581. September 12, Holy Name of Mary

Meditations no. 630 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The name of Mary is the name of salvation, the sure way to reach the Most Holy Trinity.

THE Virgin’s name was Mary. A name that “in Hebrew means star of the sea, and in Syriac Lady. And rightly so, because she deserved to carry in her womb the Lord of the world and the constant light of the peoples.”

Today we celebrate the feast of this Sweet Name, Mary, which contains a whole treasure of prayer, which is poured out in a thousand ejaculations throughout the day. Our Lady heard herself called this when an Archangel of God came to visit her: do not be afraid, Mary. And Jesus, as a child, would learn among his first words the name of his mother. We are hers children too, and we want to repeat her name at all times, to call her continually, as children call their mother again and again. Our Lady will always come with love, to take us in her arms and press us to her Heart, together with her Son Jesus.

Children, especially when they are still young, tend to wonder what their parents should do for them, forgetting instead the obligations of filial piety. We children, as we have already pointed out, are very interested, although this behavior does not seem to matter much to mothers, because they have enough love in their hearts and love with the best affection: the one that is given without expecting reciprocate.

This is also the case with Saint Mary. But today (…) we must make an effort to observe more carefully. If we find them, we must be pained by our lack of delicacy towards this good Mother. I ask you, and I ask myself, how do we honour her?

We return again to the experience of each day, to the relationship with our mothers on earth. Above all, what do they want, from their children, who are flesh of their flesh and blood of their blood? Their greatest illusion is to have them close. When the children grow up and it is not possible for them to continue by their side, they wait impatiently for their news, they are moved by everything that happens to them: from a slight illness to the most important events.

Look: for our Holy Mother Mary we never cease to be little, because she opens the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, which will be given to those who become children (cf. Mt 19:14). We must never depart from Our Lady. How will we honor her? By treating her, by talking to her, by showing her our affection, by pondering in our hearts the scenes of her life on earth, by telling her of our struggles, our successes and our failures.

Our relationship with Our Lady brings us closer to Christ. She has made us her children, the first step towards identification with the Lord, and “this motherhood of Mary continues unceasingly in the economy of grace, from the moment when she gave her filial assent at the Annunciation, and kept it unhesitatingly at the foot of the Cross, until the perfect consummation of all the elect. For once she was received into heaven, she did not abandon her office as a saviour, but continues to obtain for us, through her manifold intercession, the gifts of eternal salvation”.

Often, throughout the day, we can repeat the ejaculatory: Cor Mariae Dulcissimum, iter para et serva tutum! It is a cry of the entire Work, and of each of her children, asking our Mother to keep us always on the path that leads to her Son Jesus. And when the moment of struggle comes, of this interior struggle, because sensuality, vanity, pride, the devil in a word, tries to bring you down, go to the Blessed Virgin, as a child calls his mother; a child who is afraid says: Mom! For you and I call on our Mother in Heaven to help us in such a way that we can go to Heaven with her and with her Son.

Praise Mary and imitate her virtues.

AVE, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. The Virgin was troubled at hearing these words, and considered what this greeting could mean.

She is troubled, our Father commented. Mary’s humility, in the face of those greatness that come from Heaven, is troubled. How humble She, the Immaculate, is that treasure of graces: gratia plena! She is so humble that, at first glance, she cannot understand that God would send her an ambassador of that category.

Think about your conduct, when any small thing worries you, not out of humility but out of pride: you think that you are forgotten, that you are humiliated, that you are looked at with suspicion, that they do not realize your worth. That is what disturbs you, what takes away your peace.

You are children of the Virgin and you must be humble, because children must resemble their mother. Have you not noticed? Children draw the resemblance from mothers or fathers; often the features of the face, the figure, the way of speaking, of looking, of thinking and even the way of dressing are the same. It is necessary that you resemble Her; that you be such good children that you become friends of the Holy Virgin. In this way you will be able to ask her to give you the family air of Opus Dei: a great love for Holy Mary, Mother of Beautiful Love, Mother of God.

Benedicta tu in mulieribus, blessed are you among all women. This is Elizabeth’s greeting when she receives Mary into her home. In this way we turn frequently every day to our Mother, and we feel comforted by the certainty that in Heaven is the Virgin, together with her Son, giving supernatural meaning to our lives, taking care of each one of us: we thank her and we ask her to always attend to us. At the same time, we know that there are many people who do not know our Mother in Heaven. There are little people who call themselves Christians, who even seem to seek the glory of God, and do not remember that they are children of the Blessed Virgin! What a pity!

