Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home Life Faith

All to Jesus through Mary, all to Mary for Jesus

byGuest Contributor
19 October 2021
Reading Time: 4 mins read
AA
Still praying: 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!

Still praying: 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!

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

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?

Related Stories

Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

Church workers have helped more than 1.2 million Ukrainians during the war, Caritas says

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!

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Indigenous youth suicide more than a tragic statistic: it’s a national disgrace

Next Post

Chinese bishop who braved Cultural Revolution dies at 99

Guest Contributor

Related Posts

Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village
News

Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

24 May 2022
Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

20 May 2022
Church workers have helped more than 1.2 million Ukrainians during the war, Caritas says
World

Church workers have helped more than 1.2 million Ukrainians during the war, Caritas says

18 May 2022
Next Post
Chinese bishop who braved Cultural Revolution dies at 99

Chinese bishop who braved Cultural Revolution dies at 99

New melodies, ancient psalms at the heart of a new Church music project

New melodies, ancient psalms at the heart of a new Church music project

Counting blessings: “I’d always say, as parents and as a community, we plant seeds that will one day grow.”

Helen and helpers lead little ones to God's way

Popular News

  • Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

    Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • US bishops applaud San Francisco prelates pastoral response to Pelosi’s decades of abortion advocacy

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • From a humble start Albanese is sworn in as new prime minister

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 15 killed in Texas school shooting

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north
News

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

by Staff writers
25 May 2022
0

Pope Francis’ delegate to Australia has found time for sightseeing during a busy trip to Far North...

Hong Kong

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

25 May 2022
15 killed in Texas school shooting

15 killed in Texas school shooting

25 May 2022
Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

24 May 2022
Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

US bishops applaud San Francisco prelates pastoral response to Pelosi’s decades of abortion advocacy

24 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping