At every moment of life, but particularly when we have not behaved as God expected, it will give us great peace to think of the abundant means He has left us to purify and rebuild our past life when necessary: He has remained in the Holy Eucharist as a special source of strength for Christians; He has given us the sacrament of Confession to recover grace, if we have lost it, and to increase our resistance to evil and our capacity for good; He has provided a Guardian Angel to watch over us on all our paths; we have the help of our brothers and sisters in the faith, through the Communion of Saints; we have the example and fraternal correction of those good Christians who surround us... In a very special way, we have the help of Holy Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, to whom we must always turn, but with greater urgency when we feel most tired, most weak, or when temptations multiply, and above all, in our falls, if, for our humility, God should allow them.
Recalling today's feast, St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori explained the power of Mary's intercession with an old legend. St. Alphonsus Maria explains that Alexander the Great received a letter with a long list of accusations against his mother. After reading it, the emperor replied: “Is there anyone who does not yet know that a single tear from my mother is enough to wash away a thousand letters of accusation?” And the saint puts these words in the mouth of Jesus: “Does the devil not know that a simple prayer from my Mother, made on behalf of a sinner, is enough for me to forget the accusations that his faults raise against him?” And he concludes: "God had promised Simeon that he would not die before seeing the Messiah
(...). But he attained this grace only through Mary, because it was only in her arms that he found the Savior. Therefore, whoever wants to find Jesus must seek him through Mary. Let us turn to this divine Mother, and let us turn to her with great confidence, if we wish to find Jesus."
Today we ask her to cleanse and purify our souls, and we place ourselves in her hands to offer her Jesus and offer ourselves with him: Holy Father, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you Jesus, your beloved Son, and I offer myself in him and through him to all your intentions and in the name of all creatures.
HCD