—Lam 3:22-23
REFLECTION. Mary offered her Son generously in sacrifice to satisfy the justice of God.
Hence, we can truly say that she cooperated in the salvation of the human race along with Christ.
—Pope Benedict XV
PRAYER. O Mary, in sorrow you still cooperated with the Lord, for you knew that God will never be outdone in generosity. Help me to show my gratitude in action for all that God has done for me.
APR. 10
I BEAR with everything for the sake of the chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory.
—2 Tim 2:10
REFLECTION. What an exchange! Mary receives John in place of Jesus, the servant in place of the Lord, the disciple in place of the Master.
She receives the son of Zebedee in place of the Son of God, a mere man in place of the true God!
—St. Bernard
PRAYER. O Mary, you bore even the great loss of Jesus in order to obtain salvation for us. Help me to appreciate what a great thing eternal salvation is and to work for it at all times.
APR. 11
NO one hates his own body but rather nourishes and protects it, even as Christ does the Church, for we are members of his body.
—Eph 5:29-30
REFLECTION. All who are united to Christ have issued from the womb of Mary, and she is the Mother of us all.
Who can doubt that she will work most diligently to procure that Christ may transfer His gifts to us, His members, above all the gift of knowing Him and living through Him.
—St. Pius X
PRAYER. O Mary, you are continually working to lead us more perfectly to your Divine Son. Grant me the grace to know Jesus better and the resolution to live through Him.
APR. 12
LEARN from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
—Mt 11:29
REFLECTION. I am sure that Mary’s actual life must have been a very simple one.
Instead of thinking of her as unapproachable, we must realize how truly imitable she was, how outstanding were her virtues, and how she lived by faith as we do.
—St. Theresa of Lisieux
PRAYER. O Mary, your life and virtues are a beacon for us in the stormy night of this world. Help me to try to imitate one virtue of yours each day, starting with your blessed simplicity.
APR. 13
LEARN wisdom, my son, and make me joyful, and I will be able to answer him who taunts me. The prudent see evil and hide.
—Prov 27:11-12
REFLECTION. Those who fail to do the works of their Mother renounce their lineage.
Mary is humble, but they are proud. Mary is pure, but they are wicked. Mary is full of love, but they are full of hate for others.
—St. Peter Chrysologus
PRAYER. O Mary, you gave us an example of good works. Help me to follow your good example, not my evil inclinations. Let me root out all that is not Marylike in me.
APR. 14
AMEN, amen, I say to you … , I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live forever.
—Jn 6:47-51
REFLECTION. It is through Mary that we are able to eat the Bread of Heaven every day.
Through her intercession, God inspires us to receive this Bread and confers on us the grace to receive it worthily.
—St. Peter Damian
PRAYER. O Mary, you are our Lady of the Eucharist. Help me to participate fully in the Mass as often as possible and receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your Son Jesus, in Holy Communion.
APR. 15
BUT flee the desires of youth and seek justice, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
—2 Tim 2:22
REFLECTION. The purer are your words and your glances, the more pleasing will you be to the Blessed Virgin.
And the greater will be the graces that she will obtain for you from her Divine Son.
—St. John Bosco
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Virgin Most Pure. Obtain for me the grace to preserve purity of mind and heart. Let me avoid the proximate occasions of sin and call upon your help in any difficulty.
APR. 16
THE Lord loves his foundation on the holy mountains…. Glorious things are said of you, O City of God!
—Ps 87:2-3
REFLECTION. Mary was foretold by the Prophets and foreshadowed in types and figures by the Patriarchs.
She was described by the Evangelists and saluted most courteously by the Angels.
—St. Sophronius
PRAYER. O Mary, the Scriptures speak volumes about you in types and figures, such as “Judith” and the “City of God.” Teach me to learn more about you by searching the Scriptures with a Marian bent.
APR. 17
LET your eyes look straight forward and your gaze be directly ahead. Make level the path for your feet and let your ways be secure.
—Prov 4:25-26
REFLECTION. God has established Mary as a bridge that leads to salvation.
By making use of this bridge, we pass safely over the stormy sea of this world and reach the happy harbor of heaven.
—St. James of Nisibis
PRAYER. O Mary, you are our Bridge of Salvation. Let me look only to you to lead me unerringly to your Divine Son. Grant that I may never deviate from your saving guidance.
APR. 18
BEFORE you I cry in the day and weep in the night. Let my prayer ascend to you; hear my cry of sorrow.
—Ps 88:2-3
REFLECTION. Nothing assures our perseverance in faith except assiduous prayer to Mary. But can we pray all the time? I say yes, if we love Mary very much.
—St. Alphonsus Liguori
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the ensurer of final perseverance. Teach me to pray to you with persistence. Let no day go by that I fail to pray for my earthly well-being and eternal bliss.
APR. 19
LENGTH of days is in her right hand, and in her left are riches and glory. Her ways are wonderful ways, and all her paths are peaceful.
