Mary Day by Day
Page 12
—Pope Paul VI
PRAYER. O Mary, you are our Model in Holiness. Teach me to follow you closely in life and so remain united with your Divine Son both on earth and in heaven.
NOV. 9
THE souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment can overtake them…. But they are at peace.
—Wis 3:1-3
REFLECTION. It is from Mary that we must look for the grace of a happy death.
This is very evident since the grace of final perseverance is the most important of all graces, inasmuch as it efficaciously consummates the work of everyone’s salvation.
—Pope Benedict XV
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Mediatrix of All Grace. Grant me the graces I need during life and especially the grace of a happy death.
NOV. 10
I GIVE you a wise and understanding heart so that there will never have been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will never be one to equal you.
—1 Ki 3:12
REFLECTION. Mary remains in the Church and is present in her in a maternal way.
She continues to reserve in her Heart all that the Church, the Mystical Body of her Son, lives and all that—in the Church—the human family lives as well as every person redeemed by Christ.
—Pope John Paul II
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Mother of the Church. Reserve in your Heart the lives of all the faithful and watch over each one of us.
NOV. 11
HE has come to the aid of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.
—Lk 1:54-55
REFLECTION. The Virgin Mother is constantly present on the journey of faith of the People of God toward the light.
This is shown in a special way by the Canticle of the Magnificat, which having welled up from the depth of Mary’s faith at the Visitation ceaselessly reechoes in the heart of the Church down the centuries.
—Pope John Paul II
PRAYER. O Mary, your Magnificat is a favorite prayer for praising the gratuitousness of God’s salvation for the poor and lowly. Help me to recite it daily.
NOV. 12
SHE will come forth to meet the just man like a mother…. He will lean on her and not fall, rely on her and not be put to shame.
—Sir 15:2-4
REFLECTION. Mary is the heart of the Church.
From this heart there spring forth without interruption all the works of charity.
—St. Anthony Claret
PRAYER. O Mary, increase my faith in the true Church of your Divine Son, and make that faith manifest itself every day in genuine works of charity.
NOV. 13
BLESSED is the man who meditates on wisdom, … who reflects on her ways in his heart, and ponders her secrets.
—Sir 14:20-21
REFLECTION. Mary has a most tender love for all of us.
If she were to be praised all over the world, and if all human beings laid down their lives for her, it would be little compared with the honor we owe her.
—St. Alphonsus Liguori
PRAYER. O Mary, we owe you a debt of thanks and praise. Help me to show my gratitude by thanking you every day and by singing your praises to everyone I meet.
NOV. 14
COME, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
—Mt 25:34
REFLECTION. Mary, the Mother of our Lord, accompanied by the choirs of Angels, will come to meet you.
What a day of joy that will be for you!
—St. Jerome
PRAYER. O Mary, watch over me at every moment and keep me free from sin. Then upon my death, come to meet me and lead me to my eternal home in heaven.
NOV. 15
IN times past, God spoke in partial and diverse ways to our fathers through the Prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through his Son.
—Heb 1:1-2
REFLECTION. Mary is the Divine Page on which the Father wrote the Word of God, His Son.
—St. Albert the Great
PRAYER. O Mary, you reveal the Son of God to us. Let me contemplate you each day, so that I may get to know you better—and Jesus as well.
NOV. 16
WEALTH and wages make life sweet, but better than either is finding a treasure.
—Sir 40:18
REFLECTION. Most holy Heart of Mary, the sole good I possess is the treasure you yourself have given me: the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
I offer Him to you now. Since He is infinite in value, I could do no more and you deserve no less.
—St. Gertrude
PRAYER. O Mary, let me appreciate the treasure we have in Jesus. Keep me close to Him all my life.
NOV. 17
FROM everyone to whom much has been given, much will be demanded; and from the one entrusted with more, more will be required.
—Lk 12:48
REFLECTION. The Blessed Virgin once said to me: “You think that I obtained grace and virtues without effort.
“Know that I received no graces from God without great labor, constant prayer, ardent desires, and many tears and mortifications.”
—St. Elizabeth of Hungary
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Model of Cooperation with Grace. Help me to cooperate fully with the graces you obtain for me.
NOV. 18
THEY will praise me in the land of their exile as they invoke my name.
—Bar 2:32
REFLECTION. Most holy Virgin Mary, your Name is so sweet and lovable that it cannot be uttered without inspiring love for you and God.
Those who love you need only to recall your Name to mind, and it is enough to console them and enkindle greater love.
—St. Bernard
PRAYER. O Mary, your Name is our consolation. Help me to have it ever on my lips and in my heart during my time on earth.
NOV. 19
YOU … know me, you see me, you have tested my heart.
