“Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45).
A Marian Mission of Life is needed today, not only for believers, but also for the birth of belief itself - in the sanctity of human life, in the competency of Church teaching, and in all that the Incarnation implies for human life. Mary's acceptance to be the Mother of God stands as a deep reverence for the holiness and dignity of human life, especially that which is most fragile - the unborn child. We are confronted daily by a media that for the most part has no respect for natural law or God's law and has opted for a contraceptive mentality - deceiving, misinforming and manipulating youth. It advocates and idealizes an immoral lifestyle of promiscuity, which views contraception, birth control and abortion as acceptable choices, regardless of the consequences. This is the exact antithesis of Mary’s abandonment to God's will “Thy will be done”, whereas contraception is a choice to limit life and avoid risk. Mary’s Fiat was a choice to give and live life to the full, and bear risk in the confidence that God’s providence would prevail.
There is in the world today a widespread uncertainty concerning morality and Christianity. Many seem to be reverting to pagan practices under the banner of Planned Parenthood and the New Age Movement. We need Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the unborn, to help us to battle the existing culture of death. We have much to overcome. There is a growing tendency to Skepticism, Gnosticism, and Relativism. Our society is more inclined to give thanks for the Internet than the Incarnation, to listen to the word of man rather than the Word of God, and to exploit sex rather than promote chastity. We observe the horrendous consequences that have resulted from not heeding Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae:
the disintegration of the family
wholesale deterioration of the Christian way of life
an increase in disrespect for women
an increase in divorce
an increase in pornography
abuse of children
an AIDS pandemic (with 36 million suffering worldwide)
a worldwide moral bankruptcy in governments.
Even the institution of marriage is being threatened by same-sex advocates. Society is crumbling under the chaos!
We must turn to Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to defend us and help build a culture of life. St Germanus taught that: “The protection of Mary is greater and more powerful than anything we can imagine”. At the Annunciation, Mary illustrated her threefold acceptance of life in its conception, development and birth. She accepted and affirmed life freely: “Let it be done to me according to thy word”. She rejoiced and thanked God for the gift of the developing child in her womb when she visited her cousin Elizabeth. “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior”. She exulted in the birth of Jesus. She and Joseph, protected Jesus from the holocaust of the Holy Innocents. She challenges us to conceive, cultivate, give birth, and protect life by our words, actions and example.
In his book, The Glories of Mary, St. Alphonsus Liguori quotes St. Albert the Great: “There is a certain victory that all may promise themselves who place themselves under Our Lady's Protection”. Pope John Paul II has stated that he owes his life to the protection of Our Lady of Fatima. St Alphonsus Liguori also writes: “Among all the kinds of homage we can render Mary, the most pleasing to the Sacred Heart of our Mother is to implore with great frequency, her maternal protection (The Glories of Mary).
Mary is our Patroness, our Protectress in the order of grace. Whereas Christ is the only Mediator of justice by way of His merit, Mary has been chosen to be the Mediatrix, the Dispensatrix of all the graces that Christ has merited for us, by way of prayer. Whereas, He gave Himself to Mary by the Incarnation, He gives Himself to us in Holy Communion. He came to us through Mary. We cannot choose a better way to go back to Him than through Mary.
We read: “A great sign appeared in heaven; a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon” (Apoc 12:1). We can apply this to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the only self-portrait of Mary that we have. St Bernard stated that “just as no one can hide from the heat of the sun, no one can hide from the healing and love of Mary”.
We read: “He that is a little one, let him turn to me” (Prov 9:4). Beneath Our Lady of Guadalupe's mantle we will not only survive, we will thrive. As her children, we can call on her in every danger to help and protect us. She is the “Help of Christians”, our Refuge, and the one chosen to lead us to pro-life victory. “I will put enmities between you and the woman and she shall crush your head” (Gn 3:l5).
As Catholics, we have many weapons, resources and means available for our spiritual combat. We have: the Mass; Holy Mother the Church; the seven Sacraments; Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration; and the Holy Scriptures. We can rely on St Joseph, Patron Saint of Canada, St Michael the Archangel, and the Communion of Saints to defend us. We can call on the Holy Innocents, the Holy Souls in Purgatory and the Holy Martyrs to support us. We have our protective armour for battle: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of Good News, the helmet of Salvation, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Bible. We have Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of Life, and Patroness of the Unborn to help and protect us.