—Prov 3:16-17
REFLECTION. Live in Mary’s heart, love what she loves, and desire what she desires.
Then you are sure to have peace, joy, and holiness.
—St. John Eudes
PRAYER. O Mary, you desire complete union with your children. Help me to consecrate to you my very being and my whole life: all that I have, all that I love, and all that I am.
APR. 20
THROUGH his torment, my servant shall justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities…. For he has borne the sins of many.
—Isa 53:11-12
REFLECTION. When Jesus said the words “Behold your Mother,” he meant this:
“My wounds are sources of graces that flow only through Mary.”
—St. Andrew of Crete
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the channel of the graces that Jesus won for us by His suffering. Help me to show my gratitude to Jesus, and grant me the graces I need for my state in life.
APR. 21
WHEN they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier opened his side with a lance, and immediately blood and water poured out.
—Jn 19:33-34
REFLECTION. It is your Heart, O Mary, that is pierced with the steel of the lance.
Much more so than the Heart of your Son, Who has already breathed His last.
—St. Bernard
PRAYER. O Mary, let me grieve with you over the saving death of your beloved Son. “Holy Mother, pierce me through./ In my heart each wound renew/of my Savior crucified!”
APR. 22
EVERYONE who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit life everlasting.
—Mt 19:29
REFLECTION. To other human beings, grace has been
given with measure.
But to Mary, it has been poured out beyond measure!
—St. Sophronius
PRAYER. O Mary, you are full of grace, possessing more than all the Angels and Saints combined. I bow down in awe at the breadth of your holiness, and I ask you to pray to the all-holy God for me.
APR. 23
ALL flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth … from man even to beast…. Only Noah and those with him in the ark remained.
—Gen 7:21-23
REFLECTION. Noah’s ark was a type of Mary. As, by its means, human beings were preserved from the Flood, so are we all saved by Mary from the shipwreck of sin.
There is this difference, however. In the ark few were saved, but through Mary the whole human race was rescued from death.
—St. Bernard
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Ark of Salvation for all humankind. I entrust to you myself and my family as well as the whole world. Keep us all from eternal death.
APR. 24
GREAT is the Lord and worthy of all praise in the city of our God. His holy mountain, most beautiful of all, is the joy of the whole earth.
—Ps 48:2
REFLECTION. Our Lord had preserved the soul together with the body of the Blessed Virgin in that purity which became her who was to receive a God into her womb.
For, as God is holy, He reposes only in holy places.
—St. John Damascene
PRAYER. O Mary, you were given the grace of the highest holiness so as to be able to have God reposing in you. Help me to strive after the greatest holiness possible since your Divine Son dwells in me, too, by grace.
APR. 25
I TRY to please everyone in all things, not seeking my own good but the good of the many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
—1 Cor 10:33—11:1
REFLECTION. The Blessed Virgin Mary was the nearest possible to Christ, for it was from her that He received His human nature.
Therefore, she must have obtained a greater plenitude of grace from Him than all others.
—St. Thomas Aquinas
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the most like Christ out of all human beings. Help me to imitate you in every way, for in so doing I will also imitate your Divine Son as closely as possible.
APR. 26
FOR thus says the high and exalted one, who lives forever, whose name is holy, who dwells in a lofty, holy place.
—Isa 57:15
REFLECTION. Let every creature be silent and tremble and scarcely dare glance at the immensity of so great a dignity.
God dwells in the Blessed Virgin, with whom He has the identity of one nature.
—St. Peter Damian
PRAYER. O Mary, how great is your dignity as the Holy Mother of God! Let me never hesitate to honor you and to proclaim your greatness to others by words and works.
APR. 27
SHOUT and sing for joy, O City of Zion, for great is he in your midst, the Holy One of Israel.
—Isa 12:6
REFLECTION. When we say that Mary is the Mother of God, we speak of a dignity that is above every other dignity that can be named, or thought of, after that of God.
Nothing equals Mary, for all is either above her, and this is God, or beneath her, and this is all that is not God.
—St. Anselm
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Virgin Most Venerable, for God alone can know your real greatness. Grant that I may venerate you as you deserve.
APR. 28
YOU are the glory of Jerusalem, the surpassing pride of Israel, the great honor of our people. You have done all this with your own hand.
—Jud 15:9-10
REFLECTION. The Blessed Virgin was united with Jesus in the closest and most indissoluble bond.
Together with Jesus and through Jesus, she was the eternal enemy of the poisonous serpent, overcame him, and crushed his head with her virginal foot.
—Pope Pius IX
PRAYER. O Mary, in union with your Divine Son you have overcome the powers of evil. Come to my aid when evil threatens to overwhelm me, and deliver me from all danger.
APR. 29
BUT you are a God of mercy, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and full of love. Therefore, you did not forsake them.
