Army of Heaven
Prayer Group
Resource Site
Devotion to and intercession through, Mary the mother
of
Jesus, is efficacious help, in beseeching the higher power of Jesus Christ
the
eternal Savior. Marian devotion remains
ever a highly beneficial dimension of Christian faith.
The Blessed Virgin ministers tenderly to catholics,
but her mediation does not end there. All
the children of earth, indeed all sinners, are under her care. Prayer to Mary is not an innovation of later
Christianity. The centrality of her
assistance and help are
biblical. Jesus
is the perfect offering: priest and
victim, and His mother shared completely in the sacrificial work of His
Cross. Mary raised God's Son to manhood
aware of His mission and true to the end, as mother, stood at the foot of
the Cross
on the day of humanity's redemption. In his last moments, "When
Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he
said to
his mother, 'Woman behold your son!'
Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold your mother!'
And from that hour the disciple took her to
his own home." John 19:
26, 27 Scripture scholar, protestant-convert Scott Hahn
comments on
this passage: The address 'Woman' sounds impersonal to modern readers,
but was
considered polite in biblical antiquity. Jesus probably alludes to Genesis
3:15, which describes the mother of the Messiah as the 'woman' whose
offspring
conquers the devil. Jesus honors his
Mother by entrusting her to the protective care of the apostle John,
presumably
because Mary had no other children to assume the responsibility.
John is not just an individual disciple. He
is portrayed by the evangelist as an icon
of every disciple whom Jesus loves. In
this sense, Mary is given to all beloved disciples of Christ, as every
disciple
is given to the maternal care of Mary. Mary could have been 'sheltered' by any one of
numerous devout
followers, by the wealthy sisters of Lazarus, by Joseph of Arimethea or
Nicodemus, by any of those close and faithful to Jesus.
The precious and powerful protection of the
Mother is given to all who love Jesus and to whom our Lord himself draws
particularly close to. John, and all of
us who love and are loved, are here given to His mother. Do
we know what it means to love and be
loved by the Lord, in the same closeness of friendship's love? From the hour each disciple takes her to his
own home each one of us who love,
serve and remain the faithful friend of God, who seek only one Savior, and
grasp the benefit of Christ's instituted mediation by Mary, we will be
loved,
taught, lead, nourished and protected by the Holy Mother of Jesus.
The Holy Rosary, an intercessory prayer to the Blessed
Virgin, conferred to St Dominic in the 13th century, is the
central
practice of this relationship, which is not worship as if Mary were deity,
but
a petition for her powerful and unsurpassed intercession before the
Godhead. If we say a rosary every day with
sincerity
and love, heaven will be ours at the end of life. And
if this is true, then we will surely be
upheld against the obstacle of lust. And even if we fall, we need never be afraid. The
Father's
mercy is beyond human understanding. God
is ever ready to forgive us and fill us with the grace we cry out for, in
trust, confidence, in faith, believing that He can do it.
God
does not want us to flee from Him in fear. If we do not believe God will forgive us, it is
because we
have believed the lie of the enemy, who whispers wickedly 'you cannot be
forgiven, you are unforgiveable, you are not worthy of Him'.
Satan's great deception is trying to convince
us that Christ did not die for all the sins ever committed.
But Jesus has in fact done so. Believe! The atonement of all sin that will ever be committed
has been
accomplished by Christ. Here is why the
enemy howls forever, because nothing wrought by the devil can fail to be
erased
by the perfect, immaculate blood of the Savior, invoked and received with
faith. It happens through the sacrament of reconciliation
which is
our miraculous cleansing from the mark and memory of all sin. Holy Communion
received at Mass is our steady and increasing fortification against error
and sin. Our Savior has ascended but he has left us with the
comfort
and the favor of his mother. If we pray
to her, she is a powerful advocate who will not fail to gain what is
needed for
us; for Her Son who so loved her will not fail to heed her requests to
him. Our Lord is telling
us that Mary his mother, is our mother.Do we comprehend the greatness of this gift?Are the powers and merits of our Lady of
Sorrows obvious? We need take these
things into our hearts and with faith turn to our mother, who is the
helper par
excellence. Hail Mary full of
grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among woman and blessed is
the
fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Pray the rosary every day!Hundreds of thousands of rosaries have been handmade for American
and
international soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many chaplains reported the wide acceptance
of this help, irrespective of soldier denomination! Who are the beloved of Christ? Those
who make full use of the sacraments,
prayers, devotions and pieties that are the inheritance of centuries of
catholic practice. They have all
survived for no small reason or purpose they are the lifeline of sinners
being transformed to purity and chastity, being born into the life of
grace. Sobriety is not an achievement or an
accomplishment, it is a gift, a grace. Mary the Holy Mother of Jesus is a treasure house of
God's
graces and she waits to share her riches with us. We
need only seek her and ask with faith. Thank you Most Holy
Mother of God!