Saturday of Our Lady

There is one art in which we shall be learners until the end. It is the art of prayer The apostles had heard the Master speak of prayer; they had seen him in prayer; and yet close even as they were to him they had to ask, "Lord, teach us to pray." There was no refusing their request.

Prayer starts with presence. The lover is content in the presence of the beloved. It is enough to have the beloved before his eyes, words are not important. Thus prayer began for this child, St. Bernadette with an overpowering sense of the Presence which lifted her soul out of this world. And for long that Presence was silent; but she was utterly content simply to see the Lady.

How perfect a teacher was Mary. Step by step she taught the child that for prayers she needed help. She could not raise her arm till the Lady helped her. Prayer needs preparation. Only at the end of a careful preparation did the child learn her name. She was taught to imitate and repeat. She fingered her beads, and at the end of the decade she and the Lady together recited the Gloria. Here was prayer at its highest; the perfect duet: the Mother of God joined her voice, uniting her heart with a pure child of earth, proclaiming a song of praise to the Holy Trinity that must have delighted the heart of God.
From Pilgrims with Mary by John Moloney P.P.

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds