Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

[public domain]

Pentecost, by Master of the Baroncelli Portraits, 1489

Mary—Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church

963     Since the Virgin Mary’s role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. “The Virgin Mary . . . is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer.
. . . She is ‘clearly the mother of the members of Christ’. . . since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head.” “Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church.”

Mary ’s Motherhood with Regard to the Church

Wholly united with her Son . . .

964     Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. “This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death”; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: “Woman, behold your son.”

965     After her Son’s Ascension, Mary “aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers.” In her association with the apostles and several women, “we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation.”

(from the Catechism of the Catholic Church)

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Saint Rita of Cascia

[public domain]

St. Rita of Cascia

St. Rita of Cascia
Patroness of Impossible Causes
and Hopeless Circumstances

Daily Prayer to Saint Rita

Dear Saint Rita,
during your entire life on earth
you found your happiness by following
the will of our heavenly Father.
Help me to be as trusting of God
in all his designs for me.
Help me this day to give myself
to him as you did, without limit,
without fear, without counting the cost.
Help me to be generous in serving
the needs of others, patient in all difficulties,
forgiving toward all who injure me.
Help me to learn more deeply
the great mystery of the cross of Jesus,
so that by embracing it as you did,
I may come to experience its power
to heal and to save.
Amen.

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Saint Catherine of Siena

[public domain]

St. Catherine of Siena

Prayer to the Holy Spirit
By Saint Catherine of Siena

Holy Spirit, come into my heart;
draw it to Thee by Thy power, O my God,
and grant me charity with filial fear.
Preserve me, O ineffable Love,
from every evil thought;
warm me, inflame me with Thy dear love,
and every pain will seem light to me.
My Father, my sweet Lord,
help me in all my actions.
Jesus, love, Jesus, love.
Amen.

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