23 May 20112 The Gift of Piety Divine filiation is an effect of the gift of piety which inclines us to relate to God with the affection of a good son towards his father; and to regard everybody as members of the same family. Christ taught us how to address God. “When you pray, say: Father ...” (Lk 11:2) God wants us to go to him like little children in need. And the Holy Spirit, through the gift of piety, teaches us and facilitates this trusting relationship with Him. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 Jn 3:1) We received this gift with the grace of Baptism. Divine filiation makes us trust our Father God with great tenderness since He always wants the best for His children. This gift of piety disposes us to promptly and easily fulfil our obligations of justice and charity; to see, as children of God, those we live with and meet daily. He loves them with a limitless love and redeemed with the Blood of His Son. Individuals of infinite value. Moreover, the Holy Spirit makes us see Christ in our fellowmen whom we serve: “Truly I say to you: as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:40) Piety towards others enables us to judge them always with kindness “which walks hand in hand with a filial affection for God our common Father”. (R Garrigou-Lagrange, “The Three Ages of the Interior Life”, I ) This gift makes us have a filial love for our heavenly Mother, for whom we have a most tender affection; and moves us to be devoted to the angels and saints, particularly to those having a special charge over us, (cf St Thomas, “Summa Theologiae”, II-II, 121) as well as for the holy souls in Purgatory. It makes us love the Pope, the common Father of all Christians. It perfects the virtue of piety, inclining us to respect our parents from whom “we have received existence; God made use of them to infuse into us a soul and reason; by them we were led to the Sacraments, instructed in our religion, schooled in right conduct and holiness, and trained in civil and human knowledge”. (“Catechism of the Council of Trent”, III, 5, 9) Moved by the Holy Spirit, Christians read Holy Scripture with love and veneration, because “in the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets his children with great love and speaks with them”. (Second Vatican Council, “Dei Verbum”, 21) We are moved to have great affection for sacred things. Among the fruits that the gift of piety produces in souls docile to the graces of the Paraclete are: serenity in all circumstances of life; trusting abandonment in Divine Providence because God cares for all his creatures particularly his children (cf Mt 6:28); cheerfulness, a proper characteristic of the children of God. “May no one read sadness or sorrow in your face when you spread in the world around you the sweet smell of your sacrifice: the children of God should be always sowers of peace and joy.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 59) If we consider often daily that we are children of God, the Holy Spirit will foster more and more this filial and trusting relationship with our heavenly Father. Charity towards everyone also facilitates its growth in our souls. Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:561-6 ` ` ` MAY DEVOTIONS ` ` ` Mary is the Channel of Grace “Her power before God is such that she can obtain anything we ask for, and, like any mother, she wants to answer our prayers. Like any mother also, she knows and understands our weaknesses. She encourages us and makes excuses for us. She makes the way easy for us and, even when we think there is no possible solution for our worry, she always has one ready to offer us.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 292) Let us offer our Mother: ‘A visit or conversation with someone we want to encourage to go to Confession.’ Ref: Fr Charles Belmonte and Fr James Socias (Eds), “Handbook of Prayers”, 1988, p314 Decreed in perpetuity: The Feast of the Holy Rosary Pope Clement XI (1700-1721), after another victory of the Christians over the Turks in Hungary (5 August 1716) under Emperor Charles VI, and following the liberation of Cercyra Island (Corfu), renamed the feast of ‘Our Lady of Victory’ into the ‘Feast of the Holy Rosary’. Pope Leo XIII (Pope of the Rosary) established for this Feast a proper office and Mass; and added to the Litany of the Most Blessed Virgin the invocation: ‘Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!’ Finally, Pope Paul VI, on 5 March 1971, decreed that this solemnity be celebrated, in perpetuity, every year on 7 October throughout the Universal Church. All this was done to perpetuate the memory of the Virgin’s protection through the Rosary devotion. Ref: Rev Joseph A Viano, SSP, “Two Months with Mary”, 1984, p49 Our Lady -- “Devotion to Our Lady in Christian souls awakens the supernatural stimulus we need in order to act like ‘domestici Dei’, as members of God’s family.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 587) • Our Lady of Miracles, at St Omer’s, where a glove and some portion of the hair of the Blessed Virgin are preserved. — (Chronicon Bertinense. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com) • Our Lady of Miracles. St Onier, Belgium; Brescia, Italy. 1478. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html) • Our Lady of Miracles (St Onier, Belgium). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html) • Our Lady of Miracles of Brescia, Italy (1478). (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (http://mariedenazareth.com)