—Neh 9:17
REFLECTION. Have recourse to that dear Mary who is the Mother of Mercy.
She will take you into her Son’s presence and use her Motherly intercession with Him on your behalf, so that He will be merciful toward you.
—St. Catherine of Siena
PRAYER. O Mary, Mother of Mercy, never: cease to intercede for me with your merciful Son. Let me remember that all human beings are fallible and I need God’s mercy to reach my eternal goal.
APR. 30
YOU have remitted the guilt of your people; you have forgiven all their sins. You have held back all your wrath; you have not lashed out with anger.
—Ps 85:3-4
REFLECTION. Mary, ever Virgin, is a true Mother of Mercy, who disposes Jesus to clemency.
As a consoler of the human race, she never ceases to pour out before Him her prayer for the salvation of the faithful crushed by the weight of their sins.
—St. Pius V
PRAYER. O Mary, you continually plead for us before the throne of your Divine Son. Help me to show my gratitude for His mercy toward me by striving to avoid all sin in the future.
May
MAY 1
SHE is the reflection of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the active power of God, and the image of his goodness.
—Wis 7:26
REFLECTION. Before her birth, the Prophets proclaimed the glory of Mary. They compared her to the sun.
Indeed, the appearances of the Blessed Virgin can be compared to a beautiful ray of sunshine on a cloudy afternoon.
—St. John Vianney
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Sunshine of our lives. Let your rays of grace shine into my heart and cast out the darkness of sin and despair. Let me hope always in you.
MAY 2
COME to me, all you who desire me, and eat your fill of my fruits. For the memory of me is sweeter than honey; to possess me is sweeter than the honeycomb.
—Sir 24:18-19
REFLECTION. May the life of Mary, who gave birth to God, be for all of you as instructive as if it were written down.
Come to know yourselves in her and carry out the good works that you have neglected in the past.
—St. Athanasius
PRAYER. O Mary, help me to meditate often on your life and to imitate your virtues. In so doing, I will attain a living knowledge of Jesus and the Father—which Jesus said constitutes eternal life.
MAY 3
I PUT bracelets on your hands, a chain about your neck, … earrings in your ears, and a shining crown upon your head.
—Ezek 16:11-12
REFLECTION. How beautiful you are in soul and resplendent in body, Mary, my Mother.
In this world, the Blessed Virgin was poor and unknown, but in heaven she is glorious and beautiful, the Queen of Angels.
—St. Anthony of Padua
PRAYER. O Mary, you are all beautiful in both soul and body. I praise you as the Queen of heaven and earth. Let me appreciate your beauty and spiritual might ever more each day.
MAY 4
ALL these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you hear [God’s] precepts…. And blessed shall you be coming in and going out.
—Deut 28:2-6
REFLECTION. Entrust to Mary any offering you wish to make to God. In this way, grace will return to its source the same way it came to us.
Certainly, God could give us grace without going through Mary. But He chose not to do so.
—St. Bernard
PRAYER. O Mary, grant me the graces God intends for me this day. Then offer to your Divine Son all the good works that I do as a result of these graces.
MAY 5
A GLAD heart makes a cheerful face, but by grief of
mind the spirit is broken. The wise of heart seek knowledge.
—Prov 15:13-14
REFLECTION. The most holy Heart of Mary is the treasure of holiness, the furnace of Divine Love, the throne of all virtues, and the sanctuary of the Trinity.
May that Heart be forever blessed and celebrated throughout the universe!
—St. John Eudes
PRAYER. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, may my heart be ever united with yours. Grant that I may hate sin, love God and my neighbor, and reach eternal life together with those I love.
MAY 6
WHO is she that comes forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as an army in battle array?
—Song 6:10
REFLECTION. Mary is more exalted than the Patriarchs, greater than the Martyrs, more glorious than the Confessors, and purer than the Virgins.
Therefore, she alone and without them can do what they can accomplish only in union with her.
—St. Anselm
PRAYER. O Mary, your Divine Son has placed His own mighty power into your hands. By that power, help me to flee all sin and practice my faith conscientiously day after day.
MAY 7
THUS do I look up to you … that I may behold your power and your glory. For your kindness is better than life; my lips shall proclaim your praises.
—Ps 63:3-4
REFLECTION. In Mary’s name, I say this to each one of you:
She loves you, each and every one of you. She loves you very much. She loves you at every moment and without any exceptions.
—St. Maximilian Kolbe
PRAYER. O Mary, I offer you deep thanks for your great love for all those redeemed by your Divine Son. Help me to respond to that love by loving my neighbor for the love of you and Jesus.
MAY 8
SHE can do all things; while unchanging herself, she makes all things new. Generation after generation she enters into holy souls, and turns them into friends of God and prophets.
—Wis 7:27
REFLECTION. We have recourse to Mary in prayer because she is by the side of God’s throne as Mediatrix of Divine Grace.
Mary Day by Day Page 5