—Jer 12:3
REFLECTION. O Mary, you are the Virgin who captivates our hearts.
Introduce into heavenly joys the souls who venerate your Heart.
—St. John Eudes
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Queen of Hearts. Take me under your care and help me to venerate your Heart temporally on earth and eternally in heaven.
NOV. 20
THERE is immortality in kinship with [her], and pure delight in friendship with her, and inexhaustible wealth in the works of her hands.
—Wis 8:17-18
REFLECTION. Our good works pass through the hands of Mary and receive an increase in purity as well as in merit and intercessory value.
That is why they become much more capable of comforting the Holy Souls in purgatory.
—St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
PRAYER. O Mary, purify my good works and apply them to the Holy Souls. Help especially those souls who were closest to me on earth.
NOV. 21
THEY who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of our God.
—Ps 92:14
REFLECTION. The Blessed Virgin Mary was led to the Temple.
Thenceforward planted in the house of God, and cultivated by the Spirit, she like a fruitful olive tree became the abode of all virtues.
—St. John Damascene
PRAYER. O Mary, in the Temple you grew in both body and soul. Let me always continue to grow in soul long after my body has stopped growing.
NOV. 22
YOUR word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn … to keep your just decrees.
—Ps 119:105-106
REFLECTION. To believe means to abandon oneself to the truth of the word of the living God.
Mary, who by the eternal will of the Most High stands at the very center of the “inscrutable ways” and “unsearchable judgments” of God, conforms herself to them in the dim light of faith, accepting fully everything that is decreed in the Divine plan.
—Pope John Paul II
PRAYER. O Mary, you heeded God’s Word above all others. Help me to listen to that Word and keep it every day of my life no matter what the circumstances.
NOV. 23
NOT only are you beautiful to behold, but you are eloquent in your wisdom. If you do as you have promised, your God shall be my God.
—Jud 11:23
REFLECTION. Mary found glory for herself and for others, because through her the gate of heaven was opened to us.
For inasmuch as God came down to us through her, it is right that through her we should ascend to God.
—St. Bonaventure
PRAYER. O Mary, you bring God to us and us to God. Help me to follow your inspirations every day, so that I may remain united with your Divine Son throughout my life.
NOV. 24
WHATEVER is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovable, whatever is admirable … think about these things.
—Phil 4:8
REFLECTION. God has deposited in Mary the fullness of all that is good.
So if we have any hope, any grace, any salvation, we should realize that it all comes to us through Mary.
—St. Bernard
PRAYER. O Mary, all spiritual goods come to us from God through you. Teach me to ask only for those things that help my spiritual growth.
NOV. 25
THE spirit is what gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words that I have spoken … are spirit and life.
—Jn 6:63
REFLECTION. The Mother and Mistress of Wisdom speaks few words, but each is filled with great depth of meaning.
We read that the Mother of Christ spoke seven times, seven words filled with wisdom!
—St. Bernardine
PRAYER. O Mary, your words like those of Jesus are spirit and life. Help me to meditate on them every day, for—even though they are few—they are filled with meaning for me.
NOV. 26
ANYTHING that you ask for … I will grant, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
—Jn 14:13
REFLECTION. O most dear Mary, blessed is the person who loves you!
If I love Mary, I am certain of perseverance, and I will obtain from God whatever I want.
—St. John Berchmans
PRAYER. O Mary, you have great power with God. Obtain my legitimate requests from your Divine Son and ensure my perseverance in grace until my death.
NOV. 27
FOR the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
—Heb 12:2
REFLECTION. Mary imparts to her children both their crosses and the grace to carry them patiently and even cheerfully.
Thus it is that the crosses she lays upon those who belong to her are steeped in sweetness rather than filled with bitterness.
—St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
PRAYER. O Mary, I am often overwhelmed by the crosses God sends me. Help me to bear them patiently and without complaining.
NOV. 28
GOD’S firm foundation stands unshaken, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows who belong to him.”
—2 Tim 2:19
REFLECTION. If we are true servants of Mary and obtain her protection, we will most certainly be enrolled in the Book of Life.
Whoever bears the mark of devotion to Mary, God recognizes as His own.
—St. Alphonsus Liguori
PRAYER. O Mary, let me never waver in my true devotion to you. May it impart spiritual happiness during my life and ensure eternal happiness at my death.
NOV. 29
TO me, the very least of all saints, this grace has been given, to announce to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ.
—Eph 3:8
REFLECTION. The more her children entrust themselves to Mary, the nearer she leads them to the “unfathomable riches of Christ.”
And to the same degree they recognize more and more clearly the dignity and the vocation of human beings.
