ephesus in 431 AD. Although Mary was the Mother of Jesus and therefore bears the title, Mother of God; the title, Mother of the Trinity, implies that Mother Mary is the mother of God the Father and the Holy Ghost which is not true.
My twins were in the hospital in the ICU nursery. They were born premature. I was 42 years old at the time. I had a C-section. My daughter held the finger of the doctor before she was born. My son was born first, and he was almost 5 lbs. My daughter was born second, and she was almost 4 pounds. Before I conceived them, I agonized over whether to keep having children because my two previous children had also been born prematurely. They both had a stint in the ICU, but they were both fine!
I prayed a lot to Mary about it and was given a sign that I knew was saying that I should continue to have children. My mother-in-law bought a blanket for my baby boy, Joe. I opened it and it had two puppies on it. It said, “We are hopeful about the future.” The puppies were babies and they were hopeful, and I had that feeling. I knew God was speaking to me. However, I did not know I’d have twins. When I thought back on that sign, it was amazing to me that there were two puppies!
So, the twins were in the hospital. But they were both sound. The doctor kept them there for observation and to increase the weights of both babies, especially the weight of my daughter. So, I wasn’t alarmed that they may be near death or anything and would need Baptism right away. I guess I didn’t know enough about it. But there was a lady at church who heard about their birth somehow. I don’t know how because I don’t think I told anyone. She called me and insisted on their immediate baptism.
I was a little put off at the time. She insisted, and I was dealing with a lot. I didn’t really think it was her business, but I figured I ought to try and be humble and accept her help because maybe Mother Mary was behind the whole thing. She arranged everything for me and the priest came to the hospital on Trinity Sunday which was a great blessing that I would not have received had I not listened to this lady from church!
Furthermore, when we say the family rosary together, on the 5th glorious mystery which is The Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary as queen of Heaven, each member of the family says a title of Mary that they have chosen from among her many titles before each Hail Mary of the Hail Marys of this decade. My youngest daughter, one of the twins, says, Mother of the Blessed Trinity, pray for us. Although I’ve recently learned that’s wrong , I haven’t had the heart to correct her, yet. It’s the one she chose.
In most paintings of Mary with the disciples in the upper room at Pentecost, Our Holy Mother is placed in the center of the picture. There is a reason for this: She is central to Pentecost. She is the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and He comes to her naturally. The disciples not only needed Mary there to encourage them to be patient and wait for the Holy Ghost, but more importantly, they needed her intercession in order to receive the Holy Ghost at all. Jesus was 9 months in the Immaculate womb of our Mother before being born, and by the same token, the Holy Ghost was 9 days in communion with the Immaculate soul of Mary before coming to disciples at Pentecost. For just as Jesus Christ chose to be born into the world through her virginal womb, the Paraclete chose to come into the world through her virginal soul.
This truth is especially evident and most profoundly noted in the year 2020; in this year, the feast of Pentecost and the feast of Mary, Queen of Heaven fall on the same day – May 31. Mary is the chosen vessel of the Holy Ghost. His benedictions and inspirations are poured out on humanity through her. The significance of the Holy Ghost coming into the world through the prayers of Our Mother should never be undermined as it has profound implications for our prayers to the Holy Ghost. If we want to petition or communicate with the Holy Ghost, we must reciprocate and go down the path he paved for us, the royal road of Mary’s soul.
Benedict XVI has affirmed that, “there is no Church without Pentecost and no Pentecost without the Virgin Mary” (Regina Coeli, 5/23/2010) He has also stated: “Wherever Christians gather in prayer with Mary, the Lord gives His Spirit”
Let us go to the Holy Ghost through Mary especially in these trying times of the Covid-19 pandemic with its apparent and hidden evils. It is no accident that the Feast of the Queenship of Mary (The Visitation of Mary in the Novus Ordo) falls on Pentecost this year. It is almost as if God is asking us to pray through Mary to the Holy Ghost to lead us to faith in God and His Love and to protect and guide us through this trial .
To that end, here is a prayer that is recited by the Marian movement of priests. Say three times:
Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thy well beloved spouse.
I pray for the world now:
Come Holy Ghost, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thy well beloved spouse.
Come Holy Ghost, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thy well beloved spouse.
Come Holy Ghost, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thy well beloved spouse.
Although not an official feast day in the United States, the Friday of Sorrows is a special commemoration which takes place on the Friday before Palm Sunday. This year, 2020, it took place on April 3rd. Sometimes referred to as Our Lady in Passiontide or St. Mary in Passiontide, the day solemnizes the emotional martyrdom of Our Lady during the Passion of Jesus Christ where she suffered untold agony in following Jesus through His sufferings to His Crucifixion. In certain countries, like Mexico, Spain, Brazil, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Malta, Peru, Guatemala and Italy, it marks the beginning of Holy Week and is called the Viernes de Dolores which means Friday of Sorrows.
On the Friday of Sorrows, it is especially salutary to meditate on Our Lady’s sufferings during the Passion, Crucifixion, and Death of Our Lord. Known as the Seven Sorrows, there are two forms of this prayer:
You say seven Hail Marys while meditating on each of the Seven Sorrows listed at the end of this post
You say the Sorrowful Mother Rosary which consists of saying seven Hail Marys and one Our Father while meditating on each of the sorrows listed at the end of this post
Our Lady told St. Bridget that the following remarkable seven promises will be granted to those who honor her daily with seven Hail Marys while meditating on her seven sorrows.
The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady
The prophecy of Simeon. (St. Luke 2:34, 35) The flight into Egypt. (St. Matthew 2:13, 14) The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple. (St. Luke 2: 43-45) The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross. The Crucifixion The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross The burial of Jesus
Our Lady told St. Bridget that the following remarkable seven promises will be granted to those who honor her daily with seven Hail Marys while meditating on her seven sorrows.
The Seven Promises of Mary
They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother. I have obtained from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.
