May 2022
Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces
In 1965, His Holiness Paul VI wrote an encyclical letter entitled Mense Maio, in which he invites us to pray to the Virgin Mary in the month of May. He says that one of the reasons for his appeal was the international situation, "the supreme benefit of peace is again being placed in jeopardy. Today we see tensions worsening gravely between nations in certain parts of the world.” The Pope speaks of how peace will not be achieved by human work and effort alone, it is necessary to pray to God and ask him for the gift of peace. Peace “is not solely the work of man. It is also, and primarily, a gift from God. Peace comes from heaven. It will truly reign among men when we have finally proved ourselves worthy to receive this gift from Almighty God. Just as the happiness and destiny of nations are in His power, so also are the hearts of men.” He invites us to pray "with constancy and watchfulness, as the Church has been wont to do from her very beginning; by praying, in particular, for the intercession and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Queen of peace.”
We identify with what the Pope says when we look at the current situation of today's world and we should feel impelled to pray. We cannot, nor should we, cease in the trust-filled petition to God, through Mary. She is the Mediatrix of all graces. We see this intercession at the very beginning of the Church at Pentecost, "she interceded so that the Holy Spirit descended upon the nascent Church, intercede also now" (St. John Paul II). The doctrine that supports such a title is a truth taught by the Universal Ordinary Magisterium, which affirms that all the graces of conversion and sanctification merited by Our Lord through His Passion and death on the Cross have been entrusted to the Virgin Mary so that she may distribute them to men of good will. St. Bernard says: "When she wills, to whom she wills, as much as she wills." God wanted to give us everything through Mary and He also wants us to come to Him through her. Our whole life must be directed by Mary. God will give us His graces if we strive to do everything through her, with her, in her and for her. She can only exercise this role of mediator if we want it. To give ourselves to her, to consecrate ourselves to her, to place ourselves in her hands. This is how St. Maximilian Kolbe expressed it: "instruments in her immaculate hands." If we do so, she will take possession of all our faculties and with her we will crush the head of the serpent, we will conquer all heresies and the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be established.
This mediation of Mary takes nothing away from the unique mediation of Christ, as the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium affirms, "it shows His power. For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ." (Lumen Gentium, 60).
If God himself made her his dwelling place, how can we not also love her and entrust ourselves to her? St. Maximilian Kolbe said that "He created her so powerful that one of her desires is enough to immediately bend the infinite Heart of God" and that "The Immaculate is the Omnipotent Supplicant. All conversion and sanctification are the work of grace, and she is the mediator of all graces."
This month of May is a very favorable time to make a greater effort to recall the Marian apparitions, to meditate on the four dogmas about Our Lady, to honor her as our mother, to reflect on her virtues, to live a real and true devotion to Mary and to dedicate some time as a family to pray to her. True devotion to her consists in looking at her and talking to her, showing our affection for her by doing what she expects of us, trusting her completely and imitating her virtues.
The closeness of the Blessed Virgin as our Mother has been seen many times in the apparitions in Garabandal. Among all the Marian apparitions, one could certainly say that Garabandal stands out for this "living with her." The frequency of the apparitions, the closeness, the speaking of everyday things with the girls, the thousands of signs of her maternal love for those present... all of this speaks to us of a call to an intimate and close relationship. She presented herself in Garabandal as "I, your Mother" and she also said "I look at my children." This month is also a good time to reread the stories, thank her and ask her to have these details with us. Surely she already has them and so many times we do not realize it, so let us also ask her to more clearly recognize her continued presence and protection.
May this month be a month of grace for all of us.
God bless you