Mary, Mother of Fragility
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.
The Rector Major’s words
Mary, Mother of Fragility. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.” This is Peter’s confession — but it could be that of anyone who finds themselves at rock bottom. And that is the beauty of it: even when we are not standing firm, even when our faith falters, and our certainties crumble, those words of life reach us all the same.
It is not we who keep ourselves standing: we are held.
In such moments, the human soul seeks a haven. It seeks an embrace in which to lose itself without having to explain itself. It seeks a hand that does not judge, but simply accompanies.
Mary is this. Not a statue, not an idea, but a maternal presence who knows the weight
of the night — she who watched beneath the cross, she who held a dead body close to her heart, she who waited in silence through the longest Saturday in history.
The human being carries an age-old wound within: unable to forgive themselves. More than the judgment of others, it is their own inner court that condemns them without appeal. Mary is the mother of fragility because she abandons no one, not even those who consider themselves lost. Mary is the one who never ceases to seek out the most stubborn sinners, at times when shame is stronger than hope, drawing them to herself with a mercy that melts the hardness of the heart.
Like the woman in the Gospel who searches for the lost coin, like the father who sees his son from afar, Mary does not wait for her children to mend their ways before loving them.
She goes in search of the lost, the submerged, those crushed by judgment – both their
own and that of others. She does not pass judgment: she brings life. That life which death could not hold back, which still resonates today in every word of hope given to those who do not deserve it, or rather, to those who believe they do not deserve it. There, in her arms, all is still. And in the silence, we begin again.
Watch the full video below:
For those of you who wish to receive a daily morning reminder, SIGN UP FOR INTOUCH NEWSLETTER.
In addition, the videos of the World Novena will be available on the various language channels of ANS YouTube channel, which will be uploaded day by day until the eve of the feast.
RELATED ARTICLES: