“O Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke thy most powerful name, which is the safeguard of the living and the salvation of the dying. O Purest Mary, O Sweetest Mary, let thy name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, O Blessed Lady, to help me whenever I call on thee, for, in all my needs, in all my temptations I shall never cease to call on thee, ever repeating thy sacred name, Mary, Mary.
O what consolation, what sweetness, what confidence, what emotion fill my soul when I pronounce thy sacred name, or even only think of thee. I thank God for having given thee, for my good, so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely pronouncing thy name: let my love for thee prompt me ever to hail thee, Mother of Perpetual Help.”
I wanted to share this prayer this week. Our Lady’s feast day is celebrated this weekend and this prayer follows. I appreciated the words the priest spoke, saying that when we look to Mary, she points us to Jesus. I recently asked my wife what she thought it meant to love Mary, since she isn’t an earthly person like you or I, so how do we love her? I think it involves Jesus, that by trusting and looking at Mary as the gateway to our salvation, we can love her and therefore love Jesus. She relied similarly, saying that it was belief and trust in her.
I like this prayer as a reminder and companion to the Memorare, which I posted about before. We are humbly asking for Mary’s intercession. We are asking for divine help of God through Mary. Since Mary is the queen of heaven, why would she not grant our requests? This prayer above has humility, admitting to Mary’s powerful and sacred name. We ask for safety and protection, which Mary is known for because of her role as a mother. A mother protects her children. A mother responds to child’s cry. We can honor her anytime with this prayer.
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