Seven members of a Florentine confraternity founded the Order of Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Servites lead an austere life of prayer and mortification, meditating constantly on the Passion of the Lord and venerating the Blessed Virgin as Our Lady of Sorrows. (Fr James Socias et al [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1483)
Jesus cures a ruler’s son
Jesus Christ performed the first miracle to prove his divine mission for the sake of a suffering and well-known father in Galilee. “There was a certain ruler, whose son lay ill at Capernaum. Having heard that Jesus has come into Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.” (Jn 4:46-7)
‘Sorrow’ brought this ruler to Jesus and was the instrument of his salvation. He delayed going to Jesus. His hope of obtaining his son’s cure was due to a very imperfect faith. He did not believe that Jesus could cure from a distance (~100 kms away). Jesus, therefore, reproved him: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.” (Jn 4:48)
The father humbly received this reproach. Still he reiterated his request with respectful confidence: “Lord, come down before my son dies.” His dispositions indicated a more perfect faith and earned the favor of Jesus. “Go your way; your son lives. The man believed the word that Jesus said to him, and went his way.” (Jn 4:49-50)
Jesus treats us as he did to this ruler. If he seems to deny what we ask or to delay granting it, he wants us to value it more or to give us an opportunity of practising patience, resignation, faith and confidence. We must never stop asking what we want. He will give it on time.
His servants met him and reported, “that his son lived, that yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him” (Jn 4:53). The hour Jesus said to him ‘Your son lives’. The father and his whole house believed.
Jesus granted a perfect cure to the child as he bestowed on his father and the whole household ‘the gift of faith’, final perseverance and eternal salvation.
Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp383-5
Prayer Detects God’s Presence in Our Souls
Prayer is so important that Jesus himself tells us: “Pray constantly” (Lk 21:36). He wants us to pray to his Father, as he himself did. The Gospel tells us that Jesus prayed all night before choosing his Apostles (cf Lk 6:12). And later on, in his passion, at the height of his suffering, Christ “prayed with all the greater intensity” (Lk 22:44).
Jesus not only gave us the example of prayer, but actually ‘taught us how to pray’. One of the most beautiful scenes of the Gospel shows Jesus gathered with his disciples, teaching them to pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus was showing his disciples the value of praising God: the importance of God’s name, his Kingdom and his Holy will.
At the same time Jesus was telling them -- “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us. Subject us not to the trial but deliver us from the evil one.” (cf Mt 6:9-13; Lk 11:2-4)
It is through prayer that Jesus leads us to his Father. It is in prayer that the Holy Spirit transforms our lives. It is in prayer that we come to know God: to detect his presence in our souls, to hear his voice speaking through our consciences, and to treasure his gift to us of personal responsibility for our lives and for our world.
It is through prayer that we can ‘clearly focus our attention on the person of Jesus Christ’ and see the total relevance of his teaching for our lives. We begin to see things his way.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp261-2
Praying for supernatural graces
Whatever and however serious our material limitations, we usually need greater spiritual benefits: the grace to serve God and fidelity to grow in personal holiness, help in the fight against our defects; to make a good confession, to prepare for Holy Communion.
We ask for temporal goods provided they are useful for our salvation and are rightly considered secondary to the graces and gifts of the spirit that we need first and foremost.
“... we should bear in mind the command of our Redeemer. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (St Gregory the Great, “Homilies on the Gospels”, 27)
God is pleased when we ask him for grace and help for others, and also when we ask others to pray for us and for our apostolate.
Our prayer should be filled with a spirit of abandonment in God and a deep supernatural sense, since it is a question of ‘doing the work of God’ and not our own. We have to respond to ‘his inspiration’ and not to our own feeelings. (cf John Paul II, “Address to the French Bishops during their ‘ad limina’ visit”)
Our Lady will rectify for us intentions which are not upright, so that we obtain what is best.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:264-6
Mankind needs Mary!
In her we find, truly, access to the heart of her Son, the only place where our restlessness can find peace, where our sorrows find comfort, where our intentions to live a life consistent with the values of the Gospel find strength and constancy.
Pray fervently to Most Holy Mary! Be aware of her at your side and consecrate yourselves to her, renewing throughout the day your affection and your trust, so that she may accompany you in your daily affairs.
Her memory is alive in families, especially in the daily recitation of the Rosary. It’s a daily encounter that she and I never miss: if you wish to be close to the heart of the Pope for some moments, I suggest to you the Rosary hour, when I remember all of you to the Virgin Mary, and I would be pleased if you would remember me to her in the same way.
Ref: Cf “The Private Prayers of Pope John Paul II”, 2002, p5
Prayer -- “For those who use their intelligence and their study as a weapon, the Rosary is most effective. Because that apparently monotonous way of beseeching Our Lady as children do their Mother, can destroy every seed of vainglory and pride.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 474)
• Our Lady of Constantinople. Bari, Turkey. 566. History and map of namesake church (now in ruins) in Constantinople (written in French). Church in Salento, Italy. Fourth-Century story "in which the Virgin Mary was placed half-way up in a fountain. Legend has it that the fountain's waters were miraculous, especially healing the blind." (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Constantinople, formerly a chapel, which was converted into a church of the Blessed Virgin by the Emperor Justin the Younger, in the year 506. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Constantinople. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Constantinople. Bari, Turkey (566). (www.divine will.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• The Immaculate Mother. Oblates of Mary Immaculate. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• The Immaculate Mother (celebrated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
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