We can always turn to prayer. St John Chrysostom tells us: “God governs the world, and prayer governs God”. A good example is the memorare of St Bernard of clairvaux, 1019-1153:
“Remember, most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, and sought your intercession, was left unaided...”. Our Lady of Guadalupe asked Blessed Juan Diego: “Is not my help a refuge?”
We have been promised protection and the greatest graces when we pray the Rosary in contemplation. Pope Paul VI, in Marialis Cultus reminds us: “It is one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to pray” (No. 54). “It stimulates our wills to draw from them the norms of living” (No. 48). Pope John Paul II has promoted greater devotion to Mary with his apostolic letter inaugurating the Year of the Rosary (2002-2003), as well as the Luminous Mysteries. He writes: “It is our Mother Mary's favorite prayer. It is training in Holiness. It marks the rhythm of human life. I trust in the power of the Rosary for the cause of peace in the world and the cause of the family”.
Priests for Life Canada, recognizing the tremendous tasks we face in the struggle to save human lives, is inaugurating an International Perpetual Rosary for Life (see details in this newsletter).
We can practise True Devotion to Mary as a means of acquiring her protective mantle. It means “total consecration” (Totus Tuus), all to Jesus through Mary. We are told this is an easy, safe and sure way to commit ourselves to carry out our Marian Mission of Life as her ambassadors. It was on the cross that Jesus gave John to Mary: “Behold your Son”, and Mary to John: “Behold your Mother” (Jn 19-26), that the invitation was extended to all of us to bring Mary into our lives and share her pilgrimage of life. We must continue to take her into our hearts and homes as John did, and never cease to ask her to show us that she is our Mother by her love, care and protection. St John Damascene states: “Mother of God, defended by you, I will follow up my enemies and oppose them with the shield of your protection and your all powerful help” (Glories of Mary, pp.146, 147).
Just as Our Lady of Guadalupe has extinguished human sacrifice in the Aztec world of the sixteenth century, standing for protecting life and offering the abundant new life, won by the self-sacrifice of her Son, so too, she can be implored to end the sacrifice of millions of children in our world today. She showed her intercessory power, with her Son, in the many miracles that took place on her behalf::
1531: the healing of Blessed Juan Diego’s uncle Juan Bernardino.
1531: the raising of an Indian native from the dead. He had been accidentally killed by an arrow.
1538: the conversion of eight million souls in seven years.
1571: the Victory of Lepanto over the Moslems.
1629: saving Mexico from the Great Flood.
1773: saving Mexico from a Plague through the Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
1921: the Sacred image remained untouched - in spite of an attempt to destroy it by dynamite explosion.
It would seem that in our world, in which the culture of death is so pervasive, and supported by governments and mass media, we are attempting to outdo the Aztecs. Fifty-five 55 million babies are aborted annually in the world; another 250 million are killed annually by abortifacient birth control pills). We are living in a time when the lives of the handicapped, the elderly, and designated unproductive members of our society are being threatened.
There is hope as more and more are responding to Pope John Paul II’ s challenge, as well as Our Lady’s requests for prayer, sacrifice and reparation at Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, and other well-known shrines. We witness the increase of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapels (i.e., 55 chapels in Canada, 42 in Ontario and one in the Ottawa Diocese at St. Margaret Mary’s Parish, Cumberland. Our Lady of Guadalupe, as Patroness of the Unborn, and as Mother and Queen of the Americas, is being asked to intercede with her Son and overwhelm the powers of darkness and the culture of death with the brightness of her presence.
Mary asks for a temple. Mary promises love, compassion, help, and protection. Mary will rectify and remedy sufferings of all those who love, seek, have confidence, and cry to her. +
Note: One way we can all participate in the Marian Mission of Life is through the International Perpetual Rosary for Life, sponsored by Priests for Life Canada. We need all the help we can get from you and our Lady.
FOR FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION ON OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, A Handbook On Guadalupe , Park Press Inc., 1997, pp. 226.
Warren H. Carroll, Our Lady Of Guadalupe and the Conquest Of Darkness, Christendom Press, Virginia, U.S., 1983, pp. 123.
C. J. Wahlig, Juan Diego, Marytown Press, Wisconsin, U.S., 1972, pp. 148.
Robert Feeney, Mother Of The Americas, Aquinas Press, 1992, pp 99.
Miguel Guadalupe, A Little Catechism Of The Holy Rosary In Relation To The Image Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe, Queenship Publishing,