By Terry Lees
I have a confession to make.
During that extended part of my life, I refer to as my prodigal years – in which I turned my back on God – when I was spiritually blind and did not consciously engage in prayer, there was one practice to which I did cling. And strangely, it is only recently that this realisation dawned upon me!
Every time I embarked on a journey, alone or with loved ones, I prayed three Hail Mary’s to Our Lady of the Way for her protection and a safe, trouble-free, incident-free journey! Prayers that were always answered.
When I was a child, I received the gift of faith which I embraced and lived innocently and gratefully. As part of that gift, I also acquired a deep devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. One of my aunts, a Sacred Heart nun, gave me my first rosary beads, which I carried everywhere in my pocket, and a Miraculous Medal and small crucifix worn always on a chain around my neck.
Once a week we prayed the rosary at home as a family, in front of a table shrine that featured a crucifix and small statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Throughout my school years, praying the Rosary was an integral part of my life. In primary school, with the Joey’s nuns, we prayed the Rosary regularly. When, in secondary school I embraced the Way of Mary, through Marist spirituality with Mary as a model, the Rosary became a daily prayer.
Marist founder, St Marcellin Champagnat wrote “Without Mary we are nothing and with Mary we have everything, because Mary always has her adorable Son within her arms or in her heart.” Jesus and Mary were the treasure on which Marcellin had learned to place his own heart. The motto attributed to Champagnat, “All to Jesus through Mary, all to Mary for Jesus”, captures this close relationship between the Son and the Mother and Marcellin’s attitude of confidence in Mary.
Despite the Catholic upbringing and the depth of my faith, when I grew into adulthood, somewhere, somehow along the way I lost it. I reached a decision that I did not need God, I could do it alone!
Sure, I clung to values by which I tried to live my life as an upstanding citizen. But I got caught up in following false idols, turning towards the self-help gurus who preached the gospel of success above all else. I stopped praying, and thus the rosary was abandoned. Ultimately, just as I had seemingly lost my faith, I too became lost.
But had I really stopped praying?
It seems not! Although seemingly separated from God, at some level of consciousness, there was still that attachment and devotion to Mary.
And now there is yet another realisation – not only did I cling to the travel prayers to Our Lady of the Way, but there was also never a time when I removed the chain from around my neck. The crucifix and the Miraculous Medal remained throughout those prodigal years!
And yet another prayer practice remained; that of offering a “Hail Mary” when seeing an ambulance or firetruck speeding down the road. I still did that in those prodigal years.
Wow! Strange but true. God really does work in strange and mysterious ways, far beyond human comprehension. It is amazing for me to look back at those years and to now “see” that prayer was still part of my life, even though I was blind to it!
How are we to look to Mary?
She is our Mother. From the Cross on Calvary, Jesus said, “Woman, behold, your son.” And to the Apostle John, “Behold, your mother” [John19:26-27].
“It can also be said that these same words fully show the reason for the Marian dimension of the life of Christ’s disciples. This is true not only of John … but it is also true of every disciple of Christ, of every Christian. … Mary’s motherhood, which becomes man’s inheritance, is a gift: a gift which Christ himself makes personally to every individual.” [Pope Saint John Paul – Redemptoris Mater].
Pope Francis said that having a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary isn’t just something that is nice or good to do but is an obligation in the life of a Christian. “Devotion to Mary is not spiritual etiquette; it is a requirement of the Christian life.”
October is the month of the Rosary, a perfect opportunity to share this beautiful prayer with our families. The mysteries of the Rosary are based on twenty incidents in the life of Jesus and his Mother. The rosary helps us understand God.
Reach for those beads and pray: All to Jesus through Mary, all to Mary for Jesus.
Have a golden day, look forward and treasure life!
