MONTH OF MAY, MONTH OF MARY - ALL DEVOTIONS TO MARY IS ULTIMATELY ALL ABOUT JESUS

5 May 2018 - 5th Sat of Eastertide

Sharing my notes taken @ Church of St Alphonsus, Singapore

Novena homily

  

 

In the tradition of the Catholic Church, the month of May is dedicated to Our Lady, encouraging us to pray the Rosary more, to meditate her virtues, to welcome her into our homes and our hearts....

These devotions are for the purpose of better understanding the Queenship of Mary, to re-dedicate ourselves back to her Son, to come closer to Jesus, to better understand our relationship with Him. 

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Devotion to Mary is ultimately all about knowing Jesus better

All titles given to Mary are tied to her relationship with Jesus. For example….

• We call her Queen - Jesus is King, Mary is his mother, and therefore our Queen. By her Queenship, we are proclaiming Jesus' Kingship.
• We call her Mother of God - we know Jesus is God, and Mary is his Mother, therefore by her motherhood, we are proclaiming Jesus’ divinity.

We reflect on Mary, her virtues, how she lived her life on earth - and come to know that her entire life is for the sole purpose of leading us to her Son.  

All devotions to Mary are ultimately all about Jesus.

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May we commit this special month to spend more time with our Lady and allow her to lead us back to her Son, that we re-dedicate ourselves back to Jesus and to spread His love.

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"On this icon, and many more, Mary looks directly at us, yet with her hand she directs us to the Infant she is holding. 

That Infant is identified to us as Jesus Christ (abbreviated as IC XC), Who even as a child is shown with a scroll, embodying all the wisdom of the true God. 

His halo contains those three Greek letters meaning “I AM”, testifying to His divinity, and even as an infant His right hand is shown giving a blessing.

This icon of Mary shows us her humility, her piety, her tenderness, and the sorrow she endured.

 Properly inspired and painted, an icon of Mary can truly reveal her love for us, and draw us closer to her. 

Yet when we are drawn to her, where does she lead us? 

The word by her right shoulder is “Hodigitria”, which means “guide”, and her hand is clearly guiding us to her Son. 

He is shown as truly divine, truly wise, and truly the source of all blessings. 

Above her head are the letters “MP OY”, an abbreviation of the Greek: “Mater Theos” – the Mother of God. 

Yet even this grand sounding title tells us more about the nature of her Son, Jesus, than about Mary herself and so once again leads us back to Christ. 

This is what we know about Mary and why we love her: through her we receive her Son, the Saviour of mankind, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. 

The icons of Mary embody this teaching and this love.