QUEEN OF PATRIARCHS

(1) MARY, you far surpass the Patriarchs of the Old Law in dignity, They were only the forefathers of one nation and one country; the land of Chanaan was promised to them as an inheritance. But you, as the Mother of the Redeemer, are the Mother of all the nations of the world. The Patriarchs were only the ancestors of Him through whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, but you are the Mother of the promised Redeemer, through whom the whole human race received grace and salvation.

God frequently appeared to the Patriarchs and assured them of His protection and love, but He assumed human nature from you, He lived with you for thirty years, and He obeyed you like a good child. You alone had the privilege of calling the Son of God your son. You carried Him in your arms and loved Him as a mother loves her child. You shared with Him the pleasures and sorrows of thirty-three years. You saw Him die and rise again. By Him you were assumed into heaven, where you now reign with Him for all eternity.

Upon earth the holy Patriarchs beheld afar off and greeted with lively faith and firm hope that wonderful woman whom the Lord had announced from the beginning as the Mother of the Savior of the world. In heaven they now offer you with joy the tribute of their veneration and tender love, as to one who, through Jesus, brought them into the "everlasting dwellings."

Queen of the Patriarchs, you possessed in an intimate manner Him who was their desire. Make me appreciate the happiness that I myself enjoy in possessing Him together with all the graces of which He is the source, especially in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

(2) MARY, you possessed all the virtues of the Patriarchs in a more wonderful degree. The Patriarchs were men according to God's own Heart, who faithfully walked in the path of holiness and made it the first and most important rule of their life to do the will of God in all things. Three virtues in particular shone like stars in their lives: in Abraham it was faith; in Isaac, obedience; in Jacob, patience. There is no virtue with which you are not adorned in an extraordinary degree.

Queen of Patriarchs, help me to follow in the footsteps of the Patriarchs that I may lead a virtuous life. Let me imitate in particular their faith, obedience, and patience.

(3) MARY, the Patriarchs enjoyed the favor of God on account of their piety. On various occasions God was pleased to listen to their prayers. But God finds greater delight in you than in the Patriarchs. You are holier and more intimately united with God because you are His Mother. You are the channel through which all graces come to us. You are all-powerful through your intercession. What you desire cannot remain undone; if you only will it, all is done.

Queen of Patriarchs, teach me to desire nothing so much as to preserve the grace of God in my soul, which makes me pleasing to God. If I do so, I am happier than if I possessed the favor of all the world, for God's grace infuses true peace into my heart and will make me happy for time and eternity. Because God bestows His favor on truly holy souls who consecrate themselves to Him without reserve, teach me to follow your example by mortifying all unruly love of the world and of self in order that I may love God with my whole heart and above all things. Obtain these graces for me through your all-powerful intercession.

O God, You were pleased to honor the Order of Carmel by the singular title of Your most Blessed Mother, Mary ever Virgin; grant, we beg of You, that she whose memory we solemnly venerate may favor us with her protection so that we may be found worthy to share in eternal happiness. Who live and reign forever. Amen. (Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16)