Mary’s Presence
Fr. Donald Macdonald, SMM
In exchanging my Indian money into a European currency at an Indian airport, the clerk noticed a picture of Our Lady in my wallet. ‘Is that Our Lady of Perpetual Succour?’ she asked. I told her that it was a Russian portrait.
The transaction completed, I asked her if she would like it. She nodded. When I gave it to her, her face lit up with a smile, she kissed it and put the picture on the desk in front of her. Then she drew her colleagues’ attention to it. They were pleased for her.
In that exchange, shared devotion to Our Lady bridged a cultural divide. Indian and European were as one with Mary as reflected in a Russian icon painting. The very matter-of-factness of the exchange under-lines just how deep-rooted Mary is in us. Indian, Russian and European were at one in Mary’s reassuring presence.
ONE PERSON IN CHRIST
This experience stems from our baptism into Christ. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is . .. neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28). As ever, St. Paul first nails his people to Christ.
Through that relationship of knowledge and love, the Spirit of God reaches to the core of my being.
The way of knowledge and love is the only path open to anyone who would want to reach the heart of a human being. ‘Heart speaks to heart,’ J.H. Newman’s motto, reflects genuine intimacy. This path God takes. Through our baptism, we are graced to respond in kind.
SHARING IN THE LIFE OF JESUS
That relationship, if realized and lived, gives me the chance of sharing it with all who are one in Christ Jesus. For the one who comes to see this and tries to live it, everything becomes progressively simpler. Then may come the insight that “there is neither Jew nor Greek . . . slave nor free .. . male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
That is superb. Held by the wonder of what we see of God knowing and loving us in Christ, we come to reflect what we see with one another. As Paul put it, “owe no one anything, except to love one another. ” Such is the logic of life in Christ.
We are indebted to each other, therefore, in a currency (love) which we can never fully pay. On the other hand, Mary, one person with us in Christ through baptism, shares that relationship with us at a level we can only aspire to. Far from fragmenting the love of God for us in Christ, she is an attractive reflection of it. From her conception, she was graced to drink deep at its source. She reflects what is best in the Gospel, and people from every culture are at one in recognizing this.
ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN
St. Paul, as so often, reflects the authentic Gospel in his desire that “now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain . to depart and to be with Christ . . .” (Phil. l:20-23).
As on earth so now in heaven, Mary as Mother and Associate of the Redeemer, can say as not even Paul can, ‘to me to live is Christ.’ This is what draws us to her. There is the core of Christian reality. She is of its essence.
Mary the woman of faith, opened herself wholly to the word of God, so that the Word became flesh in her Son and came amongst us through her. Her role was pivotal in the providence of God. Her life too from Bethlehem to Calvary and at prayer with the early Church, honors Christ. There is an attractive humanity in her Gospel life that has appealed to every culture where she is known.
St. Louis de Montfort was a man of many talents. One of which is he was a sculptor. This is one of about a dozen of his art work.
Hopefully, in the future, we will have an article in The Queen on Montfort’s artwork. This image was scanned from the original QoAH’s magazine. The magazine’s picture was hazy, and therefore, so is this image. The Queen, with the help of The Company of Mary, is seeking high resolution images from all of Montfort’s works. When they are gathered, The Queen will publish an article displaying his amazing capabilities.
Now assumed into heaven she reflects the glory of God on the face of Christ, and encourages us to realize that one day too, we can ‘depart and be with Christ.’
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THANKING MARY FOR HER PRESENCE
Now assumed into heaven she reflects the glory of God on the face of Christ, and encourages us to realize that one day too, we can ‘depart and be with Christ.’ Death is everyone’s fate regardless of our culture, but for those who are one in Christ, death is to gain the company of Our Lord. Again, Mary the faithful woman living for the Son she was graced to bring into the world, now from heaven fosters that hope as a warm reality. One person in Christ with all the baptized, Mary’s encouraging presence has helped bridge even the fear of death in every culture. In a world which can crucify hope, her presence now with her Son after what they went through on earth, has put heart into so many.
This, then, is something of what was implicit in that simple exchange at the Indian airport. St. Louis Marie, who so understood and lived this, summarized it in a prayer to Mary. He asks ‘that every day and moment of my life I may say this threefold Amen:
Amen, so be it, to all you did upon earth;
Amen, so be it, to all you are doing now in heaven;
Amen, so be it, to all you are doing in my soul.
In that way, you and you alone will fully glorify Jesus in me during all my life and my eternity. Amen.” (Secret of Mary, 69).
Vol. xxx Month 2022
