Paul Thigpen - A Year with Mary: Daily Meditations on the Mother of God

A Y EAR
WITH
MARY

A Y EAR
WITH
MARY

DAILY MEDITATIONS ON THE MOTHER OF GOD

PAUL THIGPEN

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

AUTHORS DEDICATION

For Leisa

Wife, mother, grandmother, and Proverbs 31 woman par excellence

PUBLISHERS DEDICATION

For Jackie Gallagher

A true daughter of Mary, without whose exemplary devotion to faith and family Saint Benedict Press simply would not exist

Unless otherwise noted, or in texts quoted from other sources, all Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition). Copyright 2006 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In some cases the writers argument depends on a significantly different translation, such as the Septuagint or Vulgate. In these cases, that translation has been retained.

2015 Saint Benedict Press, LLC

All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts used in articles and critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, printed or electronic, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Except for the sources noted in the , excerpts have been adapted freely from a variety of print and online sources and are believed to be in the public domain.

ISBN: 978-1-61890-696-0

e-ISBN: 978-1-61890-717-2

Charlotte, North Carolina

2015

Contents

Books about the Blessed Virgin abound. Yet after nine centuries, the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux still ring true: Of Mary, there is never enough! Shes a mystery that faithful Christians seek to understand more fully, an ocean full of grace still awaiting deeper exploration.

In fact, as an adult convert to the Catholic faith, I found the mother of Jesus to be more than a mystery; she was a perplexityor perhaps I should say that traditional Catholic devotion to her puzzled me. Coming from a Christian tradition that was rightly zealous, and jealous, for the honor of her Son, and suspicious of anything that seemed to eclipse his glory, I entered the Church with questions about how best to understand her and, more importantly, how to relate to her.

Even before my conversion, I had felt the irresistible attraction of her moral and spiritual beauty. She was, as the saints of old described her, the mirror of her Sons righteousness. Hers was the soft radiance of a moon that modestly reflected the blazing brilliance of the Sun, who had himself conquered my heart long before.

Yet even then, she held out to me the promise of a relationship much more proximate, more affectionate, more intimate. After all, she had carried in her womb the incarnate God, my Brother. No wonder the achingly sweet strains of Schuberts Ave Maria always moved me so deeply: Somewhere in my depths, I knew it was the lullaby of a loving mother I had never known, yet longed to meet.

Who was this woman on whom the Son of God himself had laid the incomparable burden, the inexpressible dignity, of becoming his human mother? Had we somehow made her his rival? If she was so important, why did the Scripture seem to say so little about her? (As it turned out, the Scripture had much more to say about her than I had ever dreamed.)

To answer these and many other questions, I set out to explore that ocean of grace. My map was provided, not only by Scripture, but by the profound insights of numerous saints and other spiritual writers from across the centuries. My compass was the exquisite poetry of their Marian devotion.

That high adventure began before my conversion, contributed significantly to it, and has lasted more than twenty-five years, as I have grown in the faith of the Church. I now know that my exploration will last a lifetime, and beyond. In many ways, this book is one of the fruits of that journey.

In this volume youll hear from saints and theologians, popes and poets, lay and religious, monks and mystics, Fathers and Doctors of the Church. They hail from lands all around the globe, speaking to us in a hundred tongues from every age of the Churchs long story. Perhaps modesty should have forbidden it, but Ive even dared to offer a few prayers of my ownso intense was my desire to join the chorus of praise to the Queen now enthroned at the Kings right hand in glory.

Through this collection of meditations, I invite you to discover more fully the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (Eph 1:18)and most especially in the saint of saints, the Mother of God. Youll find excerpts from biblical passages, theological essays, papal documents, liturgical sources, historical anecdotes, popular devotions, stories, prayers, poems, and hymns. The intent here is not to be comprehensivethat would be impossiblebut rather eclectic, and representative of the fabulous treasury of Marian literature.

For truly, of Mary, there is never enough.

If this book is to achieve its purpose, you must read through the texts slowly, attentively, and prayerfully, with an open mind and heart. Its best, if you can, to set aside a regular time daily for this and other spiritual reading, and the volume is designed so you can take up one meditation each day for an entire year.

The reflections arent tied to particular days of the year, so you can start anywhere, and skip around if you like. There are, however, some topical clusters of readings regarding, for example, Mary in Scripture, Marys virtues, her titles, her sorrows, the other events of her life, and the Rosary. So you might find some advantage in reading them in the order presented.

Before you read each day, I urge you to offer a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit to enlighten you by his grace. Then ask Our Lady to help you, too, so you can understand and apply what youre reading.

Each meditation has a brief introduction. After the reading, youre asked to consider in Gods presence what the author is saying. These questions are intended to spur you to ponder, not just what the text means, but what it means for you personally.

Finally, each day has a brief closing prayer related to the reading. Most of these prayers are from saints and other spiritual writers, but some are original, and some are simply traditional Catholic prayers. You may of course choose to pray in your own words instead.

An entire year of profound and powerful thoughts about Our Lady is in your hands. If you read and reflect on them carefully, I guarantee that you will have a whole new relationship with her, and with her Son, when the year is done. Prayerfully reading these meditations has certainly transformed me.

As you begin reading, make your own this prayer of St. John Eudes:

You angels of Jesus and his saints, pray for me, that our loving Savior may give me new grace and new love for him, to devote this year and my whole life, purely and solely, to the service of his glory and love. Amen.

With a few exceptions noted in the Acknowledgements, these readings are gathered and adapted from public domain sources, mostly in older English translations. If this book were intended as a scholarly tome, the texts would be strictly translatedand as a result, they would require extensive, and intrusive, explanatory notes. Many words in the original translations are unfamiliar to most readers today (lictors, abnegation, disordinate, turpitude). Others have changed their meanings. (A hundred years ago, for example, confusion typically meant ruin or shame, not misunderstanding or perplexity.)