This past week has seen the feast days of a number of Franciscan Saints including STs. Margaret of Cortona, Paschal Baylon, Felix of Cantalice, Theophilis of Corte, Crispin of Viterbo, Bernardin of Siena and Blesseds Francis of Durazzo and Benvenuto so it seemed a good time to honor Our Lady under her title of Queen of the Franciscan Order.
A Salutation to the Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Francis of Assisi
Hail Lady, Holy Queen, Holy Mary Theotokos, who art the Virgin made church and the One elect by the Most Holy Father of Heaven, whom He consecrated with His Most Holy beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete; Thou in whom was and is all fulness of grace and every good. Hail His Palace; Hail His Tabernacle; Hail His Home. Hail His Vestment; Hail His Handmaid; Hail His Mother And hail all you holy virtues, which through the grace and illumination of the Holy Spirit are infused into the hearts of the faithful, so that from those unfaithful you make them faithful to God.
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PRAYER ASKING FOR MARY'S INTERCESSION by St. Francis of Assisi
Holy Virgin Mary, there is no one like Thee born in the world among women,
Daughter and Handmaid of the Most Highest King, the Heavenly Father,
Mother of Our Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit:
Pray for us with St. Michael the Archangel
and all the powers of Heaven and all the Saints
before Thy Most Holy and Beloved Son, the Lord and Master.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, …
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"I therefore command all my Brothers, those living now and those to come in the future, to venerate the Holy Mother of God, whom we always implore to be our Protectress, to praise her at all times, in all circumstances of life, with all the means in their power and with the greatest devotion and submission."
BL. JOHN DUNS SCOTUS
It was Duns Scotus who plodded carefully through the maze of theological reasonings to explain clearly Mary's Immaculate Conception. His study and consideration of the disputed questions regarding Mary's conception without sin dissipated the obstacles to a complete understanding of this privilege and laid a solid foundation for the definition of this dogma.
By his lucid exposition and defense of the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception in the womb of St. Anne as a preparation for her divine motherhood, the Subtle Doctor paved the way for its solemn definition in later times by Blessed Pope Pius IX.
Catholicism will remember the Subtle Doctor as a shrewd philosopher and an adroit theologian, one of the most eminent of that remarkable thirteenth century. To the ordinary Catholic, John Duns Scotus stands out as the champion of Mary's Immaculate Conception. He furthered the work of St. Anselm of Canterbury who has written: "Decuit, potu it, ergo fecit.", which is to say "It was fitting, God could do it, therefore He did." (preserve His Holy Mother from the stain of original sin.)
ST ANTHONY OF PADUA
Like his spiritual father St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony had the most ardent devotion to the Immaculate Mother of God. Indeed, he was instrumental in reinforcing faith in the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin at a time when many doubts were raised against the doctrine.
From a Sermon on the Nativity of Our Lady
Like the morning star in the midst of the cloud and as the moon at its full she shines (Eccl. 50,6).
The Lord has blessed you by His power, because by you He has brought our enemies to naught. Blessed are you, Daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women on earth. Blessed be the Lord who created heaven and earth, who has directed you to the beheading of the prince of our enemies; because He has so magnified your name today, that your praise shall never depart out of the mouths of men. The blessed Mary was, therefore, like the morning star in Her birth. About this Isaiah says (11,1): There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise out of his root.
And as the moon at its full she shines. The blessed Mary is said to be the full moon, because in every way perfect. The moon is imperfect when a half-moon, because it is stained or horned. But the glorious Virgin neither in Her birth had any stain, because sanctified in Her mother's womb, guarded by angels, nor in Her days had She the horns of pride. Hence, She shone fully and perfectly. She is said to be light because She dispels the darkness.
We beseech You, our Lady, that You who are the morning star, cast out the cloud of diabolical suggestion shrouding the land of our minds; that You who are the full moon fill our emptiness, dispel the darkness of our sins, that we might merit to come to the fullness of eternal life, to the light of unending glory. May He grant this who made You our light, who to be born of You made You be born today. To Him be the glory and honor for ever. Amen.
ST BONAVENTURE
He explained Mary along a Franciscan theme of poverty and giving to the poor. He cited an unknown Franciscan who claims that Mary refused to accept the gifts given to Jesus by the Magi. She distributed them to the poor.
Bonaventure writes that Mary is fittingly compared to the Aurora. All astronomers, or those who views the stars at night, know that these are the most luminous arches of lights in the highest sky (Arctic regions). It is a phenomenon like no others. Mary is that incomparable light that God has created for Himself and us to guide and enlighten. He describes Mary as the Mirror of God through which we see Jesus. He wrote a magnificent 69 pages treatise on Mary. In one chapter, he writes about this "lovely light" of God is compared with the Aurora. One shines in the highest heavens and the other Aurora, shines in the earthly heavens.
You are glorious, Mother, and most worthy of praise, in the City of our God and in the Church of His elect. You were assumed into heaven accompanied by angelic choirs, borne up by archangels and crowned with glory.
Have pity on us, Queen of glory and honor, and keep our souls from all danger. As our prayer rises up to your throne, hear our humble pleas.
