Confidence in our Heavenly Mother

"I do not tremble when I see my weakness, for the treasures of a mother belong also to her child, and I am thy child, O dear Mother Mary."  ~St. Therese

In honor of Our Lady of Lourdes, who's Feast Day is Feb. 11th, I thought I would share with you some beautiful words spoken of Mary by St. Therese herself.

 As you may already know, St. Therese was healed by Our Lady.  When St. Therese was young, she was suffering for weeks from high fevers and hallucinations and the doctors were having trouble pin pointing what the cause was.  Her family prayed day and night for her restored heath and her father even made a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Victory for her healing.  After the family moved into St. Therese's bed room a large statue of Our Lady, St. Therese was given the grace to see the statue of Mary Smile upon her and she was healed.  This Statue is now named, Our Lady of the Smile. 

This profound experience was not the beginning of her devotion to the Blessed Mother, for she did already love Mary very much, but it was the beginning of a deep trust in in her Heavenly Mother.

If I had one word for the affection St. Therese had for Our Lady, it would be "Confidence."  She placed her entire life in the care of the Blessed Mother and knew that she would always be there to assist her in every need.  She spoke tenderly of Mary in saying, "She is more Mother than Queen."  And as a mother tends to her child's every need, so does the Blessed Mother tend to our every need- with the most beneficial outcome for us and all those we love.  She left things up to the Blessed Mother to work out for her saying, "To ask something of the Blessed Virgin is not the same as to ask something of God.  She knows well what to do with all my little desires and it is for her to decide whether to ask for them or not."

If you are thinking that you would like to have this confidence in the Blessed Mother, like St. Therese, then right now is the perfect time to start- In honor of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Take a few moments right now to tell Mary that you love her and that you desire for her to be your Mother in every way.  There is a beautiful prayer that I like to pray each morning to the Blessed Mother.  It can be found in the Pieta prayer book.  It reads:

My Queen, My Mother, I give myself entirely to thee.  And to show my devotion to thee, I consecrate to thee this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve.  Wherefore, good Mother, as I am thy own, keep me and guard me as they property and procession.  Amen.

Do not be worried of having too much of a devotion to the Blessed Mother, for there is no such thing. St. Therese said, "Do not be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much.  You can never love her enough.  And Jesus will be very happy, because the Blessed Virgin is His Mother."

St. Therese seemed to have made a consecration to Mary herself.  She said, "With all my heart I consecrated myself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and asked her to watch over me.  She seemed to look lovingly on her Little Flower and to smile at her again."

Let today be the first of a life long devotion to your Blessed Mother, who loves you so much that she spends her Heaven in caring for you.

"My dear Mother Mary, I think that I am more happy than you.  I have you as a Mother and you haven't the Blessed Virgin to love as I have."  ~St. Therese

I will be talking about my devotion to the Blessed Mother and my own personal healing and answered prayers through Mother Mary on www.RadioMaria.us on Feb. 11th at 3:00 EST.  I will be speaking with Kathie Duggan on her show, "Sacred Treasures in the Church."  Please plan on tuning in if you can!