HOLY HOMEWORK

Mother of Mercy

Posted

During this Jubilee Year of Mercy and in this month of May as we celebrate Mother's Day, is there any better time to reflect upon Mary who is not only a mother but also a mother of mercy? Let's begin with an analysis of her merciful role as delineated in an ancient prayer invoking her help, then let's add the thoughts of the great doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Mary Liguori, and let's conclude with some of the most cherished attributes of motherhood, which are being heralded today.

Hail Holy Queen

According to its popular English translation, the Hail Holy Queen prayer, known in Latin as the Salve Regina, starts off with no less than seven different salutations. Surprisingly, not one of these seven greetings addresses Mary by her given name. Instead we greet her as a holy woman, a woman of royalty, a mother and a person who is merciful, life-giving, sweet and in whom we place our hope.

Although this is a very brief prayer, the association of Mary with mercy occurs three separate times. At the start of the prayer, we hail her as the Mother of Mercy. Later on, we implore her to look at us through eyes filled with mercy. Finally, at the end of the prayer, we praise her as a woman of clemency, which is simply another word for mercy.

We may mistakenly believe that the intent of this prayer is to remind Mary to help us because she is the embodiment of all these virtues, especially mercy. But this is not true. On the contrary, the intent of this prayer is to remind ourselves that we should never despair. No matter how far we have drifted away from her Son, we can be confident that Mary will intercede on our behalf. In this way, she is our hope that God will listen to her intervention and temper the justice we deserve with generously underserved mercy instead.

St. Alphonsus Mary (1696-1787)

Of the eight names given to him at his baptism: Alphonsus, Mary, Anthony, John, Cosmas, Damian, Michael and Gaspard, we might easily conclude that this great moral theologian cherished the patronage of Mary most. He certainly placed salvific hope in her intervention for mercy. Published in 1750, Alphonsus devoted the entire first chapter of his classic work, “The Glories of Mary,” to explaining her merciful love for us. For example, using common, pastoral metaphors, he says Mary presents us with milk and wool. “The milk of mercy inspires us with confidence and the wool of protection shields us from any punishment we justly deserve for our sins.” Here again we see how confidence in being treated with mercy prevents us from falling into despair. To further quell any anxieties we might have, Alphonsus adds another dimension of mercy, namely protection against the pain of being punished. Both images are apropos even 266 years later. Milk is still a strengthening nutrient and wool is still a protection against the sting of winter.

Modern Attributes of Motherhood

Which are the most cherished characteristics associated with motherhood today? Mom embodies far too many virtues to list here. But these 25 do surface regularly during Internet searches: life-giving, caring, boundary-setter, consistent, discipliner, trustworthy, teaches, models, patient, prayerful, selfless, supportive, protective, worries, hardworking, listens, perceptive, consoles, applauds, merciful, forgiving, affectionate, joyful, loving and lovable. These traits tend to be more palatable when we transpose them from taxonomy to narrative like so:

The word mother means life-giving because she is the woman who not only gave us life but also points us toward the path which keeps us fully alive. From birth she cared enough to set clear boundaries for us and she was consistent in meting out discipline when we dared to cross the line. At every stage of our life she was the one person who was always trustworthy because she always trusted in God. She was our first teacher, a model of patience, who also taught us to pray. Her selfless, unconditional support protected us from any and all who would harm us. And even after we left the nest she continued to worry about us and to pray for our well-being. As hardworking as she was and continues to be, she always takes time to listen to us. Her keen perception anticipates our need for consolation when we fail and our expectation of applause when we succeed. She mercifully forgives and forgets the times we forget and neglect her. Her affection, joy and love for us make her the lovable gift of our world. As the poet Robert Browning said so well, all love begins and ends in motherhood.

For Holy Homework:

Let's post this simple reminder in our work area: When was the last time I contacted or offered a prayer for Mom?

Comments can be sent to: FatherBobPagliari@Yahoo.com