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"No one can enter into heaven except through Mary, as entering through a gate. We believe that Mary opens the abyss of God's mercy to whomsoever she wills, when she wills, and as she wills; so that there is no sinner however great who is lost if Mary protects him.”
STABAT MATER (A Prayer to Share Mary's Sorrows)
by Friar Jacoponi da Todi
At the cross her station keeping, Stood the mournful Mother weeping, Close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, All His bitter anguish bearing, Now at length the sword had pass'd.
Oh, how sad and sore distress'd Was that Mother highly blest Of the sole-begotten One !
Christ above in torment hangs; She beneath beholds the pangs Of her dying glorious Son.
Is there one who would not weep, Whelm'd in miseries so deep Christ's dear Mother to behold ?
Can the human heart refrain From partaking in her pain, In that Mother's pain untold?
Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defil'd, She beheld her tender child All with bloody scourges rent.
For the sins of His own nation, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent.
O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above; Make my heart with thine accord.
Make me feel as thou hast felt; Make my soul to glow and melt With the love of Christ our Lord.
Holy Mother! pierce me through; In my heart each wound renew Of my Saviour crucified.
Let me share with thee His pain, Who for all my sins was slain, Who for me in torments died.
Let me mingle tears with thee, Mourning Him who mourn'd for me, All the days that I may live.
By the cross with thee to stay, There with thee to weep and pray, Is all I ask of thee to give.
Virgin of all virgins best, Listen to my fond request Let me share thy grief divine.
Let me, to my latest breath, In my body bear the death Of that dying Son of thine.
Wounded with His every wound, Steep my soul till it hath swoon'd In His very blood away.
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, Lest in flames I burn and die, In His awful Judgment day.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, Be Thy Mother my defence, Be Thy cross my victory.
While my body here decays, May my soul Thy goodness praise, Safe in Paradise with Thee.
Amen.
(Our Lady of the Angels-church beloved of St. Francis)
A Crown for Our Lady
The chronicles of Saint Francis tell of a young friar who had the praiseworthy habit of saying the Crown of Our Lady (the Rosary) every day before dinner. One day, for some reason or other, he did not manage to say it. The refectory bell had already been rung when he asked the Superior to allow him to say it before coming to the table, and having obtained the permission he withdrew to his cell to pray. After he had been gone a long time the Superior sent another friar to fetch him, and he found him in his room bathed in a heavenly light facing Our Lady who had two angels with Her. Beautiful roses kept issuing from his mouth at each Hail Mary. The angels took them one by one, placing them on Our Lady's head, and She smilingly accepted them.
Finally, two other friars who had been sent to find out what had happened to the first two saw the same lovely scene, and Our Lady did not go away until the whole Rosary had been said.
St. Bernardine of Siena:
"Mary is the dispensatrix of all the graces God bestows on man. "This is the process of divine graces: from God they flow to Christ, from Christ to His Mother, and from her to the Church…. I do not hesitate to say that she has received a certain jurisdiction over all graces…. they are administered through her hands….”
ST. PADRE PIO
In a letter of 6 May 1913, Padre Pio gives vent to a delicate filial gentleness, writing: "Here we are at last in the month of our beautiful Mother once again…. This dear Mother continues to lavish her maternal care upon me, especially during the present month. She takes care of me to an exceeding degree…. I am all aflame although there is no fire. I feel myself held fast and bound to the Son by means of this Mother…. I'd like to fly off to invite all creatures to love Jesus and Mary."
Later on the Saint would say: "Love our Lady, make others love her. Always say your Rosary and say it well. Satan always tries to destroy this prayer, but he will never succeed. It is the prayer of her who triumphs over everything and everyone."
And two days before he died, he repeated: "Love our Lady and make her loved. Recite the Rosary and recite it always. And recite it as much as you can."
AN ACT OF TOTAL CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE VIRGIN
By St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
O Immaculate Queen of Heaven and earth, Refuge of sinners and Our most loving Mother, to whom God willed to entrust the entire order of Mercy, I, an unworthy sinner, cast myself at Your feet, humbly begging You to be so good as to accept me wholly and completely as Your possession and property, and to do with me and with all my powers of soul and body, with my whole life, death, and eternity, whatever pleases You.
If it pleases You, use my whole self without reserve to accomplish what has been said of You: "She will crush your head" (Genesis 3:15), and also: "You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world" (Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary), so that I may become a useful instrument in Your immaculate and most merciful hands for promoting and increasing Your glory to the maximum in so many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus extend as much as possible the blessed Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
For, wherever You enter, You obtain the grace of conversion and sanctification, since it is through Your hands that all grace comes to us from the Most Sweet Heart of Jesus.
R. Allow me to praise You, O most Holy Virgin.
V. Give me strength against Your enemies.
As Fr. Stefano Manelli, F.I. writes in his book "All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed": Our Lady figures in all the great events comprising the history of salvation. Her presence in each has been as constant as her appearance and activity have been discrete, but regular. Across the span of divine revelation, the person of Mary stands at the crucial points, fulfilling the role assigned her by God at the side of her Son, from the first pages of Genesis to the last in the Book of Revelation, from Isaiah to St. Luke, at the Incarnation and during the redemption, at Pentecost and at the end of time.
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The Franciscan Order has always had a great love and devotion to the Mother of God.
