Dermot Mansfield SJ takes his helping stint at the Church of Our Lady of Grace on Chiswick High Street, London as his jumping off place for thoughts on Mary and prayer.
Just now, as I sit down to write, I am conscious that soon I must head over to London, to give assistance in the parish I have known since 2001. I picture the church there to myself; its redbrick front right on the Chiswick High Road, which is full of shops and restaurants, shaded by sturdy plane trees. Throughout the day all kinds of people are streaming by its entrance. They walk along, or turn into the shops, the sound of their footsteps and conversation mingling with the noise of the traffic echoing between the buildings and the drone of aircraft overhead dropping towards Heathrow airport.
The church, as you may remember me mentioning before, is dedicated to Our Lady of Grace (and secondarily to St. Edward). I think that is a lovely title: Our Lady of Grace. And if you turn from the noise and bustle, to go
inside for a moment, at any time of the day, you will find you are not alone in that quiet interior. You may of course pray before the Blessed Sacrament, but you may find yourself drawn to the right side, where perhaps a mother or a student is praying before the simple statue of Our Lady.
Role in our lives
It happens so frequently, doesn’t it? We find ourselves turning to pray to Mary. We ask her help, somehow conscious that she has a role in our lives. We feel that, alongside her son, she is interested in us, helps us, and guides us.
Is this just wishful thinking? I don’t think so. Indeed, there are very good scripture commentators who are convinced of the inner meaning of the words spoken to the beloved disciple by Jesus from the cross: ‘This is your mother’ (Jn.19:27). They see that these words are spoken to every beloved disciple, to you and to me. Mary is given to each of us as mother, as one who wishes to look after us in a special way.
Generations of devotion
So, over the Christian generations people have found ways of approaching Mary in prayer. The familiar Hail Mary expresses so much that is deeply prayerful. Its first half is from the Gospel of Luke, composed of the angel’s greeting to Mary, followed by the welcome of Elizabeth when Mary went to visit her. Its second half, beginning ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God’, expresses the testimony of an early Christian council, and then issues in a heartfelt petition: ‘Pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death’.
For myself, I find that prayer has become part of my consciousness. No doubt, that is because it has been there since my early childhood, uttered to me by my mother, and by my grandmother in Cobh. It is so easy to say at any moment, walking or sitting, or driving along. I may be in need of some help, Or am aware of someone else just now needing Mary’s presence. Or maybe it is simply an expression of praise and appreciation welling up spontaneously from the heart.
Mysteries
Then there is the Rosary itself. The Hail Mary, repeated over and over for each decade, forms its supporting framework and atmosphere. But our focus will tend to be on the actual mysteries of the Rosary, comprised of scenes both from Mary’s life and from the life of her son.
To the traditional Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious ones, there have been added recently the Mysteries of Light, drawn mainly from the public life of Jesus: the Baptism, Wedding Feast at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and Institution of the Eucharist.
As a result, by far the greatest emphasis in the Rosary as we have it now is on Jesus. But we look at him, and at the various events throughout his life, with the eyes and heart of Mary. Such prayer therefore is immensely rich. And it can be made so easily, perhaps as I go for a walk, or drive along, or last thing at night. Maybe I only manage a decade or two, or all five of one of those sets of mysteries.
Images of Mary
It is also worth mentioning how helpful a picture of Mary has been in many homes. In the tradition of the Eastern churches, the icons of Mary (and indeed of Jesus) are very special sources of prayer.
Our Lady of Vladimir is onesuch, which has found its way into many Catholic homes and churches. Like many others, it shows Mary looking at us with compassion and love, but also she is presenting to us her Child, and inviting us to contemplate and love him. There is great depth and beauty in such pictures. To look at them, to gaze at them, is itself a deep prayer of the heart.
So my invitation this month is to let Mary be a special part of our prayer. Again, to use the old adage, pray in the way you can, not in the way you can’t. Let your sense of Mary, your understanding of her and devotion to her, be your own, according to the way of your own heart.
But note especially how she is portrayed in Luke’s Gospel (from which we get the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary). There, she is pictured as one of the Anawim from the Old Testament, one of the poor who depend on God. She is not one of the great people of
Our Lady of Grace
She is practical and, despite her own pregnancy, goes to the help of her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s own words to her – ‘Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promises made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’ (Lk l:45) – are full of meaning and encouragement for us. Her song of praise, the Magnificat, is the song of the poor in spirit: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord’. And then, as a mother with her child – like every mother and child – she brings us intimately close to the mystery and love of God.
Yes indeed, she is ‘Our Lady of Grace’. So, now I go to that London church and parish, that community of people, who are under her patronage; I feel she is there. But I also know she is with us wherever we are; we can call on her at any moment. As a woman of humanity and faith, she understands each of us, journeys with us, and intercedes for us. And in turn, although given to us by him, she leads us once more back to her son Jesus: to be with and in him, our source of all goodness and grace.
the earth. She does not depend on human respect. Rather, she looks to God, says ‘yes’ to the mysterious ways of God in her life.