Do you want to take a look at your conduct? In Opus Dei, together with divine filiation, we have the most vivid sense of our filiation to Mary. How do you take care of the Norms and Customs in the morning? How do you try to fulfill the charming details of love that are in each one? With what commitment, with what longing for filial affection? With what desire to please Holy Mary, who is the conduit, the channel, through which come from her Son all the graces that your brothers and sisters, the Work, the Holy Church, all humanity need?

In this way we discover-as if we were reciting them for the first time-the meaning of the Marian prayers, which have always been recited in the Church. What are the Hail Mary and the Angelus if not ardent praises to the divine Motherhood? And in the Holy Rosary - that marvellous devotion which I will never tire of advising to all Christians - the mysteries of Mary’s admirable conduct, which are the same fundamental mysteries of faith, pass through our heads and through our hearts.

Invoke the Virgin with the Saxum prayer.

ALL the sins of your life seem as if they stand up. “Do not be suspicious.” “On the contrary, call upon your Mother Holy Mary, with faith and childlike abandonment. She will bring tranquility to your soul.

Neither spiritual darkness nor storm can hide this bright star, firm in the sky, which is the Blessed Virgin. There is always a clear north in those stormy days: Mary. And our effort is filled with joy. We have a strong hold before all the winds: our Mother, Star of the sea, is a light and a sure path.

For centuries, Christian piety has addressed a prayer to the Virgin in which this trust in Our Lady is fully manifested. “Remember, O most merciful Virgin Mary, that it has never been heard that a single one of those who have come to your protection, implored your assistance and asked for your help has been abandoned by you. Animated by this trust, I also turn to you, O Mother, Virgin of virgins, and although groaning under the weight of my sins I dare to appear before your sovereign presence. O Mother of God, do not reject my supplications, but deign to receive them favorably.”

In the Work we often pray this prayer, the Memorare, also called saxum because it gives us “the strength of the hardest stone, in the task of our personal sanctification and in apostolic work.

“What a wonderful help saxum prayer always is, my daughters and sons,” Don Alvaro once wrote, “and especially when we are particularly in need! Walk in constant safety, knowing that each one of us, as the indigent souls that we are, receive-at those particular moments-all the strength of Heaven, through Holy Mary, with the affection of all Opus Dei. Do not think only of the great dangers that may arise at some point; even in the small struggles of each day, we are sure that we do not lack this help. When the temptation to refuse a divine request increases; when pride pushes us to want to impose ourselves on others, or laziness impels us to fail to fulfill a duty; when you are about to let yourself be carried away by bad character, and in so many other difficult situations of the day, the thought that a faithful of the Prelature is praying for you at that very moment, will help you to fight more decisively, to be loyal, to feel sustained by the strength that others lend us. We will truly see ourselves as a walled city; and there, within its walls, is the Lord, who coordinates this blessed charity and is pleased that this fraternal assistance is carried out through Our Lady, Refugium nostrum et virtus!, our refuge and strength.”

In The Forge, St. Josemaría recounts experiences from his personal life that confirmed the importance of praying for one another. You told me: “I find myself, not only unable to go forward on the road, but incapable of saving myself-my poor soul! -, without a miracle of grace. I am cold and-worse-as if indifferent: just as if I were a spectator of”my case,” who cares nothing about what he contemplates. Will these days be sterile?

And yet, my Mother is my Mother, and Jesus is - dare I? - my Jesus! And there are holy souls, right now, asking for me.”

“Continue walking hand in hand with your Mother,” I replied, “and”dare” to tell Jesus that it is yours. By His goodness, He will put clear lights in your soul.

“Let us pray tirelessly for one another,” wrote Don Alvaro, commenting on these words of our Father. May there be many - millions throughout the day! - the saxum prayers that rise from earth to Heaven, to the throne of glory, which is Our Lady (…). Jesus wants us in the front line of that struggle for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, which is carried out by the Church. Each one of us must feel on permanent guard: and the saxum prayers are the ammunition that we send to the other members of the Prelature, at the moments when the enemy of souls redoubles his attacks, trying to break through the walled city. Do you see, my children, how this Custom of ours constitutes a very great treasure for the whole Church and for the Work?

“Let us ask Our Lady … to help us to pray many times for those who need it most, that this Custom may take firm root in our souls. And so, each one of us fighting, with the grace of God, we will be strength for all, and especially for the Roman Pontiff, who carries the weight of the whole Church; and, within the Work, for the Father, who is always the most in need of prayers in Opus Dei.”