Turning to Mary

By Christina Galeone | CFP Correspondent

May is filled with warm breezes, flowers in joyful colors and hopeful birdsongs. So, it’s easy to see why May is called the Month of Mary.
Because Mary also brings us warmth, joy and hope, it’s also easy to see why there are many devotions to her. The relationship with Our Blessed Mother that each one nurtures is special.
Area Catholics recently shared how Mary and the Marian devotions they participate in have made a difference in their lives.
 
St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary

Sister Katherine Maria Mueller MICM is a member of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of St. Benedict Center in Still River. She and her sisters live traditional religious lives in the spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary, which advocates for total consecration to Jesus through Mary.
When an orphan from Russia confided to Sister Katherine Maria that all she and each of her fellow orphans wanted was a mother, Sister Katherine Maria understood that her heart ached for a loving, caring, nurturing mother. Her devotion to Mary helped her see that Mary is that mother whom everyone can turn to for healing.
“Through our spirituality … we try to spread a knowledge of this wonderful Mother,” she said. “In these terrible days of violence, hatred, and loneliness, she is the antidote, the Mother who brings peace, love and consolation. She waits for each of us, no matter how lowly we are, how vile, how forgotten. She is that mother that will never turn us away; she is the true definition of mother.”     



Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Marian Antiphons
Brother Jerome Leo, OSB, is the Oblate Master at St. Mary’s Monastery, a community of Benedictine monks in Petersham. Although he has enjoyed the chants to Mary that his community has sung every day in May, his favorite Marian devotion is wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the “Garment of Grace,” which carries Mary’s promise that it will be a “sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace” to all who wear it. And when someone passes away while wearing it, it protects that person from the eternal fire.
“I have worn it for many years, and I am sure she has pulled me out of many a scrape in my life,” Brother Jerome Leo said. “I have received many graces through the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and I heartily recommend this devotion to others. I also enjoy the Marian antiphons we chant as a community after Compline, especially the Salve Regina.”



The Rosary
Tammi Novia and her mother, Anna Nelson, are devout parishioners of St. Mary Parish in Jefferson. They strive to pray the rosary every day. And they have a deep devotion to Mary.
Tammi Novia, who chose Mary as her confirmation name because Mary has inspired her with her kindness and love since Ms. Novia’s childhood, said, “She’s helping us to reach out to the Lord.” She noted that her prayers to Mary once led to an unforgettable vision, in which Blessed Mother took her on a journey to stand beside her at the birth of her son and to cry with her and be comforted by her at the Crucifixion. She added, “I love Blessed Mother so much … the Queen of Heaven and Earth; she is a gift.”
And her mother, who often prays the Rosary while driving to work, feels the same.
“It will help us have a good day; it’s less stressful,” said Mrs. Nelson, who added that she frequently finds solutions to problems while praying the Rosary. “It just brings a calm over you – like everything’s going to be OK.”      
 
 

“A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin” and Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Devotion

Domenic Mercurio Jr. is chancellor of the Knights of Columbus at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Worcester. For the past few years, he has said Marian prayers, including “A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin,” each day. After having his prayers, that his son would choose to attend Assumption College, answered by Our Lady of Mount Carmel, he has been praying for his son to have peace, happiness and success in school, to do God’s will and to someday join Mr. Mercurio and his family in heaven.  
“For him to be encouraged and to find a way to make a good living using the gifts God gave him,” Mr. Mercurio said is what he prays for his son. “To be blessed with peace, prosperity, abundance, serenity, simplicity, happiness and joy, and a wonderful family that loves him, respects him, looks up to him, stays loyal and faithful to him.” 
Mr. Mercurio also noted that thanks to Jesus and Mary, his hope to work on a film project with his son was fulfilled.
“It is very rare for a father and a son to work on a particular project such as this together, but we were blessed with this memory and I will be eternally grateful for it.”



The Rosary Challenge

Heather Barber, a parishioner of St. Denis Church in Ashburnham, is so devoted to praying the rosary that she started a Rosary Challenge project in her parish, Annunciation Parish in Gardner and at St. Mary Church in Orange.   
Not too long ago, while she was bringing new rosaries to Annunciation Parish’s Holy Spirit Chapel, she met her future husband, who now prays the rosary with her.
“By praying together, it helps build our bond with one another in our faith and, more importantly, with our Lord, and Our Blessed Mother,” Ms. Barber said, adding that they also attend Mass and stop at a statue of Mary to pray and give thanks. She noted, “We both realized that when we let go of our want for a husband/wife, and left it to Our Lady to present to our Lord, then we let it go. That was when we finally met. Amazing how God’s plans are always so, so much more amazing than our very own.”


Miraculous Medal and Memorare

Allison LeDoux is the director of the Respect Life Office and the Office of Marriage and Family for the Diocese of Worcester. Every day, she wears a Miraculous Medal – the medal that was struck, based on Mary’s apparition’s request to St. Catherine Laboure, as a gift of her graces – that reminds her of Mary’s constant protection. And her favorite Marian prayer is the Memorare, which she said is “great tribute to the glory of God and the power of the Blessed Mother’s intercession and maternal care for us.”
She shared that the Miraculous Medal reminds her of Mary’s instructions to the servants at the Wedding at Cana to do whatever Jesus told them to do. She said that it reminds everyone that if we renew our commitment to Christ every day and do what he tells us, we’ll be on the right path.  
Regarding the Memorare, she said that its words are “very beautiful and touch great depths,” and she noted that St. Teresa of Kolkata and her Missionaries of Charity would pray a Memorare novena when there was an urgent need. “They would pray nine Memorares in a row followed by a 10th in thanksgiving,” Mrs. LeDoux said. “I use this novena sparingly, saving it for particularly serious needs, and its power is absolutely tremendous! There hasn’t ever been a time when prayers weren’t answered promptly.”


Legion of Mary and Our Lady of
Medjugorje

Joseph Duggan is the president of the Legion of Mary in the Worcester Diocese. He and his wife, Jeanne, are members of the chapter at St. Anne’s Parish in Shrewsbury. With two chapters in the diocese (the other being at Our Lady of Vilna Parish), the Legion of Mary works to promote “the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active co-operation in Mary’s and the Church’s work.” Additionally, Mr. Duggan has a devotion to Our Lady of Medjugorje that was fueled after a life-changing visit to the place of the apparitions, where he saw the links in his rosary turn briefly to gold. He now gives out Our Lady of Medjugorge medals.  
“It’s a gift to be a member of the Legion of Mary and to evangelize,” said Mr. Duggan, who regularly visits nursing homes, patients and Worcester County Jail and House of Corrections prisoners to share God’s love and peace with them.
When asked how the devotion has made a difference in his life, he said, “I’m more spiritual, and I think I’m more aware of the needs of people today. There are so many people who need someone to pray for them, help them and look after them.”  

Although June is almost here, these Marian devotions will continue to honor Mary and Jesus.  And their warmth, beauty and grace will continue to awaken us to the vibrant life blooming all around us.