Salve Regina, Mater Misericordiae

"The crowd of us who gathered there was made up of all types. There were the long, ganging friars of sparerib proportions, the short fat ones, and the simple, run-of-the-mill physiques - the whole line-up constituting a somewhat formidable wall of brown as Brother Myles would work his way to hook number six, where his own mantle hung. No one quite understood why he had cut a big red number six from an old calendar to paste above his hook, for there was no mistaking Brother Myles's mantle. Its tiny size distinguished it from all the rest. For he was the smallest friar in the monastery, the smallest friar in the province. In fact, as he so often put it himself (and sadly), he was probably the smallest friar in the world.

But on Saturday night as he clothed himself in white, he would realize that fellow Carmelites on every continent were doing the same thing. And he would wonder how he had ever managed to get in on this Saturday night treat to our Lady, this token of love for God's mother and his own, the Salve Regina. While he stood in line wearing the color that was symbolic of his purity and holding a burning candle in his hand, Myles would think about Mary who was the patroness of his Order and the light of his life. He admitted to himself that someday as a priest he would not be able to save even one soul without the help of Mary; that as a man, he would not even be able to save his own soul without her.

When eight o'clock struck, the community would file out into the sanctuary - first the lay brothers, then the clerics, the priests, two acolytes, a brother with the holy water and finally, the esteemed Father Prior in a flowing silk cope. Lined up on both sides of the sanctuary, running straight down from the foot of the altar to the communion rail, a small army of personified devotion, the friars would join their voices to the first peals of the organ, Salve Regina, Mater Misericordiae, 'Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy.' Walled in by the rising heights of big Brother Berthold on his left and big Brother Hubert on his right, Brother Myles would be all but hidden from the eyes of men. But it did not faze him. He would simply thrust his candle a bit higher so that Mary would not overlook his presence and join with full heart into the solemn beauty of the chant. Myles did not know much about harmony or counterpoint, and his voice, like most of the others, was untrained in the finer points; but he would sing hist best and make his chant what it should always be, a prayer.

'Hail Holy Queen,' little Myles would pray, 'all that I live for and hope in, my Sweetness. Here I stand crying up to you in self-chosen banishment from the sighs, conscious of sorrow and tears, and burdened with my dose of the taints of original sin. Look down upon me, Mary, now as I live; but when this exile is over, bring me to heaven where I may see in all His glory your divine Son. Mother of meekness, Mother of pure love, Mother of sweetness, pray for me and for all these men here who are far better than I and perhaps more loved by you. Pray that they may become great saints and I, a little saint. For being the smallest friar in the world, I was made for little things, but whatever you make us, see to it that we are someday worthy of redemption.'

At the final notes of the chant, Father Prior, receiving the aspergill, would start around the sanctuary to flick the tony blobs of holy water upon the heads of his subjects. Brother Myles, leaning out from between his towering companions, would catch a drop and bless himself, then go into a deep bow with the rest of the community for a silent 'Our Father.' And while he prayed he could not help seeing the smallest pair of sandals in the world and an ingrown toenail that was forever making him realize the inescapable factor of little pains in life, that perfect relief would only come in heaven.

Then when the Salve was at an end, the brothers would come to the center of the altar, genuflect, two by two, and as they started into the sacristy, the low monotone of the De Profundis would rise to their lips. Brother Myles would say this prayer with all the reverent enthusiasm he could muster. After all, this psalm meant liberation or relief for the souls who languished in Purgatory. So he would say it for them just as he would want others to say it for him when he had hung his mantle on hook number six for the last time.

It was his gracious gift to all those men who had sung the Salve Regina on Saturday night for centuries back, Discalced Carmelites like himself. Time had borne them into another world and they had left a vacant place in the white line-up. Some day Brother Myles would also leave a vacant place and nothing could ever change it. But as he passed through the door on Saturday nights, the Mother whom he had honored, probably felt that it would take a very big man indeed to fill up the little opening that Myles would leave when he went to collect his great reward."

-- Men in Sandals by Fr Richard of the Immaculate Conception (Madden), ocd

Mary comes to a heart that wants to love her

"Love Mary! She is lovable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity."


-- St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, CP


** Those following the 1962 Liturgical Calendar and those living in Italy observe today the memorial of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Francis Possenti (1838-1862) entered the Passionist monastery in Morovalle in 1856, where he received the name of Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Gabriel was a joyous young man who loved prayer and the poor. He died of tuberculosis 6 years later. St Gemma Galgani had a great devotion to him.

St Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi's fundamental devotion

"Like her spiritual doctrine, St Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi's personal piety was based on her supreme recognition of God, Three in One. Herewith, therefore, we present some twelve rules and principles of the Saint's great devotion.

1. Hold dear and find joy in the divine attributes, namely, the power the wisdom, the goodness and the infinite love with which God loves Himself and all creatures.

2. Wish God all the good, the glory and the honor that He has and will have eternally.

3. Rejoice in the reciprocal communications that the Three Divine Persons have among Themselves.

4. Be glad that God is so great and infinite that He can not be understood by creatures.

5. Be glad of that infinite love with which God loves Himself, has loved Himself and will love Himself eternally. Rejoice that all creatures and all the blessed spirits are not sufficient to love Him as much as He deserves; and thank His divine majesty that It loves Itself infinitely.

6. Be glad of all those treasures and infinite graces that the Eternal Father gave and communicated to the humanity of the Word, such as that grace which the Word had of working miracles and attracting to Himself the hearts of creatures.

7. Be glad that the Eternal Father has given us creatures as an inheritance to the Word Made Man, and rejoice at the satisfaction that the Word takes in this fact and at the pleasure that He finds in the souls of the just.

8. Be glad of that love which the Word Made Man has for virginity.

9. Offer God to God Himself, in thanksgiving for all the glory, honor and blessedness that He possess and for the gifts and graces communicated to all creatures.

10. Tell the Lord: 'If at this moment I could give You all that glory, honor and praise that at this time the blessed spirits and all the just ones on earth give to You, I should do it willingly.'

11. Offer yourself to God and want Him to have that perfection that He is pleased to have, according to His will.

12. Bend your will to love creatures only because God loves them, and rejoice in that love that He has for them and in the perfection that He communicates to them. And, given the case (which is impossible) that God Himself would wish to grant to a creature the right to offend and displease you, nevertheless desire that that creature have all the perfection and glory of the seraphim, even though he possessed these qualities to use in offending you - thus conforming yourself with God by not wanting anything but what God Himself wants.

These rules make up what we can exactly call the Saint's fundamental devotion. For it was upon this foundation, essentially theological, that the Saint built the edifice of her own interior life."

-- Secrets of a Seraph: The Spiritual Doctrine of Saint Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi translated by Gabriel N Pausback, OCarm

Memorial of Bl Titus Brandsma

Below are some excerpts from the writings of this Carmelite scholar, martyred by the Nazis.

"The imitation of Mary, the most elevated of all creatures, set as an example before us by God Himself, shows Mary as the pattern of all virtues. She is the mirror in which we should ever watch ourselves, the Mother whom her children ought to resemble ever more.

-o-

There is, however, yet another profounder idea in the devotion to Mary on Carmel. (...) I have called it the union with Mary. If we wish to conform ourselves to Mary in order to enjoy more fully the intercourse with God, by following her example, we should obviously be other Marys. We ought to let Mary live in us. Mary should not stand outside the Carmelite, but he should live a life so similar to Mary that he should live with, in, through, and for Mary.

-o-

The devotion to Mary is one of the most delightful flowers in Carmel's garden. I should like to call it a sunflower. This flower rises up high above the other flowers. Borne aloft on a tall stem, rich in green leaves, the flower is raised yet higher from among the green foliage.

It is characteristic of this flower to turn itself towards the sun and moreover it is an image of the sun. It is a simple flower; it can grow in all gardens and it is an ornament to all. It is tall and firm and has deep roots like a tree. In the same way, no devotion is firmer than that to Mary. The fresh foliage, the green leaves point to the abundance of virtues, with which devotion to Mary is surrounded. The flower itself represents the soul created after God's image in order to absorb the sunlight of God's bounty. Two suns shining into each other, one radiant with an unfathomable light, the other absorbing that light, basking in that light and glowing like another sun, but so enraptured by the beams of the Sun which shines on it, that it cannot turn itself away from Him, but can only live for Him and through Him. Such a flower was Mary. Like her, so may we, flowers from her seed, raise our flower-buds to the Sun, Who infused Himself into her, and will transmit to us also the beams of His light and warmth."

-- Carmelite Mysticism Historical Sketches by Bl Ttitus Brandsma, O Carm