—Pope John Paul II
PRAYER. O Mary, help me to grow in the knowledge and love of your Divine Son Jesus each day and to see Him in all things.
NOV. 30
WITHOUT faith it is not possible to please God. For anyone who comes to him must have faith that God exists and that he rewards those who try to find him.
—Heb 11:6
REFLECTION. Mary is not only the sublime “type” of the creature redeemed by the merits of Christ but also the “type” of humankind on the pilgrimage of faith.
Her faith leads us in the reality of the Gospel!
—Pope Paul VI
PRAYER. O Mary, you are our Model in the pilgrimage of faith. Grant that I may imitate your faith as I make my way along the bewildering paths of this world.
December
DEC. 1
DO not let your hearts be downcast. You believe in God; believe also in me.
—Jn 14:1
REFLECTION. O happy confidence! O perfect refuge! The Mother of God is my Mother.
What firm trust we should have, then, since our salvation depends on the judgment of a good Brother and a tender Mother!
—St. Anselm
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Mother of Salvation. Let me place all my trust in you and in your Divine Son—no matter what dangers I may encounter during life.
DEC. 2
I WILL give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh.
—Ezek 11:19
REFLECTION. Give your heart completely to Mary.
And beg her to make it like the Heart of her Divine Son.
—St. John Eudes
PRAYER. O Mary, I willingly give you my heart to be conformed to the Heart of Jesus. Grant me the grace to possess the sentiments of your Divine Son.
DEC. 3
FOR I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the world … says the Lord.
—Zep 3:20
REFLECTION. At times, I have failed to place an image of our Savior’s Mother beside His Cross.
At such times, I have always found the peoples rebellious to the Gospel!
—St. Francis Xavier
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Mother of the Missions. Enable me to help spread the Gospel—abroad by prayer and at home by the witness of a Christian life.
DEC. 4
SINCE we belong to the day, we must be composed. Let us put on the breastplate of faith and charity and the helmet that is the hope of salvation.
—1 Thes 5:8
REFLECTION. As long as I keep alive my hope in you, O Mother of God, I shall be safe.
I will fight and overcome enemies with this one shield—your protection and your powerful help.
—St. John Damascene
PRAYER. O Mary, you are the Queen of spiritual victories. Grant me the strength to overcome all the assaults of the devil during life and especially at the hour of death.
DEC. 5
HE took the bread, … and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
—Lk 22:19
REFLECTION. Mary’s Motherhood is particularly noted and experienced by the Christian people at the Sacred Banquet at which Christ, His “true body born of the Virgin Mary,” becomes present. Mary guides the faithful to the Eucharist.
—Pope John Paul II
PRAYER. O Mary, you are Our Lady of the Eucharist. Help me to know, love, and live the Mass by striving to participate fully, actively, and consciously in every Mass I attend.
DEC. 6
BLESSED are you, and deserving of all praise … and glorious is your name forever.
—Dan 3:26
REFLECTION. The Name of Mary contains in itself the brilliance of the virtues, the sweet reflection of modesty, and the sacrifice agreeable to God.
It is the sign of hospitality and the center of sanctity.
—St. Peter Chrysologus
PRAYER. O Mary, your holy Name is glorious forever. Grant me the grace to revere it, call upon it every day, and teach it to others—especially my relatives, friends, and benefactors.
DEC. 7
THOSE he foreknew he also predestined to be changed into the likeness of his Son. And those he predestined he also … made righteous.
—Rom 8:29-30
REFLECTION. Think often of the Blessed Virgin with love.
Those who have received the grace to do so possess a great sign of predestination.
—St. Ambrose
PRAYER. O Mary, let me meditate often on you and on your Divine Son. Teach me to be like Him and thus strive to attain the holiness God has decreed for me.
DEC. 8
ALL of us at one time lived among them in the cravings of our flesh … and we were by nature children of wrath, like the others.
—Eph 2:3
REFLECTION. How far from this woe of those who are born “children of wrath” was the most holy Nativity of Mary!
She was free not only from original sin but also from the fuel of misery, insofar as it leads to sin, for she was conceived without stain.
—St. Bonaventure
PRAYER. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.
DEC. 9
THE angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God.”
—Lk 1:30
REFLECTION. The Immaculate Conception is the name that reveals with precision who Mary is.
Mary is profoundly holy in the totality of her existence, from her very beginnings.
—Pope John Paul II
PRAYER. O Mary, you are all-holy. Help me to strive after holiness by doing the will of God as it becomes clear to me through each day’s events.
DEC. 10
RISE up and shine! Your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
—Isa 60:1
REFLECTION. The Holy Spirit did not describe Mary in the Gospels but left it to you to picture her in your heart.