Close to those who are suffering

May 16

“The conviction that Mary is close to those who are suffering or in situations of serious danger has prompted the faithful to invoke her as ‘Benefactress.’ The same trusting certainty is expressed in the most ancient Marian prayer with the words, “We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin (from the Roman Breviary).”

-St. John Paul II

Read the rest…

Sustain us in our struggles

May 15

“…that good Mother makes herself so present and so near to her faithful servants, to enlighten them in their darkness and their doubt, to strengthen them in their fears, and to sustain them in their struggles and difficulties, that…this virginal path to find Jesus Christ is a path of roses and honey.”

-St. Louis Grignion de Montfort

Read the rest…

Protection from harm

May 10

“Mary exercises her role as ‘Advocate’ by co-operating both with the Spirit, the Paraclete, and with the One who interceded on the Cross for his persecutors (cf. Lk 23:24), whom John calls our ‘advocate with the Father’ (1 John 2:1). As a mother, she defends her children and protects them from the harm caused by their own sins.”

-Pope St. John Paul II

Read the rest…

Our blessed home

May 9

“By her maternal charity, [Mary] cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”

-Documents of Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 62

Read the rest…