There were so many topics I could have chosen to focus on for today reflection. Job cursing the day he was born, the psalmist asking the Lord to hear his prayer, James and John asking the Lord if they should call down fire from heaven. I also had the option to choose from the reading for the Memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church but I chose to reflect on our Blessed Mother.
Today is the first day of the Marian month of October. The church dedicates May and October to our Lady with October dedicated to the rosary. Had it not been for Mary’s yes to God where would we be today. Had it not been for Mary, St. Thérèse would not have been cured of her suffering from a mysterious illness at the age of ten.
On May 13, 1883, Thérèse’s mother, Marie, turned to the Blessed Mother in prayer begging for the life of her child. Thérèse also turned to the Blessed Mother for help and prayed with all her heart that she take pity on her. The following is an account from Thérèse’s autobiography, Story of a Soul: All of a sudden the Blessed Virgin appeared beautiful to me, so beautiful that never had I seen anything so attractive; her face was suffused with an ineffable benevolence and tenderness, but what penetrated to the very depths of my soul was the “ravishing smile of the Blessed Virgin.” At that instant, all my pain disappeared and two large tears glistened on my eyelashes, and flowed down my cheeks silently, but they were tears of unmixed joy. Ah! I thought, the Blessed Virgin smiled at me, how happy I am…
Every Gospel we read is a part of our loving Jesus’ life and that life was made possible through the Holy Spirit and Mary’s fiat, her yes. She carried the Jesus for nine months and that allowed all of us to strive for eternity by knowing and loving her son.
We would not have St. Thérèse as a Doctor of the Church had it not been for a miracle credited to Our Lady. There are so many famous rosary miracles. One that is special is story of the Jesuit priests that were protected form the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima. You can read about it and other rosary miracles by clicking here.
During this month of the rosary try and say the rosary each day. Pray it for someone who may be sick, struggling or lost. Pray it in thanksgiving for Mary’s yes to God. The world is a better place because a young girl said “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”