SPIRITUALITY 101
SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 111
Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Saint Mary Egipciaca (d. 432) is famous among sinners who have experienced Mary's mercy. When still very young she moved to Alexandria where for seventeen years she led a dissolute and scandalous life. One day seeing a crowd going to Jerusalem to the feast of the Holy Cross she was prompted to go. However, when she got to the door of the church, she felt a strong force holding her back. Each time she tried to enter the church she was stopped.

She then thought about the abominable life she had lead and recognizing that she was in the clutches of her sin and of Satan. She wept with remorse. Chancing to look at the wall, she saw an image of the Virgin Mary with eyes that seemed to look right at her, eyes full of pity. She flung herself on the ground and asked the Blessed Virgin to intercede for her in her struggle against sin and Satan. In answer to her prayer, she rose in strength and entered the church where she spent the day in adoration of the Cross. When she emerged from the church she withdrew to a desert here she remained for over forty years. She became a fervent penitent and great saint.
Mary is commonly given the title "Aid to sinners." When we find ourselves in habitual sin, or in any way unable to live the grace of our Lord, we should turn to her for assistance. Her Son will never deny her intercessions on our behalf.

DEVOTION - Growth in love- 3rd stage
DEVOTIONALS- MEDITATION-SACRAMENTALS-THE ROSARY-38
HAIL MARY-4

"Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with you
Blessed are thou among women
and Blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death."
Amen.

"Blessed are thou among women and Blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus." (Luke 1:42) In this expression, Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, recognizes the blessedness of the Virgin Mary through which the Incarnation of Christ was made possible. The glory of Jesus our Lord is mirrored in His mother. No woman on earth could possibly experience a greater blessing.

The New Catholic Catechism Article No. 2676 informs us that in the Hail Mary prayer, "After the angel's greeting, we make Elizabeth's greeting our own. 'Filled with the Holy Spirit,' Elizabeth is the first in a long succession of generations who have called Mary "blessed.": (Lk 1:41;48) "Blessed is she who believed...(Lk 1:45) Mary is "blessed among women" because she believed in the fulfillment of the Lord's word. Abraham, because of his faith, became a blessing for all nations of the earth. (Gen 12:3) Mary because of her faith, became the mother of believers through whom all nations of the earth receive him who is God's own blessing: Jesus, the 'fruit of thy womb'."

We know from the Angel Gabriel's revelation that Mary was blessed in a special way by the Holy Spirit coming upon her and by overshadowing by the power of the Most High. (Lk 1:35) It was through this overshadowing that she conceived Our Lord Jesus as a human being in her womb. It is clear that this overshadowing was not only fruitful in her womb, but was also fruitful as a special blessing to her soul. Mary expresses the effects of this blessing in the beginning of the Magnificat prayer. Upon meeting her cousin Elizabeth, Mary said, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior." (Luke 1:46-47) This exultation resulting from the overshadowing of her soul by the Holy Spirit caused her to cry out in great joy. The exultative effect of her overshadowing is expressed by St. John of the Cross in Stanza 3 of his poem "The Living Flame of Love."

"O Lamps of fire!
In whose splendors
The deep caverns of feeling,
Once obscure and blind
Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
Both warmth and light to their beloved. "

(From The Collected Woks of St. John of the Cross, Translated by Kieran Kavananaugh, O.C.D. and O. Rodriquez, O.C.D., ICS Publications, Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington, D.C., 1979, pages 610 ff)

In his commentary on the poem, St. John explains that the "Lamps" represent the many, exquisite qualities of God. He goes on to explain that in an overshadowing by the Holy Spirit, knowledge of each of these qualities is infused into the soul. The effect of this enlightenment of the intellect transforms the will to know God as Love, in a most sublime and supernatural way. John explains the effect of these illuminations as similar to that experienced by the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. They, like Mary, through an overwhelming blessing, knew our Lord more fully and completely than they could ever acquire through study. They were infused with knowledge that through worldly means could be acquired only in an obscure, almost blind fashion. In the overshadowing, however, they were made fully aware of who God is and at the same time come to recognize who they were. This knowledge came to them like a shadow, as though God was standing beside him bringing His life and His love into the darkness of their soul. Such an enlightenment is that experienced by the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In continuing the Magnificat, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Mary proclaims, "From now on will all ages call me blessed." This statement of revelation has placed the Blessed Virgin Mary in the center of Christian spirituality since the beginning of Christianity. Paul gives us a test of faith in his statement, that we cannot love God, who is totally spirit, unless we love our neighbor who is material. In the same way, we cannot hope to honor the Son if we fail to honor His mother.

NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM
ARTICLE NO. 1087

Thus the risen Christ by giving the Holy Spirit to the apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying (Jn 20:21-23): they became sacramental signs of Christ. By the power of the same Holy Spirit they entrusted this power to their successors. This "apostolic succession" structures the whole liturgical life of the Church and is itself sacramental, handed on by the sacrament of Holy Orders. ...is present in the earthly liturgy...

ARTICLE NO. 1088
"To accomplish so great a work" -the dispensation or communication of his work of salvation- "Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, 'the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross,' but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his powers he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised, where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.'" (Mt. 18:20).

HE REMAINS WITH US
Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

Jesus continues His expression
Through an Apostolic succession
Although His residence is in heaven
Holy Church He continue to leaven
His holy works on earth persists
Through His presence in our midst

In sacrament and celebration
In every work of His salvation
He is life in Eucharistic species
He is Word in Holy congeries
In song and prayer He persists
Through His presence in our midst

Ó2002 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS